Definitely something to come back to. We have been crunching a lot of numbers and data lately around the office. This will give us some options for how to display them
Friday, January 27, 2012
Ruminating Out Loud 01/27/2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Ruminating Out Loud 01/25/2012
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| Image via Wikipedia |
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What a tremendous compilation of nearly 700 videos and lectures from a Denver public Schools physics teacher!
Great stuff Derrick!
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Ruminating Out Loud 01/22/2012
I am going to be trying this tool out soon. I know some of my colleagues will be excited about this. I especially like that the designers built it on top of HTML5 which in the long(er) run it will make it a viable tool to train folks on how to use because it will be relevant. It also plays nicely with vis.io which is a plus, too.
At first glance, I like this a lot. It combines existing social spaces and incorporates or provides the opportunity to fracture them into learning spaces as well. I've heard folks ask before if this is even where our students want us to be. good question. I think the tool, whatever it is, will need to allow for layers or (ahem) circles so that we can organize the input and output cleanly and easily.
I still lik edmodo in this type of space as THE go-to tool because of the ability to work with kids and teachers P-12.
I still lik edmodo in this type of space as THE go-to tool because of the ability to work with kids and teachers P-12.
SO MANY great videos to save and revisit.
My only wish would be for them to be more easily intertwined into Google plus so that students could hop into a hangout and take notes or ask questions interactively.
My only wish would be for them to be more easily intertwined into Google plus so that students could hop into a hangout and take notes or ask questions interactively.
Not a fan of the iBooks Lock Down on format and output/ reader? There's still easy-ish ways to write an e-book.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Playing with Summly
It was a nice article that I would recommend anyone involved in "Ed Reform" conversations.
The following was pulled from a "summly summary" I wanted to play around a little but with the app today and my first search was on Ed reform. This was the third link provided. Not bad. It was enough to make me want to read the entire article. It did not satisfy as a substitute to reading it though.
"- Students in well-funded American schools from high-income families outscore nearly all other countries on standardized tests, yet our aggregate scores are low."
"- Schools need to hire more social workers, psychologists, and nurses to make sure students are healthy enough to take their learning to the next level."
"- These small class sizes showed to be especially beneficial to students attending schools in poor districts."
Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kenzo-shibata/education-reform-wheres-t_b_11850... Visit www.summly.com for more information on Summly and its technology.
3 Social Learning Trends to Watch in 2012
Stumbled across this article this morning. I can't help but think that 2012 is the new 2009.
SO MANY of these conversations were occurring on the twitter three even four years ago.
Saying that, I still think it is a really good thing to have these conversations and ideas taken to the next level.
It seems businesses have always tried to find ways to leverage employees personal knowledge and strengths in their organization. What we have now is access to "read, reflect, and share" quickly, and across multiple platforms with folks both inside and outside of our organization. This allows us to push back and glean ideas from and with one another in an unthreatening and productive way.
It's going to be important for us to find the tools and spaces that are the most easy to use and pliable with what we want to share. I'm thinking that we need the ability to layer permissions when sharing and collaborate for these spaces to be useful.
"Here are three of the developing topics that combine social with learning — and should be worth integrating in your business during this year."
3 Social Learning Trends to Watch in 2012
MASHABLE! | JANUARY 21, 2012
http://pulse.me/s/5d3ql
This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about ... Read more
3 Social Learning Trends to Watch in 2012
MASHABLE! | JANUARY 21, 2012
http://pulse.me/s/5d3ql
This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about ... Read more
1. Social Learning
Tony Bingham , president and CEO of the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), is leading the discussion about defining social learning. “Social learning is learning with and from others, often — but not always — with social media tools,” Bingham explains. “Social learning is a powerful approach to sharing and discovering a whole array of options, leading to more informed decision-making and a more intimate, expansive and dynamic understanding of the culture and context in which we work.”
There are many benefits to incorporating social learning into an organization: “Incorporating social learning creates networks of knowledgeable people to work across time and space to make informed decisions and solve complex problems,” Bingham says. “Learning happens more quickly and broadly. Innovation happens faster. And tacit knowledge can be retained and reused.”
Companies are paying attention to the benefits. In ASTD’s research report ,Transforming Learning with Web 2.0 Technologies, findings indicate that 87% of respondents predict that in the next three years, their companies are more likely to use Web 2.0 technologies than they currently do. Bingham offers several examples of how companies are applying social learning in his book, The New Social Learning .
