What do you want to know? Grand Valley started this week. And, as usual, I began my Introduction to Learning and Assessment course with a workshop called "A Piece of Me" (handout). This involves an activity that was introduced to me over 14 years ago during an Integrated Thematic Instruction class. I wish I could remember the presenters so I could give them credit but that information has long since vanished from my memory and my files. If anyone knows the origin of this activity, please let me know so that I can give credit where it is due. Anyway, here is how I implement the activity. Activity: Asking and Recording Questions I begin this portion by saying something like, "I reserve the right to decline answering any question. We then move on to the groups asking their questions. Reflection: Looking Back - Small Group Analysis From your list of questions, pick one that you think was an effective question. I end the workshop by getting some feedback from the participants. Now it is your turn.
Save a TeacherTube Video Temporarily to Your Laptop <div class="greet_block wpgb_cornered"><div class="greet_text"><div class="greet_image"><a href=" rel="nofollow"><img src=" alt="WP Greet Box icon"/></a></div>Hello there! If you are new here, you might want to <a href=" rel="nofollow"><strong>subscribe to the RSS feed</strong></a> for updates on this topic.<div style="clear:both"></div></div></div> (cross-posted from Yukon PS Instructional FAQs, also cross-posted to PlayingWithMedia.com) Sometimes as a teacher you need to download a video from a website for temporary use with your students. First of all, log into the TeacherTube website and create an account if you have not already. Depending on the type of web browser and computer you’re using, you should see a message asking you what you want to do with the Flash video file from TeacherTube.
5 Awesome Things You Can Do With an IPad and an LCD Projector Where No Child Left Behind Went Wrong - Adam Richardson by Adam Richardson | 8:27 AM October 17, 2011 Recently President Obama started talking about the first substantive changes to the No Child Left Behind Act in its 10-year history. He argued that while the goal of closing the achievement gap between students of different ethnicities and income levels is a laudatory one, the levers and incentives that the program has in place are not working. I couldn’t agree more, but I still have a fundamental disagreement with the narrow focus of No Child Left Behind. Less of the Three R’s, More of the Four C’s To put it bluntly, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) should stop focusing exclusively on the “Three R’s” (reading, ‘riting, ‘rithmetic), and should focus much more on the Four C’s: Creativity, Complexity, Curiosity, and Collaboration. Creativity If you lack the ability to be creative, inventive, and resourceful, and look at problems from a fresh perspective, you’re not much use to many employers these days. But how do you test for creativity? Complexity
Pho.to - online photo editor, fun effects and tools, free software Khaaaaaaaaan! Academy Shatner is clearly not a fan. The future of education involves technology. No one disputes this. Less certain is how that technology will and should be utilized. If you are savvy enough to locate this post then you have most likely heard of Khan Academy. If you haven't then you need to watch the 60 Minutes segment linked below. Khan's emergence is nothing short of amazing and it illustrates how the internet has redefined our world and access to knowledge. The brilliant Sal Khan seems to best understand how to use this as a resource. Yet as the phrase "flipping the classroom" shows, there are potential issues with implementation. Some issues that arise: Should all students everywhere access the same uniform version of the same set of information? For now, all I know is that I have used Khan's videos with my students as well as for myself.
The "Big Five" IT trends of the next half decade: Mobile, social, cloud, consumerization, and big data "Much or most of these topics are in back burner mode in many companies just now seeing the glimmerings of recovery from the downturn. Much has been written lately about the speed at which technology is reshaping the business landscape today. Except that's not quite phrasing it correctly. It's more like it's leaving the traditional business world behind. There are a number of root causes: The blistering pace of external innovation, the divergent path the consumer world has taken from enterprise IT, and the throughput limitations of top-down adoption. As a result, there's a rapidly expanding gap between what the technology world is executing on and what the enterprise can deliver. At the end of the day, businesses must be able to effectively serve the markets they cater to, and doing so means using the same channels and techniques as their trading partners and customers. A tectonic technology shift "Easy", highly mobile, and "social" are the mantras of this new generation of IT.
notMYkid - Home 6 Best Practices for Universities Embracing Social Media The Digital Marketing Series is supported by HubSpot, an inbound marketing software company based in Cambridge, Mass., that makes a full platform of marketing software, including social media management tools. For universities, deciding to use social media is a no-brainer. The 18- to 24-year-old college student demographic is all over the social web, and its younger counterpart (the high school crowd) is equally immersed. Alumni, recent and far-removed, use social networks to engage and stay connected with the world. Community members, parents of students, potential donors, faculty and staff and other constituents are just a tweet or "like" away. [More from Mashable: 20+ Essential Resources for Improving Your SEO Skills] Already, many schools have leveraged social media in a big way. [More from Mashable: Facebook Timeline: 10 Stunning Designs [PICS]] While many schools experience great success with social media, others never get their efforts off the ground. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Digital textbooks open a new chapter South Korea, one of the world's highest-rated education systems, aims to consolidate its position by digitising its entire curriculum. By 2015, it wants to be able to deliver all its curriculum materials in a digital form through computers. The information that would once have been in paper textbooks will be delivered on screen. South Korea's Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Ju-Ho Lee, said that his department was preparing a promotion strategy for "Smart Education", focusing on customised learning and teaching. The project, launched during the summer, will involve wireless networks in all schools to allow students to learn "whenever and wherever", as well as an education information system that can run in a variety of devices including PCs, laptops, tablets and internet-connected TVs. He said the government would support an open content market containing a variety of learning materials, aimed at keeping up quality while keeping down costs. Tech-friendly teenagers Teaching gap
A few simple tools I want edu-startups to build Outside of taking courses in XML, programming logic, and Python, I am not a programmer. I understand the importance of being able to program. I can get by with HTML and CSS. Here are a few tools that I would like someone, somewhere to build (startups, research labs, competent coders): 1. 2. 3. gRSShopper. Technology: More than a tool, a new skill by corykrug I’m dumping another technology phrase that I think its time has passed by. A few years ago I stopped using the phrase 21st Century blah, blah, blah. You name it we were calling everything 21st Century. Technology is just a tool I have heard this said way too often-to the point, I believe, that some educators are using it to hide behind when it comes to using technology in their classrooms. Is Technology a tool? Is it JUST a tool? Technology is a Skill The more I’ve been rolling this notion over in my head the past couple of days the more sense this makes to me. The problem is you need to have the skills to use a tool before you can use it propertly and have it effect your life in positive ways. A car is a tool, it gets us from point A to point B. A pencil is just a tool, but until you learn the skill to hold it correctly it doesn’t do you much good. Viewing technology just as a tool never allows us to get past the substitute stage of technology innovation.