A Personal Cyberinfrastructure © 2009 Gardner Campbell. The text of this article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License ( EDUCAUSE Review, vol. 44, no. 5 (September/October 2009): 58–59 Gardner Campbell (Gardner_Campbell@Baylor.edu) is Director of the Academy for Teaching and Learning and an Associate Professor of Literature and Media at Baylor University. Comments on this article can be posted to the web via the link at the bottom of this page. Cyberinfrastructure is something more specific than the network itself, but it is something more general than a tool or a resource developed for a particular project, a range of projects, or, even more broadly, for a particular discipline. — American Council of Learned Societies, Our Cultural Commonwealth, 2006 Sometimes progress is linear. But that wasn't progress. Then the web changed again: Google, Blogger, Wikipedia, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter. Notes
7 Essentials for a Great Computing Course If you find yourself in the position of having to set up and run a new Computing course in school, where do you start? Here are seven factors that I consider to be essential. Safety first Everyone should feel safe in the classroom, not just from physical dangers such as trailing wires, but also from being shouted down or drowned out by other students (such as girls sometimes experience from the boys), being shown disrespect, or being subjected to the experience of stumbling upon racist websites or pornography, perhaps because of a lack of appropriate filtering. Because even otherwise civil and civilised adults sometimes become feral when online, keeping safe and being respectful to others are things that have to be taught rather than assumed. The curriculum must be challenging The course should stretch students. I tend to think of the ZPD as a kind of halfway house between too easy and impossible. The course must have perceived value There should be a clear progression pathway
Education Week —Courtesy of Allison Shelley/The Verbatim Agency for American Education: Images of Teachers and Students in Action By Anne Jolly If you want to engage students and get them excited about what they are learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics classes, ask them to tackle a real-world problem. Working on solutions to real-world problems is the heart of any STEM investigation. Perhaps the most important consequence of students working on real problems is that they begin to develop empathy—a sense that there is something worth dedicating their efforts to outside of themselves. Criteria for Selecting Real-World Problems Designing real-world engineering challenges for K-12 students can be tough. Here are some of the criteria I consider when selecting real-world problems: • The problem must be real. • Students must be able to relate to the problem. • The problem should be “doable.” • The problem must allow for multiple acceptable approaches and solutions. Problem Possibilities
Texas Educator Amy Storer Takes PBL to a Whole New Level | Tynker Blog Texas has a long history in the pantheon of computing, so it’s no mystery that Texas still creates thousands of computing jobs and will eventually need code-minded students to fill those. Montgomery, TX, educator Amy Storer – also a Tynker Blue Ribbon Educator – makes creativity in the classroom her focus. Along with other dedicated code-minded educators, Amy even moderated Monday’s #Tynkerchat on Twitter! Here’s a little more about Amy: Amy is graduate of Lamar University with a Master’s in Educational Technology Leadership. This week, Amy shared her excitement for a new school year of sharing: 1. My motivation comes from a student that I had in my class when I taught 4th grade math/science. 2. Kids want to code. 3. My favorite project is “Let’s Take a Trip to Mars.” 4. I am learning more and more from the wonderful group of educators that make up #PasstheScopeEDU. 5. Never treat a new school year like any other! Creativity over consumption is crucial in classrooms today.
Why Schools Need to Introduce Computing in All Subjects: Northwestern University News This article originally appeared in The Conversation on February 8, 2016. By Uri Wilensky In his recent State of the Union address, President Barack Obama said schools need to offer every student hands-on computer science classes to be better prepared for the workforce. President Obama is right: the next generation of learners will require a high level of fluency with modes of thinking in which computers act as interactive partners. The question is: how best to make sure they acquire that thinking? More computer classes There is widespread agreement that computing should play a more prominent role throughout our education system. The STEM Education Act of 2015 was recently passed into law, expanding the definition of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) to include computer science and encouraging more STEM education efforts. Seven of the nation’s largest school districts are adding more computer science classes. Shortage of students Here’s what the current picture looks like:
5 Things That Should Be Taught in Every School Let’s be honest: our education system is fucked. I mean, almost all of the important history I learned between grades 5 and 12 I could probably find on Wikipedia and understand within a few weeks now. And pretty much any basic scientific knowledge you could ever want to learn is explained with pretty videos on YouTube. Yet we’re still pushing kids through the same curriculum their grandparents went through. It’s cliche at this point to say that the most important things you learn in life you don’t learn in school. But why couldn’t these things be taught in school? Call me bitter. Obviously, when I rule the world — which should be any day now, waiting to hear back from some people — we won’t have these problems. But before I get carried away fantasizing, let’s get real. 1. Seriously, compound interest runs the fucking planet. Note: If you would choose the chocolate bar over the silver, and don’t understand why this is a horrible decision, meet me at this footnote. 2. 3. Or: 4. 5.
