Octalysis: Complete Gamification Framework (This is the Gamification Framework that I am most known for. Within a year, it was translated into 9 different languages and became classic teaching literature in the gamification space in the US, Europe, Australia and South America.) Octalysis: Complete Gamification Framework Gamification is design that places the most emphasis on human motivation in the process. Most processes design around function and efficiency – they try to get the job done as quickly as possible. Even though many Gamification techniques were in use long before video games were around, games were one of the earliest examples of a holistic approach to implementing Human-Based Design – so now we call it Gamification. In the past few years, I have been digging deep into the formulation of a complete framework to analyze and build strategies around the various systems of Gamification. In the end, I came up with a system that I feel is instructive, useful, and elegant. The 8 Core Drives of Gamification 8) Loss & Avoidance
Popplet – Visual Thinking Tool Popplet – Visual Thinking Tool Written by Teach Amazing! Popplet is a visual thinking and presentation tool allowing students to collaborate with one another, organize information and present information in the form of a web. Popplet in the Classroom Popplet has multiple uses in the classroom. As a teacher, create Popplets to share links with students and colleagues. Yu-kai Chou & Gamification | Gamification Expert & Follower of Christ The Big List of Class Discussion Strategies Listen to this article as a podcast episode: Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 38:22 — 53.1MB) Subscribe: iTunes | Android | When I worked with student teachers on developing effective lesson plans, one thing I always asked them to revise was the phrase “We will discuss.” We will discuss the video. We will discuss the story. We will discuss our results. Every time I saw it in a lesson plan, I would add a note: “What format will you use? The problem wasn’t them; in most of the classrooms where they’d sat as students, that’s exactly what a class discussion looked like. So here they are: 15 formats for structuring a class discussion to make it more engaging, more organized, more equitable, and more academically challenging. I’ve separated the strategies into three groups. Enjoy! Gallery Walk > a.k.a. Basic Structure: Stations or posters are set up around the classroom, on the walls or on tables. Philosophical Chairs > a.k.a. Pinwheel Discussion > Socratic Seminar > a.k.a. a.k.a.
eQuizShow Online Templates What We Can All Learn from a Montessori Classroom As we scramble for ways to improve our schools, to meet every student’s needs, to push back against a test-score driven educational culture, many of us wonder what the right path might look like. Is it possible that path has been under our noses for more than 100 years? Until five years ago, I had no idea what Montessori was. When I heard people use the word, I assumed it was some early-childhood thing, some kind of school that was maybe a little esoteric and maybe a little privileged. Then, when my oldest child reached preschool age, and then the next kid and the next, I sent them to a Montessori preschool. During those years, I became more familiar with Maria Montessori’s philosophy, pioneered over 100 years ago in Italy, and I liked it. For some parents, it wasn’t that simple. Several years ago, a tiny educational revolution started in Bowling Green, Kentucky. First, they held several meetings to see if enough families would be interested in the school. I think we could.
Connections: Investigating Reality - A Course of Study A comprehensive general education course of study for adolescents and older learners • Explains learning to learners • Relates all school subjects simply and logically • Integrates the arts and sciences • Makes routine use of all thought processes • Stimulates creativity and ingenuity through active learning • Challenges all ability levels equally • Capitalizes on individual differences • Is consistently, unquestionably relevant • Does not “privilege” the dominant culture • Maximizes dialog and cooperative learning • Adapts to traditional bureaucratic demands • Makes provision for inter-school communication and continuous course improvement • Replaces school subjects as information organizers with a single, much simpler, more natural organizer • Moves learners steadily through ever-increasing levels of conceptual complexity • Returns curricular control to those best positioned to improve it—classroom teachers • Builds in criteria establishing the relative importance of information
5 gaming dynamics that truly engage students “How do we get kids to walk out of our classrooms and continue to think about what they’ve done in class?” he asked. Games give students an “endless list of things they have to complete–but the difference [compared to homework] is that they’re making the list,” Kiang said. The top five most addictive games, Kiang said, are: 5. Leave of Legends, because of its large social element 4. Civilization V, due to its flexibility and multiple ways to solve problems and meet challenges 3. There’s a great amount of power in the open-endedness of Minecraft as a learning environment, Kiang said. “When you know who your kids are, it makes a huge difference in how you see them–you can’t expect kids to fit in one mold,” he said. Kiang described the five gaming dynamics that engage students and make it easier for educators to integrate gaming into their instruction: 1. 2. “In my class, I don’t necessarily want to create ‘A’ students–I want to create kids who are confident risk-takers,” he said. 3. 4. 5.
