2017

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Both Humans and Technology Are Noisy: How Do We Move Forward?

Digital Promise

Over the years, I’ve been involved in developing research programs and projects in education technology, games, and virtual reality. As I’ve developed my thinking around funding and conducting research in learning technologies, I always come back to an unpublished technical report written by one of my early mentors in the Navy. Norm Lane was a brilliant behavioral scientist who was commissioned as a Navy Aerospace Experimental Psychologist in 1963 and had retired when I first met him in 1994.

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Thinking Routines in the Classroom

The CoolCatTeacher

Karen Voglesang on episode 209 [A special encore episode] of the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter. Today Karen Voglesang @NBCTchr teaches children to use thinking routines in her classroom. After participating in Harvard’s Project Zero , she is applying and using the methods in classrooms and with teachers.

Classroom 609
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Document Student Growth with Portfolios

Teacher Reboot Camp

“How you climb a mountain is more important than reaching the top.” – Yvon Chouinard. Digital portfolios are one of the most powerful ways my students take ownership of their learning and reflect on their learning journeys. Digital portfolios help students set, track, and achieve their academic learning goals. Check out several of my students’ reflective portfolios here.

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Classroom Device Management Empowers Teachers to Integrate Tech

EdTech Magazine

By Joe McAllister Educators can keep students on task with tools from Google and GoGuardian.

Classroom 694
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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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?The Power of Choice: Why Online Classes Matter to Students

Edsurge

There is no lack of evidence to suggest that online classes have deeply transformed the teaching and learning landscape in higher education. In 2015, for example, nearly 30 percent of college students took at least one online class. But as more faculty are being encouraged to teach online, how often are they aware of why creating the option to take online classes supports their students’ ability to graduate?

Course 528
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10 MORE digital bell-ringer activities to kickstart class (Part 2)

Ditch That Textbook

We have a golden window of time at the beginning of any class. For these first five or ten minutes of class (OK, probably more the five than the ten), we have our students’ most attention. It’s the most focused they’ll likely be for us all day. If we squander that time, the rest of […].

EdTech 475

More Trending

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A Pedagogical Shift Needed for Digital Success

A Principal's Reflections

In a previous post I discussed in detail strategies to help ensure the effective use of technology to improve learning outcomes. You don’t have to be a fan of technology, but you do need to understand that it’s a catalyst for some exciting pedagogical changes. The purposeful use of technology can innovate assessment, transform time frames around learning, increase collaboration, enable learning about information and research thanks to unprecedented access, and provide a level of student ownershi

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Helping Learners Move Beyond “I Can’t Do This”

User Generated Education

I work part-time with elementary learners – with gifted learners during the school year and teaching maker education camps during the summer. The one thing almost all of them have in common is yelling out, “I can’t do this” when the tasks aren’t completed upon first attempts or get a little too difficult for them. I partially blame this on the way most school curriculum is structured.

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Rethink Your Grading Practices

Catlin Tucker

This year I have posted several blogs about grading and assessment. I encouraged teachers to stop taking grading home for two simple reasons: Grading in isolation robs us of the opportunity to have conversations with students as we assess their work and, ultimately, makes feedback one-sided and less effective. Grading at home robs us of precious time with our families, time to relax, and time to create dynamic learning experiences for students.

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18 things that leaders of innovative schools do differently

Dangerously Irrelevant

I had a wonderful time this past week at the TIES conference in Minneapolis. Having worked at the University of Minnesota for six years, it was super fun to connect with old educator friends and new (including a lot of goofiness with Shelly Terrell while at Flipgrid headquarters). I served as the lunch keynote for TIES on Sunday and then facilitated a lesson redesign workshop that afternoon using our trudacot discussion protocol (thanks, Julie Graber , for joining us!).

Groups 419
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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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This is What Powerful Learning Looks Like, Students Share Their Stories

Digital Promise

Last week, Digital Promise co-hosted the EdSurge Fusion conference. As part of the opening session, I wanted to show examples of what it looks like when students use technology in powerful ways. But before I could make a movie about this, I needed to make sure I knew what powerful learning looks like to me. I set out to find students who leverage their connected resources to improve the quality of life for themselves, others, and their communities.

