A Principal's Reflections
OCTOBER 12, 2014
'I was just like ever other principal on the planet prior to becoming connected. My narrow focus was on sustaining a school culture focused on rules, compliance, conformity, and preserving the status quo. The end goal was to make sure standardized test scores increased (or at least didn’t go down) and traditions were preserved. On the inside everything was great.
The Web20Classroom
OCTOBER 21, 2014
'I can remember it like it was yesterday. I was in sixth grade and sitting at a desk in my language arts classroom. We had been doing an integrated unit in all our classes about cultures around the world. We’d been looking at all sorts of places that, at the time, seemed exotic to me. I had “traveled” all over the world through the books, articles and stories we read.
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Tom Murray
OCTOBER 29, 2014
'Future Ready Schools is a bold new initiative, led by the Alliance for Excellent Education, supported by the US Department of Education, and in partnership with the LEAD Commission and a vast coalition of organizations, working to support school district superintendents and their leadership teams on district-wide transformation. The vision of this new initiative is for district leaders to develop and implement a sustainable, forward thinking roadmap for effective digital learning transformation
The Journal
OCTOBER 27, 2014
In this week’s blog, we reflect on our 2010 prediction: By 2015 "every student in every grade in every school in the U.S. will be a using a mobile computing device, 24/7." Oops. We revise that prediction slightly and add in predictions about the Trinity of Educational Technology: hardware, software, and network.
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.
User Generated Education
OCTOBER 26, 2014
'The things we have to learn before we do them, we learn by doing them. Aristotle. Give the pupils something to do, not something to learn; and the doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking; learning naturally results. John Dewey. My training as an educator occurred through experiential education rather than the traditional route. Experiential Education is based on the following principles as articulated by the Association for Experiential Education : Experiential learning occurs when car
Class Tech Integrate
OCTOBER 15, 2014
I was able to visit Dustin Curtis's 5th grade classroom last week at Bayyari Elementary in Springdale, Arkansas. When I walked in I noticed that students had their Chromebooks open, and a word problem was displayed for them in a Google Doc. The students were working diligently on a paper with a pen to complete the problem that was posed for them. After completing their task on paper, the students simply clicked on the insert tab to add a picture, and took a snapshot of their work.
EdTech Update brings together the best content for education technology professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
The Innovative Educator
OCTOBER 15, 2014
'Guest post by Michelle Loucas No one enjoys boredom. It is an uncomfortable state, leaving one to cast about for relief. If you Google "boredom" and "school," you will find numerous entries about the boredom "epidemic" in our schools and oodles of "boredom-busting strategies" to eradicate this outbreak. The essence of these cures is to "surround them with wonder"-- make schooling more entertaining so that kids will stop fidgeting and absorb wha
Tom Murray
OCTOBER 29, 2014
'The Future Ready Schools Initiative is a bold new initiative, led by theAlliance for Excellent Education, supported by theUS Department of Education, and in partnership with the LEAD Commission and a vast coalition of organizations, working to support school district superintendents and their leadership teams on district-wide transformation.
The Journal
OCTOBER 14, 2014
Students have definite opinions about what they want from education and from technology in education. In this week's blog post we review two recent surveys of students and discuss their "requests" to include more mobile technology and more coding instruction in their lessons.
Baker's B.Y.O.D.
OCTOBER 30, 2014
'I can''t stop thinking about the Elevating and Celebrating Effective Teaching & Teachers conference that I attended last weekend. I keep thinking about the notions of leadership and being a change agent as I reflect on how I got to attend such an inspiring event. I''d like to say it started on the plane on the way to New Orleans and #ECET2NOLA, but it started before that.
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My Paperless Classroom
OCTOBER 25, 2014
'We have a Winner!!!!! We are excited to announce Tim Jones has won the 10 pack of Spheros. I encourage you to follow Tim, and see how he puts these robots to use with his 4th graders. a 10 robot kind of guy Thank you @SamPatue @SpheroEdu for the 10 Spheros! Can''t wait to get them charged and into the hands of my students! pic.twitter.com/u6iWLE5LLH — Mr.
A Principal's Reflections
OCTOBER 26, 2014
'As I work to constantly improve my keynote on Digital Leadership, I am always looking for ideas to strengthen the reasons why leaders need to change while updating the specific ways to illustrate how it can be done. For me, I strive to convey the urgency for schools, leaders, and educators to change so that students do not experience a total disconnect when entering a building that is supposedly going to educate them for success in a digital world.
Class Tech Integrate
OCTOBER 20, 2014
I was able to meet with Trish Lopez in her 5th grade class at Elmdale Elementary School in Springdale, AR. We had a conversation about the different ways that Google Forms can be used in the classroom. While we discussed how it could be great for multiple choice type quizzes, we decided to use the Form as a reading open response tool for her guided reading group.
Tom Murray
OCTOBER 6, 2014
'I recently had the opportunity to sit down with three of the nation’s leaders in classroom design, and founders of the MTV-meets-classroom style resource,Classroom Cribs: elementary school principalBen Gilpin, technology specialistAJ Juliani, and classroom teacher and award winning blogger,Erin Klein.
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.
The Journal
OCTOBER 6, 2014
They say a picture is worth 1,000 words. Okay, instead of writing a diatribe on blended learning, in this week’s blog we will let four pictures from blended learning classrooms "speak for themselves.
Baker's B.Y.O.D.
