Today's Round Up begins over at Moving at the Speed of Creativity, an excellent blog from Wes Fryer. His first post of the day is entitled "More than Bandwidth: FCC Should Address Content Filtering in Schools"
It's a thought-provoking post about the role the FCC should play in regards to internet content filtering. He argues that "The FCC and other government agencies also need to pay attention to continuing policies of draconian content filtering in many public schools." He talks about the role the FCC could play in promoting research that highlights the detrimental affects of restrictive content filtering.
His second post for today, "STEM and Scratch Resources" provides a great list of support resources for teachers of science, tech, engineering, and math classes. If you're a STEMer, I'd recommend giving it a look. And if you're unfamiliar with Scratch, it's a wonderful program for teaching programming basics.
His second post for today, "STEM and Scratch Resources" provides a great list of support resources for teachers of science, tech, engineering, and math classes. If you're a STEMer, I'd recommend giving it a look. And if you're unfamiliar with Scratch, it's a wonderful program for teaching programming basics.
Over at Getting Smart, there is a new post about "E-Rate and Blended Learning." If you're not familiar with E-Rate, it's a program run by the FCC that is supported by a tax most people pay on their phone or wireless bill. E-Rate provides discounts to schools and libraries to help them obtain affordable internet.
The article discusses the intricacies of applying for E-Rate funding and the interaction between E-Rate funding and running blended learning programs (where students receive at least some of their instruction through online means). The post goes on to discuss recommendations for the FCC to improve the E-Rate program and other ways we can help improve broadband capabilities for K-12 education.
The article discusses the intricacies of applying for E-Rate funding and the interaction between E-Rate funding and running blended learning programs (where students receive at least some of their instruction through online means). The post goes on to discuss recommendations for the FCC to improve the E-Rate program and other ways we can help improve broadband capabilities for K-12 education.
Teach Thought has a good write up on "26 Teacher Tools to Create Online Assessments." It's an list that covers a huge variety of resources. If you haven't considered adding online assessments to your curriculum, they can be a powerful tool - providing instant feedback and allowing students to take assessments wherever they prefer.
EdCetera has a post about the relatively new company, Parchment. The article, "How Parchment is Powering Innovation for Credentials and Transcripts" discusses the role Parchment plans on playing in the future of e-transcripts and credentials. In short, the company would like to serve as a online hub for all types of digital credentials. Parchment was founded by Blackboard's creator, Matthew Pittinsky.
From Educational Technology we've got two new posts from today. First up is about "21 ways to use Edmodo in your classroom." If you're not familiar with Edmodo, it is a learning platform that lets students and teachers interact online by sending notes, providing feedback, turning in assignments, and so on. It's an excellent resource and worth looking into.
They also have up a highly enjoyable post covering the "Top 10 TED Talks on Digital Lives for Teachers" The videos cover a wide span of issues, from "Why Videos go Viral" to "Social Media and the End of Gender." There are some wonderful videos here, and if you've never watched a TED talk before, this is a great place to start.
They also have up a highly enjoyable post covering the "Top 10 TED Talks on Digital Lives for Teachers" The videos cover a wide span of issues, from "Why Videos go Viral" to "Social Media and the End of Gender." There are some wonderful videos here, and if you've never watched a TED talk before, this is a great place to start.
Last up, Edudemic has two new posts. The first one discusses Adobe's new vision for the future of their software. Adobe is now offering monthly subscriptions to CC (the Creative Cloud) which will run $50/month ($20 for students and teachers) and will allow a user unlimited use of the Adobe software suite. A huge change to be sure, which some support (like Edudemic) and others are taking issue with.
Edudemic also has an article about "What Your Online Habits Say About Your Teaching." The article breaks down two different online-personality types: The Lurker and The Power User. They then go on to analyze the differences in browsing and teaching styles between the two.
In short, Lurkers stay in the background online - browsing, skimming, looking, not digging in to deeply to online debates and discussions. In the classroom, Lurkers are more hands-off, empowering students with learner-centered environments.
Power Users on the other hand are buried in the net. They don't just tweet, the research and plan their online posts, thinking deeply about every interaction. As a teacher, the Power User is more hands-on, detail-oriented, and highly involved in every task. The article concludes that striving to find a balance between these two personality types is generally the most beneficial in a classroom environment.
Edudemic also has an article about "What Your Online Habits Say About Your Teaching." The article breaks down two different online-personality types: The Lurker and The Power User. They then go on to analyze the differences in browsing and teaching styles between the two.
In short, Lurkers stay in the background online - browsing, skimming, looking, not digging in to deeply to online debates and discussions. In the classroom, Lurkers are more hands-off, empowering students with learner-centered environments.
Power Users on the other hand are buried in the net. They don't just tweet, the research and plan their online posts, thinking deeply about every interaction. As a teacher, the Power User is more hands-on, detail-oriented, and highly involved in every task. The article concludes that striving to find a balance between these two personality types is generally the most beneficial in a classroom environment.
And that's it for today, thanks for reading! We'll close out today's Round Up with an excellent new infographic from Ava Launch Media which covers the Complete History of Social Media:
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