It's always good to meet up with everybody on this committee. I find that many others are in the 'same boat' as I am... looking to incorporate as much as possible, in meaningful ways.
I'll need to share with my staff some of the Database information I got today; the ability to download articles should help out some of my teachers.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
IT Summit - Databases for Educators and Students
What are the 21st Century Skills Students Need?
- at center, 'core subjects'; integrated within those are the '21st Century Themes' (what our curriculum calls cross-curricular competencies (thinkning, identiy, literacies, social responsibility)
- on the outside of the circle are life/career skills, learning/innovation skills, technology/media/information skills
- focus of this session is the technology/media/information skills
Our Challenge: Targeting Reliable Information!! (not just 'googling')
Framework:
Newspapers and magazine databases
Encyclopedias and e-books
Experts
Directories (subject directories)
Search engines
Multitype Database Licensing Program
- allows schools to have a number of newspapers/special libraries/journals
Various Databases to try:
KidsInfoBits (Gale Databases)
- good for differentiated learning (different reading levels)
- some magazines are even spoken aloud for the students, or download in PDF
Discovery Collection
- only contains reference books
- multimedia link in the collection contains audio files, podcasts, radio broadcasts, etc
CPI.Q
- Canadian content the focus
- click the "limit results to documents with full text" so that brief abstracts don't show up
- the 'Related Subjects' on the left side may help students
Gale Virtual Reference Library
- the suite of e-books, organized by subject area
- good site! (make sure to use the boolean operators AND, OR)
ProQuest
- contains all the Canadian newspapers and daily/weekly newspapers. Current, local information. Is available with a 2-day turnaround.
- more for grades 7+
- good for teachers: CBCA Education database
- again, make sure to look at 'full text documents only'
Britannica Online
- organizes the articles by elementary / middle / high school levels (and teacher resources, too)
- current health informaiton at "Health and Wellness Resource Center"
These databases are available from home... they are available through the public library (as long as you have a library card)
- at center, 'core subjects'; integrated within those are the '21st Century Themes' (what our curriculum calls cross-curricular competencies (thinkning, identiy, literacies, social responsibility)
- on the outside of the circle are life/career skills, learning/innovation skills, technology/media/information skills
- focus of this session is the technology/media/information skills
Our Challenge: Targeting Reliable Information!! (not just 'googling')
Framework:
Newspapers and magazine databases
Encyclopedias and e-books
Experts
Directories (subject directories)
Search engines
Multitype Database Licensing Program
- allows schools to have a number of newspapers/special libraries/journals
Various Databases to try:
KidsInfoBits (Gale Databases)
- good for differentiated learning (different reading levels)
- some magazines are even spoken aloud for the students, or download in PDF
Discovery Collection
- only contains reference books
- multimedia link in the collection contains audio files, podcasts, radio broadcasts, etc
CPI.Q
- Canadian content the focus
- click the "limit results to documents with full text" so that brief abstracts don't show up
- the 'Related Subjects' on the left side may help students
Gale Virtual Reference Library
- the suite of e-books, organized by subject area
- good site! (make sure to use the boolean operators AND, OR)
ProQuest
- contains all the Canadian newspapers and daily/weekly newspapers. Current, local information. Is available with a 2-day turnaround.
- more for grades 7+
- good for teachers: CBCA Education database
- again, make sure to look at 'full text documents only'
Britannica Online
- organizes the articles by elementary / middle / high school levels (and teacher resources, too)
- current health informaiton at "Health and Wellness Resource Center"
These databases are available from home... they are available through the public library (as long as you have a library card)
David Warlick... 'Video Games as Learning Engines'
Games with educational potential... good idea. I've used a chemistry "game" in my Chemistry 20 class called "Mixed Reception" (http://www.chemcollective.org/mr/) with good success. It does work.
I have to disagree, however, with a point Mr. Warlick made about (to the effect) that the environment is not as important as the 'problem solving' aspect ("playing tag, more than the military aspect"). I think environment is far more influential in students' minds... I'd hate to desensitize students to the long-term effects of some actions by highlighting short-term (entertainment) benefits.
I'll need to check out these links: http://seriousgames.org/ and http://gamesforchange.org/ for more info...
Use http://scratch.mit.edu/ (demonstrated) and http://www.alice.org/
How to use the qualities of games that students enjoy in the classroom:
I have to disagree, however, with a point Mr. Warlick made about (to the effect) that the environment is not as important as the 'problem solving' aspect ("playing tag, more than the military aspect"). I think environment is far more influential in students' minds... I'd hate to desensitize students to the long-term effects of some actions by highlighting short-term (entertainment) benefits.
I'll need to check out these links: http://seriousgames.org/ and http://gamesforchange.org/ for more info...
Use http://scratch.mit.edu/ (demonstrated) and http://www.alice.org/
How to use the qualities of games that students enjoy in the classroom:
Native Information Experience:
- Is responsive
- Provokes communication
- Is fueled by questions
- Values personal experience and identity
- Demands personal investment
- Values safely made mistakes
- Measures accomplishment
- Rewards with audience and attention
"Plugging It In".... Identify role of teacher and role of students. (Good strategy: "I'm having trouble... can YOU (students) make a movie trailer to excite next year's students?"). Students solve problems in this way...
David Warlick... 'Personal Learning Networks'
As I was listening to David's polished presentation about Personal Learning Networks, I was struck by two main ideas: 1. there are a lot of tools out there, and 2. does this recreate the definition of the word 'content'?
