Thursday, December 13, 2012

A Great Twitter Cheat Sheet for Teachers

A Great Twitter Cheat Sheet for Teachers

I am currently working on an eBook about the use of Twitter in education which I will be offering here for free in the next few coming weeks. I also have other free surprises for you and I will probably let them be special gifts to you on New Year's Eve. However, as I was reading some of the resources other educators have written on Twitter I came across this awesome  graphic by Dr Kimberly. As you can see , the graphic is really well designed and contains most of the things you need to know about Twitter . Until I post my comprehensive eBook , I will let you enjoy this graphic and will also direct you to our Twitter section here on Educational Technology and Mobile Learning for more resources on this social networking platform.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

5 ways to use Google Sites in Schools

Free Technology for Teachers: 5 Ways to Use Google Sites in Schools
Over the last two weeks I've had five occasions to work with teachers to either develop new websites or improve existing websites in Google Sites. Over the course of these workshops I've found that there are five ways that Google Sites are commonly being used in schools.

Before you jump to the list, the shameless promotion department at Free Technology for Teachers would like to mention that you should see Google Sites for Teachers if you need help getting started using Google Sites.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

19 handy Google tricks that you weren’t aware of

19 handy Google tricks that you weren’t aware of - The Next Web
After covering everything that Google Search has to offer, you can easily forge that search only forms one small part of the Google behemoth. With so many different features and clients available, it’s very easy to use the basic features for each and leave it at that.

Monday, December 10, 2012

7 tips for school leaders

SchoolCIO Blogs - DAILY INSIGHT: 7 tips for doing first things first
DAILY INSIGHT: 7 tips for doing first things first
By Miguel Guhlin

Over the years, I've had the chance to chat with many CTOs and tech directors Directors about starting out in a new place of employment. This list of 7 tips for "new" CTOs on what to do first is based on those conversations. If you're one of the CTOs I chatted with, you'll be sure to recognize your tip(s) in the list below. If you read the list and don't see something that you believe is critical, please share in the comments!

45+ Teacher recommended apps

45+ Teacher Recommended Educational Apps : Teacher Reboot Camp
Part of the Cool Sites series and Mobile Learning category

Educators are beginning to see the potential of using mobile devices and apps for ongoing professional development as well as to improve literacy and cognitive development for learners. Apps are equipped with several features that motivate learners to create stories, presentations, and projects that are hands-on and use their creativity as well as their critical thinking skills. Once an app is downloaded, many features can be accessed without an Internet connection. Educators can also use various apps at conferences to connect with other educators or capture a presentation. Below are the various apps nominated by teachers for an Edublog Award so they must be worth checking out. Each has a link and a description. Make sure to check out the Edublog Awards for blogs, wikis, and web tools that teachers worldwide have recommended

My favorite web tools of 2012

- My Favourite Web Tools of 2012
As we are approaching the New Year, I thought it would be great to look back to catch with some great web tools.

BuildYourWildSelf is a tool that you can use to attach different animal parts to a human body and share it as a link or as a print out with others.

ShutterCal is a picture calendar where you can upload your pictures on a calendar for each day and write your text to share it with others.

Storybird is a collaborative digital storytelling tool which lets you to become the writer and the publisher of your own books. You can search from professional artists’ artwork to start building up your story and you can set up a class account, work and moderate your students’ works easily.........

13 Wiki Tools you should know about

13 Wiki Tools Teachers should Know about
Wikis are great learning and teaching tools. They have some distinctive features that you cannot find elsewhere particularly the collaborative feature they provide to its users. Several teachers from all around the globe embrace wikis in their classrooms and use them to create a student friendly environment where to enhance what is being taught in the classroom. If you are not yet familiar with how to use wikis in education or you want to learn more about how to integrate them into your lessons , here are some interesting posts to start with :


1- Teachers Guide on The Use of Wikis in Education
2- 6 Important Wikipedia Tools for Teachers
3- This is how to Set up A Wiki for your Class
4- Great Wiki Apps for iPad


Today we are providing you with a list of different wiki platforms. We did not include Wikipedia because it is taken for granted that everybody knows about it . Check out this list and share with us your suggestions or comments. Enjoy

Does the use of Twitter Improve Education?

Does the use of Twitter Improve Education? | Connected Principals
There has been post after post acknowledging how educators love Twitter while also encouraging others to use it themselves. With that though comes skeptics (as there should be), questioning whether the use of Twitter is beneficial to educators. I have thought about that question a lot and I can give a definitive answer: yes and no ( I am 100% certain of this).

Why Students Should Use Twitter - Edudemic

Why Students Should Use Twitter - Edudemic
I must admit I was skeptical and originally questioned the validity of Twitter. I initially viewed Twitter as just a tedious free service that lets you send a 140-character message, or “tweet to your followers” of lackluster and hum-drum information. I was not really interested in reading about the location of someone checking in on Four Square or what he or she was eating for dinner.

See Also: It’s Official: Using Twitter Makes Students More Engaged

Yet, I was totally surprised at all the benefits that Twitter provides to high school and college students.

Every student should use Twitter. Here’s why:

Thursday, December 06, 2012

How Students Can Blog Without An Email Address

Free Technology for Teachers: How Students Can Blog Without An Email Address
How Students Can Blog Without An Email Address
Disclosure: Edublogs is an advertiser on this blog.

Earlier today Edublogs announced that students can now blog on Edublogs even if they don't have email addresses. Students can create a blog or become authors on other blogs without having to submit an email address to Edublogs. To get started students will simply need to choose a user name and password before writing their first blog posts. If they desire, students can submit email addresses later (which is useful for password recovery).

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Five-Minute Film Festival: Twitter in Education | Edutopia

Five-Minute Film Festival: Twitter in Education | Edutopia
I think it's fair to say that Twitter can no longer be dismissed as a trivial passing fad. Though I had dabbled with a personal account, my entire opinion changed when I started my @VideoAmy account and dove in to the conversations educators were engaged in. While some people certainly do tweet about what they're having for breakfast, teachers, administrators, and educational organizations use Twitter in a whole different way -- making smart use of those 140 characters to share resources, wisdom, and inspiration......

How to Build your Students Digital Self

How to Build your Students Digital Self

Below is a fabulous presentation from our colleague Susan Oxnevad . I really find it very interesting and worth sharing with you. As a teacher you will  get to discover some of the activities you can use to help your students learn about the safe use of internet. It also provides a wide range of interactive web tools to enhance your students overall learning. You will also learn how to enable your students express themselves through technology and how to save information using digital portfolios.

