What We Learned: A 1:1 iPad Reflection. This past week at Burlington High School, we started rolling out iPads for incoming freshmen. During this process, I couldn't help but reflect on what had occurred over the course of a year. Around this time last summer, BHS had roughly one thousand iPads ready to roll out to all students. The anticipation was great, the waters uncharted. During the 2011-2012 school year, we, the IT department and the teachers charted a course that led us to many exciting discoveries as well as many learning experiences. NOTE: When I say "we" from here on out, I am referring to Dennis Villano, Director of Instructional Technology for Burlington Public Schools; Patrick Larkin, Principal of Burlington High School: Bob Cunha, IT for BPS; Jose DeSousa, IT for BPS; John Allegreto, IT for BPS; and Tim Calvin and myself, Instructional Technologists at BHS.
The Launch When you unfold such a large-scale initiative as giving every student an iPad, you tend to overthink everything. Learning As We Go Embrace Patience. 100 Scientists On Twitter By Category. While scientists may have a reputation for being anti-social, when it comes to using social media you’ll find the best and brightest in diverse scientific fields taking full advantage of the chance to connect with laymen and other scientists alike. Twitter is full of opportunities to hear what these scientists have to say, follow their work, and even start a conversation. Here, we’ve collected 100 amazing scientists that use Twitter (listed by category, not ranking) that provide perfect reading material for anyone hoping to learn more about a field or just keep up with the latest in research and writing on some seriously interesting topics.
Extraplanetary Sciences From astronomy to rocket science, these scientists are dedicating their careers to exploring what lies beyond our own planet. @SethShostak: Astronomer Seth Shostak offers up insights into the cosmos through great links to space news in this feed. @astroengine: Here, you’ll find Dr. Biology Chemistry Earth Sciences Physics Technology. Welcome to Flubaroo. Copy of My Animoto Video. Seven Tips for Using iPads with Kids with Autism (and My Favorite Learning Programs) | iLearn Project.
Schools. BoomWriter lets you easily incorporate and experience the benefits of technology as your students are engaged in the following (or similar) standards-based learning activities: Grade 3 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.3 - Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. Using BoomWriter’s feature allowing teachers to create their own story start, students collaboratively create imagined multi-paragraph personal narratives using a teacher generated prompt (e.g. “When I woke up on Saturday morning, I had no idea I was in for the craziest day of my entire life…”). Grade 5 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.2 - Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text. Grade 6 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.6.1 - Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
Downloads/MacMostKeyboardShortcutsMountainLion.pdf. Pechaflickr. My Little Pony Physics Presentation. Civil War Newscasts: Part III. So I finally have some time to finish this three part post on a major collaborative project that my classes did over the Civil War at then end of the school year. If you haven't had a chance please check out my first two posts here and here. Immediately after filming was completed, students began the arduous task of editing their work.
I knew this would be time consuming so the students had three days in class as well as the weekend to finish editing their newscasts. The students had an option on what type of editing software they could use. The first choice was an online editing service called Jaycut. Another editing choice was Windows Movie Maker.
Options three and four were two bits of editing software using the Mac: Final Cut (more expensive) and iMovie. The final part of the project was to have the students present their newscast. All in all, this was a great cumulative project to end the year. Dig.ccmixter “You already have permission…” Awesome Stories. Stories In Flight | FlickrPoet. How to Compose a Quality Comment! Google Search Stories.
10 Inspiring Youtube Videos for Teachers. 80+ Google Forms for the Classroom. Google Forms is a great tool and I hope to use it more throughout this year. Take a look here for a more detailed introduction and guide to using and creating a Google Form – this was written prior to Google bringing forms into the NEW menu. I have created example forms for each of the different topics, follow the links in each of the ten sections. With help from a Googler I have included a link so that you can get your own copy of the form – click on the appropriate link and it should open in your docs home. 1 ) Get to know your class Use this form to gather some indication from your new class about their likes and dislikes, their favourite lessons or after school clubs they enjoy. 2 ) Emotion graph An emotion graph is a simple line graph comparing a range of happiness to sadness against different points (time) in a story or film. 3 ) Spelling test 4 ) Comprehension questions 5 ) Weekly reading record 6 ) Maths data handling 7 ) Guided reading record 8 ) Prior learning assessment.
