From Online Assessments to Digital Citizenship, Creating a Continuum of Instruction

The Teaching Digital Natives Infographic illustrates how teachers are using technology to adapt to this new generation of students.

I sin artikel ”Can we teach digital natives digital literacy?” (2012) giver Wan, som tidligere skrevet, et bud på tre områder, hvor det er nødvendigt, at eleverne opnår såkaldt digitale kompetencer…

Meet Chris Chris Knopp was born in Balclutha, New Zealand and is an Assistant Principal at a Secondary School for boys, where he also manages IT (Information Technology). Chris has been teaching f…

Schools need to innovate both instruction and learning space to make themselves relevant to digital-native learners. Here is my concept of an ideal learning space. This is designed for middle and h…

Members of Gen Z may be internet-savvy, but many still need lessons in academic tech tools.

“It’s called ‘reading’. It’s how people install new software into their brains” Cartoon displayed with special permission from www.glasbergen.com.

It seems like just yesterday that I was a disconnected nomad working hard to maintain the status quo and conform to a rigid system commonly known as education. You see, prior to 2009, I was adamantly opposed to even the thought of using social media for both personal and professional reasons. As a building level leader burdened by endless responsibilities, I could not fathom wasting even a precious minute in what I saw as a perpetual time sap. I swore that I would never be on any social media site and became disgusted when friends and family brought up the topic. As a result, I chastised my friends and made sure that the environment at my school was not only free of this stupid entity, but also other forms of distracting technologies that would interfere with student learning. It was a powerful combination of perception and stigma related to social media that convinced me it was a product of the devil that could only bring about harm and misfortune. Thus I was convinced that there was absolutely no value in using social media in my life. Image credit: http://becomenomad.com/nomad/wp-content/uploads/Yom-Kippur.jpg Being a disconnected nomad limited my ability to lead and learn. We fear what we don't know or understand. When this happens we make excuses not to do something and in education, we resort to blocking, banning, or pretending something doesn't exist. This is how I saw social media and mobile technology back in 2009. The problem is that the majority of educators in 2014 still feel this way. The epiphany for me was that I saw a professional opportunity on Twitter to improve communications with my stakeholders. From here I began to lurk and learn, which resulted in no longer being a disconnected nomad. My problem, as I now often reflect back upon how I used to perceive social media, was that I was not educated on how this tool could improve leadership and learning. Here is what I now know and believe. Social media is just a catalyst for a conversation that is contingent upon listening, sharing, and learning. Social media, and technology for that matter, is not and will never transform education. If you are looking to these entities as a silver bullet to solve all the ills in the education world then you are looking at it the wrong way. However, engaging in conversations with passionate educators has the potential to radically transform professional practice. Thus the true silver bullet that will transform education for the better is the connected educators who harness and leverage social media to engage in powerful conversations that lead to changes in practice and the building of priceless relationships. These initial conversations then lead to changes in mindset and a push to action. Yes, this is my opinion, but one grounded in evidence of how moving from disconnected nomad to connected leader and learner has positively impacted my professional practice. The formation of a Personal Learning Network (PLN) using free social media tools has enabled me and so many other educators experience the immense benefits that are associated with connected learning. The ability to learn about anything at any time, anywhere, and with anyone has not only been liberating but continues to be exhilarating to this day. Social media levels the playing field by providing access to educators from across the globe. It is up to each individual to decide the level of participation in this space. As far as I am concerned any of the quadrants in the image below are where educators should aspire to be in except for the one where there is no connectivity. Image credit: http://www.danpontefract.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/digital_learning_quadrants_pontefract.jpg 
I offer up this walk down history lane as a call to action. There still are too many disconnected nomads leading schools and teaching our students who have yet to experience the unlimited potential that connectivity offers. I am in no way saying that these people are not good at what they do, but they can be better. What I am stating emphatically though is that they are selling themselves short by succumbing to fears and misconceptions associated with social media. Help those disconnected nomads you know experience the value of social media this school year. Once they experience and embrace the value of this tool to engage in powerful conversations education will be one step closer to providing students with learning experiences they need and deserve.

