"It is essential that educators be supported in their time of need. We have created the Help Desk website to provide more support and materials to help you be successful as you utilize the SAS Portal. Here you will find system requirements, answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs), directions for uploading videos to your website, and documents that highlight SAS and our tools for teachers."
"What do you want to use technology for?
To help you answer this question, we've outlined some teaching/learning activities below that are used across the disciplines and tried to suggest through examples from the Web how each might utilize a certain kind of technology or a combination of different technologies to accomplish specific learning objectives. Each example represents a different discipline, and there are over 40 disciplines represented in the examples."
"NWEA Measures of Academic Progress® (MAP®) tests present students with engaging, age-appropriate content. As a student responds to questions, the test responds to the student, adjusting up or down in difficulty.
The result is a rewarding experience for the student, and a wealth of detailed information for teachers, parents and administrators."
Sammy Garey, a recent graduate of Burlingame High School in Burlingame, Calif., is a devoted user of Twitter. She's used the website with her classmates for online book discussions for her AP English class, in which they post and share feedback, analysis, and questions about novels such as Crime and Punishment. Garey also turns to the website to check breaking news and feed her interest in science by following the tweets of specialized Twitter accounts such as MedUpdates and DrugInfo.
Testmoz is a test generator that sports 4 question types, automatic grading, a really simple interface and detailed reports.
Testmoz is free, and does not require you (or your students) to register.
"View Dozens of Kid-Friendly Educational Videos or Submit Your Own
MEET ME AT THE CORNER, Virtual Field Trips for Kids takes you to meet fascinating people from all over the world.
New educational, kid-friendly episodes are uploaded every two weeks. Included are links to fun websites and our Learning Corner with follow-up questions. "
"Using Wolfram|Alpha in the Classroom
Wolfram|Alpha is a
free online computational knowledge engine that generates answers to questions in real time by doing computations on its own vast internal knowledge base. Our long-term goal is to make all systematic knowledge immediately computable and accessible to everyone. This can be valuable to educators in many ways. "
This is the front page of the Simple English Wikipedia. Wikipedias are places where people work together to write encyclopedias in different languages. We use Simple English words and grammar here. The Simple English Wikipedia is for everyone! That includes children and adults who are learning English.
There are 67,234 articles on the Simple English Wikipedia. All of the pages are free to use. They have all been published under both the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0 and the GNU Free Documentation License. You can help here! You may change these pages and make new pages. Read the help pages and other good pages to learn how to write pages here. If you need help, you may ask questions at Simple talk.
"Instructional expert Jim Knight visits Michael Covarrubias to observe a lesson on context clues, discuss the classroom management techniques he is using already, and share some ideas to increase student engagement. Michael and Jim discuss emphasizing effort, getting students attention before asking questions, using response cards, and planning back-up activities."
"The issues surrounding copyright have never been more visible. But the classroom presents its own copyright-related challenges, for students and teachers alike. How is an educator to know what the rules are? How do those rules apply in the classroom? And how can we make sure that students know the rules as well?
To help educators answer these questions, the Copyright Alliance has established the Copyright Alliance Education Foundation.
Working with Young Minds Inspired, the Foundation has developed a comprehensive program for teachers. Additionally, we have compiled a library of free curricula that helps teachers of all grades and subject areas incorporate copyright into existing lesson plans."
The key to successful online learning is what Gilroy calls the "social space" or "community of practice" (CoP)—an environment where teachers generate ideas and build knowledge and expertise through collaboration. Online communities go beyond superficial exchanges to create a space where teachers share and benefit from each other's expertise, jointly committed to developing better practices
Online discussion allowed me, and in many cases forced me, to rethink how I teach and what I teach.
