Group items tagged

"Take a twenty minute period in my life as evidenced below. I read a blog post found in my Reader feed, which leads me to a link on YouTube, that leads me to a quote, which leads me to the person who stated the quote, to find a link on their Twitter profile, only to find another article on something that I would have never found myself. I could go on from there, and I eventually will, but it is just amazing how one item, leads to another, and another, and so on. That is how learning should be; continuous, connected, and meaningful. If I wasn't interested in what was under the first link, I would have found another"

"Yes, food and clothing and blankets are necessary for survival. But so are the conversations, connections, and sense of community that come from real people sharing with other real people. Those are things we're losing as we distance ourselves from each other in large organizations and efficient modes of communication - as our digital lives overwhelm our in-person ones. We don't have to lose them - after all, organizations are made of people. But the more we act like employees, operating to get the job done as efficiently as possible, the less human we become. Sharing supplies and stories with neighbors is inefficient. Maybe Mike and Kelly will end up with things on their porch that they can't use and can't give away. Maybe they weren't the people who needed the supplies the most. "

"Of course, you don't have to be a drunk, a thief or a bitter failure for this to backfire. Everything you do now ends up in your permanent record. The best plan is to overload Google with a long tail of good stuff and to always act as if you're on Candid Camera, because you are."

"8. How do we tap into all learners' sense of agency, idealism and their social imaginations, i.e. their capacity to imagine the world, as it should be, and the tools and capacities to act?"

"After returning inspired and ready to change the world only to be thrust back into the invariable cycle of desks, worksheets, textbooks, and lockers, education's expectation for me hit me painfully hard. I realized that apparently my job is to shut up and study hard. If I'm so inclined, I can go out for a sport or join a club, but my schoolwork should trump all. I'm not supposed to contribute anything noteworthy to the world, but instead lay low and consume it until after I've graduated. Sure, adults applaud when we do something great outside of school."

"NBA superstar Kobe Bryant suffered a devastating injury recently, but he's been putting on a social-media clinic since. Byrant ruptured his left achilles during a game Friday night, ending his season and throwing a serious wrench into the Lakers' playoff plans. But his injury is significant in the bigger picture, too. At 34 and with some serious mileage on his body, it could end Bryant's time with Lakers - and, though unlikely, his career. While he's been sidelined on the court, however, Bryant's been more active than ever online. Whether tweeting encouragement to teammates, joining unexpected platforms or sharing surprisingly candid thoughts, the NBA legend has proved he's now a social media all-star, as well. SEE ALSO: Kevin Ware Tweets the Most Inspiring Pic You'll See Today But Bryant's social media surge isn't just a blueprint for sports stars and celebrities; it also contains examples that regular folks would be wise to pick up on. Below are five lessons we can all learn from Bryant's digital tour de force."

"Social networking is up significantly, according to the survey, with 74 percent of respondents reporting that their district maintains a presence on at least one social network, an increase of 44 percent over two years. Use of micro-blogging platforms such as Twitter increased 38 percent over the same period, according to the report, with 69 percent of those surveyed stating their district uses one."

"Blogging is an important part of who I am as a professional. I can use this space to share resources with you, reflect on my own practice and try to figure out how to be a better educator. It is my public reflection on technology, leadership and learning. Think about when you were in school. You write an essay. Who read it? Most likely the teacher and that is where it ended. You pour hours and hours into reflections on Shakespear, the economic and political effects of wars on society or how plants have evolved over time, yet the only person who read your thoughts are the teacher. Maybe you shared with a close friend or even the class. But generally the world was unaware of your thoughts and feelings. Blogging changes that for kids. Now the audience is global and anyone can read, and in some cases respond and comment. Kids can post their writing, projects, thoughts and reflections. Teachers can provide prompts or starters and kids can pick up and run with it. More and more teachers and classrooms are embracing blogging in the classroom. You're thinking about it, but are unsure where to even start or how to get started. Lets take a look at some classroom blogging resources to get started with. There are lots of platforms to use. And the one you pick will depend on your district (blocked or not, policies, etc.) and how you want to manage them. Two very popular platforms are Edublogs and Kidblog. Both are very teacher friendly and ofter lots of features that make management easy. Edublogs has a great Getting Started section that will walk you through creation of your blogs and how to use them in the classroom. "

"This is a true story. Three years ago, an eleven-year-old blogger here on Edublogs wrote a post about his favorite lunch food - salami. As part of his post, he used Google Images to find a quick photo of salami that he then uploaded to his blog. Fast forward to now. Our Edublogs support team just received a lengthy cease and desist letter from a large law firm that represents the photographer of the salami photo. The formal letter describes all sorts of legal problems for Edublogs and the author of the blog should we not immediately remove the photo in question."

