Digital Learning Day

Digital Learning Day is a national day that celebrates and encourages teachers to share successful practices and effective uses of technology in the classroom.  Teachers can celebrate in a number of different ways including:

•  Showcasing success integrating technology
•  Starting a conversation or joining one about digital learning
•  Trying a new digital learning day activity

Visit the Digital Learning Day site where you can learn more about the day, access resources, join in conversations with other educators, and celebrate the successes enjoyed by participants.

The state of Wisconsin has a Digital Learning Site where participating schools can share activities.  Any activity celebrating digital learning, whether simple or complex, is welcome.  Teachers are encouraged to try something new or showcase existing successes on February 6.  

Follow Digital Learning Day on Twitter (@DLDay2013) for updates.  

Digital Content - Another View

Digital content has made many changes since my last post a year ago.  Since then a number of applications (iOS, online) have given end users an opportunity to create their own customized digital content.  At a recent meeting of technology leaders, our group shared resources that might be helpful in creating content and sharing that content with students.

Resources shared include:

iTunes U contains free content for K-12, college and university users.  With iPad integration, users can access information quickly and easily on their mobile device.  An entire course can be viewed on the iPad in iTunesU where students can view videos, read content, take notes, and more.

Khan Academy offers more than 3,800 video lessons for students that demonstrate a wide variety of Math, Science & Economics, Humanities, Test Prep, and Computer Science concepts.  In addition, teachers have access to a Teacher Toolkit that provides information on setting up Khan Academy for classroom use, including individual student accounts.

CK-12 Foundation is a non-profit organization that creates and gathers high quality STEM content including text, video, audio, images, quizzes, and interactives.  All content is open-source content which provides educators with free information to use in designing curriculum and instruction.

 Additional resources will be added in the near future.

Digital Textbooks for Students by 2017

From the SETDA (State Educational Technology Director's Association) site:

February 1, 2012 FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski joined Education Secretary Arne Duncan to unveil the Obama Administration's "Digital Textbook Playbook" to accelerate the K-12 transition to digital textbooks.

The next challenge for schools ---> by 2017 provide digital textbooks to our students.  
Many schools are already exploring the digital tablet market.  In a number of Midwest schools educators are introducing tablets for a number of reasons - to differentiate curriculum, motivate and engage learners, and provide multiple types of resources (flat text, images, video) in one device to name a few.  The changes in tablet devices, apps, and digital text are constant.

We are working with a moving target.

At a time when school districts in Wisconsin are facing financial uncertainty, it would seem prudent to create a consortium of experts to work together to develop digital tools that are relevant, reliable, and cost-effective for all project participants.  Let's work to model the 21st century skills of innovation, creativity, and collaboration for our students to create the best possible foundational tools to use in teaching and learning.


Consider the following infographic predicting the future of digital textbooks: 

Graphic Source:  OnlineEducation.net

Digital Storytelling Resources

A colleague (elementary library media specialist) and I were brainstorming ideas on how to introduce digital storytelling to grade 5 students.  We went through the different subject areas of the grade level, brainstorming concepts that students may have recently covered.  We searched and dug through websites trying to find one or two good examples to show to the students.  Resources to support the digital storytelling project were also high on our list so we searched for planning sheets and rubrics.

After our conversation ended, I headed back to my desk and started reading through my e-mail.  I found this reference, freshly posted, to share with her:  Engaging Learners Through Digital Storytelling.  It is amazing what comes across your desk when you least expect it.

This blog article provides resources obtained through a free online course where over 250 participants worked to create an online class portfolio.   Participants contributed information on why to do digital storytelling, shared tips on using some free digital tools, and provided a list of recommended web tools to use.  A Live Binder, Digital Storytelling for Young Learners is also available.

Education is a wonderful place to work and grow.  Working with students to help them create a learn is a rewarding experience.  Check out these resources and pick up a new tool or skill to help your students grow.

Safer Internet Day

This is the first year I have heard about Safer Internet Day, which is held on the second day of the second week of the second month each year.  February 7, 2012 is the day this year with the theme "Connecting generations and educating each other".  The focus of this international group is to promote safer and more responsible use of online resources among children.

I spent a little bit of time perusing the site.  There are quite a few videos promoting safety, kits for schools that contain logos to promote the day, informational videos, resources to use for teaching (lesson plans, posters) and links to resources by country.  The United States Safer Internet link contains activities integrating iSafe resources that help teach Internet Safety.

