Devices in the Classroom:The Right Questions To Ask!

With our current discussions about what devices we should be using in our classroom I thought that this recent article from Edudemic was very timely for us all.We need to be student centric rather than tool centric and ask why we are using these tools,rather than how can we use these tools.

 

Click on the image above to access the article

 

 

Also from Edudemic is a great infographic about how parents perceive the value of mobile devices in the classroom.Click on the image below to access the infographic and the Living and Learning With Mobile Devices Report



Untangling the web

With the need to include the issue of "Impacts of ICT in Society" into our curriculum (Australian Curriculum, ICT capability), it is worth listening to Alex Krotoski's recent presentation at the State Library of Victoria. .Alex was the inaugural speaker at the Digital Society series.She is an American academic, pyshologist and journalist who writes about how technology impacts our lives.She is soon to release her book Untangling the Web:What the Internet is doing to you.She explores how the web influences our relationships,our perception of ourselves and urges us to create positive online personas.Sounds like an interesting read and a "must" for the ISC

   

Gaming

 

If you click on the image above you will access a very interesting article from onlineuniversities.com that talks about how gaming allows  students to take risks,experience failure and consequently learn heaps on the way. Although the article has a higher education focus,it is as applicable to schools where there is pressure to perform.

 

Another worthwhile article from Edudemic is 25 Things To Know About Gamification.

 



 

ABC Splash

 

Auntie's ABC Splash was launched last year and I hope you have had time to explore the site as it is full of very relevant and engaging digital teaching resources for primary and secondary teachers..All resources are linked directly to the Australian curriculum. Click on the above image to see an example of what's on offer.Students are able to listen to Don Watson, speech-writer for Paul Keating, Michael Gurr playwright and speech-writer, and Ted Widmer foreign policy speech writer for former US president Bill Clinton, discuss the secrets to writing a great speech.

 

Of particular interest to you might be:

• Making the News - This project features Splash Live where students develop their own news stories over a six week period.There ae some great masterclasses from ABC journalists and producers that have been made especially for students.
• ABC Zoom - a 3D game created for secondary science students
• Tailored Teacher Resources - these are tailored to specific topics and show teachers how they can use specific collections of content from the ABC
   

 



 

 

Finding Your Element

Over the past few years most teachers would have become  familiar with Ken Robinson's talks  about schools and creativity on   TED Talks.He is an internationally recognised leader in the development of  creativity and innovation and his talks question our schooling's current modus operandi. He believes that all subject areas should be given equal time in the curriculum and that there is a need to have a teaching and learning culture that is more student centred with a focus on allowing students to find their passion. We now have a copy of Ken's New book "Finding your Element" in the ISC which is all about finding your passion in life.It's a fabulous read,offering a guide to help you  connect to your own talents and passions.See below for Ken's latest TED Talk  

 

 

    

We Link

Education Services Australia has just launched We Link - a site that enables teachers of Asian  languages to connect with their colleagues across Australia.A great professional learning tool for our Asian Language teachers.

Scootle, which was also developed by Education Services Australia has now doubled its digital content since its launch in 2010.It now provides access to over 20,000 digital resource,including inteactives,videos and units of work which are aligned to the Australian Curriculum. It is a fantastic resource to use when curriulum planning.If you have  not registered with Scootle yet  or have forgotten your password, just email me and I will send you the registration details.

10 Reasons to try 20% Time in the Classroom

Today I was reading  Coby Beatson's article in the latest Teacher Learning Network  Journal called "Connecting with Inquiry".Coby is an advocate of Inquiry based learning and believes that it allows a classroom to cater for all students. A well constructed Inquiry  gives students ownership of their learning, focussing  on skills such as how to question,categorise,analyse and intrepret. Although she is of the opinion that our current emphasis on teaching content needs to shift to teaching skills, she has  adopted a "Singapore time fraction" approach  - 80% spent on covering the curriculum and 20% spent on letting students discover anything they wanted to know about the topic they were studying.I must admit I hadn't heard of this approach. Funnily enough I came across this  article from Edudemic later in the day called 10 Reasons To Try 20% Time In The Classroom. Now that is a co-incidence!

For more information, read Coby Beatson's article in the latest TLN.Copies are in the staffroom

Flipping Out on the Flipped Classroom

Some more information about the flipped classroom! Our  teachers who are investigating "The Flipped Classroom" and putting it into practice for their PLP 's will appreciate USA's teacher librarian Joyce Valenza's playlist of over 30 relevant resources. Use the green arrow on the right to scroll through the various reources on offer.

Create your own Playlist on MentorMob!

Although I have already posted about TED - ED:Lessons Worth Sharing in the past,its worth recommending again as the site features excellent educational videos which can be "flipped" to create customised lessons centred on the video.Click on the link to see the section on Flipped Classrooms
 

Cap That!

Have you heard of  the Cap That! website?It is an initiative of Media Access Australia and is in its third year.It encourages teachers to turn on captions when showing videos as a tool to improving literacy and learning for all students.Traditionally, captions were thought to be for people with hearing difficulties but recent research supports the use to improve students' listening and reading comprehension,vocab acquisition and information recall.Go to the website to find out how to turn captions on and find captioned multimedia  resources that are linked to the Australian Curriculum.

Explaining Social Media Visually

Students should enjoy this  well constructed  visual explanation of Social Media!

Can ereaders Encourage Reading?

Last term I reported on the enthusiasm of our students,both girls and boys, who were involved in using ereaders  in their  Year 7 Literature Circles program. I therefore found the results from a recent American study quite interesting.Although the study is in its early stages the results so far reveal  that middle school boys rate reading more valuable as an activity after two months of using an ereader, whereas girls valued reading less.That certainly was not an observation of mine.Both genders seemed to be equally "into" the experience.For more details about the study click on this link
For some  tips to encourage the reluctant reader  click on Enticing The Reluctant Reader