Create your own vocabulary tests Developing your vocabulary is one of the quickest ways of improving your English, but remembering new vocabulary can take time and effort. In this task you find out how to use an online dictionary to find synonyms and antonyms and how to use this to create your own interactive tests to help you remember the words. Task: Find an article that you are interested in or that you have recently studied. Choose some 8 or 10 the newer or more difficult words from the text. Next got to: and register (it's free). Sign in and then click on 'Create a new list'. Give your list a title (it could be the title of the text the words come from) and then type your new words into the column on the left. Now go to: Once you find the antonym etc, copy it into the column next to your new word on the Wrds site. Once you have added all the words and definitions, click on 'Save' and then click on 'Test'. Nik Peachey
Big ideas and ed tech trends from ISTE 2013 I’m home and getting settled back in after the biggest ed tech conference of the year: ISTE, which was held this year in San Antonio, Texas, and attracted over 20,000 participants. I’ve already shared my notes on the inspiring ideas shared in the first Ignite session at ISTE and my summary from a session on integrating technology with limited classroom resources. This will be the last of the ISTE posts, so I’m going to cram in my big takeaways from the conference as well as a few random thoughts about how the event worked this year. Here we go! Everyone loves Instagram. They’re not necessarily using it as a professional tool, but as a way to quickly share what’s happening with those in their personal learning network and “real life” friends and family. Pinterest is gaining popularity as a way to collect and share resources. Google Glass has the biggest “wow” factor amongst the ed tech crowd since the first iPhone. The commercialization of education is far too prominent at ISTE.
Technology in Education: An Overview Published: February 5, 2016 In this 2015 photo, third grader Iyana Simmons works on a coding exercise at Michael Anderson School in Avondale, Ariz. —Nick Cote for Education Week Technology is everywhere in education: Public schools in the United States now provide at least one computer for every five students. They spend more than $3 billion per year on digital content. To keep up with what’s changing (and what isn’t), observers must know where to look. There’s the booming ed-tech industry, with corporate titans and small startups alike vying for a slice of an $8 billion-plus yearly market for hardware and software. But a significant body of research has also made clear that most teachers have been slow to transform the ways they teach, despite the influx of new technology into their classrooms. State and federal lawmakers, meanwhile, have wrestled in recent years with the reality that new technologies also present new challenges. What Is Personalized Learning? Additional resources:
The Nerdy Teacher Podcasting Toolbox: 70+ Podcasting Tools and Resources Podcasting may not have lived up to the early hype, but with iPods and other MP3 players still selling like crazy, the potential audience for these audio shows is huge. We've compiled a monster list of 70+ tools and resources for podcasters and wannabes. Podcast Creation Guides How To Create a Podcast - About.com's step-by-step tutorial for podcast beginners.iLounge Guide to Podcast Creation - another guide for creating your own podcast for absolute beginners.Podcasting Legal Guide - find about legal issues relevant to podcasting in this Creative Commons guide. Podcast Hosting, Sharing and Networking (Free) Pickstation - A Digg for podcasts and music.Collectik - "Mixtapes for podcasts": find, share and organize podcasts.Podbean - Free podcast hosting and publishing.Castpost - Free hosting for audio and video clips.HeyCast - A tool to create video podcasts. Podcast Advertising Audio Tours Video Podcasting Mobile Podcasting Text to Podcasts Podcasts to Text Podcast Directories Live Podcasting
20 Innovative Education Technology Pinterest Boards Pinterest and education go hand in hand. If you haven’t started using the popular social bookmarking site, you may want to give it a try during your break this week. What better time to discover new and exciting resources from teachers, admins, and students around the world? See Also: The 20 Best Pinterest Boards About Education Technology We try to keep a regular flow of Pinterest boards on Edudemic. Below is a list of all the education technology boards submitted to Edudemic over the past few months. Want to add your Pinterest board to the list? Don’t forget to check out the Edudemic Pinterest boards where you can keep track of all the stuff we’re up to. The 20+ Education Technology Pinterest Boards I thought it might be fun to take a screenshot of what some of the boards look like at the time of this writing. (Click the title or image to view that particular Pinterest board) F-I-T In Class Stanford EdTech Maintained by the Office of Innovation & Technology. Alan Natachu Fiske Class
Encouraging Teacher Technology Use Technology use in classroom instruction can vary greatly from school to school. We asked the Education World Tech Team how their schools encourage -- or discourage -- staff technology use. Included: Tips for encouraging staff technology use. Some teachers, experts say, still are reluctant to use technology, mostly because of a lack of time, a lack of resources, or a lack of confidence in their ability to use the available technology. It appears that technology use varies greatly from school to school. We asked the following questions: Are teachers at your school expected to meet certain levels of technology proficiency? "Teachers here in Fort Knox (Kentucky) are encouraged to use technology in several different ways," educational technologist Stacey J. "Our school server provides another incentive for teachers to use technology," Wyatt noted. "Our teachers also use special software to maintain student information," Wyatt said. "We have e- mail for the entire division," Timmons noted.
