A Principal's Reflections

FEBRUARY 17, 2013

'It''s no secret that educators are always on the lookout for cool new methods to help engage their students and save time. A new trend has emerged as teachers have discovered fun and creative ways to incorporate free online tools to accomplish both of those goals, and the value of such assignments is only becoming more apparent. Recently, a new service has grown in popularity in schools, which gives students the ability to quickly and easily create posts very similar to blogs, but without any o

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Educational Technology Guy

FEBRUARY 27, 2013

'iPad Apps for School is another site from Richard Byrne, author of Free Technology for Teachers and Android 4 Schools. In this site, Richard and his guest authors will be sharing resources and reviews of apps (mostly free) that can be used in K-12 schools, along with ways that those apps can be used in the educational setting by teachers, students, and administrators.

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The Web20Classroom

FEBRUARY 6, 2013

'It seems like everywhere we turn, education is under the microscope. From members of Congress to the mother next door, everyone has an opinion on education. What we should do and how we should do it. And, to me at least, the focus is on the negative. "This is what''s wrong." "Why aren''t these test scores better?" "What was that teacher thinking?" But as someone who spends a lot of time walking the hallways and seeing kids in the classroom, there is so much good out there.

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Baker's B.Y.O.D.

FEBRUARY 24, 2013

'Teaching 150 high school students, there are bound to be some who get lost in the crowd, lack confidence, or distracted by personal technology usage, but with the following tools and techniques, the quiet students can have their voices heard, the text-ers can be academically occupied, and all learners can be engaged by using technology that taps into students'' behavior and aligns with Maslow''s Hierarchy of Needs , Humanism , and Social Learning Theories.

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Tools Smartphone Camtasia BYOD 122

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The 21st Century Principal

FEBRUARY 17, 2013

'In his book, The New Rules of Marketing & PR , David Meerman Scott perhaps captures why a number of us so heavily engage in using social media: “ It’s fun to blog and tweet, and it makes you feel good to get your ideas out into the world.” It is fun to blog and tweet, and there is satisfaction that comes from “getting your ideas out there.” But for me real satisfaction comes from making “connections” with other educators and growing my personal learning network.

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Social Media Personal Learning Network Education Facebook 111

The Innovative Educator

FEBRUARY 16, 2013

'A new study conducted by TRU provides a body of research which supports the idea that students use cell phones to learn, and also that schools are not acknowledging or supporting them fully, yet. This research supports the work of innovative educators who are guiding today’s generation text and will help in the effort of getting more schools to stop fighting and start embracing student use of mobile devices for learning in school.

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Educational Technology Guy

FEBRUARY 8, 2013

'Dropbox , the very popular cloud file/sync/backup/sharing service , has announced some new features, including document preview and photo sharing and sorting. You can preview PDF, DOC, DOCX, and PPT files by double-clicking on them. This way, you can see if that is the file you want, or even view what you need, without downloading it. Dropbox has also added some features for photos.

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The Web20Classroom

FEBRUARY 28, 2013

'Finding ways for kids to communicate information can be a bit of a challenge. Its easy to fall into the Power Point or Prezi track. Or even easier to not offer up any technology opportunities at all. There are loads of great creation/presentation tools out there. Voicethread, Google Sites, Animoto just to name a few are some of the creative ways in the past I''ve covered.

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Twitter Google Video Tools 199

Comfortably 2.0

FEBRUARY 25, 2013

'It''s a simple little prop I use when teaching Digital Citizenship to our K-8 #aurorahuskies students. I love utilizing props to try to get my point across to students. To me, it helps a student retain the lesson better. Let me introduce you to Mr. Badura''s "Digital Citizenship Survival Kit." Each of the items has a purpose.

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Digital Citizenship 108

The 21st Century Principal

FEBRUARY 21, 2013

'“Developing better tests of student learning in the 21st century is as futile as attempting to find a faster horse and buggy would have been in the 20th century.” Douglas Reeves, “A Framework for Assessing 21st Century Skills” After last night’s #ncadmin chat about “21st Century Teaching and Learning” I could not stop thinking about questions regarding 21st century skills and assessment.

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System Comparison Assessment Policies 106

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.

Training

SpeechTechie

FEBRUARY 25, 2013

'SpeechTechie is 3 years old today! I am always amazed that this blog I started kind of on a whim has changed my life so much. Thank you all for sticking with me! I was telling my other half that my blogoversary was coming up and asked, "How long do you think it has been?" The answer I received: "10 years." LOL! Photo licensed for reuse by Soapylovedeb on Flickr To celebrate, today I am releasing an update on my original FIVES Criteria booklet.

