Eclectic Technology

How has teenagers use of social media changed over the past 20 years? Learn more from this infographic which looks at the years 1995, 2005 and 2015. Teens are often the first to adopt new technology, but their patterns have changed over the years. The infographic shares information on social life and social media over the three decades and also looks at how teens are using social media today, specifically discussing Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, tumblr, and YikYak.

This post may be one to share with other faculty as well as parents, and could lead to an interesting discussion with teens in your classroom.

The summer reading slump...as teachers we know that learners will lose skills if they do not use them during the summer. This article (which includes a lengthy infographic) shares statistics about what may happen over one summer (and also shares long- term consequences).

Did you know that a learner at the end of Grade 6 whom has experienced summer learning loss over the years may be 2 years behind their peers?

Or that 2.6 months of math skills are lost over the summer?

Many schools are starting to prepare summer packets with the hope that learners will complete them over the summer. You may find that information in this infographic is worth sharing with parents. They may not be aware of the consequences of how much summer learning loss may impact their child.

This post includes the inforgraphic (shown above) as well as additional information on pros and cons of flipping a class.

The sections in the post are:

* Flipped Learning for a Flipped World

* Flipping the Numbers

* Flipping to Engage Active Learning

* Flipping from Passive to Active

* In a Nutshell

You may find new ideas in this post that will allow your learners to be be more engaged

Emotional IQ is a skill that is often mentioned as a key skill for the 21st century. This infographic shares information on emotional intelligence and is divided into a number of sections.

* What is emotional intelligence (EI)?

* Does higher EI mean improved job performance?

* Why do employers value EI over IQ?

* How EI affects your image?

* Take stock of your EI.

* Improve your emotional intelligence to improve your life

Although this infographic is geared to students in college there is information that you may find to share with students across many grade levels. Emotional intelligence plays a role in our classrooms and providing learners with more skills in this area may improve their ability to more actively participate and be engaged.

Cursive writing? Should we teach it or not? Many states are still requiring cursive writing be taught, but it is not part of the Common Core. This infographic provides information about why it is important that students learn cursive.

Has your role as a teacher shifted? Do you model being a learner with your learners? This post by Jackie Gerstein shares why it is important that the educator "needs to understand and be able to articulate and demonstrate the process of learning, him or herself."

How can you go about doing this. Gerstein recommends that "educators pick something new to learn and practice doing the following: (below quoted from the post)

1. Explicitly state and record the metacognitive process while learning.
2. Demonstrate and articulate the actual steps of learning.
3. Record the stages of artifact development.
4. Understand and embrace the iterative process of learning.
5. Use and demonstrate the self-evaluative reflection process.

Gerstein then discusses each of these five steps/procedures/strategies, providing links to additional resources as well as one additional visual as well as a video that looks at how the learning process is iterative (and may provide you with an idea you would like to do with your class).

Silvia Tolisano shares updated visual thinking routines for:

1. Read > Write> Comment
2. Learn > Reflect > Share
3. Contribute > Feedback > Grow
4. Watch > Do > Teach
5. Document > Present > Disseminate
Along with a visual for each of these routines she also explains each step. She also shares three additional routines that she uses with students, as blogging routines and in professional development.

Do you know that when children engage in play they are also problem solving, testing out ideas, asking questions, building muscle and bone strength and much more? This infographic provides 34 reasons why play is important and includes the resources used.

As many schools continue to decrease play time and focus on teaching core subjects this may remind us that time to play is critical.

This infographic shares the science behind exercise. Learn how to optimize your workout for maximum happiness, how to have more fun with less work, motivational tips and more.

As teachers we often work long days and find it tough to get in our exercise, but if we can find the time we may find ourselves in a better place in the classroom.

Do you know the best ways to design an eLearning course? SH!FT provides excellent resources and this post discusses readability. Learn more about:

* What makes people want to read

* The best fonts to use (think easy to read)

* How to design eLearning for readability, which includes

   - Strategies to  improve readability which includes five recommendations

You will also find an infographic that shares this information.

Do you know what "the Internet of Things" means? This article and infographic from Forbes explains what this new interconnected world means and how this new interconnected world may impact our future. A portion of the infographic is shown in the image above. Additional information is available in the article as well as a link to a previous article published by the author, A Simple Explanation of the Internet of Things.

This infographic, byt Mia MacMeekin, looks at personalized learning and the three areas below. In each area the question is also "How can curriculum design address personalized learning?"

What are the three areas?

* What is personalized learning

* How to personalize learning

* Examples of personalized learning

In each of these areas she also looks at the How, What, When, Where, and Why, providing key words or phrases that help you dig a little deeper into the subject.

Mia MacMeekin has provided an infographic that you could share with others in your building. Today we are asked to personalize curriculum, but support is not always available. This visual will help you better understand some key concepts, and provide you with ideas on how you might move forward.

Take a look at this visual that describes the learning progression. It looks at three questions as the starting point:

* What's the learning outcome for the lesson?

* How will I know if students have achieved it?

* How will I check if students have achieved it?

A variety of ideas are shared for each of these questions...short and sweet, and great for visual learners.

When we think of ways to boost knowledge retention in our learners, what works for students that are online also works for students in face2face classes. This post from SH!FT provides seven ways to help student retain knowledge. The visual above illustrates the concepts. The post provides additional information as well as links to

#1 - When possible, use diagrams. Many people are visual learners. Consider using graphic organizers to provide "holistic views, expressing relationships, and identifying contrasting data."

