Teacher Shelley Wright is on leave from her classroom, working with teachers in a half-dozen high schools to promote inquiry and connected learning. I think the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy is wrong. Hear me out. I know this statement sounds heretical in the realms of education, but I think this is something we should rethink, especially since it is so widely taught to pre-service teachers.  I agree that the taxonomy accurately classifies various types of cognitive thinking skills. It certainly ide...  show all text

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Chrome is my preferred web browser and the one that I recommend to anyone who asks. I like it because of its speed, its support for WebGL, the Chrome web apps, its synchronization of bookmarks and extensions, and now I like its ability to synchronize all of my open tabs across multiple devices. Today, Google released version 19 of Chrome. The latest update allows you to sign-in with your Google account and sync all of your open tabs across all of the devices on which you are using Chrome. (You ...  show all text

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This article was originally posted on the Getting Smart blog. From the first week of school, the six year olds in my classroom begin to create an online presence in the form of a digital portfolio.  We use a blogging platform to do this, and include artifacts that show their progress in writing, reading, math, social studies and science. I am frequently asked why I do this.  Even more frequently, I can see in a colleague’s eyes that they are thinking “why”, even if they don’t verbalize their q...  show all text

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I think collaboration and reflection are 2 of the biggest skills that kids need but aren't really getting enough of. Having the opportunity to work together in meaningful ways and to reflect on their work and the work of their peers is key to being a learner. There are lots of tools that you can use to help kids collaborate and reflect. Blogs are a great example. Podcasts are another. However, each can be daunting to set up and actually do. That's why I love Voicethread. What is Voicethread y...  show all text

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“Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.” ~ Gustave Flaubert Learning online can be an incredible journey but at some point you may feel overwhelmed with the surplus of information and resources. You may feel very excited about a resource you come across, but want to access that resource at some other date. Perhaps, you are teaching your students how to research online and they want to bookmark and create notes on websites. Many free webtools e...  show all text

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Earlier this month, the education startup incubator ImagineK12 held its second Demo Day, where its latest cohort of startups made their pitches to investors. I pointed to the write-up of Inigral’s Michael Staton in my weekly roundup of ed-tech news, but I realized this past week that I’ve done a particularly lousy job reviewing these latest startups here. I’ve covered Hapara and Instagrok (here and here), but that’s just two out of nine. So I’m resolved to try to cover a few more of these star...  show all text

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Some of the Internet’s best resources dedicated exclusively to educational uses of the iPad. The popularity of the iPad in our schools continues to grow, and with it, the proliferation of... [Please click on the post title to continue reading the full post. Thanks (and thanks for subscribing)!]

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As if we needed any more proof that where there's smoke there just might be a fire, the ELT blogosphere has been blessed with another shoot-from-the-hip critique of the notion of Dogme ELT by none other than Hugh Dellar, coursebook...

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The lucky country. Bright weather, bright people, bright future. Those were the messages that were consistently drummed into me as a young person growing up on this island continent. But as Iva Davies would tell you, it can also be...

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When we think about ways the iPad has changed the world, our minds usually shoot to publishing, entertainment, or mobile communication. For the community of people living with disabilities, the iPad may have broken even more ground. The iOS device is not only cool, but provides education, therapy and, of course, entertainment. Last summer, Mashable explored ways iPads are making these changes. Now we’re following up with Sami Rahman, the father of 4-year-old Noah and co-founder of BridgingApps,...  show all text

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I've seen plenty of presentations that try to incorporate social media, polling, and other interactive tools. It's all an effort to engage the audience and keep the conversation going. But usually these presentations don't do it right.

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Photo courtesy of Shutterstock. Laptops are doomed. In the next five years, tablets will displace notebook-style computers to become the dominant personal computing platform. And the transition from laptop to tablet has already begun. That’s the key finding of a new Forrester Research report that predicts the end of the laptop’s 15-year reign. The trend is already well under way among people born between 1980 and 2000, known to demographers as the millennial generation. In the U.S., 30% of tabl...  show all text

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Blogger and elementary principal Joe Mazza suggests (at least) 12 reasons why it's essential for school districts to open a Twitter account and start tweeting

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Get the seven steps (and a roundup of valuable resources) you need to help bring social media in your classroom.

