Techademic

Moodle 2.0 Gradebook – part 1

Justin Loh — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 07:35:35 +0000

By: HRDNZMoodlePartner
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FbOti83Nkw

First part of the Gradebook movie for Moodle 2.0.

Top 10 Reasons to Use Technology in Education: iPad, Tablet, Computer, Listening Centers

Justin Loh — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 03:20:10 +0000

By: amplivoxsound
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzi2RIt8_nk

Tweet this video! http://clicktotweet.com/DeuKj

http://www.ampli.com/

Please like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AmplivoxPortableSoundSystemsandLecterns
For the Article in Print, visit http://blog.ampli.com/2011/11/integrating-new-technology-in-classroom.html

While there are some nay-sayers who bring up some negative effects of technology on education in the classrooms, mainly budgetary reasons, using new technologies is the future of the education system.
The following reasons should silence the nay-sayer and help them heed the wisdom from Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach,
“Teachers will not be replaced by technology, but teachers who don’t use technology will be replaced by those who do.”.

Teachers are finding that using different classroom technologies like tablet computers, digital video, iPods, and video games are great tools for helping students learn.

Kindle ereader nook
1. Students love it. Students love using new technologies in the classroom. Whether it be the “cool” factor or just a genuine interest in new technology, it allows teachers to vary activities of the day and engage students. There is no commandment for education that says,
“THOU SHALT NOT HAVE FUN”
Students spend hours using technology like computers and television when they get home from school–why not engage them through their favorite mediums?
2. It engages the Four Key Components to Learning. Click on the link to read how technology in education (specifically the iPod School Listening Center) engages the 4 key components to learning.
3. Professional Development. Using new technologies allow students to learn another skill set that will help them in the marketplace. How many jobs need basic computing skills let alone advanced computing skills? Any time a teacher can encourage students to learn through technology, they kill two birds with one stone.
The tech industry is only getting bigger–encourage your students to know and understand technology so they can be the tech leaders of the future!
With the power of the internet, knowing how to use a simple piece of technology can turn an aspiring singer into Justin Bieber (whose mom uploaded videos of him singing which led to his fame) and a hilarious prankster into YouTube Star EdBassmaster, who recently used an AmpliVox Sound Cruiser PA System in a video (that is approaching 1,000,000 views!). EdBassMaster “Look at This” Video with Sound Cruiser
4. Makes Life Easier for Teachers. Teachers have to juggle a variety of tasks outside of teaching including planning lessons, grading, meeting with parents, and some administrative work. Why not help yourself out and put objective tests online so that students can instantly see their grades instead of spending valuable time grading?

5. It Improves Test Scores. A benefit of engaging students through technology and media is allowing them to work at their own pace and not be held back by students who learn at a slower rate. This can allow gifted students to progress several grades ahead of their peers over the course of a year. Another proof of improved test scores comes from reaching different learning styles through the use of technology. The use of electronic drilling in education can help students learn quickly and provide incentives like games for them to keep progressing. Nobody does this better than Khan Academy.
6. Helps Students with Low Attention Spans. Students with ADD or ADHD can be aided through the use of technology by mixing up the learning process with different methods and through providing them engaging activities to keep their interest. Technology is a favorite among teachers who teach in ESL classrooms or special education settings.
Even the best teachers can have their moments or topics when they are like Ben Stein in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off or Charlie Brown’s Teacher in the eyes of their students. Using technology keeps students awake and their attention level high. How hard is it for you to fall asleep while on the internet compared to hearing a lecture?
7. Learn from the Experts. With the an increasing amount of free resources available on the internet, you can engage your students with content from the smartest and best teachers in the world

AmpliVox Sound Systems manufactures and sells portable sound systems along with lecterns and podiums with built-in sound systems that are perfect for classrooms. The Pinnacle Multimedia Lectern and iPod Portable PA System are great products for school settings that have a variety of uses both indoor and outdoors.

This video applies for kindergarten, pre kindergarten, elementary school (first, second, third, fourth, fifth grades), junior high or middle school, high school and at the college/university level. These tips are great for reading help, grammar, math, science, nursing, computers, classroom management

Special thanks to all those people who had videos under the “Creative Commons” License that allowed us to use short clips of their video.

Techademic, Issue No. 06.2013

Justin Loh — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 20:16:44 +0000

Techademic 06.2013. In this issue: Find out about the latest on the Moodle 2 test including what’s been done and future goals!

A Vision of Students Today

Justin Loh — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 21:51:26 +0000

By: mwesch
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o

a short video summarizing some of the most important characteristics of students today – how they learn, what they need to learn, their goals, hopes, dreams, what their lives will be like, and what kinds of changes they will experience in their lifetime. Created by Michael Wesch in collaboration with 200 students at Kansas State University.

Music by Try^d: http://tryad.org/listen.html

Download higher quality wmv:

http://www.mediafire.com/?ajm0lzxh223

mov version:

http://www.mediafire.com/?3xbhmdmsfmd

More information:

http://mediatedcultures.net/ksudigg/?p=119

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License. So you are welcome to download it, share it, even change it, just as long as you give me some credit and you don’t sell it or use it to sell anything.

