10 steps to better lesson plans — iLearn Technology
On 10/09/2010,
in assessment, creativity, engagement / engaging students, music,
by Daniel Christian
How would you assess this? — from Education Stormfront
Excerpt:
The good news is that we are entering a golden age of learning. A time where the Yeols of the world will be able to connect with people who will appreciate, encourage and foster their gifts. It will be an explosion of personal expression, where everyone can finally reach their full potential. The resulting massive outburst of creativity will reshape the planet like nothing since the Renaissance.
On 10/09/2010,
in creativity, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, education reform, education technology, educational games / serious games, engagement / engaging students, faith, multimedia, pedagogy, religion, strategy,
by Daniel Christian
From DSC:
The other day, I was lamenting that the love of learning gets lost waaayyy too quickly in our youth. With drop out rates in the 25-30% range nationwide, we must turn this around.
A piece of that turn-around picture involves the opportunity for students to collaboratively create things (in a cross-disciplinary sort of way). This is why I am a big fan of multimedia-based projects:
- One student can write the script.
- Another can do the filming.
- Another can take pictures for still shots.
- Another can do the film and/or image editing.
- Others the acting or singing or playing music.
- Others can create the artwork or use their knowledge to create props
- Etc.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. The film below discusses the dark side of our culture as it involves schools and education. But the topic is not just related to schools, but to our society in general. That is, we’ve been sold a bill of goods. We believe that you must earn a lot of money to be successful and happy…and that whomever dies w/ the most toys wins.
This competitive streak is a worldly way of looking at things…but is a powerful current to fight. In fact, coming from a competitive background and being a Christian (in faith) myself, I’ve often asked myself whether I believe competition is a good thing or a bad thing. I don’t think I’ve arrived at the final answer to that question, as sometimes I think it can be good (as it can be helpful in developing characteristics of discipline, perseverance, character, integrity, etc.) and sometimes it can be bad. Check out the video/trainer here to see what I mean.
On 10/08/2010,
in design, digital storytelling, engagement / engaging students, presentations, storytelling,
by Daniel Christian
Presentation from Nancy Duarte, HOW, and PicScout:
Mac version- http://bit.ly/9qhWTK
PC Version- http://bit.ly/aubGb3
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From DSC:
This was a great presentation by Nancy Duarte that is very much worth checking out for anyone who regularly communicates information to others. I especially appreciated the slide on the need for all of us — in our organizations as well as for each of us as individuals — to constantly reinvent ourselves.
Here are some example slides:
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On 10/08/2010,
in 21st century, attention, engagement / engaging students, expectations, game-changing environment, generational differences,
by Daniel Christian
EDUCAUSE Review Magazine, Volume 45, Number 5, September/October 2010
Attention, Engagement, and the Next Generation
Howard Rheingold
If we want to discover how we can engage students as well as ourselves in the 21st century, we must move beyond skills and technologies. We must explore also the interconnected social media literacies of attention, participation, cooperation, network awareness, and critical consumption.
Danah Boyd
The future of Web 2.0 is about streams of content. The goal today is to be attentively aligned—”in flow”—with these information streams, to be aware of information as it flows by, grabbing it at the right moment when it is most relevant, valuable, entertaining, or insightful.
Malcolm Brown, with Mark Auslander, Kelly Gredone, David Green, Bruce Hull, and Walt Jacobs
How can faculty use technology and innovative pedagogical methods in their courses to make their students’ learning experiences richer and more meaningful—to capture, retain, and sustain student engagement?
Veronica Diaz, Cindy Jennings, Kelvin Bentley, P. B. Garrett, Barron Koralesky, Christina Royal, and David Starrett
Electronic books, mobile computing, and open content are three mature, robust, and quite approachable technology innovations holding much promise for attracting students’ attention and thereby supporting deeper student engagement with learning.
Diana G. Oblinger
Improving college readiness and completion for the next generation is a grand challenge for society. Although there are many ways to approach this challenge, applying the innovative capabilities of information technology must be one. We have many of the tools, policies, and technologies in hand.
On 10/08/2010,
in digital learning, education technology, engagement / engaging students, global / globalization,
by Daniel Christian
Learning powered by technology — from ednetinsight.com
Karen Cator, Director, Office of Educational Technology, U.S. Department of Education
The vision and model of learning articulated in the National Education Technology Plan, Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology, was informed by the ideas, case studies, research, and involvement of thousands of teachers, parents, students, researchers, professors, and policymakers. The model posits that in order to transform American education, we need to leverage modern technologies to create a massively customized, superpowered learning environment tuned for this generation of students.
We are seeing more and more examples of effective and compelling learning opportunities in and out of classrooms using digital resources and online collaborative environments to engage and inform teachers and students. There are countless articles published, stories told, and student work displayed showcasing global interactions, presentations of creative solutions to complex problems, and professional grade works done by students and worthy of a wide audience. We are observing teachers challenging students with interesting assignments that allow for exploration and practice using technologies to do their work.
We see increasing inclusion of social and participatory experiences coupled with online learning. And alongside this advent of social networking technologies comes the ability to access presentations, lectures, and interviews with experts; repositories of highly produced media; and a wealth of museum, national, state, and local park resources and library and reference materials previously available only in physical locations. All of this is “at our fingertips” and “on the go” in our increasingly mobile-enabled world. These existing and emerging technologies, resources, and interactions combine to create what should be the golden age of teaching and learning.
