Career & Technical Ed
EdTech
EdTech
Humanizing Online Learning with VoiceThread
If you are an online instructor who is aching to break out of the social limitations of the text-based discussion forum that still dominates online courses, learn how VoiceThread can help.
EdTech
How to Find the Magic in an Educational App
The concept of how to find the magic in an educational app came up recently during our weekly EducationalAppTalk forum. The question arose, “Why should educational apps be field-tested?” Well, we (teacherswithapps) field test apps with kids on a regular basis and have found that most often it is the kids who find the MAGIC.
Personalized Learning
Infographic: The History of Education
The folks at Boundless who last brought us the EdTech Buzzwords Infographic are back with The History of Education. The graphic takes a look at how formal education began, changes along the way, current day and predictions for the next twenty years. Do you agree with the predictions?
Personalized Learning
The Infrastructure of Personalized Learning
In my previous posts I’ve written about my wishes for a personalized learning environment for my children, how such an environment is not yet available, and how we as a family have begun to use a wide variety of resources to essentially prototype such an environment. I use the metaphor of a “platform” – seeing education not as a single, monolithic experience to be performed upon our young people, but as a set of services that students and parents can use to meet their own, unique educational goals.
Personalized Learning
The Learning Resources That Liberated a Family
In my previous post, I wrote about the school experience I wish for my own children. Today I am going to write about how as a family we have taken advantage of local and distant learning resources that allow us to treat education as a set of “platform services” that we can use to create a customized learning experience for each of our kids.
Personalized Learning
How Online Learning Prepared Me for University Life
Choice is a basic fiber of Western Civilization. Today, a growing number of students and parents when given a choice are leaning towards virtual learning experiences rather than the more traditional options. As a graduate of an online public school and a current member of the class of 2014 at the University of Washington, I have spent some time reflecting on the ways I benefited from having the option to attend an online school and the unique ways it prepared me for college.
EdTech
The App Chat: 4 Questions Parents Can Ask to Bridge the App Gap
mojo-hiLately, I’ve been struck by how parents talk about their kids’ use of technology. Some are mystified; others are fearful. Some parents, in particular, seem completely flummoxed by how to begin a conversation with their children about social and other media that constitute the learning environment in which children gain interpersonal and communication skills.
Personalized Learning
Encouraging Innovation in Curriculum: Strategies for Support and Implementation
Educators strive to equip students with the tools necessary for enlightenment, self-empowerment, and success. Once students begin their college experience, it becomes the responsibility of that institution’s professors and administration to prepare those students for future endeavors.
Innov8
EdTech 10
Love was in the air this week. President Obama showed love for Early Education and STEM in this week’s SOTU. Research revealed that aspiring teachers are showing more love for technology more than practicing teachers. And, as always, there’s a whole week’s worth of news to love right here in this our EdTech 10. (Think of it as our version of heart-shaped chocolates.)
EdTech
Gates Foundation Launches Literacy Courseware Challenge
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will be making grants of up $6 million to organizations that develop software that supports students in "mastering literacy skills for writing, writing to read, and writing to learn."