Techademic, Issue No. 05.2012

Justin Loh — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 20:12:12 +0000

Techademic 05.2012 In this issue: part 2 of our coverage of the CUE conference complete with presenter resources of the attended presentations and Curt Dodd’s experience with MOOCs!

Techademic, Issue No. 04.2012

Justin Loh — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 20:11:48 +0000

Get caught up on Techademic Issue No.04.2012!

Techademic, Issue No. 03.2012

Justin Loh — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 01:10:05 +0000

Read the new issue of Techademic 03.2012!

Techademic, Issue No. 02.2012

Justin Loh — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 01:07:41 +0000

Read the second issue of Techademic 02.2012!

Fall CUE Round Up, pt. 2 – Resources and Tools

Justin Loh — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 01:00:20 +0000

In part 1 we looked at highlights and trends from the Fall CUE Conference that took place in American Canyon, California. Today, I want to share some of the best resources and tools that I took away from the sessions that I attended. All links open in a new window.

World Wide Literacy: Searching and Curation of Content
Kyle Brumbaugh

Summary: Teachers are not the sole source of information in a day and age where information is readily available from a smartphone. What educators should be doing is embracing the new literacy: digital curation of content. The Internet illustrates that there is an extreme difference in the idea of “knowing that” versus “knowing how”: just because it is on the Internet does not make it fact or truth. Sites like Wikipedia can assist in being a starting point via citations and Google Advanced Search tools can help locate very specific information. Additional tools can help educators and students evaluate a webpage for accuracy and scholarly appropriateness.

Research and Best Practices to Engage the Online Learner
Patricia Dickenson

Summary: Research supports the notion that online learners outperform face-to-face learners. But this is only possible through effective engagement, understanding that engagement is malleable and not fixed, completely dependent on the classroom context. Engagement is measured by emotional, behavioral, and cognitive. Using readily available Web 2.0 tools in the place of analog assignments is one way to foster this engagement: blogging instead of reflective journals for example. It is recommended to model these tools that you want students to use and to give detailed and “hard” feedback at the beginning of the term and then ease up in order to set expectations high.

Google Lit Trips v.2 New Destinations and New Opportunities
Jerome Burg

Google Lit Trips is a very cool tool that supplements literature. Using Google Earth, students can trace the journeys of famous characters from literature in order to learn more about locations using relevant media. Download Google Earth to your computer or to your Android or iOS device and then download the custom files to your device and begin to enjoy!

Online Learning with SFMOMA ArtThink: Visual Arts, Social Studies and Language Arts
Esther Kligman-Frey

Blending iPad and Desktop Apps for Storytelling, Video, and Photography
Thom Dunks

AppleTV and iPads replace your IWB, Doc Cam, and Wireless Tablet
Jon Corippo

Many educators are used to do-it-yourself solutions and so getting an Apple TV/iPad solution in the classroom is a fairly attainable endeavor. It should be noted that every district/institution has its own set of technology policies so be sure to consult with your IT team before purchasing anything. But there are a lot tools out there to make the connection simple, practical, and affordable.

Great eLearning vs. Online Road Kill: How Can You Tell the Difference?
Brian Bridges

I wrote at length about online learning in part 1, but suffice to say, it is here and there is a right way and a wrong way of doing it. The second Presenter Resources (Links) below contains a wealth of additional links, resources, articles, and studies.

Technology Tools for Learning Mathematics
Patricia Dickenson

Fall CUE Round Up, pt. 1 – Highlights and Trends

Justin Loh — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 01:00:13 +0000

I had the pleasure of attending my very first Computer-Using Educators (CUE) conference which took place October 26-27 at the beautiful campus of American Canyon High School located just south of Napa, California. CUE’s mission (cue.org/about):

CUE provides leadership and support to advance student achievement in the educational technology community.

This conference gathers the best and brightest educators to share their experiences, knowledge, and resources with other educators who share a passion and desire to create engaging experiences with students through the use of technology.

Over 100 presentations from exhibitors and educators made for quite a busy two days. Obviously, there is more content than any one person can absorb; deciding which session to attend often felt like a ‘Sophie’s Choice’ between two or more potentially exciting sessions. That said, with so many award winning teachers, Certified Google Teachers, and Distinguished Apple Educators, you would have to try very hard to walk away from this conference with nothing to show for it.

