October, 2014

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One Day That Changed Everything

A Principal's Reflections

'I was just like ever other principal on the planet prior to becoming connected. My narrow focus was on sustaining a school culture focused on rules, compliance, conformity, and preserving the status quo. The end goal was to make sure standardized test scores increased (or at least didn’t go down) and traditions were preserved. On the inside everything was great.

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Connecting Students To The World

The Web20Classroom

'I can remember it like it was yesterday. I was in sixth grade and sitting at a desk in my language arts classroom. We had been doing an integrated unit in all our classes about cultures around the world. We’d been looking at all sorts of places that, at the time, seemed exotic to me. I had “traveled” all over the world through the books, articles and stories we read.

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What is the Future Ready Effort?

Tom Murray

'Future Ready Schools is a bold new initiative, led by the Alliance for Excellent Education, supported by the US Department of Education, and in partnership with the LEAD Commission and a vast coalition of organizations, working to support school district superintendents and their leadership teams on district-wide transformation. The vision of this new initiative is for district leaders to develop and implement a sustainable, forward thinking roadmap for effective digital learning transformation

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Being Mobile: The Holy Grail of Educational Technology Is Within Sight

The Journal

In this week’s blog, we reflect on our 2010 prediction: By 2015 "every student in every grade in every school in the U.S. will be a using a mobile computing device, 24/7." Oops. We revise that prediction slightly and add in predictions about the Trinity of Educational Technology: hardware, software, and network.

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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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Experiential Learning: Is there really a question about this?

User Generated Education

'The things we have to learn before we do them, we learn by doing them. Aristotle. Give the pupils something to do, not something to learn; and the doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking; learning naturally results. John Dewey. My training as an educator occurred through experiential education rather than the traditional route. Experiential Education is based on the following principles as articulated by the Association for Experiential Education : Experiential learning occurs when car

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Bored? Explore it!

The Innovative Educator

'Guest post by Michelle Loucas No one enjoys boredom. It is an uncomfortable state, leaving one to cast about for relief. If you Google "boredom" and "school," you will find numerous entries about the boredom "epidemic" in our schools and oodles of "boredom-busting strategies" to eradicate this outbreak. The essence of these cures is to "surround them with wonder"-- make schooling more entertaining so that kids will stop fidgeting and absorb wha

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Crafting Questions That Drive Projects

Learning in Hand

'Not only does project based learning motivate students because it is an authentic use of technology, it facilitates active learning, critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity. Projects begin with a driving question—an open-ended question that sets the stage for the project by creating interest and curiosity. Writing an effective driving question is surprisingly challenging.

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What is the Future Ready Initiative?

Tom Murray

'The Future Ready Schools Initiative is a bold new initiative, led by theAlliance for Excellent Education, supported by theUS Department of Education, and in partnership with the LEAD Commission and a vast coalition of organizations, working to support school district superintendents and their leadership teams on district-wide transformation.

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How to Know What Students Think: Surveys and Conversations

The Journal

Students have definite opinions about what they want from education and from technology in education. In this week's blog post we review two recent surveys of students and discuss their "requests" to include more mobile technology and more coding instruction in their lessons.

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Sphero Giveaway _We Have A Winner!

My Paperless Classroom

'We have a Winner!!!!! We are excited to announce Tim Jones has won the 10 pack of Spheros. I encourage you to follow Tim, and see how he puts these robots to use with his 4th graders. a 10 robot kind of guy Thank you @SamPatue @SpheroEdu for the 10 Spheros! Can''t wait to get them charged and into the hands of my students! pic.twitter.com/u6iWLE5LLH — Mr.

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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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Mixing Pencil & Paper with Google Docs.

Class Tech Integrate

I was able to visit Dustin Curtis's 5th grade classroom last week at Bayyari Elementary in Springdale, Arkansas. When I walked in I noticed that students had their Chromebooks open, and a word problem was displayed for them in a Google Doc. The students were working diligently on a paper with a pen to complete the problem that was posed for them. After completing their task on paper, the students simply clicked on the insert tab to add a picture, and took a snapshot of their work.

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The Story of Greatguy7

A Principal's Reflections

'As I work to constantly improve my keynote on Digital Leadership, I am always looking for ideas to strengthen the reasons why leaders need to change while updating the specific ways to illustrate how it can be done. For me, I strive to convey the urgency for schools, leaders, and educators to change so that students do not experience a total disconnect when entering a building that is supposedly going to educate them for success in a digital world.

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Host a PD Buffet for Your Teachers: Tips from a Technology Integrationist

edWeb.net

'Rachel Langenhorst. Technology Integrationist. Rock Valley Community School District, Iowa. Rachel Langenhorst, Technology Integrationist at Rock Valley Community School District in Iowa, was interviewed by edWeb about the importance of keeping up with your own learning in order to provide valuable professional development for others. Rachel first came across edWeb as part of her graduate program, and found that it has helped her with her own personal learning as well as guiding the educators

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Six Keys to a Classroom Makeover

Tom Murray

'I recently had the opportunity to sit down with three of the nation’s leaders in classroom design, and founders of the MTV-meets-classroom style resource,Classroom Cribs: elementary school principalBen Gilpin, technology specialistAJ Juliani, and classroom teacher and award winning blogger,Erin Klein.

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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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Pictures of Blended Learning: This is Progress?

The Journal

They say a picture is worth 1,000 words. Okay, instead of writing a diatribe on blended learning, in this week’s blog we will let four pictures from blended learning classrooms "speak for themselves.

