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
Ten Ideas for Teaching Teachers Technology I had never been to an "unconference" before, but when I heard the organizer of SocialEdCon Unconference introduce the event, I knew I was in for something new: "Write your ideas that you want to discuss on the top of the poster board. Each of you can look at all of the ideas and put check marks beside the ones that interest you, and then that will drive the topics that we discuss today." I leaned over to my husband, Brad Flickinger, an "unconference expert," and whispered that I'd love to learn more about educating teachers about technology. He told me to go up and write it down. I gulped! I was here to learn from others -- not lead a session -- but I jumped into the deep end of the pool of unconferencing. As the Director of Instructional Technology for the Poudre School District in Fort Collins, Colorado, I'm responsible for the professional "technology" development of nearly 1500 teachers. What Did I Share? 1) Show, don't tell. 2) Teach with TV. 3) Be "liked." 5) Blog about it.
A Detailed Visual Guide To Distributed Project-Based Learning Project-based Learning is a passion of ours at Edudemic. We’ve seen how effective it can be in and out of the classroom. Quite simply, it provides the opportunity for students to learn from each other, get their hands dirty, work in an active learning environment, and to simply have fun at school. What could be better than that? PBL teachers are typically on the lookout for PBL-aligned apps and web tools that can bolster their powerful learning environment. This chart reminds me a bit of the popular ‘Padagogy Chart’ by Allan Carrington we shared here on Edudemic. This diagram breaks down the different phases and goals of PBL into bite-size chunks. As you can see, the tools and apps are all organized quite neatly into each phase. Each tool and app is organized into these types of phases and goals. Want a bigger version of this incredible diagram? Otherwise, click the image to enlarge it. Source: Visual.ly
EdTech: 100 Tech Tools for Teachers and Students This post is #12 in DailyTekk’s famous Top 100 series which explores the best startups, gadgets, apps, websites and services in a given category. Total items listed: 104. Time to compile: 8+ hours. This post is quite a departure from last week’s subject: 100 Tools to Develop the Next Killer iOS or Android App. So here’s what I’ve got for all you educators our there: some random and cool EduTech tools, tech tools for teachers and students, ways to integrate mobile devices into the classroom, social learning tools, elearning and online learning resources and finally some test prep, textbook, educational gaming and a few other random resources. Actually, this post has been a long time coming. I know there are tons of education technology resources out there so if I missed something good, maybe a favorite of yours or something that cropped up after I created this list, leave me a comment to let me know so I can get it added. Post Navigation Don’t Miss Random and Cool Back to top Social Learning
10 Tips to Help Master Prezi Last week, I spent two days teaching Prezi at the Langley Center for New Media. As the event came to a close, a few attendees asked if I could sum up more than 16 hours of teaching in a top 10 list. Well, here’s my first stab at 10 tips that should help you become a better Prezi presenter and publisher. 1. Work in 1024 × 768 Import assets (like screenshots) at the resolution you plan to present at, otherwise your imported assets will look awful. 2. While we’re talking about the correct presentation resolution, it’s important to remember that Prezi is designed to help you easily present at 1024 × 768. 3. Working efficiently in Prezi, like many software suites, completely hinges on using the keyboard shortcuts. 4. When I set out to create a presentation, I think in 10-minute frames. 5. While I’m constructing my presentation (constantly adding elements and trying to work through the story and element organization), I work across a widely separated landscape. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 100 more hints
Extended Essay - IB History An extended essay in history provides students with an opportunity to undertake in-depth research in an area of history of genuine interest to them. The outcome of the research should be a coherent and structured essay that effectively addresses a particular issue expressed as a research question, or, if this is unsuitable, a hypothesis. Students writing their extended essay in history are strongly advised to use a research question.Assessment Criteria Criterion A: research question Criterion B: introduction Criterion C: investigation Criterion D: knowledge and understanding of the topic studied Criterion E: reasoned argument Criterion F: application of analytical and evaluative skills appropriate to the subject Criterion G: use of language appropriate to the subject Criterion H: conclusion Criterion I: formal presentation Criterion J: abstract Criterion K: holistic judgment
15 Free Awesome Drawing and Painting Tools for Teachers and Students 1- Sketchfu This is a great free web tool that allows users to easily draw and create sketches and share them with others. It requires a sign up. 2- Sketchpad Sketchpad is a cool platform that you can use to make awesome drawings using text and a wide range of colours and patterns. 3- Comics This is another cool website that lets users draw comics and share them with others. 4- Quickmaps Quickmaps allows users to draw a quick map. 5- Tux Paint This is a free drawing program for children ages 3 to 12. 6- Drawing Game Maker This is a free drawing program for children with many nice options. 7- Livebrush Livebrush is a drawing application. 8- FlockDraw FlockDraw is a free to use online whiteboard based painting and drawing tool. 9- DoInk DoInk is a simple and friendly vector editor that lets users create flash-style animations. 10- Chogger Chogger is simple platform where you can use different tools to create awesome drawings. 11- Colour Lovers 12- Psyko Paint 13- Kerproof 14- Odosketch 15- Pencil
Sites Where Teachers Can Learn Tech Skills One of the obstacles that some teachers face when trying to use technology in their classrooms for the first time is lack of comfort and or confidence with technology. That's where folks like me can be helpful in getting teachers started on the path to comfort and confidence with technology tools to use in their classrooms. While it's great to be able to get some one-on-one attention, a person new to using technology in the classroom often needs some handy digital or print resources to consult when an expert isn't available. For those times here are three good places to look. Think Tutorial is a site providing free, easy to follow tutorials on a variety of web services and software. Learn It In 5 is a relatively a site authored by Mark Barnes that features short how-to videos for teachers. If printable guides are more your speed, Make Use Of offers dozens of free downloadable ebooks and cheat sheets for a wide variety of software and web applications.
