Education Technology Magazine http://www.edutechmag.org An Online Blogging Experience for Educators Wed, 23 Jun 2010 02:14:18 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Teaching Future Entrepreneurs http://www.edutechmag.org/?p=310 http://www.edutechmag.org/?p=310#comments Wed, 23 Jun 2010 02:07:22 +0000 Brandon Tepley http://www.edutechmag.org/?p=310 The other day I received an inspiring Tweet, “Why we should train kids to be entrepreneurs,” from @GuyKawasaki, that got me thinking. Recently, our school had training on how to implement Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits, using The Leader In Me program. The Leader In Me program makes a lot of sense to me, and most importantly it makes me envision the positive impacts that producing a leader in every student can have on a school environment, community environment, and ultimately a business environment. Giving kids the knowledge of the 7 Habits and encouraging them to use the Habits to continually analyze and reflect on decisions and actions will prove to be very powerful. I am excited about the upcoming school year and look forward to experiencing and seeing the changes in myself, students, staff, and parents.

Along the same lines, and some thinking inspiration, Cameron Herold‘s video presentation makes some interesting points regarding training and teaching students to be entrepreneurs from an early age. Not necessarily teaching, but encouraging further interest seeking in entrepreneurial type opportunities and teachable moments. Below is also Cameron’s closing inspirational video, created by Grasshopper. 

Some interesting food for thought, to say the least.

Cameron Herold: Let’s raise kids to be entrepreneurs

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx3GuO41Jyg

Grasshopper’s Inspiring Video: Entrepreneurs can change the world

www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6MhAwQ64c0

Additional Resources and Ideas:

Teaching Kids Business -- Entrepreneurship
This site is a great overall resource for entrepreneurship. Ideas on how to develop a business idea to financing a business. Lots of information and several recommending sites for further resource finding.

Squidoo -- Kids Making Money
This site has some great ideas to get kids started thinking about entrepreneurship. Squidoo is a site that collects information from several sites and puts it all in one place. This article talks about business ideas for kids, successful kids businesses, what to do when kids make tons of money, and also shares some software titles to help them practice their entrepreneurial skills.

]]> http://www.edutechmag.org/?feed=rss2&p=310 0 Tweeting Tips for the Classroom http://www.edutechmag.org/?p=276 http://www.edutechmag.org/?p=276#comments Fri, 07 Aug 2009 18:54:21 +0000 Brandon Tepley http://www.edutechmag.org/?p=276 Twitter BirdRecently I was checking out my Twitter account and was sent a Tweet (via @timoreilly) containing a great resource, “Twenty Five Interesting Ways To Use Twitter in the Classroom,” compiled by Tom Barret (@tombarrett). This collection explains some very applicable ways to implement Twitter into the classroom. This reblog revisits the 25 tips and includes annotations of the resources discussed in the slide show.

1. Gather Real World Data (how to)

2. Monitor/GeoTag The “Buzzwords” (how to)

  • TwitterFall – http://www.twitterfall.com
    Twitterfall is a way of viewing the latest ‘tweets’ of upcoming trends and custom searches on the micro-blogging site Twitter. Updates fall from the top of the page in near-realtime.
  • TwitterMap – http://twittermap.com/maps
    Provides users with the ability to update their locations on a Google Map and send a tweet with it.

3. Summarize Topics/Views As Tweets (how to)

  • Historical Tweets – http://historicaltweets.com/
    Most people think Twitter was “created” in 2006.  These are same people who think Richard Gere created Buddhism in the 1990’s.  Just before Madonna created yoga.  Folks, like the sun, moon, and stars, Twitter has always been.  This site proves it beyond a shadow of a doubt.

4. Really Simple One – Tweetstory (how to)

5. Collate Classroom Views (how to)

6. Let Parents Follow What You Are Up To (how to)

7. Find Out Where People Are (how to)

8. Short But Sweet (how to)

9. Twitter Poll (how to)

  • TWTPoll – http://twtpoll.com/
    Twtpoll is a feedback tool that helps you to create and distribute polls on Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites.

10. Word Morph (how to)

  • Wordle – http://www.wordle.net/
    Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.

11. Come Together (how to)

12. Point Of View And Character Development (how to)

13. GeoTweets (how to)

  • Google Earth – http://earth.google.com/
    Google Earth lets you fly anywhere on Earth to view satellite imagery, maps, terrain, 3D buildings, from galaxies in outer space to the canyons of the ocean. You can explore rich geographical content, save your toured places, and share with others.