2. Social Networking Techniques
While defining social learning is still a work in progress, many trainers are using social networking platforms to create activities and exercises for their programs.Jane Bozarth , eLearning Coordinator for the State of North Carolina and author of Social Media for Trainers explains how using social networks can enhance training: “Social media tools help to amplify the social and informal learning already going on in organizations all the time, every day, and make the learning available on a much larger scale. They provide ways to connect talent pools and expertise in an organization or within a practice area, and can offer just-in-time solutions to problems and performance issues.”
The reaction from participants is very positive. Bozarth explains, “Participants are happy to engage with one another using social media tools for training purposes. They find it convenient, useful for learning at the moment of need, and [that it helps them] develop a greater sense of control over their learning.”
Trainers shouldn’t fear adding a social component to their programs. According to Bozarth, it’s pretty easy to do. “Social media tools are just tools and can be effectively employed to support the gamut of training activities, from introductions to role plays to discussions of video clips, and anything in between.” But she does offer one recommendation: “I hope we see learning and development practitioners moving toward partnering with learners and away from feeling their role is to direct them.”
3. Gamification
A frequent training request is make subjects fun — and what better way to learn a new topic than by playing a game? Karl M. Kapp , professor of instructional technology at Bloomsburg University and author of The Gamification of Training: Game-based Methods and Strategies for Learning and Instruction , shares the concept of using games for learning. “Studies indicate that games, when designed properly, motivate learners, improve learner retention and encourage students who aren’t typically ‘academic’ to partake in the learning process,” he says. “There is no reason learning has to always be hard or difficult.”
It’s important to note that not all games are created equal when it comes to learning. Kapp discusses two reasons why gamification is becoming popular, and the first one isn’t necessarily relevant for learning. “Some people see gamification simply as the process of adding points, badges or rewards to the learning process and instantly creating engagement, interactivity and motivation for learning. This view is wrong.”
Kapp suggests looking at the real reasons why games are popular and then apply those elements to the process. “When done correctly, gamification provides an experience that is inherently engaging and, most importantly, promotes learning. The elements of games that make for effective gamification are those of storytelling, which provides a context, challenge, immediate feedback, sense of curiosity, problem-solving, a sense of accomplishment, autonomy and mastery.”
Adding social networks and games to training programs has the potential to shake up the learning experience. It can create constant learning opportunities, real-time knowledge sharing and improved participant engagement.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Ruminating Out Loud 01/18/2012
I read this and initially took a similar, "Oops, what are we doing," mentality. When I started thinking more about it, I came to the conclusion that "group think" (which is similar to an echo chamber I think) is not what collaboration and "team learning" is designed to be.
Like most educational strategies, if we misuse or rely too heavily on them, our learning environment becomes stale, static, or worse yet, dysfunctional.
What is not mentioned in this article, is the power of push back; folks culling ideas from their own creative processes and building something amazing. Apple, came up with the original iphone thirty years ago, but it wasn't until teams of folks chewed on, reflected, pushed back, and collaborated did we get anything near what we have today. http://www.digitaltrends.com/apple/1983-apple-prototype-pictures-show-iphone-ancestor/
What this means for me is that as we continue to move and shift traditional teaching models into blended learning environments, it is important that we use the power of collaboration for what it truly can be. An environment where learners digest, reflect, share, and repeat the cycle. If we aren't given opportunities to challenge, adapt, and modify our existing paradigms the teaching profession will look drastically different.
Let's own the shift.
Like most educational strategies, if we misuse or rely too heavily on them, our learning environment becomes stale, static, or worse yet, dysfunctional.
What is not mentioned in this article, is the power of push back; folks culling ideas from their own creative processes and building something amazing. Apple, came up with the original iphone thirty years ago, but it wasn't until teams of folks chewed on, reflected, pushed back, and collaborated did we get anything near what we have today. http://www.digitaltrends.com/apple/1983-apple-prototype-pictures-show-iphone-ancestor/
What this means for me is that as we continue to move and shift traditional teaching models into blended learning environments, it is important that we use the power of collaboration for what it truly can be. An environment where learners digest, reflect, share, and repeat the cycle. If we aren't given opportunities to challenge, adapt, and modify our existing paradigms the teaching profession will look drastically different.
Let's own the shift.
"Sharing lesson plans or classroom management strategies—“what works and what doesn’t”—transforms teaching from an art into factory work. It presumes that the unique relationship between the teacher and his/her students is transferrable to other teachers and students. I just don’t think it is, unless that relationship is merely superficial to begin with."http://coopcatalyst.wordpress.com/2011/08/29/teacher-collaboration-is-important-but-not-for-the-reasons-we-might-think/
What do you all think?
