Posts by Adam Renfro
EdTech
Create a Website to Connect With Parents
To connect with parents, your class needs to be transparent. The easiest way to kickstart this process is to have your own web site.
Personalized Learning
Generation Z: The Biggest Cheaters Since Homer
Ancient Greek records point to two men who were the last people to recite the Illiad and Odyssey from memory before that upstart, techno-cheat Homer came along and WROTE IT ALL DOWN. Newly translated documents indicate that either Statusquoates or Progressblockus own that somewhat dubious distinction.
Personalized Learning
Scaling Grades for Success
The no-zero policy is a hotly debated and emotionally charged topic on the national scene. Letters to the editors and blog comments from angry citizens flare up whenever districts or schools adopt the policy. One letter to the editor in my community stated, “I’m appalled that leaders don’t punish no kids for bad work. Kid’s got be held accountable.”
Personalized Learning
Celling a Great Idea
Event horizon: Smartphones will be in all classrooms. When that event horizon comes to pass, the switch to smartphone access in class will be so utterly quick and complete that the time before smartphones will seem like a distant memory, a work of fiction, something from an Edgar Rice Burroughs’ novel. Anthropologists will call it the “Before Smartphones Era” or possibly the “BS Period.”
Personalized Learning
The Cloud: Too Big to Fail
Almost any tech device that is having “its year” this year, is most likely tied into the cloud. What exactly is the cloud? It’s simply a metaphor for the Internet, and in my own metaphor, the cloud will always include bright, sunshiny days.
Personalized Learning
Scooch Over LMS, E-portfolio Wants a Seat at the Table
Do you want to give your students a digital footprint? Even if your school is not already practicing e-learning or blended learning, you can still accomplish that with an e-portfolio. If you’re already using a Learning Management System (LMS), you might already have an e-portfolio available that can showcase authentic work.
Personalized Learning
DJ Your Classroom: The Digital Playlist
Wednesday was Digital Learning Day, and the Renfro Manor celebrated in the traditional manner with high-fructose digitalization: Youtube, Pandora, Twitter, Moodle, Cabanga, Skype, G-talk, Blackboard, Time4Learning, Facebook, LinkedIn, NCVPS, Apple TV, IMs, playlists, and then I dropped the kids off at school.
Ed Policy
SOPA and PIPA Polling Lower than the BP Oil Spill
How will SOPA and PIPA affect online education? It will be the collateral damage. On the surface, both bills seem reasonable. Both bills seek to give power to law enforcement to stop access to “rogue” websites that abuse copyright and exchange counterfeit goods. The bills focus on foreign websites; however, U.S. based Internet companies and technology leaders fear the bills are over-reaching and will have chilling effects on Internet freedoms in the U.S.
Personalized Learning
Start a Student-Generated Knowledge Bank
Have you ever finished a day of teaching completely exhausted while your students dance out the door, into the parking lot, onto the buses, and all the way home? If so, you are doing all the doing while your students are not. Unless, of course, you count their texting.
EdTech
8 Social Media Strategies for Your Classroom
Are you ready to bring social networking to your classroom? If you’re looking to make your classroom more relevant, connected, and meaningful to your students, it’s the best place to start. Study after study has confirmed the benefits of networking. Before we delve into strategies, though, let’s look at some reasons why we should connect with students in this manner.