High School: How Can Science Be Used to Help Make Our Lives Better? Unit submitted by Next Generation Science Storylines. Denver Public Schools teachers, working with a team of researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder and Northwestern University, designed this unit. Scientists are part of the team and have reviewed all content for accuracy. Rating: Quality Work in Progress Science Discipline: Life Sciences Length: Unit This high school unit on genetics starts out with students making observations and posing questions about what they see in a brief video that depicts boys who have Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). It is the second unit in the inquiryHub (iHub) high school biology full-year curriculum. How Can Science Be Used to Help Make Our Lives Better? Peer Review Panel Feedback
86 Productivity Tricks, Tips, and Apps I collect productivity books, tips, and ideas. Going through my bookmarks on Diigo, I realized I had some great stuff in here that I still use and ponder. In this "best of" post, I'm sharing some of the best productivity tips, tricks, and apps for those of you who are trying to get the most out of every moment. This website lets you mashup and create new feeds from existing ones. A service that filters feeds for certain keywords. This Feed flitering service will pull out spam and profanity - great to try for those who are behind firewalls and concerned about inappropriate content getting through. Plan your routines now for next school year! If you want to be more productive, set your Chrome bookmarks to sync across computers using your Google account. This is a very long and peppered with the occasional expletive, however, habits are VITAL. Detailed instructions for installing pocket onto any web browser including for mobile devices. An excellent list of Chrome extensions.
1 A New Conceptual Framework | A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas More generally, this framework should not be interpreted as limiting advanced courses that go beyond the material included here—all students at the high school level should have opportunities for advanced study in areas of interest to them, and it is hoped that, for many, this will include further study of specific science disciplines in honors or AP courses. Such course options may include topics, such as neurobiology, and even disciplines, such as economics, that are not included in this framework. Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Although some aspects of the behavioral sciences are incorporated in the framework as part of life sciences, the social, behavioral, and economic sciences are not fully addressed. The committee did not identify a separate set of core ideas for these fields for several reasons. First, the original charge to the committee did not include these disciplines.
Great Tech Tools Every year, so many new technology tools for teachers are launched into the market that it can be nearly impossible to keep up with them all. In order to keep you up-to-date with the latest and greatest educational tech tools, our team of edtech specialists has put together this list of the best edtech resources and technology tools for teachers. Clicking on the links below will take you to hundreds of apps, websites, extensions, and more. Whether you're looking for a specific tech tool or just trying to find something new and interesting for your class, we encourage you to browse around all of the different categories to see how many wonderful resources are available for your students. Also, if you have a tool that you'd like to see added to the list, please feel free to contact us at admin@edtechteacher.org. The following technology tools for teachers have been organized by academic subjects, topics, and learning activity.
Harvard Education Publishing Group Show, Tell, Build Twenty Key Instructional Tools and Techniques for Educating English Learners Joyce W. Nutta, Carine Strebel, Florin M. Mihai, Edwidge Crevecoeur Bryant, and Kouider Mokhtari cloth, 240 Pages Pub. Add to Cart paper, 240 Pages Pub. Building upon the theoretical and practical foundation outlined in their previous book, Educating English Learners, the authors show classroom teachers how to develop a repertoire of instructional techniques that address K–12 English learners (ELs) at different English proficiency and grade levels, and across subject areas. Show, Tell, Build is organized around two decision maps for planning and implementing differentiated instruction for ELs: the Academic Subjects Protocol (for teachers of academic subjects) and the Language Arts Protocol (for teachers of language arts). Praise Expertly written and elegantly crafted, Show, Tell, Build is a comprehensive guide for English learner instruction, K–12. MoreLess About the Authors Joyce W.
Top 13 Web 2.0 Tools for Classrooms Every day in my K-8 tech classes, I use a variety of cloud-based tools to enhance the learning experience for my students. There are more of these ‘Web 2.0′ tools than I can keep up with, but when you teach tech or coordinate technology for your school, ‘keeping up’ is part of your job. Here’s how I determine which of these hundreds (thousands?) Before I introduce a tool to my class, I try it myself. If a tool passes these two tests, I try it in class. Here’s my list of 2011 favorites that have run that gauntlet: BigHugeLabs–create trading cards, posters, puzzles, mosaics using the student’s own images. Here are a few more great ones that I didn’t consider in my Top 13 because most educators already know about them: Edmodo–a micro-blogging service (like Twitter) for teachers and students. Should be on the list, but I’ve had too many problems either in their set-up or stability of their platform: Please take a minute to vote in my poll and share which tool is your favorite. Follow me Related