Digital Citizenship

The best site that I have come across in regards to digital citizenship is Common Sense Media http://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/curriculum  who have developed an entire K-12 curriculum around Digital Literacy and Citizenship. There are eight components of the curriculum including the following:
1) Privacy and Security
2) Digital Footprint & Reputation
3) Self-Image and Identity
4) Creative Credit and Copyright
5) Relationships & Communication
6) Information Literacy
7) Cyberbulling
8) Internet Safety

All of these resources are FREE! and we teachers LOVE free! It would be worth your time to take a look at what is available here :)

Be Cyber-safe!

ipad apps in SpEd

so i know the next topic has to do with the use of ipad apps in SpEd, i just don't have any resorces to refer to here in Starbucks in downtown Belfast so i will have to go on want i already know and can remember :-) Deanna & Sarah did a fabulous presentation in Dr. Finn's class about ipad apps and their use with autistic students. They shared a clip from 60 Minutes relating to this topic as well. I think there is a place for the use of this type of tech especially with non-verbal students. There is so many different apps to use to communicate and create visual schedules and such. It gives opportunitis that at one time did not exist. so yes, i believe that pad apps do have a place within the field of SpEd.

blogging from Belfast :-)

so here we are in northern Ireland and the only place i have found to blog is Starbucks :-) so i guess i won't be posting my assignments until i return :'( i will post pics then as well. catch you back in the states 11/29.

Belfast here we come :)

Today is the day we set off on our adventure! I am so excited! We will be visiting with my niece and her husband who are living in Belfast and have been for a couple of years now. I am hoping that I will be able to visit a school or two while we are there to see what they are doing in northern ireland as far as the use of technology and didgital learning. I'll keep you posted! The link below is a school that my niece worked at last year. Maybe we will stop in for a visit while we are in Dublin at Blarney castle :) More to come... http://www.shimnacollege.org.uk/

Have you flipped?

I think that there are a lot of misconceptions about the flipped classroom concept. I have heard comments about the use of technology to 'flip' a classroom but it is really much more than that. Think of what you know about traditional roles of the teacher, "old school" where the teacher stands in front of the class and lectures for 45-50 minutes (trying to teach for mastery) and then when the lecture is over the students "practice" the concept(s) that the teacher just "taught" and those who don't finish do it for homework...right? Well, now take that picture you have in your mind and FLIP it! The students got the "lecture/teaching" via podcast (or similar) the night before as "homework" and now during class have the opportunity to "practice" what they have learned in a small group setting in the classroom while the teacher circulates and discusses, clarifies, explains, and elaborates on the student learning while the students work through the actual homework during classtime with the assitance of their teacher. The teacher is there to facilitate the student's learning. REVOLUTIONARY if you ask me! I believe that this could actually change the whole educational system as far as the way instruction is delivered and new skills are practiced. The students are actually doing thier own inquiry and leaning and the teacher is guiding that learning :) Here are a couple of GREAT clips that explain it much better than me, i'm sure :) Happy flipping!

Daylight Saving...much more than an extra hour to sleep (or not)

Check out this video clip to learn more about Daylight Saving. Not exactly what I thought...

Show me the $$$

Barriers of technology in education? Isn't it ALWAYS about money? I guess that would be the first and foremost "excuse" or barrier when it comes to the use of technology in education but i can think of a couple more...Actually, I would list the following three things as the most ubiquitous barriers of technology in education:
1) the aforementioned all mighty dollar
2) lack of understanding and/or close mindedness
3) appropriate and meaningful ONGOING professional development (lack thereof)

With these three things in mind I would like to propose some recommendations as possible solutions to alleviate the presumed obstacles as such. First, the money issue. I have read recently several different articles that discussed the number crunching dealing with the cost of the 1:1 initiatives  in school systems vs. the use of text books and/or consumables. Just imagine the money we would save if we could get to the place where the majority of our teaching, classwork, homework, school work in general were ALL done electronically , not to mention the whole "going green" and "save the earth" campaigns. Yes, initially the cost of purchasing laptops/ipads whatever is decided on would be a significant expense but cumulatively after years of NOT purchasing text books and/or consumables, and NOT making copies for every student everything that they work on in every class everyday! WOW!!! just thinking about it!

The lack of understanding and/or close mindedness can be resolved through awareness and openness between colleagues. The ones that know and use the latest and greatest can share what they know and how is can be used in the process of education to increase student achievement. Which in turn would lead right in to the third barrier PD. I heard a teacher at my school talking about a weekly twitter chat that she participates in every week with other educators from the same grade level with the same interests. they share ideas and knowledge and expertise on various technologies that they heard about, use, and explore with students in the classroom, things that they are doing RIGHT NOW, not things that were developed and researched decades ago in some university learning lab some where by educators who are 10 or more years removed from the classroom! This teacher made the comment that when she participates in these chats that "it is the BEST professional development I have ever gotten" isn't that just what we are trying to impart to the students we teach? Inquiry, collaboration, communication...sound familiar? Why don't we MODEL what we expect? Without having to spend ANY $$$!!!