Traditional embraces Transmedia – to great effect in kid’s storytelling — from appmarket.tv by Adriana Hamacher

Excerpt:

The current buzz around Transmedia is justified to its capital T, to listen to some of the original and fascinating ways theatre, film and even toys are being developed. The award winning Unlimited Theatre Co. and Makieworld were two of the best which showcased at the Children’s Media Conference in Sheffield, UK, last week.

From MakieLab:

MakieLab is a new games-and-toys company, founded this year and based in London. We’re making a new kind of toy: customisable, 3D-printed, locally made, and internet-enabled.

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What if school nurtured the passion and interest of every young person? — from Anne Knock

Excerpt:

As we move away from valuing some intelligences over others and recognising that there is value in the contributions of all – school can become the nurturing ground for all students, as it should be.

We need to create environments – in our schools, in our workplaces and in our public offices – where every person is inspired to grow creatively. We need to make sure that all people have the chance to do what they should be doing, the discover the *Element in themselves and in their own way.

Ken Robinson The Element: How finding your passion changes everything

* Element – the place where things we love to do and things we are good at come together.

How making stuff makes science more appealing to kids -- 6-29-11

 

(My thanks to Mr. Joseph Bywerwalter for this resource)

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Frog Disection app from Punflay

Per Nicola Santiago at Punflay:

  • We develop educational iPhone/iPad apps for kids. Our Frog Dissection app which is being used in many schools was awarded the Mark Twain’s Ethical Science award by PETA and was also selected as the Best Science app by IEAR. We also have a Rat Dissection app in the store.

Side reflection from DSC:

This type of work shows the power of using teams of specialists. One person can’t do it all anymore — we need to face up to this fact and stop thinking that simply providing more professional development is the answer. I realize that using textbooks brings in teams of specialists — but it seems to me that we still think that simply by providing more professional development, our teachers and professors will be able to meet the constantly (and quickly) rising bar. That type of approach has outlived its usefulness and it just won’t cut it anymore; we do our students a major disservice by clinging to that outdated, status-quo-based model.

How can we move to using more teams of specialists to create and deliver our educational materials?

Nice work to the teams at Punflay in India!


 

 

 

Publishers launch first digital-only textbook for K-12 — from Mashable.com by Sarah Kessler

Excerpt:

McGraw-Hill launched its first all-digital, cloud-based textbook for the K-12 market on Monday at the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) conference.

Unlike the company’s previous digital efforts for this age group, the books are intended to be used as primary texts (other McGraw-Hill digital texts have been sold as a companion of physical textbooks). This is the first time a major publisher has launched such a platform.

teachtown.com -- educational products for children with autism

 

TeachTown provides education software and solutions for children with special needs and autism. Serving special education, TeachTown addresses language learning, social skills, communications skills and emotional development.

 

From DSC:
I originally saw this at “New website offers autism information and support

 

Report from EduBloggerCon at ISTE11: Trends and Tools — from Edutopia.org by Betty Ray

Excerpt:

There are a few interesting ideas that are emerging this year.

  1. “Flipped” Classrooms
  2. Digital Learning Toolsets (Formerly Known as “Textbooks”)
  3. Videogames in the Classroom: World of Warcraft
  4. Management of Digital Life
  5. Some Cool New Tools of Note

…and more

Multimedia Transformation -- Special Report from Education Week

Excerpt:

In science and math classes across the country, digital tools are being used to conduct experiments, analyze data, and run 3-D simulations to explain complex concepts. Language arts teachers are now pushing the definition of literacy to include the ability to express ideas through media. This report, “Multimedia Transformation,” examines the many ways multimedia tools are transforming teaching and learning as schools work to raise achievement and prepare students for careers that require increasingly sophisticated uses of technology.

A technology broadside against school leadership preparation programs — from BigThink.com by Scott McLeod

Excerpt:

If every other information-oriented societal sector is finding that transformative reinvention is the cost of survival in our current climate, schools and universities shouldn’t expect that they somehow will be immune from the same changes that are radically altering their institutional peers. We shouldn’t pretend that these revolutions aren’t going to affect us too, in compelling and often as yet unknown ways. And, yet, for some reason we do.

As long-existing barriers to learning, communicating, and collaborating disappear – and as what it means to be a productive learner, citizen, and employee shifts dramatically – it’s worth asking how we as educational leadership faculty and programs are responding. Are we doing what we should? To date the evidence is pretty clear that most of us are not.

Can we as educational leadership faculty do better? Given the scale and scope of the transformations occurring around us – and their power and potential for student learning – we MUST do better. It’s embarrassing to consider how little we’ve done to stay relevant. A learning revolution has occurred and – given the attention we’ve paid it – it’s as if many of us didn’t care.

 

From DSC — also see:

 

Frustrated Educators Aim to Build Grassroots Movement

 

Action! The Digital Learning Farm — from the Langwitches blog by Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano

 

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Gifted resources for primary classrooms — from byrdseed.com (Australia)

Excerpt:

Also see:

 

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Choose My Plate dot gov replaces the food pyramid

 

From DSC:
Dog…does this mean my trips to fast food restaurants need to decrease even further now? (I’m sure the answer to that question is a resounding Yes! Oh well, I need to eat better anyway.)

 

 

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Digital storytelling tools (K-12) — from Tech & Learning by Özge Karaoglu

  • Audio tools
  • Picture tools
  • Animations tools
  • …and more
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