Group items tagged

generate qr codes in colour

This video on image generation and the new engine that replaces Dall-E is a must-watch to get started on your journey. While not full of glitz and glamor, this down to earth, here's how to do it by the people who make the stuff always helps me learn in new ways. I also like to show these to students so they can see how people in the industry work. I already have teachers asking for ChatGPT now - I think we're going to have to price a group rate to see if it is possible.

"Generative artificial intelligence (Gen-AI) chatbots hold promise for building highly personalized, effective mental health treatments at scale, while also addressing user engagement and retention issues common among digital therapeutics. We present a randomized controlled trial (RCT) testing an expert-fine-tuned Gen-AI-powered chatbot, Therabot, for mental health treatment."

This is a wonderfully simple maths quiz site with a good collection of activities for the 4 operations. Choose your category and get 10 randomly generated questions to answer. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Maths

For educators and policymakers, one of the keys for effectively responding to this generation is remembering that educational technology is both a tool and a game changer

This is an interesting website with cover generators and other tools for you to use to create pictures for your profile.

Open a door to the world with this intriguing site which transports users to indoor spaces from all over the world with a Google StreetMap mashup. Found via http://twitter.com/@SparkyTeaching. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/PSHE%2C+RE%2C+Citizenship%2C+Geography+%26+Environmental

Fantastic tool for generating creative writing prompts. Click on the door to be invited to view a random location in Google street view. Teachers might want to preview locations ahead of time before using with younger classes.

Very cool table tool that helps you paste in Excel and generate the HTML code to paste it onto a website (without having to know coding.)

Simple instructions that history teachers will love for setting up a QR code scavenger hunt. My favorite app is i-Nigma for scanning qr codes -it just works. " A QR-Code Treasure Hunt is a fun, simple way to get students using their mobile devices to continue learning outside of lesson time. Here's how we set one up at the International School of Toulouse with some guidance on how to do the same with your own students using the QR Treasure Hunt Generator at ClassTools.net."

Rebellion from teachers in Mexico who have bought and sold teaching jobs for generations without any national certification. Teachers are striking and bearing crowbars. These are reforms that most agree need to happen, but putting them in place is tough and sadly, it often hurts those we should protect the most... the children. Despite what some say, reforms need to happen in the US as well and this means upheaval here too. It can be challenging to separate the truth from the fabrications but I  hope that wherever the flag of edreform is raised that people will think of children and what is best for them. What is best for teachers is not always the best for children. It might be good in my own eyes to have a job, but if I'm not a good teacher, perhaps it is something that doesn't need to happen. Interesting reading. "The conflict is fueled by the importance of teaching jobs for the poor mountain and coastal villages where the dissident union is strongest. Teaching jobs in Guerrero with lifelong job security, benefits and pension pay about $495 and $1,650 a month, depending on qualifications and tenure, well above average in rural areas, according to teachers and outside experts. They said the price to get such as job can cost as much as $20,000, usually going to the departing teacher, with cuts for union and state officials."

Diane Ravitch calls it. Read her blog post on this major ethical issue. I think we need an independent testing company. Isn't there a conflict of interest here when a company creates textbooks and the test? "I am an 8th grade teacher in Xxxx, NY. On Day 1 of the NYS ELA 8 Exam, I discovered what I believe to be a huge ethical flaw in the State test. The state test included a passage on why leaves change color that is included in the Pearson-generated NYS ELA 8 text. I taught it in my class just last week. In a test with 6 passages and questions to complete in 90 minutes, it was a huge advantage to students fortunate enough to use a Pearson text and not that of a rival publisher. It may very well have an impact on student test scores. This has not yet received any attention in the press. Could you help me bring this to the attention of the public?"

US Census data is out and is being sliced and diced liked done on this edudemic article: 98% of students aged 6-14 are enrolled in school; 93% aged 14-18 are enrolled in school. 60% of 3-5 year olds are enrolled in nursery school; 92% of 5-6 year olds are enrolled in kindergarten. These numbers represent huge increases for the 3-6 year olds compared with 1970. In 1970, 20% of women and 27% of men attended college, compared with 38.6% of men and 47.5% of women in 2010. Generally only about 52% of school expenditures are for instruction. 29.7% go to 'support services' (a category that is not clearly defined here) Only four states spend more than $9,000 per pupil per year. 20 states spend $6,000 to $8,999, leaving the vast majority of states spending under $6K per year, per pupil.

"But even by reasonable standards, the nation's educational outcomes are not in much better shape than they were in 1983. Whether we're looking at overall scores or at achievement gaps, the trend lines for NAEP, the so-called Nation's Report Card, generally show a post-reform picture that looks pretty much like the pre-reform picture - with positive trend lines but apparent slowing after 1990. There is no way to tease those data into showing that test-based accountability reform is accomplishing its key learning goals."

I'm recording another episode of "Every Classroom matters" interviewing some of the teachers and organizers in the Chicago Early STEM college movement. As I researched for this show, I found this report out of North Carolina reporting an increase in test scores. A county here in Georgia is also implementing Early college stem as well. STEM is something every school needs (listen to the earlier show I recorded w/ Kevin Jarrett) but this is an interesting approach. "Just two years after it opened, a North Carolina high school has found that teaching students the principles of STEM can boost test scores and keep learners engaged. That's prompting the school to ask, "If we can do it, why can't other schools do it, too?" The school has a mouthful of a name: the Wake NC State University STEM Early College High School. It has attracted many students to its Raleigh campus - first generation-college students, minorities, and students from poor backgrounds - who are underrepresented in STEM fields. But in 2012, students did far better than average on the state's standardized exams, with more than 95 percent passing."

You can go to this website and find some cool ideas for science competitions. "The Elementary Science Olympiad offers over 80 challenging and motivational events which are balanced among the various science disciplines of life science, earth science, and physical science. These individual and team events also offer a balance among events requiring knowledge of science facts, concepts, processes, skills, and applications. While a number of the events are in the form of a general quiz, the majority provide an element of "hands-on" participation allowing the "active" study of science. The emphasis is on learning, participation, interaction, and having fun."

A well made flash resource that introduces the features of a forest and our responsibilities to look after them. The resource is generic enough that it is useful for forest locations from around the world. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Science

Mastering the art of teaching appears to be easier for some colleagues than others. Some teachers just seem to have a presence, gaining respect and credibility from students, colleagues and parents alike. Did they undergo some mysterious, magical training that wasn't covered during your teacher training course?  Well, no. They just have mastered how to manage their working relationships, using their personalities to generate rapport, which is respected by students of all age. It's not rocket science - it's far more complicated than that. Personality and behaviour clashes in classrooms are inevitable, but looking at all the different elements of daily interactions can help you gain respect from students and colleagues alike...

The general population is an eclectic mix of individuals. No two people are the same, and the challenges of one person will ultimately be outweighed by the challenges of another person. For those who fall outside the 'norms' of society, the challenges of everyday life are even more profound, unable to access the daily privileges that most people take for granted...

"During one of the standard visits to see family and friends recently, I came across a childhood game that had captured the imaginations of many a youngster in my generation…Scalextrics! A friend of mine had bought the classic car racing game for his five-year old son and I could not turn down the opportunity of a race…with the reasoning of showing my 11-month old daughter how it works ***cough, cough***."

"The History Engine is an educational tool that gives students the opportunity to learn history by doing the work-researching, writing, and publishing-of a historian. The result is an ever-growing collection of historical articles or "episodes" that paints a wide-ranging portrait of life in the United States throughout its history and that is available to scholars, teachers, and the general public in our online database." Via http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2012/04/history-engine-explore-stories-of.html