Community Involvement & Digital Parenting With school and community lines being blurred more and more, we need to think about how to engage and involve our community of parents more than ever. Here are a few presentations I’ve done recently focused on just that concept. Raised by SIRI – SXSWedu2015 It takes an iVillage – TIES Dec 2014 The Connected Educator Panel It Takes an iVillage Brainz Taste Different These Days Like this: Like Loading...
Teacher-Librarians My staff describe it as a “year of wonder.” Sometimes we call it a tsunami and just want to ride the wave without crashing. Other times we refer to it as a fire beginning to flame across the district. We consider it as seeding pockets of innovation we want to take root and spread organically as connected and rooted networks. Innovative Learning Designs (Phase 1)A year ago we announced the 18 schools that were awarded grants as part of the Innovative Learning Designs schools (ILD), Phase 1. The Engaging the Digital Learner SeriesWe realized that as educators we needed to find a way to engage our learners. The Digital Discovery Series This series ran parallel to the one above. Cadres of Digital ChampionsWe created Cadres of Digital Champions (a team of three educators at every school). Core Digital Coaches From the above group, we asked for volunteers that wanted to become a core team of Digital Coaches to provide support to their larger group. How have others viewed these initiatives?
Instructional Technology Purchases Guidance Smarter Balanced and PARCC Issue Guidance for New Instructional Technology Purchases Specifications Provide Assurance that New Devices will be Compatible with Next-Generation Assessments April 25, 2012 – The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (Smarter Balanced) and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) today issued guidance designed to inform schools and districts as they make annual instructional technology purchases. The guidelines include hardware and operating system specifications covering the vast majority of commercially available computers and tablets. Specifications common to both consortia are described below. Minimum Guidelines for New Hardware Purchases The specifications issued today are meant to inform current and future purchasing decisions. The specifications do not constitute the full list of technical requirements that will be necessary to administer Smarter Balanced and PARCC assessments 2014-2015. About Smarter Balanced
The Minecraft Makerspace by Mike Washburn on Prezi Trustees Recently we presented an in-service to the Board of Education on The Digital Foundations of Teaching and Learning: Preparing for a Future that is Here Today. An abbreviated slideshare is included below. We also showed some fabulous video clips but we will save those for another post. The presentation was anchored in a metaphor and image of fire. “Technology IS just a tool, like a stick. In Surrey, we are using technology to TRANSFORM teaching and learning. We identified the Shifts that are Impacting Education globally, some of which include: 1. These trends are shaping the transformation of how we teach and how students learn. The BC Ministry of Education describes it as “Learning Empowered by Technology.” The wise use of technology for learning was endorsed in a research paper that examined high performing districts across Canada. So how are we doing that as a district? Here are some of the fire starters we have initiated in the district:
Making the Big Shift Policy and Advocacy | Feature Making the Big Shift Districts in Indiana have created innovative alternatives to textbooks, thanks in part to a change in state policy. By Geoffrey H. There's a lot of talk from schools about moving away from--or, at least, weaning themselves off of--textbooks as the primary content delivery platform. Policymakers and educators who are struggling to bring about this shift might look to Indiana to see what districts can do once they are given freedom to spend their instructional materials dollars not to just deliver content, but to usher in profound educational change. Creative Financing In November 2009, the Indiana State Board of Education changed the definition of a textbook to include digital content and the devices necessary to deliver or experience the digital content. Indiana has a unique business model for the acquisition and use of textbooks--parental rental. Some corporations have gotten very clever with the math.
The Principal of Change | Stories of learning and leading Forum: It’s Personal – Personalized Learning for Students and Educators Key Questions Right Now: What practical steps can educators take to personalize learning for their students in 2012–13, and how can technology facilitate this? The Big Picture: How close are we to being able to realize the dream of personalized, differentiated, passion-based learning for educators and students, and what still has to happen to make this fully real? Getting Started Video: Watch the Forum Users Guide for a tutorial on how to get started. Notice: Forums have been archived! If you would like a copy of the Forum Archive please contact us..
Utah Open Textbook Project | Demonstrating the Cost Effectiveness and Educational Effectiveness of Open Textbooks My Book Order "Teaching Generation Text" at this link. What's it about? TEACHING GENERATION TEXT looks at breaking the ban that exists in today’s schools and bridging the digital divide with cell phones, the most ubiquitous and overlooked learning device in American households. Discover how to stop fighting and start embracing cell phones as powerful learning aids that engage learners in fun and relevant ways. From policy to parent permission, from discipline to classroom management with a wealth of exciting new tools, featuring lesson plans and research-based teaching strategies TEACHING GENERATION TEXT provides everything educators need to harness the power of cells today! Learn how I became interested in using mobile devices for learning even though they were banned in my district, here. This video features me and my co-author sharing our thoughts about using cell phones in education. Want to know more about Teaching Generation Text? The secret is out! This is the first guide I created.
Competency Works Symposium on Personalized Learning On August 4-6, 2010, more than 150 invited education leaders convened in Boston around the need for the systemic redesign of our K-12 education system to one that is centered on the personalized learning needs of each student. Attendees identified the top 10 essential elements and policy enablers. Now available are a report of these findings as well as an archive of the presentations, including session summaries and videos, student videos, and attendee poll results. November, 2010: Education Leaders Identify Top 10 Components of Personalized Learning. Innovative Policies, Developer Content and Data Tools are Key, According to Education Officials at SIIA Mobile Learning Forum Thu, 20 Mar 2014 15:24 SIIA this week hosteda successful meeting with education policy makerstoenhance dialogue withdevelopers of moble learning and other educational technologies. Frequently Asked Questions about Student Data Privacy Fri, 13 Dec 2013 15:19 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 19:50
Online Collaborative Course Authoring UdutuTeach & Udutu Learn: Facebook Plugins UdutuTeach allows you to import courses from myUdutu, manage which people can take your courses, and track the learners' progress. UdutuLearn lets you view courses that you have been given access to and shows your progress. You simply need to install the UdutuTeach and UdutuLearn Facebook plugins and follow the steps in our handy User Manual. Social networks as learning management systems To create a learning organization where knowledge is passed from experts to newcomers and where personal growth is encouraged, you need to create a social learning network. Leverage technology!