By Lynn Zimmerman Associate Editor Editor, Teacher Education Review of Marc Prensky’s Teaching Digital Natives: Partnering for Real Learning, Corwin Press, 2010. ISBN: 978-1-4129-7541-4. I pi…

Three educators shared their experiences teaching students how to create PLEs.

Little drops of wisdom to guide us on our quest for excellence.

Inside: Nazca Lines craft for kids learning about Peruvian culture and history. It’s Hispanic Heritage Month, 2017! At the end of this post, find our Multicultural Kid Blogs HHM giveaway for some fun prizes. Today I’m sharing an exploratory Nazca lines craft. The project gives hands-on feel for these marvels of Peru, and how they were

Someone came to the blog via this search a few days ago and found this post about my son's hospitalization as catalyst for my decision to finally MAKE emergency sub plans, but I'm sure they left disappointed, because I didn't actually share my plans in that post. :) Principles for Emergency Planning In the previous post about emergency sub plans, I laid out these principles I was going to follow as I crafted my plans: When choosing learning objectives, I'm going to focus on things we are currently addressing in our PLC Smart Goal, or critical skills that consistently need reinforcing. Have a back up to the emergency plans in case students finish quickly Crowdsource your emergency plans with co-teachers. To give yourself ultimate flexibility (particularly in your emergency back-up), keep a class set or at least enough for 2 kids to share of your course textbook in a closet or cabinet nearby. Make it something you'll at least consider grading when you return. Emergency Planning for AP Statistics I have three thematic goals for my AP Stats students throughout the year: data gathering, data crunching, and technical writing, so all of the options listed here, so if I stick to those goals (principle #1), I'll have something that can be mostly applicable for students no matter where we are in the curriculum. AP Practice Exam: The College Board releases items from old exams on their website. Might as well take advantage. 1997 Released Practice Having students complete this all in one hour would be an impossibility, so you've got at LEAST two days of material here. I would have students work in pairs on either the multiple choice or free response and collaborate quietly. Free AP Stats Practice Exam This test is secured behind your College Board Course Audit login, so be sure to have that info handy. Data Collection/Experiments "How Long Is a Minute" Materials and resources are usually intentionally scarce on guest teacher days, so its impractical to have plans that require elaborate handouts or materials list. This experiment is my current emergency plan, and I love it because its easily approachable early in the year before we've done a TON of stats work, and only requires a clock in the classroom with seconds. Probability Simulator TI 83/84 app + this handout The handout is actually for a more extensive project, so you'd have your students BEGIN the project on this day (and work on it periodically over a matter of days), or just have students complete a portion of the work. Probability Based Gaming Ever heard of Perudo or "Pirate Dice"? I blogged here several years ago about using it in my freshman seminar class. (Handout Included)

Digital lessons made simple and effective. Learn how to use Padlet to teach a digital lesson with student interaction and feedback.

Recent high school graduate shares how he uses technology

Helping Them Learn To Think: 8 Great Strategies To Help Students Ask Great Questions https://t.co/0zSxrdeAZq

La jeune génération impose ses propres codes au travail et oblige à repenser l’organisation et le management.

Use these distance learning assignment ideas to assign to studnets digtally. Get them reading, writing, and staying engaged with these free and fun assignments!

Characteristics of the digitally native Alpha generation, the demographic cohort succeeding Generation Z.

ALL IN ONE ASSIGNMENT 21st Century Learning (CONVERTS DIGITALLY FOR GOOGLE CLASSROOM ) This assignment is a great way to introduce or review a topic for students learning remotely. The article link is provided and students complete the following assignment: 1. Go to the following link and Read the article 2. Write (4) Interesting Facts Below in complete sentences: 3. Summarize this topic in 4-5 Sentences in your own Words 4. What did you find most interesting about this topic and why?

