Showing posts with label educational technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label educational technology. Show all posts

1-to-1 Learning, Second Edition: Laptop Programs That Work Review

1-to-1 Learning, Second Edition: Laptop Programs That Work
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1-to-1 Learning, Second Edition: Laptop Programs That Work ReviewI've been working in 1:1 schools since 2003. I know Pamela and am familiar with her work. I've got both editions of this book. VERY useful if you're at a school considering 1:1. Excellent foundational advice and info.1-to-1 Learning, Second Edition: Laptop Programs That Work OverviewWhen all students in the classroom have a laptop, tablet, or handheld computer at their fingertips, a whole new world of instructional possibilities appears. Get ready to tap those possibilities with Pamela Livingston's guide to 1-to-1 programs that work. You'll find practical planning advice, case studies of successful programs, and a host of implementation resources. Livingston updates this new edition with chapters on 1-to-1 leadership, tablet PCs, and the shift toward learner-centric educational environments. Also included in the new edition is a handy resource mapping the new Web 2.0 tools to various subject areas. Praise for the first edition:
The Arizona Department of Education recommends 1-to-1 Learning: Laptop Programs That Work for its schools, stating, 'This book will give significant help in planning and using laptops in a classroom and be of help in developing a proposal.'
'A timely book...1-to-1 Learning: Laptop Programs That Work is a comprehensive resource for planning and implementing laptop programs in the classroom.'-CDW-G Newsletter
'Livingston presents an organized, thorough, readable, and realistic guide for schools considering the implementation of 1-to-1 computing.' -William M. Broderick, Head of School, Fort Worth Academy
'By far the most complete, concise, and well-documented resource available. I just ordered copies for everyone on our technology committee. We are preparing for a 2010 rollout of our 1-to-1 program. 1-to-1 Learning: Laptop Programs That Work will be by our sides through every step of the process.'-Mitch Ward, Technology Coordinator, Carondelet High School
Topics include:
-technology integration-technology planning-tablet PCs-Web 2.0
The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) is the trusted source for professional development, knowledge generation, advocacy and leadership for innovation. ISTE is the premier membership association for educators and education leaders engaged in improving teaching and learning by advancing the effective use of technology in PK-12 and teacher education. Home of the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS), the Center for Applied Research in Educational Technology (CARET), and ISTE's annual conference (formerly known as the National Educational Computing Conference, or NECC), ISTE represents more than 100,000 professionals worldwide. We support our members with information, networking opportunities, and guidance as they face the challenge of transforming education.
Some of the areas in which we publish are: -Web. 2.0 in the classroom-RSS, podcasts, and more-National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) -Professional development for educators and administrators-Integrating technology into the classroom and curriculum-Safe practices for the Internet and technology-Educational technology for parents

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Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Social Media, but were afraid to ask...: Building Your Business Using Consumer Generated Media Review

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Social Media, but were afraid to ask...: Building Your Business Using Consumer Generated Media
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Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Social Media, but were afraid to ask...: Building Your Business Using Consumer Generated Media ReviewVery well researched, highly relevant, not fluff, and written so that both non-technical and internet savvy readers will extract the same value.
I thought I had a good grasp on navigating and using social media, but now see that I'd barely scratched the surface. I can't wait to start putting all the techniques from this book into practice - I don't even know where to begin, there's so much to do now!
If you use social media for personal or professional use, this book is a must.Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Social Media, but were afraid to ask...: Building Your Business Using Consumer Generated Media OverviewSocial media is becoming the fastest way to communicate ideas and values. Are you using this ever-changing media to effectively communicate your messages? In Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Social Media, but were afraid to ask..., author and public relations professional Hilary JM Topper, MPA provides an understanding of social media.
Designed for marketing professionals, small business owners, and non-profit organization executives, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Social Media, but were afraid to ask... is filled with detailed, how-to information on the sometimes complicated online world. Guiding readers through the importance of implementing social media tactics into their marketing mix to increase awareness and maintain visibility, this guide:
Describes how to use social media sites, blogs, and microblogs
Reviews more than a dozen social networking sites
Provides an understanding of the importance of podcasts and video podcasts
Discusses what it means to "Go Viral"
Gives suggestions for handling crisis situations via the Web
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Social Media, but were afraid to ask... highlights the power of consumer-generated media and how it can be used effectively to help grow your business.

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Differentiating Instruction with Technology in Middle School Classrooms Review

