ShowMe - The Online Learning Community How Schools Can Teach Innovation How This School District Turned its Students' Love of Mobile into Better Learning, Test Scores Teenagers. They may forget your request to mow the lawn, fill up the gas and clean their rooms, but they'll never fail to bring their smartphone or tablet when they go out of the house. Indeed, teens would be the dream demographic for an organizational Bring Your Own Device policy - they use them constantly, they could train your IT staff on the latest devices, etc. - apart from the inconvenient fact that you don't really need an iPhone to man the french fry station at Jack in the Box. But schools, that's a whole different ball of wax. "People were already trying to hide what they were doing on their smartphone because it was illegal by the school rules. But I'm jumping ahead of myself. Giving 12-year-olds their own smartphones to use during class would seem to be a recipe for disaster. It may seem like a crude tactic, ala "These are NOT the Droids you're looking for," but it was just as effective as a Jedi Mind Trick. Credit: Shutterstock.com Digital Divide?
6 things that will make you more productive: You’re only productive at work three days out of the week: People work an average of 45 hours a week; they consider about 17 of those hours to be unproductive (U.S.: 45 hours a week; 16 hours are considered unproductive). So how can you improve that? Make It Automatic The secret to getting more done is to make things automatic. The counterintuitive secret to getting things done is to make them more automatic, so they require less energy. It turns out we each have one reservoir of will and discipline, and it gets progressively depleted by any act of conscious self-regulation. You need to break bad habits and develop solid routines. The things that effect our behavior perhaps more than anything else is context: Manipulate your environment so as to make what you should do easy and what you shouldn’t do hard. First step? A morning routine can be really good. Get your head right Mood matters. Proven methods for increasing happiness are here. Stop Multitasking Neither gender is better at it: Rest Tags:
Is eReading on the Rise? According to the latest report on eReading from the Pew Internet and American Life Project, "the increasing availability of e-content is prompting some to read more than in the past and to prefer buying books to borrowing them." Pew describes e-content as eBooks and "other long-form content such as magazines, journals, and news articles in digital format on an e-book reader, tablet computer, regular computer, or cell phone." This new report summarizes the findings of several studies, including the responses of almost 3,000 participants in the U.S. who were 16 or older to questions about their reading preferences. The finding that 43% of Americans have read e-content at some time during the past year does indicate some changes in reading habits. Context seems to play a role in how we choose to read. More Questions and Continued Research In addition to discussing the new report, chat participants proposed several interesting questions that might spur future eReading studies:
10 Curricula-Spanning, Learning-Boosting, Creativity-Inspiring, Must-Have Apps : The Moss-Free Stone April 27, 2012 by Randy Rodgers · No Comments · Bookmarking, collaboration, creativity, Digital Storytelling, Educational technology, images/video, iPad/iPod, mobile computing, podcasting, Teaching and Learning Because there are just not enough app lists, I decided I needed to throw in one more. There are tons of lists that tout subject-specific apps for students at all levels. Catch Notes (FREE) – Fantastic tool for taking and organizing (via tags) text, audio, or visual notes, independently or collaboratively. That’s my list. Tags: apps·authoring·collaboration·creativity·iPad·iPhone·iPod Touch·learning·study skills·teaching·technology·writing
Teach Students to Separate Fact From Fiction When Researching Online Today's students complete most of their homework on a computer and do the bulk of their research online. When tasked with learning something new, they often equate research with “Googling”; assume that the information they find online is true; and produce cut-and-paste work that reflects little original thinking or regard for accuracy. Because the Internet provides direct access to huge volumes of information, students must learn how to filter and analyze their search results to distinguish reliable content and credible sources from incorrect, incomplete or speculative information. Lesson Description: For this lesson, students will go on a treasure hunt for information on a website dedicated to world explorers, only to discover that the facts provided on the site are wrong. Begin with a group discussion about students' preconceptions of the Internet. Divide students into pairs to research one of the 12 explorers listed on the “Treasure Hunts” page. The standards challenge students to:
The Apple iPad will not save your school Administrators around the globe are looking for the ‘next big thing’ to save students from a mediocre or irrelevant education and it seems that many have decided that Apple’s iPad is the catalyst to an answer. Apple & education: take 2 (or 3) Will Apple save your school? “By listening to educators and including their suggestions in the development of the product, Apple is showing why they have led the market for technology in education for the past 25 years,” said James L. With all of the money spent on eMac labs and classroom computers, have schools succeeded in developing meaningful and relevant curriculum that closes the achievement gap, promotes higher-level thinking and prepares students for the 21st century? Apple hasn’t specifically marketed the iPad as a mass-deployed educational solution, yet schools across the country are raising, finding or borrowing money to make a huge investment in tablet hardware with the hopes that students will engage and excel. Early results… Conclusion
How Students Can Create Their Own e-Textbooks On An iPad Two of the most powerful apps on the iPad may be completely invisible: iBooks and the Camera Roll. However, when used together, they have the potential to create powerful learning experiences and dynamic projects. Dynamic Math Portfolios In July, Greg Kulowiec and I taught a workshop on Creating Digital Course Content. For each chapter covered in the text book, his students could create an eBook. We then discussed workflow and how the students could “turn in” their books. Science Lab Book Collection In August, I worked with a middle school science teacher at Ascension Episcopal School in Lafayette, LA. This year, since her students would be 1:1 with iPads, she would have them create their own collection of lab books. Moving forward, when the teacher asks her class if they remember a particular lab, they will be able to look in their science collection in iBooks. Books of Books To start the process, the teacher can still use her literature sheets. Seeing the Invisible