Podcasting | Alex Ragone's Learning Blog Audio Editing 101 In Tech 6 we’re working on a project to create a Story Corp podcast. Students are working in groups of three and have set up interviews with community members, written questions, and interviewed their subjects. This week, we’ll be editing the audio they are listening to in the free program, Audacity. Here’s the process we’ll use. Open Audacity Import MP3 audio that we recorded using our Sony ICD PX820 recorder by selecting Project –> Import Audio Save the file – Name it with the date of the interview and the subject. Audio Editing 101 with Audacity 5. 6. 7. Feel free to post questions below. I’m looking forward to listening to the audio interviews that you create! * Image Source: arvindgrover Social Media – Part II – The Long Tail (Cross Posted at edSocialMedia) The Long Tail became relevant to me as I connected with education technologists around the world through my blog and Bloglines RSS blog reader. So why tell this story? Skype in Global Ed Program? My Response:
How to Use Evernote as a Blogger A few weeks ago, I started using Evernote as my primary “blogging workbench.” It is where I store blog post ideas, collect various post components, and then write the post itself. This has proven to be a robust solution that enables me to be working on several posts simultaneously. I thought I would share my workflow with you. Yours will be different, I’m sure. But, hopefully, this will provide you with a few ideas. If you are just getting started with Evernote, I suggest that you buy Brett Kelly’s remarkably practical e-book, Evernote Essentials, 4.0. My go through the following six steps in creating a new blog post. Set up a blogging template in Evernote. Schedule the post and review your work. Evernote has enabled me to be more productive in my blogging. or upgrade to a self-hosted WordPress blog?
I used to think… I used to think that giving homework the first day of school set the “tone” for our classroom, that this was an academic class that had rigor and demanded their best. Now I realize that I was trying to intimidate my students so that they would work hard and know that I was the one in charge. I used to think that compliant, well-behaved students were the ideal; now I’m afraid for them. I used to think, as a high school teacher, that reading was someone else’s job to teach. I used to think that some kids weren’t cut out for school. I’ve learned about self-regulation Self regulation is defined as the process of taking control of and evaluating one’s own learning and behavior. Look at the research: • “Self-regulated learning (SRL), as the three words imply, emphasizes autonomy and control by the individual who monitors, directs, and regulates actions toward goals of information acquisition, expanding expertise, and self-improvement” (Paris and Paris 2001). No more “fill-er-up” Like this:
The Role of Truth, Trust and Context in Online Learning By Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach I have been thinking today about truth, trust, and learning. I am going to try and weave them together in a post that makes some logical sense but if I fail, I ask your forgiveness in advance. Maybe hear this post as sound bites rather than a narrative as I try to find my way. Context I was listening to Dr. Ravi Zacharias and heard him say, “Intent is prior to content” and my mind exploded. needs to be situated in truth (i.e. that which conforms to reality as it actually is) or context and that is why a thick schema (prior knowledge and experience) is so important.” Imagine just teaching content without the context setting. Learner FirstIf you have read my book you know I talk quite a bit about being a learner first and an educator second. Being a learner first helps us to share ideas (teach) whether we are parenting, car building or gardening. All of these are found within the context of healthy relationships. Did you know…. Let’s think about that.
Flipping Bloom’s Taxonomy Teacher Shelley Wright is on leave from her classroom, working with teachers in a half-dozen high schools to promote inquiry and connected learning. I think the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy is wrong. Hear me out. I know this statement sounds heretical in the realms of education, but I think this is something we should rethink, especially since it is so widely taught to pre-service teachers. I agree that the taxonomy accurately classifies various types of cognitive thinking skills. Old-school Blooms: Arduous climb for learners Conceived in 1956 by a group of educators chaired by Benjamin Bloom, the taxonomy classifies skills from least to most complex. Many teachers in many classrooms spend the majority of their time in the basement of the taxonomy, never really addressing or developing the higher order thinking skills that kids need to develop. Here’s what I propose. Blooms 21: Let’s put Creating at the forefront What if we started with creativity rather than principles?
Learning Styles - The Controversy What is the controversy over learning styles all about? Is the theory valid? Does it really work in the classroom, or is the claim that there is no scientific evidence for its validity the final word? We're collecting articles that call the learning styles theory a myth. We'll keep adding to it as we find interesting discussions. 1. Doug Rohrer, a psychologist at the University of South Florida, investigated the learning style theory for NPR (National Public Radio), and found no scientific evidence to support the idea. 2. From Psychological Science in the Public Interest, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, comes this article about 2009 research showing no scientific evidence for learning styles. 3. Education.com takes a look at learning styles from both points of view - pro and con. 4. This is from the Cisco Learning Network, posted by David Mallory, a Cisco engineer. 5. 6. "How can you not believe people learn differently?"
