May, 2012

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Learning Should Be Creative

A Principal's Reflections

'Allowing students to create content not only fosters creativity, but also makes learning engaging and meaningful. Many of my teachers at NMHS embrace this ultimately rewarding challenge. Joe Andolino (Applied Music Theory teacher at New Milford High School ) and his class routinely hit upon a subject that every teen is interested in: cellphones. In previous classes the students created their own original music tracks.

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So.You Wanna Design Your Own Apps

The Web20Classroom

'I have published lots of posts on my favorite iPad resources , my favorite apps for administrators , and posted countless Tweets and had a number of conversations about apps for learning, producing and consuming. But what about if you want to take the next step? You want (or better yet your kids) to create apps. Whether it''s something basic like just appifying your blog or literally building something from the ground up, there are some pretty easy ways to create apps.

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Google 80/20 Rule Applied to Education - for students too!

Educational Technology Guy

'Google has a unique idea, called the 80/20 rule. Google engineers are encouraged to take 20 percent of their time to work on something company-related that interests them personally. It is a great idea and has spawned many of Google''s apps and resources and made Google very successful, and a very good place to work. Last week, I read an article on Converge Magazine''s site entitled "Google''s 80/20 Principle Adopted at New Jersey School".

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iPad Essentials: Gauge your Space

SpeechTechie

'I thought it might be helpful over the next few months to share some iPad tips here, not necessarily the basics like turning on and off the device, but functions that can be viewed through an SLP lens as to how they affect our work! The arrival of the "New iPad" (3rd Generation) and its "retina" display, which is Apple''s way of saying the screen is as HD as your eye (what about people who wear glasses?

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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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4 Social Media Listening Strategies for 21st Century School Leaders

The 21st Century Principal

'In their book Why Social Media Matters: School Communication in the Digital Age authors Kitty Porterfield and Meg Carnes argue that for school leaders to use social media effectively, they not only use it to communicate out information, they must also engage in listening to what stakeholders are saying. "Listening online gives leaders insight into their communities in a way that face-to-face meetings and surveys do not.

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STEM, PBL, Common Core, and 21st Century Learning

wwwatanabe

'Just a few weeks ago, I was asked by our Governing Board if some students and teachers could share about Project Based Learning at the next Board Meeting, and it was easy to say yes because PBL has found a home at AJUSD. Solar exploration in Mrs. Hamman''s 5th grade class This STEM project was student driven. They researched problems and solutions on their own, and concluded that solar energy could help solve problems with purifying drinking water and eliminating the health hazards and environm

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Creating Social Media Guidelines.The Handout

The Web20Classroom

'Over the past few weeks I have been working on a project for Edutopia and Facebook Education to develop a set of steps to follow when developing social media guidelines in your school or district. This all came about from my presentation at ASCD this year where I outlined how we created a document that promoted the use of social media by our teachers and our students but also gave tips on responsible use.

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5 Different Ways Technology Has Made Learning Easier - guest post

Educational Technology Guy

'Technology in education has been a hot topic for a while now and understandably so, especially as it continues to grow in importance in our personal, educational, and professional lives. Each facet of technology plays a different part in the way that both teachers teach and students learn. And the best part about it is that you can access a lot of it for free.

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iPad Essentials: Sharing your iPad screen as a Visual/Interactive Context with a Group

SpeechTechie

'For another iPad Essentials post, I wanted to address a very frequently asked question about connecting iPad to LCD projectors, interactive whiteboards such as a Smartboard, TVs, and laptops. SLPs and special educators may be interested in displaying an iPad to a group in order to present info visually, or allow the group to experience an app; the iPad is an amazing teaching tool!

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Finally, Definitive Manual for School Leaders on Engaging in Using Social Media

The 21st Century Principal

'In their new book, Why Social Media Matters: School Communication in the Digital Age , authors Kitty Porterfield and Meg Carnes write: “Skill in communication is a key ingredient for school leaders’ success in today’s complex education environment, and this communication now includes social media.” As these author’s suggest, school leaders “can either learn to use these powerful tools or stand hopelessly by and the information good and bad swirls around them.

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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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Is BYOD A Cop-Out for Schools That Should Be Providing Technology to Students?