Robotics 446
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5 Lies I Used to Believe About Teaching But I Don’t Anymore

The CoolCatTeacher

Vicki Davis on episode 205 of the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter. When I first started teaching, I used to believe some things about the profession that I just don’t believe any more. In today’s final episode of season 2, I reflect on those lies and how I’ve grown in my practice.

Company 580
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5 Easy Ways To Make Your Digital Content Accessible To Everyone

The Web20Classroom

Reaghan is my oldest daughter and about to start third grade. At 2 years of age I noticed she wasn’t talking much and when she did talk you couldn’t really understand what she was trying to say. After talking to her pediatrician it was decided to have her evaluated for her speech. She spent countless hours working with a speech-language pathologist for nearly 5 and half years.

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The 3 Biggest K–12 Tech Trends for 2017

EdTech Magazine

By Meghan Bogardus Cortez Classroom tech and data will continue to boost learning outcomes.

Trends 483
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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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Tapping Toward a Better Understanding of Slope

MIND Research Institute

Thoughts of a traditional math classroom may bring to mind images of students sitting silently at desks while a teacher works through a math problem on the board. There could be more to this scene though. Perhaps one student is using her fingers to keep track of numbers while another quietly taps his pencil along to key points of the equation. These are both small examples of embodied cognition, the idea that features of thought are shaped by aspects of the body other than the brain.

Examples 307
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5 ways to teach students to be future-ready

Ditch That Textbook

Today’s students face a technology-infused, innovation-filled world in their future. We’re already looking at the possibility of widespread smart houses, autonomous cars and artificial intelligence that can talk to us and work on our behalf. Our parents’ and grandparents’ curriculum won’t be sufficient. How do teachers identify the trends, predict what students will need and prepare […].

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Websites for Hour of Code by Grade

Ask a Tech Teacher

This December will again host the Hour of Code , a one-hour introduction to programming designed to demystify the subject and show that anyone can be a maker, a creator, and an innovator. Last year, almost 300,000 students (age 4-104) participated from over 180 countries and wrote almost 20 billion lines of code. The 200,000+ teachers involved came away believing that, of all their education tools, coding was the best at teaching children to think.

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QR Codes for Class Night Sign Ups?

Tech Helpful

One of the things I'm quickly learning as an instructional technologist is that teaching parents how to use technology you are using in the classroom eases their mind a bit and gives them a sense of understanding. In our elementary school we use QR codes quite a bit to help students easily access information, websites, and videos as part of their learning and sharing.

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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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21st-Century Project Learning: The Bootstrapping Checklist

EdNews Daily

Written by Rich Baxter. What Is The Bootstrapping Checklist for Public Schools * ? The Bootstrapping Checklist for Public Schools* teaches 21st-century skills, including communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity. The workflow introduces students to project management, innovation and entrepreneurship and engages students in experiential learning activities related to the STEAM curriculum.

Learning 267
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Panel Presentations: Connect Students with a Real Audience

Catlin Tucker

When I spoke at Californa’s Better Together Teachers Summit , I talked about the power of connecting students to an authentic audience online. I emphasized the role technology can play in helping teachers to get more eyes on student work and, as a result, motivate students to do their best work. In addition to connecting students to an online audience, I also invite community members, parents, and other students into our classroom regularly.

Secondary 420
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Aligning the 10 building blocks for future ready schools

Dangerously Irrelevant

A growing number of schools are recognizing that they must start transitioning their learning environments toward deeper learning, greater student agency, more authentic work, and robust technology infusion. Making those transitions is complex work, however, and many school administrators and teachers aren’t exactly sure how to proceed beyond some vague ideas about doing things differently.