14. Global Assembly (how to)

15. Word Play (how to)

16. Twiddeo (how to)

  • Twiddeo – http://beta.twiddeo.com/
    Twiddeo is a powerful but simple service that let’s you do one thing very well: Twitter updates with Video. Upload from the web, your cameraphone and record from your webcam. That simple, that straightforward, that great!

17. Communicate Wwith Experts (how to)

18. Use Aa Twitter Widget For Instant Webpage Updates (how to)

  • Twitter Badge – http://twitter.com/badges
    It’s like adding a mini version of Twitter to your website, Facebook or MySpace page. Twitter is all about sharing information and the new Twitter widgets allow you to do this in even more places!

19. Monitor The Learning Process (how to)

20. How Probable (how to)

21. Twalter-Egos (how to)

22. Scavenger Hunt (how to)

23. Track With Twitter (how to)

24. Teach Bite-Sized Info (how to)

25. Twitter As A Research Diary (how to) 

Credits:
“Twenty Five Interesting Ways To Use Twitter in the Classroom,”  by Tom Barrett.
Twitter artwork created by Mirjami Manninen.

]]> http://www.edutechmag.org/?feed=rss2&p=276 0 The Holiday Resource List http://www.edutechmag.org/?p=245 http://www.edutechmag.org/?p=245#comments Sun, 26 Jul 2009 20:36:34 +0000 Brandon Tepley http://www.edutechmag.org/?p=245 holidaysWhen some extra classroom time arises, it’s the perfect opportunity for a spontaneous project, but what will be the project’s focus? Thanks to Hallmark and its dependency on the Holidays, they have compiled this list of Hallmark Holidays, that is a great resource for those spur of the moment art projects. I have created links to the matching Wikipedia page to help build some background knowlegdge.

September

October

November

December

    • January

    • Jan 1 New Year’s Day (wikipedia)
    • Jan 6 Three Kings Day / Epiphany (wikipedia)
    • Jan 18 Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday (wikipedia)

    February

    March

    April

    May

    June

    July

    • August

    • Aug 2 Friendship Day (wikipedia)
    • Aug 5 Sisters’ Day (not on wikipedia)
    • Aug 22 Ramadan (wikipedia)

    Credits: Hallmark.com | Wikipedia.org

    Addtional Resources:

    dmoz Open Directory Project

    United States Public Holidays

    Calendar of all legal Public and Bank Holidays worldwide, until 2070

    Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators – Holiday Information

    Holidays on the Net

    Yahoo! Directory – Holidays and Observances

    Google Directory – Holidays

    • ]]>     http://www.edutechmag.org/?feed=rss2&p=245 0     Reviewing Tony Wagner’s Seven Skills Students Desperately Need http://www.edutechmag.org/?p=230 http://www.edutechmag.org/?p=230#comments Mon, 29 Jun 2009 02:30:04 +0000 Brandon Tepley http://www.edutechmag.org/?p=230 7 Skills Students Desperately NeedI recently read Seven skills students desperately need. Today’s students could fail at life, says Harvard’s Tony Wagner, because their schools are too busy teaching to the test, by Meris Stansbury at eSchoolNews. This was an inspiring article, that I will ponder over the summer. I plan on using the 7 skills as a basis to think about as I develop engaging lessons.

    I know that in today’s classroom, preparing for the state’s tests takes much effort and instruction time. We find ourselves trying to hit every possible topic that could be on the test, cramming new concepts and reviewing previous ones. It is hard to find time to really elaborate on a concept. Technology offers so many outlets to bring concepts to life. Community members are great sources of information that could support the topics discussed in class, relating learning to real life. But there is no time. We have a test to prepare our students for.

    This article brought me back to reality. I will try to use the ideas form this article to try to avoid being sucked in to the demands of the state test. I will prepare my students to the best of my ability, but my primary focus will be to create critical thinkers who want to extend their learning, by presenting concepts in a way that offers opportunities for creativity, collaboration, and of course fun.

    Here are some quotes that I found interesting from the article:

    Wagner said he hears two things repeated constantly by today’s employers: “We need people who can ask good questions, and we need people who can engage others in thoughtful conversations.”

    Wagner said the problem is that you can have all the equipment and technology you want, but “if you don’t teach kids how to think, how to think beyond multiple choice, you’ve got a problem.”

    Wagner said teaching to the test not only limits students’ ability to think for themselves, but also discourages students from studying subjects they love.