#etmooc Lip Dub! Well #etmooc, we’ve reached the end of our first topic, Connected Learning. This has been an amazing experience for me, as a facilitator and learner, as I’ve read through so many excellent posts and ideas from our participants. It’s wonderful to see the extent of sharing and support that has resulted through the development of this community. And, I’m very excited to share our #etmooc crowdsourced #lipdub project! Of course, what we’ve learned about Connected Learning will continue to guide us through #etmooc – it is core to its structure (or nonstructure). Our next topic is Digital Storytelling, and an outline of the next two weeks will be shared tomorrow. Join in, invite a friend or colleague, and let’s spend the next two weeks discussing, sharing, and creating digital stories. Connect with you soon. Alec
The 18 Best Free Web Tools Chosen By You It’s the start of a new year and that means there’s infinite possibilities that lay before you. But you can’t move forward without arming yourself with the best free web tools and apps. I was perusing some of my favorite education blogs, social networks, and other time-sucking online spots when I came back to the Edublog Awards . Below is the list of finalists for the best free web tools. Claco Find, build and share resources with teachers across the hall or across the world — aligned with Common Core ClassDojo Improve specific student behaviors and engagement by awarding and recording real-time feedback.
Kick Start Activity 3 (Advanced) – Add Some Muscle to your Blog Thanks to everyone for the great posts so far. There is a wealth of knowledge, experience and sharing, so please take time to read others’ posts and continue to add comments. It is not too late to start the challenge – either start with this one or complete the two previous ones, commenting back on each challenge with your blog post link. The third challenge looks at pages. About Me in a Collage Let’s start spring cleaning and build those muscles! Spend some time looking at your “About Me Page”. Tasks for the #3 challenge:- Look for some “About Me” pages on blogs.Add your ideas to a shared google document Pages in Blogs (or scroll down to the bottom of this post for the document). Extension Activity Goto bubbl.us and register (or use other mind mapping tool). Any feedback and further ideas are welcomed! Below is the google document for sharing:-
9 Wrong And 8 Right Ways Students Should Use Technology Technology is a tool. It’s not a learning outcome. Too often do we get distracted by all the activities and action we can perform with an iPad or some other device. We can post to Edmodo! Make a Prezi! Post to Facebook! But they’re not really learning. That’s the idea behind the fabulous visual I saw on George Couros’ blog (great read!) Don’t get me wrong, you can do a lot of good with technology in the classroom.
84 Quick & Healthy Meals in Minutes! Cooking for better nutrition and weight management doesn't have to mean hours in the kitchen or complicated culinary techniques. These meals and snacks, part of our 30-Day "Fit Food" Challenge, are quick, easy, and full of flavor! Here you'll find four weeks' worth of breakfasts, lunches and dinners, plus healthy snacks to round out your day. These meals are also flexible so that you can pick and choose what to eat on a given day based on time and taste preferences. 30 Days of Fit Food: Meal Plans & Shopping List (Get your shopping list for the week here!) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Week 1: Lunches 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Week 1: Dinners 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Week 1: Snack Options Choose 1-2 snacks each day based on hunger and calorie needs: 1/2 cup fat-free cottage cheese with 1 cup of berries Mini bag of air-popped popcorn sprinkled with your favorite seasoning and 1 Tbsp parmesan cheese Carrots with 2 Tbsp hummus Homemade trail mix made with 1/2 cup multi-grain Cheerios and 1/4 cup dried fruit
Google Docs Research Tool: A Review [This is a guest post by Amanda French (@amandafrench), THATCamp Coordinator at George Mason University's Center for History and New Media. You can read more about her (and by her) at AmandaFrench.net.] Yesterday I was unusually intrigued by a little yellow notification in a Google Doc I was working on. The new feature puts a new option in the Tools menu within a Google Doc called “Research.” Click to embiggen. Clicking on one of the results in that search will give you three options: Preview, Link, and Citation. It’s almost an old-fashioned looking footnote, too, with the traditional superscript numeral after the text you highlighted and the footnote at the bottom of the page. Anything that encourages people to cite their sources properly is inarguably a Good Thing, in my professorial opinion, so I’m a fan of this feature and plan to make sure that all my students know about it. However, there are a few equally inarguable limitations on this Good Thing. How about you? Return to Top
Flipping the Classroom – Simply Speaking – YouTube « Teaching English using web 2.0 I recently read this post; Flipped Classrom: The Full Picture for Higher education by Jackie Gerstein, Ed.D., where I found the Youtube video embedded below. Read the full article here and then take a look at the video. Sal Khan, of the Khan Academy, states: There was nothing practical that anyone could do about this broken “learning” model until recently. But we can now deliver on-demand content to any student for nearly zero incremental cost. Ten years from today, students will be learning at their own pace. Like this: Like Loading...