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Columbia University to Offer ‘Occupy 101′ Course
"Columbia University is offering a new course on Occupy Wall Street next semester — sending upperclassmen and grad students into the field for full course credit. "
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Gov. Cuomo to announce state education commission to reform schools: A.M. News Links | SILive.com
On Wednesdain in New York state, education reform turns up a notch...". Gov. Cuomo, in his second state-of-state address Wednesday, will accuse New York's schools of being unaccountable and announce a commission to come up with reforms, the Daily News has learned."
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If you like open and free resources, you won't want to miss this humdinger of a post.
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A Difference: The Difference Between Curriculum and Pedagogy
Darren Kuropatwa writes about some of the current controversies in Manitoba Canada as they grapple with being ranked 10 out of 11 in a recent government benchmark. Again, it is troubling when governments get more into ranking than in to comparing how you did this year versus last year.
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The annual social network lynching mob arrives
Ewan McIntosh bemoans another round of social media critics in Scotland and the guidelines they are drawing up for educators. Some things are ubiquitous and this misunderstanding of social media and the role in education is just one of them.
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My 2012 Goal: To Embrace Ipukarea
Ss the Free Range Librarian heads to New Zealand, I am completely fascinated with the theme of this conference. ".Ipukarea (from the Māori language – Te Reo Māori) refers to the ancestral homeland, a significant water or land feature which relates to identity and source of livelihood. It is a place that represents New Zealand history and emotional attachment, a place to go to be rejuvenated, a place that represents the hopes and aspirations of the people and the life-giving waters from which they drink."
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A New Year: A New Learning Journey Begins
Beth Kanter is one of the leaders in managng a nonprofit and using social media. her upcoming booknaounds exciting. if you are a nonprofit or fundraiser you need to rewd her blog. here is her announcement anout what 2012 holds for her. ". As Visiting Scholar to the David and Lucile Packard Foundation this past year (my 3rd), one project I worked on was facilitating peer learning groups to test and develop case studies and frameworks for my next book, Measuring the Networked Nonprofit” that I co-authored with KD Paine and editor, Bill Paarlberg. The book will publish in the second half of 2012. The book is a how-to guide for using measurement and learning to improve networked nonprofit practices."
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The Best Space Stories of the Year
The top space stories of the year including amazing phooe you will want to use. (Except for the pic of the Russian cosmonaut Bresnev sent into space knowing he would die.)
Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 01/03/2012
Daily Education & Technology News for Schools 03/03/2011
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Nonprofit Mission Poetry Contest: Win $10,000 | Beth’s Blog
Earn money for you nonprofit by writing a poem or stanza.
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Fads and Fanboys: The Top 10 Tricks Bloggers Use to Drive Traffic ~ Stephen's Web
I was shaking my head "no no no" until the last paragraph. True to his typical writing, Stephen writes in a way to challenge the paradigm in a smartly written piece meant to challenge bloggers.
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My friend Eric Brunsell, a U of Wisconsin professor who has participated in Flat Classroom projects in the past, writes this poignant inside glimpse into what is happening in Education in Washington State.
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Computer Science Teachers Association - CSTA CS & IT Annual Conference
July 11-13, 2011
Columbia University Faculty House
64 Morningside Drive
New York, NY 10027 -
4 iPhone Apps for Learning a Foreign Language — Life Scoop
Some iphone apps for language learning. I think it is important to know how to download and use a translator even if you cannot speak the language - such as the mandarin pro app I used in China last week.
Michigan Senators Fail to Game Corrupt Healthcare Bill
The Democrats made a lot of corrupt insider deals in order to get the 60 votes needed to shut off debate on the issue of 1/6 of our economy and jam through without a single vote from the other major party in our nation a bill that will in the end increase the cost of healthcare with dozens of new taxes and government agencies and lower the number of people covered by private healthcare by bankrupting insurance companies and jobs-providers. And Michigan, as usual with our our inept representation in the Senate, got nothing.
Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson traded his vote on this issue for an estimated $45 million in federal Medicaid funds funneled to his state, enough to completely cover his state's costs of complying with an expansion of the program mandated by the bill. This money was taken from residents all around the country and is now being sent to Nebraska simply because that Senator held out the longest and was able to game the system for increased kick-backs and bribes. But he wasn't the only one.
