Storify your English classroom Washington Post Storify (Photo credit: cfpereda) This year, I’m teaching Year 10 English. In our team discussions early on, we decided to apply some SAMR thinking to modify a task that was normally completed as a paper folio, with pictures pasted in and students adding their comments as handwritten text or something that was computer generated pasted in. Over the past year, I’ve used Storify to help compile tweets and thoughts from conferences I’ve attended. Storify is a wonderful curation tool being used by journalists, newspaper organisations, noted figures from Social Media circles, and even the British Monarchy and The White House! Our focus this term is a thematic study about power and greed, perfect as a lead in to out text study of George Orwell’s Animal Farm. The students have adopted it quickly and find it intuitive to use. I can see us using Storify for other purposes throughout the school year. Our students have blogs they use as ePortfolios. Google+ Like this: Like Loading...
Effective Digital Learning I was asked yesterday what I considered to be the four components of effective digital learning. (Why four? The person who asked me wanted four, there may be more but this is the parameters I was given.) The question intrigued me. The focus was a little bit to do with tools to use for learning, but also pedagogy was an underlying core. So I have pared down my four core elements, but I have embedded these in a number of underlying assumptions. The underlying assumptions are core values and processes that enable Digital learning to flourish. A relevant and contextual curriculumAssessment that is both challenging and transparent (since this lies in a relevant and contextual curriculum, it is also by definition relevant and contextual)An emphasis of higher order thinking skills (analysis and evaluation – creativity is a core aspect of Digital learning)Valuing student voice and providing the students with ownership of their learning and assessment. Have I missed something out?
10 Great Tools for Tech Savvy Teachers Prezi A fantastic tool to liven up presentations, Prezi does away with traditional, crowded slides by allowing you to zoom in and out, so you can create an entire presentation on one slide and guide your audience through it step-by-step. Zoom in to the details, but zoom out to show how your ideas fit together as a whole. Edmodo Edmodo turns your classroom into an online community by providing you with a secure online social learning environment. That Quiz A great, simple-to-use online tool for creating your own quizzes on the topics your students are working on. Crossword Puzzle Maker A fantastic, fun resource to engage your class; particularly useful with language, vocabulary and spelling or complex definitions for subjects like science. Doink A simple, online program for creating your own animations. Flashcard DB Free online tool for making your own flashcards, which students can then use in an online test format. Collaborize Classroom Certificate Street Simple Booklet Think Quest
50 Ways to Integrate Technology - Ways to Anchor Technology in Your Classroom Tomorrow Using Free Websites as Learning & Teaching Tools 1. Have students use Spelling City to learn their spelling words, vocabulary words, or site words through games, practice, and quizzes. Spelling City is a free resource for teachers. www.spellingcity.com 2. www.brainpop.com 3. www.dovewhisper.com 4. www.flashcardexchange.com 5. people.uncw.edu/ertzbergerj/ppt_games.html 6. www.clustrmap.com 7. www.ustream.tv 8. www.fanfiction.net 9. www.ccmixter.org 10. www.toolsforeducators.com 11. www.animoto.com/education Share your ideas for integration on Animoto. 12. www.makebeliefscomix.com 13. www.wordle.net 14. www.surveymonkey.com 15. www.readwritethink.org/materials/timeline 16. www.kerpoof.com 17. classtools.net 18. www.buildyourwildself.com 19. www.freerice.com 20. www.fluxtime.com Using Free Websites for Management 21. www.myavatareditor.com 22. www.dropbox.com 23. www.evernote.com 24. www.superteachertools.com 25. www.sharinglinks.com 26. www.bighugelabs.com 27. rubistar.4teachers.org 28. fur.ly 29. www.jingproject.com
8 Great Sites for Reluctant Writers 8 Great Sites for Reluctant Writers 1. Storyjumper Storyjumper allows you to create online books using a plethora of characters, scenes, and props. Teachers can, for free, create classes to register students so they each have their own account. 2. ReadWriteThink creates a lot of great educational resources. 3. Kerpoof is an online story and comic-creator which allows students to create comic scenes and stories, as well as animated movies, cards, drawings, doodles, and pictures. 4. Story Starters is a fun activity to inspire students to write. 5. My Storymaker allows students to create a story book with fun characters and settings. 6. Part of the larger Scholastic site, Writing With Writers provides an excellent resource for writing. 7. Zoo Burst is a digital storytelling tool that allows you to create lively 3-d pop-up books with sounds and actual pop-up effects when you turn the page. 8. Like this: Like Loading...
