E-Portfolios: E What and E Why?

An interest in e-portfolios has filtered into the K-12 setting. Keep up with the trend. Access this article from Education World and use some of links in the article to find out more. http://www.education-world.com/a_tech/tech/tech111.shtml Teachers on the K-12 need to understand this phenomenon that is sure to impact their teaching in the future. Here is a link to also learn more about how e-ports are being used in Minnesota not just for all residents but also all students K-12: http://www.efoliominnesota.com/ To see samples of college students' eports try this link.

Post your comments. What do you see as the value of e-portfolios? To what extent do you think they will catch on in the K-12 environment?

Speak Up

Last week, I posted a Blog about What Students Want. This week, listen to this video to learn more. In it, students speak out to President Obama, telling him how they believe schools should be reconfigured. Watch the short video, and post your comments.
http://www.tomorrow.org/DearMrPresidentVideo.html

Image from Speak Up at http://www.tomorrow.org/Speakup/

What Do Students Want?

By now you know about all the money that the Obama administration has earmarked for public schools. A survey completed by students indicate what they want in their schools is more mobile technology. Take a look at this story which reports on the results of the student survey, and weigh in on what we as educators are learning from our students. Do you really think teachers are on the same page as their students? Are we missing the boat? How do you think the money from the Obama stimulus package should be spent.

Photo from the story page found in eSchool New, Wed, Mar 25, 2009 .

This additional story from District Administration, April 2009 will tell you about how funding can be used to enhance teacher professional development activities focused on classroom technology integration. Basically, the author claims, "learning is not just technology -- it's the teacher know-how to integrate technology and 21st century skills into students' learning. Take a peek, and feel free to comment on this article, as well.

Sites for Teachers

Check out this website to find a host of sites that are useful to teachers. Let us know in particular what sites you found that you would consult in the future and why. http://sitesforteachers.com/

Free Rice

If you have not used the Free Rice site lately, or never checked it, now is the time. Free Rice, which started as a vocabulary site, now offers math, foreign language, geography, and other subject areas. It is an easy site to use, one students will enjoy using in their free time. Best of all, for every correct answer, 10 grains of rice are donated through a United Nations relief agency in an effort to end world hunger. Spend less than 5 minutes checking the site and trying the questions. Although the questions follow a simple multiple-choice format, the intention is to attract users, and with that goal in mind, the format works fine. After all, the more questions answered correctly, the more rice, donated. This site is both educational and philanthropic. Over 62 billion grains have been donated to date. Spread the word, and please comment. Here is a direct link to the page that lists the subject areas.

http://www.freerice.com/subjects.php?t=448289129472

Image is the Free Rice logo, taken directly from the website www.freerice.com