The Senators in Vermont (1 Democrat and 1 Socialist) and Massachusetts (2 Democrats) also won additional Medicaid funds in exchange for promising to vote for the bill. Senators in North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana also managed to find ways to make insider deals and game the corrupt system of passing legislation under Democratic leadership, scamming additional Medicare funds for their states, and also the good Senators from Hawaii (2 Democrats) exchanged their votes for additional taxpayer money funneled to their state.
Read the story here.
Michigan received no additional money and was not able to scavenge a piece of the dying carcass of the United States taxpayers because Michigan's two Senators, Carl Levin and Debbie Stabmenow, are so extremely liberal, so partisan, and so far to the left that their determined ambitions to expand the size of government blinded them to the opportunity that existed with the passage of this 'healthcare bill' to funnel kick backs and bribes to the residents of our good state.
This is not to say that I endorse this process or applaud the actions of Senators who, in what I feel is a violation of the Constitution, took bribes in exchange for their votes. I'm just saying that Michigan Senators continue their record on turning the residents of Michigan into a donor state that transfers wealth from our citizens to the citizens of other states purely because of their representation is better at the political game than ours. If our Senators did this out of principle or because they rejected bribes, that would be one thing, but the real reason that our state didn't get any corrupt kick backs is pure incompetence.
As this year ends, we are witnessing some pretty shocking behavior by the Democrats. If you know anyone who is a voter, they need to vote Republican for every single race next election. Republicans aren't perfect, but at least when they were in charge they never engaged in this irresponsible one-sided orgy of spending funded by corrupt bribes and kickbacks.
If you want, you can call Senators Levin and Stabmenow, but it won't have much of an effect- they don't care a bit what you think about this issue, otherwise they'd be listening to the opinion polls that show over 60% of the people reject what they are trying to do. Your Michigan Senators don't care about you, don't care what you think, and would sooner kick you in the face than talk to you about healthcare debate. Senator Stabmenow doesn't owe you anything anyways- she has long been bought off by special interest groups from California- and has spent her time in office figuring out ways to funnel money to her campaign coffers, not to Michigan residents.
UPDATE I: Michelle Malkin has two complete lists of all of the bribes that were used to pass this healthcare bill- as you can see from list one and list two of the bribe lists, there were a lot of deals that were made using your taxpayer money.
It turns out, Michigan Senator Carl Levin was able to get a little kickback in return for trading his vote. The 'Healthcare Bill" includes a new $7 billion tax on nonprofit insurance companies, but for some unexplained reason, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Michigan will be exempt from this tax. Levin received a lot of funding from BCBS last election, as did Democrats in general, and so in exchange for money for their re-election campaigns they fought hard to make sure that while every other company is taxed, they are exempt.
So it looks like Levin was able to win a concession for a major company in Michigan, although I still feel he sold his vote for very little. Stabmenow remains in my mind an utter failure in every possible way as a Senator.
Incidentally, this just highlights yet another reason why I oppose this bill so vigorously. Raising taxes on nonprofit insurance companies will not 'cut into the profits of those evil healthcare robber barons.' They are nonprofit. They will pay for that tax by raising prices on the customers- ie, they will raise the cost of healthcare coverage on those who are currently paying it. That is what this Demcare bill does- it will raise the cost of healthcare coverage on those who do pay for it in order to provide enhanced healthcare to those who do not pay for it.
UPDATE II: Not surprisingly, the deal that Nebraska cut in exchange for its vote is almost certain to be unconstitutional, and attorney generals all over the nation are looking into suing the federal government if this unconstitutional bill becomes law.
Daily Education & Technology News for Schools 04/12/2011
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YouTube - Teachers Who Inspire Student Entrepreneurs
Winners for imagine cup:
Thanks so much!
This afternoon in Redmond, WA, the nation's best and brightest tech students gathered for the ninth annual Imagine Cup 2011 U.S. Finals. Starting with a field of more than 74,000 students, the final 12 teams presented their life-changing projects to a panel of elite judges, tackling diverse issues from eliminating malaria to promoting alternative energy. After an intense weekend of presentations and eliminations, the winners were named:
* 1st Place, Software Design: Team Note-Taker, Arizona State University. Project: "Note-Taker" - A portable, assistive technology to help vision-impaired students take notes in class.