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#ECET2NOLA Starting

Baker's B.Y.O.D.

'I can''t stop thinking about the Elevating and Celebrating Effective Teaching & Teachers conference that I attended last weekend. I keep thinking about the notions of leadership and being a change agent as I reflect on how I got to attend such an inspiring event. I''d like to say it started on the plane on the way to New Orleans and #ECET2NOLA, but it started before that.

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Google Forms for Reading Open Response

Class Tech Integrate

I was able to meet with Trish Lopez in her 5th grade class at Elmdale Elementary School in Springdale, AR. We had a conversation about the different ways that Google Forms can be used in the classroom. While we discussed how it could be great for multiple choice type quizzes, we decided to use the Form as a reading open response tool for her guided reading group.

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School Leadership in the Common Core Era

A Principal's Reflections

'The following is a guest post by Dr. Andrea Honigsfeld, Dr. Maria G. Dove, and Dr. Audrey Cohan. Check out their book titled Beyond Core Expectations: A Schoolwide Framework for Serving the Not-So-Common Learner published by Corwin. Leaders who have deeper and more lasting impact provide more comprehensive leadership than focusing just on higher standards.

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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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Flipped-Learning Toolkit: 3 Ways to Take Your Students Deeper

Edutopia

Video & Transcript Video Transcript: The Flipped Class: Rethinking Space and Time. . Jon: The Flipped class requires us to fundamentally rethink two important aspects of education, space and time. Aaron: So let's talk a little bit about space. If you think about the way classrooms have been set up traditionally. They had a chalkboard in the front of the classroom.

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Get CALM

SpeechTechie

'October is tough for me. I live in the Northeast ( in a location that is in a questionable time zone ), and have a touch of seasonal affective disorder, so fall isn''t the best time. Mums, hay bales, scarecrows, apples and pumpkins, while triggering joy for most in the area or those who travel here specifically to see those things, bring about the rather the opposite in me.

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In K-12, iPads Are a Detour

The Journal

While sales to the general public of 10 inch-screened tablets (e.g., iPads) are dropping quickly, K-12 schools will continue to buy them. The challenge, then, is how to use these devices to support inquiry – 24/7, all-the-time, everywhere learning?

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In the Teacher's Lounge: Using Edmodo to Teach Digital Literacy

Baker's B.Y.O.D.

'I had the pleasure on Tuesday last week to give a webinar on how I use Edmodo to teach my students digital literacy skills and help prepare them for digital assessments. My students piloted the PARCC last Spring and it became clear that knowing how to effectively navigate through a website will impact student scores on the Common Core assessment. Not only are my students being assessed on reading and writing literacy skills, but they are also being evaluated on understanding how to navigate and

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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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Are you Making Enough?

My Paperless Classroom

'Work is a constant sense of business. There is too much to do. Once again the truth of it is freeing. There is too much to do, therefore it cannot all get done. We do our best every day and try to make good choices, and apologize when we get it wrong. What is lost in this endless work machine of teaching can be perspective, and a sense of self. Sometimes I make pictures I have found this at times through writing and creating.

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Testing and Accountability: More Oppressive and Destructive Than Ever!

The 21st Century Principal

'"You can prep kids for a standardized test, get a bump in scores, yet not be providing a very good education." Mike Rose, "The Mismeasure of Teaching and Learning: How Contemporary School Reform Fails the Test" It should not be a surprise at all to politicians, policymakers, and educators that the cry and backlash against testing and accountability is growing.

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Should education socialize?

Ed Tech Now

'Current models of ed-tech are based on theories of progressive education which are in turn based on a false understanding of what learning involves.

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Free Images for Your Projects

Learning in Hand

'Learning in Hand Show #29 tells you about three websites that are great for finding clipart, photos, symbols, and icons. These sites feature images that you already have permission to use on your website, blog, poster, slideshow, video, animation, etc., etc. Also, get tips on how to download these images and advice for finding images to illustrate your ideas.

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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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Replacing Skills

The Thinking Stick

'I haven’t been blogging here much as my time has been spent working with teachers in their schools, Learning2 and COETAIL …which I love! Replace is my new word of choice when talking about the skills of technology. . I have done the word dance on this blog. Going from integrate , to embed and now to replace. However, I think it’s just the progression of adoption of any new way of thinking any new skill set as we reach a new level.

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Don't Follow the Lead of @cshirky in Banning Technology

The Innovative Educator

'Clay Shirky author and professor of media studies at New York University, recently penned a guest article for the Washington Post sharing why he decided to ban technology in his class. He explains how it was challenging to be more interesting than the devices. The following quote captures some of his thinking: “The practical effects of my decision to allow technology use in class grew worse over time.

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Connect your Pen and Scanner to Evernote, Save Every Word You Write

My Paperless Classroom

'I have my Livescribe connected to my Evernote as well as my mobile scanner. I save everything I need in Evernote all; the time. The Livescribe 3 Smartpen These hardware supports turn Evernote into a completely different type of tool for me. This is an archive of what I have written and it is searchable, even the handwriting. In this short segment of The TechEducator Podcast , I demonstrate how I use my pen connected to Evernote.

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Extensions, Add-Ons and Apps, Oh My! How to Utilize Google in Your Classroom

MSEDTechie

'Google Apps for Education has totally transformed the way we teach and communicate inside and outside of the classroom. Through tools like Google Drive , Google Hangouts , Google Earth and Blogger , we can create authentic learning experiences for our students more than ever by promoting collaboration and helping them access their work anywhere and anytime.

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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.