EdTechSandyK

'Image Source This morning, I read an excellent article from The Journal called Why BYOD, Not Banning Cell Phones, is the Answer. I bookmarked it, because it lays out in detail the positive aspects of BYOD and gives great strategies for helping teachers help students use personal devices in learning. Then, I started reading the comments. And one of them drew a response out of me.

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Flipping Instruction in a Captivating Fashion

A Principal's Reflections

'Mrs. Kanchan Chellani, one of our math teachers here at NMHS, is very enthusiastic and creative. To engage students in her classroom, she has developed an interactive, student-centered learning environment. Through the use of technology, collaborative learning, and teaching mathematical concepts in the real-world and interdisciplinary context, she has managed to successfully work towards creating this desired positive and energetic blended learning environment.

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TED Talks To Spark A Conversation

The Web20Classroom

'Sometimes, in a group it can be hard to get a conversation started. You need that one focal point for everyone to rally around to get things moving. Videos and images are a great way to get your message out there and get folks talking. The same is true in the classroom. I can be helpful to start a unit or a topic off with some kind of visual stimulant that gets those creative thoughts moving.

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The Death of Worksheets - guest post

Educational Technology Guy

'The Death of Worksheets Educational technology has the power to dramatically transform classrooms and enhance learning for students of all ages. This blog alone contains links to hundreds of amazing apps, websites, and tech tools. But what is it that those online resources should be replacing in schools? I hereby nominate. the worksheet. “Death by worksheet” has become a common occurrence in schools, so much so that some teachers (and even students) can no longer imagine learning taking place w

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Reimagining Chickering & Gamson's Principles Post-Pandemic: Technology's Central Role in Modern Edu

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.

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Bag Game

SpeechTechie

'Bag Game is an interactive app for iPad and other iDevices (iPhone, iPod) that brings the game of "20 Questions" to the iPad format. Using Bag Game (the folks at all4mychild emphasize that it is a social game that can''t be played alone) children can choose an object from various categories, hide it "in a bag" and engage in a clue-giving/guessing process with another child or you as the therapist.

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3 Lessons Schools Can Learn From an Obsolete Hometown Newspaper

The 21st Century Principal

'Today, I was attempting to read an article from our local newspaper''s website. I was trying to access an article through my RSS Reader, when I got the following pop-up: Subscribe Now Thanks for being a frequent visitor to HickoryRecord.com. You''ve now viewed your monthly allowance of 5 free premium articles. We''re glad you enjoy our site. Want to read more?

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Greetings & Salutations!

Baker's B.Y.O.D.

'Because I am a nerd, this blog documents the use of BYOD in the high school English classroom and teaching students how to digitally enhance their study of literature. I started this blog as part of my quest for learning. And because I am a glutton for learning, these posts will also feature activities completed in conjunction with the Stockton Masters in Instructional Technology program.

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Twitter: A Tool For All

A Principal's Reflections

'For those of you who regularly read my blog you know how passionate I am about Twitter and its positive impact on my professional practice as a school leader. I am constantly advocating for other school leaders and educators to embrace this powerful tool to improve communications, enhance public relations, establish a positive brand presence, grow professionally through the formation of a Personal Learning Network (PLN), increase student engagement, and discover a world of opportunity.

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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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Android Apps For Literacy

The Web20Classroom

'I love my tablets. I carry 2 pretty much where ever I go, especially when I travel. Now, I love my iPad. I can get lots of work done on it, but mostly play some great games. However, I recently got a 10.1 Galaxy Tab and it is quickly becoming my go-to tablet for everything. From writing this blog post to checking my tweets to watching Netflix, I use it more than my laptop some days.

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NearPod - create and share lessons on iPads in classroom - free

Educational Technology Guy

'NearPod is a free service/app that allows you to create interactive lessons and then share them across iPads in your classroom. Teachers create interactive presentations and then share them with the class. Here''s how it works. The teacher uses the Content Tool to create multimedia presentations and then share the content with the students. The Teacher app allows the teacher to control the activity also.

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Announcing Language Adventures!