* 1st Place, Game Design - Windows/Xbox: Team Bloom, Tribeca Flashpoint Media Arts Academy. Project: "Spero" - A game focused on alternative energy solutions and educating people on how to live healthier lives.
* 1st Place, Game Design - Mobile: Team Big Impact Bear, University of Houston. Project: "Forest Gun" - A game that aims to prevent and reverse deforestation in the world.
* 1st Place, People's Choice Award - Software Design: Team BearPaw, Brigham Young University. Project: A mobile and cloud solution for ultrasound images that is cost-effective, widely available and easy to implement.
* 1st Place, People's Choice Award - Game Design: Team Bloom, Tribeca Flashpoint Media Arts Academy. Project: "Spero" - A game focused on alternative energy solutions and educating people on how to live healthier lives. -
Home to Homeroom | Stop Medicine Abuse
A website about helping teens with medicine abuse. A good specific website from the national association of school nurses.
"Multiple national surveys point to the disturbing abuse of prescription (Rx) and over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, like OTC cough medicine, among today's teens. Five percent of high school teens admit to having abused cough medicine containing dextromethorphan, or DXM, to get high in the past year." -
From this organization:
"We’re launching a new “60 Second Lecture” campaign in conjunction with the Ford Focus Global Test Drive, and many interesting individuals from the PresidentAmy Gutmann of the University of Pennsylvania to Dean Thomas Robertson of the Wharton School have already agreed to share their insights." -
MacdonaldTechForTeachers - iPad Apps for Education
Ann McDonald is building a very nice wiki with so many resources! She is an excellent Flat Classroom teacher.
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Excellent article about a struggle to ban cell phones in schools and why it is not working.
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Social Media Policy Best Practices: Trust Is Cheaper Than Control | Beth’s Blog
Nice Social Media Policy Best Practices discussion for nonprofits. The social media policy is related to your strategy. Most schools only have a strategy to prevent litigation and certainly, that is a factor as we look at schools and yet - we're not there yet on this discussion. I have to think at some point we're either going to have platforms that do a better job of protecting the privacy of minors or we're going to have to grow up in how we deal with these tools.
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Flat Classroom : The Tornado Tribune
Helen Harvey's Flat Classroom participation received a write up in her local paper. An important part of each of our projects is to issue press releases to gain media attention for the schools that break down the walls.
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Seth's Blog: Moving beyond teachers and bosses
So we, as teachers, are characterized like this from Seth Godin:
"We train kids to deal with teachers in a certain way: Find out what they want, and do that, just barely, because there are other things to work on. Figure out how to say back exactly what they want to hear, with the least amount of effort, and you are a 'good student.'"
Are we the kind of teachers who have to move past or someone that kids are moved with.
Do we have a limiting mindset? -
Knight Foundation Webinars - Knight Foundation
April 20th from 2-3 pm EDT - a connected citizens webinar about their new report "Connected Citizens: The Power, Peril and Potential of Networks"
sign up for this event here. -
Connected Citizens Report: The Power, Peril, and Potential of Networks | Beth’s Blog
If you have no idea what network-centric grantmaking is and you write grants or work with fundraising - this blog post is an important read for you. (Buy Beth's book - the networked nonprofit - it is great.)
Themes as per Beth:
These themes include:
1. Listening to and consulting the crowds: Actively listening to online conversations and openly asking for advice.
2. Designing for serendipity: Creating environments, in person and online, where helpful connections can form.
3. Bridging differences: Deliberately connecting people with different perspectives.
4. Catalyzing mutual support: Helping people directly help each other.
5. Providing handrails for collective action: Giving enough direction for individuals to take effective and coordinated action. -
join the crowdsourced keynote at the BC educational technology users group. Here are instructions:
We Want Your Videos
April 7, 2011 By grantpotter Leave a Comment
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In June 2011 the BC educational technology users’ group (etug) will be hosting a Spring Workshop in Nelson, BC. The theme? OPEN 4 LEARNING.
In the spirit of openness we would like to invite YOU to participate in a crowd-sourced keynote. Our vision is to create a keynote video that highlights the collective voice on the value of openness.
Here’s what we would LOVE for you to do:
Create a short video/interview/montage answering one or two of the following questions:
1. What is the value of openness?
2. What examples of openness stand out to you as being valuable/worthwhile?
3. WHY do you believe in the value of open education?
If you are interested in participating we would love to have you be a part of this exciting opportunity, to collectively gather voices across the globe in answering the question “what is the value of openness”. Have fun with your video – the more creative the better.
