Group items tagged

The mechanics of games that gamers use as they plan games and design them. I've learned about this from Ray Yan from Digipen in the Gamifi-ed OOC last week.

A show I recorded with Dawn Casey-Rowe, an overcomer who is using technology (and kickboxing too). She gives advice on transforming classrooms to demands all teachers face. She shares her thoughts about leading, learning, and embracing education technology.

I'm a huge fan of the American School of Bombay and visionary Shabbi Luthra - this article on Edutopia captures so much about this amazing school that uses laptops at a very young age in ways that empower students to learn, create, and share. Shabbi is passionate about bringing the best to her school but also shares expects that what is brought and discussed there will be used. Such a great school - it is well worth attending ASB Un-Plugged when they host it just to see what they are doing. It is hard to find a better school anywhere in the world.

How to use Google Hangouts in the Classroom. Now that you can segment participation and let certain groups of students and educators participate in Google Plus, this is becoming a popular method of connecting classrooms. I'm setting up Google Hangouts on Air to record and send to the class YouTube channel to share conversations with guests and let those students who missed the day join in. I am also going to use these recordings as part of flipped classroom modules as I learn about using Sophia for flipping my classroom.

Nominate someone you know NOW. What a great way to share up and coming education technology leaders: "Do you know educators who are passionate about using technology to transform teaching and learning; who can inspire their colleagues to embrace new tools; and who are curious by nature and always looking for how the next innovation can be applied to education? If so, please submit their names by Wednesday, December 18th for consideration as part of the National School Boards Association's "20 to Watch" recognition program. The 2013-14 "20" will be honored in Washington, D.C. during CoSN's Annual Conference, March 19th, 2014 (www.cosn.org) and recognized during the Technology Leadership Network Luncheon at the NSBA Annual Conference in New Orleans, April 6, 2014. Questions? Please email Ann Flynn."

I noticed that Wikispaces included Dogo books under a new "Education" category in the widget menu. (This looks like a television on the edit bar when you click to Edit a wiki.) So, Dogobooks is a place where kids ar writing book reviews about everything. Very cool. You can see the most popular books and ti also has book clubs and other ways for kids to connect. This is a very cool site for helping kids love learning and may also augment Accelerated Reader programs nicely.

Interesting app called "Chronicle" for tracking and including artifacts for how students are learning and improving. With students turning in all kinds of documents and work, this is an intriguing way to track it.

Music makes students smarter - proof from the UK which has spurred them to add a comprehensive music program back into their schools.

Useful information to help facilitate 21st Century Teaching and Learning. Topics include: AverVision Document Cameras, Student Response Systems, Digital Cameras, Google for Educators, Web 2.0 etc...

Nifty list of free tools.

professional development program for faculty. Our mission is to create a cadre of technology "champions" who will mentor their fellow faculty members and raise the standard for technology integration in teaching and learning.

This Teacher Empathy Quotient Test, is an informal test of your ability to "feel with" children with learning disabilities.

This is an absolutely incredible blog post regarding the influx of stimulus money for 21st century classrooms and how it will (or won't) impact student learning without attention paid to instructional practices.

Are schools stifling creativity? Ken Robinson tells Jessica Shepherd why learning should be good for the soul

There are some GREAT books on Emotional intelligence, but Debra Sanborn, Program Director at Iowa State University, is using an emotional intelligence assessment as part of the "toolbox of assessments that she relies upon for identifying issues challening students in the first weeks of college." She says that EQ has an 85% predictor rate of success in college. The EQ-i assesses 5 aras: interpersonal, intrapersonal, stress management, adaptability and general mood." Who is using this in high school? I read a book on this to help my two kids with learning disabilities but if there is a test or profile that would help us with these kids - to develop emotional intelligence, then we should do it. Life success is SO MUCH MORE than test scores! Hate that we have to have a "test" to measure this one - although the result is more an indicator of a person's behavior, albeit self-reported.

From Steve Hargadon: "I've started a new community at http://www.FutureofEducation.com to providing an opportunity for those who care about education to share their voices and ideas on charting the course of education in a networked world. It's a place for thoughtful discussion on an incredibly important topic. The site will launch officially at the end of the month with the start of a weekly interview series, but I'm inviting some participation now because of an email Carol Broos (http://www.classroom20.com/profile/beatechie) sent out. Carol is one of twelve teachers who have been invited to participate in a round table discussion concerning the direction of education the new Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on Jan 21. She was sent the following questions, and is asking for feedback and ideas. You can respond either at the new http://www.FutureofEducation.com site or her wiki at http://education20.pbwiki.com/FrontPage. Here are the questions: 1. What is the one most important education issue you wish Secretary Duncan to focus on during his tenure and why? 2. How shall the tenets of the No Child Left Behind act be altered or invigorated? What are its positives? How can its negatives be improved? 3. How should the new administration respond to the nation's need for better prepared and more qualified teachers? 4.What should the new administration do to increase student engagement in mathematics, the sciences and the arts? 5. How should funding equity issues be addressed? There is also a discussion topic on what questions were not asked that might have been." This seems to be a great thing!

Best Practices Tips on effectively integrating and using clickers in the classroom Best practices are lessons learned throughout our first year using clickers. The following information was created by input from faculty, faculty development, and support.

Two people tweeted about this website and how student test scores went up with it. Wonder if others have had similar results? Might decide to use it with my own children if that is the case.

Site is dedicated to bringing the insights of brain science to the classroom. A laudable goal, it seems to me.