A Simple Comprehensive Guide on The use of Personal Learning Networks in Education Personal Learning Networks, or PLNs, have been around for a long time. Originally they were your family, relatives and friends, or probably other educators and fellow teachers you work with in the same institution, but now and thanks to the development of web technologies and wireless connections, the concept of PLNs has been expanded to engulf people you have never met before in real world. Much of the learning nowadays takes place online and via a network of interconnected relations. PLNs are basically based on the concept of a learning community. Teachers who are passionate about developing their learning experiences recognize the value of sharing their knowledge and expertise with others. Outline : What is a PLN ? What is a PLN ? Why PLNs in education ? So, why bother thinking about creating a PLN ? Benefits of PLNs in Education Here is a list of some of the pluses of PLNs in education as featured in Personal Learning Networks: Using the Power of Connections to Transform Education
9 Tools to Create E-magazines and Newspapers for Your Class 1- Uniflip UniFlip converts your magazine, brochure or catalog from its original PDF format into an exciting, professional multi-media digital format with pages that flip. 2-Joomag Joomag is a web tool that lets you create your own magazines using a simple online editor. 3- Scribd Scribd is known for being a reading library where you can search for and find ebooks and slides but it is also a magazine creator which allows users to upload their own content and turn it into a magazine 4- Issuu This is like Scribd above. 5- Zinepal This tools lets you create an ebook or magazine from posts and articles of a blog. 6- Build A Newspaper This one is a professional platform that provides teacher based templates to create mazagines. 7- Fodey This is most simple of all the tools mentioned here. 8- Open Zine This is another web tool that allows users to create their own magazines without any need for advanced tech knowledge. 9- Calameo
7 habits of highly effective teachersThe 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. 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. This Is What Happens When A Kid Leaves Traditional Education Logan Laplante is a 13 year-old boy who was taken out of the education system to be home schooled instead. Not only was he home schooled, but Logan had the ability to tailor his education to his interests and also his style of learning, something traditional education does not offer. As Logan has mentioned, when he grows up he wants to be happy and healthy. At a TEDx talk in 2013, he discussed how hacking his education is helping him achieve that goal. Logan’s story can be seen in a similar light as Jacob Barnett‘s story who was first put in Special Ed by his school until he was pulled out of standard education and is now seen as an incredibly intelligent young person who is on track to winning a Nobel Prize one day. I also recently did a TEDx talk in 2014 about my story of leaving college for good. More on Education & Homeschooling Currently about 3.8% of children ages 5 – 17 are home schooled in the US. Does Education Kill Creativity? Sources: Learn To Use Your Thoughts To Reverse Aging!
The greatest creative writing activity ever UPDATE: This post was awarded the British Council’s Teaching English blog award for February, 2013. Thanks to all those who voted for my work, you’re awesome. This post is a response to a question posed on the British Council’s Teaching English page on Facebook: ‘Have you got a favourite lesson plan or class activity that you come back to and use again and again? Ok, let me dive straight into it. First, I’ll describe the activity, and then I’ll tell you why it’s great. 1. How long have you been on the planet? 2. You are going to write a paragraph that tells a story.Your paragraph will be a response to these questions.Any sentence you write is OK, but you must follow the sequence of questions.You can ask me for help while you are writing. 3. What kind of language might we use to answer the first question? 4. Twenty minutes is long enough for most to finish. 5. This keeps the early finishers busy, while the slower writers aren’t disturbed and can get on with their writing. 1. Passive structures
5 Ways Rapid Technology Change Impacts Education How Rapid Technology Change Impacts Your Teaching by Terry Heick In an increasingly digital world (or increasingly digital human experience anyway), rapid technology change is a fact of life. And these threats aren’t limited to business disruption, the safety of your data, or the digital footprint of your children. There is likely very little that can be actively done to reduce these threats on a macro scale other than impact them financially as consumers, as they are first economic issues. But we can begin to understand them better as teachers. 1. Rapid technology changes increases the need for persistent, informal ‘PD.’ Technology policies, teacher growth plans, and even department structures are impotent against this rate of change, and this degree of fragmentation. This makes the curiosity and professional diligence of the educators themselves supplant notions of top-down professional development. 2. But in other ways, these apparent Luddites might have a point. 3. 4. 5.
Alternative Video Use in the Flipped Classroom Guest post by FLN executive director, Kari Arfstrom. Recently, you may have heard about flipped learning. If you read any professional journals or education publications over the summer break, most of them have written at least one story on this new ideology. Every education blogger seems to have an opinion on the topic as well. National news organizations like CNN and NPR have covered it, along with the New York Times and the Washington Post, which has done multiple stories. Survey says: Flipped learning boosts grades, attitudes, satisfaction You may have decided to flip your classroom (or are thinking about it) to increase student interest and learning, to stave off doing the “same thing day after day,” and to utilize past technology purchases that can finally be realized as increasing satisfaction for both teachers and students. The vast majority of educators who responded to the poll have more than 7 years of experience (85%) and have flipped their classroom two years or less.