Differentiating Instruction with Technology in Middle School Classrooms
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Differentiating Instruction with Technology in Middle School Classrooms ReviewTechnology has a bigger impact on children's lives than ever before. "Differentiating Instruction with Technology in Middle School Classrooms" is a guide to teachers who want to embrace the information age and weave technology into their curriculum as a partner in teaching. Discussing how to do integrate this well into the school and treat technology as a partner in education rather than just a tool, it emphasizes internet use. Subject by subject, "Differentiating Instructions with Technology in Middle School Classrooms" is a must for any community or college library collection focusing on education.Differentiating Instruction with Technology in Middle School Classrooms OverviewMiddle school is a time of growth and change for students, with each student changing and growing in different ways and at different rates. These students, like the rest of us, have different interests, different backgrounds, and different goals for their lives. Educators have a responsibility to treat and teach them as individuals. Differentiated Instruction (DI) makes this possible, and technology makes DI easy, effective, and engaging.
Recognizing a need for change in middle school instruction, the authors wrote Differentiating Instruction with Technology in Middle School Classrooms to show educators the benefits of combining DI with technology, encouraging educators to re-engage students by bringing lessons out of the past and into the student-centered reality of digital-age learning. This book offers an overview of research on the uniqueness of middle school students and illustrates the importance of using technology to create differentiated lessons, especially with this age group. It lists the fundamental components of DI, student traits that guide DI, and Web 2.0 resources that can help make DI a reality in the middle school classroom. It also includes sample activities for incorporating DI in multiple subjects: math, science, social studies, and language arts. The strategies and lessons in this book will ensure that students receive a tailored education that also prepares them with the technology skills they need for a successful future.
Features:
* Lists of resources for Web 2.0 tools that support differentiated instruction * A chapter on using DI for student assessment * A survey of research on middle school students
Topics include:
-differentiating instruction-Web 2.0-technology integration-math-science-social studies-langauge arts-assessment
The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) is the trusted source for professional development, knowledge generation, advocacy and leadership for innovation. ISTE is the premier membership association for educators and education leaders engaged in improving teaching and learning by advancing the effective use of technology in PK-12 and teacher education. Home of the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS), the Center for Applied Research in Educational Technology (CARET), and ISTE's annual conference (formerly known as the National Educational Computing Conference, or NECC), ISTE represents more than 100,000 professionals worldwide. We support our members with information, networking opportunities, and guidance as they face the challenge of transforming education.
Some of the areas in which we publish are: -Web. 2.0 in the classroom-RSS, podcasts, and more-National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) -Professional development for educators and administrators-Integrating technology into the classroom and curriculum-Safe practices for the Internet and technology-Educational technology for parents

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RSS for Educators: Blogs, Newsfeeds, Podcasts, and Wikis in the Classroom Review

RSS for Educators: Blogs, Newsfeeds, Podcasts, and Wikis in the Classroom
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RSS for Educators: Blogs, Newsfeeds, Podcasts, and Wikis in the Classroom ReviewWhatever happened to Web 1.0? Readers of John Hendron's (2008) book, RSS for Educators, will quickly realize the speed at which web technology has evolved. From its humble Web 1.0 beginnings of one-way, read-only applications on the information highway, we now have two-way, read-write RSS (Really Simple Syndication) apps and tools in a new revolutionary freeway of innovations of computer commuters networked by information using blogs, podcasts, newsfeeds, and wikis. This can be about everything, be from anywhere, happen everywhere, and on all kinds of devices (Wesch, 2008)
For someone who has an older one-way computer background, John Hendron's book is an eye-opener not only for techies, but also especially for educators who must merge into the new-era of Web 2.0 information travels. The new features of this highway are succinctly defined with helpful diagrams picturing Client/Server/Local User paradigms to help us understand where we are located in this interactive information highway called the Internet. For someone who had little background on Web 2.0, this book was very readable with new technologies clearly explained. Much of the author's discussion of blogs, wikis, etc. seamlessly interact with his classroom experience as a teacher and liaison to district administrators and parents, in bringing them together to experience and benefit from the slew of technologies available to help them communicate and better education.
The strength of the book is in its balance of presenting Web 2.0 technologies in a readable but also very technical fashion. Teachers can quickly make progress by using the recommended websites to start blog accounts, wikis, etc. A brief range of the most popular and powerful technologies are presented for the consumer to choose from depending on his/her situation. Whether it is blogs, wikis, podcasts, VoIP, or newsfeeds, the author usually surveys the most effective tools, always giving attention to both platforms, whether it is PC or Macintosh. His only weakness is his unhidden bias for Macs. However, the detail of his interaction with the technology is fair. His treatment of these is up-to-date and current.
In relation to Wikis, John gives helpful examples of using wikis for department meetings, notes, minutes, and even curriculum development. Here is where the "Ah Haa" moments echo where he provides specific uses of wikis from his own educational experience. The technology of Web 2.0 is not confined to the classroom, but transcended by things like videoconferencing, and also usable in teacher business as well as district business. The two-way roads of technology are expanding to the many facets of education.
When it comes to blogging, the author adequately surveys the popular blog resources available to begin web 2.0 applications. Again, both PC and Macintosh platforms are represented. The section does seem overly technical for educators, but as an educator with computer background, I found it very helpful. What I appreciate about Hendron's treatment is the balance of adequate technical help with the creativity of the Web 2.0 applications. Especially eye-opening were the classroom lesson plans using blogging technology to accomplish educational objectives. What administrator would not drop his/her jaw to see this kind of technology used in the classroom to engage and bring much needed collaboration to the classroom using technology? The lessons were replete with collaborative ideas using engaging technology. The only criticism is that the lesson plans did not include a single math lesson. This reviewer is a secondary math teacher.
In the final analysis, the esoteric technical title of the book is actually a rich and readable ride into the revolutionary Web 2.0 technology of not the future, but the present. It's explained clearly across both platforms and surveyed across the most popular tools. This is an excellent primer on information travel for Web 2.0.
RSS for Educators: Blogs, Newsfeeds, Podcasts, and Wikis in the Classroom OverviewA powerful technology, but a simple concept, RSS ('Really Simple Syndication') makes it possible to easily access frequently updated content on the Internet. RSS allows you to 'subscribe' to content and have updates automatically delivered to your computer. Many Web 2.0 tools, including blogs, podcasts, and wikis, have been made even more useful with the advent of RSS technology.
Let expert John Hendron show you how to use a news aggregator to harness the power of RSS for a variety of purposes, including classroom projects, professional development, and keeping students and parents informed.
* Learn how to use free and inexpensive software such as Garage Band and Audacity to manipulate audio files and create podcasts.
* Explore the pros and cons of various blogging platforms.
* Have your students blog, and use RSS to deliver their assignments to you automatically.
With RSS and the Read/Write Web, the possibilities are endless.
A glossary and an extensive list of online resources round out this essential guide to the power of Web syndication.
Topics include:
-Web 2.0-technology integration-curriculum design-curriculum design-blogs-wikis-newsfeeds-podcasts-professional development
Also available:
Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools - ISBN 1564842347 Toys to Tools: Connecting Student Cell Phones to Education - ISBN 1564842479
The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) is the trusted source for professional development, knowledge generation, advocacy and leadership for innovation. ISTE is the premier membership association for educators and education leaders engaged in improving teaching and learning by advancing the effective use of technology in PK-12 and teacher education. Home of the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS), the Center for Applied Research in Educational Technology (CARET), and ISTE's annual conference (formerly known as the National Educational Computing Conference, or NECC), ISTE represents more than 100,000 professionals worldwide. We support our members with information, networking opportunities, and guidance as they face the challenge of transforming education.
Some of the areas in which we publish are: -Web. 2.0 in the classroom-RSS, podcasts, and more-National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) -Professional development for educators and administrators-Integrating technology into the classroom and curriculum-Safe practices for the Internet and technology-Educational technology for parents