Just "found" this site again. I remember the original and at the time I thought it was amazing. This matrix and website is a nice addition to a PD library as it incorporates some examples and videos for folks looking to try to integrate technology into their classroom. I was messing around and went to transformational collaboration in Language Arts. The Matrix took me to a page with some examples and a video of a teacher using technology and collaboration with older students to create videos and exemplars for students studying phonics.
"The Technology Integration Matrix (TIM) illustrates how teachers can use technology to enhance learning for K-12 students. The TIM incorporates five interdependent characteristics of meaningful learning environments: active, constructive, goal directed (i.e., reflective), authentic, and collaborative (Jonassen, Howland, Moore, & Marra, 2003). The TIM associates five levels of technology integration (i.e., entry, adoption, adaptation, infusion, and transformation) with each of the five characteristics of meaningful learning environments. Together, the five levels of technology integration and the five characteristics of meaningful learning environments create a matrix of 25 cells..."
Centre for Learning and Teaching Resources
There are SO many resource sites like this out on the web. truthfully, it is almost overload. This one seems to have been built and then abandoned as there has been little acton on it for awhile. All the same, I like the resources and its worth peeling back some of its layers.
Blended Learning’s Impact on Teacher Development | via the Innosight Institute
A couple of quick takeaways for me are that it's nice to see professional development called out as something we need, but we really have to get away from the paradigm of thinking it's something we do "to" teachers or is done "to" us. The other takeaway I have after reading this is around a question I've asked before. If we're truly "blending" our teaching and environment, what does the space look like? How can we professionally develop as teachers to be better prepared to adapt and modify our existing learning spaces to better meet the needs of a flexible, student centric, tech infused learning environment? If shifting the ENTIRE teaching model paradigm upside down is NOT an option, what is?
Is this something that needs to be built, modeled, and then iterated?
tags: blended learnin
This is a student centric model I could really get excited aboutIs this something that needs to be built, modeled, and then iterated?
tags: blended learnin
They will help create learning playlists and/or learning paths
Blended learning operators will disaggregate the teacher role in new and interesting ways that support novice teachers, make the profession more sustainable and increase the impact of expert teachers.
First, technology is not a panacea, it enables schools to provide greater individualization which is the focus of much of the above. Learning how colleagues effectively individualize through technology will just be part of “the work,” not a stand-alone discipline. Second, social networking is creating communities of “early adopter” teachers beyond the walls of your organization. Teacher preparation programs can help connect their educators to the best “influencers” of education technology in the field via Twitter and other communities. EdModo, for example, has done a good job getting teachers to blog about their experiences with emerging tools.
Stop SOPA/PIPA Plugins for Blogger and Wordpress
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Image via Wikipedia If you want to add a ribbon to your blog or website here at the bottom of this post a snippet of html code you can add to do it. I'm doing my part. All 5 daily viewers will see this meesage today :) Seriously though, I was listening to Democracy Now yesterday and it sounds like SOPA is stalled, but that Senator Reid is ramming PIPA through. Take some time to look closer at the PIPA bill, it is also censorship and crippling for the open web. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57360665-503544/sopa-pipa-what-you-need-to-know/
Image via Wikipedia
<a href="http://americancensorship.org/" target="_blank"><img style="position: fixed; top: 0px; left: 0px; border: none;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjXgFkbw_8ZoFxq5ngWUxcuXTE7t-MBknGZl_x8ZKOgfYFF9kQ2CeMOjFWqDqhjJnu2jd4YRZUyRNXP8r6-hQoqNEimi9Yfkki6QZMA4GSersT_4_hrAEYmMIx5VhLrCzSvtpEbV4aP4w/s1600/stop+sopa.png" alt="" /></a>
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Ruminating Out Loud 01/16/2012
This is an interactive multimedia site designed to get Tween girls excited about Science and reaffirm that it's cool if you already do. I spent a little time poking around the videos and games, and they wer nice, gave an overview, seemed engaging. What I especially liked though was the Projects page, where you're given a ton of options, including submitting your own projects. Another gem on the site is the "For Teachers and "For Parents" pages. This quote especially caught my eye. "Every girl can be a SciGirl with a groundbreaking new TV show and interactive website that will transform the way tween girls look at science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). " Here is an additional link that takes you to the site's Educational Philosophy. http://www.pbs.org/teachers/scigirls/philosophy/
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Ruminating Out Loud 01/14/2012
Why pay for one-size-fits all textbooks when you can get customizable standards-aligned FlexBooks for FREE!
http://t.co/Li2VbShV
http://t.co/Li2VbShV
Math, Science, and now they've expanded to other subjects as well. There is some real potential in this model for textbooks. I'm in favor of looking at all of our options and changing the current delivery and consumption methods.
