Learning and Growing: Keynote, Socrative, Simple Circuit App, BrainPop Back from a nice long weekend, I know that I have to reactivate my students memories from our Lego circuit lab from last week. So, how to do this? My objective is to review the necessary parts of electrical circuits, illustrate the difference between series and parallel circuits, and review how electrical energy can be transformed into other energy forms. Start off class by showing the lab video (from above). Enter, Keynote... Here are a few slides... Sorting circuit parts Comparing various circuits Traditional circuit question The students will also have them available through Dropbox. Enter, Socrative app... Information on the Socrative app can be found at Our lesson will really ramp up with the use of the Simple Circuit app that some student explored in our lab last week. As a cooling down activity, students will log on to the BrainPop app for a quick review of circuits by watching the Electric Circuits video.
Media on Demand TeachMeet is an unplugged event or an infomal gathering of teachers who want to share their ideas, their enthusiasm and their best practices. The main idea is that teachers learn from each other. This informal way of professional development is taking the education world by storm. For TeachMeets ONLINE we use the Adobe Connect Pro software or Live Meeting, which allow us to record the TeachMeets and make them available for later viewing.
Technology in Education: An Overview Published: February 5, 2016 In this 2015 photo, third grader Iyana Simmons works on a coding exercise at Michael Anderson School in Avondale, Ariz. —Nick Cote for Education Week Technology is everywhere in education: Public schools in the United States now provide at least one computer for every five students. They spend more than $3 billion per year on digital content. To keep up with what’s changing (and what isn’t), observers must know where to look. There’s the booming ed-tech industry, with corporate titans and small startups alike vying for a slice of an $8 billion-plus yearly market for hardware and software. But a significant body of research has also made clear that most teachers have been slow to transform the ways they teach, despite the influx of new technology into their classrooms. State and federal lawmakers, meanwhile, have wrestled in recent years with the reality that new technologies also present new challenges. What Is Personalized Learning? Additional resources:
20 Must-See Teaching Tools Coming To Your Classroom Very Soon It’s hard to find a field that hasn’t been radically changed by technology, and education is no exception. Few classrooms these days operate without digital tools, gadgets, or applications that have made it easier for teachers to track student progress and tailor lessons to student needs and interests. While the tools of today are great, there are even more great technological teaching tools and practices on the horizon, many of which are just starting to be adopted in the classroom or are just making it out of the developmental stages. These tools offer new and often very promising ways to connect with students and improve the quality of education offered in schools. (Click the title of each tool to visit their respective website) ClassConnect ClassConnect is a startup founded by teen entrepreneur Eric Simons (who spent months living on AOL’s campus while he worked on the project). 19Pencils Augmented Reality Glasses Online Learning Exchange Prentice Hall Writing Coach Three Ring Class Dojo
10 Sites for Teaching/Learning a Foreign Language This blog gets readers from around the the world. A lot of them are teachers of ESL/EFL/ELL and teach or know foreign languages. This posted is dedicated to those teachers of foreign languages as I hope these sites will be of some benefit to them. *This list is in alphabetical order. 10 Sites for Teaching/Learning a Foreign Language Duolingo - Is an interesting site that allows users to translate text from the web.
Encouraging Teacher Technology Use Technology use in classroom instruction can vary greatly from school to school. We asked the Education World Tech Team how their schools encourage -- or discourage -- staff technology use. Included: Tips for encouraging staff technology use. Some teachers, experts say, still are reluctant to use technology, mostly because of a lack of time, a lack of resources, or a lack of confidence in their ability to use the available technology. It appears that technology use varies greatly from school to school. We asked the following questions: Are teachers at your school expected to meet certain levels of technology proficiency? "Teachers here in Fort Knox (Kentucky) are encouraged to use technology in several different ways," educational technologist Stacey J. "Our school server provides another incentive for teachers to use technology," Wyatt noted. "Our teachers also use special software to maintain student information," Wyatt said. "We have e- mail for the entire division," Timmons noted.
How Twitter can be used as a powerful educational tool Think Twitter is just a waste of time? Think again. Its organizational structure makes it an effective tool for connecting with students and others online By Alan November and Brian Mull Read more by Contributor July 13th, 2012 Learning how to filter through tweets will bring clarity and meaning to Twitter and will get you past the mosh pit of random thoughts and lackluster chitchat. (Editor’s note: This is part three in a series of articles about how to build students’ web literacy and research skills. On Feb. 10, 2011, the world was transfixed on the protests raging in Egypt. What Mubarak might not have known is that while he was trying to maintain his iron grip on power, thousands of Egyptians were tweeting about their frustration with the dictator. If you are a middle or high school social studies teacher, and you wanted to provide your students with a close-up view of the events unfolding in Egypt, you could turn to a traditional news service.
