Group items tagged

"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."

cybergogy is the intent to combine fundamentals of both pedagogy and andragogy to arrive at a new approach to learning

Another school/pedagogy oriented site for video resources. Ideas for curriculum, advice, guides, videos of and by students as well as education professionals and parents. [Really annoying music on the front page.] T/H R. Byrne

Check out the extensive list for topics of interest to EFL/ESL teachers. These are interesting and professional-looking, each about 30-40 min. on embedded video.

This is a series of low-cost ($1 U.S.) podcasts about various topics in multimedia uses for teaching. The topics include narrated slideshows, telling a digital story, using smartphones, quick edit videos on the iPad, and creating multimedia ebooks. W. Fryer is the author of Playing with Media, also relatively low-cost for ebooks.

Several suggestions for teaching short poems, and websites with author interviews and poetry readings. Learning how to write poetry will help students appreciate the language better.

"The Frayer Model is a strategy that uses a graphic organizer for vocabulary building. This technique requires students to (1) define the target vocabulary words or concepts, and (2) apply this information by generating examples and non-examples. This information is placed on a chart that is divided into four sections to provide a visual representation for students."

"The Frayer Model is a vocabulary development tool. In contrast with a straight definition, the model helps to develop a better understanding of complex concepts by having students identify not just what something is, but what something is not." This is an example of a worksheet, which I wasn't able to download in the other citation. The sheet is quite straightforward, and looks useful, insofar as vocabulary can be taught through direct method. Good for important concepts, class discussion, and work with definitions.

"Many schools are currently using Forms as a way to easily and quickly record data from teacher observations. The advantage is of using a Google Form is that it compiles all the data into a spreadsheet which allows school leaders to quickly and easily see trends in the school's classrooms." Suggests that the administrator can also use the Google spreadsheet to collect data on what teachers are doing in the school as a whole. Video shows how to go to the Template and create your own by copying the document. Links to template, which has an auto-mail feature.

"A whole course can be organized around a wiki as shown here, an excerpt from the upcoming Multimedia Kit, "Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms" which will include his book of the same name, a video, and a facilitator's guide from Corwin (corwinpress.com)." A concise (3 min) video on how to organize a course using wikis, with interviews with students. The course also uses Diigo to annotate readings. One students says it really makes her a better reader. As you read others' annotations, "It's really another way of having a discussion."

A good review of both LMS tools. Winning for me is Schoology's iPad connections and, especially, it's good was to create and thread discussions (with embedded media). Teachers can also see which students participate by using a filter, and share discussions across classes/courses.

Learning2gether is a project of Vance Stevens and the Webheads. Vance regularly recruits experts and tech-using teachers to offer live webinars weekly. Links to the full schedule and archive of over 300 hours of recordings from past events may be found a this Wordpress blog.

A helpful guide to using Wikipedia and other resources for beginning researcher-students. Also mentions EducationWorld and the use of search engines.

The author compares 10 bookmarking and annotating tools, such as Diigo and Scoop.it, Pinterest, etc.

"The theories children build, whether they are right or wrong, are not capricious. They are often logical and rational, and firmly based in evidence and experience." by Karen Worth This article is very explanatory and is a good argument for maker and project-based learning.

The blog for the Flickr group that collects pictures to use with EFL/ESL students. Join the crowd-sourcing, and use this blog to get ideas for teaching with pictures.

Shelly Terrell offers FREE webinars every Friday at around 21:00 GMC/UTC at americantesol.adobeconnect.com/terrell/. This page gives a list of topics for upcoming webinars. Get somefree prof development with inspiring examples of how to use Web tools with your students.

A good series of short articles describing apps for Apple: iBooks Author to allow teachers and students to create their own electronic books, epublishing for students, critical thinking at discoveryeducation.com, and apps for ELLs and Special Ed students, etc. (Thanks to Lindsay Meeker, of the CALL IS list.)

Aaron Sams' 2:15 min video shows what he does to "flip" his classroom. Would this work with ESL/EFL learners, and how?

A short video on PBL. Also links to an introductory aritlce and a longer video. Interview with Papert included. Embeddable on your website or playable on iTunes.