    Wagner presented a list of seven “survival skills” that students need to succeed in today’s information-age world, taken from his book The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don’t Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need–And What We Can do About It.

    1. Problem-solving and critical thinking;
    2. Collaboration across networks and leading by influence;
    3. Agility and adaptability;
    4. Initiative and entrepreneurship;
    5. Effective written and oral communication;
    6. Accessing and analyzing information; and
    7. Curiosity and imagination.

    - Meris Stansbury, eSchool News

    Technology offers many opportunities in teaching the seven skills. Here are a few that I will consider according to the numbered skill:

    1. Open ended questions, essential questions, big ideas…
    2. Wikis, SharePoint, cooperative learning, discussions, community member speakers…
    3. Debates, presentations, open source software…
    4. Teams, project based learning…
    5. Reporting, newspapers, tweets, blogging, web sites…
    6. Using search engines, learning search modifiers, library research…
    7. Make school fun…

    Useful links:

    ]]>     http://www.edutechmag.org/?feed=rss2&p=230 0     Create a Google Custom Search Engine http://www.edutechmag.org/?p=209 http://www.edutechmag.org/?p=209#comments Sun, 28 Jun 2009 21:37:50 +0000 Brandon Tepley http://www.edutechmag.org/?p=209 Google Custom Site SearchGoogle literally searches billions of web pages each time you type keywords into the search bar. When students are researching using Google, the huge amount of search results can been daunting and time consuming to a student who doesn’t know how to pick through and determine the relevance of each site. Not knowing good search engine techniques can create overwhelming search results.

    Do you wish you could compile a list of web sites and then use the search power of Google to allow students to enter search queries that output results from just the sites you have determined? Well now you can!

    You can set up a Google Custom Search Engine, allowing students to search sites that you have chosen. Visit the Google for Educators, The Google Custom Search Engine, web site to learn more. You can even have Google search your personal classroom web page.

    To get started visit this site: http://www.google.com/coop/docs/cse/. Here you will find tutorials and FAQs.

    Google also provides classroom posters that can be helpful to students when searching. Here are some search engine specific posters:

    It will be nice to teach students proper search techniques without having to worry about the billions of inappropriate search result possibilities. Now you can allow students to search for results without the teacher having to worry about what might pop up! Create your Google Custom Search Engine today!

    ]]>     http://www.edutechmag.org/?feed=rss2&p=209 0     Excel Jeopardy http://www.edutechmag.org/?p=191 http://www.edutechmag.org/?p=191#comments Sun, 21 Jun 2009 23:30:21 +0000 Brandon Tepley http://www.edutechmag.org/?p=191 I love the interactivity of PowerPoint, but the tedious work changing each slide is maddening. I created this Excel Jeopardy game that allows the teacher to add all the changes to one page and then play. You can literally set up a game in about 5 minutes. Students can also use this file to create fun games to show their learning.

    Projected game works great on an interactive whiteboard. Edit all your questions and answers on one page!

    Description:
    Projector ready Jeopardy game that even keeps score! Designed for use with a 1024 x 768 monitor resolution. Design the game on the first page, click “Play Now” and your game is underway! Click on the link and then choose save to save the file to your computer. Involve all students by using the Jeopardy Score Sheet.

    Files: Excel Jeopardy File | Excel Jeopardy Score Sheet

    ]]>     http://www.edutechmag.org/?feed=rss2&p=191 2     Easy Electronic Portfolios http://www.edutechmag.org/?p=164 http://www.edutechmag.org/?p=164#comments Sun, 21 Jun 2009 21:45:12 +0000 Brandon Tepley http://www.edutechmag.org/?p=164 I have tried to perfect the student eFolio for elementary students. Students are so proud to display their work online! It is a great motivator. Finding time, however, to teach html skills, digital photography, design, is the difficulty I always face. Trying to maintain a class’ focus while teaching about the best practices for using tables and hyperlinks is about impossible. This year I plan on going back to the basics and minimalize student web work.

    Teaching fifth grade, I find my students are proficient in certain software. Microsoft PowerPoint and Word are the two most common applications they use from kindergarten through fourth grade. Students can do amazing things with all the bells and whistles PowerPoint provide. They like using PowerPoint. This year we will be using PowerPoint to maintain a student eFolio. We will then us the Print Screen option to capture an image and create a thumbnail within a web site, that will open the larger, more detailed eFolio reflection piece.

    efolio_pptThe PowerPoint template gives students the opportunity to reflect on work that they have completed. My student’s eFolios are works in progress. Some students post many more pieces than others. The image shows the basic layout. Students insert an image of their work or project, then reflect on what the assignment required, what they learned, and how they will use the skill again in the future. Within PowerPoint the notes section is to be used as a blog. Students can go into further detail if they so choose. Students can then format the font, slide style, background color to their liking.