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Laptops iPad Mobility Examples 102

A Principal's Reflections

FEBRUARY 10, 2013

'This past Wednesday (February 6) was the second annual Digital Learning Day. New Milford High School joined thousands of other schools and educators across the country to showcase how digital learning is changing education. The only thing though is that this day was just like any other typical day at my school as digital learning has become an embedded component of our school''s culture.

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Edmodo Poll Everywhere Educreations Digital Learning 250

Educational Technology Guy

FEBRUARY 27, 2013

'TotSplash is a new site that combines online mind mapping and "Prezi-like" presentations. Users can focus on organizing their thoughts and ideas and then the app transforms them into a "Prezi-like" presentation. You can share and embed your TotSplashes also. There is a free version with no login required. It''s easy to use and could be a great alternative for students and teachers.

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Twitter Google Resources Technology 184

The Web20Classroom

FEBRUARY 19, 2013

'It was said long ago that video killed the radio star. I dunno anything about that. But, radio (ok, podcasts) are alive and well. And lucky for you there are several good ones out there to listen to online or download on the go. I want to highlight 2 new ones. It is a little self-serving as I am the host of one and a commentator on another but I hope you will look at the content and see some value there.

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This white paper examines and proposes revisions to the "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education" introduced by Arthur Chickering and Zelda Gamson in 1987 for today's technology-driven world.

Technology

The Innovative Educator

FEBRUARY 19, 2013

'Guest post by Maddie Witter The new Common Core State Standards list skills to prepare American young people on the path toward the college and careers of their choice. Yet as students are on their journey to and through college, and ultimately through life, I also hope they are lifelong learners with an insatiable thirst for knowledge driven by their unique passions.

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Common Core Technology Classroom Learning 101

The 21st Century Principal

FEBRUARY 22, 2013

'“If tomorrow, every teacher in America spent 20 minutes of class time asking each student what her or his passion was, and then later used that information to understand each student more deeply and differentiate their instruction accordingly, education would take giant positive steps forward overnight.” Marc Prensky, From Digital Natives to Digital Wisdom: Hopeful Essays for 21st Century Learning Sometimes the solutions that have the biggest impact on the most difficult issues our schools face

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iPhone Classroom System Laptops 104

EdTechSandyK

FEBRUARY 16, 2013

'One of my favorite things about attending the TCEA conference every year is the incidental learning that takes place. Incidental learning happens for me when I''m in a presentation or having a conversation with someone, and I discover a tool I didn''t know about before. It usually isn''t the focus of the particular presentation or conversation; it''s just something the presenter or person I''m talking with uses without a second thought.

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BYOD Laptops Tablets Conference 93

A Principal's Reflections

FEBRUARY 5, 2013

'I have tweeted over the past couple weeks my excitement for the new structure of the NASSP Annual Conference. The leadership of NASSP is well aware of trends in and the value of connected learning and have created a learning experience that will meet the needs of all attendees. The revamped event, appropriately named " Ignite ", is a great example of a national organization breaking away from traditional conference constructs to create a relevant and meaningful learning experience for it''s mem

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Dropout Conference Social Media Common Core 230

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Educational Technology Guy

FEBRUARY 8, 2013

'LibreOffice is a free, open-source, powerful office suite software that is a great alternative to Microsoft Office. I use it on my home computers. It is available for Windows, Mac and Linux and has six applications: Write (word processor), Calc (spreadsheet), Impress (presentation), Draw, Math and Base (database). It works great and the menu functions are similar to Office 97, so the learning curve is easy.

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Microsoft Software Android Google 166

Baker's B.Y.O.D.

FEBRUARY 9, 2013

'While I have used YouTube for housing my screencasts and sharing videos related to class, there are new editing features that YouTube has enabled to enhance presentations that include adding notes, thought bubbles, pauses, and background music, as well as enhancing the visual aspects of the video. I''ve been wanting to test out the new features, so I used an existing PPT and quickly created something that I can immediately use in my classroom.

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Edmodo Flipped Classroom Video Libraries 68

The Innovative Educator

FEBRUARY 24, 2013

'This post was original featured on Smartblogs on Education in Inspiring Others , Public Policy Schools are missing the boat when it comes to addressing the problem of preparing students to recapture America’s leadership in producing scientists, inventors, engineers, programmers and more through STEM initiatives. The answer has little to do with more teachers, more common graduation requirements, more tests or more school as our policymakers and corporations who stand to profit off this have su

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STEM Policies Education 94

The 21st Century Principal

FEBRUARY 19, 2013

'“Social media has offered us a platform where we can learn from and with the smartest people we ‘meet’ from around the world, whenever we need to or are ready to go.” Scott McLeod & Chris Lehman The School Leader’s Guide to Social Media Personal Learning Networks existed long before there was an Internet. I am perhaps showing my age, but my first “Personal Learning Network” used very little of the technologies we use now.

