Report: Middle School Students Using Smartphones More Interested in STEM Mobile Computing | News Report: Middle School Students Using Smartphones More Interested in STEM Middle school students who use mobile devices for school work are more likely to express an interest in STEM subjects, yet there's a large gap in the number of students using the devices at home and those using them in school, according to a new survey from MIT's Center for Mobile Learning at the Media Lab and the Verizon Foundation. The "Verizon Foundation Survey on Middle School Students' Use of Mobile Technology," comprising online interviews with 1,000 students in grades 6-8 and conducted by TRU, found that 39 percent of respondents reported using smartphones to do homework and 31 percent said they used tablets for the same purpose. Among students who reported using laptops and tablets in class, 67 percent and 55 percent, respectively, told interviewers that the devices helped them learn math and science better. Other findings of the survey include: About the Author
50 Education Technology Tools Every Teacher Should Know About Technology and education are pretty intertwined these days and nearly every teacher has a few favorite tech tools that make doing his or her job and connecting with students a little bit easier and more fun for all involved. Yet as with anything related to technology, new tools are hitting the market constantly and older ones rising to prominence, broadening their scope, or just adding new features that make them better matches for education, which can make it hard to keep up with the newest and most useful tools even for the most tech-savvy teachers. Here, we’ve compiled a list of some of the tech tools, including some that are becoming increasingly popular and widely used, that should be part of any teacher’s tech tool arsenal this year, whether for their own personal use or as educational aids in the classroom. Social Learning These tools use the power of social media to help students learn and teachers connect. Learning Lesson Planning and Tools Useful Tools
44 Smart Ways to Use Smartphones in Class (Part 1) - Getting Smart by @JohnHardison1 - This week an online article grabbed my attention. Its title read “94 Percent of High School Students Using Cellphones in Class.” I immediately scoped out the heading and thought to myself, “Finally, teachers are beginning to embrace the powerful little gadgets.” One quotation in particular caused serious professional introspection on my behalf. I understand the tougher task of using regular cell phones in class versus internet ready smartphones, however , I could not disagree more with the above quotation. A blessed trip to the ISTE 2011 conference in Philadelphia helped me devise a BYOD classroom management plan and opened my eyes to the infinite educational potential of smartphones in the classroom. However, one of my toughest baseball coaches once said, “Potential and a dollar will get you a Coke.” I believe the potential of smartphones, supported by a strong classroom management system, can be summed up with what I call “The Five C’s.” Use Smartphones to Collaborate
Most Memorable Blog Posts of the Year With it being Thanksgiving weekend, I thought it appropriate to share my appreciation for some of the posts I remember most from the past year. About a year ago, I began my own blog. My first post was a simple copy and paste of an email exchange I had with an author. They aren’t listed in any kind of order. Eight Things Skilled Teachers Think, Say, and Do by Larry Ferlazzo When I shared this article (not technically a blog post but again, my rules) with my staff via Pinterest, they responded very positively. Reflecting on My iPad Grant Thus Far…A Story of Celebrating Failure by Jenny Magiera I like this phrase, “celebrating failure”. Reducing Instruction, Increasing Engagement by Peter Johnston Alright, if I had to pick one post and say, “You must read this”, I would have to go with Peter Johnston’s entry on Stenhouse’s Blogstitute this past summer. The Power of the Principal by Peter DeWitt Peter is an elementary principal and a regular blogger for Education Week. Why Blog? Like this:
Get Organized With the Latest Smartphone Apps Who says organization has to be boring? With the latest smartphone applications, your child can keep track of school assignments and have fun along the way. With stunning graphics and state of the art design, the newest apps will keep even the most reluctant students on track. The truth is that the more organized a student is, the better grades they tend to receive. For Younger Kids EpicWin — EpicWin is a fun digital organizer your kids will love. iReward Chart — Perfect for younger children, iReward Chart tracks chores or behavior goals and monitors your child’s progress over the course of the week. Task Timer — Once a task and completion time are chosen, Task Timer will show the time elapsed and time remaining, to keep even the most unorganized student on track. Apps Teens Will Love In Class — This is one of the hottest apps right now. Choices for the Entire Family Cozi Family Organizer (for all phones): This is a great app for busy families. Ann K. Rating: 5.0/5 (1 vote cast)