Google Sites Liberation

google-sites-liberation - Import / Export of Google Sites Data - Google Project Hosting
This is an import/export tool for Google Sites. Using HTML Microformats it generates an XHTML version of Sites content suitable for offline browsing and simple HTTP hosting, which is also able to be losslessly imported back into sites.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

4 Presentation Tools Worth Trying

4 Presentation Tools Worth Trying
The web is teeming with web tools that teachers can use to create visually attractive slideshows and presentations. Educational Technology and Mobile Learning has previously published the popular Top Presentation Tools for Teachers, but since the posting of this article several other web tools have seen the light and this is why we deem it important to release an update or better call it addition to this list.

Saturday, November 17, 2012

BlueGriffon - Web (html) editor

BlueGriffon, The next-generation Web Editor based on the rendering engine of Firefox

BlueGriffon is a new WYSIWYG content editor for the World Wide Web. Powered by Gecko, the rendering engine of Firefox, it's a modern and robust solution to edit Web pages in conformance to the latest Web Standards.

Sunday, November 04, 2012

Zentation presentation software

Zentation.com - Webinar software
Zentation combines video and slides to create online presentations that best simulate the live experience. Easily create high-end webinars, webcasts, elearning, training and virtual events.

Supercharge your presentations

Knovio | Online Video Presentations Made Easy | PowerPoint + Webcam
Create: bring “flat” PowerPoint® slides to life with your webcam, microphone

Edit: make changes, without the need for video editing software or skills

Share: publish instantly to private spaces or your social networks

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

How to shoot a Photo to Remember

How to Shoot a Photo to Remember - NYTimes.com
Sometimes the realization comes almost too late — you sense that your parents or other loved ones may soon be gone, and it dawns on you that you don’t have any recent photos to remember them by.

The 20 Best Pinterest Boards About Education Technology

The 20 Best Pinterest Boards About Education Technology - Edudemic
Pinterest is quickly becoming one of the biggest sources inspiration and innovation when it comes to cooking, design, and education. That’s right, education is a prominent fixture on Pinterest now and that, of course, means that education technology plays a starring role.

Teachers Guide to Facebook

The Teacher's Guide to Facebook
Facebook is the world’s largest social network, reaching 1 billion active users at the beginning of October. People across the globe use Facebook to connect with old friends, share news about their lives and even to maximize their brand’s social reach.

Tuesday, October 02, 2012

5 reasons why you should consider blogging

5 reasons why you should consider blogging - Zemanta Blog
Some argue that blogging is passé, but nothing could be further from the truth. Available tools enable all of us to express ourselves, share our views and especially knowledge and experience with a much wider audience than ever before. I really believe that everyone should and can blog. Indeed, it’s not surprising to anyone who knows me that that is a reason why Zemanta is part of my life: to make blogging easier for everyone.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

100 Of The Best Twitter Tools For Teachers By Category

100 Of The Best Twitter Tools For Teachers By Category | TeachThought
In 2009, we shared our favorite tools for teachers on Twitter, with 100 resources for managing feeds, finding followers, and tackling classroom groups on the social media site. Since then, many tools have been revamped, replaced, or simply aren’t available anymore. Clearly, an update is in order, so we’re proud to present a new list for 2012, featuring the very best tools available to Twittering teachers today.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Google Launches Free Tool To Let You Run Your Own Online Courses | Edudemic

Google Launches Free Tool To Let You Run Your Own Online Courses | Edudemic
Sensing the excitement from online education tools like edX, Google has just unveiled a (very beta) version of its own course building software. If you’ve ever wanted to run your own online courses, this might be worth your time.

Google’s new Course Builder software comes on the heels of a massively popular online Google class ‘Power Searching With Google‘ hosted by Google’s Director of Research, Peter Norvig.

Friday, September 07, 2012

High-Tech Teaching in a Low-Tech Classroom

Education Week Teacher: High-Tech Teaching in a Low-Tech Classroom

As 21st-century teachers, we are expected to help students master the technological tools they will use in college and the workplace. But in many districts, the one-computer classroom is not extinct. So how can we do a lot with a little? How can we best use limited resources to support learning and familiarize students with technology?

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Leadership Lessons: Ten Ideas to Take into 2012 | Edutopia

Leadership Lessons: Ten Ideas to Take into 2012 | Edutopia

To kick off 2012, I wanted to take a minute to reflect on what I have learned about leadership and being a principal. I am always learning; however, here are the key lessons that I want to remember and apply to this year. Not in any particular order, here are the ways I hope to become a great leader and great principal.

The Complete Educator’s Guide to Using Google Reader | The Edublogger

The Complete Educator’s Guide to Using Google Reader | The Edublogger

Doesn’t really matter what you think of the new Google Reader interface….. What does matter is they’ve changed some of the Google Reader functionality educators like to use.

Monday, August 20, 2012

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

18+ Videos Suggested for Back to School Faculty Meetings and other educational audiences

18+ Videos Suggested for Back to School Faculty Meetings and other educational audiences « 21k12

This post could be almost infinite: there is most certainly an extraordinary array of options for videos which expand educators’ understandings and inspire advances in 21st century learning.  But curation is about choice and selection, and while I know I will leave out many, I thought I’d offer up a set of 15 of my favorites for your consideration for video screening at at back-to-school or beginning-of-the-year faculty meetings (and/or parent and board meetings). I’ve starred those that might also serve as useful and engaging videos to share with students at back to school or other assemblies.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Using Dropbox in the classroom

Using Dropbox in the Classroom

When I mention Dropbox to friends and colleagues, I usually get one of two responses – a knowing smile and nod, or a puzzled and quizzical look. Whether you know what the program is, you have likely heard the name. But really, what is Dropbox?

Thursday, August 09, 2012

Making a MOOC

Making a Mooc

The Chronicle Wired Blog asked “What happens when you invite the whole world to an online class?”  The result last summer was eduMOOC – a class about “Online Learning Today… and Tomorrow” with more than 2,500 registered participants in 70 countries and a plethora of wikis, blogs, tweets, panels, discussions and more. The MOOC offers the opportunity for service; building a student base; connecting with an entire field or industry; and establishing a worldwide reputation for leadership.   In this session we will discuss the global implications; the evolving  models; business plans; and how to launch and administer a massive worldwide class.

500 Free Online Courses from Top Universities

500 Free Online Courses from Top Universities | Open Culture

Get free online courses from the world’s leading universities. This collection includes over 500 free courses in the liberal arts and sciences.

