Grr! The ‘Flipping’ iPad (Top 3 Workflow Solutions?) It’s not a problem as such. It’s not even a real concern. But every time I think I’ve got a consistent workflow solution for my students, a slightly better one comes along. Choice is always fantastic but . . . The ‘flipped’ class exam results were very good, in fact, among the best we’ve ever had. Consequently the impact the iPad and ‘flipping’ had in the classroom couldn’t be ignored (alongside the influence of twitter and screen-casting). Students in the class referred to the iPad when asked about the reasons for their success. So I began the summer break confident the workflow solutions we had would suit the next cohort. Holiday work then centred around the creation of ‘flipped’ class videos and a rejigging of schemes of work. I had been using Evernote personally as a filing system but hadn’t thought to use it as a workflow solution. So I tried it with the students’ holiday work that was due in mid-August and it worked fine. Until now. Like this: Like Loading...
Inspiring Ways to Use Social Media In the Classroom Educators interested in using social media to enrich learning will enjoy these ideas for using social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and Skype in the classroom from Online Universities. The post includes real examples of educators using social media in their classrooms. Here are some ideas for K-12 classrooms. Make literature real.
Touch and go Since the introduction of the iPad and the subsequent parade of similar touch screen tablets, there has been much speculation about exactly what impact the devices might have on learning and teaching. A lot has been written about the potential of the devices, and much has been purely anecdotal. Clearly tablets are easy to use and have potential to revolutionise the way people access information. But what about formal education? I have contributed to the dialogue on this blog and there is much to discuss in relation to pedagogy, teacher roles, assessment and curriculum issues. Until very recently, little empirical evidence had emerged to demonstrate clear learning benefits from tablets. Image by Fotopedia Touch and go by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Twitter for 1st Graders? - Teaching Now UserID: iCustID: IsLogged: false IsSiteLicense: false UserType: anonymous DisplayName: TrialsLeft: 0 Trials: Tier Preview Log: Exception pages ( /teachers/teaching_now/2012/02/twitter_for_1st_graders.html ) = NO Internal request ( 188.165.248.41 ) = NO Open House ( 2014-04-11 19:07:59 ) = NO Site Licence : ( 188.165.248.41 ) = NO ACL Free A vs U ( 2100 vs 0 ) = NO Token Free (NO TOKEN FOUND) = NO Blog authoring preview = NO Search Robot ( Firefox ) = NO Purchased ( 0 ) = NO Monthly ( 2e8a3643-6e12-c0e4-ab42-5cc10b559d26 : 3 / 3 ) = NO 0: /teachers/classroom_qa_with_larry_ferlazzo/2013/03/response_many_ways_to_help_students_develop_academic_vocabulary.html 1: /ew/articles/2012/12/12/14arts.h32.html 2: /ew/articles/2013/01/03/15cyber.h32.html
From Twitter to tablets: my best lessons using technology | Teacher Network Blog | Guardian Professional David Rogers explains how students' own devices and school tablets can enhance data collection alongside traditional paper based techniques on field trips. Photograph: www.alamy.com As curriculum leader of Priory Geography department, I am privileged to be able to see my colleagues deliver many high quality lessons that utilise technology every day. Of course, I could have included an example from our Bring Your Own Device policy, tablets, mobile learning and other 'wizz bang' stuff, but, from experience, many looking to expand their use of technology in the classroom can find such tales intimidating as well as inspirational. We often find ourselves wanting to make a visual impact when introducing a new topic. This approach has led into creative writing pieces and does engage pupils' senses. Next, in geography, it's always important to build up some background information about a place so we'd get students racing to find some.
Why Banning Social Media Often Backfires Humans have a natural proclivity to want what they cannot have. Our insatiable appetite for sharing information, combined with the nearly limitless ways to access the web have thus far frustrated the most sophisticated attempts to block access to social media services. From the Great Firewall of China to the public schools of Britain, IT security experts are finding that restricting Internet access can have the unintended consequences of civic backlash, poor worker productivity, and students unprepared for cyber threats. Here are a few examples that illustrate the ban and backfire. In Schools My own university bans the Internet in some large lecture halls. Meanwhile, some schools in Britain have chosen to "lock down" their systems, allowing access to only verified websites. Additionally, children were less likely to understand proper Internet safety when outside of school. In the Workplace I once worked the night shift at a business that attempted to ban Internet access. By Government
Top 3 #Edtech Inspired Learning Tips – Plus 5 App Suggestions Social media users may have heard of a ‘chat’ but students don’t necessarily understand the learning implications a ‘chat’ can have. The effectiveness of a twitter-chat is down to the setup and the expectations placed upon students. A tried and tested technique is to ask students to post an article for a relevant module and discuss each others submission. This leads to interesting debate and actually students want to prove they were right. These chats can be moderated, but once the students understand the concept they seem to run very smoothly. (Modelling good practice is a useful way to start.) I would strongly advise that students have professional, protected accounts so they can be followed back by the educator. Even though the ability to make movies has been around for decades, the availability of mobile devices have made creating movies very simple. iMovie on the iPad is a very useful app as its intuitive nature means students can complete a project very quickly. Like this:
4 Tips for Integrating Social Media Into the Classroom A former local newspaper reporter, Tanveer is a student at the Medill School of Journalism learning all things digital and entrepreneurial. He also writes about political figures for WhoRunsGov.com and hopes to own the high score on multiple Ms. Pac-Man machines one day. While kids may rely social networks for personal use, there is a place for them in K-12 education, as well. The fact is, social networks are here to stay, and with or without rules, kids are going to use them. 1. Schools have been understandably cautious in allowing students access to social media sites. For many schools, it is easier to apply broad filters that restrict access to inappropriate sites and social networks alike, allowing for minimal supervision. While dedicated staff should soon, if not already, be a necessity, there are simple ways to monitor access. 2. Weiser also said his district won't open up social networking sites to students unless a curriculum explaining how to use them is in place. 3. 4.