    Once the slide is complete, students will start their slideshow. When the desired slide is on the screen, students will use the “Print Screen” feature built into most keyboards. This is a great tool for students to use. Within Microsoft products, image cropping is allowed so image editing is really easy. Students love WordArt. With “Print Screen” students can manipulate the on screen image and then capture it, pasting it into another project.

    To use “Print Screen,” have displayed on the screen what you want to capture. Then hit the “Print Screen” key on the keyboard. Now open the program you wish to paste the screen image into. Use your paste shortcut (CTRL-V) to paste the image into the program. Now edit it using various cropping and resizeing techniques.

    The PowerPoint template allows students to create an image that displays an image of their work and their reflection. Once the screen is captured using the “Print Screen” tool, we save the image to our clipboard to use in the next step… the student’s web page!

    efolio_launcherAt our school we use SharePoint Designer to edit web pages. Included in the file package is a student folder. This folder, along with the PowerPoint file need to be distributed to each student. The student folder is titled “student000.” Once distrubted you will need to have your students change the file name to a unique number (student001, student002). This number is important when setting up your efolio page. To the right is a picture of my “Student Web Pages and eFolios” launcher page. Within my web page file structure I have a folder titlted “efolios” that holds all the student folders (student001, student002). When a student updates his or her eFolio, I drag their folder into the “efolio” folder, because it has the same name, it overwrites the previous files. On the launcher page I have each student create an avatar and scan them in as the launching link to their individual web pages. Once I add the link information it should not change because the student keeps the same folder name (student001, student002).

    Students will need to open their site, which includes an index.htm file that has a layout pre-established (avatar cell, name cell, and contact cell). As students add images they will use the Auto Thumbnail feature. I plan to teach students how to adjust the Auto Thumbnail settings to create a 300 px wide image that links to the larger image for easier viewing. I will suggest that they title each subject section to maintain organization. Also included in the web site folder is an “images” folder. Students can practice organization by keeping image files in the “images” folder.

    student_efolioThe minimal steps will allow students to create an easy electronic portfolio. PowerPoint is a breeze for most students. Many students have PowerPoint at home too, so adding eFolio content can be done in and out of the classroom. “Print Screen” is a great work around to picture editing. If “Print Screen” is too difficult for the younger students, you can also export PowerPoint slides as an .jpg image, too.

    I hope this is a helpful way to create an online eFolio for your students. Next year I will reflect on how this actually goes and make any tweaks that are necessary.

    Steps for Students:

    1. Open and maintain PowerPoint. Adding assignments by copying the original slide.
    2. Export slide image or use “Print Screen” option.
    3. Open web site, create name in WordArt, use “Print Screen” option to insert name image, add avatar that your teacher has scanned, insert image of slide, title the subject area.
    4. Save file and let your teacher know you are ready to upload.
    5. Continue to maintain PowerPoint, adding new pieces weekly.

    Files: eFolio_Tepley (Right click and Save Target As to save and access .zip file. File inlcudes PowerPoint Template, Student eFolio Web Site Template, Student eFolio Example)

    ]]>     http://www.edutechmag.org/?feed=rss2&p=164 0     Brain Vibe – Using Today’s Technology in the Classroom http://www.edutechmag.org/?p=137 http://www.edutechmag.org/?p=137#comments Sat, 20 Jun 2009 18:52:44 +0000 Brandon Tepley http://www.edutechmag.org/?p=137 Great ideas on using tech in the classroom.

    Brain Vibe’s article titled, “Hey teacher, can you give me a tweet?” gives great suggestions on how to use today’s technology in the classroom. 

    Using Twitter to communicate with parents can cut down on paper. Using online forums can give parents, students, and teachers an outlet to discuss topics and get help. Students can blog about the everyday happenings in the classroom. Educational game iPhone apps can help students learn. Skype can be a useful communication tool.

    This article is inspiring. I will be rereading in preparation for the upcoming school year. I encourage you to read the whole article.

