Blog Archives

MobyMax Pro Account Giveaway!

11/26/2013

We've got a special giveaway here at the Roundup! If you've been a reader for a while, you're probably familiar with MobyMax. If not, it's an online learning ecosystem, aligned to the common core standards, that helps teach students math, reading, writing, language, and vocabulary. It's an absolutely wonderful learning resource and they're giving away one Pro Account ($79.00) here at the Roundup.

If you're unfamiliar with MobyMax here's a video introduction to the site courtesy of the MM Team:

You can also check out our review of the service for a complete rundown on how the site works. In short, it's an excellent collection of targeted, online-learning modules that help students reach specific standards and learning goals in K-8 math, language, reading, writing, and vocabulary.

To enter the competition, sign into the raffle below, and leave a comment on this blog post about how you would like to use MobyMax in the classroom. Happy Raffling!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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The 2013 Edublog Awards!

11/24/2013

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Looks like it's time for the 2013 Edublog Award nominations! For those unfamiliar with Edublog Awards, here's a little background: The Edublog Awards started in 2004 in response to community concerns relating to how schools, districts and educational institutions were blocking access of learner and teacher blog sites for educational purposes. The purpose of the Edublog awards is promote and demonstrate the educational values of these social media.Best individual blog

So, without further ado, here are my nominations for this year!

Best individual blog - User Generated Education
Best group blog - Two Guys and Some iPads
Best ed tech / resource sharing blog - Educational Technology & Mobile Learning
Best teacher blog - EduTech for Teachers
Best library / librarian blog - The Daring Librarian
Best administrator blog - Culture of Yes - Chris Kennedy
Most influential blog post of the year - The Myth and the Millennialism of "Disruptive Innovation"
Best individual tweeter - Jerry Blumengarten (Cybrary Man)
Best twitter hashtag - #EdTech
Best free web tool - Educlipper
Best educational use of audio / video / visual / podcast - EdReach
Best educational wiki - ICT Magic
Best open PD / unconference / webinar series - Techlandia
Best educational use of a social network - Susan Oxnevad
Best mobile app - Class Dojo
Lifetime achievement - Free Technology for Teachers

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The Weekly Roundup - November 24th, 2013

11/24/2013

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Welcome back to the Roundup! I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving week ahead of them! Today we begin at Getting Smart with a new post from Charles Reigeluth entitled, "Education 3.0: Helping All Children Reach their Potential." In the post, Reigeluth covers a brief history of our evolving models of education and discusses how the current education paradigm is beginning to look (or at least what it should look like).

Next up, Kelly Walsh at Emerging EdTech has a new article in which he shares some excellent video resources for helping teachers become familiar with iPads in the classroom. The post,"More Great VIdeo Sessions from the Teaching & Learning with the iPad Conference" shows off some great learning resources for teachers with iPads.

Here are a few of the great posts from FT4T for this week:

Jamie Forshey at EduTech for Teachers has a new post, "At-A-Glance Ed-Tech Tutorials" in which she shares some wonderful new Ed-Tech tutorial/posters from Gwyneth Jones (The Daring Librarian). Jones is building a growing library of outstanding resources that are designed to easily help educators familiarize themselves with educational technology. The collection is definitely worth a look!

For those teachers who are new to the EdTech arena, you might have seen the term "Flipped Classroom" being thrown around a lot. If you want to learn more about the practice, and what it looks like in the classroom, Katie Lepi at Edudemic has a wonderful new post, "What is a Flipped Classroom?" to introduce you to the basics.

Educational Technology has some great posts from the week:

Lisa Nielsen at The Innovative Educator has a new post entitled, "How Social Reading Enhances the #CCSS" in which she discusses how the excellent online discussion platform ReadUps can be used in support of the Common Core Standards. Nielsen offers some great tips and ideas for utilizing the service within the classroom.