MuyBlog – The Empty Backpack It’s almost time for school to start again, and when the students walk in I know I’m going to see them lugging backpacks loaded with textbooks, notebooks, trappers, worksheets, pens, pencils, and numerous other things in their bags weighing 10, 20, 30 pounds or more. I, however, envision a much different school. A place with empty backpacks, where everything a student needs is on one device, their iPad. When the first iPad came out a few years ago I was part-time technology coordinator and part-time teacher at the school and we decided to get one to check out. About six months later, I convinced my superintendent that if we were thinking about going one-to-one with iPads, which we had discussed, we should do some type of pilot program to check them out and I would volunteer to do so in my chemistry class. So began my adventure with the iPad in the classroom. There are many things you can do on both, but quite often I prefer to do them on the iPad, such as read.
Children and Media Texts, Snapchats, Instagram: Translating Teens’ Online Behavior How much surveillance should parents have over their teenagers’ social media lives? Why are kids’ online roles so different from their realities? How does technology change the way teens relate to each other and to adults? Author danah boyd, who has been spending lots of quality time with teens over the past few years, attempts to demystify teens’ online actions and behaviors and provide some insight into their motivations in this excellent Science Friday interview. Continue Reading A Look Into Teenagers’ Complicated Online Lives In the world of social media research, danah boyd is a star. Continue Reading Kids’ Video Games: Source of Fun, Pain, and Profit Getting under a kid’s skin has become science. Continue Reading Reward, Educate, Occupy: Using Technology as Parenting Tool Continue Reading Teaching Respect and Responsibility — Even to Digital Natives Continue Reading What Teens Feel About Privacy and Social Media Continue Reading
Teachers Guide on The Use of ePortfolios in Education Have you ever thought of teaching your students how to create an ePortfolio ? Well if you have not then it is about time to take the idea seriously. There are actually several reasons why you should encourage students to create their own ePortfolios but before we delve into them let me just briefly define what an ePortfolio is. ePortfolio is an electronic journal where one collects evidence of their learning. It is the equivalent of the traditional pen and paper journals where we used to track our learning journey before technology takes over. ePortfolios can either be discipline specific or genrally open to the entire lifelong learning experience. We in education are interested in the first type. The good thing about ePortfolios is that they help students reflect about their own learning.This reflection is a necessary mental process for developing critical thinking. " The e-portfolio is the central .and common point for the student experience.
Should Parents Have the Backdoor Key to Kids’ Facebook Accounts? Culture M. Markus Concern about children’s safety and privacy online has led to a number of initiatives and programs — by schools, by private companies, and by government entities. These efforts are all aimed at protecting children and teens from what are perceived to be the big dangers on the Internet: sexual predators, advertisers, and bullies, for example, but they’re also at protecting children and teens from themselves. A new proposed piece of legislation in California (SB242) aims to mandate new privacy policies and practices for social networking sites. Should laws mandate children’s online activities, or should parents and children work that out together? Facebook still does not allow users under 13 to register for an account – and the legislation won’t change existing age restrictions. Nonetheless the bill raises a number of interesting questions about how we think privacy and security online works — and for whom. How will these parental requests work? Related
What can you do with an iPad in the classroom? It’s a tool, it’s a tool, it’s a tool. The iPad is not going to replace teachers or ‘fix’ education. There is a cost implication that must be taken into account and only an educator will know if it is right for their students. Indeed the cost-benefit analysis for an establishment must take into account a host of factors when considering iPad use in the classroom. Assessment for Learning The most valuable weapon in an educators arsenal is feedback. Applications such as eclicker, Socrative and Nearpod have the ability to provide instant feedback for every child in the classroom. Collaboration Setting a collaborative task is a tried and tested technique to allow students to question each other in the pursuit of an answer. Every educator has been left with completed work and no easy means to ensure the student has a copy to refer to in the future. The point is an educator can now set tasks to enhance learning, safe in the knowledge the students have the tools to complete what is required.