A Principal's Reflections

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

'The summer of 2013 was probably one of the most important hiring years during my seven-year tenure as a high school principal. Now don’t get me wrong, I hired so many amazing educators over the years and will forever be indebted to the incredible work they did for our students. Upon leaving New Milford High School a few weeks ago, I was like a proud father who watched his children grow up, mature, and experience undeniable successes that forever changed the teaching and learning culture there.

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Libraries Video Learning Education 361

Tom Murray

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

'I was the fourth one in line. Standing directly in front of me were two moms that were obviously out shopping for school supplies. It is that time of year. Three-pronged folders, marble notebooks, some pens, a few book covers, a handful of binders, and some loose leaf paper was what I could see. What struck me most was how similar school shopping must have been twenty years earlier when that mom’s mother or father had taken her to the local store for back to school shopping.

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Common Core Facebook 271

The Web20Classroom

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

'When I was in the classroom I always looked forward to back-to-school. Getting my classroom ready, that feeling of the excitement for a new year left me with the anticipation for great things to happen. But heading back to school and getting in the groove was less about content and more about ensuring we had a successful school year. Whether you''ve been in school for a few days or a month or two, there are a few, simple things you can do to find that success.

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Edmodo Classroom Twitter Study 267

Educational Technology Guy

SEPTEMBER 22, 2014

'CK-12 , a great resource for free e-textbook and curricular resources, has just announced the launch of it''s Physics Interactive Simulations. The simulations are all online and free. There are currently 66 simulations available, with a lot more coming soon. Some of them may look familiar as some look like some I used on PhET, another source of great online labs and simulations.

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Chromebook Google Twitter Resources 238

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The Journal

SEPTEMBER 22, 2014

A parent whose children's school is using computing technology sent us a letter asking some ostensibly simple questions about the value of educational technology. But, while providing answers to those questions is actually not simple, we must, as a community, work to provide clear, readily accessible answers.

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Technology Education Accessibility 150

Pair-a-dimes for Your Thoughts

SEPTEMBER 1, 2014

'This made me laugh. I saw this image (source unknown) and saved it to my photos on my iPad. Later that day, I tweeted it out and since then it has had quite a response. And then the teacher said… You may take notes. pic.twitter.com/4xYBAKi2jN. — David Truss (@datruss) June 3, 2014. In one of the responses to this tweet, Maurizio Basso ( @moba3030 ) said , “ @datruss so true seeing more of this.

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Twitter Data iPad Technology 128

Learning in Hand

SEPTEMBER 27, 2014

'Projecting your iPad on a large screen is great for demonstrations, simulations, explanations, and showing examples. There are several ways this can be done in the classroom. If you don''t mind keeping your iPad in one spot, then a VGA adapter ( for 30-pin Dock connector or for the new Lightning connector ). Apple has made four types of adapters – determine which one you need.

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iPad Software Mobility Resources 111

The Web20Classroom

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

'Tech integration in the classroom has become a hot topic in recent years. Educators are presented with so many device options for the classroom, but recently, Chromebooks have gained momentum. More and more districts are moving to Chromebooks as a cost effective option to put technology in the hands of more students. And because everything is in the cloud, Chromebooks don’t need any special software and can be easier to maintain for technology departments.

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Chromebook Learning Software Twitter 197

Educational Technology Guy

SEPTEMBER 12, 2014

'Yesterday, Google Announced the first 4 Android Apps that are available for Chromebooks. This is really nice. What got me excited was that Evernote was one of the first 4. Evernote is my main work and home tool so this was pretty cool to hear. I installed it on my Chromebook (Acer C720) and loved it - looks and works like the Android app. And the best part: OFFLINE SYNC!

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Android Chromebook Google Laptops 199

My Paperless Classroom

SEPTEMBER 5, 2014

'If back to school night has one lesson for me. It''s that parents of elementary students are looking for someone to talk to about iPads, phones, tablets, and how their kids are using them. I''m lucky enough to work in an amazing school with a great approach to technology education. Last night at back-to-school night I got to share with the kindergarten through second grade parents why we do technology the way we do.

