digital learning environs
As I walk the halls of my building I am delighted to see students and teachers using the technology we’ve invested in. My colleagues express the same sentiments about the implementation of technology. However, while it’s great to see teachers and students using various types of technology from tablets to 3D printers the same questions arise; is the technology being used appropriately and how can we measure the effectiveness of technology? So how do you know? Or how should you answer these questions. The best way is to make sure your school is implementing technology appropriately. Future employment opportunities will require students to understand and use technology appropriately. Those effectively implementing technology should see some or all of the following; 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. About Brian Brian Byrne is the Lower School Vice Principal at Shanghai Community International School (SCIS).
information fluency model
Digital Information Fluency (DIF) is the ability to find, evaluate and use digital information effectively, efficiently and ethically. DIF involves knowing how digital information is different from print information; having the skills to use specialized tools for finding digital information; and developing the dispositions needed in the digital information environment. As teachers and librarians develop these skills and teach them to students, students will become better equipped to achieve their information needs. FAQDIF mapped to Common Core State Standards Common Core State Standards mapped to DIF (pdf) 1. Locating Information Efficiently: What Information Am I Looking For--Where Will I Find the Information--How Will I Get There? Rubrics 2. 3. It could be argued that Competency in Ethical Use should be demonstrated by "always citing the source" and that anything less demonstrates incompetency. 4.
Concepts
Digital literacy resources for teachers and students | Timmus Limited
There’s been some Twitter chat from @dajbelshaw about Digital Literacy that has sparked some discussion, notably thoughts of operationalising Digital Literacy ( see Doug’s blog – top marks for doing some thinking on a Sunday!). This reminded me about some resources that I made for Becta just before they were quangoed. Our aim was to create some useful resources for teachers and students to use, which could easily be incorporated into existing teaching practice. (Change management methods here – unfair to ask teachers to get to grips with a new concept AND change the way they work… this method only ever grabs the attention of those keen ‘early adopters’). OK so I am taking the initiative here and will upload these resources seeing as Becta are no more. The link to the resource pack (zip file) is at the bottom of this post. Please feel free to use/tweak them if you want (I haven’t checked all links for example, and these were made last year).
Lists
Evaluating Websites as Information Sources
Studies suggest that many U.S. students are too trusting of information found on the internet and rarely evaluate the credibility of a website’s information. For example, a survey found that only 4 percent of middle school students reported checking the accuracy of information found on the web at school, and even fewer did so at home (New Literacies Research Team & Internet Reading Research Group, 2006). At the same time, the web is often used as a source of information in school projects, even in early schooling, and sites with inaccurate information can come up high in search rankings. Shenglan Zhang and I thought that we could help address this situation by laying a foundation for website evaluation in elementary school. In particular, we wanted to: To achieve these aims, we developed the WWWDOT Framework. Who wrote it and what credentials do they have? In teaching WWWDOT, we elaborate on each of these factors. In the study, the WWWDOT Framework was taught in four 30-minute sessions.
Other
Day In the Classroom - Capturing Kids’ Hearts
Last week I spent three days in an all-day workshop called “Capturing Kids’ Hearts.” This workshop was paid for by my school district and was presented by the Flippen Group. Our presenter was Dr. Kate Cirillo. This workshop was designed for education. Build your social contract by asking four key questions, and brainstorming the words that come to mind. How do you want to be treated by me (the teacher)? I took notes as we discussed these questions. I will do the social contract again next year, but during the first day of the workshop, I was somewhat resistant to some of the other ideas in this class. The problem with taking professional development early in the summer, is you tend to lose some of your momentum and enthusiasm by the time you actually return to your classroom. The whole point of Capturing Kids’ Hearts, is that by creating a safe nurturing environment in your classroom, students will be able to succeed academically. The first step is to ENGAGE students. E – Engage
25 Best Websites for Teachers
1. Best for Young Readers: The Stacks At The Stacks, students can post book reviews, get reading recommendations, play games based on the latest series, watch "Meet the Author" videos, and more. 2. Use Scholastic's Book Wizard to level your classroom library, find resources for the books you teach, and create reading lists with the click of a button. 3. With hundreds of lessons for every grade level, you're guaranteed to find a colorful idea for your class, such as the "Chinese Dragon Drum" for Chinese New Year or the "What Do You Love?" 4. Establish a morning routine with Scholastic's Daily Starters — fun, fast math and language arts prompts and questions, including Teachable Moments from history and Fun Facts, such as "Before erasers, people used a piece of bread!" 5. The creators of the 6+1 traits of writing offer a terrific overview of the model on their site, with research to support the program, lesson plans, writing prompts, and rubrics. 6. 7. 8. Zoom over the Sahara desert. 9.
Tools
News
Lesson Plans
instaGrok | A new way to learn
Unexplored
