thinkbrit

This could be so, so cool. Fingers crossed-  I can already picture so many applications in my classroom!

world-shaker:

If true, this would be awesome.

Apple’s education-focused media event scheduled is scheduled for this Thursday, and more details seem to be leaking out. Earlier this evening, the Wall Street Journal reported that McGraw-Hill had been working with Apple on this project since last June. Now, ArsTechnica claims that one of the key components of Thursday’s announcement is a new publishing tool for eBooks.

The current state of software tools continues to frustrate authors and publishers alike, with several authors telling Ars that they wish Apple or some other vendor would make a simple app that makes the process as easy as creating a song in GarageBand.

Our sources say Apple will announce such a tool on Thursday.

world-shaker:

A really fascinating overview of some of the challenges and solutions in blogging assignments. Here’s an excerpt:

In his article, “Instructional Blogging: Promoting Interactivity, Student-Centered Learning, and Peer Input,” Stuart Glogoff relays student feedback after the use of instructional blogs in one of his classes. One student reported that reading about new subjects via the blogging format was enjoyable; she found that researching the topics to post on the class blog was helpful to her overall learning experience. The student, however, complained that, “the posts were few and far between.” She expressed further disappointment over the fact that none of her posts received comments, a complaint echoed amongst other students who took the survey

In order to make instructional blogging more effective, Glogoff gave blogging assignments that required each student to post entries and comment a certain number of times on the work of others. Afterward, students reported general increases in their sense of community. They also reported greater satisfaction with the overall blogging experience. Others said the entire blogging and peer-reviewing process not only helped them understand the course material but also provided a better avenue for helping each other learn through conversation.

This couldn’t have been posted at a more fortuitous time. While this is information for older students, we are just getting our 3rd graders set up on kidblogs, and this information is interesting to see/have. I wonder what the effects will be for our 3rd graders.

kbkonnected:

Great article to share with students.
#elemchat #spedchat #edtech

This is super cool. The applications are things I’d never thought of, and it blows my mind. Hmm… perhaps I have a topic for discussion for tomorrow’s morning meeting!

world-shaker:

positivelypersistentteach:

willrichardson:

(This is a long one.)

So I hope no one minds if I continue to try to document the ways in which “education” is being reframed in this country at the peril, I think, of losing everything that is best about schools and teachers and classrooms.

If you’re not up to speed with these reframing…

You should read this.

Seconded.

Thirded. There’s a lot to think about here.