mLearning: Revolutionizing Education By Fabio Sergio - June 15, 2012 Smartphones and tablet computers are radically transforming how we access our shared knowledge sources by keeping us constantly connected to near-infinite volumes of raw data and information. We enjoy unprecedented instant access to expertise, from informal cooking lessons on YouTube to online university courses. Every day people around the globe are absorbed in exciting new forms of learning, and yet traditional schools and university systems are still struggling to leverage the many opportunities for innovation in this area. Recently frog has been researching how learning models are evolving--and how they can be improved--via the influence of mobile technologies. We have been focusing on the concept of mLearning--where "m" usually stands for "mobile" but also just as easily for "me.” Continuous learning will simply be a given for the generations of today’s youngsters who are often literally born within reach of a connected personal device. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
«Free digital tools in Blooms This list is distinctive as the resources are a) free and b) almost exclusively browser based. The list is also sorted by Blooms, meaning you are able to more easily consider your student outcomes FIRST. There are a few exceptions. A number of resources listed offer ‘pro’ services, but are still particularly useful using the free services they offer. There are a couple of software downloads included. Notably, Jing and Audacity, which are free and powerful products in the classroom and I felt compelled to include them. Have a favourite that’s missing? Creating (Higher order thinking): Designing, constructing, planning, producing, inventing, devising, making) Applications: Evaluating (Higher order thinking: Checking, hypothesising, critiquing, experimenting, judging, testing, detecting, monitoring) Applications: Analysing (Higher order thinking: Comparing, organising, deconstructing, attributing, outlining, structuring, integrating) Blogging Software Bookmarking / Information Management Image
Blog | Failure 101 Today I heard the story of golf player and how he completely came apart in the final hole of the 1999 British Open. He went from having a 3 stroke lead going into the 18th hole to losing the championship because it took him 7 shots to get the ball in the hole. Since 1999, every time his name is mentioned it’s, “Remember, he’s the guy that choked big time at the British Open.” I found myself really enjoying that story because of just how tragic it is. I keep telling myself that recovery from failure—the ability to get up and try again—is probably THE most important skill anyone can have. Popularity: 8% [ ?
5 iPad Apps Every Teacher Should Have Just to wrap up our week of apps for teachers here are some favourites that will make your iPad a little more productive in the classroom. Enjoy iWork Until Microsoft release office for the iPad iWork offers the MS Works equivalent of a productivity suite for the iPad. Pages, Numbers and Keynote make for a fairly impressive productivity suite for $30, or $10 each. Teaching & Classroom Resources @ www.theteachinglab.com The Elements: A Visual Exploration: Sounds a bit pricey for a periodic table, but the vividly animated illustrations of every substance our world is made of more than make up for it. $14 Bento: Organize your Life Mobile Air Mouse: Do you use an Interactive whiteboard and have wireless keyboards and mice floating around the place that either don’t work or you have to actually sit in front of a computer to type something on your IWB. DropBox: I own a laptop, 2 desktop PC’s at home, have files on the network at school and now have some stuff on my iPhone and an iPad.
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Bloomin’ Peacock Tomorrow I am doing a training on the Treasures Supplement that I created over the summer. Most of the supplemental suggestions fall into the bottom two tiers of Bloom’s Taxonomy (Remember and Understand). I want to show teachers that just because these activities help students practice basic skills and remember and understand, there are SO many more options that will reach the higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy! Below are the tools listed in my Bloomin’ Digital Peacock Bloomin' Digital Peacock Remember: BBC Skillwise- Spelling City- Starfall- Discovery Streaming- Lexipedia- YouTube- Gamegoo- PBS Kids- Understand: Into the Book- Skype- Treasures- Book Adventure- Apply:
100 Teaching Tools You Should Know About 5 Ways To Be A Better Public Speaker 7.15K Views 0 Likes If you've been asked to speak at a conference or host a seminar, you may be shaking in your boots. Not only is the thought of speaking in public nerve-wracking, but being in charge of a seminar that no one wants to at... Edudemic Is Giving Away 30 Free Citelighter Pro Accounts! 576 Views 0 Likes We think Citelighter is a great tool for both students and teachers, and what better way to try it out than for free?
Top 10 Universities With Free Courses Online #1 UC Berkeley Ranked as the #1 public school in the United States, Berkeley offers podcasts and webcasts of amazing professors lecturing. Each course has an RSS feed so you can track each new lecture. For printable assignments and notes you can check the professors homepage, which is usually given in the first lecture or google his name. Even though the notes, homework and tests are not directly printed in the berkeley website, as they are in MIT and other courseware sites, it's not a problem to find them. I personally tried to use it for John Wawrzynek's machine structures class and the nutrition courses. Visit:Berkeley WebcastsVisit:Berkeley RSS FeedsVisit:UC Berkeley on Google Video Getting The Most From Berkeley Webcasts Berkeley Videos are in .rm format and real player can be a pain. Download:Real Alternative PluginDownload:Media Player Classic For Windows XP/2000Download:Media Player Classic For Windows 98/ME #2 MIT Open Courseware Getting the Most Out of MIT OCW Download:Foxit Reader