Turn your syllabus into an infographic Erin McLaughlin teaches “Multimedia Writing and Rhetoric” at Notre Dame — some readers may remember an earlier article about Doctor E’s audio narrative. Erin is usually at the head of the pack when it comes to effectively integrating technology and this fall she has done it again, producing a beautiful infographic of her course syllabus (excerpt at right). While I don’t suggest everyone should drop the idea of a traditional syllabus, nearly any course can benefit from a simplified visual overview that quickly gives students a sense of what will happen during the semester. The challenge of visually summarizing a course syllabus can be a very meaningful endeavor. I figured the infographic approach would be a good opportunity to examine the syllabus as a piece of multimedia rhetoric in and of itself, and the exercise of graphically presenting the content was a valuable reminder of challenges and opportunities students may run into when engaging in similar intellectual tasks. Visual design
Skrivpapper Det är inte alltid som vi skriver alla jobb på datorn eller iPaden. Det finns ju färdiga papper att skriva på men då finns det inte plats för bild på en vit yta som jag ofta vill ha till mina yngre elever. Jag vill också att det ska finnas stödlinjer för dem när de skriver. Det är ungefär 5 mm mellan linjerna och 7 mm mellan varje del. Har också gjort en version som är utan ram Det kan du hämta här i pdf. Crowdsourced School Social Media Policy Now Available I’ve been seeing a lot of people on social media looking for a social media policy and / or an acceptable use policy. So I offered to help spearhead an initiative where some of our amazing readers could help craft these policies from scratch. It started out very basic but, 400 edits later, has materialized into a thoughtful and well-organized document that’s a great template for any school. It may not be perfect for you, but use this as a jumping-off point to get your own policy started. Want to edit the living document? Click here to view it in Google Docs. Social Media Responsible Use Guidelines 2012-2013 We encourage teachers, students, staff, and other school community members to use social networking/media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) as a way to connect with others, share educational resources, create and curate educational content, and enhance the classroom experience. Please do the following: Use good judgment We expect you to use good judgment in all situations. Be respectful Images
Game-design curriculum Over the course of the South by Southwest Interactive Conference (SXSW), and the education conference that preceded it (you can find the rest of our SXSW coverage here), in Austin, Texas, educational gaming is emerging as the most-discussed innovation in education. Whether using games to help students learn, or using game-design curriculum to teach science, technology, engineering, and math, educators seemed to have reached a consensus that games are an effective way to engage students in a topic they aren't immediately interested in. But I've been disappointed to see few of those discussions expand beyond, "Games are a good tool for learning" to "Here's how games can be best used in classroom." Thankfully, one panel on Tuesday featured a strong roster of representatives from the most popular game design programs in K-12 education and one of the most popular online game companies in the world. First, start your game-design programs earlier.
Le silence des apprenants (dans une formation en ligne) Alors que le silence dans une salle de classe est vénéré par certains (preuve de l’expertise et de la maîtrise du groupe par l’enseignant), inlassablement recherché par d’autres dans une classe remuante de collège, exigé dans un amphithéâtre bondé. On peut également s’en méfier comme étant le signe d’un ennui et d’un désintérêt profond d’une audience qui rêvasse, ou pire, pianote au rythme des envolés d’un enseignant qui ne parle plus que pour lui-même. Le silence peut aussi être ouvertement évité, privilégiant ainsi l’échange, le débat et le dialogue au sein d’activités d’apprentissages qui nécessitent un désordre mesuré et contrôlé. Comme d’habitude, dans le cadre d’une formation en ligne, tout s’intensifie et se complexifie. Autant de cas de figure que j’ai pu rencontrer en tant qu’apprenant ou tuteur en ligne. Like this: J'aime chargement…
10 Life Lessons Worth Teaching Next Year What should you be teaching? Every class has standards and curricula to attend to, but we have so many options for teaching our materials. Creative instruction is important to maximizing learning for students and enjoying our classroom time as educators. What happens when we teach from a slightly different angle–when we layer our teaching with elements of social and emotional learning, empathy, creativity, analysis, and the arts, and consciously access the different learning styles? Can we use our content areas as a vehicles to teach skills and add in the other areas? Pay It Forward: Teaching Kids About Kindness Carrie Sorenson models how to teach kindness in the classroom as part of the day-to-day activities, reinforcing the three R’s. Teaching Argument Argument is a big cornerstone of the Common Core State Standards . Teaching Primary Research This is another skill that’s extremely high-priority in the Common Cores and in the world of work . Teaching Kids Compassion And Empathy
Women in computing Global concerns about current and future roles of women in computing occupations have gained more importance with the emerging information age. Historically, women played a crucial role in the evolution of computing, with many of the first programmers during the early 20th century being female.[1] These concerns motivated public policy debates addressing gender equality as computer applications exerted increasing influence in society. This dialogue helped to expand information technology innovations and to reduce the unintended consequences of perceived sexism. Gender gap[edit] Statistics in education[edit] In the United States, the proportion of women represented in undergraduate computer science education and the white-collar information technology workforce peaked in the mid-1980s, and has declined ever since. More boys than girls take Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science exams. Statistics in the workforce[edit] Benefits of gender diversity[edit] Education[edit] Recent efforts[edit]
Become a Google Apps Ninja It looks like word finally broke on Twitter yesterday about a project I’ve been working on for about 5 or 6 weeks at my school. It started as a “I wonder what would happen if….” project and has turned into a pretty awe inspiring, self-motivated, get-out-of-their-way, dare I say fun project. When I was going through the process of becoming a Google Apps Certified Trainer I was taking the required tests on all the Google Apps. The tests run on Google’s own system and once you press start you have 90 minutes to finish. As I continued taking the tests I kept asking myself “What is Google after here?” It’s about searching and finding information A big smile came across my face when I realized I had been beat at my own game. It makes perfect sense! I then thought what a great way to build a tech team at our school. So I set out to create the ISB Google Apps Ninja Training Center. Next I started creating the tests in Google Forms and embedding them into the site. “It’s kind of fun.” What?
Seven Ways to Increase Student Engagement in the Classroom You have probably heard that teachers are the hardest people to teach. I submit teaching teachers is a lot like teaching younger learners (except that they have more autonomy). More often than not as I am setting up for a training at least one teacher will saunter in with a pile of lamination to cut out or a knitting project (for the grandbaby on the way, of course) to keep them occupied during the training. First of all, let me say, “I get it.” Five Levels of Student Engagement It should not surprise anyone to know that one of the most consistent findings in educational research demonstrates that the more times students spend engaged during instruction, the more they learn (Gettinger & Ball, 2007). Measuring Engagement in the Classroom The level of student engagement can vary from student to student, and lesson to lesson so it may be difficult to get a general feel for how engaged a class is as a whole. The Engaged Classroom The Compliant Classroom The Off-Task Classroom Conclusion
Cooperative Learning - More Than Group Work Did you know that there's a difference between cooperative learning and group work? I'll bet you thought those two terms were synonymous, but they're not. Let me show you how they are worlds apart. Does this scenario sound familiar? The teacher assigns a group project, outlines the task, and gives a deadline for completion. Students are expected to work together and participate equally, but we all know what happens. But what I just described is NOT cooperative learning. But if that's not cooperative learning, what does cooperative learning look like? How to Foster Effective Team Discussions Introducing accountability and rules of equal participation can be as easy as changing to a new team discussion format. Place students in teams of 4 or 5 and have them number off in order around the team. Keep Discussions Focused with Question Cards Another way to promote more effective discussions is to create question task cards to keep the discussion focused and moving along.