Blended Learning: Making it Work in Your Classroom Kristin: I can say that the things I've been doing the last two years have really made a difference, because my kids have scored the highest in the State on the standardized tests. So what we're doing here is working, and it's helping them be successful. Julie: We define Blended Learning as the combination of digital content and activity with face-to-face content and activity. Kristin: What I have online could be completely different than what the biology teacher has online, or what the physical education teacher has online. Mickey: Okay, go ahead get the laptops. There are three activities. Okay, slide to the apps, and open up Educreations, because we're going to fill in this chart, because this is going to get us practicing base pairing between DNA and RNA and reading our photon chart. Student: C. Mickey: C. Shelton: I've like probably learned more today just by doing this than I have the whole week that we've been doing this. Luis: The podcast like helps so much. Class: Yay!
How Do We Address the Needs of Kids Without Mobile Access? Digital Tools Flickr:Shlala The $64,000 question in education: Does access to mobile technology actually help close the achievement gap? Bill Ferriter, a sixth-grade teacher in North Carolina, has been thinking about this issue, and writing about it on his blog, The Tempered Radical. In this recent post, he addresses a question from one of his readers, who sites Ferriter’s source, about how to address the needs of the minority of kids who don‘t have mobile access? “75% of students are good to go, but do you just leave the other 25% to “fin for themselves”, leave them out of the equation all together, or do you do something to supplement such as the school providing a temporary cell phone” the reader asks. Here’s his response. One of the stumbling blocks to almost every reform initiative in schools is our stubborn refusal to move forward until the conditions are perfect for change. The result: Change never happens. I don’t care if one out of 10 students in your school has a cell phone. Related
BatchGeo + Google Form = Cool Collaborative Map! I recently presented at the national ISTE conference, and this collaborative map activity was one of the crowd favorites. It allows you to gather data via a Google Form/Spreadsheet and then easily map the results using the BatchGeo tool! Resources / Things you’ll need: A Google account for the teacher (students will NOT need accounts)A Google form/spreadsheet to gather the BatchGeo tool to map the Instructions Creating the Form: Add a title and some questions similar to these: – Name – City – State or Country – Interesting FactNote – You could find out: where students were born; the farthest they’ve ever traveled; their favorite vacation spot; if they could live anywhere in the world; etc. 4. Copying the Data: Go to the spreadsheet that collected the form data.Click and drag to select the data (including the column headers).Copy the selected data. - Control + C (PC) - Command + C (Mac) Creating the Map:
How to Grow a Classroom Culture That Supports Blended Learning The excerpt below is from the book “Moonshots in Education: Launching Blended Learning in the Classroom,” by Esther Wojcicki, Lance Izumi and Alicia Chang. This excerpt is from the chapter entitled “Trick in the Blended Classroom,” written by Wojcicki. It all started in 1987, when I got a grant from the State of California. The students were absolutely thrilled to help me (can you imagine being asked to help a teacher?!) I was soon sold on the idea of collaboration, respect, and trust in the classroom. Computers, tablets, and other electronic devices alone are not going to change the classroom. To help everyone remember what it takes to set up a culture that works, I have come up with an acronym, TRICK. T = trust R = respect I = independence C = collaboration K = kindness Trust The first thing to establish in the classroom is a culture of trust. Since the teacher is the one in control, it is he or she who must take the initiative. The students also put out a newspaper or magazine.