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The Digital Diet: Today's Digital Tools in Small Bytes Review

The Digital Diet: Today's Digital Tools in Small Bytes
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The Digital Diet: Today's Digital Tools in Small Bytes ReviewIn their book, The Digital Diet- Today's Digital Tools in Small Bytes, authors Churches, Crockett, and Jukes have empowered everyone from the most naïve of digital immigrants (like myself) to veteran "techies" (like most of my student teachers) for effectively using technology to foster productive learning in the classroom. In pragmatic, down-to-earth, 1-2-3 directions they have garnered the essence of major technological tools and presented them to learners (students and teachers) in an efficient, graduated way. They offer the latest strategies to help engage students in their own learning through various tools readily available and easily accessible on the internet.
The book's blueprint is excellent - provide the essential vocabulary, explain through both graphics and words in a common sense manner, deliver a well-thought-out rubric aligned with Bloom's Taxonomy, and provide resources for further study. Each chapter ends with follow-up questions, which can be used for individual reflection or group discussion.
Their guiding principles for what it means to be a responsible, ethical digital user should be required knowledge for every member of the internet society! This book is deceptively simple in its design and monumental in its impact. I've spend the entire week-end following up on their suggestions and can honestly say, "I'm hooked!!"
As someone who works with teachers and administrators on a daily basis, I can wholeheartedly assure both novice and veteran educators that this book is worth your time and money. It simplifies the mysteries of teaching to the digital learner and challenges us to view students as partners in their own learning! It is empowering, informative, and most of all -- useful!
--Debbie Silver, Ed.D. (teacher, author, consultant, speaker)The Digital Diet: Today's Digital Tools in Small Bytes OverviewUnderstanding today's online world and relating to the digital generation can be a daunting process for the newcomer. Readers are invited to feast on a tantalizing buffet of the various kinds of digital fare such as blogs, wikis, social networking and podcasting."The Digital Diet" supplies an entertaining commentary on the basics of understanding many of the most popular online programs in use today. In addition, it gives in-depth guidance for more advanced users, and also demonstrates how these versatile and user-friendly applications can be utilized in today's classroom to foster enjoyable and productive learning.

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The New Digital Shoreline: How Web 2.0 and Millennials Are Revolutionizing Higher Education Review

