Monday, May 28, 2012

New course will show teachers how to create, use educational games



New course will show teachers how to create, use educational games

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — With an increasing number of children “wired” from an early age, adept at playing computer games and surfing the Web by elementary school, future teachers need to know how to integrate educational games into their teaching practice, according to Wen-Hao (David) Huang, a professor in the department of education policy, organization and leadership in theCollege of Education at the University of Illinois. Huang wants to “game-ify” the classroom by teaching future educators how to develop engaging interactive games that they can use as effective instructional tools....more

Saturday, May 26, 2012

How Tech Will Transform the Traditional Classroom


As the post-PC era moves from interesting theory to cold, hard reality, one of the most pressing questions is: How can we use tablets, and especially the iPad, to help people learn?
Most of the focus has been on ebooks replacing textbooks, a trend fueled by Apple’s recent updates to iBooks. Specifically, the company released iBooks Author, a tool for creating immersive ebooks on the desktop.
Plus, the new iPad is now the first tablet with a retina screen, making reading and watching multimedia on the device even more enjoyable.
But technology is only as good as the system it’s applied to. Much like a fresh coat of paint will not improve the fuel efficiency of a ’69 Mustang, the application of technology to a broken system masks deeper problems with short-term gains......more



Friday, May 25, 2012

Grockit’s New Web-Based Teaching Product Makes Learning Look Pretty

Social learning start-up Grockitlaunched Learnist on Thursday, a stand-alone product separate from Grockit’s flagship online collaborative test preparation service.
Learnist builds on Grockit’s social teaching concept while adding another element that company founder Farb Nivi claims is crucial: The visual element.
Think of Learnist as something of a mashup between Pinterest and Wikipedia. Users find content from across the Web — videos, news stories, music, Soundcloud links and what have you — and post it to a personal board that other users can follow. It’s ideal, Nivi says, for teachers who want to curate multimedia lessons for students to follow, though without the feel of a stodgy, traditional lesson plan.....more

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Twas the week before finals...

Project Glass: One day...

Microsoft Vision of the Classroom of the Future

Education Reform: Language and Technology vs. STEM

Education Reform: Language and Technology vs. STEM

As we get closer to the presidential election, organizations and individuals are once again appealing to officials for an education reform. Over the past few years there has been a push for Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) programs. What about a push for language instruction?

Although a science and technology program is valuable, a program that integrates technology and language is equally important. Part of the problem with this type of language initiative though is that individuals within the discipline have split views. On one end are the traditionalists who are completely against incorporating technology into language pedagogy. On the other end of the spectrum are those so eager to test new technologies that in their haste end up poorly incorporating technology into the lesson plans. For example, I recently learned that a teacher created a class account on Pinterest and had the students post a picture and a paragraph about a famous Spanish monument on the site simply because Pinterest is currently the "hottest" tool in technology. Needless to say, the activity was a disaster because it was poorly integrated into the lesson. In a globally connected world, technology is a crucial element of language instruction but it requires careful thought and planning......more




Saturday, May 19, 2012

The Blog @ Homeland Security: DHS Announces Expanded List of STEM Degree Program...

The Blog @ Homeland Security: DHS Announces Expanded List of STEM Degree Program...: -Posted by Executive Director for Academic Engagement Lauren Kielsmeier In an effort to continue to attract the best and brightest intern...

GIS in Education and Curriculum Integration: Water, Water Everywhere: Cross-Curricular Approach...

GIS in Education and Curriculum Integration: Water, Water Everywhere: Cross-Curricular Approach...:  Geography is never discipline-specific!  Even a theme like “fresh water” should not be narrowed just to the science commu...

An English Teacher's Guide to Mapping: the videos

GIS in Education and Curriculum Integration: An English Teacher's Guide to Mapping: the videos: From GISetc ... *NEW* Video Series We are excited to provide more free resources to help your students succeed.  Our resident E...

Overwhelming Options for the Classroom

GIS in Education and Curriculum Integration: Overwhelming Options for the Classroom: Because I live near New Orleans, many of my house guests want a taste of the French Quarter when they visit.  We stop by the usual spots o...