A Great app for developing spelling I've been a fan of SpellingCity.com for quite some time now and I was fascinated when I heard they had produced a free app. For those of you who don't know about SpellingCity, the website enables learners or teachers to enter a word list and then automatically generate a range of interactive multimedia activities based around the words. The site automatically adds audio recordings of the words and example sentences to the activities it generates. There is a great range of activities that students can do within the site and they can generate certificates for their teacher or parent to prove they have done their homework. The app is in many ways very similar to the site. Spelling TestMe - In the activity students have to spell out the words from the word list. If they got any of the words wrong they can go to the 'Teach ME' activity which spells the word for them using audio and text and gives them an example sentence containing the word. Related links: Best Nik Peachey
5 Ways the BYOD Model Can Benefit Special Education Classrooms We have a love-hate thing going with the idea of a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) classroom. We love that each student in a BYOD classroom has the ability to work on the technology with which they are most comfortable. And we really love that teachers don't have to deal with the logistics of school-owned technology. But we really don't like the fact that teachers in BYOD schools have to adapt their lessons to work on a variety of mediums and with a variety of platforms. Talk about a workload! That said, there's a lot to love with the BYOD model, especially when it comes to special education. Benefit #1: Students Choose the Tech That Fits Them Best We all have our technology preferences and the last thing a student needs is to get used to one type of technology at home and be forced to use another at school. Benefit #2: Students Can Download the Apps They Need The big catch with school-owned technology is that oftentimes students aren't allowed to download applications to the devices.
North Hills teachers write a textbook for online curriculum In eighth-grade social studies classes at North Hills Junior High School, there's no sleeping through videos, no hiding in the back of class to avoid being called upon and no student excuses about forgetting the textbook, notes or class materials. That's because just about everything students use for class is online, including the textbook, which was written this past summer by social studies teachers Rich Texter, Joe Welch and Larry Dorenkamp. It was edited by reading teacher Jill Brooks, who made sure it was written at the appropriate reading level. The result is the students spend their class time multitasking with technology. The idea of creating an online curriculum started among the teachers about three years ago, when the trio approached Jeff Taylor, assistant superintendent for curriculum, assessment and special programs, about "starting a technology-based social studies curriculum that would revolve around no conventional textbook." Mr. In North Hills, Mr. Mr. In Mr. In Mr.
10 Sites to use with Mobile Phones in Education The use of mobile technology has opened up a whole new world in education. Terms like BYOD (bring your own device) is a common place occurrence. These devices has allowed educators and students to learn, teach, and study in a whole new way. Learning is no longer limited to the classroom and can occur in real-time almost anywhere. I've decided to list my favorite sites that can be used w/ mobile phones for educational purposes. This list is in alphabetical order. 10 Sites to use w/ Mobile Phones in EducationAudioboo - A great site w/ mobile apps for all platforms, for recording one's voice and then embedding it into a site/blog.
5 Innovative Mind-Mapping Tools For Education What do you do when you have an elaborate project, assignment, or paper that needs to be quickly organized? Do you fire up Microsoft Word and whip up an outline? Do you pull out a pen and paper and start sketching? What if you could have the best of both options with a free online tool? It’s called ‘mind mapping’ (“Mind Map” is a trademark of the Buzan Organization .) and it’s basically a fun and intuitive way to visually organize your thoughts. Thanks to a recent article , I received an influx of mind-mapping web tools that I wanted to pass along to the Edudemic audience. XMind Definitely one of the easiest ways to embed a mind map into your blog or website. The biggest feature to me is the ‘Pro’ feature which lets you record what an audience (or your classroom) says directly into the mind map as an .mp3. MindMeister MindMeister is a powerful tool that is great for mind-mapping on the go. The killer tool is far and away the ability to collaborate, though. iMindMap Sample From ThinkBuzan
Mobile Learning: 50+ Resources & Tips I believe mobile devices will transform education. This is why I created a free ebook, Effective Mobile Learning: 50+ Quick Tips & Resources with helpful tips and several resources to help support this trend. One reason is because mobile devices are designed in a way that forces the teacher to give control to the learner. When we equip a classroom with iPads, iPods, small tablets, or cellphones the learning is literally put in the hands of the students. The teacher has to facilitate and walk around the room to manage the learning. Below are a list of 50+ Mobile Learning resources & growing! Mobile Learning Free Ebooks Mobile Learning Posts/Presentations I’ve Given Mobile Learning LiveBinder of Resources Mobile Learning Mindmap of Implementation This mindmap is full of case studies, schools, teachers, free ebooks, and more to show real examples of mobile learning at its best.
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