OZTL_NET

The Understanding by Design® framework (UbD™ framework) offers a planning process and structure to guide curriculum, assessment, and instruction. Its two key ideas are contained in the title: 1) focus on teaching and assessing for understanding and learning transfer, and 2) design curriculum "backward" from those ends.

"This classroom guide is intended to inspire and expand your thinking about effective assessment for project-based learning. The tips are organized to follow the arc of a project. First comes planning, then the launch into active learning, and then a culminating presentation. Reflection is the final stage"

"Project-based learning is a dynamic approach to teaching in which students explore real-world problems and challenges. With this type of active and engaged learning, students are inspired to obtain a deeper knowledge of the subjects they're studying. "

Feed readers are the only efficient way to consume content on the web. There are lots of readers out there to help you manage, organize and keep up to date on all the latest news, posts and updates from your favorite sites. The interface and features between different readers may vary slightly, but they mostly all feel the same to me.  Because of this I've stuck with Google Reader, lacking the motivation required to export, import and re-organize all my feeds in a new place. Despite sticking with Google Reader, managing my feeds has always been a daunting chore. I hate the daily sifting through mounds of unread content. It wasn't until last year when I discovered Feedly, that my relationship with my RSS reader changed.

Rockerfeller Foundation..gameing

"Mission 1) To engage millions of students in digital learning for mastering the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in school, college and careers in the global innovation economy. 2) To empower educators and school systems by enhancing their 21st-century capabilities and STEM learning and teaching opportunities. 3) To power up classrooms and turn them into networked design studios that motivate students to work harder and dig deeper into content and complex projects. Support for Globaloria is provided by forward-thinking government leaders, school systems, public, private, and corporate foundations."

"Using games as a learning tool is not new--research abounds to demonstrate the use of video games enhancing problem-solving skills and creativity. Pioneer educational games, like Carmen Sandiego and Oregon Trail, have given birth to online, multiuser, digital simulations that would make their forebears blush. Now, in what seems to be a natural evolution, a growing number of schools are taking the concept one step further and asking students to design the games themselves. Game creation as a learning tool is really just a digital-age take on the old learning-by-doing approach to teaching: Students pick up concepts easier and retain more information when they are hands on with their subject matter. In game creation, students are presented with the task of building a digital learning activity that focuses on a particular topic, such as ecology, mathematics, or social studies. Using a framework and the fundamentals of game design, they create a game that demonstrates their knowledge of the topic."

"I got several emails after I posted about the Teacher's Roadmap to Twitter Use in Education. I know it is hard for me to answer all of your emails in time so please bear with me . But for those who asked me about a post about educational hashtags I would recommend them to check the article entitled " The Best 15 Twitter Hashtags for Educators " which I have published a couple of months ago."

"Maria Montessori launched an international movement during the 20th century with her approach to early-childhood learning. She showed through example that education happens "not by listening to words but by experiences upon the environment." The Italian physician and child-development expert pioneered learning environments that foster capable, adaptive citizens and problem solvers. Jean Piaget, the Swiss developmental psychologist, helped us understand how we make meaning from our experiences at different ages. His insights laid the foundation for the constructivist approach to education in which students build on what they know by asking questions, investigating, interacting with others, and reflecting on these experiences. Learning from Real Life "

eSchool News article on the shift in how school libraries opeate in the digial age

"School librarians bring pedagogical order and harmony to a multi-media clutter of information by crafting challenging learning opportunities, in collaboration with classroom teachers and other learning specialists, to help learners use the virtual world, as well as the traditional information sources, to prepare for living, working and life-long learning in the 21st Century"

Microsoft - Partners in Learning free tools

"A blog about search, search skills, teaching search, learning how to search, learning how to use Google effectively, learning how to do research. It also covers a good deal of sensemaking and information foraging."