Friday, May 18, 2012

Fostering Spatial Thinking Through Games

Fostering Spatial Thinking Through Games

Those of us in the fields of geography, education, and GIS can probably name numerous games and activities that we are attracted to simply because there is “something spatial” about them. Some of them may have to do with wayfinding, others with angles and directions, patterns and shapes, distances, adjacency, groups, or may rely on geographic content knowledge. In Monopoly, I always sought houses and hotels on Oriental, Vermont, and Connecticut Avenues simply because I liked where they were positioned on the board. I wasn’t deterred by the fact that they were on the “cheap” side of the board (consequently, I seldom won). I enjoy playing Blokus and putting together jigsaw puzzles because of their spatial aspects (although I never could get the top pieces in the 3-D globe puzzle I helped put together this past New Year’s Eve).....

Making the Grade | ArcNews Winter | 2010/2011 Issue

Making the Grade | ArcNews Winter | 2010/2011 Issue

Florida's Palm Beach County School District Successfully Raises Academic Achievement
By Donna L. Goldstein, GIS Coordinator, Palm Beach County School District, Florida

Highlights:

GIS can easily be infused into existing curriculum, such as science and social studies.

Integrating GIS into K–12 curriculum raises students' academic achievement.

The benefits of infusing GIS into K–12 curriculum extend far beyond the classroom.

Fun with GIS 118: Seeds of STEM

Fun with GIS 118: Seeds of STEM

Q & A: How Do I Share an Online Map within my Blog...

GIS in Education and Curriculum Integration: Q & A: How Do I Share an Online Map within my Blog...: I recently met a great group of teachers in the Dallas area.  We spent the afternoon together talking about geospatial technology.  They wer...

GIS: An Essential Tool for Any Classroom

GIS in Education and Curriculum Integration: GIS: An Essential Tool for Any Classroom: This week I had the honor of presenting in the 1 Tool at a Time Series sponsored by the ISTE SIGms and SIGilt.  In the short 30 minute se...

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

BYOD Policy vs. BYOD Learning Environment


BYOD Policy vs. BYOD Learning Environment

"There is a big difference between having a BYOD policy and a BYOD learning environment. The former lays the foundation for a BYOD learning environment but it by no means guarantees it."


Managing BYOD A Challenge For IT

Managing Bring-Your-Own-Device A Challenge For IT


Consumer technology in the workplace is the stuff of nightmares for IT managers the world over grappling with changes - and, potentially, threats - to the way modern businesses run their corporate computer systems.

The global drift towards allowing employees to Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is something of a love-hate relationship. On one hand, permitting a hotch-potch of employees' personal smartphones or tablets access to the corporate network poses an unprecedented threat to the integrity of a business' systems, yet the possibility of significantly reduced acquisition and maintenance costs for both hardware and software, plus increased employee satisfaction, are just too great to ignore.

Naturally, this very 21st century dilemma has spawned a new and lucrative product category: mobile device management (MDM). Although the world's enterprise software giants Oracle, RIM, IBM and SAP have MDM offerings, they're not the only ones, nor are they necessarily the best-known players in this nascent industry.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/business-it/managing-byod-a-challenge-for-it-20120502-1xyq4.html#ixzz1v65ZLz9R

An introduction to Diigo for educators

Diigo in the Classroom

Social Bookmarking in Plain English, for the rest of us

Thursday, May 3, 2012

What should our schools teach?

What should our schools teach?

"The objects of this primary education [university education] determine its character and limits. These objects are To give to every citizen the information he needs for the transaction of his own business; To enable him to calculate for himself, and to express and preserve his ideas, his contracts and accounts, in writing; To improve by reading, his morals and faculties; To understand his duties to his neighbors and country, and to discharge with competence the functions confided to him by either; To know his rights; to exercise with order and justice those he retains; to choose with discretion the fiduciary of those he delegates; and to notice their conduct with diligence, with candor and judgment.”

–Thomas Jefferson, August 4, 1818

The history of technology in education

Microsoft Vision of the Classroom of the Future

Reaching Digital Natives

Social Media in Education - Teaching Digital Natives in 2011

What is Educational Technology

Integrating Technology into Today's Classroom

Watch your day in 2020 (Future Technology) Wishful Thinking?

7 Skills students need for their future

The Classroom of the Future

School 2.0 - Designing Tomorrow's Schools (Full Version) - Fielding Nair...

Top 10 Reasons to Use Technology in Education: iPad, Tablet, Computer, L...

How Technology has Changed Classrooms Throughout History

Instructional Technology: Looking Backward, Thinking Forward

History of Educational Technology