Born to Learn

This video is a new one in the series Born to Learn. It focuses on creativity, brain development, and teens' reactions to learning.  Check it out, and leave a comment. The animation itself is worth looking at, but what do you think about its messages about the human brain and teens' reactions to school? What takeaway message do you get from the video?

Teenagers Online Behavior: Get Over It

Danah Boyd, a 34 year-old, senior researcher at Microsoft Research, Cambridge, MA, sees no point in limiting young people's access to what's online. She claims that teachers, parents, P.T.A.s, and school administrators need to defer to the social changes happening offline. Teens' online lives merely mirror what they do offline and their developmental stage.

Danah Boyd Image credit: Erik Jacobs for New York Times, 1-22-12

Boyd states, in a Jan. 22, 2012 New York Times article, "Cracking Teenagers' Online Codes of Behavior": Children's ability to roam has basically been destroyed. Letting our children out to bike around the neighborhood is seen as terrifying now, even though by all measures, life is safer for kids today."

Basically, Boyd argues we need to let kids explore online. She claims that online they find information that helps them cope with issues like bullying, depression, and suicide.

As for online sexual predators, Boyd reminds us that kids are more at risk offline. For in fact, most predators are ones the children know: "The vast majority of sex crimes against kids involve someone that the kid trusts, and it's overwhelming a family member." Perhaps, our energies need to be redirected there, and we need to allow children to find advice online from professional counselors--a point that Boyd makes in support of Internet access.

Boyd is a long-time scholar and researcher in the field of youth culture. She holds a degree in computer science from Brown, earned a master's from the Media Lab at M.I.T., and  earned at Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkley, from the School of Information. Boyd can be followed on Twitter. @Zephoria. She also has host of scholarly papers available, where else, but online.

Check the New York Times article. Do you agree with Boyd that we should give teens full access to the Internet? Do you agree it is time to stop blocking sites, some of which may be helpful to teens today? What points in the article ring true? With which do you disagree?

National Writing Project Posts High School Students' Videos

Looking for some examples of videos produced by students that tell us story. Some excellent ones are posted on the National Writing Project site via using Vimeo to post the student examples.

Here is one example.


NWP Resource-Poem from D Filipiak on Vimeo.

Check the site to hear other students tell their story. . Don't forget to return to this blog to post your response. What did you think of the student videos? What ideas did you get for implementing for video technology, movie making, or digital storytelling from watching the videos?

Here are some additional links to find the students' digital stories at the National Writing Project site:

Overcoming Devastation
Obstacles for Dreams
Research Interview (Graffiti)

Creating a Digital Story with Wix

Check this site that features the work of 12th grade students based on their reading of Elie Wiesel's Night. It is just another example of how Web 2.0 tools can be used to feature student work. This project was created with using Wix.

The Art of Witnessing is the name of the project. Here are some screen shots from the project, but use the link The Art of Witnessing to explore further on your own and to take the time to look at the students' work.

After looking through the parts of the online display, including the video about the project, let us know your thoughts about using this form of multimedia to showcase student work. Would you consider using a tool like Wix to create a website like this one? How do you think students will react to using such a tool, or to seeing their work displayed in this way?

Todays Meet

I have posted before on Todays Meet, but came across an interesting use of it today by a middle school teacher and wanted to share his experiences. Please check out his blog posting called Say Something.

The posting is long, but it introduces several critical ideas about teaching, learning from our mistakes, adjusting our strategies, and finally achieving success albeit with some questions.

Picture of Steve Fulton from his blog

Check Steve's comments about his own failings and successes with introducing a "backchannel" and "online chat" when he integrated them into literacy reading activities asking students to engage in online discussions about the book they were reading in class.

If you have some time, roam around further in Steve's blog Teaching with Technology in the Middle, in which he reflects on his classroom experiences. He also has a blog he uses with his students, Mr. Fulton's Language Arts. Here you will find examples of how one teacher uses blogging to keep students current of assignments and course projects.

Also, after reading Steve's blog post Say Something, write a comment to him in the comment box. He will probably appreciate hearing from you.

And don't forget to comment here. What was your response to learning about how Steve was trying to use TodaysMeet in the classroom? Would you consider the tool? If so, how might you use it? Would like to see other examples of its uses?

