December, 2014

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Three Reasons the Flipped Classroom is Here to Stay

Ed Tech from the Ground Up

'According to new research, the number of teachers flipping lessons is growing significantly. It''s not just for the most adventurous educators anymore. Click the headline to read the full post. Questions? Email websupport@epe.org.

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Transform Your Classroom into a Makerspace

Catlin Tucker

'As finals approached this year, I had a desire to do something different. In the past I’ve had students write a timed five-paragraph argument essay about whether Montag, from Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, is a conformist or nonconformist. My students had already written four essays this year, so I decided to ditch the essay. Instead, I had them select a metaphor from the novel and asked them to bring it to life creating a 3D visual metaphor.

Classroom 420
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Spice Up That Lecture! 20+ Ideas & Resources

Teacher Reboot Camp

'Included in the Digital Ideas Advent Calendar with a new idea each day! Undergraduate students taught by lectures are 1.5 times more likely to fail than those involved in active learning. – Bajak, A. (2014). In my new book, The 30 Goals Challenge for Teachers , I talk about how even the best lectures aren’t fair for the majority of students in our classes.

Resources 419
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Making Time vs Finding Time

A Principal's Reflections

'One of the most utilized excuses in education when it comes to change is lack of time. At one point or another, we have all used the time excuse when it comes to our professional work. With all of the mandates and directives that are thrown our way, time becomes a relatively easy scapegoat when it comes to skirting the issue of change. Whether it be in the form of endless piles of paperwork, never ending observations, meetings with parents, attending events, developing a master schedule, or con

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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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Universal Skills All Learners Should Know How to Do

User Generated Education

'This morning I was thinking about the things that all young people should know how to do regardless of income, geographical location, life goals, etc. I started a list – see below. Some have “always” been true – some are unique to this century of learning. Let me know of any other universal skills you believe young people should know how to do.

How To 333
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Taking An Hour Of Code

The Web20Classroom

'Recently my daughter and I have been enjoying our Kano computer. If you haven''t heard, a Kano is a small Raspberry Pi computer you build yourself. For under a $150 bucks it''s a steal because you get to program it to do pretty much whatever you want. Upon booting it up we were greeted with several screens to no only learn how to use it but if we wanted to play a game or use a program we had code it ourselves.

Resources 268

More Trending

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5 Tips To Keep Students Learning When Extreme Weather Strikes

Catlin Tucker

'Yesterday Northern California was hit by massive storm. My school was closed because of weather for the first time in my teaching career. I know this is a fairly regular occurrence in colder climates; however, it’s a new situation for many of us in more temperate climates unused to extreme weather patterns. When I received notification that our school was closing three days before final exams, I was dismayed.

Learning 418
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Ways to Get Technology into Your Classrooms

Teacher Reboot Camp

'Included in the Digital Ideas Advent Calendar with a new idea each day! I’ve been quite blessed to travel to over 20 countries and help teachers integrate technology even in places with very little funding. You can watch a video of me helping students in Ogulin, Croatia to get an idea of what this looks like in action. Often, we are not fortunate to work in schools that provide us with the budget to get the technology we want.

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Impact of a Makerspace

A Principal's Reflections

'One of the best parts of my day is checking in on Media Specialist/Teacher Librarian Laura Fleming as she always shares the incredible work her students are doing in the makerspace she created at New Milford High School. Whether it is pictures or Vine videos , each day I witness high school students tinkering, inventing, creating, and making to learn.

Libraries 399
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Experiences in Self-Determined Learning: Moving from Education 1.0 Through Education 2.0 Towards Education 3.0

User Generated Education

'Mrs. Lisa Marie Blaschke, Mr. Chris Kenyon, and Dr. Stewart Hase contacted a group of us due to our interest in heutagogy for the purpose of writing a chapter in an edited book. This past week, because of their hard work, this book has been published through Amazon. It is titled Experiences in Self-Determined Learning and can be found at [link].

Education 272
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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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Turning Tech Rollout Obstacles into Student Learning Opportunities

Digital Promise

'No matter how well a school prepares for a technology rollout, anyone who has been through that experience knows there are bound to be a few hiccups in the weeks after students get devices in their hands. “During first week post-rollout we quickly discovered that kids being kids were going to test the waters of what they could do with their iPads,” says David Ruiz, a digital technology coach at V.I.D.A.

iPad 255
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Give Entrepreneurs (and Teachers) a Break!

Ed Tech from the Ground Up

'You can''t work all the time. Unless, you''re an entrepreneur (or a teacher), of course, in which case, you are expected to work all the time. But is that sustainable? Click the headline to read the full post. Questions? Email websupport@epe.org.

Course 400
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Voxer: Have Fun with Speaking & Listening

Catlin Tucker

'This week I was invited to join an ongoing conversation with a small group of English teachers using Voxer. Voxer is a live messaging app that combines the functionality of the classic walkie talkie with texting and photo sharing capabilities. Users can talk live or share recorded messages with a single person or a group of people. The ability to send a combination of text, photos, and audio messages using Voxer makes it a versatile tool.

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Student Reflection with Digital Portfolios

Teacher Reboot Camp

Included in the Digital Ideas Advent Calendar with a new idea each day! Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action. – Peter Drucker. A year ago, I created a technology course on Moodle for Spanish teachers as part of the Ministry of Education of Spain. The teachers are very new to web tools, developing Personal Learning Networks (PLNs) and are currently teaching full time.

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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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2014 Was One Wild Ride

A Principal's Reflections

'The holidays present a wonderful opportunity for many of us, including me for once, to relax from the rigors of work while spending time with family and friends. However, there is always some quiet time to write so I am seizing that golden opportunity this morning. With 2014 coming to a close in a few days there is no better time than now to reflect on this past year.