Schools are finally teaching what kids need to be successful in life — Quartz Research shows that teaching kids things like perseverance and self-control can improve their health, academic achievement, and happiness in life. But teaching character, or social and emotional learning, has proven dicey. The science was sometimes squishy, the curriculum often felt driven by those trying to set a moral agenda, and schools had too much else to do, like close the academic gap between high- and low-income kids, and the skills gap between US kids and some of their global counterparts. That’s beginning to change. From Singapore and China to Britain, policymakers and educators are investing more time and money in scientific research on character. The debate is no longer about whether character matters, but which traits—grit, open mindedness, optimism—matter the most and how to effectively teach those. “Success in today’s world puts a higher premium on character qualities,” says Andreas Schleicher, head of education and skills for the OECD. “That just does not add up.”
14 Classroom Activities That Increase Student Engagement - Reading Horizons ***This content is based on a webinar presented by Reading Horizons Reading Specialist, Stacy Hurst.*** Research shows that students whose teachers spend too much time talking are less likely to be engaged during classroom instruction. Here is a list of fourteen student engagement strategies from Reading Horizons Reading Specialist, Stacy Hurst, that you can use to increase student engagement during reading instruction or reading intervention: 1. Before teaching a new decoding skill or grammar rule, preface the lesson with a pretest. 2. Teachers can use this activity to help students learn to differentiate between similar but different reading concepts. 3. This activity provides a quick way to gauge if your students are comprehending a story or to test them on different reading skills. 4. 5. This is a great way to mix things up a bit. 6. This activity allows students to pause and process what they have just learned. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 13. 14. How can I apply this my school? Early Literacy
4 Essential Rules Of 21st Century Learning 4 Essential Rules Of 21st Century Learning by Jennifer Rita Nichols The term “21st century” has become an integral part of educational thinking and planning for the future. Educators and administrators are actively searching for ways to prepare students for the future, and the educational system has been evolving faster than ever before. Various studies have shown us that rote memorization is not an effective learning strategy, and that teacher-centered classrooms may not be the most efficiently structured ones for student engagement. However, despite learning about the skills that students will need to develop to become successful in the 21st century, as well as what beliefs about education may be worth hanging onto or throwing away, schools and teachers are left trying to figure out what their role needs to be in the education of their 21st century students. Nowadays, we don’t live in the same world. So then, what is the role of education in the 21st century? Society has changed. 1. 2. 3.
10 Exit Slip Prompts that Will Work for Any Class | Teach 4 the Heart If you’re not using exit slips, you really should try them. Basically, you give students a quick prompt at the end of class (or for elementary, at the end of the day or the end of a subject). Then the students have just a couple minutes to write an answer and turn it in. Why You Should Use Exit Slips: Writing increases students’ participation. When you ask a question in class, one or two students answer out loud and maybe a few more have their hands raised. So now that I’ve hopefully convinced you to try out exit slips, let me give you a few ideas of what you can ask. Easy Exit Slip Prompts Write down two things you learned today.Pretend your friend was absent from class today and s/he asks you to explain the lesson. Do you use exit slips in your class? Additional Resources: Photo by lacla21.
5 Powerful Questions Teachers Can Ask Students My first year teaching a literacy coach came to observe my classroom. After the students left, she commented on how I asked the whole class a question, would wait just a few seconds, and then answer it myself. "It's cute," she added. Um, I don't think she thought it was so cute. I think she was treading lightly on the ever-so shaky ego of a brand-new teacher while still giving me some very necessary feedback. So that day, I learned about wait/think time. Many would agree that for inquiry to be alive and well in a classroom that, amongst other things, the teacher needs to be expert at asking strategic questions, and not only asking well-designed ones, but ones that will also lead students to questions of their own. Keeping It Simple I also learned over the years that asking straightforward, simply-worded questions can be just as effective as those intricate ones. #1. This question interrupts us from telling too much. #2. #3. #4. #5. How do you ask questions in your classroom?
5 Ways to Help Your Students Become Better Questioners The humble question is an indispensable tool: the spade that helps us dig for truth, or the flashlight that illuminates surrounding darkness. Questioning helps us learn, explore the unknown, and adapt to change. That makes it a most precious “app” today, in a world where everything is changing and so much is unknown. And yet, we don’t seem to value questioning as much as we should. For the most part, in our workplaces as well as our classrooms, it is the answers we reward -- while the questions are barely tolerated. To change that is easier said than done. How to Encourage Questioning 1. Asking a question can be a scary step into the void. 2. This is a tough one. 3. Part of the appeal of “questions-only” exercises is that there’s an element of play involved, as in: Can you turn that answer/statement into a question? 4. 5. If the long-term goal is to create lifelong questioners, then the challenge is to make questioning a habit -- a part of the way one thinks.