Oswego County 21st Century Leaders

A middle school was currently exploring the possibility of implementing a 1:1 program with approximately 1,060 students next year. They researched which devices to use; exploring the options of using MacBooks, netbooks, iPads, or iPods. After evaluating the devices above, we realized that a hybrid environment will likely be the most effective for our purposes. Even with a hybrid environment, though, we determined we needed one main device for the majority of our students. For that, we've chosen a netbook running Linux (they also provided more information on the Linux image they used). In our environment, we plan on distributing a netbook running Linux to the general student population. We will, in some cases with some students who have specialized learning needs, use iPads to accommodate the specified needs if appropriate. We will also have 6 carts of MacBooks (previously purchased) available for teachers to check out should they want to conduct a more in-depth multimedia project. The majority of the student work, however, will be created and engaged on the netbooks.

The recent release of Apple's iPad has opened up some great new ideas and creative paths for teachers looking for assistive technologies (AT) for their classroom. Tactile learners and digital natives alike love to use these handheld devices to learn about core curriculum standards within the classroom. According to Apple's website, "iPod touch and iPhone use a high-resolution Multi-Touch screen, ideal for those who have difficulty using a traditional keyboard and mouse." The iTunes app. store has even showcased a tab for special education apps, available as AT for students with learning disabilities. The app store often offers these same apps for the iPod Touch and iPhone. These tablets and handheld devices can be used in many different ways and offer communication options for students with autism.

We are always looking for tools to help special-needs children learn more effectively, so as to reduce the frustration level felt when they can not be independent or do not understand. The IPad has become such a tool, with over 10,000,000 apps in the Apple Store. The question is, where do you begin to look for the apps you need for your child? It takes a lot of time and research, but it can be done. Hopefully, this list will be the beginning of a process that will enable your child to feel successful and increase his or her self-esteem.

Taking notes is an everyday skill in education but often overlooked. Technology -- and more specifically, the Internet -- has rendered paper and pencil passé and allowed educators and students to raise note-taking to the next level. Most of the following sites use some form of the "post-it" or "sticky," but with the integration of Web 2.0 technologies.

The Initiative believes that the more that is discovered about how the brain works and the various motives which drive human behaviour, the more we are convinced that education has to be about much more than intellectual development, and that learning and schooling are certainly not necessarily synonymous. What politicians and commentators in many lands describe as being "a crisis in schools" is, we believe, better understood as a crisis in society's commitment to young people. All this is aggravated by a materialistic agenda that degrades the spiritual needs of individuals and nations to the single minded drive towards economic profitability.

Thisis the blog of Lisa Sykut, Reading coach in Phoenix. Check it out! She is using it for a book study she is doing with teachers.

Let's dream for a minute. What if we lived in a world in which students and educators…

After receiving a modest technology grant, a middle school in Ohio began deploying mobile devices and traditional computers in classrooms and labs. And a key component of the rollout has been in-depth development for teachers focused on problem solving, project-based learning, and student engagementAfter receiving a modest technology grant, a middle school in Ohio began deploying mobile devices and traditional computers in classrooms and labs. And a key component of the rollout has been in-depth development for teachers focused on problem solving, project-based learning, and student engagement

Good advice for all.

This article and guide outline the importance of effective assessments and how they can be used to measure student learning on project-based lessons. There is an easy downloadable guide w/ 10 tips for asssessing learning at each stage of a project-based lesson. This is relevant guven our need to shift our focus with the Common Core Standards.

5 publications worth reading! There is a huge opportunity to create effective, viable, and robust education technology policies that will improve the way teachers teach and increase student achievement. Now is the time for the education community to take bold steps for America's students!

Self-evaluation Rubrics for Basic Administrative Technology Use, 2010

They would be the first group to try a different curriculum, test the facility's innovative educational technology and undergo a learning experience unlike that of previous generations. After four years, they are expected to graduate with the habits of mind-curiosity, skepticism, compassion, wonder-that will prepare them to be better physicians.

The following chart shows ConnectSafely's recommendations for most teens. We realize that not all teens have the same level of maturity and that not all parents have the same rules for their kids' online socializing, so please review this chart with your teens to help set the right privacy settings for them.

Elevate the education conversation with your voice! This is a site for students to submit videos that... Offer new ideas for what education could be, and/or Inspire others to transform education, and/or Propose specific actions you or others can take to improve education in your community

Join Howard Rheingold and other noted educators in creating a world-class resource for teaching critical thinking and Internet literacies. We are building a framework in the pages linked in the menu to the left. Get started by adding to the list of tools and the list of important vocabulary. Check out the latest bookmarks on the Diigo Resources page.

This is a nice elementary math website created by a teacher and his students.

This link is to a short teacher developed clip of how easy it can be to make a screen cast using TechSmith's Camtasia. This teacher uses it to make Math video's for his class. I'll post another link to his site in a minute. I've used the software myself several times, it's comprehensive yet easy to use. Imagine how wonderful it would be for your students if you made these short Screencast lessons and posted them to an online class like Moodle, which we use in Central Square! Your class could then refer back to the virtual version of you teaching your lesson, whenever they needed it! Talk about reinforcement! If you are a Central Square Teacher, I challenge you to try this! Contact me and we'll get this started! Jacques