There is An Infographic for Mobile Learning

There is An Infographic for Mobile Learning | Classroom Aid

“There is an App for that!” is a popular saying recently very familiar for teachers or learners. Now there is an infographic for mobile learning! Let’s take a look on how mobile devices are changing the way we learn, it’s all about numbers and trends.

Wednesday, August 08, 2012

Sharing files

pastelink.me | the easiest way to share files online

Do you really need another thing to log into or register for? How about memorizing another password? With Pastelink, registering an account is strictly optional. Feel FREE to share files up to 250MB with your friends, family and coworkers.

Back to School App-pack

The History 2.0 Classroom: Back to School App-pack

The summer is quickly winding down & a number of teachers will be returning to their classroom with new mobile devices (iPads). Throughout the summer I have been conducting workshops on iPad integration with EdTechTeacher and I thought it might be helpful to pull together a back to school list of apps structured around specific classroom goals. While many schools may already have an Apple VPP program already in place, I know a number of teachers will also be purchasing the apps themselves. Therefore, I will do my best to include both a pay & free app for each objective.

Tuesday, August 07, 2012

Readers: Six resources every teacher should have

Readers: Six resources every teacher should have | News | eClassroom News

Every carpenter has his tool belt, and every journalist has her AP style guide—but what are the resources that a teacher in the 21st century should have? We recently turned to our readers for help with this question, asking: “If you could recommend just one teaching resource to your colleagues, what would it be and why?

8 Great Reasons to Flip Your Classroom (and 4 of the Wrong Reasons), from Bergmann and Sams | Emerging Education Technology

8 Great Reasons to Flip Your Classroom (and 4 of the Wrong Reasons), from Bergmann and Sams | Emerging Education Technology

The New “Flip Your Classroom” book by John Bergmann and Aaron Sams is loaded with experienced insights, ideas, and lessons learned. I first came across John Bergmann’s work when I wrote “7 Stories From Educators About Teaching In The Flipped Classroom” last fall. What I did not know at that time was that he had won the Presidential Award for Excellence for Math and Science Teaching in 2002 and was named semifinalist for the Colorado Teacher of the Year in 2010. Aaron Sams also received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching, in 2009. Together, Aaron and John recently created the flippedclassroom.org social network, and this year they have published, “Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day”. These guys are flipped classroom rock stars (although I think they would probably cringe at that label)!

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

25 Ways Teachers Can Integrate Social Media Into Education | Edudemic

25 Ways Teachers Can Integrate Social Media Into Education | Edudemic

Some teachers embrace technology and social media. Others lurk. Many ignore. So what does the average teacher do if they’re somewhere in the middle? Why, use the handy infographic from Online Colleges of course! Below you’ll see a guide to who is using social media (pretty much everyone is aware of it) to which actual social networks they prefer.

The World of Massive Open Online Courses

The World of Massive Open Online Courses
Presented By: Online Colleges

Nancy Lublin: Texting that saves lives | Video on TED.com

Nancy Lublin: Texting that saves lives | Video on TED.com

When Nancy Lublin started texting teenagers to help with her social advocacy organization, what she found was shocking -- they started texting back about their own problems, from bullying to depression to abuse. So she's setting up a text-only crisis line, and the results might be even more important than she expected.

 


Monday, July 30, 2012

Teachers Easy Guide to The Most Important Web Tools in Education

Teachers Easy Guide to The Most Important Web Tools in Education

When it comes to using web resources with our students, time plays a decisive role.It is next to impossible for  a busy teacher restricted by curriculum constraints, day to day lesson preparations, assignment corrections, to mention but a few of his chores, to effectively search the web and find the adequate resources to share with his/ her students. Most people just do not have the time to learn all these technologies  and  some educators pick just one or two websites of interest and start exploring them.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

9 Great New Web Tools for Teachers

9 Great New Web Tools for Teachers

Everyday new web 2.0 tools emerge and some others die. It is thanks to the existence of such tools that internet became interactive and users shifted from the basic role of just passive consumers of digital input to active participant in the creation of the digital knowledge. The fact that this information revolution has radically transfomed education is no novel news to teachers and educators. The use of technology in education has become pervasive and the more we continue to invest in this field the better our instrction become.

10 Interactive Lessons By Google On Digital Citizenship | Edudemic

10 Interactive Lessons By Google On Digital Citizenship | Edudemic
YouTube has a firm place in the current classroom. From Khan Academy’s videos to YouTube EDU and beyond, there’s a reason all these videos are finding a home in schools. In an effort to help keep the ball rolling, Google just launched a set of 10 interactive lessons designed to support teachers in educating students on digital citizenship. A topic obviously quite close to Google’s heart.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

6 Tips for the Successful Online Teacher -- THE Journal

6 Tips for the Successful Online Teacher -- THE Journal

In recent intake interviews with new students of education at West Texas A&M University, I found that teaching online is the new Holy Grail for many young K-12 educators. They dream about how wonderful it would be to spend part of their day working from home in their bunny slippers and to conduct meaningful interactions with students via Skype while preparing dinner. To this group, teaching online means never having to be anywhere at any particular time, never having to wear uncomfortable "professional clothes," and never being asked a question without having time to research the answer. After two decades in online teaching in both the corporate world and higher education, I regret to report that the grass is not necessarily greener on the other side of the network connection. While online teaching offers many rewards for instructors, it takes a special set of skills and attitudes to excel at it. And these are emphatically not the same skills and attitudes that make an exceptional classroom teacher. Here's the mindset it takes to be a successful online teacher:

Sunday, July 15, 2012

11 Reasons Teachers Aren't Using Technology

Education Rethink: 11 Reasons Teachers Aren't Using Technology #edchat #edtech

I know that all tools are technically technology. However, for the purpose of this post, I'm thinking computers, tablets and mobile devices. This is not a comprehensive list and I admit that it's limited entirely to my own experiences and my own local context:

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Online video editing

Free Technology for Teachers: 10 Ways to Create Videos Without Installing Software

Creating videos used to require that you own expensive equipment and software. Fortunately, that is no longer the case. In fact, now there are many tools you can use to create videos online. Here is a collection of some of my favorite tools for creating videos online.

Make a music video!

