Group items tagged

" iBooks Author is still making the news in the educational sphere. This is probably the first mobile app to be embraced wholly in education in such a short time since its release. After posting a simple and guided tutorial on how teachers can use the different services of iBooks Author , today I am sharing with you some hands-on examples of what students can actually do with it." Nice examples of how to use iBooks Author

"The invention of the LMS (Learning Management System) was a mistake. And here I'm not going to make the same frustrated argument made numerous times before now that LMSs are limiting structures, that their interface and functionalities control how teachers teach online (although those things are true). The LMS was a mistake because it was premature. In a world that was just waking up to the Internet and the possibility of widely-networked culture, the LMS played to the lowest common denominator, creating a "classroom" that allowed learning -- or something like learning -- to happen behind tabs, in threaded discussions, and through automated quizzes. The LMS was not a creative decision, it was not pushing the capabilities of the Internet, it was settling for the least innovative classroom practice and repositioning that digitally. As a result classes taught within its structure generally land with a dull thud. No matter how creative and inspired the teacher or pedagogue behind the wheel, the LMS is no match for the wideness of the Internet. It was born a relic -- at its launch utterly irrelevant to its environment and its user." Very thought-provoking article on how digital pedagogy really differs from just "teaching online."

"Google added two fantastic new features to Google Slides. First, Google Slides now has a Q&A feature that lets your audience submit questions to you. Second, Google Slides now has a built-in laser pointer that you can use to call attention to parts of your slides. I've already received some questions about how to use these new features so I made the following short video." t/h R. Byrne This makes Google slides very versatile for online presentations. Check out the how-to video.

This article goes a long way to debunk the myths perpetrated by Gardner and the brain-based learning movement. Once again, Schools of Education have fallen for the mythical. "So let's reiterate: A "learning style" curriculum won't affect the way you learn. You don't only use half of your brain, so being taught to your "left-brain" or "right-brain" won't help you, either. Fiddling with an iPhone app? Unlikely. "What might affect how you learn? The types of things you've learned before. "It's not so much based upon how the brain is structured," Alferink says, "it's based upon our experiences." So if you're not a very strong reader, for example, you probably won't learn very well by reading. "Our experiences do affect brain development," he says. "The wiring of the brain depends upon the experiences we have." "And as for the validity of "brain-based" education techniques - that term should really apply to all teaching. After all, Alferink says, "all education is brain-based. It is impossible to learn without a brain.""

"Learni.st makes it super easy to share what you know by pointing to existing web resources. You can use videos, blogs, books, documents, images, anything to explain how to learn something. This short video will teach you about the basics of Learnist like how the homepage is laid out and what is on a Learn Board." You will need an invite in this current Beta stage, but I think it will catch on.

How to Manage a Group Project in Google Wave - Google Wave - Lifehacker

"What you see here are candid submissions from people who have engaged in a little exercise. Here's how it works. Think about the word Race. How would you distill your thoughts, experiences or observations about race into one sentence that only has six words?" This National Public Radio blog makes the perfect starting point for a multicultural lesson for ESL/EFL students. The entries are sheer poetry and give a great deal of content to think about the issue of race and one's place in society, for better or worse. Each 6-word "poem" makes us, as one contributor said, "Look past race to underlying humanity."

This important article by the ACTFL discusses how the U.S. Common Core standards can be aligned with the National Standards for Learning Languages. Presents several diagrams and other visuals to help teachers see the crossovers for each skill--reading listening, speaking, and writing--in presentational and interpersonal modes, and how culture is woven into the whole.

This has great videos on how to teach a wide variety of subjects, as well as how to manage students' behavior in class, set up collaborations, assessment, and esp. for US teachers, the common core standards. Very useful for teacher training, though not specifically oriented toward ESL/EFL.

This is a useful way to use Google to create your own search engine. The screencast embedded in the blog entry here gives informative details on the how-to for this built-in Google feature.

This page shows how a student website can be created and maintained. The topic is "digital health and wellness" or "digital citizenship" but can be revised and improvised on for other topics. The plan shows how teams are created, expectations for individuals within the team, grading, tasks, etc. Great lesson planning for a problem-based learning experience. T/H to J. Brueck on Diigo in Education.

"Based on the motivational theories of Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, the game encourages students to assess themselves not on how smart or talented they are, but on how hard they work. And the reward for completing quests with characters is significant: Help the Cheshire cat from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and he'll help you turn invisible so you can sneak through the virtual world a la Harry Potter and his invisibility cloak. "The more characters from literature you get to know, the more powerful you become," says Schell. "

Describes LinoIt and how to use it--a nice brainstorming and student collaboration tool, but it's great to see examples and how it can be used with students. Free.

Nice, chatty, friendly explanation of what QR (quick response) codes are, how to get a reader, and how they can be used in the classroom. Note that the YouTube list of suggestions in the sidebar has many more suggestions for using QRs educationally. (thanks to Vance Stevens)

Karenne's blog with great tips about how to learn English

An interesting use of social media. You create a profile with a little text and video from your Webcam. Others come to the site to ask you questions, while you question others. Great for class interactions, and can also be used in a distance class. Some channels have artists and book authors, too. Don't know how you might control predation, however. Training video by R. Stannard walks you through creating a "wait" video and a "response" video (an OGM), and how students would create and write questions and interact with the program, e.g., reading ealier question and listening to their responses.

"Real-world learning experiences can significantly improve children's knowledge in a matter of just days, a new study suggests. "Researchers found that 4- to 9-year-old children knew more about how animals are classified after a four-day camp at a zoo. "It wasn't that children who attended just knew more facts about animals, the researchers noted. The camp actually improved how they organised what they knew - a key component of learning. "This suggests the organisation of knowledge doesn't require years to happen. It can occur with a short, naturalistic learning experience," said Layla Unger, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral researcher in psychology at The Ohio State University." A very, very small study, but supports intuitive notions of the neccesity of real-world, real-life experiences.

Teaching Channel video: A nice demonstration of how to conduct discussions in small group and pairs. Demonstrates active listening by the teachers as students report back then go to the board to offer the results of their discussions. Structured discussions and student ownership of the reasoning process are good even for very young learners. Applicable for all levels.

excellent list of tools, categorized. How many do you know?

fun list shared in Tutoring with Web Tools 2.0 EVO 2012 how many do you know?

This video shows how to use Feed Marklet to create a button on your browser toolbar to add an RSS feed. Takes about 1 minute. You can use an RSS feed to keep track of student Webpages, and have them use it to keep track of each other's work. For instance, they might add all the pages they are making, or their blogs, and so be able to read them quickly when new content is added.