12 Ways to Be More Search Savvy
Google has made it possible for us to have instant information gratification. Just start typing the first letters of your search word and the site intuits your question and offers you the smartest choice of answers. Seems simple enough. CONTROL F. To those who wonder if Google is making us stupid, Russell has a pithy response: “Plato said that about books.” I better go search that. Related
Successful School Leaders Today Need to Harness Technology & Social Media
School leadership is complex. It’s often an enigma. It is simultaneously invigorating and exhausting. School and system leaders are pulled in hundreds of directions by hundreds of constituents every second of the day. Having the passion, skills, strategies, and with-it-ness to thrive in a position of school leadership requires, in part, taking the opportunity to learn from the experiences of other leaders. I had the opportunity to review William Sterrett’s recent publication, Insights into Action: Successful School Leaders Share What Works, published by ASCD. It was with great interest that I read this new book, curious if and how the author would encourage his readers to become connected learners and leaders — to harness technology and social media tools to enhance communication, collaboration, and learning opportunities for those in the organization and school community. Connected learning & leadership Highlights from the book About the author
The Dyslexic Professor
I’ve seen this posted on many of my friend’s Facebook pages the last several weeks. I’m unsure of the origin or I would give the original author credit. All I know is that this is a reminder to all of us to be in the moment and to always be present. I struggle with this balancing act. We all do. But, I try to be present when I’m with my son, my family, my students and my colleagues. Image Credit Dear Mom On the iPhone, I see you over there on the bench, messing on your iPhone. But Momma, let me tell you what you don’t see right now….. Your little girl is spinning round and round, making her dress twirl. You aren’t. Your little boy keeps shouting, “Mom, MOM watch this!” He sees that too. Now you are pushing your baby in the swing. Talk to her. Put your eyes back on your prize…Your kids. Show them that they are the priority. Play time at the park will be over before you know it. The childhood of your children will be gone before you know it. Because they know… I know that’s not true, Mommy.
KinectEDucation
Lessons and Legacies from Stanford’s Free Online Classes
Digital Tools Teaching Strategies Stanford Artificial Intelligence Class By Steve Henn Last year, Stanford University computer science professor Sebastian Thrun — also known as the fellow who helped build Google’s self-driving car — got together with a small group of Stanford colleagues and they impulsively decided to open their classes to the world. They would allow anyone, anywhere to attend online, take quizzes, ask questions and even get grades for free. “Within hours, we had 5,000 students signed up,” Thrun says. You can only imagine what those meetings must have been like, with professors telling the school they wanted to teach free, graded online classes for which students could receive a certificate of completion. “I think the impact will be large and it will be widespread.” For decades, technology has promised to remake education — and it may finally be about to deliver. “We are still having conversations about that,” says James Plummer, dean of Stanford’s School of Engineering.
30+ Cool Content Curation Tools for Personal & Professional Use
As the web becomes more and more inundated with blogs, videos, tweets, status updates, news, articles, and countless other forms of content, “information overload” is something we all seem to suffer. It is becoming more difficult to weed through all the “stuff” out there and pluck out the best, most share-worthy tidbits of information, especially if your topic is niche. Let’s face it, Google definitely has its shortcomings when it comes to content curation and the more it tries to cater to all audiences, the less useful it becomes. The demand for timely, relevant content that is specific to our unique interests and perspectives has given rise to a new generation of tools that aim to help individuals and companies curate content from the web and deliver it in a meaningful way. These new tools range from simple, application-specific types such as social media aggregators and discovery engines, to more complex, full-blown publishing solutions for organizations. Comments(65)
The Innovative Educator
Ten Sites Supporting Digital Classroom Collaboration In Project Based Learning
Welcome to the second in a series of PBL Mania Posts. For the next few weeks I am celebrating Project Based Learning by hosting a webinar at Edtech Leaders Online and giving a PBL session at the NICE Conference in Chicago. In this post I will introduce you to some outstanding collaboration tools found on the web that can be used in the PBL classroom. First Some Notes For PD This Week 1. 2. 10 Sites Supporting Digital Classroom Collaboration in PBL This PBL Mania post will explore some of those collaborative Web 2.0 tools that can enhance the PBL experience. Titan Pad – Great way for quick collaboration and sharing a document. Wall Wisher – Like collaborating with virtual post-it notes on a virtual wall. Corkboardme – A program a lot like wall wisher that can be used to support a group’s collaborative activities. Google Docs – Not much needs to be said. Microsoft Live – Yes, Microsoft also has its online collaboration tools. Quick Screen Share – It is sometimes helpful to share a screen.
Driving Innovation in K-12 «
February 9, 2012 by cultureofyes I have to give this post my usual preface that these slides are part of the presentation I am giving on innovation in K-12, but only one part of the story. Today, I am part of an event hosted by Simon Fraser University, Targeting Technology for Maximum Student Benefit. I won’t cover the ground I have covered before as the scenario and other background on the event is available (here), as well as from a substantial post I recently wrote on the appeal of one-to-one devices in the classroom and equity (here). Beyond this and going forward, there are a few key points I would like to emphasize as we look at my assumptions and thinking on what we should and shouldn’t be doing: Some assumptions for the next 5 years: What We Would Do: What We Wouldn’t Do: Distributive Learning, – we want all classes to be blended classes. With that preamble and a very brief explanation, here is my slidedeck.