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The Periodic Table of the Figures of Speech: 40 Ways to Improve Your Writing

Educational Technology Guy

'The Periodic Table of the Figures of Speech: 40 Ways to Improve Your Writing is a nice resource that helps you use figures of speech in your writing to help you convey your meaning. It covers metaphors, onomatopoeai, hyperbole, irony, personifications, climax, parenthesis, ellipsis and alliteration. Everything is categorized and organized with descriptions to show you how to use it.

Twitter 254
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Personalized Learning: Is It?

The Journal

“Personalized learning” is rapidly gaining popularity in the United States. In our blog we cast a critical eye on this specific use of technology in education. Cutting to the chase — and answering the question in the blog’s title — no.

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Students Can Be Most Effective Teachers in the Art of Presentation

Ed Tech from the Ground Up

'Students can be merciless in their assessment of teacher lessons and presentations. Use those experiences to hone the art of the pitch for startup investors and advisers. Click the headline to read the full post. Questions? Email websupport@epe.org.

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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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Using @RemindHQ For Leadership

The Web20Classroom

'In the past, I''ve written about how much I love using Remind. So much so, I am an advisor to the company. But even if I wasn''t an advisor I think the simple way the service allows for educators to connect to students and parents via text messaging is elegant and so simple to use. What is Remind ? In it''s simplest form it allows for a teacher to create a virtual texting group to exchange messages with members.

Meeting 223
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31 Days of Digital Goodies

Teacher Reboot Camp

'Included in the Digital Ideas Advent Calendar. One way to engage students is to create interactive digital calendars. December is the month for advent calendars, so I’ve created the Digital Ideas 2014 Advent Calendar to give you a hands-on example of how this works. Throughout December, you will discover free web tools, apps, and resources by clicking on each day in the calendar below.

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It's Elementary When it Comes to #EdTech

A Principal's Reflections

'As a practitioner I am always looking to learn how to better assist educators at all grade levels. Superintendent Scott Rocco provided me with a great opportunity to not only work with teachers in his district, but to also push me outside my comfort zone, which has always been secondary education. In my position as K-12 Director of Technology Integration and Innovation in the Spotswood School District, I am assisting with the district’s transition to Google Apps for Education (GAFE) as well as

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Google Classroom Student Quick Guide

Educational Technology Guy

'Alice Keeler''s blog has been a great find for me as she posts a lot of items about Google apps, especially Google Classroom. You should definitely check out her blog. She created a great Student Quick Guide for Google Classroom. Go here to view it: [link]. This post originally appeared on Educational Technology Guy. Feel free to share summaries and links to these articles, but do not copy and repost entire article.

Google 242
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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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Expanded Data Visualization: A Further Look at Improving Ed-Tech Purchasing

Digital Promise

'When looking at the findings from “Improving Ed-Tech Purchasing,” our recent study of the key obstacles and potential solutions for the personalized learning marketplace, we identified several key takeaways from the data. You can read all about that here. For the real procurement junkies (yes, they exist), we also posted our full data set from the report – survey responses from district leaders, educators, and learning technology developers from across the country.

Data 217
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The Best Presentation Advice We've Ever Received

Ed Tech from the Ground Up

'As a startup entrepreneur, you''ll give a lot of presentations: presenting at business plan competitions, showcasing your product to prospective customers, pitching in front of investors. Here is some of the best advice we have heard about how to prepare for presentations. Click the headline to read the full post. Questions? Email websupport@epe.org.

How To 383
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Best Education-Related Videos of 2014

User Generated Education

'I love end of year “best of” lists. My own list is what I found to be the most powerful education related videos of 2014. They all, in some way, address the mind, heart, and spirit of education. Each touched me in some way to help illuminate the purpose and core of education. Let me know of any others that you found of value during 2014! Malala Yousuf Nobel Prize Speech.

Video 199
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Creating Digital Books to Help Others: 20+ Apps, Tools & Ideas

Teacher Reboot Camp

'Included in the Digital Ideas Advent Calendar with a new idea each day! During one of my teaching internships, my mentor had us create books we read to children from the Boys and Girls Club. I still have my construction paper book with my poor drawings. My artistic abilities didn’t matter to the kids who were just excited to have someone spend time with them.

Tools 398
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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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Looking Back at 2014 and Forward to 2015

The Web20Classroom

'What a year it has been. And now that it''s coming to a close I like to take a look at the most popular posts here and do a bit of looking into the crystal ball to see what conversations might be on the horizon for next year. First, the most popular posts! 3 Things We Need To Remember For Every Professional Development -I have dedicated my career to enhancing the professional knowledge of other educators so that they feel empowered to conquer any obstacles in and out of the classroom.

BYOD 182
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Scratch - free, easy to use "programming" system from MIT

Educational Technology Guy

'Scratch is a free, easy to use, web app from MIT that allows students to create basic programs using a visual interface. Students can program animations, games and videos by dragging blocks together. Each block represents a function and snap together to create the program. It is a great tool for teaching students basic programming logic and processes.

System 241
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Awareness, Assessment, and Access: Improving Adult Digital Literacy

Digital Promise

'Every Tuesday and Thursday morning, the Rhode Island Family Literacy Initiative (RIFLI) , one of Digital Promise’s Beacon Project communities , holds computer classes for adult English as a Second Language (ESL) students. The classes are a product of RIFLI’s plan to create a 1:1 classroom computing model that, according to RIFLI’s Director Karisa Tashjian, “blurs the lines between language/content learning and using technology.” The classes are popular and full of

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This is the Technology Idea That Will Revolutionize Education

Ed Tech from the Ground Up

'With every new technological advance comes the promise of a dramatic transformation in our educational ecosystem. Which one will incite a revolution? Click the headline to read the full post. Questions? Email websupport@epe.org.

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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.