Developing digital literacies through digital storytelling tools This post is organised in this way: A word of warning: this is a long post Dear Audience, I warn you: this is going to be quite a wordy blog entry. It’s going to be insightful and helpful as well; you’ll see. In order to capture my thoughts and feelings as I was trying out each tool during the storytelling fortnight, I wrote the different sections of this post in instalments following a series of steps (process writing). I wanted to connect digital storytelling with thinking skills (as described in Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy of Thinking Skills – my own agenda) and digital literacies (as discussed by Howard Rheingold and Doug Belshaw – last fortnight’s topic). Six word stories: complexity in simplicity Writing six word stories is not as simple as it seems. These words can’t be chosen at random. A little trick: use visuals. I posted my two six word stories on my blog and on Six Word Stories site. Making an animated GIF: you don’t need to be GIFted Photo Credit: Yelnoc via Flickr cc 1. 4. 6. 7.
How to Create an Infographic in an Hour or Less [5 Free PPT Templates] Wouldn't it be great if creating infographics was as simple as writing regular ol' text-based blog posts? Unfortunately, the reality is that making visual content like this usually takes a lot more time, effort, and let's face it -- skill -- than the written word. Usually. But considering the popularity and effectiveness of visual content in marketing today, you can't just afford to throw in the towel. That's why we decided to take all the pain and suffering out of infographic creation. Download our 15 free infographic templates here. Then, all you have to do is provide the content to use inside them. Would you rather watch this tutorial instead of read it? Click here to download your free infographic templates. How to Create Infographics For Free in Under an Hour Step 1: Collect your data/content, and choose your desired template. You can either collect third-party data or use your own original data. Step 2: Customize your infographic. That's it! Share this Image On Your Site
10 Must Have Resources to Teach about Copyright and Fair Use 1- Copyright Advisory Network This web site is a way for librarians to learn about copyright and seek feedback and advice from fellow librarians and copyright specialists 2- Copyright and Fair Use Guidelines for Teachers This chart was designed to inform teachers of what they may do under the law. Feel free to make copies for teachers in your school or district, 3- Copyright Confusion This is a great wiki where you can have access to materials, PDFs, and guide on copyright and fair use of digital content 5- Creative Commons Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that enables the sharing and use of creativity and knowledge through free legal tools. 6- CyberBee I must say that this is really a great interactive website that teaches students everything on copyright issues. 7- Fair Use Evaluator This tool helps you better understand how to determine the "fairness" of a use under the U.S. 8- Taking The Mystery out of Copyright 9- Copyright Kids 10- Teaching Copyright
Interesting Flipped Classroom Statistics Classrooms all over the world are being flipped – and with good reason. More and more studies are revealing that a flipped classroom environment is enhancing learning retention. What is a flipped classroom? The flipped learning approach involves taking direct instruction and placing the onus on the individual learner rather than group instruction. For example, taking an online course to learn the content. Classroom time is then spent applying the content rather than direct instruction. Does it Work? In short – yes. One important distinction to make about flipped classrooms is that not every subject needs to take on this approach. Sources:Sophia.orgFlipped Learning Network Justin Ferriman is the Founder of LearnDash, a WordPress based LMS and Learning Strategy provider.
Digital Literacy across the Curriculum handbook This handbook introduces educational practitioners to the concepts and contexts of digital literacy and supports them in developing their own practice aimed at fostering the components of digital literacy in classroom subject teaching and in real school settings. The handbook is aimed at educational practitioners and school leaders in both primary and secondary schools who are interested in creative and critical uses of technology in the classroom. Although there is increasing policy and research attention paid to issues related to digital literacy, there is still relatively little information about how to put this into practice in the classroom. There is even less guidance on how teachers might combine a commitment to digital literacy with the needs of their own subject teaching. The handbook is not a comprehensive ‘how to’ guide; it provides instead a rationale, some possible strategies and some practical examples for schools to draw on.
Digital literacy resources for teachers and students | Timmus Limited There’s been some Twitter chat from @dajbelshaw about Digital Literacy that has sparked some discussion, notably thoughts of operationalising Digital Literacy ( see Doug’s blog – top marks for doing some thinking on a Sunday!). This reminded me about some resources that I made for Becta just before they were quangoed. Our aim was to create some useful resources for teachers and students to use, which could easily be incorporated into existing teaching practice. OK so I am taking the initiative here and will upload these resources seeing as Becta are no more. The link to the resource pack (zip file) is at the bottom of this post. Please feel free to use/tweak them if you want (I haven’t checked all links for example, and these were made last year). Digital Literacy resource pack for teachers and students
The Never Ending Thesis Teaching Nonfiction Reading Skills in the Science Classroom [ACTIVITY] Posted by Bill Ferriter on Monday, 05/20/2013 I don't have a ton of time to write today -- I've spent the past week teaching and learning alongside of some really progressive thinkers in Australia -- so I figured I'd share a few handouts that I've been using in class this year to teach nonfiction reading skills in my sixth grade science classroom. Each lesson is tied directly to a standard in the Common Core Literacy in History, Science and Technical Subjects curriculum -- and each lesson is designed to be used in tandem with a current event connected to the concepts that our students study. Hope they help someone: Active Reading Behaviors Handout, Active Reading Behaviors One of the reading strategies that we will introduce to students is the notion of making "active reading comments" while reading. The key point to get across in this lesson is that readers are ALWAYS thinking while reading. How Quotes Influence Your Thinking Handout_HowQuotesInfluenceYourThinking
Who’s Using Social Media Anyway? Guest post by Ann Barrett, Director eRecruitment & Social Media Strategy at Sun Life Digital. You can find Ann via her Social Recruiting blog where she writes about social media and Human Resources. She can also be found on LinkedIn. Facebook. For a long time, there seemed to be a perception that only younger people (under 25) were “on” social media. Think about it: Almost every company, globally, is using a social media channel for branding and engagementNews channels use Twitter to solicit questions and commentsCommercials almost always have a “check us out on” Facebook or Twitter as part of their closingFor reality TV shows… Twitter is a stapleFor mobile, social channels are readily availableMany web sites enable you use your Facebook, Google+, Twitter or LinkedIn accounts to sign into other accounts such as Pinterest, TripAdvisor, etc.Some companies provide the ability use your social accounts such as LinkedIn to apply for jobs.