I am impressed to see this international effort to promote Internet safety.  Too frequently I see students get lost in content on the Internet that is clearly not for their eyes.  Unfortunately this pull to unsafe sites seems to affect the students who don't need any more chaos in their lives - students with other challenges who seek a place to belong but are doing this in an unsafe environment.

Share this site with at least one other adult and one child.  As educators we have the opportunity to change the direction of our students.  Thank you for all that you do to this end.

Just to add a little fun, here is the QR code for the site:

Happy Thoughts

Our sons like to have a "happy thought" before they go to bed at night.  Parents will understand how at times this can be a difficult task.  So, I'm going to add some "happy thoughts" to this blog to share.  Maybe you'll find one that you can share with a child, or maybe an adult, to help brighten their day (or calm their night).

Shooting Star

Here's our thought for tonight:
My oldest son recalled seeing his first shooting star at camp this past summer.  He described it with a twinkle in his eyes of a child seeing an amazing sight for the very first time.  "It shot right across the sky and then it was gone."  Imagine the look in his eyes and that look is worth more than the words he used to describe the event.

iPad2 as a Writing Tool

There is constant discussion on the role of the iPad in the classroom.  Is it simply a tool to differentiate instruction for students requiring skill development?  Is it a tool to aid students in creating text using recorded voice (Dragon Dictation)?  Can the iPad be used to create content using Pages, Numbers, and Keynote?  Can the iPad replace the computer by providing the tools a student needs to complete their educational tasks?

James Kendrick's article examines the use of the iPad as a writer's tool, simply for creating text.  His "keys for success" include having a good keyboard (Logitech keyboard case and ZAGGfolio keyboard case are mentioned in the article - both are made by ZAGG) and a good app or two that work for the writer.  Kendrick begins using an app (Reeder) for research of current news, then uses an organization tool (iThoughtsHD) for his writing to lay out thoughts and ideas.  For the actual writing he uses Evernote for its simplicity and for the auto save feature to the cloud.

If professional writers are happy using the iPad2 for creating and writing articles, our students should be able to complete their writing work on the device as well.

Resources:
Logitech Keyboard Case for iPad2: Hands-on review
ZAGGfolio iPad2 keyboard case $99.99 includes keyboard+cover+stand
Logitech Keyboard Case by ZAGG for iPad2 $99.99
Reeder app $4.99
iThoughtsHD app $9.99
Evernote app $Free

We've Got to Be That Light

Our high school principal recently shared this inspirational video with staff members.   The video was created as a tribute to teachers for the gifts that we share with our students.  Check it out for yourself and I hope you find some inspiration in the message it provides.

Summertime

I recently read this article from Parade where Mitch Albom urges us to let our kids be kids for the summer - less structure, more face-to-face contact, and just plain having fun.  The stress of a school year is enough to last for nine months but the summer should be carefree.

Mitch suggests:

The way kids work during the academic year—honestly, you’d think homework was a full-time job—a mental break may be needed. These are young minds, young bodies. Replenishing the juices by kicking back is not a bad idea. And if not in childhood, then when?

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “If we don’t enroll our kids in an activity, all they’ll do is text. Or watch TV (and text) or talk on the phone (and text).

Well, you could prevent that. You could take away the cell phone, the iPod, the Nintendo. Then see if you can get your kid to do four things in a day:

1.  Have a face-to-face conversation with a friend.
2.  Read something.
3.  Build something.
4.  Get wet. A pool. A hose. A sprinkler. Whatever.

Something to consider  . . .

Historypin

Historypin is a web-based tool that allows registered users to "pin" photos with associated information on the site.   Users can browse maps based on site address and year or they can browse collections which contain photographs based on the same topic, such as the Under Construction collection which contains photos and information about famous landmarks during their construction phase.

Check out the Tours that lead users step-by-step through content, telling a story, exploring a place or walking through time.  A Tour Around Bath showing the impact of the blitz of 1942 is one example of a tour.

Ideas for using Historypin in the classroom can be found at http://www.historypin.com/community-schools-inyourclassroom/.

Drowning in e-mail?

