The Innovative Educator
MARCH 23, 2014
'Me and my mother I was at a large conference in the fall when the presenter asked the audience of more than 1000 educators to say the first word that comes to mind when thinking of high school. As if rehearsed for church choir, the audience responded. Their answer? BORED! I was thinking, wow! We all know this truth yet seem to accept it as just the way things are.
Technology Tidbits
MARCH 17, 2014
'This is going to be one of my most ambitious posts yet, as I have curated a gigantic list of my favorite sites/apps for Game Based Learning (a.k.a Gamification). I''ve done posts on educational iOS Apps and Educational Online Games but I have never combined the two and curated a list that specifically deals w/ GBL. The resources below will vary from drill and practice to all out epic adventures in 3D virtual worlds, to help Gamify a classroom.
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STEMx
MARCH 26, 2014
by Margaret Ashida, director of the STEMx network. If you ask five people to define STEM education, you’ll probably get five different answers. The reality is there is no single definition! The STEMx network thinks about it this way: STEM 1.0 = the acronym for the disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics – each important in its own right.
CTE Learning
MARCH 25, 2014
As a company that firmly believes in Daniel Pink’s observation that “Persistence triumphs talent” we look forward to Libby showing us that she has the personality to stick to it and help foster collaboration, lower stress, and inspire out of the “dog carrier” thinking in others. We look forward to seeing her grow into her new career and her ears. All of us at CTeL congratulate Libby on her new position with us.
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.
The Innovative Educator
MARCH 19, 2014
'In his recent article, " 14 things that are obsolete in 21st century schools ," Ingvi Hrannar Ómarsson, gives innovative educators, students, and parents some food for thought in their own schools. When I read the article, I couldn''t help but think that an excellent activity would be to turn the article into a quiz for school staff, students, and parents.
STEM Education Central brings together the best content for STEM education professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
The Innovative Educator
MARCH 9, 2014
'To engage or not to engage? That is the question when it comes to figuring out the best platform for strengthening the home-school connection with texting. Schools know that texting is a great way to reach out to families. It’s better than the “robo-calling” that is only one-way, is overwhelmingly reported as an annoyance to the Better Business Bureau , can disturb parents at work, or set off all the school staff phones ringing at the same time.
The Innovative Educator
MARCH 30, 2014
'Innovative educators know it''s not a great idea to use your personal account to administrate Facebook pages or groups that you are using for your school i.e. school page, library page, sports page. However, for some, especially us early adopters, you may have a page that has been up and running for years using your personal account. Don''t worry! Switching it to a professional account is easy!
The Innovative Educator
MARCH 16, 2014
'I was stoked this week when I learned Google Drive now has these cool add-ons which you can get to right from the menu bar. There are a number to choose from.
The Innovative Educator
MARCH 26, 2014
'You may have come across Cris Rowan's popular HuffPost piece explaining 10 reasons handheld devices should be banned for children under 12. You may also have read the rebuttal from a librarian mom who explains why she will continue to give her children handheld devices. While the pro-device author explains the benefits of handhelds, what she doesn't uncover is that the research cited by the original author doesn't support her claims.
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Mathematics, a subject steeped in abstract concepts, often poses challenges to students, especially those in grades 5-10. But imagine a bridge that transformed this intricate maze into an interactive adventure.
The Innovative Educator
MARCH 2, 2014
'Innovative educators want students to be able to find a job after completing their education, but as reported by the Associated Press more than half of America's recent college graduates are either unemployed or working in a job that doesn't require a bachelor's degree. Anthony Cody explains that it is not that schools are failing to teach students to become skilled workers, but that schools are not providing them with enough experience doing things in the world.
