Blog Archives

The Daily Roundup - July 8th, 2013

7/8/2013

Today we begin at Ed Tech Magazine with their "Spotlight on 5 Must-Read K-12 IT Blogs." All 5 of these are excellent blogs!

Ed Reach has a great collection of professional development opportunities in their new post, "Summer PD Your Teachers Won't Want to Miss." They cover 6 upcoming edtech PD events, all of which center around 1:1 iPad implementation. Topics include Flipboard, Subtext, Mentor Mob, Ask3, Haiku Deck, and of course, Google.

Mind/Shift has a new post sharing "13 Free Web Tools Students and Teachers Should Know About." There are some tools on the list that we've covered quite a bit at the Roundup (like Thinglink, Easely.ly and Padlet) and there are also some great new tools that are worth checking out (like Ipiccy the free "photoshop" tool and WeVideo the web-based video editing tool).

Yesterday we talked a little about Augmented Reality and after that post, blogger Drew Minock introduced me to this awesome resource on the Meaningful Integration of AR. It's an excellent collection of tools, resources, ideas, and lesson plans that has been put together for teachers of all subjects and grade-levels. If you're interested in trying out AR in the classroom, this is the perfect place to start!

Next up, David Warlick at 2¢ Worth has just posted his "Final Reflections on ISTE 2013." It's a great collection of his thoughts, ideas, reactions, and experiences with the new technology and ideas from ISTE. He also discusses some of the new apps that he's excited about, the role of gamification in education, and a whole lot more!

Winifred Kehl at Getting Smart has a new write-up which asks, "Why Aren't There More Virtual Science Museums?" She discusses the importance of having virtual access to high-quality STEM-related museums. The problem is, many of the best STEM museums don't have the best virtual experiences. As she says, "good virtual science museums could offer what physical science museums can't: lots of interactivity, customizability, and personalization."

Free Tech for Teachers has a announcement for the MAKE Magazine Maker Camp starting tomorrow on Google+. The virtual camp "features new DIY projects that students can do at home or at school, as individuals or in groups." And they have a fresh project each day. Free Tech also has a new guide for recent graduates featuring "11 Resume & Interview Tips"

Educational Technology has a new post on "How To Handle Students on Facebook." It's a solid discussion for those teachers who regularly interact with students through Facebook or other forms of social media. Speaking of, if you're a big Twitter fan, they also just posted the "50 Educators Worth Following."

If you're not yet familiar with the Flipped Classroom learning model, then you'll probably want to check out the Ed Tech Review's new post, "How Does Flipping Improve a Classroom." The article outlines the basic structure of the model and discusses how it can be beneficial in the classroom. And if you're looking to incorporate more game-based learning in your classroom, the ETR has you covered there as well.

Last up, the Wired Educator has a new review, "TouchCast: An Exciting New iPad Tool to Create Wildly Interactive Videos." You can explore the free app on the TouchCast website, but basically it allows you to create videos that are completely interactive. The app allows you to move and interact with the content on the screen and you can "create videos that are fully browsable and alive." There's an example you can check out here.

And that's all for the Roundup today! We'll end with an image from Teach Thought on the 3 Knowledge Domains for the 21st Century Student. And remember, if you ever want to receive this Roundup as a daily email, just fill out the subsribe box on the right side of the screen. The Roundup will be gone tomorrow and Wednesday, as I'm off to see my Grandpa for a couple days, but I'll be back for Thursday's post! Thanks for reading!

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The Weekend Roundup - July 7th, 2013

7/7/2013

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And.... we're back! I hope everyone had an excellent fourth of July weekend! Today we begin over at Reuters with an interesting/creepy/I'm not exactly sure how to feel about this story entitled, "Biosensors to monitor U.S. students' attentiveness." The post discusses how the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is pushing to get biometric bracelets into classrooms to help measure students' engagement. It's a great article and covers all sides of how this could play out.

Ed Tech Magazine has a new article on "Investing in STEM Education Can Bridge the IT Skills Gap." The author of the post, Gary Beach (the publisher of CIO Magazine), discusses how he believes skills like adaptive thinking, virtual collaboration, and new media literacy are more important than basic math and science literacy, and that focusing on these skills in schools can help begin to close the gap between what employers need and what our students are learning.

Electronic Brains has a new post discussing "Professional Development in 21st Century Education." The article pushes for teachers to become more actively engaged in professional development conferences and workshops, and to get involved with social media groups like Twitter and Google+ in order to learn from other educators. Plus, the post summarizes some great PD sessions from the Connect 2013 conference.

Along with sharing a great resource with Free Digital Citizenship Plans, Free Tech continues their best of 2013 lists:

Jamie Forshey over at EduTech for Teachers has her Diigo Weekly Update posted. She's got three new tools to share with everyone this week:

Jigsaw Planet - Create virtual jigsaw puzzles
Photovisi - Create online photo collages
Cite This For Me - Instantly create bibliographies

Educational Technology has four new posts from the weekend:

The Ed Tech Review has a new article which asks, "How Can Technology Make a Classroom Engaging?" The post covers specific tools and apps that teachers can easily use in the classroom. They also cover polls, quizzes, contests, game-based learning, video-based learning, and digital learning. It's a great summary of the many ways technology can be used to help engage and motive students in the classroom.