#2 - Incorporate unique and out-of-the ordinary images. Why? Images stay with us longer, and the more unique, the longer they tend to stay with us.

#3 - Dish out sensory details. The more details that engage the learner the better.

#4 - Use color therapy. Color works on many levels. Color can be used to organize, to grab our attention, and it can impact our mood.

The last 3 suggestions are below...but you will need to click through to the post to learn more about each.

#5 - Exaggerate.

#6 - Small bites, at one's own pace.

#7 - Spaced repetition.

Infographics seem to be everywhere today, and educators are taking note and using them with students. This post provides information on the use of infographics for elearning, but the same concepts apply to face2face learning. The post is divided three sections that include:

* When to use infographics

* When NOT to use infographics

* 6 tips to create effective and stunning infographics

Additional resources are included in the post. If you are designing or revising a course and have not made use of infographics that post may provide you with ideas on how to best incorporate this form of visual learning into your curriculum. And if you currently use infographics check it out to learn more.

This infographic is one resource found at this site, which also provides a detailed planning guide for Deeper Learning. Click through to the site and you will find a section on:

* The DL Learning Guide which provides a series of exercises and a set of resources that demonstrate how you can create conditions necessary for Deeper Learning.

* The User Guide an overview and framework. You will also find a Table of Contents.

* You can access each phase from this section or you can move to the  section called DL Phases.

   Phase 1 helps you Establish a Vision for Students.

   Phase 2 focuses on Understanding and Assessing the Conditions for Deeper Learning.

   Phase 3 guides you on Planning for Deeper Learning.

   Phase 4 is on Monitoring Your Plan for Deeper Learning.

If your district or school is considering Deeper Learning this is a great resource to share, or to create a focus group to explore the concept and decide if it is the right time for your building.

This visual on Inquiry Based Learning provides four questions in four areas:

* Pose real and valid questions

* Find the resources

* Interpret the information

* Report your findings

If you provide opportunities for learners to use inquiry based approaches this visual may be helpful for students to have as they work through the process.

Do you procrastinate? Do some of your students procrastinate? If so, this infographic may be one you want to share. It provides 15 techniques to help you beat procrastination. Two of the techniques are listed below. Each technique includes a short description plus a how and a why. To view the other 13 click through to the post.

* Know Yourself

     How - Understand how procrastination affects your life

                Think about the habits that often cause it

     Why - Insight prevents you from feeling inadequate

                Helps you understand the causes of procrastination

* Commit to assignments

     How - List tasks that you're confident you will complete

                Make a point of crossing each task off

     Why - Rebuilds faith in your own abilities

                Commits to making good on promises

This post is geared to students in high school and college, yet you will find that many of the techniques could be shared with students in elementary and middle school.

Can 2nd graders create infographics? Based on this post from ASIDE the answer would be yes! The students were able to Easel.ly and create 8 infographics that show their understanding of New York City at the turn of the century and today. Consider trying a similar project with students in your classroom (and make sure to learn to use Easel.ly before you introduce it to your students!).

Here are five great tips for helping students find books - a great find for librarians and for teachers in elementary school. The short hand version of the tips is below and additional information is located in the post..

1. Get to know the student

2. Experiment

3. Exposure

4. Permission to abandon the book

5. Time to look.

The visual above is not found on the site, but is found on Edutopia's Facebook page and also on Flickr.

This is a fairly recent (~2 months old) view of a student today.

* Did you know that Secretary of State Arne Duncan has said that the majority of students will be minority students this school year?

* Did you know that the amount of homework assigned weekly be teachers varies from 2.9 hours in grades  K-5 to 3.2 in grades 6-8 and 3.9 in grades 9 - 12?

Additional information in this infographic looks at the percentage of students engaged in after school activities; the percentage of students with a television, computer or other electronic device in their bedroom; the average hours of sleep lost by adolescents (based on their biological clock; percentage of overweight students (ages 10 - 17) and more.

Last year I used fast foods as a way to teach students graphing (and nutrition). When surveying students as to their favorite fast food restaurants McDonald's was often at the top.

This infographic provides a great deal of information that may be new to students. This infographic shows:

* Just how big McDonald's is (and the number may surprise you)

* The one location where the Golden Arches are not golden

* Where McDonald's are located (a world map with percentages of McDonald's based on area)

* The one fast food restaurant that has more locations that McDonald's

* The number of employees worldwide (as well as the number of hamburgers and customers served)

And much more.

You can have fun with maps that look at fast food locations across the US as a tool for students to learn how to interpret visualizations as well as do some calculations. One source you might check out is listed below.

* A map of all the McDonald's in the U.S. (published in 2009 and updated in 2010 at http://www.datapointed.net/2010/09/distance-to-nearest-mcdonalds-sept-2010/

If you have not used infographics with your class this infographic may be what moves you try them with your students. Research tells us that many of our students are visual learners, and great infographics provide information that is accessible. Mia MacMeekin provides an infographic that looks at four areas.

* What is an infographic?

* Why an infographic?

* What are the benefits?

* Can it change education
* What is the reach?

The joy of infographics is that students can also create them. Take some time to explore this post, and consider using them in your classroom.

Check out this new infographic from Mia MacMeekin that provides 27 tips on ways you might work with students who are not paying attention. Some of these suggestions may be new to you. Consider sharing this with teachers at your school and beyond!