Group items tagged

"While my last blog post was focused on developing shareable content FOR schools via social media, I have taken a step back to look at the bigger picture and the different components schools need to consider and gain fluency in order to best harvest the power of social media for them. awareness of the difference between social media IN schools and FOR schools social media strategy for schools social media platforms and tools: characteristics, capabilities, type of content suited for particular platform, image/video sizes characteristics of shareable content"

"As I am meeting with teachers individually, I can't stress enough the importance of READING other blogs (professional, student, blogs about your hobby, blogs about other interests you have etc.). I am trying to filter and funnel quality blogs in education, their grade level and areas of interest to them as I come across them, so they can build a quality RSS Reader. BUT.. we need their help in having a basic understanding of blogs, its pedagogical uses, as a platform of a new writing genre (digital writing) and how our blogfolios fit into your curriculum and the BIG PICTURE of LEARNING. The blogfolios are not a platform to use only for a particular subject, but should give evidence of learning for each student."

"As I am speaking of the benefits of blogging as a professional and student, I sometimes wonder if the word "blogging" is not a word we speak as we talk at cross-purposes with other educators. When I use the word "blogging", I am NOT seeing: technology, a project, an add-on to the curriculum content. When I use the word "blogging", I am seeing: learning how to read and write in digital spaces, the possibility of writing for an authentic global audience, a platform for reflection, investigation, documentation and curation, a platform that supports and amplifies modern skills and literacies. On the tails of Visible Thinking Routines for Blogging, comes this new blog post that wants to make Blogging VISIBLE!"

"Pinterest has the reputation of being the social network platform of women. There are hundreds of boards that fit the typical cliché of teenie girls with movie star crushes, women in their twenties and thirties obsessed with their future wedding dresses, bored housewives decorating their fictitious mansions, shopaholics who pin their dream wardrobes. Probably all true, but just as with any other social network platform, there is another side to Pinterest, if you are willing to give it a try, dig deeper, experiment and are willing to become a pioneer of trying things that no one has tried before."

"What tools and platforms are available to better assist schools in better communicate and market themselves to parents and a community at large? How about creating School Information Network Channels by using diverse media platforms to: * stay in touch * solicit feedback * share upcoming and current events * share different media (audio, images & video) * share students' voices"

"We did it! Our school has a blog for EVERY classroom. We are also in the process of rolling out individual student blogs to be the platform for student portfolios. It is a huge shift for teachers to "think" blog as their home/school communication hub. An even higher learning curve among teachers seems to be the shift to using the blog as a platform"

"The step from using a static website or emails as a mean to share announcements or calendar items to sharing the same type of items on a blogging platform is not far nor a steep step. My ultimate goal for using a classroom blog or student blogfolios though, is that of creating transformative teaching and learning opportunities, not to have a platform that substitutes a composition book or paper journal. To make the difference visible and clearer, I am looking through the lens of the SAMR model."

"There are different ways to hold a conversation. I am using several platforms/methods to hold a conversation with the faculty of the Shore, Church of England Grammar School from Sydney, Australia. Our topic is documenting FOR and AS learning. We are somewhat "flipping" my school site visit (scheduled for next June) and are using several of the below mentioned platforms/methods and resources to start the conversation around documenting for learning, build common vocabulary and understanding and plan for our face to face time together."

"Transliteracy is defined on Wikipedia as The ability to read, write and interact across a range of platforms, tools and media from signing and orality through handwriting, print, TV, radio and film, to digital social networks. The modern meaning of the term combines literacy with the prefix trans-, which means "across; through", so a transliterate person is one who is literate across multiple media."

"Students need our guidance to use virtual platforms for ACADEMIC purposes. We can't rely on their "so called" native status to know how and what to do. Just a few years ago, no one had heard of "backchanneling", nowadays, it has become main stream (although most people might not associate the term "backchannel" and "backchanneling" with something they might be familiar with."

"3 years ago, we created blogs (WordPress platform) for ALL classroom teachers and resources. There was an expectation for teachers to be at least on the first step of the blogging ladder, illustrated in the image below. Their classroom blog needed to be, as a minimum, a replacement of a weekly folder filled with parent-school communication and homework assignments. Teachers were expected to learn how to update their blogs (at least on a weekly basis), insert images and videos and categorize their blog posts."

"I am still amazed at the amount of educators, who believe that Twitter holds NO VALUE for their professional learning. Many hold on to the belief that Twitter is a waste of time, used to follow celebrities, listen to gossip and bad hair day complaints. If YOU were able to get past that initial Twitter reputation, diving into the Twittersphere can be scary, OVERWHELMING and participating in this global conversation platform does not necessarily come naturally to everybody."

"The faculty at my school has a problem! Their heads are spinning because they have several different social media platforms available for them."

"Nowadays, public speakers, consultant or conference workshop leaders are not the only ones "presenting" to an audience. Kindergarten students are becoming presenters, as they are showing their work to a global audience on platforms such as their classroom blog or even their own blogfolios. In the age of youTube, Flickr and Slideshare, anyone can be a presenter with a click of an upload button."

"The Situation: I am working with Middle School students (Grades 6-8 - 11-13 year olds) at Graded, The American School of Sao Paulo, Brazil. One of the vision of our division is to create student blogfolios (Digital Portfolios on a blogging platform) to encourage and support sharing and documentation of learning artifacts and to receive authentic global feedback. We are just at the beginning of our journey to use the blogs to document and reflect. Specifically… Our 8th graders have written a "This I Believe" essay, which they are "upgrading" from a text base essay to a video or audio presentation using images, video or sound to not just "enhance with technology" but to truly transform a reader's/viewer's experience."

"My Middle School is using blogger (part of Google) as a platform for our students' blogfolios. The blogfolio (term coined by Andrea Hernandez) is part blog and part digital portfolio. Students not only showcase their best work, but document their learning journey. A blogfolio shows student work at a particular moment in time (due to its chronological nature) with a reflective component to show evidence of growth and learning over time."

"Gone are the days, when you had to learn HTML code, know how to upload via FTP (File Transfer Protocol) and create images in Photoshop in order to design a website. Nowadays, you can use a blog (platform) as an easy tool to create and update a website. Choose from thousands of template themes available online (for free) to have a well designed and good looking presence on the web."

"I have had the pleasure of working with the Kauai Pacific School and Martin J. Gottlieb Day School faculty this past month in getting started with classroom blogs. The familiarity of reading and writing in a blog platform varies tremendously. I found it very helpful to start out with a brief overview of the architecture and vocabulary of a blog."

"All of our classrooms at MJGDS have their own blog. Several grade levels are piloting individual student portfolios based on a blogging platform. * How do you keep up with all this information? * How do you filter and organize it? * How can you avoid having to go back to blogs to check if the owner has updated with a new post? You can download this How-To-Guide for Subscribing via RSS & Google Reader to Classroom Blogs as a pdf."

"Getting an entire school on board with a digital communication platform aka classroom blog is a PROCESS. A (baby) step by (baby) step process… As the interaction between teachers, school, students, parent and global community increases, so does the need for other "little" pieces of 21st century literacies. "