Group items tagged

"MasteryConnect just released a new Next Generation Science Standards app on iOS and Android (the windows version comes out next week). Like MasteryConnect's Common Core State Standards app, the free science app is a great resource for teachers, parents, and students. The app is easy to navigate. You can search by grade level, topic or keyword. Encouraging integration, the new science app also makes referencing standards in the Common Core so easy."

"Brain researchers have long studied how students hear and read individual words, but it has proven difficult to parse out what happens when a reader understands a long and difficult passage of text. Now, a team of researchers at Northwestern University in Evanston,Ill., have developed a new way to view reading comprehension in the brain, and in the process highlighted a new angle for testing comprehension that isn't skewed by a student's background knowledge."

"Thanks to our fabulous ambassador Suzy Brooks, we've connected the dots with awesome New Zealand-based company Puteko to bring you this fantastic new International Dot Day colAR coloring activity. Watch your dot go from 2D to stunning 3D! Here are some photos from Peter H. Reynolds, author of The Dot. Peter created his dot, followed the instructions below - and voilà:"

"As the new school year begins, it's already time to start mapping our your professional development for the 2013-2014 school year. While the traditional pillars of curriculum, assessment, and instruction get the lion's share of attention in professional growth plans, education technology-or #edtech-is increasingly common in PD as experienced teachers seek to integrate it more deeply, new teachers see what's out there, and skeptical teachers can stand on the periphery and evaluate what they see."

"We're rapidly heading into a world where those who can't understand code are left behind. Everyone should try learning at least one programming language, even if it's just so that they can communicate their needs to tech people. Knowing some code-fu does wonders for your problem-solving and logic, too. Whether you're aiming for eventual App Store success, dipping your toes into a new hobby, or just trying to learn a new skill, these eight iOS apps will help you distinguish loops from conditionals and provide all the groundwork you need to become a 1337 coder - no matter your age or technical know-how."

"Below are some of the new educational video resources I have recently discovered. I am adding them to the list of top video resources I have compiled here in Educational Technology and Mobile Learning. The purpose is to help teachers and students lay their hands on some useful educational documentaries, tutorials, clips and many more."

"In The eLearning Coach New Year's tradition, I'm presenting another list of compelling ways to learn online this year. Opportunities for learning seem limitless, applications get smarter and the content gets richer. I just hope we don't all evolve into robot heads at some point. Enjoy! At the end you'll find links to lists from the three previous years."

"Like all teachers I have found that the right visual aids can make all the difference between students understanding a term or walking away shaking their heads. This pattern is carries over to learning new vocabulary words and or seeing the connections between similar words. Here are five visual dictionaries and thesauri that can help your students learn new vocabulary words."

"Back to school. Three words teachers either despise or are very excited for. If you're using an iPad for teaching for the first time, going back to school can feel nervewracking and overwhelming. While the learning curve for teaching with iPads is not necessarily a steep one, it is important to be(come) confident in what you are doing with your device in front of your class."

"If you ask a student what makes him or her successful in school, you probably won't hear about some fantastic new book or video lecture series. Most likely you will hear something like, "It was all Mr. Jones. He just never gave up on me." What students take away from a successful education usually centers on a personal connection with a teacher who instilled passion and inspiration for their subject. It's difficult to measure success, and in the world of academia, educators are continually re-evaluating how to quantify learning. But the first and most important question to ask is: Are teachers reaching their students?"

" It's one thing to use Evernote, but it's entirely another thing to master Evernote. If you're new to Evernote, I don't want to come across like it's something complicated - it's not, in fact, it's the complete opposite. But there is a lot to Evernote - more than most of its users probably don't take advantage of."

"Google Alerts is one of Google's hidden gems. It's a really powerful tool to keep track of trends, interesting topics, or anything really new that appears on the web. If you're not using it already, here are a few creative ways to get started with it."

"I argued yesterday that authentic learning is a vital part of education in the 21st Century. The need to create learning opportunities that are grounded in reality, and form a concrete basis for real world transferable knowledge and skills has never been more important. We also need authentic assessment for learning. Too often in school classrooms around the world the delivery of content is abstract, disconnected and decontextualised. Students are then regularly tested on their recall of what they have 'learnt' and graded as successes or failures. But exactly what is their success or failure? And what does this process of assessment teach students about the school system? Part of the problem is that content is delivered, with little opportunity for students to make personal sense of that content. Another problem is that students are then expected to replicate that 'knowledge' in a form that is recognisable as the original. Students are therefore learning exactly what is already known, rather than exploring new knowledge and gaining fresh insight on the world. "

"Why wait for a formal workshop environment to start improving your teaching craft, when there are so many opportunities to build your network and learn new skills on your own? We've compiled a list of the best resources for do-it-yourself PD to get you started."

"Introducing new technology into the classroom, especially iPads, can be overwhelming -- even daunting. When first getting started, the technology may seem like more of a distraction than a learning opportunity. So how do you begin? "

"I thought this one was important to share again as we start a new school year and with Common Core (with content area literacy) looming, I thought it'd be a good resource. I have added more novels to the list since the original post (thanks to some helpful friends and more reading). "

"With the rise of new trends such as a flipped classroom and whole brain teaching, there is an emphasis on getting students more actively involved in learning in the classroom. And whether or not you choose to fully embrace either of these methods, we can all agree that we want students participating as much as possible. When students are actively participating, they are learning. In math classes we typically involve students in the problem-solving side, but we don't often expect them to provide explanations."