"Everywhere I look I'm seeing 'Flip teaching' or 'Flipped classroom'. There's a lot of hype about this 'flipping' idea and it's getting me flipping irritated. What does flipping actually involve? Does anyone know, or is the term being misused or misrepresented? Even Aaron Sams, a highly visible proponent of the flipped movement admits that the term is ambiguous. This morning, the May issue of Wired Magazine landed on my doormat, and what did I see inside? An article entitled 'University just flipped'. Well, dip me in mayonnaise. Perhaps I'm mistaken, but when you get down to the fundamentals, isn't flipping the classroom a load of old hat? Haven't we been doing it for years?"
"Shelley Wright is not afraid to admit that she made a mistake when it came to embracing the popular concept of flipped classrooms. About two years ago she gave the approach a try in her own classroom, saying at the time that in the hands of the right teacher, it could be a completely revolutionary approach to education.
Since then, she has flipped back, and in an article for Ed Tech Magazine she explains why."
"Digital bookmarking is a pivotal learning skill. It does not only allow you to organize your information into one single platform accessible from anywhere with an internet connection but can also help you in your professional growth. Web2.0 technologies have made it way easier for us to control and curate the content we come across online. I definitely believe that without the power of bookmarking we would never be able to manage the huge influx of information Internet provides."
Because different interfaces create and display Twitter messages in different ways, depending on your interface, you may have an entirely different idea of what a retweet is than someone else does. And also because tweets that look similar can act in different ways, people take a long time to learn how messages on Twitter work.
Andrew Miller, an educational consultant, writes that a "flipped" classroom still requires instructors to demonstrate the value of their content, whether online or offline. "Just because I record something, or use a recorded material, does not mean that my students will want to watch, nor see the relevance in watching it," he writes. " … If the flipped classroom is truly to become innovative, then it must be paired with transparent and/or embedded reason[s] to know the content."
What does Google Moderator do?
Google Moderator allows you to create a series about anything that you are interested in discussing and open it up for people to submit questions, ideas, or suggestions. These are called submissions.
Anyone can come to the site and submit a question, idea, or vote, and anyone can vote. Google Moderator shows you a question in the box with the blue background. This is called the Featured Question.
A topic is a way to break up your series into smaller, more manageable topics of discussion. You can have one topic, or multiple topics. For example, if you create a series of 'Book clubs' for your organization, topics could be 'Fiction,' 'Non-fiction,' or 'Auto-biographies.'
Technology utilization in distance education has demonstrated its significance in the transfer of knowledge for both the instructors and the learners. This is also made possible through the use of the Internet which helps change the traditional teaching approaches into more modern methods when integrated with the pedagogical instruction. Mobile devices together with other forms of technology-based tools in education have established their potential in language teaching. In this regards, the Teaching of English as a Second Language (TESL) has become easier and more attractive via mobile learning. The aim of this study is to review the mobile-based teaching and learning in the English language classroom. Such integration of mobile learning with English language teaching may offer great innovations in the pedagogical delivery.
"I naively assumed that Twitter was a place for people to narcissistically blab their every move, and after reading "Why Educators Should Join Twitter," my mind was changed and I joined. My life is changed! I finally feel like I have others whose lives revolve around education the way mine does". Jaime Mendelis, Binghamton, NY
"ScheduleHangout is great for scheduling group hangouts on Google+Invite your guests, give them a few date options and ScheduleHangout does the rest. We'll help you organize the Hangout session around your friends/colleagues optimized availability."
YouTube is still the best place to find videos to use in the classroom, despite being blocked in many schools. If your school does allow you to use YouTube there are a few cool tips and tricks to improve your use of YouTube in the classroom.
"Chatzy is a good alternative to Facebook, Skype, Windows Live, and other messengers because:
Chatzy has no registration steps - your friends can join instantly
Chatzy is free and has no popup ads
Chatzy does not require Flash or any installation on your computer (= no spyware)
Chatzy works on all major browsers, with any language and through corporate firewalls
Chatzy is simple and easy to use"
Can [the framework] serve as an introduction to the concept of a personal learning network? Does it help you make sense of the wide range of relationships you've been building with online colleagues?
Does your digital footprint convey the message you want? If you don't know you should spend time figuring this out. In the 21st century our digital footprint conveys an important image and people should know what that is. Below are ideas that will enable you to explore and consider if your digital footprint conveys the message you want to share with the world. It will also give you ideas for activities you can do with your students so they can do the same.
Recently, I tried to explain to a teacher from another school how we are trying to use iPads BEYOND apps. We have over 100 apps on our school iPads and introduce our students according to age level to a variety of them, but the focus of the use of the devices NEEDS to remain primarily as a tool for:
exposing students to skills, characteristic of a "modern learner"
critical thinking
personal learning
transformative learning
workflow fluency
anytime/anywhere/anyhow
creating
The Department of Basic Education briefed Members on its Second Quarterly Performance Report from 1 July 2011 to 30 September 2011; on the progress on delivery of infrastructure development for technical schools; and on the Quality Learning and Teaching Campaign.
"Testmoz is a test generator that sports 4 question types, automatic grading, a really simple interface and detailed reports. It is free, and does not require you (or your students) to register. You can build a fully functional test in about a minute, so why don't you give it a try and generate a test?"