The New Digital Shoreline: How Web 2.0 and Millennials Are Revolutionizing Higher Education
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The New Digital Shoreline: How Web 2.0 and Millennials Are Revolutionizing Higher Education ReviewThe New Digital Shoreline: How Web 2.0 and Millennials Are Revolutionizing Higher Education offers a fine survey of the complex effects of Web 2.0 on higher education, documenting forces that educators need to know about to modify interactions with students and peers. From understanding how the population of the new Web is different with different expectations to understanding the new mind-set of Web 2.0, this is packed with details supporting a reinvention of higher education to meet these new perspectives - a support which goes beyond just adding new technology to the learning mix. Higher education collections must have this new approach!The New Digital Shoreline: How Web 2.0 and Millennials Are Revolutionizing Higher Education OverviewTwo seismic forces beyond our control - the advent of Web 2.0 and the inexorable influx of tech-savvy Millennials on campus - are shaping what Roger McHaney calls 'The New Digital Shoreline" of higher education. Failure to chart its contours, and adapt, poses a major threat to higher education as we know it.These forces demand that we as educators reconsider the learning theories, pedagogies, and practices on which we have depended, and modify our interactions with students and peers-all without sacrificing good teaching, or lowering standards, to improve student outcomes. Achieving these goals requires understanding how the indigenous population of this new shoreline is different. These students aren't necessarily smarter or technologically superior, but they do have different expectations. Their approaches to learning are shaped by social networking and other forms of convenient, computer-enabled and mobile communication devices; by instant access to an over-abundance of information; by technologies that have conferred the ability to personalize and customize their world to a degree never seen before; and by time-shifting and time-slicing.As well as understanding students' assumptions and expectations, we have no option but to familiarize ourselves with the characteristics and applications of Web 2.0-essentially a new mind set about how to use Internet technologies around the concepts of social computing, social media, content sharing, filtering, and user experience.Roger McHaney not only deftly analyzes how Web 2.0 is shaping the attitudes and motivations of today's students, but guides us through the topography of existing and emerging digital media, environments, applications, platforms and devices - not least the impact of e-readers and tablets on the future of the textbook - and the potential they have for disrupting teacher-student relationships; and, if appropriately used, for engaging students in their learning.This book argues for nothing less than a reinvention of higher education to meet these new realities. Just adding technology to our teaching practices will not suffice. McHaney calls for a complete rethinking of our practice of teaching to meet the needs of this emerging world and envisioning ourselves as connected, co-learners with our students.

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Making the Most of the Web in Your Classroom: A Teacher's Guide to Blogs, Podcasts, Wikis, Pages, and Sites Review

Making the Most of the Web in Your Classroom: A Teacher's Guide to Blogs, Podcasts, Wikis, Pages, and Sites
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Making the Most of the Web in Your Classroom: A Teacher's Guide to Blogs, Podcasts, Wikis, Pages, and Sites ReviewAs a novice technology using teacher, this book was just what I needed. It has given me a solid overview to help me start building my knowledge and skill. I appreciated the various examples on how to use the Web in my classroom. I have recommended this book to others I work with who are trying to ramp up their skills for using the web in their teaching.Making the Most of the Web in Your Classroom: A Teacher's Guide to Blogs, Podcasts, Wikis, Pages, and Sites OverviewThe authors show how to use Web tools to enhance learning, and discuss student safety, appropriate 'netiquette", legal considerations, and ISTE NETS technology and content standards.

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Personal Learning Networks: Using the Power of Connections to Transform Education Review

Personal Learning Networks: Using the Power of Connections to Transform Education
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Personal Learning Networks: Using the Power of Connections to Transform Education ReviewWill Richardson and Rob Mancabelli do an exceptional job of providing a passionate, organized, and informative guide for developing a Personal Learning Network (PLN). The authors are powerful, driven, forward thinkers. The gift of this book is that they are able to translate their expertise and passion into a casual, conversational style makes you feel as if they are talking to you personally - encouraging and supporting you through the process required to connect yourself and your students to each other and the world.

This book is unique in that it combines a clear systematic process with a common sense approach and inspiring personal stories and examples that will bolster confidence and empower each reader. A URL is provided to an incredible page of links to each resource cited in the text. While intended for educators, the meat and potatoes of the book are valuable to anyone who considers themselves a life-long learner and is interested in developing an invaluable network of resources to support their learning. You'll find both a strong philosophy as well as practical instructions and personal advice on such tools as Twitter, Google Reader, Blogger, Diigo, and yes, Facebook.

The book goes on to provide the framework for implementing a networked classroom and a networked school to ensure that our students become connected learners as they prepare to enter an ever-changing global community.
I have spent the past year immersed in the Powerful Learning Practice program, co-founded by Will Richardson, and have found the process of developing a Personal Learning Network to be a truly transformative experience for me both as a teacher and a learner. This book makes it easy for anyone to take those first tentative steps, and work toward the imperative transformation of education that the connected world of the 21st century requires. A must read!!
Personal Learning Networks: Using the Power of Connections to Transform Education OverviewThe Internet now connects us in unprecedented ways. We have access to tools will allow us to build global learning networks where we can pursue our intellectual and creative passions with people around the world. As educators, these networked opportunities present a very big challenge. To prepare students to flourish in this new learning world, schools will need to transform themselves in important ways. Personal Learning Networks: Using the Power of Connections to Transform Education is a road map to follow down the path to that transformation.In order to bring these learning networks into classrooms, teachers must first create learning networks of their own. Authors Will Richardson and Rob Mancabelli describe a bottom-up progression that can fundamentally change the way schools operate:- Understanding the power of these networks- Becoming a networked individual- Implementing a networked classroom- Becoming a networked schoolUsing step-by-step advice and real-world stories, this book aims to narrow the technological divide, put educators on the same footing as students, and provide a recipe for incorporating these tools into every classroom.

