A Good Way to Create and Save Mind Maps to Google Drive October 25, 2014 MindMup is an excellent web tool that allows you to create beautiful mind maps. Mindmup does not require registration and is very simple to use. It is also integrated with Google Drive so you can save your mind maps straight to your Drive account. MindMup also provide a set of good extensions to enhance your mind mapping. Some examples include: Realtime collaboration: This is a good feature to use with students in class. Progress Progress allows you to manage hierarchies of tasks faster by propagating statuses to parent nodes. Straight lines This extension converts funky curve connectors into straight lines, which makes it clearer to see what connects to what on large maps. When you are done working on your mind maps you can then save them to your Dropbox or Google Drive.
Blog About Infographics and Data Visualization - Cool Infographics HSC : All My Own Work :: Home the sceptical futuryst Social Media for Teachers: Guides, Resources, and Ideas Although students are evermore connected to the social web, many of these networks remain out-of-class digital playgrounds where students congregate. In a 2014 survey of 1,000 teachers, just one in five said they use social media regularly with students. Of course, it can be a challenge to incorporate social media into lessons. More Great Reads From Edutopia In addition to those great guides, there is a lot of useful information right here on Edutopia.
Free Stuff - Big6 Select any item in the list below. Click to follow link or download item. Handouts Presentations Inquiry Learning Big6-Style: It All Starts with Asking Great Questions! Videos Inquiry Learning Big6-Style: It All Starts with Asking Great Questions ! Planners - Organizers Alex-Big6 Report Writing Resources Elementary - K - 6 Secondary - 7 - 12 Science Lab Report Writer [Word] Checklists Graphic Guides Know Your Major Information Sources (Good for Big6 #2 Information Seeking Strategies Grades 7-12) [GIF] Quizzes Know Your Information Sources QUIZ by Susan McMullen (Grades 7-12) [PDF] Games Kentucky Virtual Library - How to Do Research Posters Super3/Big6 posters by Franklin & Chow [PDF]
40 maps that explain the internet The internet increasingly pervades our lives, delivering information to us no matter where we are. It takes a complex system of cables, servers, towers, and other infrastructure, developed over decades, to allow us to stay in touch with our friends and family so effortlessly. Here are 40 maps that will help you better understand the internet — where it came from, how it works, and how it's used by people around the world. How the internet was created Before the internet, there was the ARPANET Before the internet, there was the ARPANETARPANET, the precursor to the modern internet, was an academic research project funded by the Advanced Research Projects Agency, a branch of the military known for funding ambitious research projects without immediate commercial or military applications. Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and Level 3 The privatization of the internet backboneIn 1994, the Clinton Administration privatized the internet backbone. The internet around the world Threats to the internet
Age of Distraction: Why It’s Crucial for Students to Learn to Focus Digital classroom tools like computers, tablets and smartphones offer exciting opportunities to deepen learning through creativity, collaboration and connection, but those very devices can also be distracting to students. Similarly, parents complain that when students are required to complete homework assignments online, it’s a challenge for students to remain on task. The ubiquity of digital technology in all realms of life isn’t going away, but if students don’t learn how to concentrate and shut out distractions, research shows they’ll have a much harder time succeeding in almost every area. “The real message is because attention is under siege more than it has ever been in human history, we have more distractions than ever before, we have to be more focused on cultivating the skills of attention,” said Daniel Goleman, a psychologist and author of Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence and other books about social and emotional learning on KQED’s Forum program. Katrina Schwartz
O. Exercises & Handouts - Teach Information Literacy & Critical Thinking! Additional Useful Sites Active Learning Strategies, Western Washington University. Links to many useful sites, arranged in categories: Active Lectures, Case-Based Teaching, Motivation and Engaging Learners, and Problem-Based Learning. CORA: Community of Online Research Assignments. 2015. Creative Techniques2011. MERLOT II: Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching. 2016. Toolkit Essential Questions These are questions which touch our hearts and souls. They are central to our lives. Most important thought during our lives will center on such essential questions. What does it mean to be a good friend? If we were to draw a cluster diagram of the Questioning Toolkit, Essential Questions would be at the center of all the other types of questions. All the other questions and questioning skills serve the purpose of "casting light upon" or illuminating Essential Questions. Most Essential Questions are interdisciplinary in nature. Essential Questions probe the deepest issues confronting us . . . complex and baffling matters which elude simple answers: Life - Death - Marriage - Identity - Purpose - Betrayal - Honor - Integrity - Courage - Temptation - Faith - Leadership - Addiction - Invention - Inspiration. The greatest novels, the greatest plays, the greatest songs and the greatest paintings all explore Essential Questions in some manner. Why do we have to fight wars?
UNESCO launch Five Laws of Media and Information Literacy UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) have launched their Five Laws of Media and Information Literacy. Their strategy aims to being together the fields of information literacy and media literacy into a combined set of knowledge, skills and attitudes required for living and working in the 21st century. Media and Information Literacy recognizes the primary role of information and media in our everyday lives. It lies at the core of freedom of expression and information – since it empowers citizens to understand the functions of media and other information providers, to critically evaluate their content, and to make informed decisions as users and producer of information and media content. Visit UNESCO’s website for more details, including translations of the Five Laws graph in French, Spanish, Chinese and Portuguese.
6 Great Videos on Teaching Critical Thinking Critical thinking is a skill that we can teach to our students through exercise and practice. It is particularly a skill that contains a plethora of other skills inside it. Critical thinking in its basic definition refers" to a diverse range of intellectual skills and activities concerned with evaluating information as well as evaluating our thought in a disciplined way ". All of our students think in a way or another but the question is , do they really think critically ? are they able to evaluate the information they come across ? Critical thinking is part and parcel of what is called critical theory and hence critical literacy. 1- A Quick Guide to 21st Century Critical Thinking Skills for Teachers2- What Does Critical Thinking Mean in Education3- Great Critical Thinking Poster for your Class4- 7 Great iPad Apps to Improve Kids Critical Thinking5- A Clever Tip to Easily Develop Students Critical Thinking What we have for you today is a great series of videos on critical thinking.
Teaching Information Literacy Now Last week, a new study from Stanford University revealed that many students are inept at discerning fact from opinion when reading articles online. The report, combined with the spike in fake and misleading news during the 2016 election, has school librarians, including me, rethinking how we teach evaluation of online sources to our students. How can we educate our students to evaluate the information they find online when so many adults are sharing inaccurate articles on social media? While social media isn’t the only reason for the surge in fake news over the last 10 years, it’s certainly making it harder for information consumers of every age to sort through fact and fiction. As articles about the Stanford study get shared around Facebook, I have two thoughts. In follow-up lessons, we use the CARS strategy to evaluate other websites in order to rank their usefulness. Rethinking how we teach evaluation Read laterally. Keep it non-political. Talk about social media more. Switch it up.
"Potential, possible, or probable predatory scholarly open-access publishers" by feillet May 28