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November #SchoologyChat Recap. One way the vibrant Schoology community interacts and engages in professional learning is through social media.
While there is a constant flow of information being shared across all social channels, we have a formal gathering on Twitter the first Tuesday of each month called #SchoologyChat. This month, Schoology Ambassador Cristina Toflinski was our featured moderator. She suggested the topic “Schoology’s Hidden Gems.” Be Marco Polo: A Call for Explorers of Education Technology. Fear of the unknown is a powerful force in education.
There are many teachers across America who view social media, mobile phones, and other modern technologies the same way 13th century Venetians viewed The Orient. This is why technology educators need to be the Marco Polos of their schools. The good news for us is that we don't need to travel thousands of miles to make new discoveries. The rate of innovation today is astounding and we can not afford to stay in a conceptual Venice surrounded with out-dated pedagogical methods. We need to seek the new and the unusual. Choosing Technology That Just Works. Stephen Thurston has been teaching journalism and composition since 1998 at Montgomery College in Rockville, Maryland, a large community college serving around 21,000 students.
Having taught in higher education since 1990, he’s seen a lot of classroom technology claiming to be “the solution.” After learning the ins and outs of learning management systems (LMS) over the years, there was always one prevailing problem: nothing really worked. According to Thurston, engaging students through technology, organizing assignments and quizzes, and trying to tap into the full potential of the digital classroom all seemed appealing, but constant bugs and system failures in most LMSs left him wanting more. Where to Find Great Content at EDUCAUSE 2016. EDUCAUSE is one of the largest edtech conferences in the US and has tons to offer higher ed professionals looking to expand their ideas, connections, and tech portfolio.
But do you know where to find great sessions? Well, while we may be a bit biased (a wee bit), we're hosting some fantastic presentations by leaders in instructional technology, distance learning, and assessment. Check out the details below and RSVP to get real time updates and reminders. A Must-See Presentation by Wheaton College Finding Your Ed Tech Soulmate: Matchmaking Tips from Instructional Technology Learn about Wheaton College’s smart approach to LMS evaluation, including why they forged their own path and how it led them to marked improvements institution-wide.
When & Where? Presented by 6 Great Sessions at Our Booth #1811 The Modern LMS: Why Collaboration Should Be a Priority Wednesday, October 26 | 12:00 pm. How Our New CK-12 App Helps You Individualize Learning. Here’s a question for all the instructors, principals, and curriculum designers out there—how would your job be different if you had free, high quality, and customizable educational resources at your fingertips?
Whether you know it or not, you already have access to such resources. They’re called OERs, or open educational resources, and they’re available for anyone to use, modify, and share. Using Digital Citizenship to Bridge the Gap Between Higher Ed and K-12. Originally posted in 2012 on the Schoology Blog.
It's just too good to not repost. Learn. Lead. Live. is a motto I emulate as I guide teacher candidates through a full learning experience of mind, heart, and hand. I am committed to preparing preservice teachers for today's 21st century classroom of diverse learners in a globalized, digital, networked world. I am an assistant professor in the School of Education at the University of Saint Joseph in West Hartford, Connecticut. Preparing Future Educators for Success in the Digital Age. When Schoology was adopted by the Delaware Department of Education in late 2014, Tom Gavin, Lead Adjunct Faculty Member and Supervisor of Instructional Technology, Schoology Ambassador, and NEXT 2016 Educator of the Year, had to think fast.
“The need to prepare our teacher candidates in the use of a platform being used statewide became a high priority for candidate employment and classroom readiness within school districts,” he says. Getting Instructors Started Early. Drumroll Please: Here are the Schoology NEXT 2016 Award Winners! One of the coolest things about Schoology NEXT, our annual user conference, is how our community takes the reigns—and rightly so.
Most of the sessions were led by community members who are doing amazing work in their classrooms, colleges, and districts around the world. 5 Simple Tips for Creating Engaging Instructional Videos. If you've ever Googled a how-to question, you already know the power video has with teaching you something more effectively than a block of text.
