Technology in the Classroom , 1:1 Laptops & iPads and MORE

I know the old saying can be true, teachers make the worst students. But we need to take ownership of our learning, and sometimes that means we need to be the presenters in our own learning environment.

Infographics are interesting–a mash of (hopefully) easily-consumed visuals (so, symbols, shapes, and images) and added relevant character-based data (so, numbers, words, and brief sentences).

The learning application for them is clear, with many academic standards–including the Common Core standards–requiring teachers to use a variety of media forms, charts, and other data for both information reading as well as general fluency. It’s curious they haven’t really “caught on” in schools considering how well they bridge both the old-form textbook habit of cramming tons of information into a small space, while also neatly overlapping with the dynamic and digital world.

So if you want to try to make infographics–or better yet have students make them–where do you start? The 46 tools below, curated by Faisal Khan, are a good place to start. And with the sheer quantity and variety–from sources of data and models to tools that create them (including our personal favorite, piktochart), you can almost certainly find something to use in your classroom that’s not too pricey, that works for your grade level, and that isn’t blacked by your district’s incredibly frustrating filter.

 

http://www.teachthought.com/technology/46-tools-to-make-infographics-in-the-classroom/

In this series of video interviews, we learn how one school in Kansas uses social media to empower student learning and connect with parents.

Last week Write for Dropbox, iPad edition hit the App Store. It’s another good text editor app for the iPad, with Dropbox sync and strong Markdown support.

The app’s full title in the App Store is Write for Dropbox – A Beautiful Note Taking App (iPad Edition) – but I’m just going to refer to it as Write from here on in this post.

To say that this app is feature-packed would be an understatement. Here’s its App Store feature list:

Write opens to a new blank note to quickly jot down things on your mindAutomatic Dropbox SyncingFull background support for uploading notes to Dropbox. Notes will continue uploading to Dropbox even if you close the appClean distraction free interfaceCreate, edit and view text files on your iPhone and iPod TouchFolder Support (upto 1 level deep)Full Markdown support with ability to preview markdown even while writingA special markdown toolbar to make writing in markdown easyInsert images with absolute image URLs from your Dropbox accountFull screen writing and readingAbility to click on links and phone numbers when in view modeAn exclusive cursor trackpad and swipe selection

Pull to Save and Pull to DeleteFavourite the files you use frequently and access them quicklyQuick look – A unique quick look inspired way to peek at contents of any file without opening itCustom FontsBrightness Control within applicationNight ModeOffline Support – Upload your changes to Dropbox next time you’re connectedImport notes from other apps into Write25+ inbuilt actions to share your notesPublish as a Web PageGenerate Dropbox share link with a single tapSave in Evernote, Google Drive, CloudAppVirtually unlimited ways to share your note using Custom URL Schemes

Hi guys if you use iBooks on Ipad or iphone than you also highlight some important text while reading ,and you wondered how good it can be to extract only highlighted part of that book which you wa...

A publisher’s decision to remove copy protection from its e-books revives a debate over whether such features hurt or help revenue — and not just for books.

Joe Rogers plays the blues. And he lived it, spending half his time in an institution for people labeled "mentally retarded." But Joe got out of the institut...

This spring semester, 3rd grade students at Shedeck Elementary School in Yukon, Oklahoma, worked with their librarian, Jeannie Wilmes, to conduct “blended research” about different kinds of animals. Their research was “blended” because students used both library books as well as electronic resources like the PebbleGo website and database. Mrs. Wilmes worked with students twice a week for two weeks in this project, which culminated in students audio recording their research using the free iPad app AudioBoo. Students were then able to share their recordings with classmates and with parents online. In this five minute interview video, Mrs. Wilmes and some of the Shedeck third graders describe their project, what they enjoyed and some of their lessons learned.

If you missed the previous “We’re Writing a Book!” post, you can read part one here.

After two weeks of writing a book in class, I don’t know who’s learned more: me or students.

 

Week One

This is not going as planned.

After one week of writing a book in class, not much happened other than ideas being shared. It was really hard for me to not just jump in and start telling students what they need to do because I want this to be their book. I’m having a hard time finding the balance of suggesting ideas and suggesting ideas. This is a tough balance for me.

To help get some ideas for balancing the text and video inside our book, I emailed Patrick Carman for ideas. Most of my students have read the Skeleton Creek series and loved it! (If you haven’t read the series, you should.) Patrick wrote us back and gave us some great tips. It was a cool experience for my students one, because they didn’t think Patrick would write us back, and two, Patrick helped show the importance of using best practices when working on something new.

http://jcollierblog.com/edtech/were-writing-a-book-pt-2/

On a typical day, the only thing ninth-grader Jonah Warnick carries in his backpack is a binder. That’s because at his school, North Davis Junior High in Clearfield, students often use online texts on iPads ...

Ginger Gregory is the Gifted Resource Teacher at Lakeview Elementary School in Yukon, Oklahoma, and currently has 117 videos on her classroom YouTube channel. Ginger has used the six iPads in her classroom and her free, district-provided YouTube channel (since the Yukon school district participates in the Google Apps for Education program) to help her students develop oral communication skills, oral fluency, as well as digital literacy skills this semester. In the following six minute video, Mrs. Gregory and eight of her students explain what they have learned as a result of their assignments this year using iPad videos and YouTube.

 

Read the full story at: http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2013/05/16/developing-communication-skills-with-youtube-ipad-videos/

Writing books with or for young children supports literacy skills and creative thinking.

 

One of the hottest topics in educational technology today has to be mobile content creation. With the rise of the tablet, particularly the iPad, K12 and adult students are eager for opportunities to learn just-in-time with their device of choice. Apple’s January 2012 announcement of digital textbooks and a teacher-friendly iBook authoring software has pushed the conversation around eBooks to the forefront of the educational landscape.

To meet the changing demands of our learners, teachers need to become proficient in mobile learning pedagogical approach that is grounded in a thorough understanding of mobile technologies hardware, software and OS. This session will prepare K-5 administrators, teachers and parents to support student use of iOS learner-centered devices including iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone in the creation of custom digital texts.

Posts, one of the best blogging apps for the iPad, is now a a free app. It has previously been priced at $9.99 and this appears to be a permanent move to free for the app. I say it appears to be a ...

Today, on Teacher Appreciation Day, I want to send a word of thanks to a group of devoted individuals who, apart from my parents, have done the most to shape my life -- my teachers. From kindergarten

Rita Pierson, a teacher for 40 years, once heard a colleague say, "They don't pay me to like the kids." Her response: "Kids don't learn from people they don’t like.’” A rousing call to educators to believe in their students and actually connect...