Group items tagged

According to this article, "Design thinking can transform your classroom into a space of creativity, excitement and possibility". Design thinking is an 8-step process where students 1) Define the problem; 2) Research the problem; 3) Analyze the situation; 4) Redefine the problem; 5) Ideate (brainstorm); 6) Prototype (find a solution); 7) Refine; and 8) Repeat. A classroom activity is detailed where students look at the ads that recently won Clios and go through the process as if they were the ads' designers. They are basically putting themselves in the designers shoes. They are trying to recreate what was done and why it was done. A followup activity is to have the students design their own ads for the products using the steps of Design Thinking. I must admit I wanted to do it!

This is an exciting article about a project that encourages young people into STEM careers through weekend and summer courses in computer game design. The program uses mentoring and collaboration to teach Game Design.

For STEM education, this is an exciting opportunity for students. I have had a couple student go after game design careers and have been successful. I was interested to read about the support that is built into the program (mentors) and the collaboration to help teach design. My former students have told me that is how they like to learn the design is through collaboration with fellow students in the class they are in.

A discussion of "disruptive innovations" and how online learning can be used in brick and mortar schools to engage students in richer, more complex learning experience and increase student/teacher interactions.

The article explains the importance of Problem-Based Learning in Education. It is crucial to create lessons that incorporate interesting, safe and useful activities.

I read this and thought how true it is that giving feedback to students taking an online course...or working on a website etc. is as important as feedback we give on essay writing, reading, speaking and listening. Feedback is a key communication tool for students to know where they stand. As is any feedback - provided it is constructive.

This article is about using Skype in the classroom for global education. I am categorizing it as media literacy because of the use of skype. Thousands of teachers are involved in a large variety of global educational projects. One of the partners in this program is NASA's Digital Learning center. Projects there are live so that students can learn how to prepare a space vehicle for take off or for them to design something for the spacesuit. There are many other partners to this program.

The author of the article reviews a new training software release "Articulate Storyline". The program combines several elements: video, dialog balloons, and questions with multiple scenario resolutions for starters. Each scene is very short. The video action stops, and text balloons appear showing the dialog of the scene. Then three possible resolutioins to the scene appear. The user chooses one, and the video continues. It works like an improv play where the audience chooses how each scene will end. Although it's designed as a tool for the teacher, I can see where students would love this, too. The reviewer is definitely not unbiased, but there are links to samples that showcase just what the program can do.

If you are outside of Massachusetts you may not be able to access this article. Trails (Tools for Real-time Assessment of Information Literacy Skills) is a tool designed by Kent State University to measure the information literacy skills of high school students. It is designed as a classroom tool that enables a teacher or librarian to "obtain a snapshot of skill levels in order to better tailor instructional efforts."

Aviary is a suite of powerful creative applications that you can use right in your web browser. We're on a mission to make creation accessible to artists of all genres, from graphic design to audio editing. Let Aviary and Worth1000 artists perform design services for you.

This is a fascinating article to read about a NJ school that took on the Google Platform. Much of what is documented in the article reminds me of why school district went with Google. The ease of emails, calendars, saving documents and designing websites through one platform is so helpful. What I found interesting is that the principal of the school operates with a BYOT (Bring Your Own Technology) policy. Her arguments being that as soon as schools make investments in iPads, or laptops etc. the "hardware" is obsolete in no time. She advocates a "learn anytime, anywhere on any device" approach - which I find refreshing and so innovative. At my school, there are many teachers who want to outright ban all personal electronic devices in school - well...for students! This article is a powerful reminder that with guidance and careful, thoughtful planning and implementation, we can make use of everything students bring to school with them - including personal electronic devices.

This site is designed as a reference tool putting educators in touch with creative educational applications for digital cameras in educational settings.

Wonderful article on students solving real world issues while using their problem solving skills and creativity. Even though this was a contest and not a lesson plan, this is how our lessons and classrooms should be structured.

This article by Ruth Clark in Learning Solutions Magazine is a bit misleading and a bit muddled. While it appears that her contention is that games can not teach she admits that students can learn from GBL if they are structured and designed well.

Maryellen Weimer, in her article sets out clear reasons why collaborative work, enhances creativity '. Students can see how different perspectives, constructive deliberation, questioning, and critical analysis can result in better solutions and performance.' Working effectively in groups demands students to think outside the box, and use multiple creative skills.

It was many years ago that I attended a seminar at the former GE Plastics headquarters here (now Sabic) outlining what for years has been obvious. Two key points included: 1) the need to adjust the school calendar, both in number of days and hours per day from the agrarian-based schedule which so many districts and schools still follow; 2) the need to include more group work in syllabi and lesson plans. The presenter emphasized that companies do not want to hire a person who is intelligent if that person cannot work well in a collaborative group situation. Opportunities abound to prepare our students for higher education and careers through group work in face-to-face instruction, the flipped classroom concept and the design of VHS courses.

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

This article views a bold move by two Standford professors, ditching lectures and webcam lectures for hands on learning in the classroom. They do rely on technology to flip their classroom. Here is a quote "in an era with a perfect video-delivery platform - one that serves up billions of YouTube views and millions of TED Talks on such things as technology, entertainment, and design - why would anyone waste precious class time on a lecture?,"

The article suggests 3 approaches to develop multiple choice questions to assess higher-order thinking skills. Students can be asked to respond to real-world scenarios, analyze visuals such as diagrams and graphs, and synthesize explanations that support the answer. Included are samples of questions that measure these higher-order skills.

Education World has put together a resource of educator-specific social media platforms such as WeCollaborate, Teacher Engage, Technology Integration in Education, The EducationWorld Community, that give resources of ideas, blogs and lesson/unit ideas.

The article illustrated the function of web 2.0 in Education Area. The author promoted some free social media sites"http://www.wecollaborate.com" & "http://www.technologyintegrationineducation.com/". They were all designed for the teachers. Please enjoy the article, enjoy the education world community!

The article uses a friendly approach to help teens stay safe and for parents (adults) to understand how to change privacy settings. There is a series of videos (11) to help learn more about social networking and how to check yourself it something doesn't seem right. The article also demonstrates the use of protection your personal property from hackers and spammers.  I personally think the article does a great job using the friendly approach with teens, and using videos, and teens will click on a video than read an entire article. Holly

These are great articles. I like the user friendly approach to all of these; In www.connectsafely.org there are great personal accounts of what can go wrong using social media. Those articles really resonate with my own fears. We must be wise when we use the web.

This online discussion forum offers adults insight into the legal, social, and safety issues tied into specific social networking sites.

This is a brief article describing the Adobe Creative Suite update to 6.0. Aside from listing the latest updates, he most interesting part of this article is that Adobe is introducing the Creative Cloud. If you follow the link about the cloud it unveils a whole knew way of creative possibilities. The Creative Cloud is something I want to look into for our classroom. I am wondering if it is an alternative to purchasing hefty licenses every year.

I have a hard time imagining the powerful suite of Adobe apps working well in the cloud. For this cloud service to work, I would imagine one needing a seriously fast and reliable Internet connection. None the less, I am really excited to see if this lives up to the promises. Thanks for sharing.

I use Photoshop all the time at my school. I'm looking forward to what CS6 has to offer. Want to research more on The Creative Cloud. So far what I know, I like.