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| Image by Getty Images via @daylife |
Favorited tweets from Yesterday
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Idioms: Slides, Tools, & Resources http://t.co/OhfEyLK8 #eltchat #ellchat #engchat #esl #twinglish #langchat
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@jerridkruse How funny... just posted a a new blog post this morning on this very thing http://t.co/DFSKbMzW
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@mrmosesdotorg Welcome to FluencyFast! http://t.co/QzG5MAwv
- The Learning Network Blog: Teachers Teaching Teachers, on Twitter: Q. and A. on 'Edchats' (learning.blogs.nytimes.com)
- It's All About The Hashtag (web20classroom.org)
- Why Teachers Should Join Twitter...What I have Learned as a Twitter Newbie (adaptivelearnin.wordpress.com)
- Edu-Twitter Superstars Q & A in the NY Times (19pencils.com)
- Building a Personal Learning Network (PLN) Using Social Media (edtechsandyk.blogspot.com)
Friday, January 13, 2012
Loving the "Search Plus Your World"
I'm seriously in love with the new search. I anticipate it getting smarter and smarter with me. I just searched for analytics (thought I typed in the address for Google Analytics, but no) and it brought up this image that not only connected me to add the developers, certified trainers, and other analytics folks to my circles, but coupled with my evernote and diigo, it pulled all the stuff I already had bookmarked, saved, or taken note about. Very, Very Cool IMO
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/search-plus-your-world.html
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Ruminating Out Loud 01/12/2012
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Image via Wikipedia Sad state of Affairs when our state receives a B- in standards, assessment, and accountability, but doesn't fund induction, mentoring, and it is found that their pay for teachers is "lacking."
Not surprised though, we love mandates and accountability, but according to the report we fail to fund it or reward our teachers for their work, expertise, or professional earning and transfer to the classroom.-
The only other better-than-average grade, a B-, came in the area of standards, assessment and accountability, where Colorado’s system of school accountability achieved a perfect 100. But it flunked the standards portion of the category, because the state’s standards are not course or grade-specific.
In particular, the state was dinged because it doesn’t fund induction, mentoring or reduced workloads for new teachers and it doesn’t allow pension portability across state lines.
Colorado’s teacher pay was found lacking and not at least equal to comparable professions.
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- Google Hangouts keeps getting better and better. I've been really impressed thus far with its consistency, ease of use, and functionality. Screensharing is a must, Bigger video, less so for me, but the ability to draft, ,collaborate, and draw out ideas in this setting seemingly super easy is great.
As an aside, I'm wondering how much I'll be using gmail, since Google plus, pretty much does everything I would need from an email already and then some. -
Image via CrunchBase I'm always looking for creative comons photos and images to use and share with colleagues. This seems to do a decent job of aggregating those from the sources that many of us check already, like creativecommons.org, flickr, etc. I like the layout and the options to purchase images as well.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Ruminating Out Loud 01/11/2012
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Image via CrunchBase I've been looking for something as robust as this and to be honest haven't found anything quite this good. I really like how it has been culled by real professionals that are familiar with and comfortable with technology.
Currently there aren't ANY "game" apps, and I'm cool with that actually. -
Great nugget from @michellek107 tonight, referencing homework and what they do at Anastasis Academy. Good practice is more important than just "practice"
Image via Wikipedia
@mramidon @mwacker @apstechgoddess no homework at our school. They practice AT school, where I can help ensure practice is GOOD practice.
How to Set Up Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Contacts (Properly) on iOS
via lifehacker.com
This is very cool. We were having this conversation the other day and sure enough, @ginatrapani shared this three month old post on twitter today and it was PERFECT timing! I love it when it works like that. This is super easy to set up.
note: One thing you wanna be careful about though is the duplication or deleting of contacts and calendars.
Steps from the post itself:
Open up the Settings app on your iOS device and go to the "Mail, Contacts, Calendars" section. Hit "Add Account".
From there, choose Microsoft Exchange as the type of account (again, don't choose Gmail).
Type in your Gmail address under Email. Leave the Domain field blank and enter your full Gmail address under Username (including the @gmail.com, @googlemail.com, or other suffix). Type in your password and give it any description you like. Mine's just called "Gmail".