So as we manage this transition from a predominantly print-based classroom to a digital learning environment, we have been launching a number of initiatives. Here are a few worth mentioning…
On 10/06/2010,
in 24x7x365 access, business side of he, convergence, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, education technology, educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, future of higher education, game-changing environment, innovation, intelligent tutoring, learning ecosystem, learning spaces, love of learning, multimedia, new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, publishing, vision/possibilities,
by Daniel Christian
While looking at the video for Sonos Controller for the iPad, I wondered…what if we could replace the selection below — i.e. the word music with the words “educational providers” — and then control which room received which signal/content?
Wow…talk about a home dedicated to learning! 🙂
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On 10/06/2010,
in change, dangers of the status quo, disruption, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, generational differences, new media literacies, tools, vendors,
by Daniel Christian
Mind Map of the Digital Age — from fastcompany.com by Richard Watson
A new map showing how the digital era is changing our minds and in particular about how new digital objects and environments are re-wiring our brains. Best viewed by people aged 35+ with full-time jobs and teenage kids.
On 10/04/2010,
in convergence, creativity, digital audio, digital learning, digital photography, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, disruption, distance education, e-books, e-readers, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, game-changing environment, Google, innovation, online learning, online media, online tutoring, tools, vendors,
by Daniel Christian
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Also see:
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Addendums:
10-5-10– from Google announces TV deals with HBO, NBA, others
“One of our goals with Google TV is to finally open up the living room and enable new innovation from content creators, programmers, developers and advertisers,” Ambarish Kenghe, developer product manager for Google TV, said in the post.
On 10/01/2010,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, 3D, accessibility / UDL, Adobe, adult learning, animation, Apple, art, assistive technologies, Augmented Reality (AR), creativity, design, digital audio, digital learning, digital photography, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, education technology, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, Google, graphics, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, hybrid learning, interactivity, interface design, learning ecosystem, mobile learning, mobile technologies, multimedia, music, new media literacies, online learning, online media, online tutoring, podcasting, productivity / tips and tricks, professional development, programming, RSS, simulations, storytelling, student-related, teaching & learning, teaching online, training / L&D, user experience (UX), user interface design, visualizing information, web design and production, web-based collaboration,
by Daniel Christian
We use Lynda.com and the feedback has been excellent. Back in 1997, I took a 1-day seminar from Lynda Weinman out at SFSU’s Multimedia Studies Program. I learned more from her in a few hours then I have in many courses. She knows how to make things very understandable…and she’s a great teacher. If she doesn’t know the topic, she selects people who know how to explain that topic in easy-to-understand terms.
So when I saw this item — Connect@NMC: Panel Discussion Led By Laurie Burruss of Lynda.com – Implementing Lynda.com Campus-Wide — I felt that I should pass it along.
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The September 2010 issue of Academic Commons is now online.
“Charting the New Knowledge Terrain“ is our third collaborative issue with the National Institute for Technology in the Liberal Arts. Here you’ll find profiles of innovative projects taking place on NITLE-member campuses, written by the people who are making them happen.
In this issue, you’ll learn about:
* A collaborative website project produced by a professor, college students, and a community partner that helps parents make sense of school choice options in their area
* Creating simple animations with Google Earth to help students visualize landscapes as they existed thousands of years ago
* Creative problem-based projects in map-making that engage students in thinking about how to represent their own collective experiences with study abroad programs.Our next collaborative issue with NITLE will be published in spring 2011. The theme will be ‘Digital Humanities and the Undergraduate.’ For the most up-to-date information on NITLE’s Community Contribution Award program, please visit the NITLE website.
Enjoy!
The Editors at Academic Commons
On 09/27/2010,
in 21st century, education reform, engagement / engaging students, innovation, teaching & learning, vision/possibilities,
by Daniel Christian
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In July 2009, YouMedia launched as an ambitious attempt to re-imagine the library as a more relevant learning resource for today’s teens. Understanding that the landscape has changed how teens learn, socialize and self-identify, how do we remix the public library experience so it can truly engage teens in a way that supports its core mission? A partnership between the Chicago Public Library and the Digital Youth Network, YouMedia took on this task through the creation of a unique 21st century physical learning space and an innovative online space to connect learners 24/7. The 5,500-square-foot space is open seven days a week to any Chicago teen, where they have access to more than 100 laptops and desktop machines, professional grade cameras and software, and a full music studio all at no cost.
From the “About Us” page at YouMedia:
YOUmedia is an innovative, 21st century teen learning space housed at the Chicago Public Library’s downtown Harold Washington Library Center. YOUmedia was created to connect young adults, books, media, mentors, and institutions throughout the city of Chicago in one dynamic space designed to inspire collaboration and creativity.
High school age teens engaging with YOUmedia can access thousands of books, over 100 laptop and desktop computers, and a variety of media creation tools and software, all of which allow them to stretch their imaginations and their digital media skills. By working both in teams and individually, teens have an opportunity to engage in projects that promote critical thinking, creativity, and skill-building.