July 2005
July 29, 2005
BlogFlux
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FREE Button Maker and Generator - Blog Flux
Teen Web Use
Educators who have yet to do so might have to re-evaluate their current instructional strategies in light of a new survey compiled for the Pew Internet & American Life Project; it indicates internet use is nearly ubiquitous for today's teens. Of those youngsters surveyed, 87 percent said they use the internet.
Tech-ing Wisely in K-2 Classrooms
Early childhood has distinctive learning and developmental characteristics. We asked the Education World Tech Team: How do you use technology effectively in K-2 classrooms? What activities and software programs have you had success with? Find out what Tech Team members suggest for successful and engaging computer use in the primary grades.
Education World ® Technology Center: Tech-ing Wisely in K-2 Classrooms
July 28, 2005
Turnarounds and Revitalizations
Can the "lessons learned" from face-to-face academic turnarounds be applied to online programs as well? A classic case of a school district "turnaround" is the Union City Public School in New Jersey , where school district leaders decided to take control of the once-centralized system in order to make the changes needed to attain student achievement levels needed to keep the district from being taken over.
How to be heard.
Writing a blog can be a lonely business. How many blogs have been started to languish with no readers day after day, week after week? Others, seemingly inexplicably, attract thousands of readers, hundreds of links.
What's the difference between them? After all, when you look at these popular blogs, you see nothing that you couldn't write yourself, would write yourself (if only you had some readers). Is it really just a matter of being part of the 'in group'?
The short answer is, partially, yes. People link to people they read, and they read people they know. Popular blogs build up a following over time, establish a level of trust (or at least a reputation for being interesting). Creating a popular blog is, for better or worse, like being popular at a party. It's pretty easy to be on the outside, a wallflower, wanting but never able to be a part of the conversation.
This guide will help you change that. It won't turn you into Instapudit or Scripting News. These are special cases; they got to their position by virtue of a push not available to most of us. But it will get you started. It will get you some readers, and make you a part of the conversation.
Stephen's Web ~ by Stephen Downes ~
July 27, 2005
Blogs @ Anywhere: High fidelity online communication
This development is all the more significant as a result of the communication dynamics inherent within blog technologies. Whereas an LMS stores and presents all information on a centralised and hierarchical basis, bound within the subject and the organisation, blogs are distributed, aggregated, open and independent. Through the use of blogs, it is suggested that teachers and learners are becoming empowered, motivated, reflective and connected practitioners in new knowledge environments. The balance between individualised and centralised technologies is restored.
How NOT to use blogs in education
July 26, 2005
The Blogosphere
. . a fresh and striking exemplification of Friedrich Hayek's thesis that knowledge is widely distributed among people and that the challenge to society is to create mechanisms for pooling that knowledge. The powerful mechanism that was the focus of Hayek's work, as of economists generally, is the price system (the market). The newest mechanism is the 'blogosphere.' There are 4 million blogs. The internet enables the instantaneous pooling (and hence correction, refinement, and amplification) of the ideas and opinions, facts and images, reportage and scholarship, generated by bloggers."
Schools Need to Get Up to Speed
Pretty much seems like schools are in reaction mode instead of proaction mode, and to me it's only going to get worse until schools start understanding the shifts that are occurring. This is a very different landscape, one where, to some extent, I think resistance is futile. The old paradigms of trying to manage or control the information flow pretty much goes out the window when everyone has a platform. What can schools in general do? Well, here are some pretty straightforward ideas, I think.
Weblogg-ed - The Read/Write Web in the Classroom :
A Systemic Challenge for Universities
The aim of the following text is to discuss the current challenges for higher education institutions in high-industrialised countries stemming from modern economic developments which are best characterized by the term 'knowledge economy'. The term is currently widely applied to the high-industrialised countries. The core element of knowledge economies or societies is their ability to innovate their economies and their societies in a permanent way
Networked Learning and Knowledge Management -
July 17, 2005
Rethinking Schools online
In this special edition, Rethinking Schools explores the hottest trend in education reform: small schools. The special issue includes contributions from national reform leaders like Michelle Fine, Deborah Meier, and Ann Cook. It also includes reports on small school efforts in New York, Chicago, Oakland, Philadelphia, Cincinnati and Cleveland.
July 15, 2005
Too much computer...not enough learning.
It is hard to disagree with any article that proclaims that too much time at a computer is a bad thing. The article, NewsandSentinel.com: Experts: Too much time on computer harmful, makes excellent points regarding the ills associated with computer games as well as strong points on the physical problems that are associated with over use, particularly in the formative years.
Chasing the Dragon's Tale: Too much computer...not enough learning
July 13, 2005
Textbooks give way to digital curriculum
The march from textbooks to computerized content began to look a little more inevitable this week as educators in Arizona and Tennessee edged closer to the all-digital curriculum
July 7, 2005
Cyber bullying
Welcome to this web site! Cyberbullying is sending or posting harmful or cruel text or images using the Internet or other digital communication devices.
WayBack. Flight
As America marks the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers' first airplane flight, this site will help kids learn about the stories behind the celebration.
Visitors can find out about how Orville and Wilbur Wright became interested in flight and how they tried to get their ideas off the ground. The site also highlights other firsts, like the first U.S. Air Mail pilots and early stunt pilots or barnstormers like Bessie Coleman, who was also the first African American woman pilot. A modern-day barnstormer (and commercial pilot) Susan Dacy tells kids what got her interested in flying and what keeps her excited. And a glimpse at the history of aviation is revealed through portraits of aviation pioneers.
WayBack . Flight | PBS KIDS GO!
Food Force
Play the game, learn about food aid, and help WFP work towards a world without hunger.
WFP Foodforce - The Game, The Reality, How to Help
July 4, 2005
20 Technology Skills Every Educator Should Have
During the last 15 years, we in education have moved at light speed in the area of educational technology. Whether you are involved in higher ed, secondary ed, elementary ed, or special ed, all of us find it difficult to catch up, keep up, and put up with fast-moving computer-based technology.
20 Technology Skills Every Educator Should Have
Let your mentors do the coaching
You don't have to spend a lot of money to create a sustainable professional development program that will successfully impact student learning. You have the people and the means in your own organization to make it happen. The challenge for you in creating a coaching and mentoring program will be determining the program goals, choosing and training the right people as mentors, providing the appropriate incentives, creating relevant resources, and finding time to develop and implement your program.
Techlearning > > Let Your Mentors Do the Coaching > July 1, 2005
Parental attitudes toward technology in education.
Parents are an often overlooked variable in most plans for integrating educational technology into classrooms. Informed Insight: Parental Attitudes toward Technology, from the February issue of Techlearning, explores parental attitudes toward the Internet, educational technology, and computers in general. The details of the research are worthy of additional study.
Chasing the Dragon's Tale: Parental attitudes toward technology in education
Time and date.com
Need to make a call to someone far away? Need to arrange a videoconference, telephone- or net-based meeting with several people spread around the globe? This utility should help you find a convenient time, so that no one has to be up during the middle of the night.
The World Clock Meeting Planner
