Showing posts with label edtech. Show all posts
Showing posts with label edtech. Show all posts
Sunday, November 29, 2015
SAMR Through the Lens of the Common Core
"As education leaders incorporate the CCSS into school systems, P21 urges them to do so in a way that honors the fusion of the 3R's (core academic content mastery) and 4C's (critical thinking and problem solving, collaboration, communication and creativity and innovation). It is imperative that the CCSS be considered the "floor" --not the "ceiling"-- when it comes to expectations for student performance in the 21st Century."
Weaving it All Together - In Simple Terms
- The Common Core defines what students should be able to do.
- Digital tools provide students with resources, flexible options and support to do it.
- The SAMR model provides teachers with a point of reference to reflect on what they are asking students to do and challenges them to embrace technology to design learning experiences that allow students to do what couldn't be done without the tech.
This digital toolkit is filled with resources for compacting that crowded plate and embracing technology as a tool to fuel deep learning. It can be used as a launching pad to shift instructional practices that target the CCSS through active student participation, providing them with opportunities to engage in the 4C's. Explore it and dive in, one step at a time.
Learn More
SAMR Through the Lens of Common Core Standards
Webinar: 12/3 @ 4:00 CST, sponsored by MyInfinitec.org
Are you looking for ways to leverage the power of technology to help students develop 21st Century Skills? Researchers have determined that technology integration typically moves through four specific levels: Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition (SAMR).The higher the level of an activity the greater the educational benefit. This webinar will demonstrate how to use the SAMR model of technology integration as a guide for planning and implementing classroom learning experiences that take student learning to higher levels.
Join me and Infinitec as we look at some traditional learning tasks, align them to the Common Core Standards, and walk them up the SAMR ladder to show how to transform your teaching and "Teach Above the Line."
Sign up
Registration is open to allSign up
Lingro - Turn digital text into a clickable dictionary
Lingro is easy to use. Just copy and paste any web address into Lingro's web browser and click on a word, or use the file viewer to upload a document and translate it in the same way. One of the most impressive features of Lingro is that it stores and remembers all the words you click on and allows you to easily create and store words lists. Then, with the click of a button, Lingro turns your word lists into an online flash card game.
This tool does not require a login to use the most basic features so it can be a handy tool for students without an email address, but teachers should create a free account to take advantage of additional features, such as storage, history and word lists.
.Try Lingro for yourself
Saturday, November 28, 2015
Bloom's Taxonomy Presented Visually
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Saturday, November 21, 2015
Tag Galaxy
Watch Demo
- Project Tag Galaxy on a wall to help students visualize vocabulary words, ideas and concepts.
- Display Tag Galaxy on an interactive white board and let students touch the globe and explore.
- Use the photos to prompt creative writing.
- Engage students in a guided visual search.
- Start a discussion about word relationships
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Present.Me
Uses in Education:
- My first thought is this would be a great way for teachers to try The Flipped Classroom approach to teaching by publishing a Present.Me and asking students to view and interact with the content for homework in preparation for the next class. After all, many teachers are already familiar with PowerPoint and recording yourself with this tool is quite easy.
- Another good use of this tool might be to have students use it as a substitute for the traditional whole-class project presentation. Instead of asking the student audience to sit through hours of student-led presentations, assign them a task related to viewing the presentations and let them interact with them at their own pace.
- Teachers can use this tool to create and publish presentations online for parents unable to attend Open House/Curriculum Night that generally happens at the start of the year.
- Schools and districts might consider using this tool to make good use of limited staff development time by creating and publishing an ongoing list of resources. Provide teachers with time to view and interact with presentations during staff meeting time, and also give them the opportunity to continue the learning at home.
- And of course, this tool could be really useful for virtual conferences of all kinds.
Friday, November 13, 2015
Simplify and Summarize Digital Text
 | Natural Reader |  |
 | Readability Bookmarklet | |
 | Text Compactor | |
 | Text to Speech for Mac | |
 | Twurdy | |
 | Wikipedia Simple English | |
 | Hands-On Overview on JogTheWeb |  |
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Tech Connections: Teach Above the Line with ThingLink
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| Shannon Sloger's Slogan in reference to the SAMR Model |
For as long as I can remember I have been an advocate for helping teachers understand the stages of technology integration in order to effectively use tech as a tool for learning.
I've adopted a few different tech integration models over the years, discussed the ideas with administrators for use as a starting point for tech integration, and kept the ideas front of mind as I invent and discover new ways for using technology as a tool for learning.
Discussing the stages of tech integration has led to some thought-provoking and inspiring conversations, but the ideas have not gained a lot of momentum in my face-to-face teaching environment until now. As many districts jump on board with iPad implementation, Apple's use of the SAMR model as a framework for tech integration presents a consistent, clear and powerful message that is spreading!
I recently met Shannon Soger, 1-1 coordinator and instructional coach from D100 in Chicagoland, who shared a brilliant PD strategy and challenge used with the Fab 40 teachers in her 100% 1:1 school. The goal for teachers working within this amazing environment is to teach above the line. Of course this simple mantra and point of reference serves as a quick and easy self-evaluation tool. Teaching above the line is a clear and attainable goal to strive for. Thanks Apple, and thank you Shannon for leading the way!
An Example: My Journey with ThingLink
Last fall I was consulted by Neil Vineberg, CMO of ThingLink, to think about ways to encourage teachers and students to use the flexible interactive tool in preparation for the ThingLink Interactive Image Contest. My advice and approach was to create and publish a comprehensive wiki of resources, known as The ThingLink Toolkit.At that time, ThinkLInk was a tool I was using to create my own resources, but in order to make the tool appealing to classroom teachers, I knew I would have to make connections to help them meet their busy teaching demands. If you haven't heard by now, the plate is full and right in the middle is a strong push to begin implementing the Common Core State Standards in our classrooms.
Weaving Digital Tools into the Common Core
With increasing expectations to implement the CCSS, I decided to create samples of student projects that weave digital tools into the Common Core to demonstrate the flexibility of ThingLink as an effective and efficient tool for constructing knowledge. To create the samples, I had to dig deeper into the Common Core myself and embrace it.I must say the experience of designing The ThingLink Toolkit was challenging and exciting because it stretched my boundaries and required me to research, explore and think a lot. In the end, I created some resources I am very proud of and also a few duds, of course, but I realize that creating this toolkit of resources was an exercise in teaching above the line, and the samples I created demonstrate my ability to work at the top level, redefinition.
The ThingLink Interactive image contest was launched and recently the deadline for entries has passed. Students have created some amazing interactive images that required them to engage in CCSS aligned learning experiences. They used higher order thinking skills to design, present, and share ideas. They redefined concepts through multimedia. The end results are impressive, but the real gain is in the deep learning that occurred during the process of creating their images.
Please view, explore and touch some of the student entries on the contest site and see how ThingLink can be a powerful tool for teaching and learning, then try it yourself.
ThingLink Education Contest Entries
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Cool Tools for Teaching Vocabulary
Tag Galaxy
This tool creates a 3D orbiting galaxy of words and their associations Click on any word to move it to the center of the galaxy, then click again and watch the globe populate with images from Flicker. This is a must see.
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