iTeach with iPads | Innovating learning and literacy with iPads in kindergarten An Open Letter to Tech-Fearing Teachers Everywhere - The Inspired Classroom You are certain to enjoy today’s guest post from Neven Jurkovic. He has written a letter for all tech-fearing teachers and has done so in a positive and motivating way. So, for today’s post in this month’s tech series, consider how you might use his ideas and words to coax a colleague or even yourself! ~EMP Dear Technophobic Teacher, Thanks for taking a few moments to read this letter. Quote #1: “The kids will learn technology whether we teach it or not, so why waste our time on it?” I’m glad you brought this up. Quote #2: “Technology changes so fast that anything we teach them about technology will be obsolete by the time they get into the workplace.” I’ll grant you this: If we spend all of our time teaching specific tools or websites, you’re right, there’s a real chance that we’ll have wasted our time. Quote #3: “We didn’t have much technology in schools when I was growing up, and we turned out just fine.” The world has changed. About the Author:
8 Examples of Transforming Lessons Through the SAMR Cycle The SAMR Model for integrating technology into teaching, developed by Dr. Ruben Puentedura, has gained a good deal of exposure in recent years. “SAMR” is an acronym that stands for Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition. The SAMR model provides a technique for moving through degrees of technology adoption to find more meaningful uses of technology in teaching and move away from simply using “tech for tech’s sake”. We recently discussed the SAMR model during an Academic Technology Work Group meeting at The College of Westchester. Following are 8 examples of the SAMR process, each taking an example of a typical classroom exercise that does not use technology and walking it through each phase of SAMR. The goal of this exercise was to help me (and readers) better understand the SAMR model, and to really see how lessons and assessments can be transformed while considering the benefits of evolving them through these stages. Lesson: Writing a Short Paper Lesson: Art/Painting
5 New Technologies That Have Changed The Digital Classroom In the past, the suggestion of getting a college degree without ever cracking a book meant paying a degree mill. It meant the degree was in name only, reflecting neither learning nor effort. Then distance learning meant correspondence courses, perhaps combined with some coordinated telecasts. Technology has already changed all that, and the future will change it even further. eTexts Now online college students can obtain legitimate college degrees without cracking a book– but that doesn’t mean they don’t have to read. Students can copy the PDF to mobile devices, and carry all of their texts on one iPad or Galaxy Tab. Virtual Libraries Most online school programs — even those which still use correspondence course designs have robust virtual libraries – something that never existed 15 years ago. Distance learners access the same journals as campus students — from anywhere in the world. Online School Portals Webcams & Teleconferencing Mobile Apps & Augmented Reality
6 Common Misconceptions About Blended Learning Infographic Blended Learning Infograpics 6 Common Misconceptions About Blended Learning Infographic 6 Common Misconceptions About Blended Learning Infographic When implementing blended learning, stakeholders may have preconceived notions about this model of learning. The following outlines some common blended learning myths. Myth #1: Students work in isolation In order to be considered blended learning, students need opportunities to interact with peers and the instructor in live, real-time settings. We live in a social age. Because teachers are not tied up with direct instruction during physical classroom time, online learning options can serve as a means to increase interaction and personalized contact time between students and teachers. Myth #2: Students complete online content by working primarily asynchronously at school and at home Some educators believe blended learning is when you put your entire course into a learning management system and students work on it 100% asynchronously. Myth #6.
Prezi! A Great Way to Engage Your Students! UPDATE 3/13/2014: A number of the below Prezis no longer work, as Prezi no longer supports animation. I haven't tested all of the Prezis, but I know that the -ot Word Family and the Digraphs Prezi freeze. I am extremely sorry for this issue. Aside from the bad grammar in that sentence, I am very upset about this situation. I have been using Prezi in my classroom this year and it is a great way to get instant engagement! This post is linked up with the following Linky Parties! Do you use Prezi at all with your class?
9 Ways To Use Social Networks In eLearning - eLearning Industry The eLearning is a term mostly serving to describe deliberate education with advanced technical user-friendly and intuitive teaching methods. Few of us, however, acknowledge the role different social networks play in teaching us to organize the conventional learning process thus merging it with eLearning step by step. Here you can get a rundown of using social networks in eLearning and how they make it ever more readily accessible and integrated for students. Getting to know how to operate these useful branchy GUIs on their own can make you a power user. 1. Running low on reading/writing focus at the lecture? 2. The notorious Instagram. 3. A great finding for a scatterbrain student, this web app will help you organize all the material you need to process. 4. This one should not be a stranger to anyone. 5. Originally designed as a database to remember everything, Evernote is a very useful tool for writers. 6. Is your browser bookmark folder a painful display? 7. 8. 9. Get 2 Free eBooks
Comparing the Book to the Movie Watching a movie after reading the book is a wonderful way to encourage students to think critically about how each medium presented roughly the same information. Here are some questions to ask: Think about the setting of the book. You could also:Brainstorm all the ways the movie was different from the book.