OCTOBER 31, 2014
'I had the pleasure on Tuesday last week to give a webinar on how I use Edmodo to teach my students digital literacy skills and help prepare them for digital assessments. My students piloted the PARCC last Spring and it became clear that knowing how to effectively navigate through a website will impact student scores on the Common Core assessment. Not only are my students being assessed on reading and writing literacy skills, but they are also being evaluated on understanding how to navigate and
Learning in Hand
OCTOBER 10, 2014
'Not only does project based learning motivate students because it is an authentic use of technology, it facilitates active learning, critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity. Projects begin with a driving question—an open-ended question that sets the stage for the project by creating interest and curiosity. Writing an effective driving question is surprisingly challenging.
A Principal's Reflections
OCTOBER 2, 2014
'The following is a guest post by Dr. Andrea Honigsfeld, Dr. Maria G. Dove, and Dr. Audrey Cohan. Check out their book titled Beyond Core Expectations: A Schoolwide Framework for Serving the Not-So-Common Learner published by Corwin. Leaders who have deeper and more lasting impact provide more comprehensive leadership than focusing just on higher standards.
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.
Edutopia
OCTOBER 28, 2014
Video & Transcript Video Transcript: The Flipped Class: Rethinking Space and Time. . Jon: The Flipped class requires us to fundamentally rethink two important aspects of education, space and time. Aaron: So let's talk a little bit about space. If you think about the way classrooms have been set up traditionally. They had a chalkboard in the front of the classroom.
SpeechTechie
OCTOBER 22, 2014
'October is tough for me. I live in the Northeast ( in a location that is in a questionable time zone ), and have a touch of seasonal affective disorder, so fall isn''t the best time. Mums, hay bales, scarecrows, apples and pumpkins, while triggering joy for most in the area or those who travel here specifically to see those things, bring about the rather the opposite in me.
The Journal
OCTOBER 1, 2014
While sales to the general public of 10 inch-screened tablets (e.g., iPads) are dropping quickly, K-12 schools will continue to buy them. The challenge, then, is how to use these devices to support inquiry – 24/7, all-the-time, everywhere learning?
My Paperless Classroom
OCTOBER 30, 2014
'Work is a constant sense of business. There is too much to do. Once again the truth of it is freeing. There is too much to do, therefore it cannot all get done. We do our best every day and try to make good choices, and apologize when we get it wrong. What is lost in this endless work machine of teaching can be perspective, and a sense of self. Sometimes I make pictures I have found this at times through writing and creating.
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The Thinking Stick
OCTOBER 30, 2014
'I haven’t been blogging here much as my time has been spent working with teachers in their schools, Learning2 and COETAIL …which I love! Replace is my new word of choice when talking about the skills of technology. . I have done the word dance on this blog. Going from integrate , to embed and now to replace. However, I think it’s just the progression of adoption of any new way of thinking any new skill set as we reach a new level.
The 21st Century Principal
OCTOBER 26, 2014
'"You can prep kids for a standardized test, get a bump in scores, yet not be providing a very good education." Mike Rose, "The Mismeasure of Teaching and Learning: How Contemporary School Reform Fails the Test" It should not be a surprise at all to politicians, policymakers, and educators that the cry and backlash against testing and accountability is growing.
The Innovative Educator
OCTOBER 1, 2014
'Clay Shirky author and professor of media studies at New York University, recently penned a guest article for the Washington Post sharing why he decided to ban technology in his class. He explains how it was challenging to be more interesting than the devices. The following quote captures some of his thinking: “The practical effects of my decision to allow technology use in class grew worse over time.
Learning in Hand
OCTOBER 5, 2014
'Learning in Hand Show #29 tells you about three websites that are great for finding clipart, photos, symbols, and icons. These sites feature images that you already have permission to use on your website, blog, poster, slideshow, video, animation, etc., etc. Also, get tips on how to download these images and advice for finding images to illustrate your ideas.
Speaker: Aaron Webb, Jamf
Apple empowers educators and students by design. Whether using Macs, iPads, or Apple TV, Apple devices encourage creativity and can simplify teaching with apps to make the classroom more flexible, collaborative and personalized for each student. To unleash the full potential of the technology and create the best learning environment, you need to understand the tools and resources available, and develop an education-focused, comprehensive plan, from equipment purchase to deployment, management an
Baker's B.Y.O.D.
OCTOBER 25, 2014
'I see what you did there. On the plane, chatting with folks around you around. Keynoting in the aisles and igniting learning in others who are struggling. But did you see, that you gave me a chance to pay it forward? In the session, tying Seinfeld to blogging."Seinfeld is not a show about nothing and your blog is not a blog about nothing." It is not about me it is about YOU.
My Paperless Classroom
OCTOBER 4, 2014
'I have my Livescribe connected to my Evernote as well as my mobile scanner. I save everything I need in Evernote all; the time. The Livescribe 3 Smartpen These hardware supports turn Evernote into a completely different type of tool for me. This is an archive of what I have written and it is searchable, even the handwriting. In this short segment of The TechEducator Podcast , I demonstrate how I use my pen connected to Evernote.
The Thinking Stick
OCTOBER 27, 2014
'Just a quick announcement that our third Eduro Learning Online Professional Development course will begin soon. We’re really excited about this one as it is one of those things we talk about teaching but A) Never get training on and B) Don’t really make it a priority. Our fear is that even though educators told us they would like to have a class on how to teach Digital Citizenship to students we’re not sure if people will actually sign up for such a class.
Ed Tech Now
OCTOBER 29, 2014
'Current models of ed-tech are based on theories of progressive education which are in turn based on a false understanding of what learning involves.
This whitepaper explores integrating the PowerTeaching pedagogical approach within a HyFlex (Hybrid Flexible) educational model, focusing on employing cooperative learning strategies and efficient classroom management techniques.
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