Four Essential Principles of Blended Learning As schools become more savvy about blended-learning tactics– the practice of mixing online and in-person instruction — guidelines and best practices are emerging from lessons learned. Here are four crucial factors to keep in mind as schools plunge in. The single biggest piece of advice offered by most blended learning pioneers is to have a cohesive vision for how the technology will enhance specific learning goals, how it will ease the burden on teachers, and how it can make both teachers and students more creative learners. A big part of creating that vision is having strong leadership at all levels. A district superintendent who sees the value in a model will help remove old policies that inhibit the work. A strong leader will remove barriers, support professional development for teachers, celebrate successes and help move past challenges. Equally important is to have that same kind of visionary leadership from principals and teachers willing to lead by example in the classroom.
Low Performing Detroit Middle School Eliminates Grade Levels, Goes Blended “I’m a level 11 in math, and a level 9 in English, but I’m trying really hard to move up,” I heard from a student who I believed to be a 5th grader. Huh? In July 2013, Matchbook Learning, a national K-12 school turnaround nonprofit, partnered with Burns to bring up scores and graduation rates by using a student-centered learning approach. And one major facet of that? Individualized learning that brought an end to K-8 grade levels in mathematics and English language arts. The history behind Burns and Matchbook It’s a tough situation: a 2013 NAEP report shows that urban students in Detroit performed the worst out of 24 U.S. cities on the Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA), and within that Detroit community is Burns Elementary-Middle School. Back in 2009, the state of Michigan passed a district takeover in Detroit (similar to the TN ASD). “In the state of Michigan last year (2012-2013), as far as middle schools go, Burns fell dead last,” explains Assistant Principal Jamelle Settles. 1.
Microsoft Research Launches Code Hunt Game to Teach Programming Microsoft Research today launched Code Hunt, a browser-based game for anyone interested in learning how to code by playing. The premise is straightforward: the player must write code to advance in the game. The built-in tutorial introduces you to the game: Greetings, program! You are an experimental application known as a CODE HUNTER. Code Hunt uses puzzles, which players explore by means of clues presented as test cases, and encourages players to iterate on their code to “capture” it. Instead of presenting you with a problem and comparing your solution to a set of fixed test cases, Code Hunt presents an empty slate and a set of constantly changing test cases. Let’s be honest, learning certain aspects of programming can often be a long and arduous journey. Code Hunt is based on Pex, Microsoft Research’s implementation of dynamic symbolic execution (analyzing a program to determine what inputs cause each part of a program to execute), and runs on Microsoft Azure. Here is the abstract:
Presenter 10 Enables on-Demand eLearning « Rapid eLearning | Adobe Presenter Blog inShare0 Adobe Presenter 10 is an eLearning authoring toolkit that helps you create show and tell video lessons for classroom teaching, distance learning, flipped learning and MOOC sessions. Using Adobe Presenter 10 you can simultaneously capture your screen content and your webcam video. On Windows, Adobe Presenter 10 acts as a plugin to Microsoft PowerPoint. The simple added ribbon will allow you to turn your PowerPoint slides into interactive eLearning with out-of-the-box assets and eye-catching quizzes. Publish in HTML5 for Tablets One of the most exciting enhancements in Adobe Presenter 10 is that now you can easily publish your learning content for tablets. Easily Create Pro Quality Videos for Flipped Learning and Training Both the Windows and Mac versions of Adobe Presenter 10 include a video creation tool called Adobe Presenter Video Express. Check out the video demo above to learn how easily you can create videos with Adobe Presenter 10.
Adobe Voice: A Happy App for Making Explainer Videos You know Adobe, right? This is the company that makes extremely complex software for professionals. This is the company whose flagship product, Photoshop, has more than 500 menu commands. So what does Adobe go and do this morning? It’s called Adobe Voice. Trying to describe Adobe Voice is tricky, both for Adobe and for me, because there’s never been anything quite like it. But if you had to force words around this app, you could say it’s an effortless way to make explainer videos. You’ve seen them, even if you never knew what they were called. You see these videos all the time online: describing a new website or service, unveiling a Kickstarter project, walking you through a point of science or math, calling you to action for some cause. Adobe Voice was born to make explainer videos. When you open the app, you name your new project and then choose a template for the kind of video you want to make. For the first slide (or, rather, the first screen of the storyboard), tap the + button.
