Group items tagged

"Zotpress brings scholarly blogging to WordPress. This plugin displays your Zotero citations on your WordPress blog. Zotero is a free, cross-platform reference manager that integrates with your browser and word processor."

This is a short but sweet reminder of why and when teachers should use technology in their classrooms. Really, technology is the tool for learning, not necessarily the creation of a product. There is a great list to ways we should and should not implement technology tools. This list is actually a good reference to check as you are contemplating using tech in the classroom -- should I or should I not use it? References within the text.

A must-share with all faculty!

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

At an educational technology conference in Boston July 27, Harvard University physics professor Eric Mazur explained how he uses "peer instruction" to help his students engage in deeper learning than traditional lectures can provide-and he unveiled a brand-new ed-tech service that can help educators take this concept to a whole new level.

This article by Dennis Pierce discusses events at a July 27 technology conference in Boston. The point of the article is to stress that education needs to move from information giving to student creation. He explains that students need the ability to assimilate the information given so that they can then apply it to another context. Web 2.0 tools have allowed for this "flipped" type classroom that he references, where students read up on a concept for homework, then in the f2f classroom use the higher order thinking skills....application, analysis, creation and publication with the new tools available.

This is a new solution (beta testing starts today) to help users improve information literacy. It is designed to give users a simplified and smart process for locating, anayzying and utilizing the right information. In addition it will increase dialogue between librarians, students and faculty - further engaging each in the process.

An Interesting "brochure" categorizing Ipad apps using Blooms taxonomy of thinking skills; remembering, understanding, creating,  applying, evaluating & analyzing. A handy guide for how to use in the classroom.

I am glad for the realistic easy viewing of Bloom's taxonomy of skills. Using the iPad in the classroom it is a good quick reference to see what apps I am already using and promoting that my students use as well as which apps I would like to promote with enhancement of other skills.

I am not sure I agree with the categorization on many of these and I definitely do not think it is all inclusive. It is interesting though.

Author Bernard Luskin indicates that most of today's literature refers to the physical changes in technology but as we learn more about human behavior and how people learn, it will dramatically impact the way we teach globally. The author provides 'key takeaways' from the article which all relate to media literacy. He explains that this new 'exploding' environment will impact the future of learning for all levels of education as the media, learning psychology, technologies become popular tools for learning. As we learn more from research and studies about media and how it relates to human behavior, it will increase the effectiveness of the ways technology is used in education. The author states that the 'big "E" is for "exciting, energetic, engaging, extended learning". He explains that E learning has and will continue to grow as a key in media literacy and the way people learn, study, individual behavior in society, and products that are produced. This interest in technology, media, communications and how humans learn has actually developed a new field of study, Media Psychology. The author supports the need for people to enter this field and recommends that we learn what e-learning is about and go beyond the electronic gizmos and gadgets.

The exploding new media and communications environment has implications for the future of both K-12 and adult learning as media, technology, and learning psychology increasingly become tools for learning in and outside the classroom. The new research area of media studies, i.e., the study of media effects, includes media psychology because an understanding of human behavior is vital to the effective use of technology in education.

This article deals specifically with how online writing through the use of either asynchronous or synchronous tools can enhance the traditional classroom. The use of a blog to discuss ideas and debate issues may not be as dynamic or interactive as some of the other Web 2.0 tools we have been discussing and using. However, this article makes the point that using blogs can make content more engaging, provide a way for students to be reflective, allow them the opportunity to practice presenting ideas and arguments and finding their voice. The author, Robert Baird from the University of Illinois, argues that these discussion tools are not used up to their potential. I resonated with this article because as a teacher of an online course that uses discussion threads extensively, I completely agree that students level of engagement and understanding of issues, as well as becoming better thinkers, finding their voice and being forced to use evidence in their answers is remarkable.

An intriguing article delineating several useful methods to bring online classrooms to life. While text and self-teaching methods were the way of the past, we now have a multitude of means to engage the student both visually and audibly via an incredible assortment of tools and resources just brimming with creative potential.

Using online math course as the example, this article provides teachers and students with a lot of technology tools to create a rich online learning and problem-solving environment. With these digital tools, students get more engaged in learning and become more creative thinking. It's a good reference for subject teachers.

This article asks how we teach students the tools to learn how to talk, read, write, and think online. It mentions many of the media literacy tools presented in one of our readings.

"...actual career readiness requires an even more rigorous blend of academic, technical and employability skills, and the ability to apply these skills in authentic environments." Research and support of benefits of online learning for ALL students

Quick and dirty tips for better writing

A great article about how it is actually quite easy to use many of the web 2.0 tools to collect and analyze quickly, the current media and create connections between it and your classroom, or at least ideas to which you teach. This teacher did a great job of doing what so many of us try to do everyday. Finding current events and relating it to our classroom. But by having more feeds connected to one site, she was able to quickly narrow her search to whatever it was that she was teaching at the time. She also made it a point to observe the news feeds with her students and ask them to try to make the connections. If there was a story that made sense or got them intrigued and interested, they researched and read it together. A great way to teach young students how to filter the information that they are being exposed to, and to seek out credible references to initial questions and information.

This periodic table provides links to graphic organizers that can be used for visual representations for ordering ideas, organizing information and planning assignments.

This article is designed to help the student retain what is read. Brown and Taylor refer to blogging in that the review of information absorbed will be put into memory by the act of blogging and other methods. The authors start with a few 'learner' tips, then a few 'teacher/trainer' practices and end on some technical techniques.

This blog entry references an article and describes how Coldwell Banker provides training for associates and finds that giving them social connections and letting the associates drive the learning works better than designing instruction for them. Learner centered!