Useful links

   by  Ken Whytock 

• 37 Insanely Smart School Teacher Hacks Some useful ideas for use in the classroom. Mainly primary school but some useful for secodary school use too.

• recitethis.com A tool that allows you to create inexpensive inspirational quotation posters.They’ve got templates to choose from that you can easily save,send or print out with a color printer and laminate to use in classrooms.

• Science4Us Digital Science Curriculum: Includes Embedded PD Resources | Class Tech Tips “Science4Us is a standards-based digital science curriculum that teaches science using the 5E inquiry-based instructional model. In addition to over 350 digital games and online activities, there are tons of offline experiments and hands-on projects to keep students engaged and excited about science.  It’s a great choice for teachers looking to include cross-curricular activities that connect science instruction to math and language arts. Students will also learn the importance of notetaking and observing, with their very own digital notebook.”

• Six Top Digital Storytelling Tools | Ed4Online “Some of the digital storytelling websites available for teachers and students alike. Digital storytelling provides an exciting way for students and teachers to share their knowledge. It may include a combination of video, animation, sound, still images – any type of digital media that can be used to present an idea or tell a story. This is an overview of the top Digital Storytelling websites selected by the AASL in 2015 along with a few additions from ed4online!”

• Rethinking Class Notes with OneNote | gealgerobophysiculus

• Evaluating internet information | University Libraries | Virginia Tech This site has good advice about how to go about evaluating web resources. It is updated by a librarian, Nicole J. Auer, at Virginia Tech on a regular basis.

• Citing Internet and Print Sources, Cornette Library, WTAMU This page offers aan annotated list of web sitesthat you can use to help with citing Internet resources.

• Exploring The World’s Greatest Libraries (PHOTOS) | James W. P. Campbell Article written by James W. P. Campbell. He has travelled the world together with Will Pryce the architectural photographer, visiting and photographing 85 of the world’s greatest libraries in 21 countries. He now has written a book The Library: A World History (Chicago University Press), which he claims is the most complete account of library buildings to date.

• Amanda Patterson (Synonyms) Poster with suggested synonyms for writers.

• Brit Lab – YouTube A growing number of videos that may be of interest for science. “for instance BBC Brit’s Biggest Bangs is a fun, interactive video experience that allows users to channel their inner mad scientists, mixing dangerous chemicals with sometimes explosive results without a proper laboratory. The secret behind the interactivity is a central choose-your-own-adventure video around which annotations lead to separate videos that respond to your chemical selections.” You choose your first chemical and then select another from among eight on the laboratory table.  You’ll see the team scientist take each chemical from the table.  Then pause to consider–will it explode or won’t it? If it doesn’t, the oh so serious, oh so British narrator offers background on why the bang, or the lack of bang (NR or no reaction) may have disappointed, as well as what the resulting compound is and does.

• Old Maps on new devices — @joycevalenza NeverEndingSearch “Old Maps, available for iPhone, iPad or any Android device through Google Play, allows mobile access to more than 250,000 high resolution, historical maps from the 15th to the 20th century, from across the world.  Only a few years ago, we would never have dreamed of this kind of intimate, immediate and GPS responsive access to rare primary sources. A collaborative project between Klokan Technologies GmbH and the Great Britain Historical GIS Project, with funding from JISC, the OldMapsOnline project that began in 2012.  “

• Pixar in a box: New on Khan Academy — @joycevalenza NeverEndingSearch Khan Academy has just launched this new project designed to engage maths, science and media teachers, as well as young filmmakers. “Pixar In A Box” is an new online curriculum that “analyzes how the studio fuses art, tech, science, engineering, and math to develop top-shelf animated cinema. Created with middle and high school students in mind but available to everyone, Pixar In A Box’s interactive exercises, in-depth video lessons, and hands-on activities are an informative addition to Khan Academy’s extensive educational resources. The curriculum spans the pipeline of the production process.

• Six Back-to-School Goals for Teacher Librarians | Tech Tidbits | School Library Journal – Linkis.com Goals that are alpplicable to all school libraries at any time of the year.

• Quickmakes #DigiCon15 Resource “Quick Makes is about giving the chance to tinker with a range of applications and programs, each with their own constraints, to discover that creating, making and engaging with technology is not only easy but can be fun, especially when we are focused. From mashing up a website with Mozilla Thimble to creating your own visual with Google Draw, spend a few minutes exploring the potential for technology to make giving a voice to learning more doable.”

• support-document-13-blooms-taxonomy-teacher-planning-kit.jpg (4809×3413) In the Bloom’s Taxonomy Planning Kit, you are offered with a variety of key words, action verbs, outcomes and questions all related to each of the thinking levels in the taxonomy.