.
Upload your video to:
http://www.dropitto.me/etug
password: open
.
Deadline: May 9, 2011 -
Online Learning in Australia - Connections, Partnerships and Successes ~ Stephen's Web
A report on the state of elearning in Australia. Every collection must comprise 40% free content.
Again, this article proves that if you're in education and not reading Stephen Downes' feature-rich blog, you're missing out. -
Colleges Spend Far Less on Educating Students Than They Claim, Report Says ~ Stephen's Web
Colleges actually spend LESS educating students than students are paying. From Stephen Downes as cited from the Chronicle of Higher Education April 8, 2011.
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STUDYBLUE | Make online flashcards & notes. Study anywhere, anytime.
Study Blue website to let you make flashcards to study and put on your ipod, ipad, cell phone, etc. Over 12,000 have recommended via facebook. Facebook is linking with learning as are mobiles.
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20 Terrific TED Talks for Language Lovers | Bachelor's Degree Online
Ted Talks for Language Lovers.
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The Truth is Out There | November Learning
Interesting discussion about "blue blood" and the quest for truth in an age where even Googling something may not change minds. By Bob Sprankle
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TLC = Tech + Library + Classroom: iPad Apps To Love
Tara from the TLC (Tech + Library + Classroom) Blog posts her iPad apps she loves.
I think the I write words app is very interesting for handwriting. I wonder if the fact that they are using their finger is a drawback but think that it will help the kids take the strokes the same way. -
Speak Up National Findings 2010
Important study surveying students about empowered education with emerging technologies.
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One Year Later: Assessing the Impact of iPads on Education - iPads in Education
Assessing the impact of iPads on education one year later by Sam Gliksman on the Ipad educators ning (hat tip to Julie Lindsay for this information.)
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Final Teams in US Imagine Cup:
Software Design
TTHV - Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, Central Connecticut State University
Uca Ursus - University of Central Arkansas
Lifelens - Anderson School of Management, Harvard School of Business, University of California San Diego, University of California Davis, University of Central Florida
Note-Taker - Arizona State University
Game Design –Windows/XBOX (XNA):
Bloom - Tribeca Flashpoint Academy
Plump Pixel - California State University Chico
Righteous Noodle - University of Houston
XozGaming - Lick-Wilmerding High School
Game Design Mobile (Zune/Phone)
Big Impact Bear - University of Houston
EDO - Arizona State University
Team AAMP - University of Houston
Team Mintrus - Columbia College in Chicago, University of Louisville
Read Alfred's blog for more. -
Alfred Thompson's ongoing coverage of the Imagine Cup. I love this interview with the kids who invented a program about fighting a global pandemic.
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Sneak Peak of New Facebook Nonprofit Use Research from Idealware | Beth’s Blog
Yes, nonprofits are seeing success on Facebook. Beth Kanter, nonprofit social media guru, has a guest post from Kyle Andrei of Idealware on their findings about Facebook and nonprofits. Fundraisers, schools, and facebook fans read up.
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Gesture-Based ‘Gmail Motion’ April Fools’ Day Prank Gets Real - Techland - TIME.com
I love this! Gmail motion was Google's april fools day prank and many people fell for it. Heck, if I'd had time, I might have played with it but after thinking I realized what day it was! Tee hee.
But a lot of people WANTED this -even though the gestures were designed to be silly (who is going to do a jumping jack for making a star on an email.) so ICT used a kinect camera and actually made Gmail actions work! Watch the video and enjoy.
People actually WANT this just not with the exaggerated motions and definitely not a shot that requires the camera to see your feet.
Daily Education & Technology News for Schools 04/19/2011
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Writing Better Blog Posts: What You NEED to Know | The Edublogger
Excellent post from Sue Waters about writing better blog posts.
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24 free kindergarte apps from kindergarten.com Download all 24 of these apps. (From The Edcational Technology blog) by jonathan Wylie.
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Scholastic: Best in Tech Today | Livescribe Education
I love my livescribe pen and agree with this review even if it is posted on the Livescribe website.
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iAdvocate for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad on the iTunes App Store
Free iAdvocate app to help parents who have children with learning disabilities advocate for them. It is a start and worth testing. Plus it is free!
