Interesting Articles and Infographics21st-Century Libraries: The Learning CommonsLibraries have existed since approximately 2600 BCE as an archive of recorded knowledge. From tablets and scrolls to bound books, they have cataloged resources and served as a locus of knowledge. Today, with the digitization of content and the ubiquity of the internet, information is no longer confined to printed materials accessible only in a single, physical location. Consider this: Project Gutenberg and its affiliates make over 100,000 public domain works available digitally, and Google has scanned over 30 million books through its library project.
8 EdTech Hacks: A Cheat Sheet for Interactive Collaboration in the ClassroomA Selection of Quick, Easy Approaches to Interactive Classroom Collaboration
A field guide for implementing blended learningBlended learning is poised to transform education as we know it. We know the what and the why, but it’s not often we learn how.
10 Professional Development Resources for 2015As the teachers are the most inspiring and the motivating key factor in students’ learning and achievement, ongoing professional development for teachers is sure to lead to improved and better outcomes in the classrooms for the students.
Outlook on instruction: Class around the clockBetter ways to use data. High-tech professional development. Differentiated instruction.
What's Apple Planning for the Future of Books?With services like Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited and Apple’s iBooks taking off, it’s becoming a more and more interesting question: How will the future of books look? As Mike Murphy reports for Quartz, the future of books is more books — books on Kindles, iPads, and laptops, books made of paper, and books as podcasts, apps, and blogs. But the changing way that we consume digital media — streaming instead of downloading, essentially borrowing instead of owning — will increasingly inform the way that we consume books, as well, and everyone from indie book publishers to big players like Apple and Amazon is counting on it.
SketchNotes by Sylvia DuckworthSketchnoting for BeginnersSylvia Duckworth walks you through the steps of SketchNoting.
Examples of Sylvia's work is presented above. 5 keys to a successful STEM program at your schoolOne principal reveals the science behind starting a successful STEM program
3 things great teachers do with technology3 inspiring examples of how teachers turn technology into relevance and make learning count
Why Twitter Will Never Connect All Educators"The gap however, between 20th Century educators and 21st Century learners, is now beginning to widen at a much faster rate. Today’s learners have become more directed and into the ownership of their learning. The classroom is no longer the only location where learning takes place. If today’s learner has a need to learn something that has meaning to him/her, he/she can access information and tools to curate, communicate, collaborate and create without any help from someone standing at the head of the class."
How secure are Dropbox, OneDrive and Google Drive?
"Although Microsoft Windows is the number one targeted platform for hackers and cybercriminals, so far OneDrive (formerly called SkyDrive) has remained fairly free of any serious breach headlines. Does this mean it's the most secure of the services we have covered here? Not really, as none of them have actually suffered a direct data breach (rather than user-compromised access) that has come to our attention."
The real-life Matrix: MIT researchers reveal interface that can allow a computer to plug into the brain
"It has been the holy grail of science fiction - an interface that allows us to plug our brain into a computer. Now, researchers at MIT have revealed new fibres less than a width of a hair that could make it a reality.They say their system that could deliver optical signals and drugs directly into the brain, along with electrical readouts to continuously monitor the effects of the various inputs."
Metanoia- the journey of changing one’s mind, heart, self, or way of life (basically what #edu is all about!) |
New Teacher LinksAfrican-American History MonthThe Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the generations of African Americans who struggled with adversity to achieve full citizenship in American society.
Black History MonthBlack History Month, or National African American History Month, is an annual celebration of achievements by black Americans and a time for recognizing the central role of African Americans in U.S. history. The event grew out of “Negro History Week,” the brainchild of noted historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African Americans. Since 1976, every U.S. president has officially designated the month of February as Black History Month. Other countries around the world, including Canada and the United Kingdom, also devote a month to celebrating black history.
ThinglinkThis is not a new website, but Thinglink has released some new features. ThingLink is the leading platform for creating interactive images and videos for web, social, advertising, andeducational channels. Be creative! Make your images come alive with video, text, images, shops, music and more! Every image contains a story and ThingLink helps you tell your stories.
GoNoodleGet the wiggles out with free brain breaks for your classroom.
