Thursday, July 28, 2011

Above and Beyond

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills and Fablevision put together this great video showing why we need creativity and collaboration in our schools - we must be more than tests.


Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Stupeflix

I had forgottne I have an account here - yes it's the free one that lets you make one minute videos, but how simple and easy...

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Are Schools on the Verge of a Mobile-Phone Revolution?

Are Schools on the Verge of a Mobile-Phone Revolution? - Education - GOOD
These days its pretty impossible to find a teen without a cell phone—over 75 percent of them own one—which means that schools should be seriously looking at how to harness the technology in the classroom. In fact, given the possibilities for learning through games, simulations, virtual environments and interfaces, we could be on the verge of a mobile education revolution. But, while isolated schools or school districts have experimental pilot projects, many educators are still pretty wary of mobile-based learning, and some even ban mobile phones from being on campus.........

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Meaningful Choice

“Meaningful Choice” and Persistence in Teaching « A Little Something
Yesterday, I attended a workshop led by Michael Angst from E-Line Media on game creation in the classroom and its potential to help students engage with learning in various content areas and develop core skills at the same time. Mike talked a lot about flow and echoed James Paul Gee in describing....

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

5 Unique Uses of Twitter in the Classroom

5 Unique Uses of Twitter in the Classroom - US News and World Report
Social media has found a prominent place in the college classroom.

In fact, nearly 80 percent of faculty members are using social media in some way, according to a recent survey of nearly 2,000 college faculty by the Babson Survey Research Group published in April.
Click here to find out more!

While some platforms, such as YouTube, have been widely accepted in the classroom, Twitter has been slower to catch on as a teaching tool. In the same survey, only 2 percent of professors reported using the microblogging site—which limits posts to 140 characters—in class.

20 Forecasts for 2011-2025

Special Report - 20 Forecasts for 2011-2025
20 Forecasts for 2011-2025

Trends and Breakthroughs Likely to Affect Your Work, Your Investments, and Your Family

Periodic Table of Videos

The Periodic Table of Videos - University of Nottingham

What a great idea - a video for every element.

Blogging in the Classroom

Education Technology - theory and practice: Blogging in the Classroom
This post present some ways to blog with your students. In my school we have used Blogger, because it is so easy to create. In 10 minutes students are ready to post for the first time.

In my opinion there are many benefits blogging in school. Students work and skils become visible, students gets feedback from classmates and also other maybe international schools and also learn to give open good ctitics for each other, student can use mobile for images, shoot their own videos or embed videos from Youtube - so there are many good reasons to start blogging in the classroom.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Leadership

Leadership « Dr. Doug Green

Some nice ideas about Leadership and Technology

Google+: The Complete Guide

Google+: The Complete Guide
Google+: It’s the hot social network on the block. In just three weeks, Google’s competitor to Facebook and Twitter has amassed more than 10 million users, and its users are sharing more than 1 billion pieces of content daily. It’s become a hotbed for early adopters, tech luminaries, marketers and businesses around the world.

Google+ isn’t the easiest thing to understand, though. It has a lot of features that can confuse beginners. Even advanced users can miss a lot of the little gems and nuances that define Google+.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

http://steve-wheeler.blogspot.com/2011/07/seven-reasons-teachers-should-blog.html

Learning with 'e's: Seven reasons teachers should blog
I have written extensively on what makes a good blogpost and why it is so powerful. From personal experience blogging is one of the most beneficial professional development activities I have ever engaged with. I learn more from blogging than I do from almost any other activity I participate in. Here are 7 good reasons why teachers should blog:

Slide Six - Easily Add Narration to Slide Shows

Slide Six is a slide show hosting service that offers you the ability to add your voice narrations without having to create, upload, and sync a separate audio file. Slide Six does this by allowing you to record your narration directly through the Slide Six site. To use the feature just upload your slide show and then record your voice as you go through your slide deck. Slide Six also allows you to upload attachments to complement your presentations. YouTube and Vimeo videos are supported within Slide Six.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

How to Run Linux Applications On Your Mac

How to Run Linux Applications On Your Mac | Mac|Life
Linux is beloved by many around the world for its simplicity and ultimate customization Because it's open source (and free!) many Mac users choose to run it as a virtual machine on VMWare, Parallels, or even Virtual Box. However, sometimes you might want to run a Linux-based application without having to jump through too many hoops. Using a SSH tool called X over SSH2, you can graphically load remote Linux apps and use them right on your Mac.

