Allan's Blog

Blended Learning "Blended learning" has become the term that captures the notion that student learn -- at least in part -- in an online environment, which is supervised by an adult. Blended learning is different than "casual learning," which is learning outside the school system that is unstructured and unsupervised. Students in "blended" environments take tests and are assessed on how much they have learned. But the key to the concept has to do with the "personalized" nature of learning: that technology makes it possible for students who either learn differently or have different interests to encounter material presented in a way that is engaging and meaningful to them. The trend of creating "blended" environments is on the uptick: In the year 2000, approximately 45,000 K-12 students took an online course. According to the International Association for K-12 Online Learning, 75% of US school districts had one or more students enrolled in a blended learning course in 2010.

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

7 Wonderful Google Docs Tutorials for Teachers Google Drive has all the features that make it a very powerful productivity suite for teachers. Besides being able to create documents, slides, drawings and spreadsheets , users can also upload their own PDFs and files and sync them with their Google Drive accounts across different devices. Another good thing about Google Drive which I mentioned yesterday in " File Sharing Tools I recommend for Teachers" is that it is web based and can also work offline. This is probably what distinguished this service from other powerful tools like Dropbox and Evernote. With Google Drive installed on your computer or tablet, you can access your downloaded docs and work on them the way you want and once connected to internet you can then sync them to the cloud. To help you better tap the usefulness of Google Drive I am sharing with you these wonderful video tutorials created by Anson Alexander. 1- Composing Google Docs 2- Sharing Files 3- Document Organization 4- What is Google Spreadsheet ?

Monster List of iBook Tutorials There are numerous sites that are now offering Tutorials and how-to guides for creating ebooks in iBook Author. As teachers are now comfortable with the idea of creating their own e-textbooks more and more people are looking for resources to learn how to build touch enabled books that take full advantage of the iPad capabilities. Inserting video and high resolution photographs is one thing but how about inserting 3D manipulatives and models that are touch sensitive. Here is a list of some of the resources online. If you know of other good ones please add them in the comments section and we will update the list. Web Tutorials: Publishing with iBooks Author: This book is intended to get you up and writing in iBooks Author. Want to create your own interactive eBook for the iPad? Emerson College - Department of Journalism: This is a great little site with close to 40 small tutorials for learning to use iBooks Author. Videos: 1. 2.

Foucault and His Panopticon - power, knowledge, Jeremy Bentham, surveillance, smart mobs, protests, cooperation, philosopher Michel Foucault Above all else, Michel Foucault believed in the freedom of people. He also realized that as individuals, we react to situations in different ways. Along with other social theorists, Foucault believed that knowledge is always a form of power, but he took it a step further and told us that knowledge can be gained from power; producing it, not preventing it. Knowledge linked to power, not only assumes the authority of 'the truth' but has the power to make itself true. For him, power exists everywhere and comes from everywhere; it was a key concept because it acts as a type of relation between people, a complex form of strategy, with the ability to secretly shape another's behaviour. One of the techniques/regulatory modes of power/knowledge that Foucault cited was the Panopticon, an architectural design put forth by Jeremy Bentham in the mid-19th Century for prisons, insane asylums, schools, hospitals, and factories. Foucault's Panopticon Related Papers Bibliography

8 Useful Apps for Working on Video Projects on iPad 1- iMovie Make beautiful HD movies anywhere with iMovie, the fast and fun moviemaking app that puts everything you need to tell your story at your fingertips. Browse and play projects in the Marquee view. Create Hollywood-style trailers or sophisticated home movies in minutes.* And share your finished projects with the world – right from iMovie. 2- Videolicious Over 1,000,000 downloads! 3- Splice Vide Editor Splice together HD photos and videos in an amazingly simple way. 4- ReelDirector Turn your photos into stunning, professional-quality videos, complete with music and text, with Animoto’s free app! 6- Vidify Vidify is the easiest way to make fully edited music videos on the iPhone. 7- Fotobabbe

Smarter Learning John MacBeath Position/Status Emeritus Professor John MacBeath is Professor Emeritus at the University of Cambridge, Director of Leadership for Learning: the Cambridge Network and Projects Director for the Centre for Commonwealth Education. Until 2000 he was Director of the Quality in Education Centre at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. As well as his interest and research on leadership he worked for over a decade with schools, education authorities and national governments on school self-evaluation. Five books on self-evaluation have been addressed mainly to a teacher and senior management readership. He acted in a consultancy role to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), UNESCO and ILO (International Labour Organisation), the Bertelsmann Foundation, the Prince's Trust, the European Commission, the Scottish Executive, the Swiss Federal Government, the Varkey Group in Dubai (Emirates) and the Hong Kong Education Department.