Free Technology for Teachers: Quickly Create a Music Video on Tracking Shot

Quickly Create a Music Video on Tracking Shot Tracking Shot is a simple music video creation tool that apparently has been around for a while, but I just recently learned about it from Nathan Hall. Tracking Shot is kind of like a stripped-down version of Animoto. To create a music video using Tracking Shot just upload some pictures, upload music, and let Tracking Shot mix the video. If you're not happy with the original mix, click the remix link and get a new version of the video. One of the limitations of Tracking Shot is that the only ways to share your videos is by email or by posting a link online. There doesn't appear to be an embed option available.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

See how secure your password is

Free Technology for Teachers: How Secure Is Your Password? Let's Find Out

How Secure Is Your Password? Let's Find Out How Secure Is My Password? is a great little site that Kern Kelley showed off at the Google Apps Bootcamp in New Hampshire today. How Secure Is My Password? allows you to see how long it would take a person or a computer to guess your password. One of my passwords would take 2 million years to crack.

Tuesday, July 03, 2012

iPads in education - making a difference

elearn Magazine: It's the Pedagogy, Stupid: Lessons from an iPad Lending Program

Recently, we were tasked with developing policies and procedures for an equipment lending program initiated within the Faculty Technology Resources Center at the University of Cincinnati. The program was conceived as a method for encouraging the use of technology in the classroom. By loaning equipment to faculty for an academic term, we would encourage them to evaluate—and hopefully innovate—the utility of various "cutting edge" technologies with no financial risks to themselves or their departments.

Find an online class

Learn It Live with experts in online classes

Life-changing online connections to experts Meet face-to-face and interact with top experts online to lead a healthier, more-succcessful life. Take classes in health, nutrition, yoga, business, and more. At Learn It Live, it's as good as being there.

Monday, July 02, 2012

Need to learn about Android OS?

The Complete Android Guide - Complete Guides

The Complete Android Guide

Find your old tweets

I Came, I Saw, I Learned...: Social Media: How to Search for (and Actually Find) Your Old Tweets

Social Media: How to Search for (and Actually Find) Your Old Tweets by AJ George  Last week I wrote an article about the WWDC announcements and wanted to link back to some interesting articles I'd tweeted in regard to iPads in the classroom. Searching through old tweets (particularly when you are a frequent tweeter), however, can be a bit of a nightmare. Luckily there are some free sites that will handle this chore for you.

Monday, June 11, 2012

iPad Implementation

Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org: Responding to 20 #iPad Implementation Questions

Responding to 20 #iPad Implementation Questions

The 33 Digital Skills Every 21st Century Teacher should Have

The 33 Digital Skills Every 21st Century Teacher should Have

Every single teacher is concerned about his/ her teaching practices and the skills involved in this process. How many times have you wondered about a better way to teach the same lesson you have delivered to an eariler class? How often have you used technology to engage your students and improve their learning ? These are some recurring questions we keep regurgitating each time our teaching skills are put to the test.

A Master List of 500 Free Courses From Great Universities | Open Culture

A Master List of 500 Free Courses From Great Universities | Open Culture

During the past two days, our list of Free Online Movies has been getting some good exposure. And we’ve got no complaints. But while assembling the movie list, we were also busy putting together a list of 500 Free Online Courses from top universities. Here’s the lowdown: This master list lets you download free courses from schools like Stanford, Yale, MIT, Oxford, Harvard and UC Berkeley. Generally, the courses can be accessed via YouTube, iTunes or university web sites. Right now you’ll find 55 courses in Philosophy, 50 in History, 50 in Computer Science, 35 in Physics, and that’s just beginning to scratch the surface. Most of the courses were recently produced. But, in some cases, we’ve layered in lecture series by famous intellectuals recorded years ago. Here are some highlights from the complete list.

Wednesday, June 06, 2012

20 Google Tools for Today's Classrooms

20 Google Tools for Today’s Classrooms | Digital Learning Environments
Google continues to provide a wealth of useful easy-to-use tools that can be used well in the classroom. Some of these are newer and some have been around for a while. All of these tools, as well as additional tools can be found at Google Options.

Tuesday, June 05, 2012

Twitter in Education

12 Reasons to Get Your School District Tweeting This Summer by @joe_mazza | TeacherCast Blog

Everyone is on Twitter these days, so why not your school district? Twitter provides an easy platform to keep your followers updated — moment by moment, if necessary! — about developing situations, sudden brainstorms and calls to action. Following are 12 reasons to get your school district tweeting this summer so that you can hit the ground running at the start of the next school year.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

15 educational experiences my granddaughter won't have

15 educational experiences my granddaughter won't have - Home - Doug Johnson's Blue Skunk Blog
Avram Piltch identifies "15 Technologies My Newborn Son Won't Use" in a recent Gizmodo/Laptop post. (Read it - it's fun.) These are:

ADSL (wired Internet access)
Dedicated Cameras And Camcorders
Landline Phones
Slow-Booting Computers
Windowed Operating Systems
Hard Drives
Movie Theatres
The Mouse
3D Glasses
Remote Controls
Desktops
Phone Numbers
Primetime Television
Fax Machines
Optical Discs

About half of these things are nearly extinct already.....

Monday, May 21, 2012

Remove your social media from Google search

Remove your social media from Google search | How To - CNET
About to interview for a new job or just tired of your every thought landing in Google search results? Here's how to stop that from happening in the future......

Monday, May 14, 2012

How to Break Free of Our 19th-Century Factory-Model Education System

How to Break Free of Our 19th-Century Factory-Model Education System - Joel Rose - Business - The Atlantic
More than 150 years ago, Massachusetts became the first state to provide all of its citizens access to a free public education. Over the next 66 years, every other state made the same guarantee. The result was a publicly-funded system where, in every American classroom, groups of about 28 students of roughly the same age are taught by one teacher, usually in an 800 square-foot room. This model has been the dominant archetype ever since.

Tuesday, May 08, 2012

David Thornburg on the Evolving Classroom (Big Thinkers Series)



The noted educational futurist describes his "holodeck" classroom -- an environment that supports project-based learning -- and makes the case for why the role of the teacher must change from lecturer to exploration guide.

Wednesday, May 02, 2012

Apps to Support Bloom's Taxonomy - Android, Google, iPad and Web 2.0

Educational Technology Guy: Apps to Support Bloom's Taxonomy - Android, Google, iPad and Web 2.0
I had seen two great charts Kathy Schrock had made about Apps to Support Bloom's taxonomy. I have seen, and used, the one's for Android and Google. I just found two more on her site: iPad and Web 2.0 Apps......

Friday, April 27, 2012

TED's New Site Turns Any YouTube Video Into a Lesson

TED's New Site Turns Any YouTube Video Into a Lesson
TED launched a new online tool on Wednesday that turns any YouTube video into a lesson.

The conference series is calling the process “flipping a video,” a reference to the idea of “flipping the classroom” that has been popularized by Salman Khan and his YouTube school Khan Academy......

