September, 2021

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Creative Options for Remote Learning

Ask a Tech Teacher

With schools closed for in-person learning and many children being educated at home, parents are scrambling for quality alternatives that work in a home environment. One of our Ask a Tech Teacher contributors has some ideas you may not have thought of: How to Make Remote Learning Work For Your Children. Many parents are choosing to opt-out of traditional schooling, but the question of how to create a well-rounded curriculum or who to hire for this task is often the barrier that prevents at-home

Learning 422
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Trust is a Leader's Best Friend

A Principal's Reflections

When I began the journey to become a school administrator many years ago, I took the typical courses that were required. These focused on topics such as school law, instructional leadership, change management, school finance, and curriculum development, among many others. While I felt adequately prepared when I finally became a building leader, I quickly realized how valuable the on-the-job training was to my growth.

Course 540
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Creating more interactive learning spaces in the new school year

Neo LMS

At the start of a new school year, especially with some unknowns when it comes to whether we will be full in-person or shifting between learning environments, having various tools available as educators is necessary. Teachers are always looking for new strategies or digital tools that will help students better retain the content and promote student engagement and meaningful learning.

Learning 536
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Shifting from Time-Consuming Teacher-led Workflows to Sustainable Student-led Workflows

Catlin Tucker

I had the pleasure of chatting with Matt Miller this week for my podcast, The Balance. During our conversation, we explored aspects of the teaching profession that are time-consuming and create work-life imbalance. One culprit is the mentality that, “If I don’t grade it, the students won’t do it.” I disagree, especially when it comes to assignments designed to provide students with opportunities to review concepts and practice specific skills.

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Enhancing Higher Education with Generative AI: A Responsible Guide

Generative AI holds tremendous promise for all stakeholders in higher education. But guardrails are needed. Strong governance that empower instructors are at the core of a responsible approach to using generative AI in academia.

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Q&A: What Do K–12 IT Leaders Need to Know about Ransomcloud?

EdTech Magazine

The pervasive threat of ransomware has taken on a new dimension in the past two years. Now, districts have to worry about ransomcloud attacks, in which hackers try to breach cloud service providers such as G Suite and Office 365, encrypt data and emails, then demand a ransom. Ransomcloud has quickly become a significant threat, especially to K­–12 institutions.

Data 544
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Battling Blended Learning Burnout and Finding Balance

The CoolCatTeacher

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter. Tiffany Wycoff, the co-author of the bestselling book, Blended Learning in Action , talks about the state of blended learning today. She shares how some teachers are battling blended learning burnout but that it is necessary for learning today and how we move forward. Sponsor: Screencastify.

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Four Practical Ways to Blend

A Principal's Reflections

When it comes to blended learning, it is essential first to have an underlying understanding as to why this pedagogical strategy is valuable in the classroom. Let’s take a step back before diving into the nuts and bolts. Over the years, I have written a great deal about personalization, which is basically a shift from “what” to “who” as a means for students to demonstrate more ownership over their learning.

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How edtech helps students demonstrate learning in more than one way

Neo LMS

As educators, we must provide a variety of options for students to develop their content area knowledge and skills in ways that meet their interests and needs. When choosing methods and tools to use, it is also important to create opportunities for students to develop social emotional learning (SEL) skills, as they are essential for personal and professional growth.

EdTech 544
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Standard-aligned Rubrics: Assessing Progress Toward Firm Goals While Allowing for Flexible Means

Catlin Tucker

In our book UDL and Blended Learning , Dr. Katie Novak and I encourage teachers to work toward firm, often standards-aligned, goals. We also stress the importance of providing students with flexible means. All students can make progress toward firm goals, but they may need to take different paths to get there. Some students will move more slowly and benefit from additional support, scaffolds, and signage to get to the desired destination.

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How to Choose K–12 Educational Technology Intentionally

EdTech Magazine

When it comes to choosing educational technology, K–12 IT leaders have the opportunity — after more than a year of using whatever was available to achieve learning — to choose tools intentionally. Educators, administrators and technology specialists have the chance to take what they’ve learned during remote learning, evaluate what they’ve implemented and decide how they want to move forward with ed tech.

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Enhancing School Device Management for Improved Learning

Schools face increasing challenges as technology becomes integral to education. Efficient device management is essential for maximizing technology use and safeguarding investments. Our article discusses the importance of tracking devices, outlines current challenges, and suggests modern solutions that go beyond traditional methods like Excel. Learn how advanced tracking systems can streamline operations, improve maintenance, and offer real-time updates for better resource allocation.

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How to Get the Most Out of Google Apps Now with Eric Curts

The CoolCatTeacher

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter. Some awesome changes have happened with Google Apps over summer 2021. In today's show, Eric Curts talks about Google Classroom, Google Docs, and other Google apps and what has happened that is new and cool and how these changes will help classrooms improve this school year.