Videos aren't just booming in popularity—they're also a primary format for learning. "YouTube is my favorite teacher," is not uncommon to hear from students of any age, so it makes sense to harness the power of video to enhance blended learning. Video can definitely increase student engagement by making learning more interactive and helping your students get to know you on a more personal level. The Rise of Blended Learning and How to Make it a Reality. The rise of new pedagogies such as blended learning, flipped classrooms, and engaged classrooms have been the talk amongst faculty and administrators for some time.
How faculty embrace or don’t embrace these concepts may depend on a variety of issues such as unwillingness, steep learning curve, and lack of understanding. Despite the reason for resistance, embracing blended learning is increasingly less of an option and more of a necessity in higher education. Higher education is changing. As institutions seek to better meet the needs of a student population with increasingly high expectations of their education, many faculty are finding that not embracing such changes in pedagogy is leaving them behind. Because of this, faculty across disciplines may be feeling pressure from institutions to increase productivity, however it is measured on different campuses. An industry that dates back to 1150 has remained virtually unchanged—until now.
Higher Ed and K-12 LMS Success Stories. Connect with Us and Our Community. Learning Management System. The Art of Building Opportunities for the Students Who Need Them Most. Every year, more and more students across the country enroll in online education. By some estimates, as of 2013, there were more than 275,000 K-12 students across the country learning through online schooling. Even though online education is not always the simplest path, Stacey King, a teacher at the Utah Online High School in southwest Utah’s St. George, has been paving a new path using Schoology for students who would otherwise not receive the education they need. Helping Those Who’ve Been Overlooked “One program we have is designed specifically for students that would not graduate from high school without the ability to do classes online,” Stacey explains.
The Art of Building Exceptional Professional Development for First Year Teachers. "No longer do we have one and done PD," says Tara Amsterdam, an Instructional Coach in the Colonial School District in New Castle, Delaware and one of Schoology's 2015 Educators of the Year. She's part of an innovative group called The BRINC Consortium, an organization of Delaware school districts collaborating closely with the goal of closing achievement gaps and personalizing learning for every student.
"Through the use of Schoology, I have developed online courses for our novice teachers," explains Tara. Building a Culture of Educational Responsibility and Ownership Through Blended Learning. As an English as a Second Language (ESL) instructor in an Intensive English Program at the University of California, San Diego, I interact with adult international students from a wide variety of cultures. Culture clash is a daily reality for my students, but perhaps no area is a bigger source of frustration and friction than educational expectations across cultures.
Academic culture values independence. ¿Hablas Minecraft? How Glen Irvin Teaches Spanish Through Minecraft. 3 Harsh Truths about In-Class Peer Review. Spending class time asking students to read and respond to each other’s work can serve to create meaningful community-building experiences for the students, and if we teachers are paying attention to the subtle social exchanges involved, every in-class peer review activity can be a learning experience for both teachers and students.
That being said, in my seven years of doing these kinds of activities, I’ve found that there are plenty of opportunities for this potentially productive activity to either feel like busy work or to go off in unexpected and sometimes unwelcome directions. In order to hopefully help you make more efficient use of the time you spend with peer review sessions, here are a three harsh truths I’ve learned that I want to share with you. First, as I’ve watched my students' interactions over the years, I’ve learned ... #1 Students Usually Don't Trust Each Other #2 Criticizing Other People’s Writing is Unpopular and Embarrassing. 5 Great Uses for Rubrics You'll Wish You'd Thought of First. Think of Schoology's rubrics like clay. Choose a purpose and shape them to suit your needs. Rubrics can be very powerful instructional tools for providing criterion-referenced feedback, and in digital learning environments, they can also be a great data collection tools.
The Next Step in LMS Evolution. 3 Smart Ways to Use Schoology and Google Drive in a Perfect Mashup. As educators, we are always searching for ways to streamline and simplify our day to day tasks. When it comes to making our workflows more efficient, there are two tools that are simply great together—Schoology and Google Drive. If you use these tools already and have not explored how seamlessly they work together, then you are missing out on a great mashup. Google Drive is an excellent tool for creating different types of content easily. Schoology helps me put that content into a pedagogically structured environment. #1 K-12 Learning Management System. The Benefits of Partnering K-12 and Higher Education Institutions for Blended Learning. How to Use Schoology for Staff Observation and Evaluation Part 1. Here's one for all of you administrators out there. Learning Management System.