Also, for those computer science teachers out there, the Ed Tech Review has a post outlining some "Great Online Resources to Learn to Code." They cover Udacity, Code Academy (my personal favorite), Code Avengers, Code School, and Team Tree House, all of which are worth checking out.

Getting Smart has a great post entitled, "Augmented Reality: The Future of EdTech." If you're not familiar with Augmented Reality, imagine looking at an historic building, or a museum exhibit through your iPad and being presented with tons of information and interactive content about whatever you're looking at. There are definitely some huge educational possibilities with AR and this article by Drew Minock does an excellent job discussing them and offering examples.

And in case you missed any other Getting Smart articles from the week, they've got their weekly roundup posted, "EdTech 10: The Fireworks Aren't Done Yet."

Lisa Nielsen at the Innovative Educator has a new infoflyer up entitled, "Pause Before you Post: Sometimes Forever is Bad!" The flyer encourages students to slow down and think before they post content online. She has some excellent examples throughout the flyer that will hopefully get students to realize that the internet is permanent! It's a great resource and one that should definitely be shared with students.

Teach Thought has several great articles up from the weekend and one new review as well:

Edgenuity - the online K-12 curriculum provider - has been in the news a lot lately as well. First, they've begun offering higher ed courses to support college in addition to K-12 learning. And they just released a collection of Online Learning Success Stories from Blended Learning Summits. If your school is considering online classes or blended learning, Edgenuity is definitely a provider worth considering. You can read more about them in this Ed Surge review.

The Lightning Round...

Teach Thought shares 41 Apps One 4th Grade Teacher Depends On
Educational Technology covers Everything Teachers Need to Know about BYOT Policy
Edudemic has a new infographic on The Staggering number of Schools that have Gone Google
They also cover the 6 American History Apps Perfect for Summer Learning
And Edudemic has the Scary Facts High School Graduates DON'T Know
Finally, in case you missed the announcement, the 2013 Educator's Voice Awards are up!

And that's a wrap! Thanks for reading and we'll be back tomorrow with the Daily Roundup. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

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The Daily Roundup - July 3rd, 2013

7/3/2013

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Today's Roundup begins at Edutopia with a post on teens, gaming, social media, and being engaged in the present moment. The article, entitled "The Digital Lives of Teens: What Time Is It? Now!" discusses how today's technology allows teens to be more focused on the present but also how that's not always good thing. It's an excellent read to start your day off!

Next up, Lisa Nielsen at the Innovative Educator has a new post on "Student Social Media Us. Advice From the Experts." She's created an infographic compilation of advice from experts on the use of social media for students. There are some great points about the permanency of online data and the consequences of digital footprints. It's a great resource to share with students.

Education Week has a new post on the technology-related consequences that textbook publishers are now facing, "Free Online Content Forces Publishers to Adjust." The post talks about how publishing companies are having a difficult time competing with the huge variety of high-quality online content that is now being offered free to schools. The article goes on to discuss how these companies are attempting to evolve.

Richard Byrne at Free Technology for Teachers continues his collection of the Best of 2013 So Far with three new posts:

Tech & Learning has a new post letting us know of a "Free Trial of a New Blended-Learning Online Community." The post is about Its Learning, a K-12 online learning platform that supports professional development, community invovlement, curriculum management, course management, and reporting. I haven't checked out the site yet, but if you're interested in a requesting a free trial head on here to their site!

Mind/Shift has a new post on "The Challenges and Realities of Inquiry-Based Learning." Inquiry-Based Learning (having students discover knowledge on their own through research, problem solving, and critical thinking) is an excellent method for teaching students valuable 21st century skills; however, it does not come easily. This article discusses the challenges that teachers often run into when attempting to use IBL lessons.

Finally, Moving at the Speed of Creativity has a new reflection by Curby Alexander on his "Year with an iPad." This is a great post for any teachers who are attempting to integrate iPads (or tablets) into the classroom. Alexander discusses the challenges, the successes, and everything in between. And if your school is heading towards 1:1, or even getting iPad carts, this is a great reflection to check out for ideas on integration.

And that's it for the Roundup today! We'll be off tomorrow for the 4th of July and I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend! So, expect our return on Sunday with the Weekend Roundup. Until then you can check out some of our new reviews and editorials! Thanks for reading and see you Sunday!

-Mike

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The Daily Roundup - July 2nd, 2013

7/2/2013

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Welcome back! Today's Roundup begins at Ed Tech Magazine with a post entitled, "Learning, Reimagined: Inside the New Classrooms Model of Personalized Instruction." The article talks about "next-generation" classrooms full of blended learning and personalized instruction made possible through the "Teach to One" model designed by the New Classrooms organization. The model has been deployed in math classes around the country and is looking to expand to other subjects and grade levels.

