Group items matching

in title, tags, annotations or url

I had the wonderful app-ortunity to make a site visit to Westlake H.S. in Eanes ISD on Wednesday February 1st. When we arrived, various campus and district officials shared some background on the student-centered learning initiative. They focused on multiple benefits of the 1:1 iPad initiative where high school seniors were issued iPads like textbooks at the beginning of the year. In a time where global communication, inquiry-based opportunities, and self-directed learning is how students manage the information revolution, it was refreshing to get to observe an iLearning Utopia.

Brilliant perspective in the need to broaden our understanding of literacy.

Take a moment to reflect: How many minilessons have you taught this year that guide students to become effective digital readers? Do you have anchor charts or scaffolds in place that will support them as they attempt to read digitally with independence? Have you provided ample time for them to read diverse genres or self-select their onscreen reading material?

"In the article Room for Beliefs: Linking Classroom Design and What We Value, Debbie Miller helps us think through the ways that our room design reflects the things we value about student learning. She provides three important questions to think about when we map out our classroom designs that we want others to be able to answer when they visit our rooms:

was so intrigued by a video that was created by Rod Lucier's cohort at the Learning 2.011 conference (and this reflection that you should read) this last week in Shanghai that I wanted to share it. 

10 videos Total length: 13 minutes Description: Where did the phrase 'a wolf in sheep's clothing' come from? And when did scientists finally get round to naming sexual body parts? Voiced by Clive Anderson, this entertaining romp through 'The History of English' squeezes 1600 years of history into 10 one-minute bites, uncovering the sources of English words and phrases from Shakespeare and the King James Bible to America and the Internet. Bursting with fascinating facts, the series looks at how English grew from a small tongue into a major global language before reflecting on the future of English in the 21st century.

ABSTRACT This article outlines a learning intervention which the authors call Learning by Design. The goal of this intervention is classroom and curriculum transformation, and the professional learning of teachers. The experiment involves the practical application of the learning theory to everyday classroom practice. Its ideas are grounded in pedagogical principles originally articulated in the Multiliteracies project, an approach to teaching and learning that addresses literacy and learning in the context of new media and the globalizing knowledge economy. The need for a new approach to learning arises from a complex range of factors - among them, changes in society and the economy; the potential for new forms of communication made possible by emerging technologies; and rising expectations amongst learners that education will maximize their potential for personal fulfillment, civic participation and access to work. The authors first brought together the Learning by Design team of researchers and teachers in 2003 in order to reflect upon and create new and dynamic learning environments. A series of research and development activities were embarked upon in Australia and, more recently, in the United States, exploring the potentials of new pedagogical approaches, assisted by digital technologies, to transform today's learning environments and create learning for the future - learning environments which could be more relevant to a changing world, more effective in meeting community expectations and which manage educational resources more efficiently. One of the key challenges was to create learning environments which engaged the sensibilities of learners who are increasingly immersed in digital and global lifestyles - from the entertainment sources they choose to the way they work and learn. It was also about enabling teachers to explicitly track and be aware of the relationship between their pedagogical choices and their students' learning outcomes.

"Failing Forward" is a relatively recent entry into our cultural lexicon-at least as far has headlines go anyway-that has utility for students and teachers. Popularized from the book of the same name, the idea behind failing forward is to see failing as a part of success rather than its opposite. Provided we keep moving and pushing and trying and reflecting, failure should, assuming we're thinking clearly, lead to progress, So rather than failing and falling back, we fail forward. Tidy little metaphor.

"From personal experience blogging is one of the most beneficial professional development activities I have ever engaged with. I learn more from blogging than I do from almost any other activity I participate in."

"Want to create better teachers? I know how. One word. Blogging."

"Here are five benefits that I would consider you would have in starting up your own teacher blog this year to assist you in your professional development as a teacher:"

How to Make Better Teachers Why blog?

"Take Me Back.to - Time Machine Tool"

"..."Literacy" is more than just reading text on a page.Communicating in today's world includes multisensory, multimodal, and interactive experiences to engage audiences. What does this mean for teachers and students?"

"A learning environment expert and education advocate, Elyse is dedicated to improving the teaching of writing by helping educators understand the changing nature of the discipline in a digital age."

Twitter can be used as a backchannel, encouraging reflection and conversation between kids. Twitter can give students a voice that they haven't generally had. Twitter can become a place to imagine. In the end, using Twitter in high school classrooms makes sense mostly because it is a social space that has already been embraced by today's teens.

Great summary of existing ideas on Digital Portfolios.

This matrix looks like it could be a VERY useful tool for self-evaluation of technology integration into the curriculum.

Resources supporting the full integration of technology in Florida schools -- there's a great matrix showing levels of integration into the curriculum: Entry, Adoption, Adaptation, Infusion, and Transformation.