75 Primary Document Lessons

A group of Stanford University grad students have been working hard on digital learning projects.  Here is one they have created that teams up with the Library of Congress and has lesson plans built around 75 primary documents.  The plans are broken up into the standard units you would teach (colonial, early America, Civil War & Reconstruction and so on).  

Join.me: a virtual communication tool for higher education

If you thought the discussion board on Blackboard was somewhat limited or that your online class was limited because you could not talk to your students, or that your flipped  did not allow for any meaningful exchange, then you might consider “join-me.”  It includes virtual meetings and  free screen sharing.  Here is their education blog and here is their site. The video makes it look incredibly easy.

Why Students Should Learn to Write for the Public

In this very interesting clip, New York teacher Ileana Jimenez, talks about the importance of encouraging kids to blog or write for public so they feel their writing has some weight and see their work in a larger context than the classroom.

The Mobile Wave

The Mobile Wave is a new book by Michael Saylor (above briefly discussing it) that looks across the spectrum of the world for a good over view of where mobile devices are going to take us.  The cool things include how we will be able to set our home to open for a delivery, have our key delivered to us virtually, help third world fishermen and, of course, education.  Each chapter is a broad overview which, if you know a great deal about it you will probably find some fault - such as his saying that one teacher could teach thousands when we all know that lectures need to be short and lead to interactive teaching.  Nonetheless the book helped me with my thinking of where education is going and why I am glad I finally got a smartphone a few months ago and am learning how it can be an integral part of classrooms.  

If you love technology and want to help shape the future of teaching, this is an important and very quick read you might want to read. 

Jesse Owens and the 1936 Olympics

Open Culture has two great clips about about the 1936 Olympics when Jesse Owens won medals in the 100 and 200 yard dash , and 4 x100 meter relay and dashed Hitler's visions of an Aryan world. The first shows the actual event and the second is a kind of funny quiz show about the event. Start the first video at about 28.00 for Jesse Owens. Both clips go on much longer.  You really only need to watch or show the first couple of minutes of each.  Summer school students might enjoy the clips as the London Olympics go on.

Footage of Linbergh Taking Off

Lindbergh's Transatlantic Flight
Above is vintage footage of Charles Lindbergh taking off on his transatlantic flight from the US to France.

Marzano Wiki

Robert Marzano is a consultant whom is nationally know for his cooperative grouping of students.  Here a wiki dedicated to digitizing the ideas in his book Classroom Instruction that Works.  Here, for example, is the wiki on cooperative learning.  

EDTEC Cheat Sheet

Mark Gleason, a primary school teacher, posted this graphic on his blog along with some comments about the difficulty of understanding technology buzzwords and whether we need as many technology-based systems as outlined in the graphic. Check out the graphic--it does have all the buzzwords and includes most of the major technology initiatives like flipping, gaming, digital story-telling, and MOOC.

Netvibes Instead of iGoogle

Google recently announced that they are jettisoning their iGoogle page in November 2013.  I can't tell you how much I depend on that page as I am always on Google and it makes for an easy way to see my news feeds.  I have, though, found a close equivalent called Netvibes.  It looks almost the same and allows almost all your feeds.  It also allows you to set how many stories you can see.  The only thing I can't do is delete my gmail e-mails.  One can also set pages so they are private or public or have one or more of each.  Now, of course, you could stick it out until Nov 2013 and see what else is on the horizon.  Here is also a video on how to set up Netvibes. 

Above is the complete 500 Nations: The Story of Native Americans.  I found it from a Google+ post by Cynthia Yildirim.  Obviously you would never want to show the entire movie, but you can have it set to go to a certain point by using Splicd.  

Hear Me in Webinar on Integrating Technology into the Classroom

I will be participating in a webinar next Thursday the 26th of July 26th from 2 to 3 pm.  It will be part of a program of the Alliance for Excellent Education here in Washington, D.C.  My job will be to discuss the 
learner-centered instructional model driven by high-quality digital learning and the effective use of technology that provides a more personalized, rigorous, and collaborative learning environment for each student.  You can sign up for the free session here. 

Pinterest Boards for US History

SonicPics (Podcasting with Iphone or Ipad)

This is a neat app   for the Iphone or the Ipad in which you can essentially turn pictures into a custom slideshow with narration much like you might do with Screencast-O-Matic. You can publish your recorded slideshow to You Tube.

Universities Reshape Online Education

This is an interesting article about "the seismic shift" in online learning that may reshape higher education. Coursera is the year old company that is bringing together the consortium of universities. They expect to offer over 100 free online courses in the fall but admit that there is still a lot to work out. Will students ever get real college credit for the courses? How will they deal with cheating on the online assignments or assessments? My thanks to my colleague, Feff Feinstein, who sent me the link to this story.

Cut and Paste on the iPad

When I need to figure something out I go to youtube (or sometimes my 8 year old!).  Right now I wanted to know how to cut and paste and the short video told me how to do it on the iPad.