Web 2.0 for Schools ebook by David Kapuler A few months back I posted on a slideshow that I created called, Web 2.0 for Schools. Since then a number of new Web 2.0 sites have appeared that can also be used by schools. I decided to create this as a free digital book that people can view/embed/download. I've added 7 new sites since the presentation, for those that have already viewed that. Web 2.0 is a popular resource in education and I plan to update my resources on this as frequently as possible. For that reason, I decided to add it to my box account, which you can download on the right menu of my blog. Download and view the ebook below: David Kapuler is an educational consultant with more than 10 years of experience working in the K-12 environment.
212: The Extra Degree | Simple Truths The 20 Best Pinterest Boards About Education Technology Pinterest is quickly becoming one of the biggest sources inspiration and innovation when it comes to cooking, design, and education. That’s right, education is a prominent fixture on Pinterest now and that, of course, means that education technology plays a starring role. In an effort to help curate the massive amount of Pinterest boards about education technology, you can use the following list as a jumping off point to start your Pinterest journey. The following boards are curated by teachers, admins, and other education enthusiasts. You’ll likely find some new blogs, tools, and ideas among them. Don’t forget to check out the Edudemic Pinterest board where you can keep track of all the stuff we’re up to. Patricia Brown : Patricia showcases a myriad of videos, articles, tutorials, and lots of other resources all about education technology. We want to see what YOU are pinning!
Future Ready Learning What is Future Ready Learning? State and district teams work collaboratively with schools and communities to transform teaching and learning using the power of technology to help drive continuous improvement. We: Assist schools and families with the transition to high-speed access. HIDOE is an enthusiastic proponent of blended learning — a broad concept in which technology is used to enhance and expand traditionally non-digital teaching and learning. Schools that wish to accelerate blended learning in their classrooms and would like to know more about HIDOE's supports should contact the technology integration team at the Office of Curriculum, Instruction and Student Support. Schools that have cultivated Future Ready Learning in their classrooms and beyond are well situated to implement Computer Science education. Related: ConnectED Initiative Examples of Future Ready Learning Dispatches from the Hour of Code — "Anyone can do this!" Expansion & Supports
My opening remarks at the Iowa Education Summit | Dangerously Irrelevant I served on a panel, Education in a Digital World, at the Iowa Education Summit today. Here is what I said during my 5 minutes of opening remarks. Good afternoon, We have to start with the recognition that digital technologies are transforming EVERYTHING. Technology is allowing everyone to do more powerful and also more complex work, but that creative power is accompanied by significant disruptive impacts. Does the workforce preparation that most Iowa schools do reflect our new hyperconnected, hypercompetitive global economy and the impacts of these new technologies? More important than the economic concerns, however, is that digital technologies also allow for dramatic impacts on learning. Students and teachers now can more authentically replicate (and actually do) real-world work through the use of the same tools and resources used by engineers, designers, scientists, accountants, and a multitude of other professionals and artisans. But most Iowa schools do little if any of this.
50 Essential Resources for ESL Students Learning a new language is always daunting, especially when that language is as full of weird rules and contradictions as English. Even native speakers sometimes have trouble mastering the nuances of tense and grammar. Fortunately, if English is not your first language, there are a variety of ESL resources online to help you master the English language. From speaking to writing, these tools will help you get a handle on English and give direction to your education and career. Don't let the size of the task deter you from getting it done. Use these resources to become fluent in no time. Grammar and Usage Use these sites to boost your grammar skills, from verb tenses to noun placement. Purdue Online Writing Lab: The OWL offers a comprehensive repository of practice sheets and linguistic primers for learners at all levels.Dave's ESL Cafe: ESL teacher Dave Sperling's in-depth site provides numerous lessons about sentence structure, word use, and more. Spelling and Pronunciation Podcasts
Library Of Congress Unveils Massive Common Core Resource Center The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) is here and teachers are trying to figure out how to best integrate it into their tried-and-true lessons. They’re struggling to integrate technology to best augment CCSS. They are in desperate need of classroom materials that they can trust. Like a superhero, the U.S. Common Core Resources You can now do a ‘ Search By Standards ‘ query which lets you do exactly that. Find Library of Congress lesson plans and more that meet Common Core standards, state content standards, and the standards of national organizations. Professional Development Tools There are professional development tools that are sorted by grade level, ease of use, and written in plain English. Classroom Materials Created by teachers for teachers, these ready-to-use materials provide easy ways to incorporate the Library’s unparalleled primary sources into instruction. Lesson Plans – Teacher-created lesson plans using Library of Congress primary sources. Learn More