1. There ARE a lot of tools. Thank you for showing some of the increased ways to incorporate this into my classroom.
2. My fear? Teachers begin to think that as PLN's in the classroom increase, content gets shuffled to the side; creating more connected-to-one-another students, but less-connected-to-the-issues students. The phrase 'bring today into the classroom' was a great concept I appreciated, to help teachers who have these concerns appreciate the value of incorporating (even in small ways) on-demand information into their classrooms.
I'm glad I attended.
1. There ARE a lot of tools. Thank you for showing some of the increased ways to incorporate this into my classroom.
2. My fear? Teachers begin to think that as PLN's in the classroom increase, content gets shuffled to the side; creating more connected-to-one-another students, but less-connected-to-the-issues students. The phrase 'bring today into the classroom' was a great concept I appreciated, to help teachers who have these concerns appreciate the value of incorporating (even in small ways) on-demand information into their classrooms.
I'm glad I attended.
IT Summit, Day 1 Reflections
Wow... what a day. I was tired at the end of it, b/c of so many new ideas.
As I reflect on yesterday's sessions, I wondered what place 'content' plays in the technology of it all. I appreciated Darren Kuropatwa's thoughts about having students write the notes/text. That's a good idea.
As a chemistry teacher, I always struggle with the time it takes to use technology with the time required to teach the substance. I'm pretty sure that I've got the balance close to OK... students need the 'substance' before they can successfully network in scientific ways; otherwise, they're just chatting and 'off-topic'.
I'm looking forward to David Warlick's presentation; I've heard a lot about him...
As I reflect on yesterday's sessions, I wondered what place 'content' plays in the technology of it all. I appreciated Darren Kuropatwa's thoughts about having students write the notes/text. That's a good idea.
As a chemistry teacher, I always struggle with the time it takes to use technology with the time required to teach the substance. I'm pretty sure that I've got the balance close to OK... students need the 'substance' before they can successfully network in scientific ways; otherwise, they're just chatting and 'off-topic'.
I'm looking forward to David Warlick's presentation; I've heard a lot about him...
Monday, March 23, 2009
IT Summit - Ten Disruptions to Transform Your Classroom
TEN DISRUPTIONS TO TRANSFORM YOUR CLASSROOM
1. Smart Phones
- one school in province… class of grade 8’s (?) given SmartPhones (by SaskTel) to see how/if to use it in classroom
www.polleverywhere.com
free service (text plans apply) 172million texts in January in SK
2. Low Cost Computing
- ~$200-250 for a netbook. Replace textbook budget?
3. Cloud Computing
- no need to store it locally (GoogleApps)
4. Live Streaming
(ustream) or skype
5. BackChanneling and MicroBlogging
- sharing the ‘notes’; learning from it
- benefit: more attentive… public forum/chat
6. Immersive Environments
- teen second life
Pedagogical Thoughts:
7. Privacy
- how do we deal with the fact that a good chunk of our lives will be online?
- rate my teachers . com
8. Time Shifting
- what is ‘face-to-face’ good for?
- Notes/podcasts for lecture. Classrooms are for working.
9. OpenCourseware
- ‘Academic Earth’
- Entire courses online
- CCK08 EC&I831 (these are courses)
10. Outsourced Instruction
- differentiated instruction
1. Smart Phones
- one school in province… class of grade 8’s (?) given SmartPhones (by SaskTel) to see how/if to use it in classroom
www.polleverywhere.com
free service (text plans apply) 172million texts in January in SK
2. Low Cost Computing
- ~$200-250 for a netbook. Replace textbook budget?
3. Cloud Computing
- no need to store it locally (GoogleApps)
4. Live Streaming
(ustream) or skype
5. BackChanneling and MicroBlogging
- sharing the ‘notes’; learning from it
- benefit: more attentive… public forum/chat
6. Immersive Environments
- teen second life
Pedagogical Thoughts:
7. Privacy
- how do we deal with the fact that a good chunk of our lives will be online?
- rate my teachers . com
8. Time Shifting
- what is ‘face-to-face’ good for?
- Notes/podcasts for lecture. Classrooms are for working.
9. OpenCourseware
- ‘Academic Earth’
- Entire courses online
- CCK08 EC&I831 (these are courses)
10. Outsourced Instruction
- differentiated instruction
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
VoiceThread training today!
For our first T3 meeting (Technology Tidbit Tuesday), we're looking at using VoiceThread in the classroom, and talking about the benefits of Professional Blogging.
So far, the VoiceThread works well, but I just can't figure out how to get our Vostro 1510 laptops to save the video (audio works well).
We'll see how things are going as the after-school agenda develops...
So far, the VoiceThread works well, but I just can't figure out how to get our Vostro 1510 laptops to save the video (audio works well).
We'll see how things are going as the after-school agenda develops...
Thursday, March 5, 2009
My Personal Learning Network...
... currently focuses more on the needs/skills of my students than on my own personal needs. I hope to develop the latter and watch the former grow.
In keeping up with how to successfully implement coursework via technology, I thank all those in the ISITS group for the assistance and demonstrations of various technologies, so I can add my own flavour.
My question (you're welcome to comment): now that we use what the Ministry of Education calls "Curricula" (and not Curriculum Guides), how do the guidelines match with expanded PLN's for students? Does something suffer? Or does quality outperform quantity? Or is a balance between these two needed? Is it "bad" if a PLN is school/classroom/content based?
In keeping up with how to successfully implement coursework via technology, I thank all those in the ISITS group for the assistance and demonstrations of various technologies, so I can add my own flavour.
My question (you're welcome to comment): now that we use what the Ministry of Education calls "Curricula" (and not Curriculum Guides), how do the guidelines match with expanded PLN's for students? Does something suffer? Or does quality outperform quantity? Or is a balance between these two needed? Is it "bad" if a PLN is school/classroom/content based?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)