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Reinventing Project-Based Learning: Your Field Guide to Real-World Projects in the Digital Age Review

Reinventing Project-Based Learning: Your Field Guide to Real-World Projects in the Digital Age
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Reinventing Project-Based Learning: Your Field Guide to Real-World Projects in the Digital Age ReviewReinventing Project based learning by Susie Boss and Jane Krauss is a well organized compendium of journalism and communication on the leading edge of current technology trends. They have used the most current Web 2.0 trends of communication and collaboration on the web. The book is a great snapshot in time of the current web development state. It appears that the authors believe authentic learning happens when you examine your ideas from all sides and from other points of view. New tools like Blogs, flikr, skype, wikis, and del.icio.us that support reflection and collaboration, give learners the opportunity to shape and revise their work, and expose the work to the analytical feedback of other people. The main direction of the book seems to be to collaboratively create knowledge with others. The content is divided up as follows.
SECTION I Anticipation
*Chapter 1 Mapping the Journey--Seeing the Big Picture
*Assess your readiness to begin teaching with technology-rich, authentic projects.
*Technology Focus: Social Bookmarking
*Chapter 2 Creating a Professional Learning Community
*Engage with colleagues, near or far, to build collaboration into project design and enrich your teaching practices.
*Technology Focus: Online Communities
SECTION II Packing Up
*Chapter 3 Imagining the Possibilities
*Establish the conceptual framework for your project. Why do "big ideas" matter in project design?
*Technology Focus: Why Use a Wiki?
*Technology Focus: Essential Learning with of Digital Tools, the Internet, and Web 2.0
Chapter 4 Strategies for Discovery
*How do you begin designing a project? A guided design process helps, whether you build a project from scratch or adapt an existing project plan to meet your needs.
*Technology Focus: Track Assets Online
*Chapter 5 Project Management Strategies for Teachers and Learners
*Teachers and learners alike benefit from improving their project management skills.
*Technology Focus: Project Management with Technology
SECTION III Navigating the Learning Experience
*Chapter 6 Project Launch--Implementation Strategies
*Get your project off to the right start by generating curiosity and preparing students for the active learning ahead.
*Technology Focus: Screencasting
*Chapter 7 A Guiding Hand--Keeping a Project Moving
*Consider the critical roles of classroom discussions, technology use, and troubleshooting strategies in keeping the project moving forward.
*Technology Focus: Podcasting
SECTION IV Expanding Your Circle
*Chapter 8 Building Connections and Branching Out
*Successful projects may take off in directions you did not anticipate.
*Imagine the possibilities for extensions and connections.
*Technology Focus: Online Collaboration
*Chapter 9 Making Assessment Meaningful
*Near the end of the project, you put your formal assessment plan to use.
*With 21st-century projects, teachers are incorporating new approaches to make assessment more meaningful.
*Technology Focus: Online Grade Books
*Chapter 10 Celebrating and Reflecting
*Culminating activities remind learners of where they have been and what they have gained along the way.
*Technology Focus: Photo Sharing
SECTION V Unpacking
*Chapter 11 Bringing It Home
*Build time for reflection and sharing into the project life cycle to make the most of your investment in meaningful curriculum design.
Have I found the book useful? Probably not, as it is not as much about project-based learning as I had hoped. It is more about communication and collaboration and current learning trends than it is about project-based learning. It is however, a wonderful book and a must read for anyone trying to get up to speed in our web dependent world. Read this book now, as it will be out of style after a few years.
Reinventing Project-Based Learning: Your Field Guide to Real-World Projects in the Digital Age OverviewReinventing Project-Based Learning offers educators an accessible guide for maximizing the benefits of project-based learning in today's technology-rich learning environment. This reader-friendly book speaks directly to educators, administrators, and professional development specialists who want to transform learning into a more active, student-driven experience, using technology tools for inquiry, collaboration, and connection to the world beyond the classroom. Examples from educators in many different countries showcase this new vision of instructional design.
The book itself follows the arc of a project, providing you with guided opportunities to direct and reflect on your own learning. Starting with an assessment of your readiness to embrace technology-rich, authentic projects, the book then provides strategies to engage with colleagues and build collaboration in project design. The authors then discuss project management, implementation, and troubleshooting. Final chapters focus on assessment, reflection, and sharing. With proven strategies, rich illustrations, classroom examples, and teacher interviews from around the world, Reinventing Project-Based Learning shows how to design authentic projects that make the most of available and emerging tools and technologies.
Topics include:
-technology literacy-technology integration-teacher training-curriculum design-projects
Also available:
RSS for Educators: Blogs, Newsfeeds, Podcasts, and Wikis in the Classroom - ISBN 1564842398 Tablet PCs in K-12 Education - ISBN 156484241X
The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) is the trusted source for professional development, knowledge generation, advocacy and leadership for innovation. ISTE is the premier membership association for educators and education leaders engaged in improving teaching and learning by advancing the effective use of technology in PK-12 and teacher education. Home of the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS), the Center for Applied Research in Educational Technology (CARET), and ISTE's annual conference (formerly known as the National Educational Computing Conference, or NECC), ISTE represents more than 100,000 professionals worldwide. We support our members with information, networking opportunities, and guidance as they face the challenge of transforming education.
Some of the areas in which we publish are: -Web. 2.0 in the classroom-RSS, podcasts, and more-National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) -Professional development for educators and administrators-Integrating technology into the classroom and curriculum-Safe practices for the Internet and technology-Educational technology for parents

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Creating a Digital-Rich Classroom: Teaching & Learning in a Web 2.0 World Review

