[From the Teaching Generation Now newsletter]
Scrumblr is a free online tool that allows you to create a virtual whiteboard. This whiteboard can be accessed from multiple computers and used as a collaborative space for education.
We like scrumblr because:
? it is free and extremely easy to use.
? no sign up is needed to create and collaborate on a scrumblr board
? only people with the URL link that you create can access the scrumblr.
? it has no ads.
? it provides the opportunity for students to be active in their learning, reflect, clarify, stay focussed and learn from one another.
? it lets participants be anonymous.
=> http://bit.ly/kgDO1R
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
‘Probably the most serious problem we have identified is the general lack of imagination about the possibilities of technology for meeting the needs of today’s students. We need to move away from the dominant paradigm of the fixed time-and-place classroom (Andrea del Sarto’s ‘silver-grey, placid and perfect art’ in the chapter’s opening quotation) as the default model for university and college teaching, and think of all the other ways we could organize and manage teaching. In particular, we need to think very concretely about what teaching and learning could and should look like in the future. Our reach should exceed our grasp, driven by our assessment of the needs of students in the twenty-first century, and not by the existing institutional requirements that they must fit into.’
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
Having laptops means all students can do the same quality report, regardless of their parents' income, “because they all have the same tools,” Robinson said.
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
We have seen many shifts in terms of instruction, communication, and learning at NMHS resulting in a transformative culture that is more in line to meet the needs of our students. So what changed? There wasn't really one big "ah ha" moment or school epiphany, but rather small changes on the surface that have resulted in some significant changes. The first small change was my philosophical enlightenment as to the educational value to web 2.0 technology, including social media
6 Reasons Tablets Are Ready for the Classroom
Posted: 27 May 2011 05:30 PM PDT
by Vineet Madan, Mashable
Though tablets have caught on with consumers, the higher education market has been slower to adopt, and understandably so. From grades to degrees to job placement after graduation, the devices that are used in classrooms are tied to important outcomes. As a result, colleges and universities must proceed carefully when considering whether to adopt a new technology on a large scale. However, reports from recent iPad pilot programs at schools across the country have been positive, and some colleges have even begun distributing tablets to all of their students. As we wrap up the first post-iPad school year, do we know enough to make the “fad, fail, magical” call? I think so. By looking at all that tablets offer in the context of student behavior and some of the recent trends in education, it’s clear that tablets are ready for the classroom. Here’s a look at the top reasons why. => http://on.mash.to/kxLu1Z
Book borrowing from libraries has fallen as computer use has increased
Computer games are harming children’s reading, researchers warned last night.
They found that the reading ability of nine and ten-year-olds has slumped in countries where households have at least one computer.
Read more: http://bit.ly/mkDInG
Rewrite, add, delete, repeat. This is the cycle of school policies on technology. Or at least it should be. Policies need to adapt to the changing times. For School administrators and technology directors/CIO’s adapting to changing times is an important component to a strong leadership for educational technology use (Nets-A) It is the time of year when many schools are updating policies for the upcoming school year. Technology Polices are particularly susceptible to change. Quite simply, new technology forces us to re-imagine classroom environment with the innovations added in.
http://bit.ly/metcvF