Tech Forum Online - April 27th

The Tech Forum is live on April 27th!


Watch live streaming video from techlearning at livestream.com

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

50+ Web 2.0 Ways to Tell a Story

50+Ways - home

It was not long ago that producing multimedia digital content required expensive equipment and deep levels of technical expertise. We are at the point now where anyone can create and publish very compelling content with nothing more complex than a web browser.

50+ web tools you can use to create your own web-based story

CogDogRoo - StoryTools

Below you will find 50+ web tools you can use to create your own web-based story. Again, the mission is not to review or try every single one (that would be madness, I know), but pick one that sounds interesting and see if you can produce something....

Monday, April 23, 2012

iBook Tutorials

Apps in Education: Monster List of iBook Tutorials

There are numerous sites that are now offering Tutorials and how-to guides for creating ebooks in iBook Author. As teachers are now comfortable with the idea of creating their own e-textbooks more and more people are looking for resources to learn how to build touch enabled books that take full advantage of the iPad capabilities. Inserting video and high resolution photographs is one thing but how about inserting 3D manipulatives and models that are touch sensitive. Here is a list of some of the resources online. If you know of other good ones please add them in the comments section and we will update the list.

Friday, April 20, 2012

15 Sites for Finding Images and Clip Art for Education

- 15 Sites for Finding Images and Clip Art for Education
15 Sites for Finding Images and Clip Art for Education
A while back I did a top 10 sites for finding images and clip art for education. However, a lot of things have changed since then and a few of those sites no longer exist. A handful of new and exciting sites have been developed for education for finding images, which led me to creating a new list. Keep in mind, when searching for images for students it is always a good idea to have adult supervision/filtering solution. The following list is in alphabetical order. ....

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

The 5 Best Fact-Checking Websites

Is It Really True? The 5 Best Fact-Checking Websites
Fact checking has its origin in the early 20th century, when magazines began to verify statements made in non-fictional texts prior to publication. This practice increases credibility and trustworthiness of articles and documents. Today, fact checking is often associated with political journalism, but can of course be used in any field, including your homework.

Using the following fact checking websites, you can verify factual assertions made in your own writings......

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

ePortfolios with GoogleApps

ePortfolios - Overview - ePortfolios with GoogleApps
An ePortfolio (electronic portfolio) is an electronic collection of evidence that shows your learning journey over time. Portfolios can relate to specific academic fields or your lifelong learning. Evidence may include writing samples, photos, videos, research projects, observations by mentors and peers, and/or reflective thinking. The key aspect of an eportfolio is your reflection on the evidence, such as why it was chosen and what you learned from the process of developing your eportfolio. (Adapted from Philippa Butler’s “Review of the Literature on Portfolios and Eportfolios” (2006), page 2.)

10 Animation Apps

Apps in Education: 10 Animation Apps
10 Animation Apps
I have blogged previously about the power of apps that tell stories as an educational activity. It stimulates higher order thinking skills, it provides opportunities for reflection and it enriches the learning experience for our students. So here I have listed apps that allow your students to create animations. I love the simplicity with which animations allow difficult concepts to be easily explained. These apps provide you with another set of tools to enhance your students learning.

10 Tech Skills Every Student Should Have

Educational Technology Guy: 10 Tech Skills Every Student Should Have
Earlier this month, I wrote "10 Important Skills Students Need for the Future." After reading a few articles about specific tech skills, I thought I write what I think are the 10 Important Tech Skills Students Need.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Great Presentation Alternative | Mark Brumley

Vuvox Express – Great Presentation Alternative | Mark Brumley
Vuvox Express – Great Presentation Alternative

One of my favorite, all-time, web 2.0 sites for the classroom is Vuvox. It’s so cool I can’t stand it!

Vuvox-expressOne component of Vuvox is Vuvox Express. This tool allows you to easily create ridiculously awesome slideshows with completely innovative looks. Sure, you can use it to show vacation photos, but try is as a presentation tool alternative.

Go ahead and build a presentation in PowerPoint but make sure you use big, bold images. Cover the entire slide with an image if possible and definitely keep text to a minimum. Then, save as jpeg images: File > Save As > File type = jpeg. So now, all of your slides are image files.

Load all of your images to either Picasa or Flickr. I like Picasa because you can make an album called, “Presentation” and place all of the images in it. Flickr does not allow this level of control when importing into Vuvox…just trust me on this.

Go to Vuvox and create a new Express creation. Choose the style and variation you like (and there are many cool variations). Load images from your Picasa account and make sure you choose the correct album. Done! Now just view your creation and make sure you click full screen. Your audience will be blown away!

Turn Your Old Netbook Into a Chromebook

Free Technology for Teachers: Turn Your Old Netbook Into a Chromebook
Turn Your Old Netbook Into a Chromebook

A couple of months ago I shared some news about Kevin Jarrett's Project Chromebook blog on which he's sharing his experiences with Chromebooks in his elementary school. In Kevin's school they leased Chromebooks for a sixty day trial. Over the weekend I realized that there is another way that you can try the Chrome OS, install it on an old netbook. So that is exactly what I'm going to do.

Sunday, April 08, 2012

Through the Wild Web Woods

Free Technology for Teachers: Through the Wild Web Woods

In an effort to teach children about potential dangers online and how to avoid them, the Council of Europe has offers a game called Through the  Wild Web Woods. Through the Wild Web Woods is designed for students ages seven through ten to learn how to spot danger on the Internet and what to do when they do spot danger on the Internet. The game is available in twenty-four languages.

Friday, April 06, 2012

An introductory guide to iPads for Teachers

http://www.whiteboardblog.co.uk/2012/04/an-introductory-guide-to-ipads-for-teachers/

Here’s some of the useful apps I’d recommend investigating. Some are free, others the price of a pint or so. Links are to the UK version of iTunes so other readers may need to do a search in the App Store to find the version for their region.