Emerging Ed Tech has an article outlining the basics of the new "Transforming Education Through Technology Bill" which is "poised to help some of the technology challenges being faced by educational institutions." The article offers a great summary of the components of the bill and ends by suggesting we "Reach our to our congressional representatives today and encourage them to pass HR 521!"

Mind/Shift has a new post about an Australian organization called Scientists in Schools entitled, "Bringing Scientists to Schools, and the Thrill of Field Trips to Class." The organization has "flipped the field trip model, pairing volunteer scientists and mathematicians with classrooms around the country." The article goes on to discuss support and results the organization has received throughout Australia.

Edutopia has a new post on "Programming & Simulation: Real Technical Skills for Today's Student." The article discusses the "why" and "how to" for using simulation methodologies in high school math and programming courses. If you're an upper level math or computer teacher there are definitely some great ideas in this post for increasing the problem-solving and critical thinking challenges within your curriculum.

Richard Byrne at Free Technology for Teachers continues his collection of the Best of 2013 So Far with three new posts:

Getting Smart has a new post on the Student Success Academy entitled, "High School Career Counseling Goes Blended." I posted an editorial about the organization yesterday as well and they're definitely worth looking into. In the US we have an average of 1 guidance counselor for every 500 students, but the SSA is looking to change that ratio to 1:1 using college "Success Consultants" and online mentoring.

Also from Getting Smart, John Hardison discusses his "5 Splashes of Brilliance from ISTE '13." The post discusses his five favorite events/moments from ISTE which include Jane McGonigal's opening keynote and the Ignite Sessions designed to spark creativity and enlightenment. If you're still on a fix for ISTE news, this post is worth reading.

If you haven't heard of Vizify, it's a graphical biography that uses your personal data to create an autobiography in seconds. To me it's half creepy/half awesome, and for some great ideas on how to use it in the classroom and teach students about their digital footprint, Dawn Casey-Rowe has a new post entitled, "How I Used Vizify to Teach Students a Lesson."

And if you're looking for some Common Core professional development this summer, Teach Thought also has a post entitled, "A Simple But Powerful Way to Bond Your Common Core Units Together." The article discusses using overarching questions and big ideas to tie your units together to create a more cohesive curriculum.

The Lightning Round...

Educational Technology shares 6 Must Have Google Drive Extensions for Teachers
And they also discuss 2 Interesting iPad Apps for Creating Digital Portfolios
If you've ever wondered How to Join the Google Teacher Academy, Edudemic explains.
Edudemic also has a new infographic on the 7 Habits of Effective Connected Educators
And Getting Smart reviews 6 New Apps from Edshelf

And that's it for the Roundup today! We'll end with a new infographic from theEd Tech Review on Teaching with Tablets. Have a great day and see you tomorrow!

Courtesy of: The Ed Tech Review

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The Daily Roundup - July 1st, 2013

7/1/2013

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My how the summer flies! I can't believe it's already July! Today's Roundup begins over at The Economist with a new article on educational technology entitled, "Catching on at Last." The article discusses the rising trend in edtech investments across the US as well as the growing incorporation of technology in America's classrooms. Plus, the post does a nice job summarizing the ed tech field as a whole.

Next up, Amy Mayer over at FriEdTechnology has a new video covering some great Google Chrome tricks. If you've never used the web browser Google Chrome, I highly recommend it. For me, it's faster, easier, and more user friendly than any alternative. In the video she outlines pinned and moving tabs, multiple users, and improving bookmarks. Here's her video:

Education Week has a new article on the Common Core Standards which discusses the nation-wide roll out of the new standards. The post discusses several consortiums (SBAC and PARCC) which are developing online tests for the common core and how their pilot programs have gone over in several schools around the country.

Along with a new review of MindMup (a great mind mapping tool), Free Tech 4 Teachers has begun its Best of 2013 posts:

Jamie Forshey at EduTech for Teachers has her monthly, "Geeky Girls' Greatest Hits" posted. As always, she's got everything rounded up in a nice ThingLink image (embedded below) and she covers a great collection of infographics, apps, and programs. If you're interested in trying out ThingLink, Forshey has some excellent resources available on her site.

Finally, Edudemic has a new post on "How The Best Web Tools Fit Into Bloom's Digital Taxonomy." The post discusses some of the best web tools for addressing the different levels of Blooms, shares a few guides, talks about specific examples, and so on. Plus, they share this great visual guide as well
(click the image for full-size):

The Lightning Round...

Edudemic has a new infographic on the Detailed History of Social Media
They also have a new Must-Have Internet Safety Cheat Sheet
Educational Technology covers 3 iPad Apps to Create Animated Videos
And if you're not familiar with Google Plus, they also have a new Guide

That's it for the Roundup today, in case you haven't had your fill of ISTE news, we'll end with two videos from the conference. The first is theISTE Closing Keynote by Adam Bellow and the second is the EdReach morning show collection which covers a ton of news from the event. See you tomorrow!