GooruBrowse thousands of K-12 collections made by teachers. Remix collections and customize content to meet your students' needs. Share collections with students via My Classes. Login is not required to access. Measure your students' engagement and progress to intervene in real-time.
Edventure BuilderEd-ven-ture Build-er
noun \əd-ˈven-chər ˈbil-dər\ 1. A simple platform to create your own scavenger hunt, interactive story, or choose your own adventure mobile game Learn Computer ProgrammingSite created by my Google Teacher's Academy Mentor Katie Williams
Computer programming is a vital skill for many of today’s jobs, as well as the jobs of tomorrow. It’s never to late to learn coding. Get with the program ;) TwistedWaveTwistedWave for Mac a very powerful and yet very easy to use audio editor. With TwistedWave on your iPad or iPhone, you can record and edit anything, anywhere. This is just like a portable home studio. Run TwistedWave without having to download or install anything. Launch it directly from your web browser, and continue editing your files where you left them.
VialoguesTo make a vialogue, upload a video and give people something to talk about! You can make your vialogue a private affair by selecting discussants. Scaffold the discussion: Add comments, surveys and open-ended questions. Embed and share vialogues easily on blogs or other websites!
StarChildThe information and activities found in StarChild can be used to engage, excite, and educate students in your classrooms. In this section, you will find lesson plans which show you some of the ways you can use StarChild in your teaching
The Student Technology ConferenceWe are excited to announce the 2015 Student Technology Conference, a student-directed global conversation about technology in education. This free, online event will be held on Saturday January 31st, 2015, and will feature keynote speakers and crowdsourced presentations by students in grades 6-12.
Google Support Links20 Effective ways to use Google Apps For EducationCreating a connected classroom has gotten far more affordable now that the major tech companies have begun pouring resources into reaching teachers, students, parents, and school leaders. Aside from the Apple iPad, the biggest player in the world of education technology has to be Google. They regularly unleash new productivity and collaboration tools as part of the Google Apps For Education suite.
Many online tips and tricks brought to you by Google.
Everything Teachers Need to Know About Google ClassroomGoogle Classroom is definitely one of the best platforms out there for enhancing teachers workflow. It provides a set of powerful features that make it an ideal tool to use with students. ‘Classroom helps teachers save time, keep classes organized, and improve communication with students. It is available to anyone with Google Apps for Education, a free suite of productivity tools including Gmail, Drive and Docs.’
In recent years many innovative schools have begun a shift toward the use of educational technology. Even though your institution may be ready to make a similar transition, it’s not always clear where to start. Without a clear vision and wise counsel, such a shift can be time-consuming as well as costly.
A Classroom mobile app and new teacher goodiesWhile it’s a new year on the calendar, many teachers and students are just midway through the school year. They’ve clearly been hard at work, turning in more than 30 million assignments with Classroom since it launched six months ago. If those assignments had been on paper instead of Google Docs, they would stretch from New York to Los Angeles when laid end to end. If every assignment had taken just one minute to print out, Classroom saved 57 years that would have otherwise been spent waiting for the printer.
Delivering Peer Feedback with Google FormsGoogle Forms makes peer evaluation possible and simple. I collect the names and email addresses of both students: evaluator and evaluatee. I use the “grid” style question type to allow peers to rank each criteria on a scale of 1-5 against the rubric. I can include a URL to the grading criteria in the help text, so all students have access to the standard assessment guide.
A new look and more smarts for the Google appWith new updates to the Google app, it’s easier to stay sane as you juggle work and play.
6 things you should know how to do in the new Google Sheets
Google released their new version of Sheets in mid 2014. We hope that in that time we have helped all of our readers become experts on them. For those of you that feel you could still better hone your Google Sheets skills, we have compiled what we feel are 6 essential posts on the new format. Enjoy!
Why the failure of Google Glass is good for GoogleGoogle is returning to the drawing board with Google Glass. The company stopped selling the $1,500 wearable computer to consumers in January after it was targeted as a symbol of class conflict in San Francisco. Google will continue selling the device to business customers. The Mountain View company has steadily churned out its share of failures. Click through to read about some others.
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