    • What if teachers could use Twitter to send parents a reminder that the class project was due in 2 days?
    • What if you could create educational games for kids to purchase and download on their phones and iPhones to play and proceeds went to the school?
    • Would you like to participate in the school committee meetings via webinar or Skype technology and submit questions?
    • How about a social network for parents and teachers to connect and discuss issues and topics?
    • Wouldn’t you love a blog from the Superintendent, principal, and your child’s teacher?
    • Could schools leverage social networks, phone applications, and other Web 2.0 media to raise much needed funds?
    • What about kids blogging to each other in a book club, sports club, or any other topic that promotes writing, journalism, and community connection?
    • Wouldn’t you love to tweet a teacher? (Get your minds out of the gutter – Twitter!)

      • Gail Potratz, Brain Vibe, Feb 2009

    EduTechMag article lead credit : @rrmurry : tweet

    ]]>     http://www.edutechmag.org/?feed=rss2&p=137 0     Shift Your Paradigm and Tweet Already! http://www.edutechmag.org/?p=111 http://www.edutechmag.org/?p=111#comments Sat, 13 Jun 2009 20:51:02 +0000 Brandon Tepley http://www.edutechmag.org/?p=111 twitter_logoI enjoy trying new technology in the classroom. I try to find uses for current technologies that will appeal to my students, and add a new presentation possibility to their bag of tricks. There are many free open source programs out there. Some technologies are more quickly grasped by teachers, but some are interestingly avoided. Social Networking is the topic, specifically Twitter. How can you use Twitter in your classroom or school? For students? Parents? Collegues? Staff?

    Social Networking is huge! Everybody is doing it. Recently Facebook allowed users to create a username to allow a more easily remembered URL string. 200,000 Facebook users raced to claim their desired usernames in only three minutes (read more)! That’s a lot of people! Twitter has also become a very popular social networking application. According to Wolfram Alpha, Twitter receives 33 millions visits a day! So more than likely students and parents connected to your school are using a social networking app! So why not take advantage of this?

    I have mentioned Twitter to some of my colleagues, and some say, “It will take too much time,” or “I don’t want everyone to know what I am doing.” They are stuck in a paradigm and need a little shifting. Instead of taking a little risk and signing up to experience the possibilities, they often shrug off the idea in fear of privacy invasion or lack of time.

    Twitter has become a valuable resource to me. With Twitter you can share what you are doing, your day to day experiences, or you can use it as a powerful information tool. Twitter offers a real time search which is being updated every second! I enjoy web design, teaching, current news, and random facts. There are people you can follow who spend lots of time finding information that fits your interest and post links to full articles. Twitter only allows users to post 140 character Tweets, so you can quickly browse through your list of followed Tweets and decide if you want to click through to the link to read the full story.

    I plan on using Twitter next year to inform parents. Teaching fifth grade, Twitter is probably not suitable for my students, but their parents could use this as another communication tool to share classroom and school information.

    Sign up on Twitter and follow us, @EduTechMag. Here are some useful links that can help you get started:

    http://news.cnet.com/newbies-guide-to-twitter/
    http://www.squidoo.com/how-to-use-twitter
    http://twitter.com/help/how

    Please comment and share how you plan on using Twitter in your classroom. If you have any valuable links, send them our way.

    ]]>     http://www.edutechmag.org/?feed=rss2&p=111 0     Education Technology Magazine Is Live http://www.edutechmag.org/?p=14 http://www.edutechmag.org/?p=14#comments Sun, 10 May 2009 06:07:00 +0000 Brandon Tepley http://btepdesigns.com/education/?p=14 EduTechMag

    I wanted to create an online community that offered the opportunity for any educator to share her or his successes. Today’s teachers are extremely busy and finding time to explore worthwhile articles online is not always at the top of their priority list. Time is valuable.

    This project was inspired by my new found admiration for Twitter. I first thought posting updates seemed a little ridiculous and privacy invading. After adding some followers, and being followed myself, I realized the amazing availability of knowledge that Twitter offers. Twitter is being used by millions of people. People in every profession. Bloggers are posting short descriptions of their latest entries. News companies are doing the same. A quick search can find answers to real time questions. Twitter is truly powerful in answering questions and finding information fast.

    I wanted to create the same feel for educators. Compile stories, articles, helpful hints, and other valuable information in one place. Obviously, I cannot do this alone. That is why I am relying on you, the teaching public. You can have your articles published here to share with our worldwide colleagues. If you find a valuable article, I would love to read it and write a brief annotation to introduce the linked article.

    This is a work in progress and will constantly change, as we all are used to in the education field. So stay tuned, visit often, and contribute your ideas.

    ]]>     http://www.edutechmag.org/?feed=rss2&p=14 0