Vicki Davis (Cool Cat Teacher) provides a wealth of information to teachers, students and others with an interest in educational technology.   Recently she provided a Twitter link (http://coolcatteacher.visibli.com/share/kcrfgK) to a resource called Email Charter.  Email Charter has identified the problem of e-mail overwhelming people to the point that the time spent distracts from the more important jobs we have to do.  Working together we can reduce the amount of e-mail we need to respond to.  Email Charter provides a list of 10 Rules to Reverse the Email Spiral.

Check it out to see if you agree and are ready to take some measures to reduce the Inbox problem  many of us share.  Share it with students so they can work to solve the problem and avoid the same bursting Inbox problems we have experienced.

The Big 10 (Most Influential People in EdTech for 2011)

Tech & Learning, a print and online publisher, presented their list of the most influential people in educational technology for 2011.  If you are a teacher who is passionate about technology in education, you might want to learn more about these 10 people.  Each person has a unique area of expertise and a passion for technology.  Read more about each person by clicking the title link for this article.  Each person and their title are listed below along with a link to a related site:

Doug Levin - State Educational Technology Directors Association executive director
Karen Cator - director of Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education
Gregg Festa - ADP Center for Teacher Preparation and Learning Technologies (This is a ning that may be blocked by school district filters.)
Ann Thompson - editor of the Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education
John Kao - innovation activist
David Warlick - Landmark Project consultant
Salman Khan - founder of the Khan Academy
Punya Mishra - co-chair of the Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education (SITE)
Jonathan Ive and the Apple Design Team - iPad pilot program at Oklahoma State University
"Google for Educators" Development Team - includes Julia Stiglitz, teacher; provides classroom resources for teachers

Get Something for Nothing (ASCD resource)

ASCD put out a list of free educational resources that teachers might want to explore during summer break.  Use the article link (above) to access the full article or browse a couple of the resources listed here:

Free Resources for Educational Excellence - http://free.ed.gov
K-12 resources listed at this site are categorized both by subject (Arts & Music, Language Arts, Math, etc.)  and by media type (animations, primary documents, photos, and videos).  A search box allows users to enter their own keywords for finding resources.  When accessing a new categorized resource such as this, it might be helpful to begin by choosing a category and drilling down to see how information is organized and the types of results within each category.

For example, starting with Arts and Music, a user can drill down to Visual Arts, then to Photography to find 34 resources.  Four resources are featured and all 34 resources can be displayed.  One of the topics is Mathew Brady Portraits, which is cross referenced in U.S. History Topics and U.S. Time Periods.  Users are directed to the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery and Mathew Brady's Portraits.

Take some time to browse the collections to find quality resources for your students.

Thinkfinity - http://www.thinkfinity.org/
Here is another high quality site where educators can find free lesson plans and educational resources aligned to state standards, provided by partners with expertise in each content areas.  Content partners include National Geographic, Science NetLinks, EconEdLink, ReadWriteThink, LiteracyNetwork, ArtsEdge, Smithsonian's History Explorer, Illuminations (Math), EdSitement and Wonderopolis.  Resources can also provide parents and students with access to educational content in the At Home & AfterSchool area.  Summer might be the time to begin organizing resources to integrate into key lessons for the upcoming school year.  Take some time to explore Thinkfinity this summer!

These two resources could keep educators busy during the summer collecting valuable resources to share with students.  If you are interested in more information like this, click the article link to read the entire ASCD article and access to additional resources.

Summer Goals

Summer is almost here in our district.  Seniors are attending for their last day today and all students are wiggling in their seats anticipating the last day before their release to summer time activities.  As an educator, many of us look forward to a more relaxed pace of life in the summer.  Yet, as professionals we are always seeking to learn more about our students, the process of learning, technology and other relevant educational topics.

The following resources provide me with a "go to" list for summer.  I hope others can use it for their personal goals as well.