Advanced Blogging: You asked for it! | Sue Waters Blog I was asked to facilitate a series of blogging sessions the Massive Open Online Course on Educational Technology (ETMOOC). You can read more about connectivist MOOC’s and ETMOOC here. This post is a summary of the ideas. tips and resources shared in the advanced blogging session. You’ll find the recordings to the session here: Complete list of archived ETMOOC Blackboard Collaborate SessionsIntroduction to Blogging – Jan 17 incl. The Advanced blogging session was a blend of what participants wanted to know mixed with skills they needed to know (Refer my Blogging questions Storify to see how this session was planned and the blogging tips shared by my network — thanks to all who helped plan this session!). Warning: This is a long post! Stop, look, link Failure to link is a common mistake of all new bloggers! Your readers want to be able to easy check out the information without needing to Google. Links are the building blocks of the web. When you link: How to Link Here’s how simple it is: 1. 2. 3.
9 Tips for Engaging Your English Class with Pop Culture This guest post has been contributed by Jay Meadows. I’ve been teaching English for many years, across multiple grade levels, from middle school to high school to college. I’ve read (and have written) heaps of education books and research articles. And yet the premise for this post is so simple, I’m willing to bet that any one of our students can pin it down without a moment’s hesitation. What is the most essential ingredient to a rockstar lesson? It’s student engagement. We sometimes dress it up with the bells and bows of PBL, or strip it down to its bare components: authenticity, motivation, relatability. And for what? To better engage our students. In recent years, I’ve had the greatest success in achieving these things—and in evoking that sensation of having time-traveled—when I’ve gone out of my way to make deliberate connections between my students’ most popular interests and the “stuff” of my class. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
Bloomin' Apps This page gathers all of the Bloomin' Apps projects in one place.Each image has clickable hotspots and includes suggestions for iPad, Android, Google and online tools and applications to support each of the levels of Bloom's Revised Taxonomy.I have created a page to allow you to share your favorite online tool, iOS, or Android app with others. Cogs of the Cognitive Processes I began to think about the triangular shape of Bloom's Taxonomy and realized I thought of it a bit differently.Since the cognitive processes are meant to be used when necessary, and any learner goes in and out of the each level as they acquire new content and turn it into knowledge, I created a different type of image that showcased my thoughts about Bloom's more meaningfully.Here is my visual which showcases the interlocking nature of the cognitive processes or, simply, the "Cogs of the Cognitive Processes". IPAD APPS TO SUPPORT BLOOM'S REVISED TAXONOMYassembled by Kathy Schrock Bloom's and SAMR: My thoughts
Four Tools to Merge the Digital and Physical in Your Maker Classroom It’s a new world: the digital and tangible are merging, and educators need to help students navigate the changing terrain. The solution? Let them be Makers. I’ve been involved in digital learning and education technology for more than 30 years, and the burgeoning attempt to merge the digital and physical worlds has been one of the most interesting aspects of the evolution of EdTech to date. Managing that change in a Making context that encompasses digital tools, hands-on construction, creation and interaction allows students to learn and create new knowledge experientially. It gives them the ability to conceptualize new ideas and invent solutions for unexpected problems. It’s no longer enough—if it ever was—for teachers to lecture to a row of desks; today’s teacher must be more of a coach. See, Understand, Make 2. 3. 4. Today’s Makers Solve Tomorrow's Problems There are challenges in navigating this emerging territory. We can tackle these obstacles.
Instructional Technology/Telecommunications - Teaching and Learning | State Department of Education Navigation HomeAssociations- Technology AssociationsFederal Programs and E-Rate - Technology Plans, Title II D of No Child Left Behind, E-RateProfessional Development - Face-to-Face, Online, Online Curriculum OpportunitiesTeaching and Learning - Supplemental Online Course Procedures Supplemental Online Course Procedures Rules (O.A.C. 210:15-34) Oklahoma requires all public schools to offer educationally appropriate supplemental online opportunities for all of their students, including transfer students. "Educationally appropriate" was defined in the 2013 legislative session (SB 419) as "any instruction that is not substantially a repeat of a course or portion of a course that the student has successfully completed, regardless of the grade of the student, and regardless of whether a course is similar to or identical to the instruction that is currently offered in the school district." Schools and the public can view the list of Supplemental Online Course Providers. Online Assessments