Google 540
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Announcing the 2021-2022 League of Innovative Schools Cohort

Digital Promise

Digital Promise is thrilled to announce 37 districts—including 26 new districts and 11 returning districts—will join the ranks of the League of Innovative Schools for the 2021-2022 school year. The new cohort extends the network’s reach to 125 districts across 34 states, and expands its cumulative impact to 3.8 million students served over time. Over the past 18 months, innovation has taken on a whole new meaning.

Advocacy 420
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A Five-Step Process for Resolving Conflict

A Principal's Reflections

When it comes to a thriving school culture, many factors can derail progress. While lack of resources, too many mandates, unclear vision, and a lack of accountability might be at the top of the list, I feel that conflict, especially internal, possesses the greatest threat to achieving goals and improving outcomes. While this has always been a part of human nature, it is interesting to observe how it plays out at an individual level.

Outcomes 488
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8 Ways teachers can better deal with digital fatigue

Neo LMS

A version of this post was originally published in EdTech Magazine , on June 18, 2021. Teaching is a profoundly caring profession. Just like doctors, nurses, and therapists, teachers deeply impact the lives of all the people they work with. Their jobs come with high moral obligations, as well as a highly regulated work environment. That alone makes any caring profession deserving of the highest respect from society, as such individuals deal with a specific combination of stress factors daily.

EdTech 472
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Quickly Create Personalized Learning Experiences that Work

How can we actively engage learners 24/7, on their level and according to their interests, while respecting their learning styles? It’s not impossible. In this guide: Explore how to transform traditional, one-way videos into two-way interactive learning experiences Understand different types of artificial intelligence (AI), including - Generative vs.

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Promoting Literacy: Cultivate a Reading Culture

Catlin Tucker

Guest post written by Amy Tobener-Talley. September 8th is International Literacy Day, a great time to think about promoting a class culture that values reading. However, encouraging students to read in and out of class is challenging as small screens command much of their time and attention. It is becoming increasingly difficult to pry students away from Snapchat, Netflix, Spotify, Instagram, and video games to read anything longer than a snippet.

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Asynchronous Learning Gains Popularity Following Pandemic Education Adjustments

EdTech Magazine

A year and a half of online and hybrid learning showed the nation that there is more than one way to learn. Many students found that online education suited their learning style and opted to stick with it even after classrooms reopened their doors. Virtual-only schools saw a rise in admissions, and traditional schools created their own permanently virtual options.

Education 541
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Blended Learning Best Practices During the Pandemic with Thomas Arnett

The CoolCatTeacher

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter. Thomas Arnett from the Christensen Institute Shares What the Insitute has learned from administrators and teachers about best practices for teaching during the pandemic. Sponsor: Screencastify. This year, I introduced the free screencasting tool, Screencastify, the first week of school to all of my students so they could record screencasts.

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Lesson Plan: Online Art Sites

Ask a Tech Teacher

Lots of kids think technology is technical, another word for complicated/difficult/math-like. Here are six websites students can visit that will change their minds: Note: Mr. Picasso Head is no longer available. Click image to enlarge if it’s blurry. –from 55 Technology Projects for the Digital Classroom. Here are more online art websites: BigHuge Labs.

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Can Brain Science Actually Help Make Your Training & Teaching Stick?

Speaker: Andrew Cohen, Founder & CEO of Brainscape

The instructor’s PPT slides are brilliant. You’ve splurged on the expensive interactive courseware. Student engagement is stellar. So… why are half of your students still forgetting everything they learned in just a matter of weeks? It's likely a matter of cognitive science! With so much material to "teach" these days, we often forget to incorporate key proven principles into our curricula — namely active recall, metacognition, spaced repetition, and interleaving practice.

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Closing the Digital Divide with an Emphasis on Learning

A Principal's Reflections

Sponsored post Bridging the digital divide is a monumental task. It begins with providing learners with access to devices and high-quality Internet. For all the challenges it has placed on school systems, the pandemic managed to close the gap in this area significantly. I watched some districts go 1:1 in a matter of days while also providing mobile hotspots for disadvantaged students.

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Digital reflection tools your students can use in class

Neo LMS

The concept of reflective practice is an essential part of the learning process. Taking the time to consider what you know at a moment in time lets you put things into perspective and see the gaps in knowledge, the places for improvement, and what steps you could take to perfect your acquisition level. Conscious reflection is a practice used in many domains where professionals analyze their work, abilities, and overall results.

Tools 444
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3 Strategies for Ed. Companies to Reach Teachers Through Social Media

Ed Tech from the Ground Up

Cognitive ToyBox conducted an experiment to find out which forms of advertising via social media are most effective in reaching educators. The post 3 Strategies for Ed. Companies to Reach Teachers Through Social Media appeared first on Market Brief.

