Group items tagged

"In the face of the "new normal" of decreased budgets and increased expectations, many administrators are turning to technology to enhance teaching and learning while mitigating the consequences of consecutive years of budget cuts. Mobile learning, in particular, has attracted a great deal of attention for its potential to engage students by leveraging the technology environment they have grown accustomed to in their non-school lives; its potential to scale personalized learning and reduce the digital divide; its potential to extend learning beyond the four walls of the classroom and the limited hours of the school day; and its potential to enable new pedagogies based on the affordances of these devices that students already carry at their fingertips.Still, the field of mobile learning is still emerging and there are many questions to be addressed when contemplating a mobile learning implementation. How do we create a program with a sustainable impact on teaching and learning, rather than a superficial adoption of the currently "hot" technology? What are the steps involved in implementing a mobile learning program? How do we optimize the investment of our technology dollars? How do we choose devices, networks, and software for our implementation? What are the security considerations in implementing a mobile learning program? What are the policy considerations for a mobile learning program? What are the professional development considerations? What are the teaching models associated with mobile learning? What are the options for funding a mobile learning program?"

"Science Apps Science Apps Apps are the latest way to connect users to information via tablet computers and smartphones. These programs offer users the opportunity to hold science in their hands and put quality resources in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics literally at their fingertips. Science NetLinks is in the early stages of gathering and reviewing STEM-related apps for both the iPad and the Android. Please check back often as we expect to add new app-related tools on a regular basis."

As written on the post topic, you can expect to find on this upcoming list, services that don't require registration, nor download from any kind in order to use them. Tools that are really easy-to-use (most of them are single-page sites), and basically web-applications that can help on your daily internet visit/work. To be honest, it is not so hard to create lists of web 2.0 services, especially if you own a blog or a directory that contains relevant content. BUT it is definitely not easy to isolate the most useful ones from hundreds of sites.

Schools turning from textbooks to more versatile technology More schools across the country are offering students laptops, e-readers and iPods rather than traditional textbooks. Schools are basing their decisions on the expected long-term savings of investing in technology that can be updated quickly with new information. "If we continue to prepare kids for their past, that's very expensive," a Harvard educator said. "Their future is largely going to be in new media. And textbooks are no longer preparing them for that future." ABC News

"PaperRater.com analyzes documents immediately, 24/7, in real-time. We provide in depth analysis to help the student improve grammar and writing. You would expect PaperRater.com to take into account all rules related to spelling and grammar. However, you may be surprised to learn that Paper Rater also helps the student to improve the document's readability, word choice, and style. Additional analysis and comments are provided that help the student to improve his/her writing, not only on this assignment, but in all future writing assignments. Coming Soon! Even though PaperRater.com is the most powerful writing tool available on the internet today, we are currently developing many additional features, including: * grammar and writing tutorials * grammar and writing webinars * ability to create a personal database online for essays and research papers * search hundreds of online databases automatically"

If you learned it you should have got an A on it (Scholar Ladies video and Beyoncé remix) Singing and dancing students, teachers and administrators in the YouTube video, "Scholar Ladies (Get An A On It)" share a positive message about high expectations for school learning and good grades.

I've also noticed that a lot of our students struggle to learn without direct teacher instruction - they don't seem to be as independent in their learning as I've come to expect. I'm not sure if that's because we are living in Japan, where literally every single thing comes with explicit instructions (e.g. the audio warnings everywhere you go, like "You are now on the escalator, hold the handrail and stand on the left," or this interesting story about Crocs) or if they're just used to being directly told what to do. I want to make sure that my students understand that they can learn anytime, anywhere, from anyone who is willing and able to share their knowledge. I want them to have the skills not only to be able to find out the answer, but also to share what they know. I'm glad to see that other teachers are trying the same thing too…

Nice skill chart via Edutopia on technology skills and when they should either be Introduced, Developed, Applied.  The chart is for K-6 grade students. 

A sign of a great education in progress is the ability to think beyond expected boundaries and integrating interdisciplinary ideas.