Chapter 6 Richardson

Very interesting chapter on combining all our social bookmarking apps and websites.  I never did much social bookmarking like delicious, feedly, diigo, etc....in the past.  I like the way it works and the many uses it has in the education field.  I am always interested to learn about new technologies like Diigo and this one did not disappoint.  Diigo was the best part of this chapter and I am starting to use it on a regular basis.  When combining all of these technologies and introducing them to students, their learning possibilities can be endless.



References:

Richardson, W. (2010) Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin

We Need Schools... Not Factories

This week I found a very interesting article in the Huffington Post.  Sugata Mitra winner of the TED prize states; "Unlocking the power of new technologies for self-guided education is one of the 21st century superhighways that need to be paved."  He gives a history of why and how education needed to evolve, and then why it must change again to meet this future technology based world.  Kids, teachers and parents must evolve with technology.  The Internet and the cloud must be embraced by the education community. This is a must read!


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sugata-mitra/2013-ted-prize_b_2767598.html?utm_hp_ref=email_share

• Posted: 02/27/2013 2:47 PM
• Updated: 03/15/2013

Discovery Education Partners to Add Content

Once again Discovery is doing its part for education.  Kids and adults love the Discovery Education tools.  It has a multitude of Social Studies Apps for all ages.  One of my favorites involves current events for the middle school crowd.   "Though a partnership with MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, Discovery Education introduces Global Wrap, a summary of the week’s news from across the globe.  Developed for a middle school audience, Global Wrap presents a series of short reports to help make complex news stories easier to understand.  - See more at: http://www.techlearning.com/Default.aspx?tabid=67&entryid=6759#sthash.EgoVlu1V.dpuf."
I have already incorporated this into my lesson plans.  Current events is a big part of my social studies class.  If you have ever seen adults on the Tonight show get quizzed about who the president is or how a certain major event is progressing?  You will understand what I mean. Many Americans have no clue what is going on in the world let alone their own country, yet we allow them to vote.  A freedom that not everyone has and most in the United States don't partake in.  I am doing my best to race a generation that is involved and has a basic level of knowledge about the world.

Resource:

Discovery Education Partners to Add Content. (2013, November 16). Retrieved November 18, 2013, from www.techlearning.com/Default.aspx?tabid=67&entryid=6759

Helping Veterans Succeed in the Classroom

I have been a United States Marine for 20 years, so this story hits close.  The military veterans of our great nation have been learning throughout their military careers.  It is a never ending process, for anyone in uniform from the GED holder to those who hold several Masters or Phds., education is always important.  “I have seen it in my own classroom — veterans bring the same determination and focus to their studies that they brought to serving our country,” said Dr. Biden, a lifelong educator and military mom.  Dr. Biden said the efforts were “exactly what the First Lady and I hoped to see when we started our Joining Forces initiative two years ago … individuals, businesses, and nonprofits working with the public sector to step up and do what they do best to help veterans and military families.” (Guest Blogger)  After 10+ years of war there are now millions of service members ready to get educated, and serve again wherever the country and society needs them. 




Resource:

Guest Blogger (2013, November 14). Helping Veterans Succeed in the Classroom | ED.gov Blog. Retrieved November 18, 2013, from http://www.ed.gov/blog/2013/11/helping-veterans-succeed-in-the-classroom/

Chapter 5 in Collins/Halverson

This week I enjoyed both Chapters in Collins/Halverson book.  The brief history in chapter 4 of American Education and how it came to be was good, but the Chapter 5 is where my interests caught a little bit of a spark.  This is education in the computer age.  It is mostly good, but the chapter is very careful to show you both sides of the story.  Here we see almost every form of technology based learning from computer software, to home schooling to distance learning and much more.  Some of these I am a fan of and some not so much, but I do agree there is a place in society for all of them when it comes to learning.  Most of these I wish were around when I was going through school years ago.  I am doing my best to get caught up on the technical side and I am enhancing the education side more and more each day.  We are all doing the Distance Education thing and are in this class for various reasons, most of which are helping us to become better teachers using technology.  This is a big contrast from the way I grew up learning, and it will hopefully be a better one for the kids of the future.

Reference:

Collins, A., & Halverson, R. (2009). Rethinking education in the age of technology: The digital revolution and schooling in America. New York: Teachers College Press.  

Cloud Classrooms - Next Big Thing In Education

I chose this article/blog because it deals with education and technology.  It even goes so far to say that a lot of educators are still very uncomfortable about technology in the classroom.  It deals with the now famous or infamous Cloud.  That thing that cannot be seen, but can connect everything and everyone from anywhere faster than ever before.  “Cloud computing has a lot to offer to schools and colleges – from simplifying administration and admission processes to enabling faster information access and easier communication.”  The article gives a few examples that are being used now like Mobile Classrooms and Distance Learning, but eludes to the nearly infinite amount of possibilities in the not so distant future.

Reference:

Thorne, L. (2013, November 12). Cloud Classrooms - Next Big Thing In Education - Tech Bytes EDU [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.techbytesedu.com/2/post/2013/11/cloud-classrooms-next-big-thing-in-education.html

Ch 7 Fun With Flickr

All I think of when using photographs in my work is the old saying, "a picture is worth a thousand words".  Flickr is one of the leading picture/photo websites in the world and enhances learning for both students and teachers when used properly. 

The part of the chapter that caught my eye was the section on using Google Earth/Maps with Flickr.  Tagging photos to exact points on the earth.  I teach a lot of geography, and this feature makes things a lot more interesting.  Flickr images enhance learning in both physical and cultural geography.  Flickr also has a map tool for easy use, and you can see what other photos were used in the past to mark a spot on the map.


Reference: Richardson, W. (2010) Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin.

Innovative Purchase Model for e-Books Launched

E-Books are possibly the best invention to enter the mainstream in years.  Every kid I know that has an e-book tends to read more and enjoy what they are reading.  The Gale Reference Library has a new e-book platform that will be used for unlimited and simultaneous usage of e-books with no checkout restrictions.  The platform they are using is based on a usage driven acquisition model which means;

"Customers interested in the UDA model will make an upfront deposit (minimums apply) and will get complete access to the full line of Gale and Gale imprint e-titles, roughly 2,000 titles, for six months. At the end of the six month period, e-books with the greatest usage will be automatically added permanently to the library’s GVRL collection and deducted from the library’s initial deposit. Once an e-book is purchased, libraries have unlimited, simultaneous use of the title." (Innovative)

I still love libraries and some of the new virtual libraries like Gale are worth a look.

References:

Cengage Learning - Gale - Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL). (2013). Retrieved November 7, 2013, from http://www.cengage.com/search/showresults.do?N=197+4294904997

 Innovative Purchase Model for e-Books Launched. (2013, November 7). Retrieved November 7, 2013, from http://www.techlearning.com/Default.aspx?tabid=67&entryid=6722

 

 

 

Some Education Humor

35 Reasons to OUTLAW Homeschooling!

Sometimes you just need to laugh.