Creating a Digital-Rich Classroom: Teaching and Learning in a Web 2.0 World
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Creating a Digital-Rich Classroom: Teaching & Learning in a Web 2.0 World ReviewI bought this book with the hope of learning about HOW to implement Web 2.0 technologies into my classroom. I even thought that with a 2011 copyright that it would be current and up-to-date. Unfortunately the book provides little concrete suggestions for implimentation. Instead it's the bane of teacher conferences everywhere: the seminar that preaches on why and not how. If you are trying to convince administrators or fellow teachers on the benifits of technology in the classroom, then this is your book. BUT if you want to know how? I wouldn't waste my money.Creating a Digital-Rich Classroom: Teaching & Learning in a Web 2.0 World OverviewOutside of school, today s students are accustomed to a high level of interaction and collaboration with one another and with technology. Inside school, we ask them to power down, assuming that we can help them achieve their fullest potential through traditional stand-and-deliver textbook-driven methods of teaching. It shouldn t surprise us that these students are bored and disconnected from learning. Creating a Digital-Rich Classroom demonstrates how standards-aligned curricula can be enhanced with powerful technological resources to transform and enrich content and make it more accessible and relevant to students. The author stresses that technology by itself does not create an active-learning classroom. While Web 2.0 tools are very effective in increasing student participation and interest, the focus needs to be on creating lessons designed for engagement. The purpose of this book is to provide a research base and practical strategies to help teachers design and deliver lessons in which technology plays an integral role. If we want to engage students in solving real-world problems of today and tomorrow, we must use the technological tools that are shaping our world.

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Leading 21st-Century Schools: Harnessing Technology for Engagement and Achievement Review

Leading 21st-Century Schools: Harnessing Technology for Engagement and Achievement
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Leading 21st-Century Schools: Harnessing Technology for Engagement and Achievement ReviewI read this book for as required reading for an Instructional Technology Leadership graduate class that I am enrolled in. As a future elementary special education teacher, this is not a book that I would typically seek out. However, I think this book is possibly more useful for an individual like myself, than someone who is already a technology leader or the educator with a technologically oriented mindset. The book is well organized and easily accessable even for someone like myself with limited tehcnological expertise.
The book is divided into three sections. The first section is dedicated to presenting information on why it is so important to move towards a more technologically focused education system. The second section concentrates on what can and should be included in this new vision of education. This section strongly emphasises the great potential that the Web 2.0 tools has for educators and students. The final section presents topics relating to the practical considerations involved in being a leader int the 21st Century school.
The book makes a strong case for the importance of changing the focus of the traditional school to include 21st Century skills and technologies. More importantly, the book includes tools, and several real examples to assist the educators who want to play a part in leading their schools in this direction. I often felt mildly inspired and strongly motivated by the examples that the authors presented. I found my mind racing to find ways to implement the tools and strategies in a special education setting. I look forward to using this information in my education career.Leading 21st-Century Schools: Harnessing Technology for Engagement and Achievement OverviewAligned to the ISTE NETS standards for administrators, this guide provides an actionable plan for integrating new technology into teaching and learning and realizing measurable improvement.

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Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms Review

Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms
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Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms ReviewBlogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms is a good book on how to use web 2.0 tools in a educational setting. Richardson gives a good introduction to the book by talking about how technology has changed in the recent years and how it is continuing to grow. The idea that the gap in the understanding and knowledge of technology between teachers and students is an obstacle still to be overcome is a good point. Richardson describes the more experienced teachers as "digital immigrants" and the current students as "Digital natives" to describe the gap. This description gives the reader a good idea of how technology has exponentially grown in recent times.
Richardson does a great job in his book to describe and how the web 2.0 tools can be implemented in the current classroom. Richardson divides each chapter by a different web 2.0 tool. He takes the time to give a good description of the tool and how it can be utilized in the classroom. After he has given the reader the information needed about the web 2.0 tool and how to use it in the classroom, he then gives good resources to find these tools. Richardson gives his opinion on these different sites and positives and negatives of each site. This is one of the most useful parts of the book, once I read about the tool I immediately had examples to go look at as I was reading. Many of the sites that Richardson suggests are what he says they are and are very helpful in learning the new tool.
I recommend this book for teachers and higher education students who want to get a good introduction of these tools. Richardsons's book is a easy to read book with very helpful and useful sources. The sources compliment the book nicely and are very useful in beginning to use the web 2.0 tools described in the book.
Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms OverviewWith updated research and links, the second edition shows educators at all levels and disciplines how to use digital tools to create relevant, interactive learning experiences.

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Digital Tools for Teaching: 30 E-Tools for Collaborating, Creating, and Publishing Across the Curriculum Review