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One of our main goals at Powerful Learning Practice is to turn educators into 21st Century educators. That is, teach them how to use social media and other powerful Web 2.0 tools to transform their classrooms into learning environments that are ready for today’s iGeneration students. One of the most common questions we get is, “But where do we find the time to use all this new technology?” To answer that question, we developed this infographic – A Day in the Life of a Connected Educator to show...  show all text

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            Handwriting recognition on tablets and other devices is something that I think is vital for many educators and students. It's hard to take notes in a math or science class just using a keyboard due to the symbols and equations. Penultimate is a handwriting app for the iPad that allows users to take handwritten notes and drawings. Evernote just bought Penultimate. I think this is an excellent thing for education. Penultimate was only on the iPad. Evernote is on, well, everythi...  show all text

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cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by mrsdkrebs Right now you probably hear as many people talk about how annoyed they are with the term “21st Century Learning” as you will hear people talking about the importance of it.  I will have to admit, I am in the “annoyed” camp. We often talk about these ideals of what “21st Century Learning” will look like but I think we can start with something much simpler.  We should start asking, “How do we ourselves best engage in our own learning?” I was rem...  show all text

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College students today are more tech savvy than ever before. Just how important is technology to their academic lives? More than 90% use email to communicate with professors and 73% say they cannot study without technology. Seven in 10 take notes on keyboards instead of paper, virtually all students who own an ereader and most use digital tools when preparing a presentation. All that tech has caused something of a dependency too — 38% of students can’t go more than 10 minutes without checking t...  show all text

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Windows users now have a way to wirelessly mirror iPad and iPhone to their computers with AirSever. Similar to Reflection for Mac, AirServer is software installed on a desktop or laptop that turns that the computer into an AirPlay receiver with no Apple TV required. There's absolutely no software to install on iPad or iPhone because AirPlay mirroring is built into iOS (but currently only on iPad 2, iPad 3rd generation, and iPhone 4S).  AirServer offer a 7 day trial period, though you will have ...  show all text

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When used effectively, technology plays an important role in enhancing the learning process. Teachers can use digital devices to present supplemental material for lessons or to encourage students to take a more hands-on role in their education.

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Rumours of this app were leaked last week, then it all went quiet, so its good to see that there’s now an official announcement on the EdCompass blog. From this summer, teachers and students will be able to use SMART Notebook software on an iPad using the SMART Notebook app. Using the SMART Notebook app, it will be possible to use many of the tools typically used on the SMART Board. It will be possible to open SMART Notebook file on their iPad, from an e-mail or site such as Dropbox, and write,...  show all text

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We’re often asked for detailed information on how educators are using blogs. So we’ve decided the best way to pull together a comprehensive resource is to survey educators. We’re looking for replies no matter what blogging platform you may be using. And here’s how you can help: Can you complete our survey? Can you share a link to our survey with your network?  The more responses we receive, the better the data we can deliver! Share links to any recent articles you’ve written on this topic by le...  show all text

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Be aware of the insidious and unspoken lessons you learned as a child. To thrive in the world outside the classroom, you’re going to have to unlearn them. Dangerous things you were taught in school:             1. The people in charge have all the answers. That’s why they are so wealthy and happy and [...]

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A roundup of educational articles, apps and tutorials for educators looking to integrate iPads into the classroom.

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I recently decided to compile some of the blog posts that I have written regarding social media and administrators.  I have created a “page” for these articles that I will continue to update as I write posts that may be helpful, but I just wanted to share this as a blog post to those people who may subscribe to this through an RSS feed or email subscription.  There are so many good articles out there but I wanted to compile the ones I have written to help to continuously develop my own portfolio  show all text

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Whenever I give a presentation or run a workshop about student video projects, I encourage the use of Creative Commons licensed media when it is not possible to create your own images and sounds. I often have to explain what Creative Commons licensing is and its benefits for consumers and producers of media. Recently, I remembered that Common Craft has a good explanation of Creative Commons licenses and what they mean for consumers and producers of media. I've embedded the video below. Applic...  show all text

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According to their latest product blog post Google Docs, which is now a part of Google Drive, now has more than 450 fonts available to all users. To access all of these new fonts select "add fonts" from the bottom of the font selection menu that you've always used. Selecting "add fonts" will open  up a new menu in which you can mix and match fonts to your heart's content. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers. Follow on Google+, Facebook, or Twitter.

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