Teaching With Google Glass

 

 

Check out this article in Edutopia about Andrew,the first teacher in the world to use google glasses.It's an exciting story about  how Andrew  was selected to experiment with google glasses in his capacity as a teacher. This onerous task inspired him to create a series of videos.One of those videos is below but to see the full collection of videos and to read about the future of this device go to his  article in Edutopia.

 

In The News - paper.li

This week I have added the In The News paper.li.Paper.li is a web 2.0 tool that allows you to custom create your own newspaper. You can pick the topics you want to cover and source an array of articles that are updated daily from around the world .It is very much like a newsfeed.I am only experimenting with it at the moment and this blog will only allow it to be placed  on the top of the blog.Would love to know what you think of it. Please leave a comment.

Some Well Earned Holiday Reading

Last Friday the ISC held its Holiday Reading Function for staff. It was great to see so many books borrowed by those who attended.The home made food was well received and the drinks were timely. Once again we were priveleged to have Liz Watts from Collins Bookstore  join us to talk about the latest releases.It was also great to see so many staff enjoying  themselves and beginning to wind down from a very hectic pace!

eSchoolNews

One of the digital resources in my Professional Learning Network (PLN) is eSchool News.It's a free newsletter for teachers about educational technology and has lots of articles that are very relevant to where we are at, here at Gippsland Grammar.Unfortunately I was unable to embed the newsletter on this post  but nevertheless, click on  eSchoolNews to access the June edition.In this edition I particularly liked the the tip Don't be overcome by"There's an App for that"syndrome. which was in the article about successful iPad programs. It suggests that rather than constantly searching for apps that address specific curriculum content,view iPads as creative tools that are part of the learning process.Use them to create mock interviews,podcasts,practice and record foreign language (yes,Jan is doing this already!),create screencasts and animations.If you would like to register for eSchool News  and customize your own news, use the QR code on the top left of the screen in the June edition or go to the eSchool News website.

10 Video Projects Teachers Should Try

Following on from the above post that mentions using mobile devices to foster creativity is this blog from  the "We Are Teachers Blog".It's probably telling you how to suck eggs but the suggestions might trigger some ideas.Our Year 9's are currently creating book trailers for their Wide Reading Project.Let us know what else is happening on our campuses by leaving a comment on this post. .Click on 10  VideoProjects Every Teacher Should Try

The Padagogy Wheel

You would most likely be familiar with the Bloom's Digital Taxonomy which is an update of the Bloom's Revised Taxonomy.It is all about how to use Web2.0 tools to faciltate learning.

American educator and well known presenter, Kathy Schrock, then went on to  create "Bloomin Apps". Thanks Rebecca Wells for sending the Kathy Schrock link to us this week.Allan Carrington from The University of Adelaide has now gone a step forward to create A Padagogy Wheel for mobile devices,in particular the ipad.(Click on the link or image to get a poster size image of the wheel and its hyperlinked apps.) Allan acknowledges how Bloom's is still fundamental to good teaching and learning.He has added 62 ipad apps to the wheel and put them  where they could serve the pedagogy.Once again, the mantra is "its not about the tool,nor the app.....it's all about the students."

Click on  Allan's Scoop.it The Padagogy Wheelhouse  or video below  for more information.

High Road To Reading

On Tuesday 21^st May, Lyn McNally and myself took thirty students from Years 8 and 9 to hear local author Scot Gardner speak at the State Library’s “High Road To Reading “ event. This was held  at the Wellington Shire Library. They laughed their way through Scot’s quietly delivered talk, entranced by his many tales of where he gets his inspiration for his storytelling. Scot writes for young adults and children and has a great ability to see through the eyes of adolescents. Scot is a very gifted writer and his books include Burning Eddy, One Dead Seagull, The Legend of Kevin the Plumber, White Ute Dreaming, Gravity, The Other Madonna, The Detachable Boy, Happy As Larry, One Wheel Ride and The Dead I Know. In 2012, Scot won the Children’s Book Council of Australia prize for older readers with his novel “The Dead I Know” which has recently been released in Canada.
Some of you might remember Scot from the days when we ran the Year 9 Wellington Writer's Gig.He recently trained as a teacher and up until the end of last year he was teaching at Kurnai College in Churchill. He has  now made the decision to stick to writing fulltime!

Re-imagining Learning

We are hearing so much about what constitutes new learning. There is project based learning,passion based learning, explanation based learning,game based and of course mobile learning that allows and promotes student centred and  personalized learning.


This  4 minute video by the MacArthur Foundation (USA) is well worth watching as it talks about the need to re-imagine learning as  new technologies  are changing the way students learn.With the ability to interact with many people,peers will play an increasingly important  role in the new learning environment.