December 2008 Blog Posts (111)

Dr. Michio Kaku agreed to do a free webinar for both teachers and students at noon EST on December 17th

Dr. Michio Kaku agreed to do a free webinar for both teachers and students at noon EST on December 17th. It's intended for teachers to share with students and Michio is a great speaker to get people excited about science given how he relates complex subjects to what they see on TV and in movies, I think there's be a ton of classes that'd be interested in it. The registration link is at http://tinyurl.com/michiokaku or you can read more about him at… Continue

Added by Deirdre Bonnycastle on December 11, 2008 at 10:14am — 1 Comment

eSession: Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility

Hello all, I found this really interesting and would love to share :)

Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility by Andrew Lauman…

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Added by Alfajri Alwis on December 11, 2008 at 4:39am — No Comments

Digital history in the classroom

Over the last 20 years, online representations of historical content have begun to fundamentally reshape the historical studies landscape. Examples abound from Google's recent unveiling of 2 million digitized historical photographs from Life magazine http://images.google.com/hosted/life to the wonderfully rich collection of historical documents available at American Memory http://memory.loc.gov to the… Continue

Added by John Lee on December 10, 2008 at 11:39pm — No Comments

The Interactive White Board concept is contageous

I've spent most of my free time (as well as some that should have been used in other ways) helping the teacher next door recently. She learned of a grant in our state that is designed for implementation of technology in the classroom. Over these several hours, she has picked my brain regarding IWBs and what they can do. Each time we meet, I feel like she is doing a better job of finding ways to wring water out of a dry sponge. When I think I've told her everything I know, she finds a way to ask… Continue

Added by Glen Westbroek on December 10, 2008 at 7:42pm — 2 Comments

Have you heard of Moodle?

First posting to this list, so please be patient with me.

During this semester, I have had a look at TYPO3 and Moodle as different CMS.

These are being considered as private alternatives to using the standard Blackboard LMS.

May I ask for any comments or suggestions from others that may have already used Moodle and TYPO3 in their own schools /classrooms?

Regards, Bill Oldham

Added by Magical Bill on December 10, 2008 at 5:25pm — 4 Comments

Using SchoolCenter

Our school district uses SchoolCenter as our Content Management System (CMS). I'd like to invite you to share your ideas on how you use SchoolCenter with other Classroom 2.0 users.

For example:

New Design Themes

A lot of you have used the new design themes from SchoolCenter on your web sites. They really make it look bright and up-to-date. Please contact me if you would like me to walk you thru the process for adding a theme. SchoolCenter has promised to add… Continue

Added by John Patota on December 10, 2008 at 8:40am — No Comments

Test Your Students' Xmas Knowledge - Make Christmas Quizzes with Sounds & Videos

When the season of goodwill and tidings comes, you may like to find some funny ways for sharing some cheer with your friends on Christmas.

Quizzing is a good way to impress your folks in the Season's party. Well, you can really add some Christmas merriness and enrich the Season's spirit with some simple questions which go in perfect sync with the Christmas mood. …

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Added by Sabrina Fu on December 10, 2008 at 12:49am — No Comments

Blogging to make a difference

I read with interest Will Richardson's recent article in Edutopia about an 11 yr old girl named Laura who started a blog last year titled 25 days to make a difference. In the article, Richardson shares… Continue

Added by Colette Cassinelli on December 9, 2008 at 9:00pm — 1 Comment

Interactive White Boards & Student Interest

Today's lesson involved the use of an Promethean(R) Interactive White Board and the review of DNA, RNA, and Protein Synthesis. The time spent working on interactivity was more than I expected - but I hoped students would enjoy being directly involved in their lesson. As we are on the block schedule, I allocated 80 minutes and was worried it might be too much time. Students went to the board and worked out challenges - often by asking for help from peers who were seated. Following their… Continue

Added by Glen Westbroek on December 9, 2008 at 7:32pm — 4 Comments

speech therapist shortage

Has anyone come up with creative solutions to serving students with language and speech impairments in this day of increasing eligibility and decreasing availability of speech therapists?

