5 Essential Qualities of Growing Your Blog Quickly in a Crowded Niche. Over 25 Links Uncovering Project Based Learning Resources On The Web. Welcome to this first in a series of PBL Mania Posts. For the next few weeks I am celebrating Project Based Learning by hosting a webinar at Edtech Leaders Online, and by presenting a PBL session at the NICE Conference in Chicago. In this post I will introduce you to some awesome places on the web containing some of the very best PBL resources. Before reading, please take a moment to subscribe to this 21centuryedtech Blog by email or RSS and also give me a follow on Twitter at mjgormans. You will not want to miss this series or future posts involving STEM, Flipping the Classroom, Technology Integration, Common Core, and 21st Century Skills, So Sign Up Now! Welcome to the land of PBL knowledge. BIE – BUCK Institute BIE – Also known as the BUCK Institute for Learning. BIE Videos – What Is PBL Video – A great collection of videos that demonstrate PBL and its best practices.
BIE FreeBies – What a wonderful collection of documents perfect for PBL. West Virginia Teach 21 PBL Learning Reviews. 5 Lessons from Coca Cola's New Content Marketing Strategy. Coca Cola has been part of popular culture for over 100 years and has been called a “Vision Brand“. Its marketing and communication is purposeful and connects with its audience in a way that makes it stand out from its competitors. Its mission is not about selling products but to create significant positive change in the world that makes the world a better place.
Coca Cola’s mission statement To refresh the worldTo inspire moments of optimism and happinessTo create value and make a difference Recently they have realised that their marketing strategy that has worked well for them for decades needed to evolve and as such they are moving from “Creative Excellence” to “Content Excellence” Creative excellence has always been at the heart of Coca Cola’s advertising and they have decided that content is now the key to marketing in the 21st century on a social web. Content for Coca Cola is is now the “Matter” and “Substance” of “Brand Engagement” Lesson 1: Create Liquid Content Lesson 4. More Reading. The Art of Writing Great Twitter Headlines. Today's Teachers Must Become Connected Educators. By Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach We live in an age of fast-paced change and, unfortunately, economic downturn. Most schools and school systems are not able to give us the kind of professional development we need, as often as we need it.
But the good news is that we also live in an era of great technological proficiency, where many useful learning tools are available for free --- tools that are safe and fast and easy to use: information-gathering tools, knowledge-management tools and, best of all, tools for collaboration. If we are connected educators and we know how to leverage this ubiquitous technology to connect to other people who share our interests and passions --- to find them, to vet them and to learn from them --- then we possess a powerful means of do-it-yourself (DIY) professional development. Connected educators also know how to extend their professional learning communities into the 21st century world of the Web. So why is it important to be a connected educator?
The value of a PLN. Today I had the wonderful opportunity to Skype with Dwight Carter’s administrative team, and I must admit that they definitely didn’t disappoint! I have been following Dwight’s blog and twitter feed for about a year now, and I very much so appreciate him taking the time to organize his administrative team to speak with me. If this is not a testament of the power of a PLN, then I don’t know what is… Reflection being a crucial and essential quality of any great Educator, I feel it is necessary to share the main points from our discussion: - Discipline is not about punishing students; it’s about changing behaviors and helping students to learn and grow… - Using faculty meetings to share and celebrate the great things going on in your school is much more effective and productive than simply disseminating information that can be shared through email… - It would be a mistake to not recognize the vital and essential contributions of support staff; they ultimately make the school go round…
Educational Leadership - Articles, Resources for Educators. Using social media for student research, part 2: practices and habits of mind Photo credit: New Media Research, via Byrion Smith In an earlier post, I discussed how to get students set up to do research using social media. This is the advice I’ll give them on how to actually go about doing the research. The Technical Side of Things Managing social media can be overwhelming, so I’d give my students the following advice: Get the right apps. Managing your time There is so much information out there, it can be overwhelming. So give yourself a time limit; tell yourself to read through your blog and your twitter feed for 15 or 20 minutes a day.
Social media research time is about finding the sources, so you should spend that 15 or 20 minutes just combing through sources. When you find a source you like, use a program like Evernote or Instapaper to store it for later, more detailed reading and note-taking, then continue skimming through your RSS reader and Twitter feed for additional good sources. Habits of mind Read widely. Some final thoughts David Korfhage.
The ultimate guide to blogging when you don’t have time to blog. This is a blog post for anybody who has trouble finding the time to blog. In other words, everybody. I humbly submit a few practical ideas to help you become a time-efficient blogger. 1) Leap.I mentioned this in a recent post, but it bears repeating. The number one challenge most bloggers face isn’t time, it’s CONFIDENCE. Can we agree that you will take the leap? You will? Good, I knew it! 2) Don’t be Chris. 3) Take a little bite. 4) Set sacred blog time. 5) Write lots of headlines. 6) Stop second-guessing. 7) You don’t have to be profound. 8) Listen to yourself. 9) Leave the technical stuff to a technical person. 10) Try a video blog. 11) Turn your comment into a post. 12) If you run out of ideas, see number 6. I hope that gives you a practical framework to have some blogging success, even when time is tight.
Other posts that might help: Ten ideas for the beginning blogger Can you out-source authenticity? Successful business blogging in just one step Blogging is the ultimate team sport. Using social media for student research, part 2: practices and habits of mind What Should Learning Look Like? One thing I've noticed since becoming a teacher is that just about everywhere I look, I see things that make me think about how I teach, my students, or education in general. Sometimes these flickers of thought are inspired by the kinds of things you would expect- an article about education, an advertisement on the radio about increasing graduation rates, etc.- but sometimes, the spark comes from an unexpected place. I had this kind of experience yesterday. I was at my brother's house, and he put the movie Dolphin Tale in for our kids to watch. I had heard of the movie, and it is currently on my waiting list with Netflix, but I figured it was a movie my kids would enjoy, but that I would find fairly boring.
I was wrong. photo courtesy of www.moviepostershop.com While the movie has a very heartwarming message about helping others and the power of hope, that is not what made the movie worthwhile for me. The main character, Sawyer, is a very introverted kid.