CUE is dedicated to keeping its finger on the zeitgeist of the industry. This conference (one of many events held each year) informs as much as it educates on the trends, tools, and direction of education. Some of the highlights and trends that I took away from this conference:

Google: The search giant’s free suite of applications is an essential tool for any educator’s repertoire, if the program guide listing available sessions was any indication. It shouldn’t be a surprise, though: email, calendar, blogging, presentations, cloud storage and more, again all for FREE. Low cost solutions have always been necessary for education, and with dwindling budgets, Google has come to the rescue to empower educators everywhere with tools that can make a teacher’s life easier and more effective.
Creative uses of Google tools included a project called Google Lit Trips, where students can retrace the journeys of characters from literature using Google Earth. Other topics included using Google Sites to house lesson plans, collaboration with Google Docs, ePortfolios with Google Apps, organizing student communication in Google Apps, and advanced searching with Google.
iPad: Speaking of tools, this might have been the first conference where I saw just as many iPads as laptops, perhaps more-so. Apple’s wondertablet has been a runaway success in the consumer market and many institutions are considering its place in the classroom. Unsurprisingly, teachers have latched on to its intuitive interface and staggering amount of apps to create new engaging opportunities and even replacing some old tools and methods in the process.
Several demonstrations made it clearly evident that the iPad is a true all-in-one tool; a Swiss-Army knife of function that is more limited by your imagination than by technical capabilities. Which is why teachers have abandoned expensive interactive whiteboards and clunky document cameras and adopted a device that does these things (in an arguably better way) and more. Using the optional Apple TV appliance connected to a projector or TV, the teacher can mirror and display to the class whatever activity is taking place on the iPad. With the Apple TV priced at $99 and the new iPad mini at $329, for just over $400 a teacher can have an extremely versatile tool at a fraction of the cost of other more expensive and limited function devices.

Topics included what a 1:1 iPad school rollout looks like, challenge-based learning with iPads, creating student engagement with iPads, how to maximize one iPad in the classroom, storytelling with the iPad, Kindergarten through 8th grade apps, making screencasts with the iPad, Apple TV and iPads replacing smartboards and document cameras, and using iPads to respond to literature.
Online Learning: If your institution has been putting off online learning, dismissing it as something ‘to think about in the future’, guess what: the future is here. In a recent survey published by the California Department of Education, 45% of surveyed school districts/charter schools have an online program, and 33% of respondents are either currently discussing or planning on implementing online learning. A study published by the Sloan Consortium in 2011 reported that the number of college students enrolled in at least one online course increased for the ninth straight year. 6.1 million students took at least one online class during the fall of 2010; that number promises to grow. The message was heard loud and clear: all institutions are expected to provide some online or hybrid learning courses in order to compete in the ever evolving landscape of 21st century education.
However, it isn’t enough to simply “get there”. Sessions relating to online learning were focused on best practices using whatever tool the speaker chose to present. Brian Bridges of the California Learning Resource Network (CLRN) spoke on the temptation for schools to purchase pre-packaged curriculum without properly vetting it. He also encouraged those in attendance to plan strategically, identify objectives, and set realistic and attainable goals, i.e. start with one lesson rather than feel the overwhelming pressure of converting a year’s worth of lessons to online.

Perhaps the most important takeaway: online pedagogy is completely different than in-class pedagogy. Bridges did not mince words when he pointed out that many online courses even commercial products are “garbage”. Although there are many ways to create an online course, there are actual standards that an instructional designer must adhere to in order to ensure the utmost quality for said course. Bridges cautioned that poorly designed courses will “kill” online learning.

Topics included designing online communities of practice, research and best practice to engage the online learner, the advantages of Edmodo, online learning with the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Masters degree programs from San Diego State University, what a great online course looks like, online privacy, and digital citizenship.
Flipped Classroom: This was one of those topics that if you had asked me before the conference if could define the concept I would have undoubtedly given you an abstract and incomplete answer in a vain attempt to look intelligent. After Flipped Classroom pioneer Jon Bergmann took the stage at the opening keynote, not only can I define it for you, but I believe in it.
The Flipped Classroom is a teaching style that enables teachers to have more face-to-face time by encouraging students to take responsibility for their learning. This model enables differentiation for individual students as well as supporting mastery learning. This is commonly done by having students watch recorded lectures for homework and then completing assignments, labs, and assessments in class with the teacher available; hence the “flipped” moniker.

Mr. Bergmann’s enthusiasm and passion were infectious. Clearly, other teachers have caught the fever judging by the amount of Flipped Classroom-themed topics at the conference. I even purchased his book, which is something I rarely do; I have little patience and interest in dry expositions about theories and models. However, his story is different. Though I have just begun reading his book, I can see that this is more focused on practical application while being transparent on the challenges and disadvantages. I look forward to digging deeper on the topic.

You might be thinking, Yay, another education fad and dismiss it as such. After many years in the classroom, its an understandable conclusion: you’ve seen it all and seen the trends come and go. But how many of us actually ask ourselves a simple question: What is best for my students in my classroom? That’s what makes this approach worth a look. Born out of care, not bureaucracy. Spreading from educator to educator through viral testimonials and not mandated initiatives. This is a grassroots movement, the kind that we cherish as Americana. Maybe it’s not right for everybody. Maybe you don’t have the tools or resources, the lack of these are certainly barriers to change. But when you’re alone with your thoughts and if they still linger, every so often, on your class and what you could do better for your students, then you owe it to yourself and to them to take a look at the Flipped Classroom.

Topics on the Flipped Classroom included using Google Apps, using an inquiry framework for flip instruction, digital curation, Common Core Standards, using the iPad, mobile video, and using YouTube.

Stay tuned for pt. 2 in which we will look out some of the best resources and tools that were shared at the conference!