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Announcing the New Members of the League of Innovative Schools

Digital Promise

The League of Innovative Schools, Digital Promise’s flagship network of forward-thinking leaders of our nation’s school districts, is honored to welcome 13 districts into the 2017-2018 cohort, bringing the League’s membership to 93 districts in 33 states. The League seeks districts who are developing and sharing promising innovations that advance excellent, equitable learning opportunities for students.

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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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Minecraft in the Classroom

The CoolCatTeacher

Jeff Gearhart on episode 162 of the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter. Are you studying Mars? Why not let students go live there? Jeff Gearhart is working with teachers in traditional subjects to let students immerse in the subject in Minecraft. In today’s show, learn about Minecraft EDU and how it is being used to teach.

Classroom 405
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Doing More With The Classroom Makerspace

The Web20Classroom

When I was 6 or 7 years old I was at home on a boring rainy weekend. Being an inquisitive kid and generally looking for mischief I found some tools in a closet and decided something in my house needed taking a apart. I'd always wondered how a toaster actually made toast so it became the subject of my experiment. I spent a while taking it a part looking at all the pieces and, of course not knowing how any of it worked.

Classroom 361
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Google Extends Digital Literacy Training to Teachers

EdTech Magazine

By Meghan Bogardus Cortez The tech giant’s Be Internet Awesome campaign now includes a free course for teachers.

Training 419
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No. Your 3D Printer Does Not Make You Innovative.

Tom Murray

Few will disagree that over the past few years the notion of 3D printing in schools has gained incredible steam. It’s certainly one of the latest bandwagons. Scan social media on any given day and you’ll find end users pridefully holding the latest “cool” print in the palm of their hand, hashtagging some synonyms of “innovation.” Many times, the social sharer touts their own innovative ideas, how the tool is a “game changer,” or how their printer i

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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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Ditch That Marking: 5+ ways to improve grading

Ditch That Textbook

I had a pile of assessments to mark (grade). I knew was going to take the best part of four hours to get done. I seemed to be writing the same comments as feedback: “Use a quotation to support your argument.” “Include a religious view as an alternative.” (I am a religious studies teacher if […].

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Visible Learning and John Hattie

Ask a Tech Teacher

Over the years, I’ve struggled to teach in ways my students would understand. Standing at the front of the classroom stopped working so I researched (and tried in some cases) Whole Brain Teaching (WBT), Socratic Method , Understanding by Design , Mindfulness , and a lot more options that colleagues mentioned as helpful with their differentiated student groups.

Learning 379
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Why writing doesn’t just prove learning, it improves all learning-including STEM

eSchool News

Writing is used to assess student learning more often than it is used to facilitate learning. We talk about writing as a product for assessment, a subject where paragraphs and commas are taught, or a skill that one either has developed or lacks. Rarely do we hear people, even teachers, discuss writing as a process for learning. Imagine if a teacher said, “Go write on it and see what you come up with,” after a student asked a question.

STEM 253
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Long Live the '90s: ‘Edtech’ Crazes Every Teacher (and Student) Secretly Wishes Were Still Around

Edsurge

If you’ve ever been tempted to click on one of those ‘90s-nostalgia posts, we really can’t blame you—I mean, who doesn’t want to skim through pictures of Dunkaroos and Capri Suns to find out if they really were a ‘90s kid? But here at EdSurge, we believe the teachers who taught those ‘90s kids deserve a walk down memory lane, too. So we rounded up the most beloved edtech tools of the ‘90s for your scrolling pleasure, from early internet sensations to the hottest hardware you just had to have.

EdTech 268
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The Roses and Thorns of an LMS Strategy: How to Flourish with the Right LMS

Speaker: Amanda Davis, Chief Experience Officer and Liam O'Malley, VP of Association Solutions

The "new normal" is now a little less new, a little more normal. Does that mean your current LMS strategy is in need of a refresh? Is your organization or association leaning into the always-evolving eLearning environment to ensure you have the tools and content to remain relevant through all this change? There are many complex decision-making processes within your learning & development strategy and LMS lifecycle management, including: Selection.