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School of Education launches new free mobile app to assist parents, advocates
New Mobile phone app from Alan Foley of Syracuse University - called iAdvocate designed to help parents advocate for their child with learning disabilities.
The app has 3 sections: strategies for parents, information and links, and simulated conversations to help guide parents. I hope that my friends who work in this area will test and post their reviews. If you do, let me know and I'll feature you in the daily spotlight! ;-) -
QR Codes, Electronic Devices,Nonprofits, and Concert Etiquette | Beth’s Blog
Ecellent blog post on the use of QR codes in nonprofits from social media nonprofit guru - Beth Kanter. Tons of potential here!
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10 Futuristic Inventions in Wearable Tech — Life Scoop
A fun discussion topic with technology students, this blog post about futuristic inventions in wearable tech includes buttons that are really mp3 players, a dress with room for a sim card that makes it funciton as a mobile phone when you lift your wrist, and the one I want -- the Massage Me Massage Video game - that makes a game out of having someone massage your back! (Oh yeah!)
This would be a great area to review and then have students invent their own. -
Money Lessons: A Guide to Financial-Literacy Resources | Edutopia
Financial literacy resources. Curriculum directors and math teachers at all levels should take time to read this article from edutopia.
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Another One Bites The Dust: Yahoo To Kill Buzz On April 21
Google video. Delicious. Now yahoo Buzz - their "digg" site. what else?
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Congress, Can You Spare a Dime? A Teacher Makes the Case for the National Writing Project | Edutopia
Great things have come out of the national writing project. Their research is wonderful and many of them have taught me a lot in the hallways and byways of conferences around the world. It is a shame to see this go. Read more about this project so you can share your 10cents with congress - that is all it would take per child to keep it going.
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Apple Launches iPad School Donation Program - Edudemic
Donate your "old" generation 1 ipad to schools through apple.
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The Evolution of Classroom Technology - Edudemic
Fascinating Evolution of Classroom Technology over at Edudemic (hat tip Stephen Downes.) Look at how many of these technologies are still here in some forms. All I can think as I read about halfway down is the ah so lovely smell of that mimeograph paper!`
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Apple Sues Samsung Over Galaxy; Are Other Tablet Makers Next?
Apple suing samsung over galaxy! With the iPad 2 in dwindling supply because of the components made in the affected area in Japan, I guess apple is trying to keep others out temporarily while they are rushing to find another supplier.
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Another book review from one of our 8th graders. We are looking to add some more schools over the next few months. Fill out the info form on the bottom left of this page.
This is a great website for finding books that kids like.
Daily Education & Technology News for Schools 06/29/2011
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Real Time Search - Social Mention
Social mention lets you track what people are saying about you, your school or more. It looks like it works a lot like Google alerts. Another great way for administrators to monitor "the buzz" about their school, particularly if it has a hashtag.
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A lesson plan search engine for teacher lesson plans.
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Website that sends you text messages to encourage literacy in their children. Great for parents or teaches. Interesting idea.
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ShowMe - The Interactive Learning Community
The showme app on the ipad has some fascinating potential. I am going to play with this over the summer. Would love to hear from anyone who is already using it.
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Mindshapes Launches Jellytoons Birthday Countdown for iPad and iPhone
Not sure how interactive ebooks will help students learn (dual encoding works) but here are some more interactive story books.
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Flat Classroom teacher "alumni"
Our project coordinator, Lisa Durff, makes lists of the Flat Classroom teacher "alumni" so we can keep in touch. This is a great group of incredible global collaborative teachers who are doing it.
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ISTE'11 ~ Diigo it - WebSlides
Suzie Nestico's webslides (made automatically from a Diigo list) for the diigo session at ISTE.
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krillworkshops - Other Diigo Features
Lovely wiki about diigos. Lots of things from Michell Krill who pitched in to help in our diigo workshop.
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Debby Atwater's Public Library | Diigo
Debby Atwater has some great links in her public library. Another example to review.
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Vicki Davis's Public Library | Diigo
here is my public library of diigo bookmarks.
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Neil Wetherbee's Public Library | Diigo
Neil is pulling over his bookmarks for his fourth and fifth grade classes. Here are some sample libraries from diigo users.