• Teacher Reboot Camp offers What Will You Learn This Summer?  26 Professional Development Resources.  Here teachers can choose from free programs, live events (including webinars and online presentations), and free online classes.  
• If you are a teacher interested in blogging, check out Kick Start Your Blogging at the Teacher Challenge site.   Check out the Free Tools Challenge at this site where you can learn more about Web 2.0 tools including Wordle, Glogster, VoiceThread and more for a total of 26 tools.  Currently these challenges are on the left sidebar of the site.
• Edublogger offers Our trips for getting blogs ready for the end of the school year.  If you are new to blogs, this discussion may provide some information about how blogs are used not only during the school year but over the summer, too.
• Edutopia is full of rich resources including blogs, polls, group discussions, videos, articles and connections to other educators.  Topics cover more than educational technology including project-based learning, social and emotional learning, assessment, classroom management, STEM, and the arts.  Here is a direct link to the Summer Professional Development Blog Series.
• If you are curious about all of the talk of iPad use in the classroom, you might enjoy 58 Ways to use an iPad in the Classroom by Tom Barrett - a Google presentation.  The number '58' is a moving target.  I've seen this presentation move from 53 to 56 to 58 in a matter of months.  This presentation offers two things - an overview of iPad use and a nice demonstration of Google presentation.

I will continue to add a few more resources as they come across my desk.  Enjoy your summer and have fun learning within your chosen topic.

Photo Sharing Tools

Deciding where to store your photos to share with friends and family might be confusing.  Do I choose a free service, a pay service?  Is it safe and secure?  What are muy options?  What privacy settings are available?  With any of the sites suggested below, take time to read through the settings and choose options that you are comfortable sharing.


Free Photo Storage:
Picasa

Use the Settings link in Picasa Web Albums to change settings.

Snapfish

Flickr


Photo Storage for a Fee:
SmugMug offers users a place to store their photos with privacy.  Share photos with others via e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, or embed them on a blog.  Create a customized page with your photos and videos. SmugMug identifies itself as being "Like Fort Knox for your photos."  Smugmug offers unlimited photo uploads of JPG, GIF and PNG files and backs up of all file types (for a fee).  Advanced privacy settings allow you to password protect your entire SmugMug site, including telling search engines to ignore you.  Try it for free and then decide if you want to pay to keep SmugMug as a Basic ($40/yr), Power ($60/yr), or Pro ($150/yr) user.

Phanfare is a place you can upload photos and videos, create slideshows, share photos on Facebook, and Twitter and display photos and videos on your iPhone or Android phone.   New photos you take on your iPhone can upload automatically to Phanfare (free app at the App store).  Users have their own URL at Phanfare and sharing does not require viewers to register.  Video uploads are limited to 2 GB per file.  Start a free trial and then decide if you want to continue under a Phanfare plan ($29/yr), Premium plan ($99/yr) or Pro plan ($199/yr).

Image Editing Sites:

Picknik - http://www.picnik.com/
Features (as outlined on the Picknik site):

• Fix your photos in just one click
• Use advanced controls to fine-tune your results
• Crop, resize, and rotate in real-time
• Tons of special effects, from artsy to fun
• Astoundingly fast, right in your browser
• Awesome fonts and top-quality type tool
• Basketfuls of shapes from hand-picked designers
• Works on Mac, Windows, and Linux
• No download required, nothing to install

Creating Books, Cards and more
Blurb

MagCloud

HP Photo Creations
Download free software to create photo books, calendars, collages and more.  Print at home or order items to be shipped to you.

Learning How to Use Photoshop:
Visit this vimeo site where PhotoShop for Kids (of all ages) shares videos on creating using PhotoShop.

SpeakUp 2010 Report

The Speak Up 2010 Report is now available.  The report titled, The New 3 E's of Education: Enabled, Engaged, Empowered - How Today's Students are Leveraging Emerging Technologies for Learning, presents the findings from the 2010 Speak Up survey of K-12 students and parents.  Three key trends were addressed in the survey:  mobile learning, online and blended learning, and e-textbooks.

Link:
http://www.tomorrow.org/speakup/pdfs/SU10_3EofEducation_Students.pdf

In addition, Student Vision 2015, is also available:  http://www.tomorrow.org/speakup/pdfs/Student%20Vision%202015%20(SU10).pdf
This 2-page document provides a sampling of student responses from the Speak Up 2010 Project.  Students predict what school will be like in 2015.

Eight Tips to Engage Your Students

The following information was shared with me and I am reminded that there are ideas that we need to return to, reflect upon and consider as we go about our business of educating our students. From the ASCD 2011 Conference website:

Eight TIps to Engage Your Students

"We cannot use the excuse 'I've always done it this way,'" said speaker Laura Erlauer Myrah.