3D Printing in my classroom Our Printer – Cat NOT included 3D printing in my classroom has taken over my life. I need to go to 3DPA (3D Printing Anonymous) post-haste. Last night was the final straw as I was flopping and flipping about, trying to figure out how I am going to get 30 student 3D print jobs completed before the end of the year. Since this very cool piece of machinery arrived in my classroom May 1st, I have been doing everything in my power to get the kids up and running. The machine we decided to purchase the Flash Forge 3D printer based on the reviews we found on-line and ultimately the price point. We have had a varying success over the past three weeks trying to capture and render a 3D image of ourselves. This is not to say that this particular method wasn’t any good just that it wasn’t intuitive or efficient enough to get a classroom of 30 kids up and running without a lot of hand holding and troubleshooting. Enter Skanect The following scan of pretty old me took 15 minutes from scanner to printer.
Educational technology is making achievement gaps bigger between rich and poor Poor kids don’t receive as much guidance in a library as affluent kids do. “The Badlands” is the local name for the Philadelphia neighborhood of Kennsington. The neighborhood is pockmarked with empty lots and burned-out row houses, the area has an unemployment rate of 29 percent and a poverty rate of 90 percent. Within these very different communities, however, are two places remarkably similar in the resources they provide: the local public libraries. The two were especially interested in how the introduction of computers might “level the playing field” for the neighborhoods’ young people, children of “concentrated affluence” and “concentrated poverty.” Many hours of observation and analysis later, Neuman and Celanano were forced to acknowledge a radically different outcome: “The very tool designed to level the playing field is, in fact, un-leveling it,” they wrote in a 2012 book based on their Philadelphia library study. Via Slate
Learners at the Center of a Networked World | Jeb Bush Technology is an essential element of our everyday lives. It empowers individuals with more information, more options and more customized experiences, at home and everywhere else. Technology has transformed every aspect of our lives, but its current capacity and future potential to transform education and the very way children learn may yield its greatest results yet. It has the power to accelerate learning, expand parental choice, provide better tools for teachers and make education more exciting and engaging -- both inside and outside the classroom. Recognizing the need to rethink education in today's digital world, the Aspen Task Force on Learning and the Internet released "Learner at the Center of a Networked World." The Task Force is comprised of 20 innovative and respected experts in the fields of technology, public policy, education, business, privacy and safety. Here are the highlights of our recommendations: • Students must be able to learn in safe and trusted environments.
Why We Need The Humanities In A Google World Why We Need The Humanities In A Google World by Terry Heick The world is swirling in winds of digital code. The humanities provide a kind of embedded moral code that force us to confront our own habits, trends, and notions of recreation. In an age of shifts and fluidity, this is definitely a “thing.” That’s a lot. If literature provides a kind of shared framework for what people are “for” and how we might act and what we should tend towards or resist, it is not a huge leap to believe that without humanities, we are then redefining what it means to be human in the absence of the kind of sustained, millenia-long reflection the humanities represent. This should make us at the very least uncomfortable. Humanities: The Things That Linger Let’s define the humanities as “the study of ourselves through our collective human expression.” It’s easy to spot right away, however, that the “non-humanities”—science, technology, engineering, and math—also have roles to play in the humanities.
Why Mobile Technology Enhances Instruction | The Edvocate As mobile technology continues to steal the spotlight in K-12 classroom methodology, certain areas of study tend to be gravitating towards the trends more strongly. Last week an Education Market Research report found that 28 percent of class time for math-based courses is spent using digital tools or interacting with digital content. The report goes on to outline a strong shift towards digital teaching methods for math since 2009. The conversation about the benefits of mobile technology for students is constant but should there also be a discussion about educator preference? Mobile technology has potential to change the student-teacher dynamic for the better but only if implemented correctly. Higher engagement levels. Convenient progress tracking. Less paperwork. Anything that makes educators’ jobs a little easier, without sacrificing student achievement, benefits K-12 learning as a whole. In what ways will mobile technology positively change the teaching profession?
mashable If you've ever wanted to build an app for your business, blog, product or service, but the heavy investment of both time and money put you off, you're not alone. The good news is that entering the mobile market no longer necessarily requires thousands of dollars and months of work. There are many mobile platforms available to help you build an app on a budget — quickly, and with no coding knowledge required. With a small investment, you can create and manage your mobile site or application using one of the platforms listed below, and start reaping the advantages of offering your customers a dedicated mobile experience, including increased awareness, engagement and revenue. Show As Gallery Have something to add to this story? Image: Mashable composite. iStock, pressureUA
Coding Sucks: Why a Job in Programming Is Absolute Hell