Press the Next button at the top of the screen. It should pop up a message saying Unable to Verify Certificate—if it does, just hit cancel. Then, type m.google.com in the new "Server" box that shows up at the top of the screen. Then tap Next.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Ruminating Out Loud 01/10/2012
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| Image via CrunchBase |
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There is no patent medicine, potion, quack elixir, quick fix, remedy, for what ills our structures despite what soem would have you believe. It really is about relationships, empowerment, and community in my opinion. This quote below, summed up the silo-ness we live in within the EDU community in my opinion.
"Today's school system is set up into disparate parts and silos."
What could happen if we really try to flip the script in our schools? I mean space, schedule, teacher roles, etc... -
Looking forward to the conversation. Hope i can make it. Aaron's been doing this for awhile, look forward to hearing more about how the skill has evolved as access is increased.
"Join us on Tuesday, January 17th, at 3:30pm Mountain time for a visit with Aaron Sams, a science teacher at Woodland Park High School in Woodland Park, Colorado, as we talk about the flipped classroom – what is it, it isn’t and the many forms that it can take."
Monday, January 9, 2012
Ruminating Out Loud 01/09/2012
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| Image via Wikipedia |
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Digital publishing you say?
This could be pretty rockin awesome, actually. Once again, I ask the question, "What if we put the content and publishing of content, materials, learning objectives, etc.. into the hands of our students." Maybe instead of palavering on about what it might look like, I should spend some time actually thinking through this on an ECE-12 level. I get that our Primary kiddos aren't going to be writing deep level texts, but what if there was a "for us by us" movement of sorts. Would it allow us to dive deeper into conversations and topics? -
Image via Wikipedia This is a pretty sweet collection of resources for teachers to cruise through and glean nuggets of cool for their students. All kinds of sites to support each stage of the writing process, as well as content from MI, OWL, and the like. As well as ways for students to get published, watch videos, and get creative.
I'm not a huge fan of lists, but this is a nice collection.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Ruminating Out Loud 01/08/2012
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| Image via Wikipedia |
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I like that this article address the obvious gaps of research and lack of control of multiple variables that could eschew results. Nevertheless there are some great data points on why keeping and retaining the best in our profession needs to be a continued focus and conversation. Is it enough to use test scores, of course not. But a balanced system that helps us speed up the process for removing ineffective folks in our profession can't hurt.
- Elementary- and middle-school teachers who help raise their students’ standardized-test scores seem to have a wide-ranging, lasting positive effect on those students’ lives beyond academics, including lower teenage-pregnancy rates and greater college matriculation and adult earnings, according to a new study that tracked 2.5 million students over 20 years.
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18,000 Resources, 1,200 Lessons, and a great space for students to search, study, and practice. I like this site quite a bit. It is run by a nn-profit, which has me hopeful for what's to come.
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Image via CrunchBase If Chrome continues to be the fastest growing browser, this resource may be helpful for soem folks helping to "sell" IT on the idea of supporting it. If you're a chromebooks school or program, then this is a super useful tool to put in the hands of your teachers.- The more shortcuts you know, tricks you master, and tweaks you understand, the more quickly and efficiently you can use your browser
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Would love to look into the possible purchase of some or all of these resources to share them with our teachers. Wondering about cost and work load that would be taken on. This could be a great resource for the developers and curriculum specialists designing ELA certification trainings and courses.
Look forward to see what if anything is possible to work out. -
I came across a nice "Top 15" list that I thought was worth passing on. I'd love to hear what you all think. Are these enough? Is there something missing that you would add? They don't call out "directly" any of the Adult ID experts, so is that a place where they may be missing a key strategy? Feel free to pass on to any groups.
Flipped Classroom Resources
If you're wondering how to get started using this teaching strategy or tool, This article from The New York Times does a great job of laying out things highlighted here and also specific tools for the job like this...
"Sometimes teachers create lectures and other resources themselves using resources like Teacher Tube , the Show Me app or a voice recording tool . Or they might provide a link to an available resource, like a video from Vi Hart , Khan Academy , the Teaching Channel or YouTube EDU . They can even supplement student curriculum with material from an online course ."
An infographic that breaks it down in a very basic form.
"What is it and Why ar epeople talking about it?"
Additional Resources:
Related articles
- Flipping the Classroom: An Introduction (onlinecollege.org)
- The Flipped Classroom -newly invented - but used in Austalia 20 years ago (julieboydeducation.com)
- EdSurge: Mapping The Edtech World, Flipped Classrooms, And More... (fastcompany.com)
- My Idea of Flipping My Classroom (educatoral.com)
- The Flip-Flopped Classroom (digiteacher.wordpress.com)
- December News For Those Who Learn In A Different Way (foundnewsthatmatters.wordpress.com)
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