May 2011 Blog Posts (45)

Hello to fellow RDED 535 students.  Let's have a fun summer!

Jim

Experienced Instructional Designer provides insights into getting the most from today’s (and tomorrow’s) instructional technologies.

In his role as Instructional Designer at The Home Depot Inc, James Hill designed and developed training programs and performance improvement tools for front-line sales employees. He has also designed learning for the transportation industry and…

I’ve been reading a lot of assignments of late to do with literacy generally and the “literacy wars” in particular.   Perhaps predictably the students fall comfortably into the “phonics” or “whole language” camps – few have made the accurate observation that both approaches co-exist in the classrooms of effective teachers.   Some have stretched a little further to include…

              As I read the article by Prensky, I found it very difficult to decide if I was a Digital native or immigrant.  I grew up on the cusp of the digital age.  I felt like I was always one step behind the digital wave, so if I'm a native it is just barely.  This gives me the advantage over some of my colleagues who still are having trouble turning on their computers much less locating a website and writing a blog.  However, I am leaps and bounds behind my students who teach me…

I am definitely an immigrant. I am very attracted to technology but I think my use tends to be superficial. I covet the newest stuff, usually adopt during the 2^nd generation and bounce around from product to product looking for something that I can’t quite define (can you say, “abstract random” . . .  “nice try”). I like to experiment with my teaching and am constantly looking for effective alternatives to traditional techniques. I keep thinking that there has to be a better…

I am definitely a digital immigrant.  Ironically, my job is to support 35 teachers who teach digital natives. While I am not afraid of technology, I do have what Marc Prensky would define as a accent.  On example of my accent would be that I send out a monthly newsletter and then print copies for each teacher to review at monthly meetings with teams of teachers.  I would classify two of the teachers I support as digital…

I'm a big fan of the use of puzzle apps in the classroom. I think that they can be great for stimulating higher level thinking skills and for encouraging creative thinking. I have a lot that I use on my iPod Touches at school.

One of the latest ones that I have used is SwipeTapTap. It is great for concentration and memory skills. It encourages fast thinking and attention to detail - all good classroom skills!

For a chance to win a copy of SwipeTapTap for your…

The first edition of ISTE SIGVE's Virtual Education Journal (VEJ) is online and available for your reading pleasure. Please visit http://issuu.com/edovation/docs/1st_vej_may_2011 to read it or pick up on on ISTE Island in Second Life to read within SL. 

It's just beautiful! Thanks to Rosie Vojtek and Bob for their tireless work on it! And we'll see you all in Philadelphia June 26-27 for the SIGVE Virtual…

Original blog post here

Why use iPads in K12 Education?

To be successful when using technology in education one should focus on learning, engagement, creativity, inquiry-based learning, and differentiated instruction over the technology tools used to amplify learning. I believe that IPad’s and other digital…

Our students are digital learners and thinkers. Teachers should realize this and accommodate and update. There are plentiful resources out there so there should be no excuses. You can blog, glog, wiki, Facebook, use an I pad/IPod, ect. After reading the article, it really opened my eyes to how our children are learning. It really is a serious issue in our schools. I think that if we can incorporate technology into our…

Times have definitely changed in the way teachers teach, and the ways children learn. I found these videos and articles were very interesting. I am not that old, but times have even changed from when I was in school to now, and the way I teach. I thought the language in which we all speak, or the slang that we use was interesting. I found it interesting that often times we cannot understand the students, and they cannot understand our lingo.

When trying to think if I was a digital…

This was originally posted on The Freshman Transition Network.

Years ago, my good friend and colleague, Ray Moore, attended an AVID conference in San Diego.  He tells me that at the conference he heard the superintendent of San Diego City Schools state the following:

It…

Check the first post I did it to my new blog, concerning the culture of teachers' evaluation. It will be great if you leave your opinion or your experience.

http://elgreco-physiart.blogspot.com/2011/05/culture-of-evaluation.html

Although I am definitely a digital immigrant, as I went through school the transition from typewriters to computers was complete.  I can remember when I applied for a summer job that required typing 40 words per minute (which should have been no problem as I was typing nearly 60 in my high school computer class).  The frustration was that when I arrived for the typing test it was given on a typewriter.  Just the feel of the keystrokes and the awkwardness of the machine was enough that I was…

Salman Khan is an inspiring education technology leader on a mission.

If your interested in “ed tech”, you’ve probably already heard of him. I first wrote about Salman Khan work in this post in March…