Digital Tools for Teaching: 30 E-Tools for Collaborating, Creating, and Publishing Across the Curriculum
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Digital Tools for Teaching: 30 E-Tools for Collaborating, Creating, and Publishing Across the Curriculum ReviewMore than every, technological literacy is very important. "Digital Tools for Teaching: 30 E-Tools for Collaborating, Creating, and Publishing Across the Curriculum" is a guide fo using Web 2.0 as a powerful tool for education and how to use it to its fullest. Describing the educational potential from the obvious like Google Earth to the not so obvious like Twitter, Steve Johnson gives a strong and very useful resource that shouldn't be overlooked. "Digital Tools for Teaching" is a must for any technology-minded educator.
Digital Tools for Teaching: 30 E-Tools for Collaborating, Creating, and Publishing Across the Curriculum OverviewIn this Web 2.0 world, your students are communicating, customizing, and creating like never before. It's no surprise, therefore, that standards for the twenty-first century classroom recognize the value of teaching with digital tools. Knowing how to effectively teach with them is another matter altogether.In Digital Tools for Teaching, educator and self-proclaimed techno-geek Steve Johnson shows you how to transform 30 cutting-edge e-tools into powerful vehicles for teaching and learning. You will find:- An array of low-to-no-cost digital tools ranging in complexity and all focused on educational merit- Step-by-step instructions that take the mystery out of using each e-tool- Lesson connections and lists of classroom-proven ideas for applying each e-tool across the curriculum- Backdoor links to the special services and discounts available to teachers for many of the digital tools profiled in this book- Standards-based assessment rubrics and strategies (including how to implement digital portfolios) to help you meet twenty-first century classroom instructional goals- Links to Steve Johnson's website and blog for news and updates on incorporating technology-based activities into your lessons.Complete and ready-to-use, Digital Tools for Teaching shows you how to connect your teaching to the e-tools that are relevant to your students lives. Whether you re already an advanced e-tool user or a newbie, Digital Tools for Teaching will increase your confidence using digital tools, broaden your perspective, and give you new teaching strategies that you can use tomorrow.

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High-Tech Teaching Success A Step-by-Step Guide to Using Innovative Technology in Your Classroom Review

High-Tech Teaching Success A Step-by-Step Guide to Using Innovative Technology in Your Classroom
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High-Tech Teaching Success A Step-by-Step Guide to Using Innovative Technology in Your Classroom ReviewHigh-Tech Teaching Success tells teachers how to bring technology into the classroom, offering keys to using Google Earth, blogs, digital diaries, Facebook and other popular online sites in the teaching process. From classroom web sites to digital teaching, this is an excellent review of how technological opportunities can integrate into any classroom teacher's objectives.
High-Tech Teaching Success A Step-by-Step Guide to Using Innovative Technology in Your Classroom Overview
An easy-to-use guide to implementing the most exciting technologies to energize any classroom, High-Tech Teaching Success!: A Step-by-Step Guide to Using Innovative Technology in Your Classroom gives classroom teachers exactly what they're looking for: advice from technology education experts on how the latest tools and software can be implemented into lesson plans to create differentiated, exciting curriculum for all learners.

Focused on implementing technology in the four core areas of learning—math, science, language arts, and social studies—this book covers topics like podcasting, blogging and digital diaries, building Web sites and Wikis, creating Web Quests, using Google Earth, using online programs like YouTube and social networking sites to connect to other classrooms, creating videos, and more.

Geared for teachers in grades 4–8, this essential book offers practical tools, tips for implementation, step-by-step instructions, and handy screen shots to give educators everything they need to create interesting, technology-based learning experiences in their classrooms.

Features lessons developed by top educators covering Google Earth, YouTube, wikis, WebQuests, and much more
Includes screen shots and easy-to-follow directions for using each technology tool
Suggests innovative ways of implementing tools like website design, podcasts, social networking, and blogging
Gives teachers an overview and advice on implementing the latest exciting technology tools


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The Technology Toolbelt for Teaching (Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education) Review

The Technology Toolbelt for Teaching (Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education)
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The Technology Toolbelt for Teaching (Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education) ReviewVery practical. Starts with objectives (what are you trying to accomplish) rather than "here's a cool tool." Already found ideas to implement and have a good idea how to implement. Has something for novices and advanced users.The Technology Toolbelt for Teaching (Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education) OverviewInstructors are pressured to integrate technology into their traditional or online instruction. This book offers a hands-on resource that shows how to integrate technology into lessons and offers information about common technologies, categorizing by groups, and explains the purposes they serve pedagogically as well as how they can be most effectively used in online or face-to-face classrooms. In addition to examples, each chapter will feature a decision making matrix to help instructors decide on whether or not a tool is really needed based on curriculum objectives or a specific organizational or curricular problem.

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Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms Review

Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms
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Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms ReviewNote: while there are some spoilers here, I will deliberately LEAVE THINGS OUT so you will have no choice to read his great book. I could not put it down and I learned so much, even though I've been Podcasting since September and Blogging (sort of) for two years.
Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms by Will Richardson is a great resource for any teacher or instructional technologist who wants to integrate technology into the classroom. Will begins by quoting Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web - the vision was that it was a "read-write web" - with web users not only collecting information but creating it as well. In his book, Will gives many examples of how to do this:
Blogs: great for class portals, an online filing cabinet, e-portfolios... but better: a collaborative space for students and teachers to react to questions and scenarios - all online where Will has arranged for his students to meet authors or students from other schools to discuss a topic. Student writing becomes authentic, relevant. Will recommends that teachers blog themselves before introducing blogs to their students (just like a teacher of writing should be a writer himself, or a reading teacher should read on her own). Will dedicates an entire chapter to "getting started" with blogs - with juicy tips and tricks, as well as resources for new bloggers.
Wikis: after a discussion of the origin of the wiki (wiki-wiki - Hawaiian for "quick") and a discussion of the most well-known wiki, Wikipedia, Will discusses the uses for wikis in school: you can create an online text for your classroom, a lesson plan exchange for teachers, and he gives a good introduction to creating your own wiki using PBWiki.
RSS: OK- this is where my brain began to melt. I was blown away by the difference between what I THOUGHT RSS was good for and all of the ideas that Will has for them. To quote his chapter on RSS: "I think it's the one technology that you should start using today, right now, this minute. And tomorrow, you should teach your students to use it." After reading this chapter I did, and I will. Seriously. This chapter was an epiphany for me.
Podcasts: amateur radio, with lots of possibilities. There are many resources given in his book but the Education Podcast Network is the best known and a great place to start. Will gives some great tips on software to use like Audacity - and how to use Skype to record interviews (using software from http://www.powergramo.com ).
I hate to sound like PBS's Reading Rainbow, but if you want to find out more, you really should buy and read his book. It is very well written, organized, and is an invaluable resource for any teacher willing to try technology in their classroom.Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms OverviewWith updated research and links, the second edition shows educators at all levels and disciplines how to use digital tools to create relevant, interactive learning experiences.