Friday, July 08, 2011

Minigroup - Create Private Groups for Blogging and Sharing Files

Free Technology for Teachers: Minigroup - Create Private Groups for Blogging and Sharing Files
Minigroup is a free service for creating private groups in which you can share files, calendars, and announcements. Within your Minigroup account you can create multiple private groups so that you can have a group for sharing with friends, a group for sharing with colleagues, and a group for sharing with students. In each of your Minigroup groups you can post and invite people to events, post reminders, and share files. Minigroup postings are hid from search engines and anyone who is not invited into your group.

Thursday, July 07, 2011

If you wouldn't say it face to face, don't post, text, email, tweet or IM it.

If you wouldn't say it face to face, don't post, text, email, tweet or IM it.
So many children and teens are having arguments online that could be easily avoided if they followed the same social code online that they do IRL (in real life). It’s been said before, but it’s worth mentioning again: without facial expression, body language and tone, words can take on a whole new meaning. The reader interprets them, often wrongly, and attributes meaning where there may be none; then they respond in kind. And so the spiral begins, often ending badly for all.

The Seven Golden Rules of Using Technology in Schools

The Seven Golden Rules of Using Technology in Schools | MindShift
Sometimes teachers and administrators need a kick in the pants to see what they perceive as problems re-framed in a different way. Adam S. Bellow, author of The Tech Commandments, and founder of eduTecher, spoke to a roomful of receptive teachers at the recent ISTE 2011 conference, and demonstrated some of the ironies and contradictions the education system is mired in. And he had some advice.

The Tech Commandments

The Tech Commandments
The Tech Commandments are a reaction to what I have seen and experienced inschools over the past several years. I am a firm believer that successful implementation of educational technology is one of the corner stones that can help bring our educational system back from the brink of collapse that I feel it teeters on now. Our students need real-world experiences, they need to understand and be taught with the tools that they have access to in our world today.

Wednesday, July 06, 2011

PrimaryWall - Web based sticky notes for schools

PrimaryWall - Web based sticky notes for schools
PrimaryWall is a web-based sticky note tool designed for schools that allows pupils and teachers to work together in real-time

Tuesday, July 05, 2011

The Evolution of Classroom Technology

The Evolution of Classroom Technology - Edudemic
Classrooms have come a long way. There’s been an exponential growth in educational technology advancement over the past few years. From overhead projectors to iPads, it’s important to understand not only what’s coming next but also where it all started.

Turn a paper based book into an interactive book with QR Codes

Turn a paper based book into an interactive book with QR Codes
Okay, this is just the coolest thing. A friend, Diane Lawrence, told me about this cool thing you could do with a Children’s book (or any book) using QR codes (bar codes) couple weeks ago. I finally had time to give it a try. So here is the deal…

Sunday, July 03, 2011

Loop Labs - Mix Your Own Audio Tracks for Free

Free Technology for Teachers: Loop Labs - Mix Your Own Audio Tracks for Free
Last week I posted a review of 7 Tools Students Can Use to Create Music Online. Shortly after that post appeared online I had numerous people Tweet me and email me to suggest that I also take a look at Loop Labs. Loop Labs is a free service from Club Create for creating your own music mixes using existing music loops and your own recordings.

Storytelling Applications for Your Smartphone

Storytelling Applications for Your Smartphone
Here’s a handy list of storytelling applications for iOS, Android and other mobile platforms.

Note-taking and writing apps were covered already, but storytelling is not only about creating stories, but also sharing them. What’s even more important, technology allows to tell stories instantly – you can think of them, create and share on one device and in one go.

40 Ways to use Google Apps in the Classrooom

EdTech Toolbox: 40 Ways to use Google Apps in the Classrooom
Google has been working hard to continually update their suite of tools recently. Different tools have been released on a regular basis over the last couple of months.

Google Apps is actually a suite of Google applications that brings together a series of services to help an organisation like a school. It is a service that lets schools, and institutions use a variety of Google products -- including Email, Google Docs, Google Calendar, and Google Talk -- on a unique domain name (e.g.,www.yourschool.com).

Saturday, July 02, 2011

What do principals need to know about Facebook? - Home - Doug Johnson's Blue Skunk Blog

What do principals need to know about Facebook? - Home - Doug Johnson's Blue Skunk Blog
At a recent principals' meeting in our district, I was asked to prepare a short training on Facebook just for them.

We've done what I think is a fairly good job of informing teachers in our district about the benefits and concerns over using Facebook both professionally and personally. We've written a set of social network guidelines which led to a board policy.