Because your kids deserve the very best educational apps. - appoLearning Psychological Software Solutions Blackboard buys Moodlerooms...And no, this isn't an early April Fools My first reaction when I saw this news today was something along the lines of, "Wait, what? lolz! Gotta retweet that one!" Then, of course, I realized that it was true. Blackboard announced the acquisition of both Moodlerooms and Netspot today, along with the creation of a new "Open Source Services Group", headed by none other than Charles Severance, founding Chief Architect of the Sakai Project. Far less surprising than Blackboards announcement that it had just acquired two of the largest providers of the open source Moodle LMS was the reaction from competitors. It looks like Blackboard is giving up on innovation and instead is focused on commoditizing the LMS. Of course, Blackboard, which was itself recently acquired by a private equity firm for a cool $1.64 billion, said precisely the opposite in a press release: Moodle founder, Martin Dougiamas, was measured in his response, and was quoted in the Blackboard press release: So is this a good thing? Sure, this is marketing.
The Pros and Cons of Gamification in the Classroom There is growing acceptance of the use of digital games in the learning and discovery processes, whether to raise knowledge around school subjects, help business professionals master new skills or keep college students on course. Just where gamification will have its greatest impacts in learning — whether within K–12 or higher ed classrooms or other business or general user scenarios — remains to be seen. There is a great deal of participation among teachers within certain circles, Rochester Institute of Technology’s Andrew Phelps says. But, Phelps says, gamification is in “its really early days, and we’re still drilling into how and why this stuff works and what makes it effective.” Gamification Will Play Into the Data Revolution As Phelps sees it, digital gaming “is becoming more and more mainstream culture, a media form — it’s not just the stereotypical 14-year-old playing shoot-’em-up games in the basement [and] eating pizza.” Balancing Metrics with Real Engagement
Responsive Open Learning Environments Ripple Effects Education - iBooks Textbooks for iPad The Gamified Classroom Part I: The Unique Obstacles Teachers Face Today’s 21st century students are not like their parents’ generation. Never before have we, as a civilization, experienced such a large generation gap — and the reason behind it is video games. Within the span of only one generation the world’s dominant form of entertainment has shifted from passive (TV, Novels, Comic Books, Theater, etc) to interactive. This represents a fundamental shift in individual interactions with the community, and other segments of society are struggling to keep up. Today, students are expected to pay attention and learn in an environment that is completely foreign to them. In the upcoming months we’ll be looking at how gamification can be used effectively in schools to help students feel engaged by their lessons. The fact remains that engaged students are better students. Lastly, there is one overriding factor that we must take into consideration when we discuss gamifing a classroom: budget. Andrew R.
Resources for Getting Started With Project-Based Learning Just getting started with project-based learning (PBL)? Our curated list of resources for educators new to PBL should help you. Before you get started, be sure to check out Edutopia's PBL page, including information about the research behind effective PBL practices. You can also connect with Edutopia's community to learn and share PBL tips. PBL Defined and Clarified What the Heck is PBL? video What Should "Gold Standard" PBL Include? Stories and Examples My PBL Failure: 4 Tips for Planning Successful PBL, by Katie Spear (2015) Here are four lessons learned from a failed PBL unit: align with the school calendar, allow planning time, carefully create the topic and guiding question, and collaborate with peers. Other Tips From Teachers and Experts Bookmark this page to reference it for updates.
The Faculty Project Game templates for teachers Feel free to use any of these templates in your classrooms. You create the questions and answers. The presentation does the rest. I can help, if you need. Save the game template into your file first. Then, you will be able to insert your questions and answers and play it from your file. Smarter than a 5th Grader (PPT ) Jeopardy (PPT ) Weakest Link (PPT ) Millionaire (PPT ) Password (PPT ) 20 Questions (PPT ) Hollywood Squares 1 (PPT ) Hollywood Squares 2 (PPT ) Wheel of Fortune (PPT ) NEED HELP DOWNLOADING: Mrs.
OER Commons Digital Textbook Initiative About Us Additional Options "From government to non-profit organizations, teachers to textbook publishers, we all have a role to play in leveraging 21st century technology to expand learning and better serve California's students, parents, teachers and schools. This initiative will ensure our schools know which digital textbooks stand up to California's academic content standards - so these cost-effective resources can be used in our schools to help ensure each and every student has access to a world-class education." - Governor Schwarzenegger Download the draft Phase Three Report Download the Phase Two Report Download the Phase One Report Electronic Instructional Materials and the Williams Settlement's Sufficiency Requirements Review results from all three phases of the Digital Textbook Initiative are listed separately below. CLRN is aware that some of the publisher provided website links to the CLRN reviewed textbooks are not current.