Should my class blog, tweet, Google App, Moodle, Desire2Learn, or Edmodo? Arrghhh!!! | the spicy learning blog Do you want to use social media, web 2.0 tools, and/or a learning management system for your class or course program? Do you feel overwhelmed with the absurd amount of choice, and those ‘techie’ annoying types that make you feel like a Super Noob? I’m hoping this post can help you out. Every year around this time I reflect on the tools and spaces we’ve been using throughout the year. Device agnostic: I have a multi-device environment in which mobile dominates. Simple, elegant, minimalist design: ‘Nuff said. Engineering: It’s fast, and it works. Used by people outside of education: This isn’t because I have some bizarre inferiority complex with apps and LMSs, feeling like it’s illegitimate if someone else doesn’t use it. Easy privacy settings: Because if it’s complex, then it can’t be trusted, especially for school. I’ve created the matrix below to help you should you need it. Click here for the native Google document. Like this: Like Loading...
The International Critical Thinking Reading & Writing Test: How to Assess Close Reading and Substantive Writing: Richard Paul, Linda Elder: 9780944583326: Amazon.com Create a Narrated Slideshow on an iPad with Haiku Deck and Explain Everything <div class="greet_block wpgb_cornered"><div class="greet_text"><div class="greet_image"><a href=" rel="nofollow"><img src=" alt="WP Greet Box icon"/></a></div>Hello there! If you are new here, you might want to <a href=" rel="nofollow"><strong>subscribe to the RSS feed</strong></a> for updates on this topic.<div style="clear:both"></div></div></div> This week I’m leading a 3 day iPad Media Camp in Oklahoma City. Check out the final narrated slideshow on YouTube, which I also embedded on our Day 3 curriculum when we’ll learn about “Interactive Writing” and “Creating Multimedia eBooks.” Here is the Haiku Deck presentation I used for my slides. Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app for iPad Last summer I led two iPad Media Camps and created similar FAQ narrated slideshow videos as well.
College and Career Readiness through Individualized Learning Plans | CCRS Center On May 29, the American Youth Policy Forum, the College and Career Readiness and Success Center , and the Center for Workforce Development at the Institute for Educational Leadership held a webinar titled “The Use of Individualized Learning Plans to Help Students to be College and Career Ready.” The webinar highlighted research examining the effectiveness of individualized learning plans (ILPs), as well as the experiences of two states in the implementation and scaling-up of ILPs. According to Dr. Scott Solberg, associate dean for research at Boston University, ILPs can be an effective tool in promoting college and career readiness among students. Quality ILPs were shown to serve as more than just a document reviewed periodically, but rather a process by which students may define a career goal. Dr. Mindy Larson, senior program associate for the Center for Workforce Development, along with Dr. Austin Pate is a research/policy assistant at the American Youth Policy Forum.
Notetaking Apps - a comparison of some popular ones Notetaking apps are a great way to get organized and keep track of everything electronically. There are a lot of different ones out there, so I thought I would go through some of the more popular ones and list some of the features they have. Click on the links for more information on each one also. 1. 2. 3. 5. 6. School in a Small World | Technology changes everything. How Interactive Ebooks Engage Readers and Enhance Learning The invention of the tablet PC has created a new medium for book publishing. Interactive books are everywhere, and have revolutionized the way people consume the printed word. With the recent software available to allow easy creation of interactive books and with the race to bring these products to market, there seems to be a more and more dilution of quality and a loss for the meaning of interactivity. When publishers create new eBook titles or convert a traditional printed book to a digital interactive eBook, they often miss the added value this new medium can provide. It’s important to understand the distinction between apps and eBooks, as it's something that often confuses both publishers and consumers. eBooks were the first to appear on devices such as the Kindle, and have very limited interactivity. Enhanced eBooks (ePUB3) are a new digital publication standard that allows easy integration of video, audio, and interactivity. Grimm's Rapunzel ~ 3D Interactive Pop-up Book