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Lady Gaga accused of scamming charity - Live, Local, Late Breaking news, weather, and sports
Not everyone does what they say with money for charity. Lady GaGa is under scrutiny and criticism for not donating money to japanese quake survivors from the sale of her wristbands.
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Worried about jobs, college women go 'geek' - CSMonitor.com
Some major computer science programs at top universities are seeing a slight uptick in the number of women going into the programs. Citing statistics from Harvard (up from 13% to 25%) and MIT (a 28% jump in 3 years), and Carnegie Mellon (from 1/5 in 2007 to 1/4 last year.)
Most think it is the economy although some attribute programs to get more women interested in the programs. -
MyRegistry.com - All Stores, One Registry® Gift Registry, Gift List, Wishlist
Interesting website for those who are graduating or getting married. This lets you create one master registry out of everything on the web. Interesting.
For nonprofits, you can create a list of the things that you need and people can put money towards those items. So, this could be used for schools too. Teachers could make a wishlist. Cool idea. -
Dragontape - YOUR TASTE ON MIXTAPES
Start mixing music. Got this information from an iste tweet (without the link.)
citation: RT kwinsper - Dragontape looks promising for creating mashups #ISTE11 -
Will Richardson's #iste11 presentation http://t.co/C9LkCCn
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Wish I was at ISTE conference.
Wish I was at ISTE conference. RT“@dwarlick: Notes from Heidi Hayes Jacob's presentation: http://t.co/1WoqvW0 -- 3 thumbs up! #iste11”
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The Nerdy Teacher: 10 Things I Hate About You (#ISTE11)
love this post!! “@thenerdyteacher: 10 Things I Hate About You (#ISTE11) - http://t.co/N2QSzVE - A new post for Tuesday.”
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Emerging Tech Schools K-12 Horizon Report toolkit download #cosn #iste11 http://bit.ly/csUELC
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Learning Tools Family Feud See the "Answers" to o
Learning Tools Family Feud #ISTEFeud See the "Answers" to our Crowdsourced Survey HERE! http://t.co/ZdFsKeQ #ISTE11 add Yours!
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Pretty cool chat convo from my #iste11 session yesterday morning. http://bit.ly/jrsAoK Sincere thanks to all who joined in.
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Top 50 Teacher Blogs by Innovative Educators
@coolcatteacher Woo hoo! Congrats! http://t.co/PCSoDOQ
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DoInk Animation & Drawing for iPad on the iTunes App Store
RT @gazzabrown @Kdmiller4 LOVE DoInk. http://t.co/1vnIMM4 Will spread the word. @lisanash9 #iste11 #edapp #ipad
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Teaching the Civil War with Technology. Ideas for teaching the Civil War
RT @pammoran: Just learned this term tradigital history http://j.mp/klt8Rr #iste11@MR_EHN @MrHadleyHistory @nksocialstudies @LPralleKeehn
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ISTE 2011 - Day Two - Dr. G's Teaching With Technology Portfolio
Random thoughts from Day Two at #ISTE11 - http://t.co/hnlaQvz
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ASCD Inservice: Eight Shifts for Teaching and Learning
Are we empowering & enabling students to create their own learning? 8 shifts for education http://bit.ly/jjuIpR #iste11 @willrich45
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GREAT site of free eBooks geared for elementary & middle school: K12 Open Ed eBooks http://ow.ly/5rrTj via @kfasimpaur #iste11
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Kathy Shrock's slidedeck is here - http://linkyy.com/infographics #iste11 (how cool is it that her son developed Linkyy?!)
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315 Useful Webtools You Don’t Know Exist – 3fSimpleK12
5 Useful Webtools You Don’t Know Exist http://goo.gl/YgudI #ISTE11
Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 12/21/2011
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Create virtual tours on a google map
Another cool tool from Larry Ferlazzo that lets you make tours.
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Tildee: Simple step by step tutorials
I will definitely use this with my classes this year. This website guides you through making step by step tutorials.
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Recommended by some facebook friends that she and her church are supporting this organization. As always, do your research but do something.
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This website has a ton of downloads and materials you can use. Recommended to me by Jackie Gerstein, I'm going to be sharing this.
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This website has information for teachers, policy makers, etc. and is one that Jackie Gerstein, my friend on Facebook, let me know that she supports. I'm looking at their resources and what they are doing.