• Cyber Safety: Protecting Your Family Online “Cyber safety no longer involves simply protecting your children from inappropriate web content. These days, internet predators seem to lurk around every corner, and they are capable of everything from identity theft to erotic exploitation. However, in the midst of the dangers presented online a wealth of valuable tools and information reside.”

• MicSmithy’s Tech Blog “School safety is a top priority.  Educators work to ensure that students are safe physically, socially, and emotionally.  Helping students be safe online and using technology responsibly is crucial to their development and well being.   We live in a digital world where we interact digitally everyday. To be successful in this digital world we have to know what is right and wrong, be able to capably use technology, and exhibit responsible behavior when using it.  This is the concept of digital citizenship. To be a good digital citizen, you need to be digitally literate, and teaching students digital literacy is crucial for them to be good digital citizens”

• ‘The exam system destroys our passion for learning’: a student’s view of GCSEs | tesconnect “‘The exam system destroys our passion for learning’: a student’s view of GCSEs”

• ISTE | It’s time to demystify computational thinking “CT is a skill many of us, including teachers, already apply to tasks and fields of study, but are not even aware of it. As teachers, administrators and even legislators become familiar with how the deliberate application of CT enhances study across disciplines and will be a necessity in the work force of the 21st century, vocabularies in the general public will become two words richer.”

• IFLA School Library Guidelines

• ISTE | A new twist on cyberbullying “Finding new tactics for teaching digital citizenship to older studentss is difficult because most educator resources don’t stray far from the traditional Thou Shalt Not approach. That’s what prompted me to look for my own resources. In doing so, I came up with a three-pronged approach that engages my students in discussions about digital citizenship rather than patronizing them.”

• Current Projects – Code the Future Code the Future. A list of what other schools are doing.

• How To Build: LEGO lighthouse – YouTube

• Free Technology for Teachers: Copyright Lessons for Kids “Copyright can be a difficult subject for some students to understand. That said, in a world filled with digital media, it is very important for students to learn how copyright affects them. Taking the Mystery Out of Copyright could be a great resource for introducing elementary school students to the regulations and rights associated with copyright.”

• A Really, Really Well-Written Set Of Classroom Rules “Classroom rules posters for those who believe that behavior is not only learned, but a product of self-awareness and self-respect–then a new tact must be taken. “

• AP Archive now free and on YouTube! – @joycevalenza NeverEndingSearch “This week the Associated Press, the world’s largest and oldest news agency, announced that its entire Archive is viewable on YouTube, and that it will be adding new material every day.  This is an INCREDIBLE treasure for educators who teach history, culture, science, current events, global studies, media literacy-pretty much anything.  I can easily imagine students embedding this interdisciplinary fodder in their creative projects! Together, the Associated Press Collection, and the included British Movietone newsreel channel, gather more than 1 million minutes of digitized film footage dating back to 1895. “

• Teaching how to think is just as important as teaching anything else Hard to disagree with these sentiments except that is may be more important than most other things taught.

• Digital Storytelling: What it is… And… What it is NOT | Langwitches Blog

• 20 Cool Tools for Creating Infographics An annotated list, with links, that analyses 20 different tools that can be ued to create infographics.

• Part 1: Over 35 Formative Assessment Tools To Enhance Formative Learning Opportunities | 21 st Century Educational Technology and Learning In this post there are a range of good formative learning tools, in nine different categories, for use in the classroom. One teaher shares his ideas in this series. “Please keep  in mind they are only tools and are best utilized through the important art of teaching. “

• The 8 Edtech Questions Every Parent Should Ask Schools This Year | EdSurge News The schools educational agenda should be about preparing students to live in a global society. Young people should not be just obtaining a set of skills to get a job. Education in schools is, or should be, evolving now that we are living in a technology-driven society. We all rely on it and we all benefit from it. Students must understand and shape it for themselves and not be merely driven by it.

• Report Checks out Library Trends — Campus Technology “Research and academic libraries are moving quickly in many directions in response to expectations of patrons who are growing accustomed to the consumer technology experience and digitization of content. Among the trends that are redefining institutional libraries: a push for mobile content delivery, more focus on managing research data and rethinking the use of library spaces. These and other trends were highlighted in a new, freely available report published by the NMC, a community of experts in educational technology.”

• 115 walking_words-1.pdf 115 words you can exchange for “walks”

• Free Technology for Teachers: 12 Good Resources for Teaching Digital Citizenship – A PDF Handout From @rmbyrne “Before we send out students out on the web, we should be teaching them digital citizenship. The PDF embedded in the post features his favorite digital citizenship resources for elementary, middle, and high school students.”

