The A - Z of Education Technology Tools My favourite education technology tools for every letter of the alphabet! Audioboo – for recording and sharing audio blogs. A great way to encourage kids to get interactive and spontaneous with blogging, particularly if old-school written blogs aren’t their style. Bitstrips – interactive online comic strip creation. CK-12 – great resources across a whole range of subjects, from information to flashcards to critical thinking challenges and videos. Diigo – more than just social bookmarking – save lists of resources for students and annotate sites too with highlighters and sticky notes. Edmodo – brilliant platform for teacher-student connection and engagement. Fluxtime – instant, easy to use online animation site. Grouptable – create online tables for study groups or group projects, listing tasks and measuring individual student contributions. Helipad – online note-taking platform with an interface for mobile devices allowing students to use it in classes and lectures.
ShowMe - The Online Learning Community BYOT/BYOD - Dealing with the Fallout (Updated) Dealing with the fall out or rising from the ashes like a phoenix, schools are coming to terms, one way or another, with bring your own technology (BYOT) or bring your own devices (BYOD). Bring your own device or technology (BYOD/BYOT)--NOT Bring Your Own Taser--intrigues many, frightens others. Students and teachers (83% of adultshave mobile phones) already bypass district prohibitions. "Using your own device at school is in violation of the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA)!" some might say. Usually, such usage allows students and teachers to attempt using social media/networking tools for instructional use. According to the ruling, “Although it is possible that certain individual Facebook or MySpace pages could potentially contain material harmful to minors, we do not find that these websites are per se ‘harmful to minors’ or fall into one of the categories that schools and libraries must block.” Consider Tim Clark's account of BYOD in schools: What a vision!
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:
Web 2.0 Tools for Teachers Web 2.0 is different: Speed - Broadband connectivity and high speed wireless and mobile connectionshave enabled much of the changes that have occurred. Web based software and applications - The development of more complexprogramming languages combined with more sophisticated web browsers haveenabled users access software tools online without downloading and in many caseswithout paying for them Platform based services - Instead of providing content, many web companies nowprovide platforms such as YouTube, Digg, Blogger , etc User generated content - Users of these services create and share their owncontent Rich media content - Connection speeds have enabled the web to deliver audio,video and fast interactive games of a high quality without wait time Complex social interactions - Interaction through websites and web serviceshave become much more complex and users can now share a vast array of contentand information and collaborate for more rapidly and easily New business models Democratisation ʻ ʼ
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:
iPad Apps and Bloom’s Taxonomy I felt it was worthwhile to update the Top Post (over 25,000 views) on Langwitches: Bloom’s Taxonomy for iPads I have added links to each app represented on the visual. Remember: Exhibit memory of previously-learned materials by recalling facts, terms, basic concepts and answers. describenamefindnamelisttell Suggested apps: Understand: Demonstrative understanding of facts and ideas by being able to: explaincomparediscusspredicttranslateoutlinerestate Suggested Apps: Apply: Using new knowledge. showcompleteuseexamineillustrateclassifysolve Analyze: Examine and break information into parts by identifying motives or causes. compareexamineexplainidentifycategorizecontrastinvestigate Evaluate: Present and defend opinions by making judgments about information, validity of ideas or quality of work based on a set of criteria justifyassessprioritizerecommendratedecidechoose Suggested Apps Create: planinventcomposedesignconstructimagine Related Bloom's Taxonomy and iPad Apps 21. In "Featured Carousel" 7. 29.
7 habits of highly effective teachers Always Prepped Blog We’ve all heard about Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Some teachers out there may have heard of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teachers. Below are our 7 habits of highly effective teachers who use technology: 1) They always start with the why. Technology for technology’s sake is dangerous. Highly effective teachers who use technology always have a reason for using new technology tools. 2) They are malleable and can easily adapt. 3) They embrace change. 4) They share, share, and then share some more. 5) They think win-win-win-win. 6) They are extremely thorough and think two steps ahead. 7) They actively care. What are your thoughts? Always Prepped. Teachers, we would love for you to signup for our site today. Beautiful classroom reports, designed to save teachers time.
How 21st Century Thinking Is Just Different How 21st Century Thinking Is Just Different by Terry Heick This content is proudly sponsored by The Institute for the Habits of Mind, promoting the development of personal thinking habits in 21st century learners. In an era dominated by constant information and the desire to be social, should the tone of thinking for students be different? After all, this is the world of Google. As a result, the tone of thinking can end up uncertain or whimsical, timid or arrogant, sycophant or idolizing–and so, devoid of connections and interdependence. The nature of social media rests on identity as much as anything else—forcing subjectivity on everything through likes, retweets, shares, and pins. But this takes new habits. Information Abundance There is more information available to any student with a smartphone than an entire empire would have had access to three thousand years ago. New contexts—digital environments that function as humanity-in-your-pocket—demand new approaches and new habits. Persisting.