Edtechapalooza

Paradigm Shift in Mobile Learning

Here are the slides from the Friday, April 8th presentation at the Mobile Learning Experience 2011, Phoenix, Arizona.

Paradigm Shift in Mobile Learning

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Links have been provided to the videos in the presentation. Just click the link on the slide to watch the video content.

What Makes an App Educational?

Here are the slides from the Friday, April 8th presentation at the Mobile Learning Experience 2011, Phoenix, Arizona.

What Makes an App Educational?

View more presentations from jepcke.

Is there a magical device for schools?

Links from my Wednesday, April 6th presentation at the Mobile Learning Experience 2011:

• iEAR.org: App reviews done by teachers and administrators

• iEAR community ning: Community of teachers, parents, administrators, and app developers. Come join the conversation

• Blog post from 14 year old blogger on iPads

Netbooks:

• iPad vs Netbook for a 1:1: Ben Grey's blogpost (first of a series) on his district's decision to go with netbooks for their 1:1 initiative.

• @jnetman1: Twitter feed for Jim Klein. Facilitated and developed Linux image for netbooks within his district.

iPod Touches:

• Canby School District Usergroup Wiki: Information on the use of iPod Touches in their district. How-tos, questions answered, great stuff!

• Canby School District Usergroup Blog: Research (and more) showing impact of using iPod Touches with their students

• iEAR podcast interview of Joe Morelock, Director of Technology for Canby Schools: Thorough explanation of their implementation process and success with iPod Touches.

• Culbreth Middle School: Link to student/parent contract for iPod Touches and apps by grade level for school that has had a 1:1 iPod Touch initiative since 2008.

• iEAR podcast interview with Susan Wells, principal of Culbreth Middle School: Wonderful description of their iPod Touch implementation process and their philosophy of use with students.

• Culbreth Middle School YouTube channel: Contains videos about their iPod Touch 1:1 program.

• Links to additonal research on iPod Touches in the classroom

iPads:

• 5 Reasons I want iPad 2 in my Classroom: Meg Wilson extolls the new features of the iPad 2 and how they can be used in the classroom.

Cellphones in the Classroom:

• Katy Independent School District: Pdf file of article describing their cellphone initiative with 5th grade students. (begin on page 4)

 

 

Why EdReach?

Today is the official launch of EdReach.us, the educational media network, a collaboration by educators from all over the United States.

Why EdReach?

Do we really need another Educational blog? There are so many others out there- aren’t there enough?

Well, that is true, there are a lot of voices out there. So many voices. So many, it seems that it’s getting harder and harder to hear them, harder to cut through the volume and rate of information, harder to even keep up with well-known colleagues, and harder to be heard.

EdReach.us aims to cut through this.

The EdReach Educational Media Network (EdReach.us) will gather these voices together, and create one stream of educational news, blogs, commentary, and interactive media that highlights the innovation, highlights the ideas, highlights the cutting-edge best practices that are happening in the world’s schools every day.

There is fabulous and innovative teaching happening in American education, happening all over the world- yet we forget. Lately, these moments seem to get lost under the sea of politics, budgets, and policy. Education news is also in a state of disarray. Go to most news sites and look for the education section- it’s likely you won’t find it. Still. Education isn’t getting the place it deserves in the mainstream media outlets.

There are amazing new tools being used in the classroom every day- gadgets, Web tools, innovative teaching styles. There are companies that are leading the charge with innovative Web tools for teachers. There are devices that are transforming the way teachers teach, and learners learn. There are teachers that do amazing things with students every day. Every day.

EdReach is made up of-  not one person- but a network of educators from all over the United States- field reporters- some hosting podcasts in Connecticut, some contributing from San Diego, Missouri, Iowa, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan- from all over the country. And it’s expanding.

So, if you want to know what’s happening in innovative Education, if you want to know what innovative education looks like, if you want to see what education can be like for America’s students and students all over the world- keep following and listening to EdReach.us.

EdReach is here to tell those stories.

That’s why.

 

Brookwood Technology Mini Conference

Here is the link to my resources for the Enhancing Lessons and Projects with Technology sessions: 

http://tinyurl.com/Brookwood167

If you have any questions about anything I presented, I welcome you to email me and I will do my best to find an answer for you.

Update: This was an extremely well run event! Kudos to Jay Blackman (@jaydblackman) and Brookwood 167 for making us feel so welcome. I thoroughly enjoyed the teachers and it was fun to see a former colleague, who is now the superintendent! 

Voki Examples

Vokis are a fun way to welcome people to your website, remind students of directions, or even to assign homework. Visit Voki.com to create your free account and design your own Voki.

 

Google Custom Search Example

This is an Example of a Google Custom Search for Polar Animals ~ 2nd-3rd grade level*

 

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To create one yourself, go to: http://www.google.com/cse  It's easy, but you'll need a Google Account.

 

*Disclaimer: This is an example of a Google Custom Search for Polar Animals created during a professional development session with teachers on HOW to create Google Custom Searches. It was not intended to serve as an example of a search that was or will be used by students.

Lights, Camera, Teach....

There are many ways that lawmakers propose to improve education; most of which involve teachers doing something additional. Wyoming's House Bill 166 seems to be another idea that misses the mark for improving education. This bill suggests that videotaped lessons become a mandated part of every teacher's evaluation. The bill also goes on to recommend teachers be evaluated, in writing, on a monthly basis.

...To read the rest of this article, visit EdReach.us

EdReach -- A Fresh Voice in Education

 

I am very excited and extremely proud to be a founding member of a new network of educators called EdReach. 

 

Our mission statement:

To take education forward, by bringing voices together.

The EdReach vision:

...To provide a platform for passionate educators in an attempt to strengthen (our) voice as a network of educators highlighting innovation in the field of education, through reporting on critical educational news and providing commentary on the educational issues of the day.

My fellow founding members of EdReach.us are Scott Meech, Daniel Rezac, and Jay Blackman -- all smart, innovative educators who inspire me, push me outside of my comfort zone, encourage me, and whom I am proud to call my friends.

We have brought in some other folks we admire and feel will bring something unique to our network; some familiar, some you may not know, but should. We are teachers, technology facilitators, IT guys, all passionate educators who want to use our collective voice to bring issues in education, ideas for innovation, and some lively discussion to the internet.

Our official launch will be the end of February, but you can join us now. The EdReach Network strives to keep our content dynamic with frequent blog posts and podcasts and we invite you to join the conversation. Comment on our posts, listen to our podcasts.

We are also building our following via social media with a Twitter feed: @EdReachUs and a Facebook fan page. We are trying to get to 100 "likes" on Facebook so we can obtain the custom url.

Thanks for joining us at EdReach. We hope you will like what you see (and hear).

A New Look at Old Technology

Think back to the changes in technology over your lifetime; not just computers, but anything that "improves one's life or work". For their time, there were some pretty great inventions.

Take a look at the reactions from students today to the technology of the past. The video was produced in Canada and is in French, but the reactions require no translation.

How many of these cutting edge inventions do you remember?

 

A big THANKS to Daniel Rezac and his E.D. + You blog, where I first saw this posted.

Crossposted at: TechConnect28