Group items tagged

Critical thinking is the underlying skill needed for a student to be able to develop information and media literacy. Thus, I chose an article entitled "Assignments that promote critical thinking."

Suggestions for lesson on development of critical thinking skills

What Is a "Hangout?" A Hangout is a web-based tool created by Google for communicating through video. Up to ten people can "hang out" at one time in a virtual "room." A Hangout can be as simple or as complex as needed. It can be used simply to converse or, through the use of extra apps and add-ons that Google provides, a Hangout can become a virtual meeting space.

Steve Wheeler's article discusses seven benefits of teacher blogging.

This article is encouraging for someone like me that is just being introduced to blogging. The author, Steve Wheeler, states that blogging causes students to reflect, can open up to other people that are interested in their subject and can provided valuable feedback. He stated, "Blogging can create personal momentum". I hope as a new learner, I learn to understand and appreciate his enthusiasm.

Great article on the benefits of a course blog . . . " Students who read, commented, and were involved with the blog maintained their initially positive attitudes" towards course.

Summaries the benefits of blogging: blogging is public, we are more attentive to quality of work; blogging creates a person-centered discussion; and blogging "encourages higher levels of reasoning-- at times upper levels--analyzing, evaluating, and creating--of Bloom's Taxonomy" and ways to get started.

In this article, Steve Wheeler discusses the changing role of teachers from traditional classroom teachers to global educators. He discusses the top five tools he believes global educators need to connect with global communities, resources and audiences.

Google just recently released 10 classroom-ready lesson plans that teach students how to be responsible digital citizens and to protect themselves online. Lessons include information on media literacy and privacy.

Jane Hart gives a preview of her list of the top 100 tools for learning on the web.

This article, written by EDUDEMIC author, Jeff Dunn, offers 5 distinct reasons why schools need to move toward Digital Textbooks/ebooks as opposed to traditional paper books/texts. He begins by adding support to his stance by citing Ed Secretary, Arne Duncan's call to make "textbooks obsolete". Among Dunn's reasons and pertinent to our Media/Inform Literacy discussion are these ideas: Using digital texbooks or ebooks on line, allows for students to interact with the book. Some books have videos, highlighting/notetaking features, moveable models and interactive diagrams. In addition, such technological books are more immediate-they are simply accessed by the press of a button. Arne Duncan also remarked that the US is lagging behind other countries in converting to these computerized books. With states desiring a lead position in education in the US, and Obama's push (Connect Ed) campaign to have all schools connected (internet/computer/tech), this transition to Digital Text/ebooks seems a likely probability-and exciting one too. Though sitting back, especially in a beach chair, with a paper book still holds an appeal for me.

Explore parts 1,2,3 information literacy and web 2.0 tools for the classroom

A discussion forum does not have to be question and answer. There are many different ways to use a discussion board. Their discussions need to be divergent, formative, and reflective.

One way that web 2.0 helps students improve information literacy is to give them to tools to present information. An excellent way for students to present (as well as teach!) information is by building an app! More and more app building programs are popping up.

This article talks about teacher created digital content and the confusion when it comes to copyright, sharing and ownership. The 3 must-knows (Know the concepts, know what the law says and doesn't say, know your policy options) about teachers and copyright are explained in detail.

This blog contains the first 3 steps (out of 7) for website evaluation.  The author is using letters to represent each step.  Thus far, he has A for author; B for bias; and C for currency.  Each step is explained and a poster is included for teachers to print and use in the classroom.  This is very important information for students in order to become responsible digital citizens.  Students need to think about who is writing, why they are writing, and when they are writing.  I am anxious to see what other steps the author will include.

Very useful resource for teaching information and digital literacy. The idea of A to G is brilliant and inspirational! I think the break-down steps of each aspect can be truly helpful for students to understand what exactly they're looking for in terms of author, bias, or currency (and soon more). For teachers, each aspect could be introduced and focused in each topic or project, and the posters can serve as visual prompt in classroom.

This article uses well researched data to support the use of interactive white boards such as Promethean or Mimio. It concludes that use by experienced teachers can increase student achievement by allowing teachers to better chunk and scaffold information and better monitor student progress.

In this article, a school is implementing Ipad use in classrooms to encourage students to go beyond the box for education. The article mentions the need for a global learning environment and articulates that this move is allowing students to be more team oriented, less distracted, and think more critically in their learning.

This article discusses how the implementation of iPads in education has been successful in some schools.

This article attracted my attention due to my affiliation with Graduation Portfolios for our district. I loved the idea of students taking ownership of their Portfolio in terms of linking it to an electronic format they could *present* at the end of the school year. One of the apps listed ("Three Ring") sounded really interesting, and I hope to model it with next year's Seniors.

This article was great. Our high school students should be creating career portfolios and some of the programs like Evernote and Three Ring seem to be great ways of collecting and organizing career information. Employers are now looking at what students have accomplished over a paper resume. Some employers want to see you digital resume' with examples of a student's work. These two programs seem to be a great way to help students be prepared for the new way employers might require for job interviews. One other website is a great resource for Student Portfolios and that is MassCis. Not only does it have the ability to upload exemplars, but it has lessons teachers can use that are aligned with the standards to help students explore their career interests. Imagine, career information, career inventories, goal setting activities, resume writing, college and financial information, teachers' lesson plans and student portfolios all on the same website. Each student can create a portfolio and have it from the middle school through high school. Check it out: www.masscis.intocareers.com

For anyone who is interested in literary theory and philosophy, this is an interesting article about Facebook and how it related to Foucault's concept of heterotopia. My AP students have had discussions about how social media changes our view and perspectives on time.

This article showcases some Web 2.0 creative media tools. Students should have the ability to create new media. The tools outlined in this Edutopia article are great suggestions to assist in creativity and student participation, as well as provide a showcase for their critical thinking. Also includes links to Parts 1 - 3 of Eric Brunsell's series.