Here are a few of TeachThought's posts from the week:

Education and politics don't always get along. However, as Drew Minock writes about in his new post, "The White House Got it Right!" occasionally things work out well between the two. Minock discusses the White House's recent selection of 10 educators who were awarded the distinction of being "ConnectED Champions of Change." I've included the video of President Obama's speech below.

Here are a few of EdReach's podcasts from the week:

Finally, Teachscape (education software and service designers) has announced a new social media contest. The company is asking educators to discuss how they use videos for professional development. The winner(s) will receive one Teachscape Peri Panoramic Camera Kit & one software license for Teachscape Learn. If you're interested, you can find all the details here.

The Lightning Round...

Edudemic shares theTop 10 iPad Tips for Teachers
Katie Lepi at Edudemic discusses 5 Great #EdTech Twitter Chats
iLearn Technology has a new review of Tynker: Computer Programming for Kids
Winifred Kehl at Getting Smart covers Teaching STEM with LEGO

And that's it for the Roundup this week! Thanks for reading! We will be back on Wednesday with a brand new podcast (the top 10 edtech apps of the season!) but the next Roundup won't be for two weeks, due to Thanksgiving! So, I hope everyone has a few wonderful days off and we'll see you soon!

Today we'll close with a new infographic from Digital Learning Now (via Edudemic) that outlines the basics of blended learning in the classroom.

Courtesy of: Digital Learning Now

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The Weekly Roundup - November 16th, 2013

11/16/2013

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We. Are. Back. After far too much delay, it's good to back blogging! The big news this week, Google Play for Education (Google's answer to the iPad's classroom dominance) went live. EdTech Magazine has a great article outlining the details, "Google Play for Ed & New Tablet Management Tools are Tailor-Made for K-12." And I'd also recommend checking out Audrey Watters' post at Hack Education as well!

Dr. Jackie Gerstein at User Generated Education as an excellent post about "Self-Directed Professional Development." Gerstein discusses the unfortunate current state of professional development in many districts and how social media and teacher-centered professional development are beginning to change the traditional PD model. As always, it's worth reading.

Free Tech for Teachers shares some excellent resources:

Up next, Lisa Nielsen at The Innovative Educator has a new post about a free mLearning ebook that she and 34 other educators put together. It's an excellent resources (embedded below) and offers tons of tips, strategies, and ideas for mobile learning in the classroom. The book is great and the primary focus is on using tech to drive student-centered learning.

Mobile Education - Lessons from 35 Education Experts from Studio B Productions, Inc.

India's Ed Tech Review has a new article which outlines the "Benefits of Being a Connected Educator." With "Connected Education Month" only a few weeks past, this post is a great reminder of the benefits of online communication and collaboration between educators. The article discusses the specific advantages of being a connected educator and goes on to provide some examples on how to get started.

Educational Tech has five new resources to check out:

Getting Smart has an excellent article from Kristen Hicks (which first appeared on edcetera a little while back) entitled, "Wikipedia Edit-a-Thons Give Students a More Active Role in the Research Process." Hicks offers the idea of organizing an Edit-a-Thon in class to focus on ideas that are "somewhat out of the limelight." Having students edit and add to Wikipedia articles gives them a sense of ownership and helps them to become better researchers in the process.

Teach Thought has 5 new posts to check out:

For all you teachers in schools that are rolling out iPads, Sam Gliksman at Mind/Shift has an article you'll probably want to look over, "Checklist: Are You Ready for iPads In Your School?" This is Glicksman's third post on the topic (all of which are exceprts from his book, iPad in Ed for Dummies). Glicksman discusses how to target 21st-century learning objectives and a whole lot more!

EdReach has a ton of new podcasts, here's just a few:

Katie Lepi at Edudemic has a new article outlining a great project from educator Cheryl Uy who is teaching in China. Uy is using art and iPads to help her students turn themselves into superheroes. It's a wonderful project. Lepi also has a repost of Ed Tech Magazines best EdTech blogs (including the EdTech Roundup - thank you!)

The Lightning Round...