Many years ago we implemented a service delivery model where we would serve half the students for one month, mor intensively, then the other half of the population the next month, alternating months. It worked well, but there was less accountability at that time.

Added by Francine on December 9, 2008 at 2:56pm — No Comments

Tips for a better you.

A friend of mine gave me this and I wanted to share with you. These are great tips and thoughts to ponder as you go about your busy day. I have this posted on the side of my desk and try to take time to at least do a few a day. I've perfected #9.

Tips for a better you.

1. Take… Continue

Added by John Costilla on December 9, 2008 at 7:54am — 2 Comments

Maricopa Learning eXchange (MLX)

The Maricopa Learning eXchange (MLX) is an electronic warehouse of ideas, examples, and resources (represented as "packages") that support student learning at the Maricopa Community Colleges.

The key to MLX is it being a place for exchange of ideas. Anyone from anywhere can browse and search the warehouse. Each "package" is represented by a descriptive "packing slip" that… Continue

Added by Kevin Chilton on December 9, 2008 at 7:12am — No Comments

Time Waster

I just wasted several minutes with Bomomo http://bomomo.com/ (and I gotta tell ya, it was fun!). Please tell me if you've got a "more worthy" application for this "tool." Thanks!

While investigating a tad farther, I discovered Games for the Brain http://www.gamesforthebrain.com/. The good news here is that my enjoyment level seemed to directly correlate with my increased time involvement. AND, I can claim… Continue

Added by Ellen on December 8, 2008 at 4:30pm — No Comments

My "Speedy" 2008

This weekend I spent some time gathering all the videos of events from this year. This is my family video yearbook in 60 seconds. Enjoy!

Merry… Continue

Added by John Costilla on December 8, 2008 at 12:08pm — No Comments

远程教育

Added by lisb on December 8, 2008 at 10:08am — 1 Comment

Connectivism & Networked Learning

[Cross posted on Education Musings]

I spend much of my time reading, writing, discussing, and blogging about ideas around the broad theme of 21st Century learning. More specifically,… Continue

Added by Shuchi Grover on December 8, 2008 at 5:36am — 1 Comment

How to Create Quizzes From Excel

Here is a step-by-step tutorial of create quizzes from excel:

Wondershare QuizCreator provides users with two options of adding different question types to a quiz.

1. Create questions one by one in QuizCreator.

2. Import questions from an external… Continue

Added by Sabrina Fu on December 8, 2008 at 12:00am — No Comments

Content Based Learning: Improve Reading Using Newspapers

Content Based Learning Extends the Student to his Own Level

Content Based Learning has as its focus, Content, and provides the student a rich base of content for learning.

A base content is provided by the teacher, with the option for the student to extend beyond what the teacher and lesson provides. This allows the student who is capable and motivated, to work at his own level, and extend his learning to the level of his own capability.

Using a… Continue

Added by Maggi Carstairs on December 7, 2008 at 6:49pm — No Comments

Dec 7 -- Digital Inequity

When I think about it, the "digital divide" is amazing. The second paper we read for today (eSchool News 7/7/08 Educators wrestle with digital-equity challenges) had some amazing stats: 1) 80% of websites are in English but only 10% of the world speaks it (how much is Spanish or Chinese?); 2) broadband costs only 2% of income for high-income opulations but 900% for poor; 3) 82% of Americans (I'm assuming that's USA North Americans) own cells phones (74% Anglo, 71% Af-Am, 84% Hispanic -- but… Continue

Added by Cathleen Randall on December 7, 2008 at 6:00pm — No Comments

Response to Intervention, High School, and Dropout Prevention

Most of the workshops I've attended about RTI have focused on resources and strategies designed for the elementary school level. More resources are now available that are appropriate for the high school level than before, and I thought I'd devote a few posts on this topic.

This is especially important when we consider that high school students who receive special education services, the most intensive level of support and intervention offered in our public schools, continue to have a… Continue

Added by Lynn Marentette on December 7, 2008 at 12:30pm — 2 Comments