A Principal's Reflections

JUNE 10, 2012

'Educators must be experts in effective communication techniques, especially when it comes to parents and other key stakeholders. As the times and tools have changed we now have a variety of means to disseminate information in a more efficient and cost-effective fashion. In my experience I have identified 4 key principles that lay a foundation for communicating effectively with parents: transparency, honesty, accessibility, and flexibility.

Facebook 304

Facebook Twitter Strategy Policies 304

The Web20Classroom

JUNE 12, 2012

'Any one who knows me or reads my blog and Tweets knows I am a big advocate of social learning. The idea that we don''t have to be the smartest or be an expert in everything should be a big relief in the classroom. When I started teaching I did everything I could to make sure I knew more than my students. Looking back, I know I wasted a great deal of time and many teachable moments with that attitude.

Twitter 234

Twitter Course Tools Learning 234

Educational Technology Guy

JUNE 13, 2012

'Written by Jonathan Trent — Writer for NextUC.com , providing expertise in everything from Microsoft Lync to video conferencing to online collaboration software. As technology advances, a greater number of countries are embracing the use of it in classrooms. While the U.S. is moving in that direction there seems to be some hesitation in deciding what technology should be used.

Technology 228

Technology Education Assessment Microsoft 228

The 21st Century Principal

JUNE 13, 2012

'In their book Why Social Media Matters: School Communication in the Digital Age , Kitty Porterfield and Meg Carnes make a strong case for school leaders engaging in the use of social media as a means of communication. As they so clearly point out, "School leaders must be able to communicate with all their stakeholders, from the staff members in their buildings to the parents and other stakeholders in their communities.

Social Media 98

Social Media Tools Facebook Policies 98

Advertisement

How can we actively engage learners 24/7, on their level and according to their interests, while respecting their learning styles? It’s not impossible. In this guide: Explore how to transform traditional, one-way videos into two-way interactive learning experiences Understand different types of artificial intelligence (AI), including - Generative vs.

Personalized Learning

A Principal's Reflections

JUNE 13, 2012

'With the rise of mobile devices and tablets in the classroom, I’m finding so many examples of organizations that are capitalizing on these tools to create new resources for teachers and students. I was recently introduced to an education reform model called TAP: The System for Teacher and Student Advancement that is making really great use of the tablet and mobile platforms to provide teachers with better access to teacher resources with an iPhone or iPad app.

Technology 198

Technology iPhone Tablets iPad 198

The Web20Classroom

JUNE 10, 2012

'I have written about the awesomeness that is eduTecher before. Created by my good friend Adam , it is always one of the first places I go to learn about new tools and resources for the classroom. He has amazing collection of apps, sites and more that you can spend hours looking through. Building on that success Adam is at it again creating a free tool for teachers (and students.well anyone really) called eduClipper.

Video 189

Video Tools Resources Classroom 189

The 21st Century Principal

JUNE 12, 2012

'In one of my previous posts, “ 4 Social Media Strategies for 21st Century School Leaders ” I described general social media listening strategies from the book Why Social Media Matters: School Communication in the Digital Age by Kitty Porterfield and Meg Carnes. These strategies are designed so that school leaders can plan and implement those strategies for keeping an ear to the ground, or as in this case, an ear to the Web.

Social Media 86

Social Media Tools Strategy Google 86

EdTechSandyK

JUNE 14, 2012

'You don''t have to take or attend formal classes to extend your learning. Photo Source It''s summer in the northern hemisphere, which is a great time for educators to take a break from the daily bustle of teaching. It''s also the greatest opportunity many of us have all year to extend our own professional learning and grow in our craft. Depending on where you work, your professional development may be proscribed for you, or you may have a lot of freedom to choose courses or sessions you would l

Resources 81

Resources Microsoft Training Video 81

mauilibrarian2 in Olinda

JUNE 9, 2012

'Pearson Promo/Intro to OpenClass Just discovered Pearson''s OpenClass , a learning management system with social and collaboration tools. It''s new and in beta and there doesn''t seem to be too much in the news about it, other than its launching at EDUCAUSE in October, 2011. OpenClass is totally free and integrates with Google Apps For Education which we have at our school, so the system is definitely worth a look for our institution!

Pearson 58

Pearson LMS Resources Software 58

Educational Technology Guy

JUNE 13, 2012

'Physion is free Physics simulation software that can be used by educators to create physics simulations for their class or by students to create physics simulations to explore concepts or as part of a project. The teacher can even create experiments for the students to use in class (virtual labs). You use the included tools to create physical objects, including gears, and joints (springs and pulleys) that obey the laws of the Physics.