Getting Smart discusses 8 iPad Integration Ideas for 1:1 Classrooms
Getting Smart also covers 10 Best Practices to Enrich the Blended Learning Environment
Edudemic gives us 14 Web Tools for Teaching Without Student Logins

And that's the Weekly Roundup! In case you missed my post on Thursday, I'm going to be doing a weekly/biweekly roundup of the biggest and best EdTech news, rather than trying to do a daily roundup 4 or 5 times every week. I might have more time next semester to switch back to more frequent posts, but for now, the Weekly Roundup begins!

Thanks for reading and we'll end with a preview of a new infographic from Educational Resources. If you want to download the full PDF of the infographic, just click here. Have a wonderful weekend and see you soon!

-Mike

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On the Lack of Recent Roundups

11/14/2013

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Hey everyone, you may have noticed that there have been a lack of "daily roundups" over the past several weeks. I've been facing some serious time constraints and some super sketchy South American internet connects which have made it a bit of a challenge to keep up with my regular posting.

For now, I'm planning on changing the "Daily Roundup" to more of a "Biweekly/Weekly Roundup" and focus more on the biggest & best edtech news from the week. Plus, I'll be writing more reviews/articles as well (which according to network traffic is what most people are interested in anyway).

So, if you find yourself super bummed out by this news, let me know, and I'll do my best to step up my game, otherwise, thanks for reading and stay tuned!

In the meantime, here's our new podcast from last night. We cover the Maker movement, constructivism, and a whole lot more!

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The Daily Roundup - November 6th, 2013

11/6/2013

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Welcome back! After a long weekend, thanks to Colombian holidays, the Roundup is back and ready to get blogging. First up, Katrina Schwartz at Mind/Shift as an excellent post on "Teaching Empathy Through Digital Game Play." The article is about a new game from MIT's Education Arcade entitled Quandry. The game was designed to teach ethics while aligning with Common Core Standards.

Next up, EdTech Magazine asks the question that every science-fiction fan has been waiting for, "Can Robots Teach Kids to Code?" The article, by Corey Murray, covers the new tech company Play-i, a "well-funded startup that uses toy robots to teach children to code." Founded by former Google exec Vikas Gupta, the company says the robots are designed to provide foundational skills that students will need to eventually master coding.

Free Tech for Teachers has five new posts to check out:

Dr. Jackie Gerstein at User Generated Education has a new article about a recent assignment she gave to her students at Boise State, "Personal Learning Environment Assignment and Reflections." In the post she shares several examples of her students' personal learning environments and discusses the implications for social networks and professional development.

Benjamin Stewart at Edudemic has a new post that offers some answers to the question, "How to Choose the Best Education Technology for your School." In the article, Stewart outlines a minimalist approach to tech, BYOD policies, and 1:1 implementation. Stewart closes with some important questions to consider when looking to adopt new technology.

Educational Technology has five new posts up from today:

Up next, Terry Heick at Teach Thought discusses how, "Technology in Education Can Only Do One Thing." In the post, Heick reflects on the changes technology has affected in behavior and society, how technology has led to a more connected world, and that, in the end, "Technology in education, is useful only insofar as it extends our own humanity." It's a thoughtful read and worth checking out.

The EdReach Network has five new podcasts for your ears:

The Lightning Round...

The Ed Tech Review covers 6 ways to Integrate Technology in the Classroom
Teach Thought discusses 5 Dead-Simple Ways Your Students Can Use Hashtags for Learning
Getting Smart has an enjoyable list entitled, "You May Be a 21st Century Educator If..."
Edutopia shares 3 Strategies to Improve Student Writing Instantly

And that's all folks! Thanks for reading! No podcast this week, so we'll be back tomorrow with your regularly scheduled Roundup, have a great evening!

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MobyMax Pro Account Giveaway!

The 2013 Edublog Awards!

The Weekly Roundup - November 24th, 2013

The Lightning Round...

The Weekly Roundup - November 16th, 2013

The Lightning Round...

On the Lack of Recent Roundups

The Daily Roundup - November 6th, 2013

The Lightning Round...

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