Do 2nd Graders Get Twitter?

Yes, they do. I was overwhelmed when I read this post and then heard the students themselves speak about how Twitter has helped them. They really understand Twitter and the value of posting comments. Students also speak about how Twitter is helping them to become a better writer. Listen to their reflections by accessing this post: They Really Get It! These students are convincing, and perhaps listening to them will help convince you to open a Twitter account and begin to use it in the classroom with your students. If you are on Twitter, follow @grade1.

When you go to the post, be sure to click on the play button in the Twitteracy area to hear the students speak. Also, note how the Livescribe pen works.

Image from Aviva's blog 

By the way, the teacher who maintains the blog you will visit is Aviva Dunsiger. As time permits, scroll through and read other posts on her blog: Grades 1 and 2 At Ancaster Meadow School to learn more about exciting tech projects that Aviva does with her students.

Please be sure to leave a comment. What did you learn from hearing the 2nd graders discuss Twitter? If you visited the Grades 1 and 2 At Ancaster Meadow School further, what interesting discoveries did you make about how tech is being used with the 1st and 2nd graders?

Cool Xtranormal Presentation Used to Reflect on Course Learning

This presentation was created by a student and faculty member at the University of Regina in Canada. I hope it motivates you to use digital storytelling tools such as Xtranormal and GoAnimate!

Social Media & Open Education - Interview with L. Bechard
by: bechardl

One-on-One Computing Classrooms are the Future According to School Administrators

image: http://ed1.comcastbiz.com/

If you are preparing to be a teacher ready for the future, you need to read this article,

Survey of School Administrators Explores Digital Classrooms, Major Challenges

 The article reports on a survey of a large number of school administrations (e.g., principals and superintendents) of whom more than a majority, 63%, asserted that 1:1 computing classrooms with teachers as coaches is the wave of the future. How prepared are teachers for this possible eventuality? What should schools of education be doing to ready teachers for effective technology integration? What should school systems do to prepare teachers through professional development activities? Read the article, and weigh in on the situation. Post a comment. Do you think it is an overstatement to say one-on-one computing, meaning every student to have a device (e.g. tablet, laptop), is an eventuality? If not, then why not?  Do you think school systems can afford to go 1:1? Do you think they should?

Using Technology Successfully in the Classroom is a Mindset

The 21st Century Classroom

View more presentations from Kim Cofino

Saw this slide show on Slide Share, and thought it was worth sharing with others. It makes several points about using technology in the classroom. We are reminded that the use of the technology is a mindset and not a technical skill. There are points made about problem-based learning, inquiry learning, and backwards design. The visuals help carry the message, so look through the entire presentation. Leave your comments. Did the presentation inspire you in any way? Did it deepen your appreciation for technology as supplementary to learning? What point was made about the use of technology as a mindset?

Teacher Tech Vids

Image from Teacher Tech Vid site

Just found this new site, Teacher Tech Vids, with videos for learning how to use a variety of Web 2.0 tools. What I like about the site is that the tutorials are arranged by comfort level: beginners, intermediate, and advanced. Tutorials are included for learning how to use such "beginner" (labeled "Newbies") tools as Animoto, Glogster, TodaysMeet, MS Photo Story, Timeline Creators, Google Earth, Wikis, and Word Clouds. Under the "intermediate" level (labeled "Developing"), there are tutorials for VoiceThread, Google Docs, Google Forms, SlideShare, Website Creators, and Skype. For "advanced" tools, there are tutorials for Twitter, Prezi, and UStream. The site is fairly new. Bookmark or save the site as favorite, or subscribe to it. You will want to check the resources on the site now and into the future. Take a look and let us know what you think of the site, and what tutorials you found useful for not only your own professional development, but also for use with students for them to learn the ins-and-outs of specific Web 2.0 tools. What Web 2.0 tools do you think still need to be included on the site? Suggestion: follow the developer of the site, Steve Johnson, on Twitter at @edtechsteve.