Teach Parents Tech. Keeping Students Engaged in a 1:1 Project-Based Classroom [guest post] Image approved for copy by Creative Commons. Source: When laptops first arrived in my classroom, I worried about classroom management. How could I create an environment where students used their computers as tools rather than toys? I was worried for nothing. Students make a plan. Much of the time, students think they have a plan.
Instead, ask What are you trying to learn? When you ask about learning and communication, you are signaling that the content is more important than the technology. Students set time-bound goals. Create an outline for my essayWrite my introductionFind three pictures about…Do my voice recordingFinish four slides of my Power Point/KeynoteFind at least three database articles on…Draft at least three paragraphsUse Google docs to peer-edit so-and-so’s essayUpload my story to Voicethread Tasks should be specific.
Laptop screens are “fisted” or “put at half mast”. Teachers don’t lecture much in a project-based learning environment. Lincoln Memorial Interactive introduction. Introduction to American Literature. Icafe.lcisd.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Edmodo-TCEA.pdf. TEDx Sacramento - Neeru Kholsa. Tech Tutorials. Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts. To use a keyboard shortcut you press a modifier key with a character key. For example, pressing the Command key (it has a symbol) and then the "c" key copies whatever is currently selected (text, graphics, and so forth) into the Clipboard.
This is also known as the Command-C keyboard shortcut. A modifier key is a part of many keyboard shortcuts. A modifier key alters the way other keystrokes or mouse/trackpad clicks are interpreted by OS X. Modifier keys include: Command, Shift, Option, Control, Caps Lock, and the Fn key. You may need to use the Fn key in some of the key combinations listed below. Here are the modifier key symbols you may see in OS X menus: Startup shortcuts Press the key or key combination until the expected function occurs/appears (for example, hold Option during startup until Startup Manager appears).
Sleep and shut down shortcuts Finder keyboard shortcuts Application and other OS X shortcuts *Note: If no text is selected, the extension begins at the insertion point. 12 Most Basic Tips for Twitter Beginners. I tried Twitter for the first time when it was less than a year old. Someone on an online forum was raving about how much they loved it, so I joined. Honestly, I could not understand the attraction. A week or two later, I gave it up because I still did not “get it.” Fast forward three years to when I started blogging. Twitter was already popular and any self respecting blogger was on Twitter.
So I opened another account and started tweeting. It wasn’t easy to catch on and there was a bit of a learning curve, but suddenly, a few weeks later, I found myself addicted. Although Twitter has been around since 2006, there are still many people out there who are not yet tweeting and for whom the attraction of twitter is still a conundrum. 1. Tweets are 140 characters long and your Twitter name is part of those 140 characters. On the other hand, if the name people will remember and associate with you is a bit longer (like mine), the extra few characters may be worth it. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Powerful Learning Practice.
Tooble | Internet video by your rules. Connect your classroom to the world | Skype in the classroom. Twitter. K-12 – Google Apps for Education. My iPad 2 Education/School Apps (2011) Social Media in Education - Teaching Digital Natives in 2011. Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach on how Connected learning leads to collective action. Media and Technology Resources for Educators.
February 27, 2014 We are thrilled to announce the release of our entire Digital Literacy and Citizenship Curriculum as a set of eight interactive, multimedia iBooks Textbooks, available for free in the iBooks Store... read more March 31, 2014 Imagine … a school district that is teaching Digital Literacy and Citizenship lessons to 28,000 K-12 students, with 1,800 trained teachers.
Is it possible? Last week, I hosted an inspiring webinar... read more Categories: Digital Citizenship Curriculum. Curriculum: Understanding YouTube & Digital Citizenship – Google in Education. Overview We have devised an interactive curriculum aimed to support teachers of secondary students (approximately ages 13-17). The curriculum helps educate students on topics like: YouTube’s policies How to report content on YouTube How to protect their privacy online How to be responsible YouTube community members How to be responsible digital citizens We hope that students and educators gain useful skills and a holistic understanding about responsible digital citizenship, not only on YouTube, but in all online activity. Lessons in English Below is a list of lessons, and the recommended flow for delivery. Lessons are designed to fit within 50 minute classes, but can be adapted to fit your schedule: Or you can download the Full Teacher's Guide or the Full Set of Slides in PDF.