Backpack Science with Ken Finn: Rig a Rocketship Backpack Science is a summer series of easy at-home experiments geek dads can perform with their kids while school’s out. It is written by (San Francisco) Exploratorium science educator Ken Finn. This article is #6; you can find the whole series here. Rig a Rocketship Rocket experiments are the essential at-home projects that kids just live for. These rockets, outlined in the experiment here, are quite simple, safe and easy to do. What you’ll need: 2-L soda bottle3 feet (90 cm) clear, flexible vinyl tubing with ½-inch (1.3-cm) interior diameter and ⅝-inch (1.6-cm) exterior diameterduct tape2 feet (60 cm) PVC pipe with ½-inch (1.3-cm) interior diametersheet of blank paperclear tape3-by-5-inch (8-by-13-cm) index cardscissorsa rocket-loving friend How it’s done: Uncap the soda bottle and stick about 1 inch (2.5 cm) of vinyl tubing into it. Rig a Rocketship, excerpted with permission from Exploralab, 2013, published by Weldon Owen © Exploratorium, All Rights Reserved. About Ken Finn Like this:
Why (And How) Teachers And Students Should Backchannel What is a backchannel you ask? A backchannel is a conversation that takes place alongside an activity or event. In most cases, this happens using a digital or mobile device. There are many different ways you can backchannel. Benefits of a Backchannel It can provide quieter students with a place to ask questions without having to raise their hand in class.Teachers can share resources such as videos, photos, helpful links, and answers to questions about the subject without having to stop the flow of learning.It can supplement and enhance classroom discussions.Allows students who rarely raise a hand to express themselves via a medium they find completely engaging.Allows students to use their mobile devices in an information, oriented way. Twitter As A Backchannel After attending conferences, and experiencing the power of a backchannel on Twitter, I liked the idea so much that I set out to do it in my classroom. Picking the Hashtag Before I could begin, I had to decide on a hashtag.
I migliori siti italiani che parlano d'innovazione didattica Penso sia finalmente giunto il momento di mettere insieme in una lista, che spero mi aiuterete ad ampliare ed a tenere aggiornata con le vostre preziose segnalazioni, i migliori siti italiani che parlano d’innovazione didattica, di scuola 2.0, di rivoluzione digitale all’interno delle classi. L’articolo su quelli internazionali ha avuto un discreto successo, ma è ora di cominciare a guardare dentro i nostri confini, perché ci sono risorse meravigliose che aspettano solamente di essere scoperte e condivise. Nell’elenco troverete anche siti che non parlano esclusivamente di scuola, ma anche d’innovazione tout court, perché personalmente ritengo che aprirsi all’esterno, e non essere troppo autoreferenziali, sia un’ottimo modo per andare avanti nel nostro percorso professionale. Rinnovo il mio consiglio: salvate questi siti tra i preferiti o, meglio, sul vostro RSS reader, in modo da consultarli più o meno regolarmente, perché riescono a pubblicare anche diversi articoli al giorno.
Travel the World from Your Classroom: Free iPad Apps for Virtual Field Trips Not every school has the resources necessary to take their students on an airplane . . . or spaceship. The iPad can bring the world to your students' fingertips in ways never before possible. Many national parks and museums have apps designed for onsite visitors. These navigational tools are also great for classrooms who can't make the trip. In fact, a variety of free apps can be used as virtual field trips so that children can travel the world from your classroom! National Parks by National Geographic National Parks by National Geographic is full of breathtaking pictures and information on National Parks including Acadia, Mount Rainier, Yellowstone and Zion. Gettysburg For a virtual tour of the Gettysburg Battlefield, the Gettysburg Battle app can be used in classrooms commemorating the 150th anniversary of this Civil War battle. Getty Museum The Life of Art app designed by the Getty Museum focuses on four items from their collection. NASA Earth Now Timeline - Art Museum Sphere
MOOC – Esercitazioni guidate online | CodeWeek.it Un corso online aperto e gratuito che inizia giocando e ti guida allo sviluppo di vere e proprie applicazioni mobili. CodeWeek.it e “Code’s cool”, per iniziativa dell’Università di Urbino e di NeuNet, organizzano esercitazioni guidate online che possono essere seguite in diretta streaming o riusate successivamente. Ogni esercitazione è concepita per essere seguita da intere classi riunite in laboratorio con i propri insegnanti, o per essere seguita da casa dagli alunni in autonomia o con i propri famigliari. Se i tempi dell’esercitazione non corrispondono a quelli personali, il video può essere interrotto e poi ripreso, oppure rivisto successivamente. I video tutorial partono da Hour of code e guidano passo passo attraverso il Corso Rapido di Code.org spiegando e commentando i concetti base della programmazione introdotti in ogni schema. Ogni video ha la durata indicativa di un’ora. 1) Martedì 9 dicembre 2014, ore 10:00 – L’ora del codice e il Labirinto