47 Alternatives to Using YouTube in the Classroom

Image from Bryne's blog 

As many of you know, I'm a fan of Richard Byrnes's blog, Free Technology for Teachers. He recently updated his information on alternatives to YouTube. Who can complain with 47 alternatives to YouTube? If your school does not allow YouTube or you are simply looking for a host of video resources for enriching classroom teaching or your own professional development, take some time to explore the wealth of resources offered in the Byrne's blog post 47 Alternatives to Using YouTube in the Classroom. Be sure to post back here what you find most valuable among the 47 resources. Some are probably ones you have already used, but others are likely to be new, especially with 47 choices offered.

By the way, if you have not already bookmarked or saved as a favorite Byrne's blog, now might be the time to do so. He often updates his blog with excellent resources for educators. Explore what he already has on the blog as well as follow the blog as he posts new information. If you are on Twitter, you can follow Byrnes at @rmbyrne.

Still Not Sure about Twitter for Professional Development

Check out this Prezi about Twitter for professional development and about social media in general. Let us know your thoughts after you view the presentation.

Social Media - Twitter as a tool for Education on Prezi

Resource for Finding and Creating Web Quests

Image from webquests.com

The site "Best Webquest. com" offers not only a directory for finding quests by subject area and grade level at its portal page, bestwebquests.com, but also provides a host of resources for finding out about webquests.  Take some time to explore the table of contents of web quests: bestwebquests.com. The About Web Quest page explains the origin and principles behind webquests.  You'll also find this page helpful: Criteria for Assessing Best Web Quests. The information on it will help you in creating your own webquests. However, also be forewarned that despite the merits of the Best Webquests.com site, there's also some commercialism on the site. For instance, if you want the website's designer, Tom March, and his employers to evaluate your webquest, in general or for possible inclusion on the site, there's a fee. Naturally, avoid that component, but explore around the site to deepen your understanding of what are the principles behind effective webquests. Check back here to let us know what you find and what you think of the site or other sites you explore through the links provided.

LiveBinders: Resourceful Web 2.0 Tool

LiveBinder is a tool for organizing your favorite websites by categories. You can create a LiveBinder on any area of interest. Once you set up a LiveBinder, you select categories, and within each category, you create links to resources within that category. A LiveBinder can be an excellent teaching tool for directing students to specific websites for a unit of study.

Image: ericnvntr's photostream flickr

An advantage of opening a LiveBinder account is that you can also store other teachers' and professionals' LiveBinders in your account, in what is called your "Shelves."

Here is an example of one LiveBinder I found recently and added to my shelf: Technology in Education.

How can you envision using LiveBinder in your teaching? If you have an opportunity, search for some LiveBinders, and let us know what you find. Have you heard of teachers or library media specialists setting up LiveBinders for classroom or school implementation?

Technology Tools For Teaching & Learning

image: westtennessewritingproject.com

I am posting a link to a web page with categorized tools to help teachers find the right match of online tools for their students related to curricular and student needs. Surely, in looking through this list, you will find one or more sites of interest. This web page might be one you want to bookmark, save as a favorite, or add to a social bookmarking site you maintain such as Diigo or Delicious.

Technology Tools for Teaching and Learning

Once you skim through the list and check the sites, let us know which sites you use, would like to use, or would like to investigate further, and possibly why you selected these specific sites.

Looking for Teaching Resources on Digital Citizenship

Image from MaryBeth's Twitter page @mbteach

I found these resources in an article that MaryBeth Hertz’s wrote for Eutopia. I follow MaryBeth on Twitter, and she recently posted a link to the article.  Although some of these resources are geared to the elementary grade levels, many have applicability to any grade level.  Check them out. Let us know what you find and think you might use in your teaching.

Lesson Resources

•   Professor Garfield's Learning Lab

•   The Adventures of the CyberPigs

•   Commone Sense Media/CyberSmart Curriculum

•   NetSmartzKids

Online Learning Tools

•   Schoology

•   Edmodo

•   Collaborize Classroom

•   Digital learning tools that incorporate social networking

•                     Storybird

•                     Voicethread

•                     Today's Meet

•   Online Communities for Kids

•                     WeeWorld

•                     Club Penguin

•                     Pixie Hollow

•   If you like this, you might also like

•                     The Importance of Digital Citizenship in Social Media by Andrew Marcinek

