Welcome back! Today the Roundup begins at Education Week with a discussion over the current debate in congress on standardized testing, "Adaptive Testing Gains Momentum, Prompts Concerns." The article discusses the overhaul of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (i.e. NCLB), new proposals that are in the mix, and how adaptive and standardized computer testing fits in the picture.
Katrina Schwartz at Mind/Shift has a new post which asks "How Do Tech Tools Affect the Way Students Write" The article is in response to a Pew Research report that was released yesterday and which shows that technology does in fact have aa effect on how students write. Of the 2,462 educators interviewed, 50% said digital technologies make it easier to help shape student writing. For more details and a great summary and analysis of the report, check out Schwartz's article.
Amy Mayer at FriEdTechnology has a new lesson up on Gmail entitled, "Smart Gmail Lesson 9: Learn to use Tasks in Gmail and Google Calendar." If you're a Gmail user and not familiar with how to create tasks, it's a built in feature with Gmail that can be found at the top left (click on the triangle next to "Gmail") It's basically a way to create organized to-do lists, but as Mayer explains, there are some great ways to integrate tasks with your calendar and emails. Here's the video:
Edudemic has a new review of "IWitness: A Free Way to Bring Educational Videos Into Your Classroom." The relatively new service created by the USC Shoah Foundation brings first-person stories and interviews into the classroom. The site has access to nearly 1,300 full life histories and testimonies and is an excellent resource for the history classroom.
Educational Technology has two new reviews to share. The first is for "Kidoodle.tv: Educational Video Content for Kids." It's a Canadian-based video on-demand service for kids under 12 and it's free while it's in beta mode! And if you've ever wanted to "Visualize your Tweets" check out their new review of Visible Tweets, which lets you do just that!
David Mahaley at Emerging Ed Tech (and Franklin Academy Principal) has just posted part 2 of his "Teaching and Learning with the iPad" series. The first post focused primarily on the administrator's perspective on iPad implementation, but in this new post we see things from the teacher's viewpoint and learn what worked and what areas presented challenges.
And finally, if you're thinking you want to do some serious classroom redesigning for next year, Teach Thought's new post, "How Should Your Classroom Look This Year?" might be a good place to start. The post walks you through the steps of designing the perfect classroom space with an eye towards creativity, "the illusion of classroom management," and creating a positive atmosphere for your students.
The Lightning Round...
- Educational Technology shares 50 Educational Podcasts for Professional Development
- They also have a new infographic with 20 Presentation Tips for Educators
- Edudemic shares the Ultimate Printable Guide to the Apple iPad
- And Getting Smart discusses the Flipped Class over Twitter with #EdTechChat
And that's all for the Roundup today! Hope everyone is enjoying these dog days of summer and catching a few more days at the pool before heading back to class in a few weeks (is it that soon already?) Thanks for reading and see you tomorrow!
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