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Personal Learning Network Twitter Personalized Learning Social Media 100

Speaker: Chris Paxton McMillin, President of D3 Training Solutions

There are plenty of great authoring tools for developing eLearning, but the one you select could directly impact your course's outcomes. Depending upon your learners’ needs and your organization’s performance goals, you could be overlooking considerations that impact the both effectiveness of your courses and how long it takes to finish them. From general capabilities to specific workflow structures, some aspects are critical when it comes to learning objectives and deadlines.

Comparison

EdTechSandyK

FEBRUARY 4, 2013

'Today @MagisterWarren and I ( @EdTechSandyK ) are presenting a workshop on Twitter for Professional Learning at the TCEA 2013 Convention and Exposition. Below is a link to the LiveBinder with all of our presentation resources. If you are in the workshop with us, we hope you enjoy it! If you are just stopping by this blog, I hope the resources in the LiveBinder will be useful to you.

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Professional Learning Twitter Learning Resources 83

A Principal's Reflections

FEBRUARY 23, 2013

'The following is a guest post by Laura DeSena. Not all online education programs are the same. Currently, most conversations on the topic on online education are oversimplified. Complexities must be addressed on this topic for a true critical assessment of online education to actually happen. Image credit: [link] The first significant distinction that must be considered for the conversation about online learning to be valid is that between synchronous and asynchronous instruction.

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Educational Technology Guy

FEBRUARY 4, 2013

'I''m a huge fan of the Livescribe SmartPens and use them daily in my role as CIO. I had also used it as a teacher. May administrators I know are looking at them for teacher evaluations and notes and students love them. These pens let you take handwritten notes, as well as record audio, and then sync these notes to Evernote, Google Drive and more. It''s a great way to take notes and then have them available anywhere.

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Education Training Smartphone Blended Learning 162

Learning with 'e's

FEBRUARY 23, 2013

In a speech given at Harvard University in 1943, British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill famously declared: 'The empires of the future will be empires of the mind.' 70 years on, futurist and physicist Michio Kaku echoes Churchill's sentiments, arguing that intellectual capital is rapidly replacing commodity capital as the most desirable and lucrative means of commerce.

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Industry System Technology Resources 71

Speaker: Amanda Davis, Chief Experience Officer and Liam O'Malley, VP of Association Solutions

The "new normal" is now a little less new, a little more normal. Does that mean your current LMS strategy is in need of a refresh? Is your organization or association leaning into the always-evolving eLearning environment to ensure you have the tools and content to remain relevant through all this change? There are many complex decision-making processes within your learning & development strategy and LMS lifecycle management, including: Selection.

LMS

The Innovative Educator

FEBRUARY 3, 2013

'Social media can be a powerful tool to coordinate and connect with parents. At the school level, this is important work for everyone, from the classroom teacher to the principal. Some districts even have paid school employees called parent coordinators who are responsible for engaging with and involving parents in the school community. It is their job to create a welcoming environment for parents as well as to identify and address parent and related school/community issues.

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The 21st Century Principal

FEBRUARY 20, 2013

'“Mobile phones enable anytime, anyplace, anywhere engagement.” Scott McLeod & Chris Lehmann, What School Leaders Need to Know About Digital Technologies We’ve all worked with them, educators who have made it their mission to rid the classrooms and schools of this world of those infernal, disruptive devices called “cell phones.” Those on the front lines in this battle collect cell phones from students as badges of honor.

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EdTechSandyK

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

'Scan the QR Code to Go to the LiveBinder Today Kim Garcia ( @DigitalLearners) and I ( @EdTechSandyK ) are presenting on the topic Organize, Curate, and Share Your Online Resources. Posted here are a link and a QR code which will take you to a LiveBinder with the resources for our presentation. We hope you enjoy the learning! Click to Access Livebinder: Organize, Curate, and Share Your Online Resources - TCEA 2013 Alternate Link to Livebinder: [link].

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Resources Accessibility Learning 76

A Principal's Reflections

FEBRUARY 28, 2013

'New Milford High School ’ s digital journalism class, which operates The Lance , the school’s online news source, is proud to announce the release of their very own free application. The application is available for Apple and Android operating systems. The Lance reports on news in and around New Milford’s community on a weekly basis. The students of digital journalism partnered with Crescerance to develop an app that is easily accessible and touches on the features of the news site that student

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Android Report Accessibility Meeting 213

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