Sunday, April 01, 2012

10 ways Evernote can help make students more productive

10 ways Evernote can help make students more productive « newtechtimeline
For those of you who haven’t come across it, Evernote is a remember-everything app. It remembers, everything. When used to its full potential, it has the capacity to improve the productivity of our students. Here are 10 reasons I think it could help to do just that, with a particular focus on the role of Evernote in 1:1 iPad schemes

Thursday, March 29, 2012

10 Sites to use with Mobile Phones in Education

- 10 Sites to use with Mobile Phones in Education
The use of mobile technology has opened up a whole new world in education. Terms like BYOD (bring your own device) are a commonplace occurrence. These devices have allowed educators and students to learn, teach, and study in a whole new way. Learning is no longer limited to the classroom and can occur in real-time almost anywhere. Following are my favorite sites, listed alphabetically, that help learners use mobile phones for educational purposes.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Digitize Student Work With the Three Ring App

Free Technology for Teachers: Digitize Student Work With the Three Ring App
Digitize Student Work With the Three Ring App

Three Ring is a new free service offering free Android and iPhone apps for digitizing and organizing student work. Using the app teachers can take a picture of a student's work and upload it to a free Three Ring account. Three Ring offers teachers a lot of organizational flexibility. You could organize artifacts by student name, class, date, or just about any other tagging system that works for you.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

80+ Google Forms for the Classroom | edte.ch

80+ Google Forms for the Classroom | edte.ch

Google Forms is a great tool and I hope to use it more throughout this year. Take a look here for a more detailed introduction and guide to using and creating a Google Form – this was written prior to Google bringing forms into the NEW menu.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Learn and teach anything.

ShowMe - The Online Learning Community

Learn and teach anything.

ShowMe is an open learning community where you can learn or teach any subject. Watch great lessons for free, or create your own.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Why Schools Need to Catch Up With Social and Mobile Media

Why Schools Need to Catch Up With Social and Mobile Media

Ever since its introduction, the personal computer has been hailed as a savior that would revolutionize education. Yet almost 30 years after the debut of the Apple Macintosh, many classrooms still look very much the same as they did in the 1950s. Students still lug around heavy books in thick bags and sit at metal-frame desks while a teacher writes with chalk on a blackboard........

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Tuesday, March 06, 2012

What's different about mobile learning?

What's different about mobile learning?

What's different about mobile learning?

As the doors open to a new era of mobile learning and performance support, it's a good time to step back and think about the new mindset required when designing for mobile.

Although a mobile pedagogy will continue to evolve, we already know quite a bit about how people use mobile devices and some of the advantages of mobile learning.What's different about mobile learning?
As the doors open to a new era of mobile learning and performance support, it's a good time to step back and think about the new mindset required when designing for mobile.

Although a mobile pedagogy will continue to evolve, we already know quite a bit about how people use mobile devices and some of the advantages of mobile learning.....

Use Custom HTML and Javascript in Google Sites

Free Technology for Teachers: Use Custom HTML and Javascript in Google Sites
Use Custom HTML and Javascript in Google Sites

This afternoon the Google Docs and Sites team announced some very useful enhancements to both products. To me, the most exciting news in the announcement is that you can now use custom HTML and Javascript in your Google Sites pages. I have long be frustrated by how difficult, impossible actually without a lot of work arounds, it is to use many custom widgets like some of these survey tools in Google Sites. Now if you want to use custom HTML, Javascript, or CSS in Google Sites all you have to do is select the "HTML box" from the "insert menu" then paste your code. Read Google's directions here.

A student guide to studying online

A student guide to studying online
What you need to know before you enroll for an online course

Although most students adjust very quickly, studying online is different in some ways from studying in class. In particular, it requires discipline to keep ‘on schedule’ when there are no daily set lectures or classes to attend.

The importance of online course design

The way a course is designed can make an enormous difference to how easy it is to study online. Well designed courses do provide strong guidelines for when work, and what kind of work (writing assignments, tests or online class discussion), needs to be done. Poorly designed courses place much more onus on the student to organize their work, although a well designed program will deliberately encourage more and more independence and self-management as students progress through the program. However, if you are taking an undergraduate or two year college online course, it should be well designed, and that means being very clear about what is expected of you as a student.

Friday, March 02, 2012

Ten Videos Every Educator Should Watch (and Reflect on)

Ten Videos Every Educator Should Watch (and Reflect on) | Eductechalogy
The internet abound with videos for educators, some contextual and benefit educators in particular situations at a particular time (e.g. tools tutorials) while others are timeless by focusing on what really matters in education.

50 Sites in 60 Minutes, Volume Three

- 50 Sites in 60 Minutes, Volume Three

From Tech& Learning ...
This is a collection of sites that I like to use in a one-hour session of professional development. I like to update it twice a year to keep things fresh and because the first two were such a huge success. The last volume received over 21,000 views on Slideshare alone. As with all my resources, feel free to use them any way you see fit and I hope you enjoy it. I've even seen this used as teaching tool for a blogging exercise at the college level. Stay tuned for volume four sometime this summer!

Friday, February 24, 2012

20 Essential TED Talks for Future Leaders | Online Universities

20 Essential TED Talks for Future Leaders | Online Universities
If you want to get to the top in any field, whether it’s business, science, or even construction, you have to have some pretty solid leadership skills. Unfortunately, these kinds of skills often aren’t the sort of thing you’ll find being taught in your college courses, and may take some extra effort to learn and apply outside of your classes. While there is little substitute for leadership experience through campus organizations, hearing from experts on psychology, leadership, and business can also be a big help in giving you a basic leadership education. TED is one of the best places to find all of these diverse subjects in one place, and here we’ve collected some of the best videos for anyone, young or old, hoping to hone their leadership abilities.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

50 Sites in 60 Minutes, Volume Three

- 50 Sites in 60 Minutes, Volume Three
50 Sites in 60 Minutes, Volume Three
This is a collection of sites that I like to use in a one-hour session of professional development. I like to update it twice a year to keep things fresh and because the first two were such a huge success. The last volume received over 21,000 views on Slideshare alone. As with all my resources, feel free to use them any way you see fit and I hope you enjoy it. I've even seen this used as teaching tool for a blogging exercise at the college level. Stay tuned for volume four sometime this summer!

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Web 2.0 Tools for Educators

http://pinterest.com/esheninger/web-2-0-tools-for-educators/

Social media provides a variety of tools, commonly referred to as Web 2.0, that educators can use to engage students and enhance essential skills (communication, collaboration, creativity, media literacy, technological proficiency, global awareness. Other tools can be leveraged to become more efficient and effective at what we do in education.

Friday, February 17, 2012

Mailvu - Unleash the Power of Video with the Simplicity of Email.

MailVu

We make video easy! mailVU is a full featured video platform which enables businesses and individuals to record and distribute video content. A free version is available via mailVU.com, the mailVU iPhone/iPad/iTouch app, or the mailVU chrome browser plug-in. For businesses we offer an account for all your videos with branding, upload, download, and embed capability, and a customer testimonial widget. Place the  video short URLs in Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn...anywhere! For service providers and Universities we offer a complete white label version implemented through our API, or by reselling our business accounts. Contact info at mailVU dot com for further details.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Your information on the web.