"In an inquiry-based learning environment, this foundation is already there. In fact, consider how a few questions could fundamentally alter the way students use what they are learning: What can be done with what you're learning? How could this be used to improve the lives of others? How does this connect to your interests, passions, and other studies? How could this be used to enhance something you are doing or exploring elsewhere? Care. Happiness. Love. Passion. Respect. What an amazing opportunity we have every day to put these at the forefront of our mission. As the video above asks at the end, "Are [we] crazy enough?""

"Technology has enabled us to interact, innovate and share in whole new ways. This dynamic shift in mindset is creating profound change throughout our society. The Future of Learning looks at one part of that change, the potential to redefine how we learn and educate. Watch as we talk with world renowned experts and educators about its potential to shift away from traditional methods of learning based on memorization and repetition to more holistic approaches that focus on individual students' needs and self expression."

Is this type of education possible? If not, why not? And if not, what are the consequences for learners and learning?

""It's kind of weird," Khan explained, "when people are nitpicking about multiplying negative numbers." When asked why so many teachers have such adverse reactions to Khan Academy, Khan suggests it's because they're jealous. "It'd piss me off, too, if I had been teaching for 30 years and suddenly this ex-hedge-fund guy is hailed as the world's teacher." Of course, teachers aren't "pissed off" because Sal Khan is the world's teacher. They're concerned that he's a bad teacher who people think is great; that the guy who's delivered over 170 million lessons to students around the world openly brags about being unprepared and considers the precise explanation of mathematical concepts to be mere "nitpicking." Experienced educators are concerned that when bad teaching happens in the classroom, it's a crisis; but that when it happens on YouTube, it's a "revolution.""

"This program is brilliant because instead of dictating to students exactly what they need to learn in a forced fed fashion, they are allowed to explore various fields of study based on their own curiosity. They are learning how to learn for themselves which is much more valuable than temporarily memorizing a set of facts that are meaningless to the individual. It's a paradigm shift from hoop jumping to mind expansion."

"There's a grand tradition of using students in videos to advocate for changes in learning, teaching, and educational technology. See, for example, A Vision of Students Today and No Future Left Behind and I Need My Teachers to Learn and You Can't Be My Teacher. Continuing the trend, here's a video from Pearson called A Serious Talk: Kids Demand Next-Generation Learning. Happy viewing!"

"I read this great article from the Harvard Business Review this morning that would be a great article to share with staff at the beginning of year to spark some discussion. The author talks about school's inadequacies in preparing students to actually be leaders in our world because of what they are taught from the first moment of when they come to school. I could take many great quotes from the post (you should really read it), but I love these thoughts on the importance of leaders serving others:"

"Once a week, a new to-do pops up on my productivity software client that alerts me that it's time to do a blog entry. Most of the time I admire the line and proceed to complete a dozen other tasks that, if not completed, will affect my job performance. Yet, I am fully aware that I am a part-time Web 2.0 evangelist like many of you. Here are a few reasons why educators should blog:"

Later this week, we're going to have a more in-depth look at the characteristics of digital citizenship, but the infographic below I ran across on educatorstechnology.com last week takes a more student-friendly approach by defining digital citizenship in terms of its actions and habits: using, sifting, mastering, creating-the literal actions that ultimately define the tone of a student's interactions with their digital environments.

This makes it useful not just as a visual for teacher understanding, but for students to discuss, internalize, and apply themselves. In fact, hanging it in the classroom, computer labs, media centers, and other highly-visible places might make sense as well: the rules of the world of digital networks and social media

A digital tool that allows you to show videos to kids and embed questions in the video that students need to answer before moving on in the video. Answers can be tracked at the student level and videos can be assigned by class.