PARENTS might label it a waste of time but the hours spent surfing the internet, chatting online, and even on the dreaded Facebook appear to improve children's reading skills.
An international online reading test conducted by the organisation for economic co-operation and development (OECD), a group of 17 industrialised nations including Australia, found that moderate computer use at home, either doing schoolwork or socialising, increased children's reading skills, particularly among boys. => http://bit.ly/kFBQAW
America’s most popular teacher doesn’t work at Harvard University or a fancy prep school. In fact, he doesn’t work in a school at all, but his lessons have been viewed more than 56 million times. Salman Khan, a former hedge fund manager, is the founder of Khan Academy, a free online learning platform with a library of more than 2,300 videos covering everything from basic algebra and differential equations to the Vietnam War. -> http://bit.ly/keWFgT
There are few things that LMS courses could learn from games design and defeat the cursed scroll of deathly dullness – but hey ‘nice graphic on the header there dude’ kind of activity screams quality does it not. Many LMS courses are there to suit the teacher, the organisation and occasionally the content, not the student. They must battle bravely to overcome crap design, suspect teaching knowledge, ill-thought out assessment demands and use of tools defined by that knowledge and their willingness to learn how to use them. The LMS might be a pillar of technological-wonderment, hey, we’ve put dogs in space, so why not dump content and questions in locked box and call it teaching.
From personal experience of being in LMS course as a student – here are my top 5 things reasons I’d would rather play the Xbox http://bit.ly/mS3ITP
Tell Your Neighbors About Patch Walk into the third grade classroom at Westmark School and you’ll see every student sliding their little fingers across an iPad, Apple’s popular tablet computer. They learn fractions through brightly colored, jungle themed pie charts. They study the periodic table of elements in an interactive, visually rich interface. They ask their iPads how to spell and define words. They practice cursive writing through a tracing app and follow along in their Mr. Popper’s Penguins books as their iPads read the text aloud. It’s all part of Westmark’s iPad pilot program. The private 3rd- through 12th-grade school in Encino, which serves students with “learning differences” such as dyslexia, attention deficit disorder and comprehension difficulties, is using the new technology to cater to students’ educational needs.
http://bit.ly/iFtNE9
From 11 May, 2011, educators around the world have a new online tool that will help them communicate better with their staff and students when it comes to social media. The Facebook For Educators Guide is available for free download in the Facebook Family Safety Center. => http://bit.ly/kkNOcQ
This website is especially for kids. Go on an interactive adventure. Take part in all the activities. Discover what copyright really means. There is a test you can take at the end to see what you really do know! There are six questions with full answers provided on the next page.
=> http://bit.ly/kXLd17
Facebook's founder sees the social networking site as a tool with educational potential. That of course means getting kids Facebooking at an early age.
FORTUNE -- Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg may be a college drop-out, but the billionaire 27-year-old is passionate about education reform. That's why he took time out of his busy schedule to discuss the heated topic (and why he thinks young people can benefit from social networking sites) at a recent summit on innovation in education. => http://bit.ly/jXEwW6