Digital Identity vs Digital Self. «
This is a beautiful video which outlines how your identity is formed on the web. While I am an advocate for children and adults figuring out what this means, and how to manage it, it reinforces my belief that virtual worlds are in fact a far safer place for children to begin using the Internet. I used this video with my eight year old daughter today to help explain why she wasn’t going to play some Zanga game of Facebook, not least supported by fact she doesn’t have a Facebook account. What I didn’t expect is that she largely understood the technical terms and certainly the concepts. She has learned that with her friends in our game world – so do I mind her playing vide0-games and having several avatars? No, what I fear more is what would happen if she didn’t.

Thursday, February 09, 2012

Piazza - Not Just Another Message Board System

Free Technology for Teachers: Piazza - Not Just Another Message Board System
Piazza - Not Just Another Message Board System
Over the years I've reviewed quite a few services that offer teachers the ability to create private message boards for use in their courses. Here's a handful of those services. Today, I learned about one that tops all of those services.

Piazza is a free service that teachers can use to create message boards for their courses. Piazza message boards offer more than just the standard question and answer format found in the old free Ning packages, but not quite as many features as a paid service like Blackboard. Some of the highlights of Piazza are tracking of student use, options for having multiple instructors and or teaching assistants in each course, and collaborative editing of messages. Piazza also offers the things that you might expect like basic announcement posting.....

Technology Integration Professional Development Guide | Edutopia

Technology Integration Professional Development Guide | Edutopia
Technology Integration Teaching ModuleEdutopia.org's Technology Integration professional development guide is meant for use either after completion of the Project-Based Learning Guide or with participants who are familiar with project-based learning. The guide is designed for a two- to three-hour class or session. It can be used in conjunction with trainings on technology used in classroom settings.




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Sunday, February 05, 2012

Apps for Administrators

Apps for Administrators

On this page you will find some suggested apps for Administrators as well as a link to the App on iTunes. If you have any suggestions, please add a comment to this page.

Keynote - A slideshow presentation program
Pages- A word processing program
Numbers - A spreadsheet application
iBooks - An ereader book store from Apple. You can also add your own ePubs or PDFs as well.
Notability - text to speech or just a note taking app
UPad- a flexible note taking app that includes a wide range of paper templates
iThoughtsHD - A mind map tool for the iPad
Evernote - Evernote turns the iPad into an extension of your brain, helping you remember anything and everything that happens in your life.
Stick It - Sticky Notes with Bump™ - Sticky notes you can share with other iPad Users
Cramberry - Create flash cards to study from.
Bento - Manage things with 25 ready to use databases.
Common Core Standards - View the Common Core State Standards in one convenient FREE app! A great reference for students, parents, and teachers to easily read and understand the core standards. Quickly find standards by subject, grade, and subject category (domain/cluster).
Common Core Look-Fors (Mathematics) - This is an observation tool for the Standards for Mathematical Practice and Standards of Mathematical Content of the Common Core State Standards (CCSSO, 2010). Track progress through the standards.
WolframAlpha - A powerful computational search engine.

Resources

10 Free Web Conferencing Tools

http://open-tube.com/7-free-web-conferencing-tools/

We had earlier covered how telepresence helps to save cost. Similarly, virtual meetings too can save money and support environment by eliminating travel. Online presentations, meetings are now normal and pretty much every organization makes use of some form of virtual meeting on the internet. WebEx is one of the pioneer in Web Conference technology  and now it is part of Cisco. There are others like GoToMeeting, IBM Sametime etc that offer compelling features. But these services are expensive and small companies, group of people can not afford such higher premium price.....

Friday, February 03, 2012

Digital Learning: What Kids Really Want -- THE Journal

Digital Learning: What Kids Really Want -- THE Journal
According to Project Tomorrow CEO Julie Evans, "Today's students have their own 'student vision' for how they want to use technology for learning. That vision," she said, "is really a statement of how students want to learn in general."

Wednesday, February 01, 2012

iPaddiction: Draw Venn for iPad

iPaddiction: Draw Venn for iPad
In every classroom setting, I always start with the educational content that students need to discover and build tech tools around that. At 8:00 am yesterday, I knew we were going to discuss the two different major armies in the American Revolutionary War. With that came us describing each advantage that the armies had while fighting. This led to some differences that they had as well.



This brought me to the thought that a Venn Diagram would the perfect tool. Prior to iPads, I would have had students draw two big circles on their papers. Black and White with some Blue horizontal lines running through them. This would get the job done, but really allows for little creativity. It also allows for students to hide in their notebook.

As always, there must be an app for that! This brings me to Draw Venn for iPad. A well designed app that is visually appealing. I found it by simply searching with Google: "Venn Diagram iTunes App" Whenever I use iTunes app it simply searches the links from iTunes and usually nets plenty of choices!




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Friday, January 27, 2012

Participating in CCK12

I'm joining #CCK12 - you should too.

Welcome to CCK12 ~ Connectivism & Connective Knowledge 2012
Welcome to CCK12

Connectivism and Connective Knowledge is an open online course that over 12 weeks explores the concepts of connectivism and connective knowledge and explore their application as a framework for theories of teaching and learning. Participation is open to everyone and there are no fees or subscriptions required.

Register Here

The course will outline a connectivist understanding of educational systems of the future. It will help participants make sense of the transformative impact of technology in teaching and learning over the last decade. The voices calling for reform do so from many perspectives, with some suggesting 'new learners' require different learning models, others suggesting reform is needed due to globalization and increased competition, and still others suggesting technology is the salvation for the shortfalls evident in the system today. While each of these views tell us about the need for change, they overlook the primary reasons why change is required.






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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Lynda.com

Software training online-tutorials for Adobe, Microsoft, Apple & more

Lynda.com
Now you can learn online, when you want to, at your own speed, with Lynda.com. Get 24x7 access to almost 1,200 self-paced online courses and more than 50,000 individual tutorials.

Learn how to use Excel, InDesign, HTML, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Google Docs, and more. Build your skills in design and photography. Try your hand at mobile app development.




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Tuesday, January 24, 2012

e-learning outlook for 2012

e-learning outlook for 2012: will it be a rough ride?
Another year, and online learning, e-learning, learning technologies, educational technologies, digital learning, or whatever you call it or them, will continue to grow, become more prevalent, and more a central part of teaching and learning in higher education – but exactly how and in what ways?