Het is tijd voor een grote schoonmaak in het onderwijs. Dat vinden Pedro de Bruyckere en Casper Hulshof. Het onderwijs maakt namelijk te vaak gebruik van middelen, aanpakken en theorieën waarvan wetenschappelijk is aangetoond dat ze niet of in beperkte mate werken. In augustus 2003 nam ik deel aan een internationale conferentie. Eén van de

Explore langwitches' 8267 photos on Flickr!

The world of teaching changed in a dramatic way due to recent events. Many of us are scrambling to teach completely online for the first time. This is a daunting task that raises many questions. As we work to navigate these solutions together, I have seen a sharing of ideas, resources, tips, and sup

Kids and Technology. #digcit

In this month’s blog revisit, I am looking back at a post I wrote originally in 2017 on using social media and mobile devices in the classroom. To be transparent, I am struggling with what I …

Digital immigrants vs digital natives: Useful tips on how teachers born before the digital revolution can better prepare students for the future.

INSTANT DOWNLOAD The 78 tarot cards summarized in a simple way so you can learn easily. Ideal for beginners. Perfect reference sheet to have on hand. Please note: these are instantly downloadable digital files, no physical material will be sent. Digital files do not accept returns. Why should you buy my products or attend my classes? Because Sonia Hidalgo Z (my person), perhaps is the only one or few Kabbalists in our times who personally designs the teaching material to learn Kabbalah and the Hebrew and other alphabets. Another aspect to take into account is that on the Internet you find many articles in English, but not in Spanish, so I am making your study easier by putting the articles in your native language.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how techie would you say you are as a teacher? Personally, I'm pretty tech-savvy. I use Google for a lot more than questions, I handle Adobe like a

ISTE NETS-S Standards: 2b - Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats 3b - Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media 3c- Evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks 4b - Plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a project Apps required: Evernote, Skitch (iOS and Android) Maybe you're always crafty feeling, I don't know, but something I rarely enjoy is printing out media designed for the web and pasting it into a notebook, or taking text designed for print and digitizing all of it. I personally encounter this most when I'm at PD trainings or meetings and the presenter passes put handouts (best practice, right?) that I then either have to keep track of, or take a quick snapshot of. I also like to quickly jump to webpages that are shared in the training so I can't preview while its fresh on my mind. For my students, this digital/print dichotomy is between the omnipresent notebook, and the omniscient power of the Internet. I want my students to be good note takers, but not at the expense of ME being their only source of info. Also I (and they) don't like to copy text straight from a web page. It's tedious, and pointless. Enter Skitch's webpage snap and Evernote's shareable, searchable notebooks. Students can use the browser inside Skitch to navigate the web to sites of your choosing, analyze them, curate their favorites, annotate all over them, and then sync them with their Evernote accounts (which they're already sharing with you, of course) Not only is Skitch great for incorporating annotations into your digital interactive notebooks, but students can still type into Evernote directly, or take a photo of notes they've previously written by hand. Here's my simple example notebook. https://www.evernote.com/pub/belnoreducator/StudentInteractiveNotebook