In the session "Instructional Tips to Tell Teachers," Laura Erlauer Myrah provided eight tips for educators and teachers to engage their students and allow them to remember concepts taught in class. The eight tips cover categories such as the body and brain, movement, emotional environment, collaboration, relevant learning, enriched environment, and Net Generation learners.

Tips that can be used in the classroom: 

1. Body and Brain 

• Open windows 
• Have plants in classrooms 
• Allow your students to have water bottles 
• Educate parents and students regarding the need for adequate sleep 

2. Movement 

• Ask your students to stand instead of raising their hands 
• Questions around the room 
• Clapping rhythms 
• New location for important material 

3. Emotional Environment 

• Make every student feel unique and secure 
• Meet and greet 
• Give recognition 
• Listen and show interest 
• Expect respect from all 
• Relationships transcend everything 
• Emotions and memory

4. Collaboration 

• Collaborative learning/projects 
• Pair and share (tell students to talk to classmates and practice answers) 
• Connections with other levels 
• Connections with community 

5. Relevant Learning 

• Make the relevance obvious to students 
• Make it interesting and fun through your delivery 
• Experience learning 

6. Enriched Environment 

• Challenging problem solving 
• Physical classroom 
• You can play music during tests or writing 
• Use of music: a. Primer; b. Carrier; c. Arousal/Mood 

7. Assessment and Feedback 

• Know it well 
• Remember it always 
• Use it readily 

8. Net Generation Learners 

• Youth don't see working, learning, collaborating, and having fun as separate experiences. 
• They believe in, and want, these experiences occurring simultaneously in school and in future careers. 
• This generation wants to problem-solve and innovate. 

Source:  http://www.ascd.org/conferences/annual-conference/conference-daily/2011-eight-tips.aspx

Getting Started with SmartBoards

Our district is moving forward with SmartBoard installations in our elementary schools.  One of our teachers offered this site as a tool to learn more about the SmartBoard without "official training".  The site contains tutorials and printed materials for teachers to use as they begin exploring the use of SmartBoards in their classrooms.  There is a lot of information here for interested teachers to use.

PhET: Free online, physics, chemistry, biology, earth science & math simulations

The PhET project offers free interactive science simulations from the University of Colorado.  The following information was gathered from the PhET site to help summarize what the site offers.


In December 2010, the PhET Interactive Simulations Project at the University of Colorado at Boulder received grants totaling $2.5 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the O'Donnell Foundation to expand its reach to middle school science. The team of scientists, educators, and software engineers for the ongoing project design online simulations that demonstrate how scientific concepts apply in real-world scenarios. The simulations are made available free of charge to all science classes and students that wish to use them to enhance the practical components of education.


To help students visually comprehend concepts, PhET simulations animate what is invisible to the eye through the use of graphics and intuitive controls such as click-and-drag manipulation, sliders and radio buttons. In order to further encourage quantitative exploration, the simulations also offer measurement instruments including rulers, stop-watches, voltmeters and thermometers. As the user manipulates these interactive tools, responses are immediately animated thus effectively illustrating cause-and-effect relationships as well as multiple linked representations (motion of the objects, graphs, number readouts, etc.)


Principal sponsors of the site include the The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the National Science Foundation (NSF), Excellence Center of Science and Mathematics Education at King Saud University, and the O'Donnell Foundation.

Safe Search Engines

The following list of Safe Search engines was shared on the Tech Learning site:
Top 10 Safe Search Engines by David Kapuler

1. Sweet Search - A group of experts, including librarians and teachers, evaluates all content from this search engine.
2. Top Marks - A great site developed in the UK by teachers who approved everything on this site.
3. Quintura for Kids - An innovative search engine for kids that displays results in a cloud-based style. Also, has apps for mobile devices.
4. Kid Rex - Wonderful search engine designed around Google's safe search. Very nice visual appeal for kids.
5. Ask Kids -  Search engine designed for kids ages 6-12.
6. Yahoo Kids - Previously known as Yahooligans, Yahoo Kids is a fun site for kids to gather information on the internet.
7. Famhoo -  Family-friendly search engine that filters all content.
8. One Key - Developed in 1996, One Key, in collaboration with Google, does a nice job of creating a safe search engine.
9. Google (safe search) - Google has a safe-search setting which can be locked into place at the browser level for those that use Firefox.
10. Nettrekker -  Great paid site for searching the web -- not only for students but for teachers as well.