Group items tagged

"This site doesn't just present theories and ideas, but rather actionable solutions that can be immediately and easily implemented in service of a relevant education for American students who need to gain proficiency if not mastery of core subject areas while at the same time being prepared for the reality of future work. Imagination is a broad topic, encompassing everything the mind can conjure, so the findings in this report are focused on those that overlap with the changing world of work. Imagination is required to envision the skills demanded by the future as the rate of transformation continues to increase. Creativity and flexibility will be required to put shared ideas into effective practice as rapidly as the current crisis demands. A truly collaborative approach to problem solving is a necessity, and a recognition of the importance not only of science and mathematics, but of creativity, art and music to amplify learning. Einstein credits some of his greatest breakthroughs in insight to his violin breaks, which connected different parts of his brain in new ways. Is it possible to thrive in a perilous and yet exciting period of transformation?"

In the time to come mobile learning will not be a choice anymore, but a compulsive mode of learning to stay ahead. 

Physics Sketchpad is a free Android app that physics teachers may find useful. The app, which is still in beta, provides a simple interface creating simulations of the effects of global gravity on object and gravity between objects. The app also allows users to create collisions to view their effects on objects. The simulations that you create can be saved in your Physics Sketchpad notebooks. Sharing notebooks is a feature advertised for future development.

"This new report, "Learning in the 21st Century: Digital Experiences and Expectations of Tomorrow's Teachers," is the latest in the series and provides new insights that will inform college and university based teacher preparation programs as well as the induction and professional development processes within K-12 schools and districts. Tomorrow's teachers may have the keys to finally unlock the potential of technology to transform teaching and learning, but much depends upon their experiences in their preparation program and how well future school leadership can support their expectations for essential technology tools and resources."

As the availability and awareness of open educational resources grows, educators and open-content publishers are experimenting with hackathon-style content collaborations among subject-matter experts to create high school and college textbooks over the course of a few weekends.

The future success of e-learning depends on appropriate selection of tools and services. This symposium will propose that the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) as an institutional tool is dead, no more, defunct, expired. The first panel member, Steve Wheeler, will argue that many VLEs are not fit for purpose, and masquerade as solutions for the management of online learning. Some are little more than glorified e-mail systems. They will argue that VLEs provide a negative experience for learners. The second member of the panel, Graham Attwell, believes that the VLE is dead and that the Personal Learning Environment (PLE) is the solution to the needs of diverse learners. PLEs provide opportunities for learners, offering users the ability to develop their own spaces in which to reflect on their learning. The third panel member, James Clay, however, believes that the VLE is not yet dead as a concept, but can be the starting point of a journey for many learners. Creating an online environment involving multiple tools that provides for an enhanced experience for learners can involve a VLE as a hub or centre. The fourth panel member, Nick Sharratt, argues for the concept of the institutional VLE as essentially sound. VLEs provide a stable, reliable, self-contained and safe environment in which all teaching and learning activities can be conducted. It provides the best environment for the variety of learners within institutions.

Course Objective You may know about Moodle, Blackboard, Blogging, using Wikis, Edmodo, Canvas, or other learning or course management systems and how to add content and perhaps evaluate and grade students, but how do you facilitate online courses? Join the workshop to get tips and tricks on how to optimize your work as a facilitator of an online course. Free for teachers who wish to teach or are teaching online. Course Description Teachers will learn about online facilitation and how to turn online students into active learners. Participants will focus on best practices and learn a few tricks and tips on how to facilitate online classes and courses.Who should EnrollThe course is for current and future teachers who wish to teach blended or fully online classes.

Several teachers shared that keyboarding was the cornerstone of their elementary-age technology program. Others confessed their Admin wanted it eliminated as unnecessary. Still others dismissed the discussion as moot: Tools like Dragon Speak (the standard in speech recognition software) and iPhone's wildly-popular Siri mean keyboarding will soon be as useful as cursive and floppy discs.

Please take this poll - it is part of my workshop demonstrations for upcoming conferences

This interview series and the community are devoted to providing an opportunity for those who care about education to share their voices and ideas with others. It's a place for thoughtful discussion on an incredibly important topic.