Technology Times
December 17, 2014
ITF Sharing - Please let us know what is going on at your school!
- RRES received a $50,000 Champion’s grant from the Jimmie Johnson Foundation.
- RRES second through fifth graders will begin a robotics program this year with over 40 LEGO EV3 robots!
- 100% of RRES K-5 classes participated in Hour of Code during the week of December 8th through 12th.
Educational Resources
a. Math resources – This website http://pleacher.com/mp/mlessons/mlessons.html by retired math teacher David Pleacher has a rich array of free lesson plans, ideas, puzzles, games, and videos.
b. A bank of Fred Jones PATs fun instructional games – This link from the Fred Jones Tools for Teaching website http://www.fredjones.com/#!pat-bank/c5h has a large collection of free PAT (Preferred Activity Time) activities to use as curriculum-aligned group incentives in the classroom. Teachers can submit additional PAT activities to the website.
c. Eric Mazur master class – This link http://bit.ly/1v2TybQ will give you access to a delightful talk, “Confessions of a Converted Lecturer,” by Harvard physics professor Eric Mazur. In it, he explains why he developed his peer instruction model, describes its impact on student learning and attitudes, and conducts a quick simulation with his audience.
(Mazur’s book, Peer Instruction, is summarized in Marshall Memo 241.)
Top 10 Ed-Tech Stories of 2014
Personalized learning enhanced by technology, rising tensions over data privacy, and demands for better digital tools and curricula were among the ed-tech topics that generated the most reader interest in 2014. Included in this e-newsletter are the top 10 most popular ed-tech stories produced by Education Week over the past year, based on online page views.
What Is 'Personalized Learning'? Educators Seek Clarity
Education technology advocates, philanthropies, and others are trying to create a clearer definition of what qualifies as "personalized learning," one of the most popular terms in education today.
(October 20, 2014)• Infographic: Personalized Learning: A Working Definition
Some academics, educators, and technology vendors are pushing to minimize the distracting bells and whistles that abound in high-tech instructional materials.
(May 6, 2014)
Google Under Fire for Data-Mining Student Email Messages
The company acknowledges scanning the emails of Apps for Education users and faces allegations in a federal lawsuit that it built "surreptitious user profiles" for advertising purposes.
(March 13, 2014)
'Big Three' Publishers Rethink K-12 Strategies
The shift to more digital offerings is occurring as districts in nearly every state are considering their textbook needs in light of the Common Core State Standards.
(February 6, 2013)
inBloom to Shut Down Amid Growing Data-Privacy Concerns
Controversial student-data-management company inBloom announced it will "wind down" its operations after losing its last large partner, New York state.
(April 21, 2014)
Hard Lessons Learned in Ambitious L.A. iPad Initiative
After a harsh internal critique of the program, the Los Angeles school system's effort to provide all its students with digital computing devices is again in flux.
(September 8, 2014)
Chromebooks Gaining Popularity in School Districts
The low-cost, cloud-based laptops from Google accounted for nearly one-third of all mobile digital-device sales to U.S. schools in the first half of 2014.
(November 11, 2014)
As a condition of doing business, the districts are demanding a universal technical format they believe can help educators manage digital content and personalize instruction.
(December 1, 2014)
A review of the data-privacy policies of Edmodo, Khan Academy, and Pearson—which have access to information about tens of millions of students—highlights concerns.
(April 14, 2014)For Common Core, Khan Academy Goes High-Tech
Khan Academy unveiled a comprehensive set of free, interactive, online math exercises meant to support the new Common Core State Standards in grades K through 12.
(March 22, 2014)Education Week, Digital Directions, Teacher Professional Development Sourcebook, edweek.org, teachermagazine.org, DigitalDirections.org, TeacherSourcebook.org, and TopSchoolJobs.org.