Getting Started With Knowledge Management - eLearning Industry In the last couple of years I’ve dealt with a few companies that were either unable or unwilling to preserve the knowledge and expertise of their employees. In fact, I was employed at one such organization for quite some time. The company lost money and opportunities, and its image suffered as well, all due to the lack of a comprehensive knowledge management solution. In regards to training, the company put faith in the old “knowledge sharing is king” motto. As you may guess, the morale in the company was low, and the turnover high, which, in turn, only served to exacerbate the lack of expertise. To prevent such disasters from happening in the future, I decided to compile a list of basic recommendations that can be used to establish knowledge management in your organization. What Is Knowledge Management? Knowledge management involves discovering, retaining, and sharing expertise in order to improve the efficiency of an organization. Applying knowledge is equally important. 1. 2. 3.
Student Engagement: 5 Ways To Get – and Keep – Your Students’ Attention - Marzano Center Keeping students engaged is easy. Not! Using unusual information to capture “situational interest” keeps students guessing. It’s hot! Think back to your days in science class: Sirius is also called the “Dog Star.” Yes indeed! Students who are interested learn more. To increase student engagement, take time to incorporate the following concepts, from Marzano’s Art and Science of Teaching, into your lessons: 1.High Energy The same part of the brain that processes movement also processes learning. 2.Missing information Curiosity killed the cat, and it also increases student’s “appetitive” state. 3.Mild Controversy and Competition Students enjoy problem-solving with their peers. 4.The Self-System The self-system is the system that controls what we decide to attend to. 5.Mild Pressure Students are smart; they look for patterns in our behavior. Don’t forget to provide adequate wait time before calling on the next student. If you read this far, now you can explain the “three second pause.”
10 Mobile Apps Instructional Designers Should Be Familiar With - eLearning Industry Many Instructional Designers already use mobile devices in their eLearning strategy. They give online learners the power to access valuable online resources and improve their skills from anywhere in the world. However, we can also use mobile apps to our advantage. In fact, here are 10 apps that can help you collaborate on-the-go and manage your time more effectively. 1. Keynote is a mobile app for the iPad, iPod touch, and iPhone. 2. Blackboard is one of the popular Learning Management Systems, and their mobile app takes online collaboration one step further. 3. This mobile app is actually intended for Instructional Designers and online trainers. 4. iTunes U Most people have heard of iTunes, but few know about the knowledge-packed iTunes U app. 5. Microsoft Outlook version for Android and iOS. 6. This productivity mobile app allows you to draw, jot down notes, and sketch out your eLearning course design. 7. 8. 9. 10.
My 10 Favorite Education Infographics Of 2012 (So Far) We live in a world of quick consumption, bite-size morsels of information, and visualizations of just about everything. All of this has become boiled down into the uber-popular infographic. They pop up from time to time on Edudemic and I often have a tough time determining if I should actually run versus another. I’ve been saving up all of my favorite infographics for a post just like this one. I picked each infographic based on the topic, breadth of information, and overall worth. The phrase ‘sum is greater than its parts’ comes to mind as each of these 10 infographics is useful in its own right… but altogether they’re downright overwhelmingly helpful. The Public Thinks Laptops Shouldn’t Be Allowed in Class Until High School Technology has become an integral part of life in most parts of America, but some people are still concerned about how we introduce it to young people. The Internet: A Decade Later The growth of the internet in the last 10 years is staggering. Our Future Demands STEM
How to Build a Student Portfolio Infographic Educational Technology Infographics How to Build a Student Portfolio Infographic How to Build a Student Portfolio Infographic By definition a portfolio is a container of documents that provide evidence of someone’s knowledge, skills, and/or dispositions (Barton & Collins, 1993; Bird, 1990). Via: kudoswall.com Embed This Education Infographic on your Site or Blog!
Three Things to Unlearn About Learning Inquiry Learning Teaching Strategies flickr:CDsessums “If you’re not feeling uncomfortable about the state of education right now, then you’re not paying attention to the pressures and challenges of technology,” said Will Richardson, a veteran educator author and consultant, at a talk at ISTE 2012. “We need to acknowledge that this is a very interesting moment, and even though in a lot of ways this isn’t what we signed up for when we went into teaching… as educators, it’s our job to figure it out.” Seeing the balance move from a place of scarcity of information to over-abundance on the web — and the ability to “carry around the sum of human knowledge on our phones” — Richardson said educators must start thinking of schooling differently. To that end, Richardson proposed a challenge to educators to unlearn three important things that have been taken for granted as immovable, unchangeable ideas. 1. 2. others are doing, other classrooms and other schools. 3. Related