•                     Digital Citizenship: Resource Roundup by Edutopia Staff

•                     Does the Internet exacerbate bullying? Edutopia poll

Mary Beth Hertz's Blog

If you are on Twitter follow MaryBeth @mbteach

Reference for list is at:

Teaching Digital Citizenship in the Elementary Classroom, Edutopia

In addition, Jerry Blumgarten, maintains on his website a page fully devoted to resources on Digital Citizenship. No matter what grade level or subject area you teach or are certified to teach, you will likely find resources on his Cybrarylibrary Digital Citizenship web page.  Jerry posts almost daily to Twitter. If you are on Twitter and not following him, you should at @cybraryman1

Overall, do you believe it is the teacher's responsibility to teach digital citizenship? What do you think of the resources found on Marybeth's and Jerry's lists? Which resources seem most useful to you or of the most interest?

Slide Sharing Sites

Spend some time exploring slide sharing sites, where you will find shows you can use in your teaching. Open an account on any of these sites, and you can save the shows you like as  your "favorites" for easy access later on. I highly recommend Slide Share, one of the original sites for slide sharing, which keeps getting better, offering newer and newer features.  I also like AuthorSteam, where if you add your own slide shows, you can later use the editing features on the site to enhance your show. VoiceThread is my favorite for interactivity because viewers can add written and audio comments, making the show engaging and evolving.

Here are three samples of slide shows that I found on SlideShare. I am offering the examples here to demonstrate that by grabbing the "embed" code at the site, you can easily place slide shows into a blog, website, or another similar form of media. The first SlideShare covers copyright and fair use in the educational setting; it provides excellent coverage of the topic, and also has embedded in the PowerPoint a YouTube video. The second SlideShare PowerPoint is one on creativity and visualization. The third one is an excellent use of PowerPoint to create a full film analysis of the Hitchcock's movie Vertigo. This last one demonstrates how a slide show allows us to create instructional materials that would be difficult to achieve in other ways, thereby illustrating the power of the medium and its ability to allow us to create teaching moments that otherwise might not be possible.  The fact that the slide presentation is archived in SlideShare also speaks to the beauty of this site for enabling us to find powerful instructional materials at our fingertips.

Copyright Clarity: How Fair Use Supports Digital Learning

View more presentations from Renee Hobbs

Visual And Creative Thinking 1197429203117348 4

View more presentations from guest46635e

Vertigo shot by shot

View more presentations from Rob McMinn

I have posted other blogs on SlideShare, AuthorStream, and VoiceThread. Check these postings. Also, let's spend some time exploring the sites, and please let others know about slide shows you find on any of the sites that you can use in your teaching. Also, once you open an account with any of these sites, you can place your own slide shows there for convenience, for instance, for you to easily access and for your students to access at home or at any time.

I encourage you to open a SlideShare and AuthorStream free account today; and if possible, if you can get a free 30-day demo of VoiceThread as an educator, take advantage of the opportunity. VoiceThread also has a VoiceThread K-12 section: ed.voicethread.com. Even if you never post your own creations on these sites--which you really should do, though--you will be impressed with what you can find, watch, download, download and edit, mark as a "favorite, etc. There is a wealth of resources awaiting you on Web 2.0 sharing sites such as these three slide sharing sites. AuthorStream will even enable you to turn your slide show into a video, which can then be further edited, or just simply saved as a video for watching.

Okay, plunge in, and be sure to post comments. Also, let us know what you think of the SlideShare video on copyright and fair use. Note you can watch the three embedded videos right from this blog, and you can also watch them full screen. You can also click to watch them within SlideShare.

It's Time to Rethink Education

You might disagree with the message of this video, but at least watch it and comment regarding the needs of digital natives for learning.

Members of NCTE, CCCC, NWP, and CWPA Visit the White House

Members of NCTE, CCCC, NWP, and CWPA Visit the White House

Phenomenal Site with Multitude of Resources

Check out the Discovery Education site for a wealth of teaching resources and access to a variety of Web 2.0 tools. Here is a link to the site: Discovery Education. While on the site, also be sure to check the Lesson Plan area for ideas by grade level and subject area. Be sure to return to this blog post to let us know what you uncover at Discovery Education.