Assessing Student Progress Using Blog-Based Porfolios Editor’s note: Kathy Cassidy is the author of a new book from Powerful Learning Press, Connected from the Start: Global Learning in the Primary Grades. During a recent webinar (free archive here), Kathy shared many ideas from Chapter 5 of the book, “Using Blogs as Digital Portfolios.” The webinar was rich in content and full of great discussion — so much so that there simply wasn’t time for Kathy to share her thoughts, in depth, about where formative and summative assessments might fit into this digital blog/portfolio model. So we’ve asked her to write this article. Much as she does in her eBook, she’s included short videos, useful downloads, and links to other valuable resources. ~ John Norton A Great Tool to Continuously Assess Progress by Kathy Cassidy In my classroom, each of my grade one and grade two students has their own blog. Formative Assessment I am continually doing formative assessment in my classroom — that is, assessment for learning. Verbal explanations Summative Assessment
Thoughts on iPad Fluency and Workflows For me, iPad workflow has to do with fluency. It is: the fluid movement between appsthe unconscious decision what app to use in order to accomplish any given task The workflow is almost like Grammar in a language. Workflow= Fluency of iPad Grammar Using iPads in the classroom with your students is more than choosing and letting them use Apps. I have written several posts about how I envisioned and then observed our students develop iPad Fluency (Fluency of iPad workflow takes time to develop!). We are starting to see more and more examples of students developing iPad fluency, as they take a photo of a mindmap that was written on a dry-erase board and ,without being asked, email them to all their classmates…ask for a mindmap that I started of a discussion held in class and created on the iPad to be emailed to them. I created the following iPad Workflow chart below for receiving and handing in sharing work. Download iPad Workflow: Receiving and Sharing (pdf) Related
The Best Resources For Learning How To Best Give Feedback To Students I’ve been thinking and writing (in my forthcoming book to be published by Eye On Education) about the most effective ways to give feedback to students. I’ve obviously been trying to apply what I’ve been learning in the classroom, too. As a one sentence summary, as I’ve posted about previously, the research says it’s best to praise effort and not intelligence. Here are some resources I’ve found helpful: What Kind Of Feedback Should We Give Our Students? The Difference Between Praise & Acknowledgment is another older post. The Perils and Promises of Praise is an article by Carol Dweck. Pondering Praise is a nice essay by Joe Bower. It’s Not About How Smart You Are is an article by Carol Dweck. Goodbye to “Good Job!” “The Praise Paradox” is an excerpt from the book Nurture Shock: New Thinking About Children, written by by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman. New Marzano Study On “Effort & Recognition” The words that could unlock your child comes from the BBC. Dr. Quote Of The Day: Giving Feedback
Beyond the Book: Infographics of Students' Reading History A high schooler's reading history infographic. Photo credit: Sarah Mulhern Gross I'm an evangelist. A book evangelist, that is. Recently, I've also been fascinated by the way the human mind interprets visual symbols. When I found this lesson about reading histories, I was inspired. Getting Started I began by having the students brainstorm a list of books they've read. The next day, we began to explore some online tools for creating infographics. In pairs, students experimented with the tools by creating sample infographics based on data pulled from an article in that day's newspaper. Reading History Infographic The next day, we started to work on our own infographics. But instead of holding their hands as they walked through the project, I encouraged them to explore some mentor texts. We worked on the infographics in class for a few days, the students troubleshooting with one another and sharing book recommendations. The Final Product
7 Key Characteristics Of Better Learning Feedback 7 Key Characteristics Of Better Learning Feedback by Grant Wiggins, Authentic Education On May 26, 2015, Grant Wiggins passed away. Grant was tremendously influential on TeachThought’s approach to education, and we were lucky enough for him to contribute his content to our site. Occasionally, we are going to go back and re-share his most memorable posts. Whether or not the feedback is just “there” to be grasped or offered by another person, all the examples highlight seven key characteristics of helpful feedback. Helpful feedback is – Goal-referencedTransparentActionableUser-friendlyTimelyOngoingConsistent 1. Given a desired outcome, feedback is what tells me if I should continue on or change course. Note that goals (and the criteria for them) are often implicit in everyday situations. 2. Even as little pre-school children, we learn from such results and models without adult intervention. 3. Thus, “good job!” 4. 5. A great problem in education, however, is the opposite. 6. 7. References