The general trends are not going to change much from 2011 (which I identified as course redesign, mobile learning, more multimedia, learning analytics,and shared services), but some of the specifics are becoming clearer. Below I’ve ranked my predictions in order of significance for higher education, and also given a probability rating of the prediction actually happening.....




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Thursday, January 19, 2012

20 Hottest Hashtags for Teachers on Twitter

20 Hottest Hashtags for Teachers on Twitter - Best Colleges Online
As a teacher, continuing education is so important that most school districts require that teachers enroll in some form of coursework on a regular basis to keep their knowledge and skills fresh. And while those courses are essential, staying on top of the cutting edge of educational development is important as well. Through Twitter discussions, teachers can follow the latest in education, whether it’s educational technology or new ways to teach math. These 20 hashtags offer teachers a convenient way to become part of chats and discussions that share the absolute latest in education news, resources, and ideas.....




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Wednesday, January 18, 2012

The 40 Best iPad Apps for Young Learners

The 40 Best iPad Apps for Young Learners - Online Colleges
The best way to get your parents to buy you expensive gadgets has always been to really sell the educational value. “But Mom, if you buy me a Nintendo, think about how much my spelling will improve playing Wheel of Fortune.” Of course, these days it’s all about the iPad. For every Angry Birds there’s an educational game out there to improve your child’s mind. Here are 40 of the best apps for your young Einstein. Most of them are paid apps, but if you’ve got $500 to drop on an iPad, we’re thinking you won’t mind......

Friday, January 13, 2012

Tips and success stories for effective mobile learning

Tips and success stories for effective mobile learning | eSchool News
More and more schools are using mobile learning devices to help boost student engagement and achievement, and a new monograph from the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) examines some of the best practices in mobile devices from schools across the nation.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Photo Pin

Fisheye, Macro, Wide Angle and Telephoto Phone Lenses

Fisheye, Macro, Wide Angle and Telephoto Phone Lenses
It's hard to believe you were that Snobby McSnobberson of yore -- 100% dedicated to film and cringing at the "D" in DSLR. But then, cell phone cameras happened.

It was the readiness with which you could whip out this camera that made you fall in love. Yes, it had you at hello (get it? it's a phone), and now your only wish is to bathe your beloved with lavish accessories.

Well, your wish is granted! Our high-clarity glass cell phone lenses are like pro lenses for your camera phone, giving you crisp and clear shots every time.






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One Laptop Per Child Debuts Rugged Tablet for Students in the Developing World

One Laptop Per Child Debuts Rugged Tablet for Students in the Developing World
one laptop per child tabletOne Laptop Per Child will unveil its XO 3.0 tablet at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas Monday. The fully functional tablet is designed to be inexpensive, use little energy and brave extreme weather conditions.

The rugged tablet includes the Marvell ARMADA PXA618 SOC processor, Avastar Wi-Fi SOC, standard or Pixel Qi sunlight-readable display, and supports Android and Linux operating systems. Unlike any other tablet on the market, it can be powered by solar energy, other alternative sources or hand-cranks.....

Monday, January 09, 2012

ScreenTweet – Awesome Twitter Tool

ScreenTweet – Awesome Twitter Tool | Mark Brumley
I’m super excited to work with this web 2.0 tool in education. I just discovered ScreenTweet and see great potential in the classroom. Let’s take a look.

Yes, many image tweeting services exist. Probably the most popular is TwitPic. However, I have been looking for a tool that delivers e-learning and audio as well. ScreenTweet does the job.....

Friday, January 06, 2012

Study: iPad Apps Improve Learning | Edudemic

Study: iPad Apps Improve Learning | Edudemic

First of its kind evidence shows that an iPad learning app can measurably deliver educational value.

I’ve tested, rated, tried out, and put tons of educational iPad apps through their paces. Some are worthwhile, some are not worth your time. That’s why I was excited to read about a new study that attempted to figure out the actual effectiveness of iPad apps in learning. In a landmark study, a USC professor studied 122 fifth-graders from two schools and four math classes to assess the effectiveness of an iPad app for improving students’ fractions knowledge and attitudes.

The study is the first to document learning and motivation gains achieved through iPad game play.  Even without data of this nature, more than 600 school districts nationwide have already integrated iPads into their curriculum. This study, centered around Motion Math (video below), a fractions game available on the iPad, iPhone, and iPad, is the first to suggest that the investment may be worth it.

Education researcher Michelle Riconscente (Los Angeles) designed and constructed the study, which was funded by a grant from the Noyce Foundation and Stanford StartX company, Motion Math.

First of its kind evidence shows that an iPad learning app can measurably deliver educational value.

I’ve tested, rated, tried out, and put tons of educational iPad apps through their paces. Some are worthwhile, some are not worth your time. That’s why I was excited to read about a new study that attempted to figure out the actual effectiveness of iPad apps in learning. In a landmark study, a USC professor studied 122 fifth-graders from two schools and four math classes to assess the effectiveness of an iPad app for improving students’ fractions knowledge and attitudes.

The study is the first to document learning and motivation gains achieved through iPad game play. Even without data of this nature, more than 600 school districts nationwide have already integrated iPads into their curriculum. This study, centered around Motion Math (video below), a fractions game available on the iPad, iPhone, and iPad, is the first to suggest that the investment may be worth it.

Education researcher Michelle Riconscente (Los Angeles) designed and constructed the study, which was funded by a grant from the Noyce Foundation and Stanford StartX company, Motion Math.

Thursday, January 05, 2012

Teaching Kids with iPads

Teaching Kids with iPads – Part 1 of 5 | Elementary School Tech Ideas

A few months ago I took a survey of my elementary kids to see what kind of mobile technology they had at home and it turned out that 53% of my students in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades had iPads and 82% had iPods! With over half of my students having iPads, there is no doubt that soon they will be bringing these devices to school — so it go me thinking…

How do I teach students with iPads?

So I called my friends over at Atomic Learning to brainstorm some ideas and we both agreed that this was a question worth answering. They explained that they are working with classrooms that have iPads and they have been gathering some interesting ideas on how iPad classrooms are a lot different than conventional ones. So with some pointers from them, I decided to do an iPad Boot Camp.....

Monday, January 02, 2012

10 Super Geeky Tips for the New Year

10 Super Geeky Tips for the New Year | The Daring Librarian
I'm usually not one for new year's resolutions. If I decide to do something the calendar doesn't matter & I've blown too many good resolutions to believe an arbitrary day will make a diff. BUT...there are a few things that are easily done & feels great for a SUPER GEEKY SAFE....errm Aware! New Year. (There is no *safe* on the Interwebs, only Aware!).....