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Chatbots Allow Educators to Delegate Repetitive Tasks and Focus on Teaching

EdTech Magazine

The chatbot revolution isn’t coming — it’s already here. It’s been five years since an AI-enabled chatbot called Jill Watson fooled many students in an artificial intelligence class at Georgia Tech into thinking they’d been interacting with a human teaching assistant all semester. Considered the world’s first intelligent chatbot and powered by IBM Watson technology, Jill Watson took between 1,000 to 1,500 hours to build.

Education 536
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Behind the Bell: The Underlying Impact of Tardiness in K-12 Schools

Managing a K-12 campus with constant pressure to meet performance metrics is challenging. And tardiness can significantly limit a school from reaching these goals. Learn more about why chronic lateness matters, and key strategies to address the following impacts: Data errors caused by manual processes Low attendance and graduation rates that affect a school’s reputation Classroom disruption, which leads to poor academic performance High staff attrition and “The Teacher Exodus” Unmet LCAP goals t

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Using Pop Culture to Teach Writing Skills

The CoolCatTeacher

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter. Nancy Barile has an incredible story of how she uses the show The Walking Dead to engage learners in writing skills and more. Her administration has let her recraft the curriculum around this show with pretty astounding results. Sponsor: Advancement Courses is sponsoring DonorsChoose projects from August 18 – September 24.

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10 Ways Any Teacher Can (and Should) Use Technology

Ask a Tech Teacher

Common Core tells us: New technologies have broadened and expanded the role that speaking and listening play in acquiring and sharing knowledge and have tightened their link to other forms of communication. Digital texts confront students with the potential for continually updated content and dynamically changing combinations of words, graphics, images, hyperlinks, and embedded video and audio.

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Center & Empower Educator Voice in Edtech Market: A Collaborative Vision

Digital Promise

Let’s center educator voice in the design and selection of edtech tools. Over the last year and a half, the level of urgency to find flexible tools that support educators and learners in creating powerful learning experiences increased tenfold, with edtech application use nearly doubling in one year. More than ever, the edtech industry needs to respond to the ever-changing needs of educators and learners.

EdTech 366
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7 Outside of the box ideas for teaching students who don’t like writing

Neo LMS

Writing is seen as the topmost skill to master by students. Case in point, most Higher Education institutions require strong writing abilities. It’s no wonder that educators focus on writing from as early as kindergarten. That’s why it can be frustrating to convince reluctant students of the importance of writing, especially when they don’t particularly enjoy it.

Wiki 395
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The Battle of the Authoring Tools: A 10-Point Comparison for Picking the Right One

Speaker: Chris Paxton McMillin, President of D3 Training Solutions

There are plenty of great authoring tools for developing eLearning, but the one you select could directly impact your course's outcomes. Depending upon your learners’ needs and your organization’s performance goals, you could be overlooking considerations that impact the both effectiveness of your courses and how long it takes to finish them. From general capabilities to specific workflow structures, some aspects are critical when it comes to learning objectives and deadlines.

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20+ ways to use 10 BIG Flipgrid updates

Ditch That Textbook

Once again Flipgrid released BIG updates to its camera, user experience, help center and more. Here are 20+ ways to use those updates in the classroom. For many students, video is just part of the way they speak. Snapchat. Instagram. YouTube. How they'll share those videos is a natural way of thinking for them. Video has never […]. The post 20+ ways to use 10 BIG Flipgrid updates appeared first on Ditch That Textbook.

Video 359
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5 Hidden Building Blocks for a Successful Scholastic Esports Program

EdTech Magazine

In education, people are accustomed to building out and supporting instructional programs, athletic teams or standard extracurricular activities, but they often struggle when something new comes along. If there’s a new set of standards for math and we have to revamp our program, there are steps we know to follow.

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How to Help Struggling Readers in Grades 6-12 with Pam Allyn

The CoolCatTeacher

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter. Students are coming back to school and many of them are reading below grade level. While this has always been a challenge, this year it may be even more so. In this episode, literacy expert Pam Allyn gives advice to teachers about how to help struggling readers in grades 6-12.

How To 488
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Comics–an underused tool to boost SEL skills

Ask a Tech Teacher

Comics have long been considered not just to gamify education but to teach writing skills that are challenging for some students. SmartBrief Education tells Dan Ryder’s story, How comics curriculum boosts SEL. Dan Ryder, a learning facilitator at Community Regional Charter School in Skowhegan, Maine, says he uses comics to support students’ social and emotional learning.

Tools 397
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Reimagining Chickering & Gamson's Principles Post-Pandemic: Technology's Central Role in Modern Edu

This white paper examines and proposes revisions to the "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education" introduced by Arthur Chickering and Zelda Gamson in 1987 for today's technology-driven world.