SpeechTechie

'Students of all ages continue to enjoy playing board games! I recently worked with authors Nichole Ontis and Danielle Sears, two school-based SLPs, along with Barbara Fernandes, on a new app that translates the board game format into an exciting and fun experience for the iPad. Language Adventures (unless I missed something) is the first speech and language board game for the iPad , and takes advantage of the electronic medium to add aspects that can be lacking in traditional board games: color

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Daring Conference Packing Tips & Tricks

The Daring Librarian

'Sorry guys.men.dudes. Half of this post contains girlie talk. Here''s a post that features Zombies. (anyone who doesn''t have a Zombie Survival Plan.I just think is short sighted! Just sayin.) This post features packing tips for conferences. Travel Tech, Clothes, Makeup, Tips, & Tricks. Some might be non-girlie! But most are pretty darn girlie!

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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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Why I Purchased an Android Tablet and Not an iPad

The 21st Century Principal

'One of the biggest reasons for purchasing an Android tablet as opposed to an iPad was my Amazon cloud products. I have my music uploaded to the Amazon cloud, and unfortunately, there is no Amazon music player app available for the iPad. Of the course, the pure OSers would point out I could store my music in the iCloud, but then I could not access my music on my Kindle Fire, which I sometimes do while reading.

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Social Media For School Leaders

A Principal's Reflections

'Last week I had the honor of presenting a webinar for NASSP, my national association. This was the first of three in a series presented by the 2012 Digital Principal Award winners. Below is a synopsis of the webinar I did: NASSP Digital Principal Award winner Eric Sheninger, principal of New Milford (NJ) High School, kicks-off the Digital Principal webinar series with his presentation on ways school leaders can effectively use social media in their schools.

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Help Support The ISTE12 Newbie!

The Web20Classroom

'In 2009, Beth Still started the ISTE Newbie Project to serve as an example of how people who are connected to one another on Twitter can work together to do great things. There were still a lot of people who discounted the value of Twitter and she was determined to show the naysayers that it really did have a valuable place in education. For three years in a row she tapped into her personal learning network to raise money to send three different Newbies to ISTE.

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Chalkable - educational apps and classroom management system

Educational Technology Guy

'Chalkable is a site that lists the best education apps in one place and lets you buy it through the Chalkable site. You can search apps by keyword, or browse by categories like Math, Science, History and more. It is also a learning platform, providing a calendar, messaging, grade book, and attendance for teachers and students to use. Teacher and Administrator versions are in Beta and free.

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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.

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iPad Essentials: Use a Passcode

SpeechTechie

'For this post in my series on iPad essentials, I wanted to discuss the use of passcodes, which is important as a confidentiality measure. Many of us have our iPad set to unlock immediately when you perform the "slide to unlock": As you might know, your iPad goes into this state when you push the "Lock" button at the top of the iPad, officially known as the Sleep/Wake Button: Image from official iPad User Guide The iPad also goes to sleep and is locked when you close a Smart Cover on it or a pre

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A Conversation with Bryan Alexander on Technology and the Liberal Arts

The Learning Revolution Has Begun

'Join me Tuesday, May 29th, for live and interactive Future of Education conversation with Dr. Bryan Alexander, senior fellow at the National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education ( NITLE ). We''ll discuss his focus on "emerging trends in the integration of inquiry, pedagogy, and technology and their potential application to liberal arts contexts," as well as his work on digital storytelling, learning in immersive environments, mobile devices, social reading, and the "rise of digital hum

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Chrome Extension: Docs PDF/PowerPoint Viewer

The Electric Educator

'Google Chrome is the world''s second most popular web browser. Chrome features fast and reliable access to the web. This series of posts highlights Chrome extension and web applications, which enhance and extend what can be done with the Chrome web browser. Have you ever been frustrated when you are forced to download a PDF, Word, PowerPoint, or other document from the web in order to view it?

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Taking Schools and Education to Another Level With Digital Publishing

A Principal's Reflections

'On Thursday May 17, 2012, I was fortunate to attend the Adobe Digital Publishing Summit in New York City. I was accompanied by NMHS Adobe guru Walt Pevny, who consistently integrates technology in his classroom to allow students to create artifacts to demonstrate learning. Through the use of iMacs, Adobe Creative Design Suite, and digital cameras, students flock to his courses to unleash their creativity and partake in innovative learning activities.

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Building the Foundation for a Modern K-12 Classroom

K-12 looks different these days. But one thing remains the same: you need a reliable learning platform that serves as the foundation for teaching and learning––for all students, in a variety of learning experiences. Discover how the Instructure Learning Platform supports today's K-12 classroom through: A central, consistent, connected hub of the digital learning environment.