The Innovative Educator
MARCH 5, 2014
'When we think of innovative educators, we often think of classrooms and teachers, but we sometimes forget parents are employing innovative strategies to support learning outside of school. For home educators this is just a way of life, but parents who choose school can also play a key role in helping their children learn. When they do, I am happy to know that The Innovative Educator was named a top five ed tech blog for homeschoolers by WizIQ who provides an online learning platform on which to
The Innovative Educator
MARCH 1, 2014
'Here’s the roundup of what''s been popular on The Innovative Educator blog. Below you’ll see the top posts along with the number of page views. I hope there''s something that looks of interest to you. If it does, check it out. If you’re inspired use one of those icons below the post to share it with others and/or leave a comment. Entry Pageviews Looking to create a social media or BYOD policy?
The Innovative Educator
MARCH 29, 2014
'Here’s the roundup of what''s been popular on The Innovative Educator blog. Below you’ll see the top posts along with the number of page views. I hope there''s something that looks of interest to you. If it does, check it out. If you’re inspired use one of those icons below the post to share it with others and/or leave a comment. Entry Pageviews Is boredom the real epidemic in our schools?
The Innovative Educator
MARCH 8, 2014
'Here’s the roundup of what''s been popular on The Innovative Educator blog. Below you’ll see the top posts along with the number of page views. I hope there''s something that looks of interest to you. If it does, check it out. If you’re inspired use one of those icons below the post to share it with others and/or leave a comment. Entry Pageviews Looking to create a social media or BYOD policy?
The Innovative Educator
MARCH 22, 2014
'Here’s the roundup of what''s been popular on The Innovative Educator blog. Below you’ll see the top posts along with the number of page views. I hope there''s something that looks of interest to you. If it does, check it out. If you’re inspired use one of those icons below the post to share it with others and/or leave a comment. Entry Pageviews How obsolete is your school?
The Innovative Educator
MARCH 15, 2014
'Here’s the roundup of what''s been popular on The Innovative Educator blog. Below you’ll see the top posts along with the number of page views. I hope there''s something that looks of interest to you. If it does, check it out. If you’re inspired use one of those icons below the post to share it with others and/or leave a comment. Entry Pageviews How to showcase #TeacherEffectiveness using digita.
Technology Tidbits
MARCH 11, 2014
'Answerables is a wonderful new innovative site/game that is perfect for Game Based Learning (or more accurate Game Based Learning meets Learning Management System). It reminds me of Second Life but geared more toward kids w/ their fantasy/SciFi environment. The game takes place in the 3D virtual world of Answerables on a planet called Proxima, where the native Ansibles (students) encounter an alien race.
Technology Tidbits
MARCH 25, 2014
'Scrawlar is a new web tool that I just found out about from Larry Ferlazzo''s excellent blog. This is an excellent site that acts as a virtual whiteboard/word processors for schools. It''s a free collaborative tools that is ideal for education that it requires no student email for access, only a class code where a teacher creates an account. Best of all, Scrawlar can be used on any device and allows students to collaborate on projects/word documents.
Technology Tidbits
MARCH 26, 2014
'Modern Chalkboard is a wonderful new free site for finding SMART board resources. This is a great place to find interactive lessons on a wide variety of subjects such as: Math, Grammar, Science, and Social Studies. Also, this is a nice place to find other resources such as links and help files. I highly recommend checking out Modern Chalkboard by clicking here !!!
Technology Tidbits
MARCH 3, 2014
'geddit is fantastic free learning tool that is ideal for a 1:1 environment where educators can assess student''s learning/understanding in real-time. This is all done through a very easy to use visual interface where students use mobile devices to inform teachers of their understanding in private and real-time. Through a tap of a button a student can respond to a question or lesson that details their level of understanding on a color coded bar graph.
Technology Tidbits
MARCH 21, 2014
'Brainfeed is an excellent free iPad app for finding safe educational videos for students. These videos are targeted for kids ages 7 and up and are curated by educators from around the world in a wide range of subjects. All these videos are previously viewed by educators and links are removed making them safe. Also, this is a great way to "flip" instruction by having students learn outside of the classroom.
Technology Tidbits
MARCH 23, 2014
'" Otus is an easy-to-use, yet powerful classroom tool that brings the best iPad and Chromebook education features together into one secure environment, and uses a single Google login." I must say after reading this tag line I was quite intrigued to give Otus a look and it IS a complete mobile learning environment for schools. Otus comes in two free iPad apps one for the teacher and one for the student.