Lessons in Additional Languages Below is a list of lessons and resources in additional languages beyond English: Learn more. The 33 Digital Skills Every 21st Century Teacher should Have. By EdTech Team Updated on march 2, 2015 : The original list that was created in 2011 comprised 33 skills , after reviewing it we decided to do some merging and finally ended up with the 20 skills below. The 21st century teacher should be able to : 1- Create and edit digital audio Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :Free Audio Tools for Teachers 2- Use Social bookmarking to share resources with and between learners Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill : A List of Best Bookmarking Websites for Teachers 3- Use blogs and wikis to create online platforms for students Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill : Great Tools to Create Protected Blogs and Webpages for your Class 4- Exploit digital images for classroom use Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :Web Tools to Edit Pictures without Installing any softwareTools to Convert Photos into Cartoons.
Seven Fun (and Cheap) Class Projects to Try with Video. Digital Tools Flickr: Category 5 TV By Hall Davidson For educators interested in incorporating video into classroom lessons, here are seven projects to dive into. 1. TURN AN iPAD OR (OTHER MOBILE DEVICE) INTO A VIDEO MICROSCOPE. 2. Hall Davidson Cinemagram 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Find more details about specific apps and more here. Hall Davidson is senior director of Global Learning Initiatives at Discovery Education. Related Explore: digital media, project-based-learning, video projects. Edmodo | Secure Social Learning Network for Teachers and Students. EdmodoCon 2012. Dispelling Myths About Blocked Websites in Schools. Digital Tools Teaching Strategies Larry Gonzalez I’m at a small gathering of education journalists, policymakers and school leaders today, and in attendance is the Department of Education’s Director of Education Technology, Karen Cator.
Cator told me that teachers continue to thank her for outlining these important clarifications about schools blocking access to Web sites. For those who haven’t seen the original article, which followed an article about surprising blocked Web sites, here it is again. Cator parsed the rules of the Childrens Internet Protection Act, and provided guidance for teachers on how to proceed when it comes to interpreting the rules. Accessing YouTube is not violating CIPA rules. Here’s the full transcript of my Q&A with Karen Cator. Q. A. The best way of thinking about this whole topic is in terms of “rules, tools and schools.”
Q. A. Rules are in place to attempt to protect minors form inappropriate materials. Q. A. From the DOE’s National Education Technology Plan: Straight from the DOE: Dispelling Myths About Blocked Sites. Digital Tools Lenny Gonzalez Over the past few weeks, I’ve been hearing from frustrated teachers about surprising websites their schools block — everything from National Geographic to Skype. One even wrote in to say that CommonCore.org was blocked. A few readers questioned the judgment of teachers who use their own mobile devices to allow their students access to blocked sites. To clear up some of the confusion around these comments and assertions, I went straight to the top: the Department of Education’s Director of Education Technology, Karen Cator. Cator parsed the rules of the Childrens Internet Protection Act, and provided guidance for teachers on how to proceed when it comes to interpreting the rules.
Accessing YouTube is not violating CIPA rules. Here’s the full transcript of my Q&A with Karen Cator. Q. A. The best way of thinking about this whole topic is in terms of “rules, tools and schools.” Q. A. Rules are in place to attempt to protect minors form inappropriate materials. Q. Socrative | Student Response System | Audience Response Systems | Clicker | Clickers | Student Clickers | ARS | Mobile Clicker | Software Clicker.
Teachers Easy Guide to The Most Important Web Tools in Education. When it comes to using web resources with our students, time plays a decisive role.It is next to impossible for a busy teacher restricted by curriculum constraints, day to day lesson preparations, assignment corrections, to mention but a few of his chores, to effectively search the web and find the adequate resources to share with his/ her students.
Most people just do not have the time to learn all these technologies and some educators pick just one or two websites of interest and start exploring them. This is definitely not the right thing to do particularly if you want to leverage the huge potential of technology into your classroom.There is, however, a simple roudabout to this problem. Look for educational technology blogs ( such as the one you are reading now ) and subscribe to their feeds to stay updated about the latest web tools to use in your instruction. 1- A List of The Best Video Editing Tools for Teachers 2- A List of The Best Digital Story Telling Tools for Teachers. 34-button Google calculator now appears in search results. 59% of Young People Say the Internet Is Shaping Who They Are - Rebecca J. Rosen. 21 Reasons Technology Works for Education. 7th Graders Publish Their Own Textbook. Technology-Enhances-Learning-Infographic.jpg (1500×938)