There are many ways to use a smartphone in the classroom, but it continues to be a touchy subject, TeachThought reports. Privacy, equity, bandwidth, lesson design, classroom management, theft, bullying, and scores of other legitimate concerns continue to cloud education’s thinking about how to meaningfully integrate technology in the learning process. To be clear–learning can happen in the absence of technology. Integrated poorly, technology can subdue, distract, stifle, and obscure the kind of personal interactions between learner, content, peer, and performance that lead to learning results…
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5 reasons you should be teaching digital citizenship
Students buzzed about the latest uproar on Instagram, TeachThought reports. Anonymous sources had posted a “questionable”–and NSFW–list for multiple public schools in our city on Instagram, leading to distraught girls, viral Twitter reactions, and an investigation. This type of cyberbullying and reckless use of digital communication is rampant among teens, but this recent episode was only unusually due to its elevated publicity. Every day, I see a student deficit on how to mindfully employ the unbridled potential and power of their smartphones and other digital tools. But who’s to blame? Is it the girls who decide to post racy photos or sext people they supposedly trust?
…Read More7 myths about rigor in the classroom
Despite all the research, there are seven myths about rigor that are often heard, TeachThought reports. Let’s look at each, then turn our attention to the true meaning of rigor…
…Read More10 tips for a smarter iPad-based classroom
There are some pluses and minuses in offering to be in the early curve of total tech immersion, reports TeachThought. My calls for troubleshooting tend to get answered, but I am left to my own learning, and that’s a mixed bag. I get to be more autonomous, and as a new paperless classroom I don’t have to care about our copy allotment, but then again, I don’t get the benefit of having a mentor on campus. Nevertheless, I’ve learned a lot on this journey. For one thing, when using iPads you need an impeccable network, and believe me, my district’s is not ideal. Growl…
…Read MoreThe value of what students don’t know
For me, my biggest takeaway from college was learning what I didn’t know, TeachThought reports. So many passionate, crazy-smart people–teachers and students–that modeled for me learning as I hadn’t seen it before. Entire courses on single ideas I wouldn’t have given a second thought without someone pointing it out for me. It was mind-boggling. In high school, my academic interactions were based almost entirely in trying to figure out what the teacher wanted, and then doing my best to give it. There was creativity and curiosity and rigor, but it was almost always obscured by my desire to “do well in school,” and the teachers desire to “get results.” As teachers, we implore students to forget what we want, and focus instead following their curiosity, showing their creativity, and reaching for deep understanding…
…Read More25 teaching tools for the digital classroom
Over the years, many of us have personally experienced the growth of technology in today’s classrooms, TeachThought reports. Instead of taking notes, students are now occupied by surfing the Internet, scrolling through Facebook, and messaging their friends on their smart phones, tablets, and laptops. Instead of focusing on the instruction, teachers are constantly required to interrupt class in order to remind those students again and again, that class time is for learning, not texting. However, as today’s students are using more technological devices, it is imperative that teachers have access to the resources to keep pace with the growing tech culture…
…Read MoreEducation 3.0–Where students create their own learning experiences
Curriculum maps are well-meaning and imminently practical documents that have guided educators–and education–for years, TeachThought reports. How these documents function in classrooms, schools, and districts is highly variable. They can be general skeletons, common to-do lists, or the do-or-die, alpha and omega of planning and instruction, products of an education system rightfully seeking to establish some sort of common direction, pace, and coverage…
…Read More7 pillars of digital leadership in education
As schools change leadership must as well, according to TeachThought.com. With society becoming more and more reliant on technology it is incumbent upon leaders to harness the power of digital technologies in order to create school cultures that are transparent, relevant, meaningful, engaging, and inspiring. In order to set the stage for increasing achievement and to establish a greater sense of community pride for the work being done in our schools, we must begin to change the way we lead. To do this, leaders must understand the origins of fear and misconceptions that often surround the use of technology such as social media and mobile devices. Once the fears and misconceptions are placed on the table, leaders can begin to establish a vision for the effective use of technology to improve numerous facets of leadership. The challenge for school leaders is why, how, and where to begin…
…Read More10 things your students need from you
As educators, we have a huge responsibility towards each child entrusted to us, TeachThought reports. It is our duty to try our best to meet the needs of the students in our classroom and to help them become productive members of our communities. Sometimes we need to step out of our ‘teacher shoes’ and step into the shoes of a student to help us better understand them, since they are not always very adept at verbalizing their thoughts. Here are ten things you would learn from their point of view…
…Read MoreThe context and history of blended learning
Blended learning isn’t new, TeachThought reports. The phrase itself still has shine to it, but the idea of mixing learning at school with learning at home is ages old, but has been given new life by the explosion of technology in the classroom. The following infographic does a good job of making the case that the concept of “blending” one approach of learning with another has always existed, including: the blending of academic learning with apprenticeships, of simulations with structured courses, and even peer instruction with teacher direct instruction. If the approach to learning is strategically mixed by design, it’s a form of blended learning. The evolution of this approach will focus on the components that are being blended…
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