• The Educator’s Guide to Pinterest | Edudemic A good start for any teacher not already using Pinterest. It explains how to set up an account, how others are using Pinterest, and a few places to find some inspiration on this tool.

• How do we integrate technology in my school? Part 2 – Students as effective Digital Citizens in a globally connected world | Aysin Alp’s Blog “In our teach-infused world today, educating our students about being responsible and ethical online will not only keep them safe but also allow them to enjoy and utilize all the opportunities available online. Digital citizenship helps them learn to use technology responsibly and safely. Students need to understand their rights as content creators and respect the rights of others. They need to be aware of the privacy issues, the risks of online interaction, as well as their rights, roles, and responsibilities in a digital world.”

• How to integrate the new literacies into our curriculum: Part 4 – #DigitalCitizenship | Aysin Alp’s Blog

• Study says reading aloud to children, more than talking, builds literacy | EdSource The article explains how the research was carried out and the results. “Massaro’s study has been accepted for publication in The Journal of Literacy Research.” “Reading takes you beyond the easy way to communicate,” said Dominic Massaro, psychology professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. “It takes you to another world and challenges you.”

• 10 Free Resources for Flipping Your Classroom | Edudemic “This “Teacher’s Guide to Flipped Classrooms”, offers one place for a teacher to go to if they want to try changing their classroom focus. You get a good grounding in the principles and mentalities that a flipped classroom requires. “The following 10 amazing (and free!) resources will further ensure the flipped classroom is as successful as can possibly be”

• 8 things every teacher can do to create an innovative classroom | eSchool News | eSchool News “Eight basic principles for the “Innovative Classroom,” around which one teacher designed a middle school course called Physical Computing. Some of the projects and tools are specific to that course, but the fundamental ideas could be applied to almost any course at any level”

• eSchool News What’s the future for libraries? | eSchool News ““There are no answers given in this article but questions are posed and ideas are discussed. No-one knows what the future holds for librarieas but many library staff memebrs are listening to what people need and will adapt.

• ISTE | 8 new apps to jumpstart the school year Some of these apps are known to me but others are new. Most of them are free or a low cost so not much would be lost if thay don’t work out as you would like after downloading them. However they might be just the tool to spark interest, creativity or make learning easier for students in the classroom or beyond.

• Cut to the Core: How Are E-books Faring in School Libraries? “How are school librarians handling the e-book transformation? Publishers Weekly people asked around and found a few trends that I can relate to.”

• eSafety Homepage | Office of the Children’s eSafety Commissioner Australian Govt site: “Enhancing online safety for children”

• Five Critical Skills to Empower Students in the Digital Age | MindShift | KQED News

• Explore our digital image pool | State Library Victoria There are some wonderful old photos available. They say a lot about our history.

• Should You Post That Selfie? Let this flow chart be your guide — Alli Worthington This is a useful flowchart to help you decide whether or not you should post a selfie.

• educational-origami – The Digital Citizen “A good digital citizen will experience the advantages of the digital world but like a citizen of a nation, they will be identifiable, speak using the appropriate language, serve his or her duty to judge what is appropriate within the laws of the land and ethical behavior, uphold their social responsibilities and be virtuous. The internet is a little like the proverbial elephant that never forgets. Our digital footprints are not like the footprints on the beach, washed away by the next wave or rising tide. Rather they are like footprints left to dry in the wet concrete of the footpath. They are a permanent reminder of our actions, inactions and interactions. To navigate and to survive in this dynamic digital world requires some basic rules and guidelines, we call these tenets of digital citizenship.”

• Cooperative Learning: A Social Activity “”The best way to learn is to teach.” As Robert Slavin puts it, this is “the secret behind cooperative learning.” So, what is cooperative learning? It is a form of classroom group work that educators deem extremely effective. Instead of competitive or independent goals in group work, cooperative learning emphasizes working together.” The post incledes a useful poster about how sentences to use to assist meaningful conversations.

• Your Students can be “Makers”: 16 Projects Invented by Teachers | Getting Smart Now it has been edited to 17 projects.

• Building a Common School Vision For Your Makerspace | Getting Smart “The goal in on school was to develop a community-wide vision for our “maker mindset,” and to bring the whole faculty along, so that our makerspace and our community would be ready for each other at the same time.”

• Classroom Design Matters | Tip of the Iceberg “The classroom environment truly is The Third Teacher. There are those who make a considerable effort to consider an holistic view of classroom design. Physical space, classroom displays, learning opportunities, student preferences, movement of people – all contribute to an engaging learning environment and a positive learning climate.”

• 5 Time-Saving Ways Teachers Use Google Forms | Edudemic 5 ways that Google Forms can be used to streamline some activities in a classroom from collecting student data to creating rubrics.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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