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While perusing Larry's back posts, I came across very cool website that lets you animate with stick figures. Definitely one I'm taking back to my students over break.
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Larry Ferlazzo's most popular posts of 2011
This excellent edtech blogger has great posts and is in my "vip" column on Twitter. Plus, he's an incredibly nice guy. Take time to peruse his top posts. I'll be sharing mine soon.His top one is tools to help you integrate blooms taxonomy into your classroom. Very nice.
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Ending Slavery: An Unfinished Business
This is a lesson plan that you can use as a starting point if you choose to involve your classrooms in the movement to end slavery in the world.Could you imagine if we could leave a legacy of this one thing. Our job is to speak for the helpless and to encourage empathy and understanding for others in this generation of children. It isn't all about what you can get, but about what you can give.This booklet is out of the UK."The antislavery movement was the first major campaign in Britain to involve ordinary citizens across all classes (as well as the slaves themselves) in the struggle to end the practice. As such it is a good example of how change can come about when people work together for a just cause. This booklet More…intends inspire and equip young people to take a stand against the continuation of slavery and injustice in the world today."
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This student is asking everyone to collect change to help the fight against modern slavery. Why not do this for Christmas in your house. Here is the website with the information about what to do.
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Create a personal video for your family this Christmas
(Hat tip to Larry Ferlazzo for this gem) - put your pictures and house into the video and have a customized video created where Santa visits your house. Talk about a great way to excite the kids! So cool.
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This boys website to further a cause he believes in. This is a worthy way to spend your life. What are you doing to make a difference in the world?
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This 15 year old tackles modern day slavery
"I"m a modern day abolitionist.""It just isn't enough to have emotion."This video is a phenomenal portrayal of a boy who has taken up a cause. Loose change to loose chains is his nonprofit. Consider sharing this video with your students.Do you realize that modern day slavery exists? Come on. This is ridiculous.This holiday season, I'm asking that you give a tweet, a facebook status update a day to the cause to #endslavery. What can all the teachers do if we bring awareness to this important issue. The slaves aren't on twitter or social media -they can't speak for themselves. Speak out. Watch this video.
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As you think about next year, it is great to plan deep projects with historical meaning. As I was looking up things that happened 100 years a go in 1912, one jumped out at me. The Titanic Sunk on April 11, 1912. There are a ton of resources already available on this topic but it would make for an interesting project of some sort as the fascination with the event doesn't seem to have waned much.
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100 Activities for Parents and Kids to do over the break
Although this was designed for summer, the list has a lot of ideas that parents can do with children over the break. While I do leave time for my kids to have a break, I do try to find things that will encourage their love of learning that I sneak in there kind of like sneaking vegetables into things without them knowing. Have a great break! Teachers might want to download and share with parents headed on break.
For our friends down under in Australia and the southern hemisphere who are on summer break, this is something you'll want to share. -
Upload and share your favorite lesson plans or powerpoints and win a vacation
I share on this site but it is a great place to find resources. It is the largest network of English speaking teachers in the world and they are launching in the US this year. When I saw this, I thought some of you on break might like to share.I like the site because the resources are free and it is curated.
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The TESiBoard Christmas Collection
A ton of resources for the IBoard for these last few days before Christmas. Bookmark them and have them ready to go for next year. Meanwhile, parents at home with kids may find something for a child to play that reinforces a topic that kids are having trouble with at school. We always do math facts over break with my youngest.
Live It
Beijing, China - 5:21 am, 2/24/2011
4:21 pm EST - USA 2/23/2011
Why China? Why was the first one held in Qatar? Why India last year?
Some has to do with sponsorship - finding innovative schools. But a lot has to do with living it.
You don't have to teach ABOUT China if you can live China. Some of you will participate virtually in the conference and see the sites go up and down, the teachable moments, you'll understand it better because you were either face to face and lived it or because you were virtual and lived it.
I have been living China for almost a week. Just now I'm able to get back on this blog even through my VPN. There are things I have to be wary of discussing even as I type that could cause sites to be blocked or for me to be viewed unfavorably. I am living it.
My students are living it (as you can see in the photo album.) The students who went last year with me to India are comparing and contrasting India and China in many powerful ways. They live it.
I'm living it to. The struggle of getting money into China. The struggle of the time zone differences with the US. The struggle of the ability to communicate with you back in the US. The tears.
