Group items tagged

"Sugar is a learning platform that reinvents how computers are used for education. Collaboration, reflection, and discovery are integrated directly into the user interface. Sugar promotes "studio thinking" and "reflective practice". Through Sugar's clarity of design, children and teachers have the opportunity to use computers on their own terms. Students can reshape, reinvent, and reapply both software and content into powerful learning activities. Sugar's focus on sharing, criticism, and exploration is grounded in the culture of free software (FLOSS)."

"This is what psychologists call "metacognition," thinking about how we think. Trailblazer gave me an x-ray view of my own mental activity. Clicking on random memes triggered a curious search query and-boom-20 pages later I'd find a useful scientific paper. (I'm now more forgiving of falling down a Twitter hole.) Traditional academic citations never capture serendipity, the stumbling, associational nature of how knowledge relates to itself. Trailblazer does."

Some good ideas for getting to know your students using the iPad. I like the HaikuDeck idea, and the find someone who... idea.

"The 2010 Global Education Conference will be held November 15 - 19, 2010, online and free.  Sessions will be held in multiple time zones and multiple languages over the five days.  We are now accepting proposals for presentations.  The conference is a collaborative and world-wide community effort to significantly increase opportunities for globally-connecting education activities and initiatives.   (To clarify, this is a worldwide conference on globally-connected education, not a "global conference on general education").  All sessions will be held in the Elluminate platform, will be broadcast live, and will be available in recorded formats afterwards."

See, for example, the ToonBook reader -- in different languages.... "The initial phase of PGF is focused on K - 3 with emphasis on reading and writing skills. Over time, the site will incorporate the areas of science, mathematics, and other core areas, first at K -3rd grade level, and systematically expanding thereafter to encompass grades K - 8. This content will be state standards-based with the intent to include lesson plans, activities, classroom ideas, and incorporate assessment methodologies - all in an entertaining and fun atmosphere for kids.\n"

"Right now, this project is being conducted in English with fourth grade classes around the world, but we would love to open it up to other age ranges and languages over the course of the year. We are actively looking for more partners, so please feel free to sign up here! Once you've signed up, check out the teacher planning page to see how to get started. "

"Welcome to Kids Around the World! This site will introduce your students to the lives, customs, and cultures of children in countries throughout the developing world. There are a lot of ways you can use Kids Around the World in the classroom! Explore the site yourself to get an idea of how you want to use it in your curriculum. The lesson plans provided are excellent tools to get you started. They include activities for Grades K"

A list of games related to: "Issues relating to human activities and the natural environment including resource use, pollution, climate change, energy use, ecology, nature conservation and sustainable development."

Site for free stock footage for use with Green screens. Looks good!

Blog post which discusses what touchstone or mentor texts are and how teachers choose -- and use -- them....

Interactive whiteboard activity using singaporean currency. Can also select other currencies too.

With regards to creating a video like the one above do you: Do it because it's not only fun but likely does address some cirriculuar outcomes but you might have to look them up later. Fingers crossed. Do it and to heck with the outcomes, doing joyful things with students is important.  Do it but perhaps as an extra-curricular activity because you're not sure where it fits with a robust curriculum but still think it's important. Not do it at all.  

Interesting to think how this relates to primary and secondary education.... not just tertiary..... "In an era when students can easily grab material online, including lectures by gifted speakers in every field, a learning environment that avoids courses completely-or seriously reshapes them-might produce a very effective new form of college. That was the provocative notion posed here recently by Randy Bass, executive director of Georgetown University's Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship, during the annual meeting of the Educause Learning Initiative. He pointed out that much of what students rate as the most valuable part of their learning experience at college these days takes place outside the traditional classroom, citing data from the National Survey of Student Engagement, an annual study based at Indiana University at Bloomington. Four of the eight "high-impact" learning activities identified by survey participants required no classroom time at all: internships, study-abroad programs, senior thesis or other "capstone" projects, or the mundane-sounding "undergraduate research," meaning working with faculty members on original research, much as graduate students do."

Tons of great resources about teaching kids about earthquakes as well as seismic research, data, and activities.  Sponsored by the US National Science Foundation.

Students read blogs during silent reading

printable maps, map maker kits, map maker interactive, mapping activities

1) They are bright and creative 2) They are optimists 3) They are good at sharing 4) They are global learners and excellent teachers 5) They are conscious and conscientious 6) They are bold and brave 7) They are challenge-seekers 8) They are active participants and problem solvers 9) They are question askers 10) They value friends and relationships 11) They are changing the world 12) They still want and need our guidance