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?
Defining Paperless 2.0 “I’ve gone paperless!” The transition to the 1:1 classroom regularly goes hand in hand with a call for teachers to go paperless. The idea is a popular one for schools (and businesses) who can realize quick savings from reduced paper costs and offset the cost of the new devices. Defining Paperless 1.0 In the initial stages of a 1:1, teachers begin to convert already existing materials into electronic copies. Clear Steps Forward Even within this simple replication, there are clear advantages to Paperless 1.0. Defining Paperless 2.0 Yet, in order for educational technology to transcend its past patterns, paperless work will need to expand beyond the confines of an 8 ½ x11 mindset not just the 8 ½ x 11 page. -Imagine the classroom where slate tablets were the peak of technology? -Imagine a modern science class without the benefit of microscopes and accurate tools for measurement? Shawn is a Is a Instructor and Presenter for EdTechTeacher.
10 Social Media Mistakes You're Probably Making Social media. Connecting teachers. Intriguing students Offering resources. Cataloguing information with hashtags. Streamlining information consumption. A Very Academic Problem The Teachers vs The Greeks Teachers: Please stop using the word ‘academic’. You don’t know what it means. When you say things like “this is an academic school”, or “we need to lift our academic standards”, or even “I am an academic”, it’s clear that you have no idea what you’re saying, because you’ve used an oxymoron, a tautology and a lie respectively. What’s worse is that you perpetuate the problems in education every time you misuse the word. No doubt, the more alert among you will point me towards the dictionary to defend yourselves. We need to go back to the Greek root of the word if we are going to get to the hidden heart of it: Akademos comes from the Greek for “healing the people” as is most famously associated with ‘The Academy’ in Athens and some of the greatest minds in Western philosophy. So already, we have associations with healing, peace, tranquility, thinking, holistic growth and wisdom. Let’s look to The Academy for more: The Academy is most famously associated with Plato.
How To Integrate Blogging Into Math Classes I am so excited to incorporate writing in my math class during the new semester. My goal is to have students use blogging as an instructional tool to write and express their mathematical ideas. I hope to provide them with an opportunity to reflect on their understanding of mathematics. Blogging and technology are two tools that go hand-hand. Blogging makes integrating technology in the classroom easy. I researched and wanted to find the easiest blogging site for me to use with my students. I found Kid Blogs. Kids Blogs provided me with the opportunity to create one room and add each student to the room. Now that I had the site, I needed to decide how I would effectively use blogging in my class. Students will be required to write a blog entry on topics, questions, and problems assigned by me. Using blogging as a digital journal, students will be able to reflect on their overall progress in the understanding and communicating of mathematics.
8 Top Tips to Create an Effective Social Learning Strategy In this article, you'll find Social Learning tips, advice, and techniques for creating a successful Social Learning Strategy. From research to implementation, I'll walk you through on how to develop a Social Learning Strategy that engages learners and encourages collaborative eLearning. In today's tech-savvy world, it's pretty common to carry on conversations with people halfway around the world, or to tap into a wealth of informational resources without even leaving home. As a result, learning via social media platforms is becoming ever more popular. Assess your current eLearning strategy to determine how to move forward. So, by integrating social media into your eLearning deliverables you will increase interactivity and collaboration among your learners, not to mention that the overall learning experience will become more engaging and informative.
The dumbest generation? No, Twitter is making kids smarter Part of an occasional series about the way digital culture affects the way we think, learn and live. Sara: Haha there was a weird comercial for computers that had flying sumo wrestlers John: Hahaha saweeeeet I’m still tryin to picture how that works Sarah: Haha yeah so am I this opening ceremony is so weird John: It must be Sarah K: Now there’s little kids doing karate This is a typical teenage text exchange captured by an academic. Add five hours or so a day spent online, where the most common activity is yet more typing away on social networks. This outpouring often produces an anguished outcry, particularly in September as kids head back to school and screen time starts competing with homework: Technology, pundits warn, is zombifying our young and wrecking their ability to communicate clearly. But is this actually “the dumbest generation”? In fact, there’s powerful evidence that digital tools are helping young people write and think far better than in the past. Literate? It hadn’t.
Blog articles Les Nouveaux Outils Numériques pour la recherche scientifique Que vous soyez étudiants, chercheurs ou ingénieurs vous maîtrisez probablement à la perfection certains outils informatiques : powerpoint, éditeurs de texte, messageries électroniques. D’autres outils, moins utilisés, existent et ont chacun une utilité spécifique. En recherche comme dans de nombreux domaines, il est important d’organiser son emploi du temps et d’utiliser des outils pertinents et adaptés. Avez-vous besoin d’organiser votre veille bibliographique, d’échanger des fichiers volumineux ou bien d’optimiser votre travail d’équipe ? Une version en anglais de cet article est disponible : The new digital tools for scientific research Gestion bibliographique et veille scientifique Notre article sur les outils de veille scientifique en open access et moteurs de recherche est resté depuis septembre 2011 l’article le plus consulté sur le blog MyScienceWork. La première étape de ce processus est la veille scientifique. La bibliographie à l'ancienne - Crédits : gadl/Flikr Les inclassables
Brainstorming: More Questions Than Answers | Product Talk There’s been a lot of confusion around brainstorming these days. First, there was the New Yorker article by Jonah Lehrer claiming that brainstorming doesn’t work. Scott Berkun wrote a rebuttal arguing Lehrer’s logic was flawed. What is brainstorming? The term was introduced by Alex Faickney Osborn in his books, Your Creative Power and Applied Imagination , from the late 1940s / early 1950s. Osborn argued in order for brainstorming to work, people had to overcome social inhibitions and focus on generating a large number of ideas. * Focus on quantity. * Withhold criticism. * Welcome unusual ideas. * Combine and improve ideas. Some of these might sound familiar, the first two in particular, as these are what we typically associate with brainstorming. Why brainstorming might not work? Jonah Lehrer authored an article, Groupthink: The Myth of Brainstorming” in the January 30, 2012 issue of The New Yorker, where he claimed, “there is a problem with brainstorming. , Leherer’s book, does. . . .
8 Tips For Blogging With Students Blogging is a great way to promote reflective writing in class. The best way to get started is to jump in and try it out, and this list should provide some pointers to get you started. If you’re looking for more best practices and ideas, check out these 30 top-rated student blogs. Choose a platform – There are many places you can launch class blogs, each has pros and cons. Hopefully this list will get you started with your own students, and we’d love to see your own list for blogging with students.
L’apprentissage social en ligne : ramener la dimension sociale pour favoriser l’engagement | Blogue d'Ellicom Véritable buzzword, l’apprentissage social, de l’anglais « social learning », est sur toutes les lèvres. François Ronai, stratège en solutions d’apprentissage, nous parle de l’utilisation de cette approche en formation en ligne, fondée essentiellement sur la collaboration, qui s’avère être beaucoup plus qu’une tendance passagère. Quelle est votre définition de l’apprentissage social en ligne (social eLearning)? L’apprentissage social en ligne ramène la dimension sociale dans le monde du e-learning. Quels peuvent être les principaux bénéfices de l’apprentissage social en ligne pour une organisation? Les bénéfices se font d’abord sentir du point de vue des concepteurs: inclure un volet social et collaboratif à leur stratégie de formation en ligne leur permet de développer les contenus beaucoup plus vite et en mode continu. En quoi l’apprentissage social en ligne favorise-t-il l’engagement des apprenants? C’est simple : sans engagement, il n’y a pas de réel apprentissage social.