Ok...so I am really excited about a new "blog revelation" I have
had in my life recently. Last week I conducted an interview for another class
with an individual who is in charge or creating and conducting instructional
technology training for the region I live in. She talked about the importance
of using blogs to keep up with the latest and greatest in educational
technology. Coincidentally, EdTech Magazine also published their "The Honor Roll: 50 Must-Read K–12 Education IT Blogs"
story. These two things combined to inspire my "blog revelation". One
of my favorite iPad apps is called Flipboard. If you haven't used it, Flipboard is a social
reader that allows you to download all kinds of different magazines that
specialize in anything from news to sports to the weird and wacky. You can also
access your Google
Reader feed through Flipboard. Soooo...one by one I went through EdTech's
50 best list and added them to my Google Reader. This allows me to easily read
through blog posts and get ideas and inspiration for my own technology integration.
A couple of the recent gems I have discovered:
Edudemic - An educational
technology magazine that you can download on your iPad. The app is free but you
will need to pay for each issue or get a subscription. I started off just
downloading the current issue "10
Incredibly Powerful Teaching Tools of the Future" for $1.99. I really enjoyed the articles and ideas. The magazine also included a "student bio". This particular one was for a 9th grade student from Houston, Texas who had the opportunity to present a TED talk. Her views are an inspiration for teachers trying to move beyond the standard way of doing things. She states, "While working on my TED talk, I had to overcome a true fear of public speaking, a real life skill, in pursuit of passion. If schools allowed students to pursue their passions, improving weaknesses would not be such a daunting task; having the opportunity to work on a project they are passionate about allows students to excel at their strengths while improving their weaknesses in a way that doesn't seem as frustrating or discouraging as a typical classroom environment" (Edudemic, 2012, p. 19).
That sentiment fit in perfectly with another gem about gamification in the classroom:
We have talked repeatedly about the value of games in education throughout the program. However, I haven't heard any concrete ways a teaching is using it in practice. If you have a chance, check out Gamification in the Classroom: How (And Why) One Teacher Did It. The story includes a case study on a teacher in Michigan and how she turned her entire math class into a game she calls MathLand. It is an inspirational story on the possibilities that are out there with a little creativity and hard work.
I am really excited about this new use of blogs, Google Reader, and my iPad to help in my pursuit of knowledge and ideas to help transform my (future) classroom. If you have access to these technologies I highly recommend adding some (or all) of the "50 Best" blogs to your reading list.
Great insights into some emergent technologies. I'm looking forward to reading the story about the Math teacher who "Gamified" her class.
ReplyDeleteI did something similar last year with my Spanish 1 class. We broke into Guilds and had Guild Wars about homework. Each Guild created a crest based on a Spanish-speaking country. We posted them in a corner of my whiteboard and tallied scores all year. It was a blast. We also had Restaurant Wars where the Guilds competed against each other to see which of their restaurants was the best - they created menus, radio commercials, and TV spots - they loved it. And what it even more important, that was the vocabulary and grammatical structures they remembered best when it came time for our final exams.
Again, great post - keep 'em coming!
Your class sounds like a lot of fun. In high school I was part of the first Spanish 5 class they ever had. We only had 5 people in it so our teacher gave a lot of lattitude to do projects. She let us write and produce an entire movie (in Spanish of course). I don't think I ever had more fun than in that class. Both experiences (mine and yours) say a lot for the possibilities when students are actively engaged in what they are learning.
DeleteI do the same with twitter. Being that twitter is basically a micro-blog, it is a great resource to keep up with emerging technology and changes in the world of higher ed. The ability to link to other information and other blogs helps to find those new great sources.
ReplyDeleteI haven't really gotten into Twitter. However, I have read several blogs now that discussed the great info you can get from the site. Do you have any favorite people you follow in the edtech world?
DeleteEmily, thanks for sharing your “blog revelation” and for the great resources. I perused through the blogs and links offered on the “The Honor Roll: 50 Must-Read K-12 Education IT Blogs” site and was amazed by all the blogs dedicated to educational technology, wow! I see your point that blogs can help keep you updated on the “latest and greatest in educational technology” – since this is always evolving, blogs are a perfect way to read reviews, personal experiences, and suggestions for uses with various technologies.
ReplyDeleteI could see how students could use blogs in a similar way in the classroom. We as educators could have students respond to text on a blog or have them write reviews of their own. The possibilities are endless!