Most participants characterized the discussion forum as a good format to ask questions and respond to each other, allowing for interaction among a broad range of participants and the ability to draw upon resources of others in the group
With communication having a degree of remoteness, teachers have a sense of anonymity, which makes some hesitant teachers more comfortable in expressing their struggles. This is called the "strength of weak ties"
"Online professional development (PD) fits today's fast changing K-12 educational environment where demands on teachers and re-certification require teachers to continually learn new and challenging content and pedagogy. Online professional development has the benefit of supporting teachers in their daily practice and connecting them with a network of like-minded professionals so that they can learn and share with each other."
Known as the andragogical model, the use of
learner-centered instruction--which supports addressing the needs and interests
of learners--is regularly championed in the literature as the most effective way
to teach adults.
Adults
have a rich reservoir of experience that can serve as a resource for learning.
tend to have a life-, task-, or problem-centered orientation to
learning as opposed to a subject-matter orientation
motivated to learn due to internal or intrinsic factors
herefore, adult
learning in formal institutions can be viewed in terms of the direction and
support needed by the learner in the following ways: learners need both
direction and support, learners need direction, learners need support but are
reasonably self-directing, or learners are moderately capable of providing their
own direction and support
Even though learners
may need both direction and support, they can still be involved in designing and
directing their learning in meaningful ways.
Adult learner involvement in needs assessment initiates a partnership with the
instructor
WWW question: Who needs What as defined by Whom, in which Who is
the learners, WHAT are their needs, and WHOM are the definers
"How do we listen to adult learners before we design a course for them, so
that their themes are heard and respected?
Developing an atmosphere in which adults feel both safe and challenged should be
the goal
An ideal adult learning
climate has a nonthreatening, nonjudgmental atmosphere in which adults have
permission for and are expected to share in the responsibility for their
learning.
Capitalize on the first session
Incorporate group work
Break the traditional classroom routine
-Use humor
Support opportunities for individual problem solving
equitable learning environment.
Consider their attitudes toward and knowledge about the variety of people
they teach.
nstructors have a professional responsibility to accept
every adult learner as of equal worth regardless of race, gender, ability, or
background.
Think through the way they present their subjects or topics. T
Instructors must act on the belief that change and development are possible for
all people and that their role is to assist the process in all learners
"Learning is part of
a circuit that is one of life's fundamental pleasures: the [instructor's] role
is to keep the current flowing" (p. 38). Instructors who have successfully
engaged adults as partners by providing direction and support will have
succeeded admirably.
""Adults vote with their feet," a favorite adage of adult educators, is frequently used to describe a characteristic of adult learners. In most circumstances, adults are not captive learners and, if the learning situation does not suit their needs and interests, they will simply stop coming. In discussing adult education, Knowles (1980, 1984) distinguished between teacher-centered and learner-centered instruction. He promoted the latter because it viewed learners as mutual partners in the learning endeavor (Merriam and Caffarella 1991). Known as the andragogical model, the use of learner-centered instruction--which supports addressing the needs and interests of learners--is regularly championed in the literature as the most effective way to teach adults. However, Merriam and Caffarella (ibid.) assert that "adult learning in formal settings, for the most part, is still instructor designed and directed" (p. 26). Given the wide support for learner involvement, the discrepancy between adult education theory and practice is perplexing. How can instructors of adults become more learner centered in their practice? This ERIC Digest suggests guidelines and strategies that can be used in formal settings by instructors of adults to involve learners more effectively. "
hey are not always interested in knowledge for it's
own sake. Learning is a means to an end, not an end in itself.
Learners
have a tremendous amount of life experiences.
They need to connect the learning to their knowledge
base. They must recognize the value of the learning.
Use problem oriented instructio
Instruction should be about tasks not memorization of content.
Don't be afraid to give
up control.
open ended questions
Four
keys to adult learning
Let adults direct themselves in the instructional
process
Integrate
new information with previous experiences
Make
sure the information is relevant
Make
sure the information is readily useable for the
learner
ADULTS LEARN DIFFERENTLY than young people. But more importantly, their reasons for learning are very different. Andragogy (Knowles, 1984), the theory of adult learning, attempts to explain why adults learn differently than other types of learners.