Goal: Pass the Baton Posted by Shelly Terrell on Monday, February 1st 2010 Part of the 30 Goals 2010 Challenge Series As educators we tend to be very giving people and volunteer our time to help others. In this way, education is a significant profession. I am fortunate to have been involved in many incredible projects. Along the way, I realized that some of these projects either no longer exist or lack the profound impact they once made. This year I aim to pass the baton. MentoringCreating a planCreating leadership positions shared by manyHaving appropriate measures in placeEstablishing a vision The Challenge Continues My long-term goal is to ensure this project is continued. Read The 30 Goals Challenge: Join the MovementPublishing Software from Yudu The Challenges Congratulations on endearing this journey with me. Challenge: Reflect on what you would like to ensure continues and come up with a plan to achieve this. You may want to subscribe for FREE to receive regular updates! How do we ensure we pass the baton?
Future Ready Learning What is Future Ready Learning? State and district teams work collaboratively with schools and communities to transform teaching and learning using the power of technology to help drive continuous improvement. We: Assist schools and families with the transition to high-speed access. HIDOE is an enthusiastic proponent of blended learning — a broad concept in which technology is used to enhance and expand traditionally non-digital teaching and learning. Schools that wish to accelerate blended learning in their classrooms and would like to know more about HIDOE's supports should contact the technology integration team at the Office of Curriculum, Instruction and Student Support. Schools that have cultivated Future Ready Learning in their classrooms and beyond are well situated to implement Computer Science education. Related: ConnectED Initiative Examples of Future Ready Learning Dispatches from the Hour of Code — "Anyone can do this!" Expansion & Supports
Scholr.ly Search Engine Takes An Innovative Approach To Research The web is cluttered. There’s a pantload of information out there and it’s hard to sift through. Google does a fabulous job at being your virtual Swiss Army Knife for finding what you’re looking for. But even the likes of Google Scholar and Google Books are not perfect. Quickly finding and skimming abstracts, learning about authors, and surfacing new publications is tricky. That’s where Scholar.ly comes in. Personally, I love the dual column approach. One interesting side-note is that, when faced between results that are either behind a paywall or free, Scholr.ly ranks free papers and books above those behind a paywall. The beta is expected to launch later this summer and we’ll be sure to bring you more as it’s opened. Educational Web Sites Twitter Cybrary Man is a Twitterbrarian! My Twitter Friends My RebelMouse Wording by @sjunkins Sign by Maureen Devlin @lookforsun Sign by @sjunkins
Use Twitter in PowerPoint Your audience is tweeting How do you draw them into your presentation? By asking for their opinion, and displaying their tweets directly in your slides. With Poll Everywhere, you can invite people to tweet a short comment directly to your slide in real-time, while still blocking inappropriate or off-topic tweets. You can also ask multiple choice questions and watch a graph evolve as people vote. Try it now: chart How does it work? If people tweet and include "@poll", we'll pick it up as fast as Twitter allows. If you defined a confirmation message, @poll replies back to them.
Steve Hagardon I pioneered the use of live, virtual (and peer-to-peer) education conferences, popularized the idea of education "unconferences," built one of the first modern social networks for teachers in 2007 (Classroom 2.0), and developed the "conditions of learning" exercise for local change. I supported and encouraged the development of thousands of other education networks, particularly for professional development. For the last ten years, I've run a large annual ed-tech unconference, now called Hack Education (previously EduBloggerCon). I blog, speak, and consult on educational technology, and my virtual and physical events build community and connections in education, with 550,000 members. My newest project is an online summit on Tiny Houses. Personal Information: I was a foreign-exchange student through AFS to Brazil for a year in high school, and organized and led group tours for several years as my first job after college for Stanford's Alumni Association. Disclosures:
50 Best Sources of Free STEM Education Online Colleges, online universities, and other educational forums in your community can be excellent places to learn more about a variety of STEM topics, but there is also a wealth of educational material available on the web for those who prefer to learn at their own pace or take a more individual approach. Even better, these resources, whether classes, lectures, or tutorials, are all free of charge, meaning you can improve your knowledge without emptying your wallet. Check out our list (organized by topic, not ranking) for some great STEM resources that can help you build your knowledge about everything from calculus to fire science. Universities These universities, many of which are renowned for their STEM programs, offer resources like course materials, videos, and lecture series. MIT Open Courseware: MIT offers one of the largest collections of OpenCourseWare on the web, with the vast majority covering STEM topics. Lectures Tutorials Educational Media Free Courses Reading Material