Group items tagged

"Description: A breathtaking array of 'learn to code' Apple, Android and Windows phone apps. Learn C++, Python C#, HTML, SQL, JavaScript, Java, CSS, php and Swift via the site or apps. These are 'must try' tools for anyone starting out with coding. The site even has a 'Code Playground' to experiment with your code." I haven't had a chance to try out any of these, but this should be an interesting starting point to get students coding.

This blog entry shows two examples, one of a teacher-created rubric, and the other of a rubric created with the help of the students. The comparison shows that the students had a slightly different idea of what was being evaluated -- always good information to have. See also Parts 1 and 2 on creating assessment rubrics.

"If we hope to construct enduring understanding in our students, it's critical that, now more than ever, we know their strengths and interests. By incorporating students' strengths and weakness into authentic learning experiences from the beginning of each unit, while at the same time including opportunities for feedback, metacognition and revision, we promote a variety of cognitive and emotional benefits that can lead to academic success. " A thoughtful description of ways to successfully integrate learner feedback into the assessment process.

You can upload PowerPoint or pdf files and add your audio and/or webcam visuals. Might be useful to advanced students in creating presentations.

"A movie trailer is a perfect summarizing activity. It can also act as a "teaser" as an introduction to a presentation or student paper. A movie trailer can readily showcase the acquisition of knowledge of a lesson or unit." A good description of how to use iMovie on the iPad/tablet.

Potentially a place to publish your students' creative writing. A good place to learn about writing by reading short narratives and poetry. Some classic authors also.

This might be an improvement over Google Docs for collaborative writing, as revisions are clearly labelled by color for each participant. The teacher could keep track of who was doing what.

This creative mapping tool can hold text, photos, and multimedia. Would be nice to use with an international project. Requires sign-up and log-in. Available in several languages, including Chinese and Turkish.

Kids may be inspired to learn more -- reading, writing, planning, creativity -- when inspired by lessons in how to make games. The site has a weekly "feature" and lots of tutorials.

This is a great creative app for iPhone or Android to create up 1-hr-long videos for YouTube. Your students can make shorter videos on their mobiles, then upload and splice them together.

This is BBC's short science videos page. You can find all kinds of topics on physicas, the brain, biology, genetics, etc. Very helpful stuff for use in classes or flipped classrooms. Thanks to R.Byrne's blog.

R. Byrne: "Wikispaces recently added a Quizlet widget to the library of widgets that you can embed into your Wikispaces pages. Quizlet is a free flashcard service that anyone can use to create and share flashcards. Quizlet offers a massive library of flashcard sets created and shared by other users of the service. And now you can search for Quizlet flashcards, embed them into your wiki, and use four different study modes while those cards are embedded into your wiki. The screenshots below provide directions for adding Quizlet to your Wikispaces wiki." Quizlet can handle various types of media, so it makes for interesting flashcards. This step-by-step visual explanation makes the embedding task easy; creating the flashcards at Quizlet takes some work and thought.

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.

R. Byrne: "One of the most useful new Add-ons for Google Documents is the EasyBib Bibliography Creator. The EasyBib Bibliography Creator makes it easy to properly cite resources and format a bibliography in APA, MLA, or Chicago style. The screenshots below provide directions for the process." This can also be a learning process, as the student will have to figure out what format is most appropriate -- and collect the resources first.

More colleges, professors shutting down laptops and other digital distractions

"Upload an image from your computer and choose how many sheets wide you would like your poster to be once printed. "Once you're happy with your selection, you can download the PDF file containing your newly created images and print each one massively blown up, resulting in a huge pixel poster to stick on your wall ..." A very useful tool for display of your students' work, or to make a giant jigsaw puzzle. T/H to R. Byrne

These lessons include Scholastic's Interactive Weather Maker, showing how humidity and temperature levels relate to rain and snow storms; Bytesize Science on the chemistry of snowflake making; and why the full moon gives more light in winter. Video explanations are embedded in R. Byrne's site.

"You could use Google Maps Engine Lite to create your own classroom version of Novels on Location. Ask your students to write short short book reviews in the placemarks that they add to a shared Google Map. If you have students creating video book trailers, those videos could be added to their placemarks too. If could be a fun challenge for your call to try to collectively "read around the world" by locating stories set on each of the seven continents. " A nice tool and an interesting lesson using it. T/H R. Byrne

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

This page holds a list of essential sites for teaching computer science and coding to high school students. Spark interest by having students create their own games and apps while learning math.