44 Better Ways To Use Smartphones In The Classroom 44 Better Ways To Use Smartphones In The Classroom by John Hardison first appeared on gettingsmart.com This week an online article grabbed my attention. Its title read “94 Percent of High School Students Using Cellphones in Class.” I immediately scoped out the heading and thought to myself, “Finally, teachers are beginning to embrace the powerful little gadgets.” However, it did not take me long to realize the researched article took quite a different slant. One quotation in particular caused serious professional introspection on my behalf. I understand the tougher task of using regular cell phones in class versus internet ready smartphones, however , I could not disagree more with the above quotation. A blessed trip to the ISTE 2011 conference in Philadelphia helped me devise a BYOD classroom management plan and opened my eyes to the infinite educational potential of smartphones in the classroom. 44 Better Ways To Use Smartphones In The Classroom Use Smartphones to Collaborate
A world where grades don't exist and learning is free As USA TODAY celebrates it 30th anniversary, we interviewed some of the USA's greatest visionaries to talk about the world of tomorrow: How we'll live, learn and travel, what we'll do and who we'll be. PALO ALTO, Calif. -- About a mile from the main quad at Stanford University, one of the nation's bastions of exclusive and expensive higher education, a street-level office building across the street from an Olive Garden houses the makings of an up-and-coming contender. In this version of education, learning will be free and available to anyone who wants it while operating like a whimsical playground: No one is late for class, failure is not an option, and a lesson looks something like Angry Birds, the physics-based puzzle game that has been downloaded more than 1 billion times. "You want learning to be as much fun as it is to play a video game," says Sebastian Thrun, a Google vice president and Stanford research professor best known for his role in building Google's driverless car.
The Importance Of Mobile Learning In (And Out Of) The Classroom There has always been at least some sort of disconnect between how things are taught in a classroom and how things work in the ‘real world’. In some cases, the disconnect is very distinct (how many people took four years of high school language classes only to be able to barely introduce yourself in the language?). Many newer pedagogical models aim to be more practical (like Project Based Learning or Challenge Based Learning). Smartphones and Tablet sales will soon take over laptop and desktop computer sales: Don’t stick just to books – why not let students use the technology they’ll need in the future? The 21st Century workforce will be filled with people who have grown up with devices, and are used to having easy access to search engines, sharing and collaboration are the norm, and creative freedom is king. BYOD is not just for classrooms: 62% of workers use their own smartphones for work – and this number is slated to rise.
A place of greater safety | macappella Motivation is key to learning, the carrot being better than the stick, and if the carrot is brought in by the learner themself, why, even better. Of course, motivation is a lot of things: it’s output from input (as a ratio), it’s challenge, engagement, effort, empowerment, being energised, it’s having needs met and then some. As teachers, we often think of needs in linguistic or language learning terms: he needs to be able to write business emails to engineering companies, she needs to be able to understand articles about plant genetics, he needs to pass his first year secondary school exam, she needs to improve her pronunciation as she’s difficult to understand.. and so on. But there’s more to life than language, and the classroom – if we open ourselves to it as teachers – is more than just a language box or drip, it’s a microcosm – and a good place to be. Do you remember Maslow and his five neat layers working their way up the hierarchy of needs? Why am I banging on about this?
20 Essential Technology Terms for Teachers In the essential reading Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology, authors Allan Collins and Richard Halverson state that the knowledge revolution has transformed our jobs, our homes, our lives, and of course our schools. Now I know that most readers at Fractus are probably pretty tech-savvy, but still, some may not quite be to that level yet. The worst part about it is that the technology world moves so fast and changes so rapidly that the jargon and slang is extremely hard to keep up with, even for people who try to pay close attention. So today I thought I’d bring you a mini-encyclopedia or mini-dictionary of sorts, where I’ll lay out some of the more confusing technology terms that educators will encounter on a regular basis. 1. Read as “one to one.” 2. This is an educational practice which uses computers as interactive instructional devices. 3. Short for “Acceptable Use Policy.” 5. 6. “The cloud” is not one single device or location. CMS stands for Content Management System.
Goal 10: Spread Your Knowledge (15+ Tools to Bookmark, Aggregate, Curate) Posted by Shelly Terrell on Thursday, June 14th 2012 Goal 10 of The 30 Goals Challenge for Educators ! Click the link to find out more about the new changes to this year’s 30 Goals Challenge for Educators! ““If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it. ” ~ Margaret Fuller Short-term - share resources you have collected about a topic with colleagues at school or online. Long-term - develop a community for sharing resources in your teaching environment. My Personal Thoughts About This Goal As educators, we are in the business of learning. Resources Related to This Goal I love learning. The tools that I use meet a few criteria: They have a free app! Tools Diigo - saves all your bookmarks in one location accessible anywhere with the Internet, allows you to highlight sections on websites and make notes, takes clippings, tag, search, and more! More resources: Important News Check out my Pinterests for other posts with this goal or ask me to add yours! Challenge:
Infographic Provides an Inside Look at the Modern Student | Faculty Focus December 11, 2012 By: Mary Bart in EdTech News and Trends The Learning Life: An Inside Look at the Habits of the Modern Student was created by StudyBlue, a leading mobile study tool with more than 2 million users. The data comes from a survey issued November 26-30 to the company’s users aged 15-22 attending high schools and colleges across the country. Some highlights to note: 70% of respondents prefer to study for exams on their ownStudents still use pen and paper, which was beaten out only by laptops for note takingGoogle Drive tops the cloud based apps for 30% of the users Recent Trackbacks The Learning Life - Open Creative Communications [...] found this infographic The Learning Life: An Inside Look at the Habits of the Modern Student on Faculty Focus.