As the world moves toward more complex interactions, one of the most fundamental aspects of humanity is to enjoy its thoughts and its great works. Our journey has always been one of making classic literature available to anyone willing to listen, and now in this next phase, to expand our scope to include more thinkers, writers and essayists. Although thinking may not seem as relevant today, with advancing technology providing alternative vehicles of entertainment, we are committed to bringing a small part of intellectual enjoyment to the globe.
Collaborating on a debate assignment with Google Docs and Social Bookmarks
This evening I'm in Denton, Texas, and my son is back in Edmond, Oklahoma. He needed some help with his advanced debate class assignment, in which he's researching the definition of "Objectivism" and writing some attacks as well as defenses for it. Thankfully, as a 7th grader he knows how to use both Google Documents as well as Delicious social bookmarks.
He called me this evening after our weekly K-12 Online Conference organizer Skype call, and I helped him brainstorm ideas for his assignment. It was REALLY cool for both of us to work synchronously on the same Google Doc, and watch the text in real-time which we were both adding to the document. It was also great to see the social bookmarks he'd already saved on his delicious account for "objectivism," and make some suggestions for other sites he could utilize.
Imagine that you are writing your next great speech. As you scour your mind for the fact that will clinch your case, you will discover one of two things: either you know it, or you don't.
Most of us agree that the use of images and graphics in e-learning help the learners make visual associations. However the images or graphics need to be relevant to the content being presented. They need to support the text and be used, not for diversion, but a clear instructional purpose.
Teachers matter. A lot. Studies show that students with the best teachers learn three times as much as students with the worst teachers. Researchers say the achievement gap between poor children and their higher-income peers could disappear if poor kids got better teachers.