Each semester I work with my interns on their learning plan. Most of my interns are digital natives. I am a digital immigrant. Technology was not even available to me in social work practice until the nineties. I find it interesting to observe how digital natives relate technology to their practice. These natives often do not understand how to connect digital opportunities with their client populations beyond Internet Searches. Here I offer some digital possibilities for students to integrate theory with practice in their field settings. Each one should be discussed with the field supervisor or in the field class. If you have practice with any of them please let me know your experience. CSWE Field Competency Learning Opportunities/Tasks Identify as a professional social worker and conduct oneself accordingly. · Create a LinkedIn account · Join social work groups on LinkedIn relating to your social work population and the profession · Keep an online journal of your experiences each week and share with supervisor, examples are Penzu or Day One · Create a blog between you and your supervisor to track resources for your client population, ask questions, or share tools, be sure to make the blog private · Curate topics on Scoop.It or Triberr about social work interests · Google podcasts, pictures, and videos of various social work events/training to understand professional standards for communication, dress and behavior · Join social work blogs and magazines online, use Bundlepost to keep up with them · Identify national, regional, and local conferences within your education needs Apply social work ethical principles to guide professional practice. · Join social work groups on LinkedIn relating to social work ethics · Read the online ethical standard NASW creates in your practice area and the technology standards · Research topics in the Journal of Social Work Values and Ethics · Use a search engine to explore ethical dilemmas in social work practices and journal about how you would have responded to share with your supervisor · Research an ethical decision making process online and relate it to the agency or population served · Evaluate your technology practices for ethical applications and guidelines in social media and communication usage. Apply critical thinking to inform and communicate professional judgments. · Review Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy to integrate technology into problem solving · Search for similar programs online to compare their research based strategies to your placement · Using Google Images, identify visual models for assessment, prevention, intervention, and evaluation of your field population · Search Ted for inspirational videos about agency or client interests · Place communication with clients, community or other agencies on GoogleDocs for review by other social workers · Video tape yourself addressing differences in practice, problem solving conflicts or working with difficult clients (give friends a script as to how you want them to behave) Engage diversity and difference in practice. · Interpret client data collected by agency against community data for any discrimination · Identify three issues with diversity and culture you have had with client populations, then develop a survey on Surveymonkey.com explaining each issue and asking for other professionals, within the organization, viewpoint · Develop a list of links relevant to understanding cultures served by your organization · Videotape different cultural segments at a protest to understand their point of view on the matter · Identify microaggressions online and discuss how they may impact your client population. Advance human rights and social and economic justice. · Start a campaign on Causes.com or another charity site · Cultivate an advocacy blog · Join advocacy lists for your causes online · Find your local and federal representatives online and write a letter in support or against legislation affecting a population of interest · Make a viral video on a social or economic justice issue to post on YouTube · Create a Facebook page or Pinterest for your issue · Keep a political log of issues affecting your population online, share it on social media Engage in research-informed practice and practice-informed research. · Research charities on charitynavigator.org to see where your organization fits · Find which EIPs your organization uses and how they research their programs, then use your school database to research alternative approaches to affect change · Discover outcomes at your agency and compare with other agencies · Pinpoint and review grant applications online for EIP needs · View information on research through Storify or create your own Storify Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment. · Identify and assess websites which will empower your client population · Generate a list of android and apple applications for use with your population · Create a systems view of how the digital divide affects your population · Design an online class for clients or staff at Rcampus or MyiCourse, offer the course at your agency or within the community · Model a technology ecomap of a client system · Develop a method to empower clients usage of technology to advance their problem solving and opportunity Engage in policy practice to advance social and economic well-being and to deliver effective social work services. · Identify appropriate grants and foundations online for use by your agency · Find the advocacy group for your population and research policies the group works toward changing · Host a twitter debate about policy relevant to your setting, market to appropriate stakeholders · Recognize and create an agency policy on GoogleDocs and open it for feedback Respond to contexts that shape practice. · Analyze and compare rural and urban digital solutions to the social issue addressed, evaluate problems · Videotape interviews with community stakeholders for upload to agency website · Evaluate digital tools and technology systems at your agency, present to supervisor, director, or board · Curate relevant technology changes applicable to your agency with Curata Engage, assess, intervene, and evaluate with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities · Use a GoPro, with informed consent, to tape a segment of the day you are most engaged with your client population · Complete technology assessments with clients · Identify and intervene with appropriate technology in your client setting · Develop a plan for efficiently using the agency’s electronic records system · Assess social media usage at your agency and create a social engagement strategy for your placement Revised 11/27/13

Song to the Sun