Yes, we have a vision, but making visions happen comes at a price. It has been at a price and continues to be.
James Paul Gee has an excellent MacArthur report paper where he talks about that New Digital Media and Learning as an Emerging Area and "Worked Examples" as One Way Forward. The summary of this work says:
"He argues that DMAL will not evolve until a real coherence develops through collaboration and the accumulation of shared knowledge. Gee offers a concrete proposal of one way scholars in DMAL could move the area forward to a more cohesive, integrated, and collaborative enterprise: the production of what he terms "worked examples."
In Gee's sense of a worked example, scholars attempting to build the new area of DMAL would publicly display their methods of valuing and thinking about a specific problem, proposing them as examples of "good work" in order to engender debate about what such work in DMAL might come to look like and what shape the area itself might take. The goal would not be for the proposed approach to become the accepted one but for it to become fodder for new work and collaboration."
This conference will produce 41 worked examples of how global collaborative projects (using Digital Media and Learning) can be used to improve education. (See http://conference2011.flatclassroomproject.org) - these projects designed by students and teachers and administrators with participation from virtual participants and people from diverse backgrounds can give us some great thoughts and discussion points for how we can truly integrate global collaboration into our courses in ways that add meaning and improve learning.
This is a worthy cause. We've worked very hard to get the best in the business who understand this model of action-based conferencing undergirded by meaningful actions and outcomes for the participants to come here and honestly, most of them are barely breaking even on the trip, if that. Julie and I do not pay ourselves anything. This method of conferencing is in its infancy but we believe it is an important method of professional development and hope that the conference itself becomes a working model of effective action-based professional development and learning for both students and educators.
WE're excited and the conference is going to be great, but I will tell you that it has been a huge strain pulling this together... especially on Julie but also on me as well. Any support you wish to give our nonprofit is appreciated as right now we are faced with US and Chinese banks that have not handled our money transfers properly.
So, please join us virtually if you wish by joining our Ning and Wiki and viewing the conference on our Taking IT Global portal.
Oh, one great thing - I can now get on Twitter and Hootsuite again after beeing Tweetless for most of this week! It has been a struggle to communicate this week. (Wonder why? ;-) and yes I know why - just can't say it.) Will tell you more later -- right now I'm living it!
Join us and live it to. You can be part of something that people are willing to sacrifice for to improve education. You can be part of a wonderful vision that has teachers connecting directly. Yes, we have a nonprofit, but for the most part we're just moving forward with a ton of amazing volunteers who believe it is time to stop lecturing about "action based learning" and "global collaboration" and "digital storytelling" and to do it for a change.
The hypocrisy of a lecture about project based learning doesn't happen here - we're to busy working and teaching. Let the fun begin! Live the change!
If you're at #iste11 and Serious about Global Collaboration: Today at 5pm
Today, Tuesday, at 5pm in Rm PACC 123, Julie Lindsay will be leading a birds of a feather designed to help schools find each other and begin global collaboration.
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| Flat Classroom Conference 2009 Doha, Qatar |
The audience will be peppered with our certified Flat Classroom teachers - those who have been through our new book (www.flatclassroombook.com) and have proven their ability to collaboration AND CARRY THROUGH via our projects.
The audience will be salted with you... those of you who are ready to REALLY do it. So many teachers complain that it is hard to find classrooms that are ready to collaborate. Here is your chance.
Please join us today. I hope to skype in to at least listen and say hi to some of you.
If you cannot be there, here are some resources for you:
- Flat Classroom Project - Project for older grades, students must be 13 years and older to join this project. Applications open now for this year. This will run two times next year.
- Digiteen Project - Projects typically for 12 and up about digital citizenship run by our nonprofit. This will run two times next year.
- A Week in the Life Elementary Flat Classroom Project - an exciting project for elementary age classrooms to link theirs with others around the world.
- Flat Classroom Certified Teacher Program. We have another program running this August - December and will also have one during the book launch.
- Flat Classroom Book website - If you want to know in advance about our book or host a blog or podcast and would like to interview us, everything is there.
- Sign up to host a Book Club in January - March - Julie and I are working on our schedules to appear at book clubs about our book via Blackboard Collaborate. Sign up now! (Stay tuned on this blog for updated lists to be released starting in October.)
Please RT and invite your friends!