Technology Tidbits
MARCH 1, 2014
'Ask3 is one of my favorite free iPad apps for educators. This is an excellent app that teachers can use to teach any subject for any curriculum. Ask3 allows users to visually explain a topic by importing a image (or draw) and then record narration for explanation. I like to think of it as Skitch w/ the ability to record audio and collaborate w/ others.
Technology Tidbits
MARCH 28, 2014
'Earlier this week I did a post on The Answer Pad a wonderful graphical student response system. Yesterday they just released a big update w/ their newest feature being that of the digital portfolio. This is a great way to collect and organize students work to show case for future classes, self assessment, and track students progress and growth. A educator can create a portfolio by class or student and use the auto capture feature to automatically take snap shots for their portfolio or do it man
Technology Tidbits
MARCH 18, 2014
'Been the innovative site for visually bookmarking a site and collaborating has just launched a educational portal that makes it perfect for educators to use w/ their class. This free web tool is not only ideal for social bookmarking in schools but real-time collaborative web browsing as well. Been''s new web portal now allows for educators to create student accounts, and communicate w/ them in real-time while bookmarking/browsing the web.
Technology Tidbits
MARCH 25, 2014
'Chromville is a fantastic mobile app (Android/iOS) for using Augmented Reality to complete a fantasy adventure. The way this works is by downloading the free app and then printing out the pages to color. As a student colors one of the pages for the village they chose the characters come to life in 3D augmented reality via their mobile device. This is a innovative way to integrate technology into the classroom and a lot of fun for the students.
Technology Tidbits
MARCH 14, 2014
'slackmath is a cool little site I just found out about from Richard Byrne''s excellent blog. This is an innovative site where students download Algebra problems (PDF format) that has a QR code next to it. The students then try to solve the problem and then scan the QR code to watch a video explanation of the solution. I highly recommend checking out slackmath by clicking here !!!
Technology Tidbits
MARCH 5, 2014
'ThingLink is a wonderful site/app (iOS) for turning an ordinary image "interactive". The way this works is by adding/tagging a image, w/ audio, video, or links that get embedded into an image and then activated when the cursor moves over or clicks on it. Also, the educational portal allows for students to use ThingLink in lots of educational ways such as: create collages, annotate, and even used for digital storytelling.
Technology Tidbits
MARCH 27, 2014
'BrainRush is one of my favorite new sites for Game Based Learning (GBL). This is a great resource for educators looking to find educational games on a wide variety of subjects such as: Math, Foreign Language, Social Studies, etc. Also, a teacher can create their own or customize an existing game to meet their needs. Best of all the games are ideal for differentiated instruction (and aligned to Common Core Standards) using it''s unique engine to adapt to each student''s learning.
Technology Tidbits
MARCH 22, 2014
'GoClass is a excellent mobile learning solution that is redefining classrooms worldwide. This fantastic simple to use combo web tool/mobile app (Android/iOS) allows educators to create and manage student accounts, while sending them engaging lessons to complete on their mobile device. This is ideal for Guided/Blending Learning and Flipping a Classroom.
Technology Tidbits
MARCH 6, 2014
'Tynker is a new iPad app for learning how to program or code that I just found out about from Free Technology 4 Teachers. It''s similar to many other programming sites/apps where users have to assemble blocks to have objects or characters move. Tynker uses a storyboard format where a student would arrange blocks in a certain order to complete the "program".
Technology Tidbits
MARCH 29, 2014
'iPracticeMath is an excellent all-in-one resource for all things Math. This is a great place where educators/students can find: problem walk-throughs, games, worksheets, and more. Also, it doesn''t matter what topic of Math is being covered, iPracticeMath has it all (i.e. fractions, division, decimals, etc.) it''s perfect for K-12. Best of all, is the educational portal that allows teachers to manage and track student activity and generate detailed reports for analyzing student performance.
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