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Teaching With the Tools Kids Really Use: Learning With Web and Mobile Technologies Review

Teaching With the Tools Kids Really Use: Learning With Web and Mobile Technologies
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Teaching With the Tools Kids Really Use: Learning With Web and Mobile Technologies ReviewThis book is aimed at educators (school administrators, teachers and support staff) who are situated at the entry or early adoption levels of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) use in their schools and classrooms. The central premise of the material presented is easily stated: there is a range of mobile technologies and Web-based tools that have yet to gain widespread acceptance in mainstream education. But this proposition is little appreciated and often misrepresented and/or misunderstood. Fortunately, there is a technology-based revolution in teaching and learning just waiting for chances to occur and the author, Brooks-Young, positions herself on the frontier between ignorance, prejudice and enlightenment to play a part in bringing it about. The description of emerging technologies provided is well structured. Each of the substantive chapters features introductory/contextualizing and background remarks to selected hardware and tools, outlines of common objections and concerns relating to usage, numerous practical suggestions and discussion points.
This is an approachable book and discussion starter. However, in my opinion, there are two broad aspects of the overall exposition that impact negatively on the practicality and acceptability of the ideas expounded. These points relate to: (i) a highly questionable assumption in the introduction, and (ii) an underspecified statement of pedagogy throughout.
First, a central productivity-based building block in Brooks-Young's argument relates to the effects of globalisation. I nearly didn't get beyond page one when I read: "Students who live in industrialized nations around the world are increasingly disenchanted with the education programs provided. They view educators who use traditional teaching methods as being out of touch. They rankle at completing the same projects and assignments their parents and even grandparents did when they attended school. They believe that the technology tools that are banned on campus are, in fact, the keys to success in their future." This is an astonishing and disturbing scenario that would be very difficult to substantiate empirically. Indeed, leaving aside the imprecision associated with the term "industrialized nations", I have heard tech-savvy high school students say they don't like having access to ICT in school because it distracts them from high-stakes academic work. Furthermore, they respect their teachers (just like their parents did, I suspect) and no doubt trust their methods and programmes. Who or what is mistaken here? A little later, Brooks-Young proposes: "It may be that what we really need to grapple with is the fact that our current system of education no longer helps all students flourish" (page 8). When did any educational system allow all students to flourish equally?
Second, Brooks-Young works from what she claims is a thinly populated base where there are few good examples (models) illustrating exemplary practice with emerging technologies. As is the case with mobile telephones and MP3 players, for example, all teachers can do is "set expectations" and "seize opportunities" but on what basis? The author's rationale for recruiting students' technologies into classroom work is not a question of proven effectiveness. Rather, it's founded on provision and relevance. She states, "... it is incumbent upon educators to create engaging learning environments that mirror the real world and to ensure that students acquire the skills needed to function in these settings ... So what we need to ask is whether our schools are serving students well by providing up-to-date, relevant tools for learning the skills they need to lead successful lives" (pages 2-3 and also compare with page 121). To my mind, policymakers and administrators often use the "keep-yourself-relevant" argument in the absence of strong theoretical and pedagogical support for their technocratic predilections. Further, what teachers and students really need is a pedagogical undergirding that allows them to make robust, informed choices based on theories of learning. Brooks-Young mentions project-based learning and constructivism in the chapter on Netbooks but does not elaborate. For anyone interested, Cummins, Brown and Sayers in their expansive "Literacy, technology and diversity: Teaching for success in changing times" (Pearson, 2007) do a far better job in showing how meaningful, theory-driven learning can and does occur with technology both inside and outside classrooms.
This is a book with a limited and limiting focus. It concentrates mostly on classroom uses of technology and homegrown matters. Overall, I think it fails to properly engage a serious issue in contemporary learning--educators' resistance to the shift of epistemic authority from formal to informal contexts mediated by access to ICT. This is a deep-seated cultural, social, historical and political dilemma that will truly require a revolution in *all* parts of the world. Brooks-Young's book is an entry point into a conversation that will have to be sustained by other thinking that goes beyond simple, unquestioned 21st-century folklore about what the *real* world is or could be idealistically.Teaching With the Tools Kids Really Use: Learning With Web and Mobile Technologies OverviewThis resource helps educators integrate Web and mobile technologies and tools into classroom instruction and offers a model for selecting appropriate tools and technologies for K-12 settings.

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