Online video lessons flipping classrooms left and right In soothing tones, he explains everything from chemistry to credit default swaps, from algebra to economics, to about 2 million students a month, imparting roughly 200,000 lessons a day. And Salman Khan never loses his voice. As an educator, he's just now finding it, as the improbable creator of a free, Web-based video library whose pitch-perfect approach to bedeviling concepts has vaulted him into the education reform conversation — in Colorado and worldwide. "It's weird for me," says the 34-year-old Khan. That task has expanded a bit since he first lashed together an online algebra lesson to help a cousin. Using technology to reach schools and homes around the world as either a stand-alone curriculum or a supplemental tool, the nonprofit Khan Academy (khanacademy.org) has doubled its users from over just three months ago and increased its audience 10-fold over last fall. Actually, the celebrity part is coming — and quickly. He also recently appeared on "The Colbert Report."
100 Apps for Tech-Savvy Teachers Are you a teacher now or studying to become one in the future? Have you been looking for a handy list of digital apps that will help you organize your life inside and outside the classroom? Well, you have come to the right place. With the world around us becoming more technologically advanced every day, developers are creating apps designed specifically to make your life as an educator easier. Check out our 100 helpful apps below! If you’re pressed for time or you simply don’t want to scroll through them all, click on the category you are looking to skip ahead to: Classroom Learning Communication Tools Personal Organization Reference Teaching Tools Classroom Learning 1. 4 Dice: Fraction Games “The goal of the game is to hit the target by working backwards Jeopardy style by giving the answer first. - Justin Holladay, math teacher and game developer. Download: iOS 2. 5 Dice: Order of Operations - Justin Holladay Download: iOS 3. Download: iOS 4. “Allows kids to practice math facts in an engaging way. 5.
Getting to Know a Digital Textbook by Terence W. Cavanaugh When I switched to open source digital textbooks, I created a series of activities to help students better learn how to use the textbook in digital form. I added a textbook item to the course menu. Then I adapted the textbook to be available in a few formats, providing access to the book not only online, but also so that it would be available to them in downloadable versions in ePub and AZW so that they could be read offline and on ebook readers and smart phones. The students learn more about digital textbooks through an activity I call, "getting to know your textbook" (see lesson below). As an online option for text-to-speech, students are shown how to use University of Washington’s WebAnywhere ( Students are shown how they can use note-taking software as an option to collect information from a book. Lesson/Activity: Getting To Know Your Digital Textbook OBJECTIVE(s): 1. 2. 3. 1. 2. 3. 4. a. b. 5. 6. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Is Technology Making Your Students Stupid? - Technology By Marc Parry Multimedia—dangerous! Online research—depthless! Classroom screens—dubious! If you're looking for a contrarian take on technology, Nicholas Carr is your man. Now the 51-year-old, Colorado-based writer has published a new book, The Shallows, which warns that the Internet is rewiring our brains and short-circuiting our ability to think. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. The other is the study by James Evans that was in Science magazine a couple of years ago. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A.
Product Tour - SoapBox GoSoapBox is a powerful, flexible, and intuitive student response system for educators to use in their classrooms. Leveraging web-enabled devices, teachers digitally engage students to conduct formative assessment and gain insight into student comprehension that was never before possible. Know Who's Confused GoSoapBox's intuitive Confusion Barometer lets students indicate whether or not they are getting it. No More Wasted Q&A Time Time is scarce during class. Only interested in Q&A? Make Class Lively with Real-Time Polls GoSoapBox offers dead-simple, customizable polling. Create Quizzes for Easy Formative Assessment Create a Quiz in GoSoapBox and download a grade report later. Tailor GoSoapBox to Your Style We built GoSoapBox to be remarkably malleable. Students Can be Anonymous Sometimes it's better for students to interact anonymously. Download Activity and Grade Reports We make it easy to download graded spreadsheets and reports on class activity. Get Started Now
learning as a way of being 100 Awesome Classroom Videos to Learn New Teaching Techniques With so many good teachers out there, it’s fortunate they can share their knowledge via video on the Internet. From the funny to the poignant, these glimpses into the lives of teachers and their students will keep you entertained while learning a little something as well. Whether you are a new teacher storing up tips and tricks or an experienced teacher who could just use a fresh perspective, you are sure to find something helpful among these videos. The Basics Reading, storytelling, math, and science all get coverage with these videos that show how some Teaching Storytelling in the Classroom. Watch children tell stories as a backdrop to educators talking about the storytelling experience. Myst ‘Exile’ in the Classroom. The Arts From visual arts to music to drama, these videos will offer suggestions and stimulate creativity when teaching art to your students. Footprint dancing at the Nest. Getting Physical Movement doesn’t have to be reserved just for PE class. Education and Technology
7 Habits of Highly Effective Tech-leading Principals Leadership | In Print Page 6 of 7 7 Habits of Highly Effective Tech-leading Principals "We have seen a dramatic shift in pedagogy and technology integration since starting this conference, because teachers are realizing that it's not that hard to integrate a lot of these web 2.0 tools, and they're also being provided with the foundation they need to get started," explains Sheninger. 6. The Expert's Perspective: Farrace: "There really has to be a concerted effort on the part of the principal to allow the faculty to believe that risk-taking is okay. "The fact is, what could go wrong? "All of these things aren't deal killers, they're just obstacles. The Habit in Action: Is there anything educators see as more risky than allowing students to access their mobile devices during the school day? "As I started to learn from other educators in my PLN, I became much more sensitive to the fact that student-owned devices could be a powerful tool for learning," explains Sheninger. 7.
Game-Based Learning Units for the Everyday Teacher Game-based learning (GBL) is getting a lot press. It is an innovative practice that is working to engage kids in learning important 21st century skills and content. Dr. Judy Willis in a previous post wrote about the neurological benefits and rationale around using games for learning. She also gives tips about using the game model in the classroom. James Paul Gee has long been a champion for game-based learning in speeches, blogs, and books. Myths About Game-Based Learning First, let's clarify a couple things. Gee refers to teachers as "learning designers," and I couldn't agree more. Inspired by the work I've seen, here is an overview of components and structure for the everyday teacher to implement game-based learning Overall Structure: Individual Quests and Boss Levels A game-based learning unit should consist of both smaller quests and more robust boss levels. Boss levels are more rigorous missions that require students to synthesize the content and skills learned in the quests. Avatar
Why Kids Need Schools to Change Big Ideas Flickr: Elizabeth Albert The current structure of the school day is obsolete, most would agree. Created during the Industrial Age, the assembly line system we have in place now has little relevance to what we know kids actually need to thrive. Most of us know this, and yet making room for the huge shift in the system that’s necessary has been difficult, if not impossible because of fear of the unknown, says educator Madeline Levine, author of Teach Your Children Well. “People don’t like change, especially in times of great uncertainty,” she said. “I’m astounded at the glacial pace of change in education.” During this time of economic uncertainty, especially, Levine said parents want to make sure their kids won’t fall into the ranks of the unemployed and disenfranchised young people who return home because they’re unable to find jobs. Yet therein lies the paradox. “I’m astounded at the glacial pace of change in education,” she said. PROJECT BASED LEARNING.