Software 213

Software Wiki Resources Twitter 213

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

The 21st Century Principal

JUNE 15, 2012

'Author and attorney Aimee M. Bissonette writes: “Schools that fail to take action to curb cyberbullying among students may find themselves defending their actions (or lack of action) in court, worse still, dealing with the tragedy of a student suicide.” One can argue whether schools are responsible or not, but the societal expectations are simple: if school administrators know it’s happening, then they had better do something about it.

Policies 80

Policies Social Media Report Examples 80

The Innovative Educator

JUNE 14, 2012

Photo credit: Mike Sheehan Photography The Manhattan Office of Educational Technology held an innovation celebration to showcase the work of students who partnered with teachers for learning with technology. At the event student presenters demonstrated for visiting adults and peers ways in which they were using technology to innovate learning. Some students shared how they are empowered to analyze their own data to drive their learning, others shared how they use student response systems to gro

iPad 52

iPad Learning Data System 52

mauilibrarian2 in Olinda

JUNE 12, 2012

'Benjamin Room posted "BYOD in the 21st Century" in the Practical Technologies for the Classroom Facebook group and I just had to share! Schools exploring BYOD will find this video clever and informative! Producer Dr. Marc-Andre Lalande, is so creative! The video is the latest in his Pedagogical Quickies YouTube series. I just subscribed to his channel: lalendema.

BYOD 56

BYOD Video Facebook Twitter 56

Educational Technology Guy

JUNE 13, 2012

'KanBan2Go is a free productivity and organizing app I learned about from Richard Byrne at Free Technology for Teachers. kanban2go is a visual, online task management service. It''s simple and easy to use and accessible online from computer, tablet or smartphone (mobile site, not app). There is a To Do list that is where you put the tasks in the order of priority.

Smartphone 191

Smartphone Tablets Google Twitter 191

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 21st Century Principal

JUNE 14, 2012

'I am probably one of the few principals in this country who purchased an Android Tablet rather than an iPad. I already had access to a first generation iPad, and I wanted a 7 inch device instead of the a 10 inch, so I purchased an Galaxy Tab 7.7. I have not regretted it at all. In fact, there are very good reasons for getting an Android tablet instead, among them is the cost considerations and access to a few apps not currently available for the iPad.

Android 77

Android Tablets Edmodo iPad 77

Learning with 'e's

JUNE 9, 2012

As a man was walking past some elephants in a circus, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these large animals were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from their bonds. Yet they stayed were they were. He asked the trainer why the animals didn't try to escape.

Conference 59

Conference Classroom Learning 59

mauilibrarian2 in Olinda

JUNE 13, 2012

'Here are four videos that will give your high school students a nice intro to China''s history, in a class period. Three are ready to watch and one is a two-part series, ready to order: Legacy: The Origins of Civilization - China -- The Mandate of Heaven (50 min.) China: Power and the People - BBC (60 min.) Explore: China by Charles Annenberg Weingarten and the Explore Team <p><p><p&am

Video 49

Video Learning 49

Educational Technology Guy

JUNE 11, 2012

'I just found out about Conceptboard , a cool visual collaboration tool, from the company itself. Conceptboard is a cloud-based service that works on PCs, laptops, tablets, and more. It is basically on online whiteboard that allows you to create, review and discuss ideas and concepts and you can even upload a document (PDF, PPT, Doc, images) and share, comment, and work on also.

Laptops 188

Laptops Tablets Examples Company 188

Advertisement

Managing a K-12 campus with constant pressure to meet performance metrics is challenging. And tardiness can significantly limit a school from reaching these goals. Learn more about why chronic lateness matters, and key strategies to address the following impacts: Data errors caused by manual processes Low attendance and graduation rates that affect a school’s reputation Classroom disruption, which leads to poor academic performance High staff attrition and “The Teacher Exodus” Unmet LCAP goals t

Classroom

The 21st Century Principal

JUNE 15, 2012

'My flash drives, and I have at least 10 of them, haven''t been out of my laptop bag in over a year. Why? Cloud storage. Lots of cloud storage. I have found myself with Dropbox, Google Drive, Windows Skydrive, and Amazon Cloud Drive accounts. I also have an iCloud account. But even with all these different accounts, I have been an avid user of Dropbox since I discovered it well over a year and a half ago.

Android 69

Android iPad iPhone Handbook 69

Learning with 'e's

JUNE 15, 2012

One Scottish local authority has tonight been left with egg all over its face. Argyll and Bute's attempts to censor a 9 year old blogging about her school dinners backfired spectacularly when they were forced to very publicly retract their original decision. The gagging order was imposed on Martha Payne, a primary school girl who attends Lochgilphead Primary School, because she took pictures of her school dinners and then rated them out of 10 on her blog.

