50 Education Startups for 2012 - Ed Tech. Some of today's educational methods seem like relics of the one-room schoolhouse. Meanwhile, the academic performance of US students continues to slip, teachers burn out from boredom and administrative burdens, and those footing the bill grow increasingly frustrated with the cost. At the corporate level, a rapidly-changing business and technological environment has made re-training an ongoing essential rather than an occasional luxury, yet few companies are equipped to meet this educational challenge. With new technologies and communication methods reaching the mainstream, perhaps there has never been a better time to update educational methods.
The potential for using things such as mobile apps, multimedia presentations and crowd-sourcing to improve the process of education is starting to be tapped in a serious way. Here are 50 online tools and resources for you to explore: Educational content for students > Academic Earth: Provides video courses and lectures from a variety of colleges. TED Conversations in the classroom. Can students learn better by sharing what they know? TED Fellow Nina Tandon believes in the power of sharing ideas and using TED Talks in her classroom. In addition to that, she is now using the TED Conversation platform in the Bioelectricity course that she’s currently teaching at Cooper Union in New York City. After hosting her own conversation on TED Conversations, Nina was inspired to use the platform in her classroom and let students take the role of sharing knowledge and leading discussions with the global community.
Here, Nina Tandon shares her motivation on using TED Conversations in her class: “I’ve been hosting a class blog each year for the past four years as a way for students to share amongst each other, but this year I wanted to extend our reach into the global community, to have the students engage in “external participation.” Each week throughout the semester, students will be starting new conversations. Introducing Google Docs To Your Class: It’s about communication, not the tool! 2 of 3. This is the second in a series of 3 posts I wrote for the Official Google Docs Blog – in this one I share some common challenges teachers face when students begin working together on collaborative projects. Communication is important, not the tool The success of our own class projects was not influenced by how well the children could use Google Docs. After all, it is not really about the tool — it’s about the group’s ability to work together as a team.
My class found this difficult throughout the year. I did not expect that just because we were using technology that the outcome would be any different. With this in mind we raised the profile of the sense of communication within the groups and discussed with the children their teething problems and how we can best resolve them. How student personalities and familiarity with technology affect group work Next: Interesting Ways to Use Docs in the Classroom. Introducing Google Docs To Your Class: Interesting ways to use Docs in the Classroom 3 of 3. The mornings are becoming darker and the leaves are changing colour here in England, the Autumn school term is in full swing.
We have been using Google Docs (as part of Apps Education Edition ) with a new year group for 8 weeks and we are putting into action some of the many things we learned from last year’s implementation. Whilst in the previous two posts I have explored many of the broader themes that must underpin the way sharing online docs should be approached in the classroom, I am now knee deep in the practicalities of using Google Docs with our classes. This post will hopefully give you some practical ways to use the tool in the classroom, some inspiration as to where to start and some usage tips that will help it all run smoothly.
Over the last year I have begun two presentations that share practical tips in the use of Google Earth and the Interactive Whiteboard in the classroom. The first five are my own tips, in no particular order, to get the presentation started. Introducing Google Docs To Your Class: Tips for introducing online collaboration to students 1 of 3. In 2008 I was invited to write a series of blog posts for the Official Google Docs blog. I have decided to repost them here to highlight some of the challenges I faced at the time and in an effort to help you, not only with the use of Google Docs but also other online collaborative tools. Modelling expected behaviour and good practice first As our first Google Docs project began to gather pace last school year, I realised that the children were finding it difficult to work together.
With hindsight it is easier to recognise that the children were not only being introduced to a new piece of technology (the Docs tool) but also their traditional way of working was to be challenged by the new concept of working collaboratively in an online document. It was clear that the children were unsure about the way they should be working together.
Introducing group collaboration: entire class, working in pairs, and groups of four Next: It’s About the Communication Not The Tool. The Ultimate Guide To Apple’s New Education Initiative. Apple has just unveiled their latest attempt to rethink an entire market. It’s not a new tablet, phone, or even a device at all. Today at the Guggenheim, Apple announced how it will essentially get more school districts to buy iPads. But it’s not just about the money, there’s some amazing software that’s rethinking the tried-and-true textbook publishing model. Below are excerpts from the world’s best news sources who are live-blogging and in attendance at the event. From them you’ll be able to understand exactly what the new software is, what it does, and how it will affect you and your classroom. What Apple Announced 1: Textbooks for iPad, which became available by way of a new textbook category in iBooks 2, provide students with a modern, interactive replacement for conventional printed textbooks. 2: Apple has also announced iBooks Author (more details below) which lets you create your own textbooks.
iTunes U Is Changing iTunes 10.5.3 Just Released “Reinventing The Textbook” With iBooks 2. Integrating Google Tools 4 Teachers. Winning ways to use Google Apps in your Classroom or Library CA Google Summit July 2013 Winning ways to use Google Apps in your Library Got Books? Promote reading and YA Literature using Google AppsWebsite July 2013 Got Books? Integrating Google Tools 4 Teachers We will use a Google Site template for this workshop.Go to new SiteBrowse the Gallery for more templatesSearch for CASSINELLI to locate the workshop Site Description: Come learn how you can use the FREE Google tools to encourage collaboration in your classroom. This workshop is great for the teacher who in NEW to the Google tools and need step-by-step instructions of how to integrate the tools in their lessons. My objective is to first explain how to use the features of the tools. Next I will share specific examples of how teachers can use the tools for learning and collaboration.
Teachers will then have the opportunity to plan and begin creating a project using Google docs & spreadsheets, Maps or Sites. 52 Interesting Ways to use Wordle in the Classroom.