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Education iPad Robotics Elementary 107

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

wwwatanabe

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

'Formative assessment informs educators about student learning, and when done correctly , it also informs the students how to improve and move forward with their next goal. Teachers must know how to use the data to drive their instruction. Formative Data by Tracy Watanabe - Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires Gleaning results from the data and providing specific feedback must be timely, which is why I like using Google Forms (along with other tools).

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Assessment Google Data Examples 104

A Principal's Reflections

SEPTEMBER 4, 2014

'Contrary to the belief of some, educators work extremely hard for little financial incentive when you look at the amount of hours that are put into the job. Whether you are a teacher or administrator, your work has always been about the students first and foremost. To a lesser extent, but important nonetheless, has been the desire to collaborate with colleagues to enhance learning environments and experiences for education''s number one stakeholder - our students.

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Education Social Media Video Learning 311

Learning in Hand

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

'Learning in Hand Show #28 is about some of what''s new in Apple''s iOS 8. Instead of showing you the major features you might already know about, I demonstrate the lesser known additions that teachers, students, and parents will be interested in. These include additions to the Notes app, predictive typing, dictation enhancements, sharing options, zoom improvements, speak screen, time limits, and updates to the photo library.

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Video iPad Libraries Accessibility 110

The Web20Classroom

SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

'When I made the decision to leave the classroom to pursue my career in Instructional Technology I didn''t know where it would take me or what I would even face. I was leaving kids and that bothered me somewhat but I knew that working with teachers was a calling for me and I was making the best choice for my career. Fast forward to today and as I reflect on all that I''ve been able to do, I know there is no way I could have done it alone.

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Social Media Twitter Conference Technology 176

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

SpeechTechie

SEPTEMBER 11, 2014

'As a companion to my column for the ASHA Leader App-Titude series, "Welcome to Science Class," this series explores how technology can serve as a context for teaching "language underpinnings" related to the social studies curriculum. I have long considered Google Earth (GE) to be one of the best free resources for developing language in the context of social studies content--though it is great for developing language related to math, science, and even language arts (since it is filled with sett

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Study Google iPad Android 98

My Paperless Classroom

SEPTEMBER 29, 2014

'I believe that students will read when they are ready, but I also believe in immersing students in an environment rich in opportunity to build and practice literacy skills. When I began working as a K-5 technology integration specialist, I didn’t think I would be programming with my pre-reading students. I had always experienced coding as text-based and really complex.

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iPad Tools Meeting Accessibility 102

Kathy Schrock

SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

'[link] As I recently wrote about in a Discovery Educator Network blog post , financial literacy is one of the important literacies for our students to acquire. Financial literacy, sometimes referred to as economic literacy, according to Atomic Learning , “targets the importance of making appropriate economic choices on a personal level, and understanding the connection personal, business, and governmental decisions have on individuals, society, and the economy”.

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Study Student Engagement Classroom How To 96

A Principal's Reflections

SEPTEMBER 14, 2014

'Change is a word that is thrown around in education circles more and more each day. We are made to think that education is in a downward spiral and that students are ill prepared to succeed in college and/or careers that require students to think and apply learning differently. To some extent this might be true, mostly due to mandates from decision makers that do not, or have not ever, worked in a school.

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Policies System Meeting Assessment 308

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The Thinking Stick

SEPTEMBER 25, 2014

'There are different ways to measure success. Last week at the first ever Learning2 Africa conference that was held at ICS Addis Ababa, Ethiopia we measured it in a few different ways. 118 of 119 of the participants on the survey said they would recommend the conference to a friend or plan on attending next year. Before we left the conference we had a school step up wanting to host it for 2015.

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Learning Conference Twitter Survey 93

Learning in Hand

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

'QR (Quick Response) codes can make classrooms more efficient and interactive. Instead of typing in a web address, a student can open an app and point his or her device’s camera at the code and walk away with a website, audio, or video open in his or her web browser. QR codes store information in an image made up of tiny squares, and anyone can create them.

