My son is leaving for college in a couple weeks and has know idea what he wants to major in let alone a career choice! Fortunately he is surrounded by friends and family members who are prosperous because of their education. Sadly, far too many American teens aren't this lucky.
If public schools are to succeed in breaking the cycle of poverty we must show our students a tangible pot of gold at the end of educational rainbow!
Thanks to a Microsoft, this task has gotten much easier with their FREE online learning program, CareerForward.
To visit the CareerForward site, click here.
Showing posts with label online. Show all posts
Showing posts with label online. Show all posts
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
A League of Their Own
Trying to get your students excited about science? Lab activities and field trips are great but what about the classroom or at home?
Tabula Digital has released a series of online, science based games for 3-5 grade students to learn through active play and competition.
And like so many other digital resources, they are 100% Free!
To access these games, click here.
Tabula Digital has released a series of online, science based games for 3-5 grade students to learn through active play and competition.
And like so many other digital resources, they are 100% Free!
To access these games, click here.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Cyber Literacy
Looking to make reading comprehension relevant?
Why not teach students what and where they learn?
The International Reading Association has developed comprehensive
lesson plans to develop meta-cognitive skills for understanding
online text.
To visit their site and see if this material is right for your
class, click here.
Why not teach students what and where they learn?
The International Reading Association has developed comprehensive
lesson plans to develop meta-cognitive skills for understanding
online text.
To visit their site and see if this material is right for your
class, click here.
Monday, May 19, 2008
ICUE
NBC has collaborated with MIT to offer ICUE.
Immerse - Connect - Understand - Excel
ICUE is a free online learning environment designed to engage teenagers in American Politics. Through the incorporation of video, games, and discussion...students are introduced to past and present political candidates.
Especially important is the ability for participants to interact, collaborate, and customize their work based on what they consider noteworthy.
To visit the ICUE homepage, click here.
Immerse - Connect - Understand - Excel
ICUE is a free online learning environment designed to engage teenagers in American Politics. Through the incorporation of video, games, and discussion...students are introduced to past and present political candidates.
Especially important is the ability for participants to interact, collaborate, and customize their work based on what they consider noteworthy.
To visit the ICUE homepage, click here.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
C-A-N-T
Educational Shift
When presenting 21st century tools to a group of peers at in-service, I am often met with resistance.
Below are seven reasons we CAN’T:
1. Children need to learn how to talk to each other, not stare at a screen
2. I don’t have time for my 1st life let alone a 2nd life
3. Our computers don’t work
4. All the students want to do is check their MySpace page
5. The kids know more about this than I do
6. The tests, the tests, I have to prepare for the tests!
7. This is just the flavor of the month, why bother
These concerns are well founded. Today’s educator is being sent into the field ill-equipped to meet the challenges presented by digital learners.
Let’s examine these issues individually starting with the purported isolation and de-socialization resulting from digital communication. Like most issues in life, a historical precedent exists.
From E.M. Forster’s 1909 short story “The Machine Stops” A son talking to his mother.
“I see something like you in this plate, but I do not see you. I hear something like you through this telephone but I do not hear you. That is why I want you to come. Pay me a visit, so that we can meet face to face and talk about the hopes that are in my mind.”
A century ago we feared the potential consequence of technological advancements. A century from now, this fear will be unchanged. The only differentiating factor will be exactly what we are afraid of. What humankind fears ~ was, is, and ever more shall be “The Unknown”.
This is why educators are viewed as the elixir to cure what ails society. We can pull back the curtain of the unknown revealing there is nothing to fear.
I have no doubt that face to face social skills, character development, and learning to be a global citizen are more important today than ever before. I’m equally confident today’s learner needs to develop online social skills. What remains to be seen is if we, as an educational community, can conquer our fears, leave behind a 150years of pedagogy, and face the unknown. Not an easy task. I believe we are up to the challenge.
When presenting 21st century tools to a group of peers at in-service, I am often met with resistance.
Below are seven reasons we CAN’T:
1. Children need to learn how to talk to each other, not stare at a screen
2. I don’t have time for my 1st life let alone a 2nd life
3. Our computers don’t work
4. All the students want to do is check their MySpace page
5. The kids know more about this than I do
6. The tests, the tests, I have to prepare for the tests!
7. This is just the flavor of the month, why bother
These concerns are well founded. Today’s educator is being sent into the field ill-equipped to meet the challenges presented by digital learners.
Let’s examine these issues individually starting with the purported isolation and de-socialization resulting from digital communication. Like most issues in life, a historical precedent exists.
From E.M. Forster’s 1909 short story “The Machine Stops” A son talking to his mother.
“I see something like you in this plate, but I do not see you. I hear something like you through this telephone but I do not hear you. That is why I want you to come. Pay me a visit, so that we can meet face to face and talk about the hopes that are in my mind.”
A century ago we feared the potential consequence of technological advancements. A century from now, this fear will be unchanged. The only differentiating factor will be exactly what we are afraid of. What humankind fears ~ was, is, and ever more shall be “The Unknown”.
This is why educators are viewed as the elixir to cure what ails society. We can pull back the curtain of the unknown revealing there is nothing to fear.
I have no doubt that face to face social skills, character development, and learning to be a global citizen are more important today than ever before. I’m equally confident today’s learner needs to develop online social skills. What remains to be seen is if we, as an educational community, can conquer our fears, leave behind a 150years of pedagogy, and face the unknown. Not an easy task. I believe we are up to the challenge.
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