A Principal's Reflections

OCTOBER 3, 2021

The traditional goal of any education system is to prepare students for either college or careers. Over the years, I would say that while this view still holds value, the context has changed dramatically. The world has radically evolved as a result of constantly advancing technology and the COVID-19 pandemic. With knowledge readily available and the means to seamlessly engage in digital spaces now the norm, educators need to keep pace and ensure that the strategies they use will serve learners w

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Catlin Tucker

OCTOBER 10, 2021

Teachers got a crash course in creating video content when schools shifted online. They relied on videos out of necessity to explain concepts and model strategies while students learned from home. As teachers transitioned back into classrooms, many abandoned video in favor of live instruction. However, if teachers are going to say the same thing the same way for all students, I encourage them to make a video.

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Neo LMS

OCTOBER 12, 2021

Global warming, endangered species, water pollution, and overwhelmingly full landfills are just a few of the reasons why people are considering going green. Only in the US, 46% of lakes are too polluted for fishing or swimming. Not to mention the quick deforestation that could lead to most of the topsoil being gone in the next six decades. The big picture looks bad, but it’s not too late to make a change.

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EdTech Magazine

OCTOBER 26, 2021

After launching Magnolia High School’s innovative Magnolia Cybersecurity Institute at Anaheim Union High School District, English Teacher Lindsay Paananen soon realized that participating students loved hardcore gaming as much as they loved tech – so much so that it was coming through in their writing. “One student wrote a really insightful essay about his love of esports,” Paananen says.

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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.

Education

The CoolCatTeacher

OCTOBER 24, 2021

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter. Screencastify is more than a screencasting tool. You can now screencast, edit, quiz, see student analytics, get feedback, and more using Screencastify. In this post, I’ll share some of the new features in Screencastify and how I’ve used it in my classroom. Note that Screencastify has been one of my favorite formative assessment tools since 2018 when I wrote 10 Ways to Use Screencasting for Formative Assessment.

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Ask a Tech Teacher

OCTOBER 19, 2021

Artificial Intelligence has made its way into our classrooms. Good or bad, only time will tell but some early reports say there are some real positives about using AI-powered program to boost literacy. Here’s an article from Hechinger Report , a national nonprofit newsroom that reports only on education, that’s pretty interesting: Can an AI tutor teach your child to read?

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Catlin Tucker

OCTOBER 5, 2021

When I work with teachers shifting to blended learning, I strive to establish the WHY driving our work together. I want teachers to understand the purpose and value of the shift to blended learning. Blended learning is not a reaction to a moment. Blended learning is the thoughtful design and facilitation of learning experiences that strive to shift control from teacher to learner by weaving together active, engaged learning online and offline.

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Neo LMS

OCTOBER 14, 2021

October has become the month where educators participate in events focused on digital citizenship. From October 1-31, activities are available to join in, whether for a day like during the DigCitSummit held last year, or an entire Digital Citizenship Week event, or Twitter chats and webinars focused on digital citizenship. The focus on digital citizenship is not only relevant during October — it’s important throughout the entire year.

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EdTech Magazine

OCTOBER 1, 2021

Consumers expect their apps and gadgets to work together seamlessly, but in K–12 education, it’s often a battle of the brands. Susan Bearden, director of digital programs for InnovateEDU and their Project Unicorn lead, is focused on helping schools build a more harmonious future for their technology. Project Unicorn is a coalition of 16 national organizations working together to promote data interoperability in the K–12 space.

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User Generated Education

OCTOBER 3, 2021

As is true for a lot of progressive educators, I have a belief in and attempt to practice the implementation of student voice and choice: Sometimes this means fully letting go of the reins so learners become fully self-directed. I had the privilege of witnessing this in action one afternoon last week. I use the word, “witness,” as it was fully and totally due to the actions of one student.

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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.

Learning

Digital Promise

OCTOBER 18, 2021

As districts address unfinished learning, evaluate student growth, and re-engage school communities during the 2021-2022 school year, data equity can highlight where support is needed and help schools better support students’ experiences and needs. Data equity applies an equity-centered lens and mindset to ensure data is collected, analyzed, interpreted, and shared with diverse stakeholders without bias or exclusion.

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A Principal's Reflections

OCTOBER 17, 2021

There are countless ways to grow and improve. At the individual level, intrinsic motivation drives educators to actively seek opportunities that support their diverse learning interests and needs. Social media has played a considerable role in this area over the years, demonstrating the power of Personal Learning Networks (PLNs) with learning anytime, anywhere, and with anyone.

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Catlin Tucker

OCTOBER 29, 2021

I have a soft spot for the station rotation model. It was one of the first models, along with the flipped classroom, that I could employ in my low-tech classroom. In the early days of my transition to blended learning, I had one Chromebook, which I received after writing a Donor’s Choose project. I thought, “What the heck? Let’s give this station rotation model a try!

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Neo LMS

OCTOBER 28, 2021

The fact that education is undergoing systemic changes is no news. Some of these changes are due to globalization, but the main “culprit” is technology, with its disruptive effects in all aspects of our lives. Gen Z students – or zoomers – the first generation of digital natives, relate to technology differently from previous cohorts. If technology is a tool for Millennials, zoomers naturally integrate technology into their everyday lives.

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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.

Personalized Learning

EdTech Magazine

OCTOBER 13, 2021

Although some schools were starting to adopt digital and online tools before COVID-19, a national survey of 2,168 K–12 administrators and educators conducted in March by Bay View Analytics found that the shift to remote learning has caused significant changes in the classroom. In their report, “A Year Apart,” the survey’s authors note that “it has become clear that schools, teachers, and administrators may not decide to return to pre-pandemic habits.