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Laptops Tools iPad BYOD 91

SpeechTechie

SEPTEMBER 25, 2014

'As a companion to my column for the ASHA Leader App-Titude series, "Welcome to Science Class," this series explores how technology can serve as a context for teaching "language underpinnings" related to the social studies curriculum. Have you ever heard of infographics? Infographics are visual representations of data and information, and have become popular as teaching tools, both as a presentation tool and creative context.

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Study Analysis iPad Tools 90

My Paperless Classroom

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

'Yesterday I was not a good teacher. The lesson was not inspiring; it was not empowering to my students. They did not become awesome creators of amazing digital content. It just didn''t happen. The wifi was weak. There wasn''t enough to carry all 24 iPads as we tried to get Drive and Docs set up on the 4th grade iPads. There was also just enough wifi that I wouldn''t give up on the effort and move on to plan B, C, or D.

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iPad Meeting 97

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

The Electric Educator

SEPTEMBER 5, 2014

'The first time a teacher visits Google Classroom they will be asked if they are a teacher or a student. If for some reason the teacher selects "student" they will find that they are unable to create classes; they can only join them. Students who select "teacher" will have the ability to created classes. Fixing this issue is easy, but requires the assistance of someone with access to the schools Google Apps for Education control panel.

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Google Classroom Groups Accessibility 87

Turning Learning On Its Head

SEPTEMBER 3, 2014

'Image: Emily Danielle Photography. There is a word that I would like to take out of the vocabulary of flipped classroom teachers. It is the word, watch. Students are supposed to watch a video at home and then come to class prepared to learn. Watch is a passive word. Students watch Batman, they watch The Voice, but we don’t want students to watch flipped class videos.

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Adobe Flipped Classroom Microsoft Video 86

The Innovative Educator

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

'By Chris Casal + Lisa Nielsen Cross posted at [link] Innovative educators know first hand that social media like Twitter, Facebook, Google, and Instagram can be a powerful tool for teaching, learning, leading, and strengthening the home-school connection. In many cases though, others may need to be brought on board. Especially when parents are expressing concerns and unsure of how a platform can be used successfully.

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Social Media Facebook Twitter Google 85

EdTechSandyK

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

'Image Used With Permission Have you implemented BYOD in an elementary school setting? In the U.S., that''s grades K-5, or students aged 5-11. We''re about to launch a pilot at one of the K-5 elementary schools in my school district, and I''d like to collect stories of elementary BYOD implementation, links to videos and anecdotes, training materials and ideas - essentially, anything that has to do with BYOD in the elementary classroom.

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BYOD Elementary Mobile Learning Policies 84

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.

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SpeechTechie

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

'As a companion to my column for the ASHA Leader App-Titude series, "Welcome to Science Class," this series explores how technology can serve as a context for teaching "language underpinnings" related to the social studies curriculum. Continents, countries, and cities provide a great context for developing language skills. The sequential/hierarchical nature of these arbitrary (well, except continents) regions can confuse many of our students and therefore provides good ground for concept develop

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Study E-rate Common Core Examples 79

My Paperless Classroom

SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

'The question put to me was "How do you get students to put down an iPad when it is time?" As I searched for an appropriate response to this parent I thought about how much our questions reveal about us. This one revealed more than I was comfortable with. Laid bare in this simple question was a history of fights and fits about screen time. It was a plea for a solution, for an inspired answer to end this problem.

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iPad Robotics Video Course 94

MSEDTechie

SEPTEMBER 14, 2014

'I had the great opportunity to participate in the podcast The House of EdTech with Chris Nesi this past weekend. I got to share some of the ways I have integrated technology when I was a classroom teacher, and as a technology coach. It was such a fun experience, and I had a great conversation with Chris. Tune in to my featured podcast, but also the other podcast episodes.

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Elementary EdTech Education Technology 79

Learning With Lucie

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

'“The more we can turn the nation into a nation of makers, they will be smarter, they’ll be better problem-solvers, and they’ll be more equipped for the problems of tomorrow." ~ Nolan Bushnell The world is a buzz about “MAKING” and so am I! But is it a new ‘trend”? I think not! But it is a way of learning that is capturing the attention of many and for me I want to SHOUT from the rooftop - “It’s about TIME you notice!

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Trends Mobility Tablets Mobile Learning 77

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