5 Great Educational Resources for Modern Classrooms
In the digital age, many innovative organizations have branched off into educational initiatives, and their timing couldn’t be better. Recognizing the need for visual literacy, digital citizenship practices, and guided ed-tech implementation, many of these organizations strive to offer our students and teachers versatile tools and the most rewarding experiences possible with them. Such educational resources are designed to appeal to both the teachers and students of modern digital classrooms. They make terrific use of design tools, social media applications, and a healthy dose of the tech our students love to work and connect with. The following 5 educational resources in this article represent exactly the types of learning environments that are meant for today’s students. Canva Educational On March 24 2015, the web-based design startup Canva announced the launch of its new visual communication support program for teachers called Canva Educational. iPad in Education Skype in the Classroom
Donna Lanclos–The Anthropologist in the Stacks | Once an Anthropologist Always an Anthropologist
Digital Skills Is Not The Same As Digital Literacy – FINDING HEROES
Digital skills is following a step by step process of creating an email account. Digital literacy is recognising spam, why it is being sent and understanding how email providers use filters to minimise potential harm. Digital skills is knowing how to use Microsoft Word. Digital literacy is using Microsoft Word to clearly and effectively communicate all the key components of an assignment. Digital skills is showing someone how to borrow ebooks. Digital skills is knowing how to use Facebook. Digital skills is showing someone how to use a database. Library staff spend a lot of time helping their community gain digital skills but how much time do we really spend helping them become digitally literate? And to add a layer of complexity onto that last question – when it comes to digital literacy, there is no one size fits all. For example, not everyone who borrows ebooks needs to know why some titles aren’t available for borrowing in New Zealand. Digital skills focus on what and how. Like this:
There's More to Life Than Blogging & Social Media
Your blog is wonderful. Social media is wonderful. But sometimes all of that wonderful can become more of a time suck or a distraction than we'd like. If you're starting to feel a little bored or a little (a lot?) unhappy with the time you're spending online, then it's time to make a change or two. (Melisa's post about scheduling your social media presence and Alexandra's post about taking a social media break are must-read posts for any blogger or heavy social media user and they can help you lay the foundation for making some changes.) About a year ago, I decided that I was spending too much time doing absolutely NOTHING on social media. And of course, I'm on social media when I'm working because that's part of my job. In order to break the social media habit, I needed to decide what I might do if I wasn't hanging out on social. I made a little list in my head of all of the things I used to like to do before I spent my entire life online.
the Anthropologist in the Stacks
What is digital fluency?
Image by George Couros under CC A recent announcement from Hon. Hekia Parata signalled that digital fluency will be a key focus for Ministry centrally-funded professional learning support in 2016 (PLD Changes will lift student achievement, 23 Sept. 2015). The value of growing digitally fluent learners was signalled in the Ministry report, Future Focused Learning in Connected Communities (2014) which asked that “digital competencies be recognised as “essential foundation skills for success in 21st century society” and that they be supported by “cross-curriculum resources, a responsive assessment framework, professional development and a programme of evaluation.” ‘Digital fluency’, as a phrase, does not occur specifically in the our various curricula (NZC, Te Marautanga, Te Whāriki) or in other oft-used touchstones for learning with digital technologies. What is digital fluency? Broadly speaking, digital fluency is a combination of: “Fluency” is broader than “literacy.” Questions to consider
Sending Digital Citizenship Home
As educators, we know that having our students' families' involvement is essential. And when it comes to something as important as digital citizenship, knowing that our students' families are clued in can have a huge impact on learning-outcome retention and awareness. Developing a strong home-school relationship can promote student learning and engagement as well as ensure that everyone is on the same page. In looking to help educators promote that home-school connection, we are excited to announce our newest resource, which you can add to your home-school toolbox around digital citizenship. Aligned to each lesson in our Digital Citizenship Curriculum, the new Family Activity Worksheets look to bring parents and caregivers into the conversation. Subjects & Skills (click to expand)
The Library using Lego for Literacy – Better Reading
Broome Public Library has launched the ‘Build Up Lego Club’ to encourage children to improve their literacy and comprehension. Lego building serves a number of purposes. One is training the brain to build cohesive concepts out of components. Club co-ordinator Ian McLean told ABC Kimberley Local Radio that: “Literacy and mathematics are based on units. In literacy it is letters, in Lego it is little blocks… You put those letters together in different ways that make different things.” Mr McLean also encourages kids to build narratives around their construction process: “They all tell me about the work at the end, so they have to think of the story of what they have built.” Kids in the club are set challenges each term, such as reading a book by a particular author or in a particular genre, or building the 13-Storey Treehouse. They also get involved in community projects. The club is extremely popular, in part because of the intergenerational appeal of Lego: parents love it too!
Navigating the Digital Transformation Journey – Digital Promise
| by Digital Promise You lower your hands to the ground and feel the texture of the rubber track against your fingertips. You slowly inhale the clean smell of fresh-cut grass and feel the wind gently pull the hair away from your face. The referee stands to your left, ready to count down to the beginning of the race. If you’ve ever prepared for an athletic competition, you may remember your coach telling you the importance of visualizing your moves. When we started thinking about how to support schools working to close the Digital Learning Gap, we knew we wanted school leaders to feel just as confident and prepared as athletes ready for a race. The image below serves as a blueprint for how schools have successfully rolled out and used technology to support students, both in-school and out. Each section represents one of the major phases a school undergoes as it works to provide learners with ubiquitous access to technology and powerful learning opportunities. Ready to Commit Powerful Use