E-rate 58

E-rate Social Media Mobility Twitter 58

mauilibrarian2 in Olinda

JUNE 12, 2012

'Since I wrote How to Create a Searchable, Permanent COMPLETE Archive of Your Tweets using TwimeMachine & Evernote I''ve discovered All My Tweets which puts all tweets (up to 3,200) on one page. As with TwimeMachine, I simply copy and paste the live tweets into my shared Evernote document. The tweets are bulleted, a nice feature that makes things a little easier on the eyes.

Twitter 49

Twitter Accessibility How To 49

Educational Technology Guy

JUNE 12, 2012

'EdTech Magazine is a great, free website that has tons of articles, resources, product and service reviews, information and more about edtech topics and products. It is a great resource for any educator, educational technology specialist or director, or technology personnel. They just published an article "50 Must Read K-12 IT Blogs" that is a list, with short description and link, of 50 different edtech blogs.

EdTech 187

EdTech Resources Twitter Technology 187

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 21st Century Principal

JUNE 11, 2012

'I can''t help but feel a bit honored to be included among those bloggers in EdTech Magazine''s "Honor Roll: 50 Must-Read K-12 Education IT Blogs." This includes many ed tech heroes of mine such as Will Richardson and David Warlick. It''s a great list to be included, and one I am going to make sure gets loaded into my Google Reader. Thanks EdTech Magazine.

EdTech 62

EdTech Education Google Technology 62

Learning with 'e's

JUNE 15, 2012

I don't have the time or the inclination to calculate how many miles I have travelled in the last week, but it involved three car journeys, 11 train rides, numerous taxi trips and one flight. I managed to keynote four conferences in six days, respectively eLearning 2.0 at Brunel University, London; the CILIPS annual conference at the Apex Hotel in Dundee; the Solstice Conference at Edge Hill University, and finally the Digital Literacies Conference at Southampton University.

E-rate 51

E-rate Libraries Conference Training 51

The Learning Revolution Has Begun

JUNE 12, 2012

'Join me Tuesday, June 12th, for a live and interactive FutureofEducation.com webinar with Jonathan Finkelstein, founder and executive producer of LearningTimes , the "global leader in creating innovative, interactive online learning solutions." Learning Times has produced live online conferences, webcasts, podcasts, and educational programs for more than 400 organizations and associations in technology, publishing, museums, libraries, K – 20 education, government, training and non-profits.

Blackboard 47

Blackboard Libraries Learning Training 47

Educational Technology Guy

JUNE 14, 2012

'Aviary is a great resource that I use constantly. I use the Falcon and Talon online image editor s to grab images from the web and edit/crop/add effects to use with my blog and with lesson materials. There are browser extensions to use with the online apps and it''s very powerful. A while back, Aviary launched an add-on for mobile devices that allowed you to use Aviary within mobile apps.

Android 180

Android Mobility Facebook Software 180

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

Technology Tidbits

JUNE 11, 2012

Keyboarding or Typing is one the first and most vital skills for students to learn for technology literacy. This skill is the building block for using a computer and one that starts as early KDG if not sooner. Also, this is a nice skill/unit to teach in using "centers or blocks", free time, or even summer school. *This list is in alphabetical order 10 Sites for Keyboarding/Typing ABCya - A fun site/app for kids trying to learn how to type in games such as: Alpha Munchies, Cup Stack Typing, and J

Report 33

Report Technology How To Learning 33

SpeechTechie

JUNE 12, 2012

'As you might have heard inklings of (I myself was glued to Engadget''s live blog), Apple is having its Worldwide Developer''s Conference in San Francisco this week. Traditionally, the keynote address from this conference brings important product development announcements, and today''s conference was no different. As many people come to this site for information about iPad, I thought it would be helpful to share some of the key points that can affect our work and use of Apple products.

iPad 63

iPad iPhone Facebook Conference 63

Educational Technology Guy

JUNE 15, 2012

'Dropbox , the very popular cloud file/sync/backup/sharing service , has announced that starting July 31st, new users will not be able to create Public Folders. Current users will be able to still use public folders, but anyone signing up for Dropbox after July 31st will not be able to. Shared folders was an easy way to share files with others and allow teams to have access to the same files.

Twitter 177

Twitter Google Accessibility Technology 177

Educational Technology Guy

JUNE 11, 2012

'"Evernote – an attempt at the definitive summary of teacher uses!" is a great blog post by Richard Lambert that does a really good job of describing some great ways of using Evernote in education. As a huge Evernot e fan, and user, I''m always looking for new ways of using Evernote as an educator. One of his ideas is to use Evernote to record and track student performance and work.

Twitter 177

Twitter Resources Google Technology 177

This whitepaper explores integrating the PowerTeaching pedagogical approach within a HyFlex (Hybrid Flexible) educational model, focusing on employing cooperative learning strategies and efficient classroom management techniques.

Education