How To Know If You're Correctly Integrating Technology A common question that we hear from teachers about integrating technology into their classrooms is, “how do I know if I’m doing it right?” We love to hear this question because that tells us that the teacher is starting to analyze and evaluate how they are integrating technology and are looking for a way to gauge their effectiveness. We feel that the Technology Integration Matrix (TIM) best addresses the question of “doing it right.” According to the Arizona K-12 Center at Northern Arizona University , “the TIM is designed to assist schools and districts in evaluating the level of technology integration in classrooms and to provide teachers with models of how technology can be integrated throughout instruction in meaningful ways.” There is more than one version of the TIM but the one that we most commonly refer to with our staff was produced by the Arizona K12 Center at NAU. What is The Technology Integration Matrix? Download PDF of the Technology Integration Matrix
The Technology Integration Answer...Well Almost Earlier this year our district adopted the TPACK model of technology integration. What is TPACK you ask? Basically, it takes the approach that planning for technology integration shouldn't be an event. It should be something that adds to what we are already doing. You can view this presentation to learn more. According to the feedback we have gotten from the folks who have embraced it has been overwhelmingly positive. Recently I came across something that you can also use to make technology integration easier for you and your staff. There are actually 2 that you can take a look at. The first is the original from The Florida Center For Instructional Technology at the University of South Florida. The other is an adaption from Northern Arizona University. (You will want to visit each of the sites where these live because both matrices are interactive.) Down the left hand side of each is the learning environment. About Steven Steven W.
Why more schools aren’t teaching web literacy—and how they can start Fourteen years after we first published ‘Teaching Zack to Think,’ here’s a new three-part framework for making sure students are internet savvy By Alan November and Brian MullRead more by Contributor May 8th, 2012 If you follow the dictate that we teach what we test, it’s understandable why schools haven’t spent more time preparing students to be web literate since NCLB was passed. In 1998, a 15-year-old high school student used the personal website of a professor at Northwestern University, Arthur Butz, as justification for writing a history paper called “The Historic Myth of Concentration Camps.” That student, who we will call Zack, had been encouraged to use the internet for research, but he had not been taught to decode the meaning of the characters in a web address. Without web literacy, Zack believed Butz’s explanation. It turns out that validating content is not rocket science. Attend Alan November’s ed-tech conference and get $100 off the cost of registration!
100+ Google Tricks for Teachers It's Google's world, we're just teaching in it. Now, we can use it a little more easily. With classes, homework, and projects–not to mention your social life–time is truly at a premium for all teachers, so why not take advantage of the wide world that Google has to offer? From super-effective search tricks to Google tools specifically for education to tricks and tips for using Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Calendar, these tricks will surely save you some precious time. Search Tricks These search tricks can save you time when researching online for your next project or just to find out what time it is across the world, so start using these right away. Convert units. Google Specifically for Education From Google Scholar that returns only results from scholarly literature to learning more about computer science, these Google items will help you at school. Google Scholar. Google Docs 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. Gmail 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. Google Calendar 44.
Foreign Language Web literacy: Where the Common Core meets common sense We believe it’s essential for every teacher to develop lessons that challenge students to learn how to verify sources; here’s one example By Alan November and Brian Mull Read more by Contributor May 25th, 2012 “To ensure that students learn the grammar and strategies of the web, we believe it’s essential for every teacher to develop lessons that challenge students to learn how to verify sources,” the authors write. (Editor’s note: This is Part Two of a series of articles on developing web literacy among students. To read Part One, click here.) Are you as worried as we are that the overall impact of technology on our children’s ability to solve complex research problems is negative? Research shows that students primarily use one search engine and then only look at the first page of results. A very depressing view of the state of American students’ approach to internet research comes from a recent op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal.
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Google Drive Versus Evernote: Which Is Better For iOS Users? Google released version 1.1 of Google Drive for iOS Monday. Now iPhone and iPad users can edit Google Docs natively on their devices for the first time. With 5GB of free storage, integration with other Google services, and powerful text and image recognition when searching for files, Google Drive is now a formidable challenger to Evernote on iOS. How do they stack up? Best User Interface: Google Drive Evernote’s design resources are stretched pretty thin. The iPad version is the clearest example. If Evernote just cloned the two-column view of the desktop version, it would be closer to iPad conventions. On the iPhone, Evernote is just cramped. Google Drive for iOS is faster, cleaner, and better organized. Best Editing Features: Google Drive As a rich text editor, Evernote is almost okay. It’s much better for photo capture. Google Drive has OCR, too, and it also brings Google’s search power to bear in a way Evernote can’t. Best Storage Features: Evernote Best Business Model: Evernote
15 Things Teachers & Students Can Do With Edmodo Last week the Wall Street Journal had an article announcing that Edmodo had received a $15 million venture capital investment from the founder of LinkedIn and a former VP of Facebook. That article gave me the idea for this post of fifteen things teachers and students can do with Edmodo. For those not familiar with Edmodo, in a nutshell it is a microblogging system designed specifically for teachers and students. Here are fifteen things teachers and students can do with Edmodo. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. Do you use Edmodo?
So You Want to Do Mystery Skype? Mystery Skype is one of those ideas I wish I had thought because it just so fun but instead I was lucky enough to hear about it from Caren MacConnell. The concept is simple: classrooms Skype call each other and try to guess where the other classroom is located either in the United States or in the world. There are many great resources out there but for my own sanity I am creating one list for future reference:Before the call:Sign up – there are many places to sign up and some are even grade level based. I signed up a couple of places but also tweeted it out; the response was immediate as a lot of people are doing this. During the Call: During the call you just have to step back and trust the kids. Yes answer: They get to ask another question.No answer – Other team’s turn to ask a question. Students were allowed to guess whenever they thought they had a great answer (and it was their turn). Here is a video of our first call with Joan Young’s class We are already excited to try it again!
Common Core Standards | Education World Community Samantha Beattie Joined: 13 Aug 2012 Posts: 42 Implementation has begun! While I am excited to see what changes the CCSS will bring to both my teaching and my students' performance, I am overwhelmed. While searching the web, I have found some resources which I think will be useful in planning. The current concern is how to assess the students. After I receive the books, I will be back share my thoughts and how I plan to use them.
Swindle - Discussion Questions Discussion QuestionsUse our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book: • How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart) Also consider these LitLovers talking points to help get a discussion started for Swindle: 1. How would you describe Griffin Bin, "The Man With the Plan"? Do admire him? 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. (Questions by LitLovers. top of page
Series Of Good Dan Pink Videos To Use With Students I’ve written a lot about Daniel Pink’s writings on motivation over the years. Thanks to Pam Moran, I recently discovered a series of short videos Dan did for the Patterson Foundation that would be good to use with students. Actually, Dan did one interview with the Foundation, and they elegantly turned them into bite-size ones that I think are perfect for the classroom. Here’s the one on The One Sentence Project, and here are also links that give more information on it: What’s your sentence? What’s your sentence? This next video isn’t part of the same series, but it is Dan’s official “introduction” to the One Sentence Project, so I thought I’d add it: Two questions that can change your life from Daniel Pink on Vimeo. Here’s a great classroom example: Here’s another example: Finally, here’s the entire video before it was cut into the above clips: I’m adding this post to The Best Posts & Articles On “Motivating” Students.