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Ask a Tech Teacher

OCTOBER 7, 2021

Tract is a peer-to-peer, on-demand, project-based learning platform designed for grades 3-12. It includes classes and lesson plans, even themed clubs. It focuses on building student creativity, critical thinking, and independence–skills students need to become prosperous, happy adults. Overview. If you haven’t heard of Tract, that’s alright.

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The CoolCatTeacher

OCTOBER 6, 2021

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter. Social emotional health matters. WORD Workouts are a fantastic way to help students connect with their emotions. Additionally, these quick lessons promote student social emotional health. In these times, we know that helping students express how they are feeling can help them better cope with their emotions.

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A Principal's Reflections

OCTOBER 10, 2021

Growth is a never-ending journey. While there is no one best way to get better at what we do, I think we can all agree that feedback is a necessity no matter the path taken. For it to impact practice, it should be practical, specific, timely, and facilitated in a positive fashion. While we know how important feedback is to our growth, the question becomes how often do we receive it in some form?

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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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Catlin Tucker

OCTOBER 24, 2021

After reading Catlin Tucker’s blog post, 5 Strategies to Engage Learners Around Flipped Instruction , I was inspired to reflect on and revise a mini-unit I designed focusing on the short film Alike by Daniel Martinez Lara and Rafa Cano Méndez. This silent film sheds light on the subtle ways that creativity can be absent in the classroom. When I watched Alike for the first time, I appreciated how the film used color, expression, and music to tell the story.

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Neo LMS

OCTOBER 21, 2021

A version of this post was originally published in Education Technology , on April 17, 2021. Researchers and educators have always tried to optimize how we consume knowledge by looking at the realities of the learning brain. We now know that students learn better when learning is spread out over time. This is called the spacing effect , a term coined by the renowned memory scientist Hermann Ebbinghaus.

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EdTech Magazine

OCTOBER 28, 2021

Across the country, “help wanted” signs are showing up in K–12 school windows as districts face a record number of staff shortages. For example, 3,600 education jobs in Illinois remain unfilled, teacher retirements are up 38 percent year over year in Oklahoma, and teacher vacancies in Florida were up 67 percent in August 2021 compared with the same time last year.

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Ask a Tech Teacher

OCTOBER 23, 2021

Three holidays are fast-approaching–Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. If you’re a teacher, that means lots of tie-ins to make school festive and relevant to students. Here are ideas for Halloween projects, lesson plans, websites, and apps ( check here for updated links ): Websites and Apps. 30-day Halloween fitness challeng e. Build a Jack-o-lantern (in Google Slides).

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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

Classroom

Dangerously Irrelevant

OCTOBER 15, 2021

A number of educators across the country are finding great value in ‘learning science’ books such as Powerful Teaching: Unleash the Science of Learning. In Powerful Teaching , the authors focus on the potential of: Retrieval practice – “pulling information out of students’ heads (e.g., quizzes and flashcards), rather than cramming information into students’ heads (e.g., lectures)” (p. 4); Spaced practice – “spreading lessons and retrieval opportunities out over time” (p. 4); I

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A Principal's Reflections

OCTOBER 31, 2021

For many of us, our preparation to become teachers consisted of courses focusing on classroom management, lesson design, grading, and proven strategies that had withstood the test of time. We were also exposed to learning style theory and the many benefits it had on meeting the diverse needs of students. To this day, it is still heavily referenced, even though it has been debunked extensively.

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Digital Promise

OCTOBER 14, 2021

Digital Promise first launched our Micro-credential Policy Map in January 2020 to share valuable information on how states and districts across the U.S. were engaging with micro-credentials. Since then, micro-credential interest, earning, and pathways have only increased. The unique and pressing needs of the ongoing global pandemic accelerated the adoption of education technology and innovations that could support urgent and evolving needs and provide on-demand and flexible learning.

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Neo LMS

OCTOBER 19, 2021

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but how about a video? Images have always been used to convey meaning and make information easier to remember. Since videos are chains of images more or less animated, we can safely say they are more so full of meaning. In teaching, videos are now an inherent part of the resources and materials we choose to present information, generate a thought flow, stimulate critical thinking, spark curiosity and foster creativity.

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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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EdTech Magazine

OCTOBER 6, 2021

District technology leaders once again named cybersecurity as their top priority, yet school districts continue to fall victim to cyberattacks. In fact, K–12 education is now one of the top targeted industries. Why? Cybercrime has evolved, but cybersecurity strategies haven’t. While K–12 education is a leader in cloud adoption, driven by the embrace of Google Workspace and Microsoft 365, districts often aren’t properly securing it.

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Ask a Tech Teacher

OCTOBER 6, 2021

Surprisingly, 15-20% of the population has a language-based learning disability and over 65% of those are deficits in reading. Often, these go undiagnosed as students, parents, and teachers simply think the child is not a good reader, is lazy, or is disinterested. Thankfully, the International Dyslexia Association sponsors an annual Dyslexia Awareness Month in October aimed to expand comprehension of this little-understood language-based learning condition.

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Dangerously Irrelevant

OCTOBER 10, 2021

I’ve written on this blog before about irresponsible fearmongering when it comes to technology. It’s one thing to judiciously weigh the pros and cons when it comes to technology and our children. It’s a whole ‘nother to just throw claims out there that lack evidence. In today’s New York Times article, Does Instagram harm girls? No one actually knows. , Dr.

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Ditch That Textbook

OCTOBER 27, 2021

This post is written by Karly Moura, a teacher on special assignment (TOSA) in Mount Diablo USD in Concord, California. This post was originally published on her blog, Teaching, Tech and Twitter, at KarlyMoura.blogspot.com. Karly is also part of team Ditch That Textbook, enjoying her role as blog editor and social media manager. Awhile back I […].

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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.

Technology