It's Not Always Bigger and Better

It's Thursday, which means it's time to talk digital learning! The following blog post comes from Jeremy Macdonald, the Integrated Technology Systems Coordinator for Bend-La Pine Schools in Bend, Oregon.

As of this Monday, April 15, I will be the new Integrated Technology Systems Coordinator for Bend-La Pine Schools in Bend, OR. It's a new job for me and a big move for my family. It's been bittersweet. As time has passed getting ready at home and at school, I have reflected on my experience here in Klamath, the last seven years, and what it will mean to leave my school.

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Hooked On Curation

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When Did Your Digital Footprint Begin?

The following guest blog post comes from Theresa Shafer . Theresa is Online Community Manager for the New Tech Network.  

During the past year I have had the pleasure of working with students across the country on the idea of crafting their digital footprints. I always begin the workshop asking students: 

“When did your digital footprint begin?”

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Digital Overload

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Engaging Students Through Connected Learning Opportunities

The following blog post comes from Pamela R. Moran, EdD, superintendent of Albemarle County Public Schools (VA). Dr. Moran is a member of the Project 24 Team of Experts, a team of nationally recognized leaders who have demonstrated records of success in their fields. Each one of the experts has effectively used technology to help advance the goals of college and career readiness. These individuals are the heart and soul of Project 24 as they lead and share through blogs, webinars, resources, and rich discussions.

We are making our Vision real through connected learning opportunities, engaging even our youngest children with experts and learning communities around the world. Third graders interact with PhD physicists via Google Docs and Twitter. Sixth graders interview a 9/11 survivor via Skype. Three kindergarten classes listen to a virtual reading of The Little Red Lighthouse with available references on tides, lenses, navigation, mapping. Young people cross-pollinate learning through #ccglobal projects and global fiction reading, and our Break Traditions virtual conference attracts presenters and participants from every continent except Antartica. While face-to-face learning remains critical, we’re breaking space and time barriers that once limited learners’ experiences, voices, and audiences.

 

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Rebecca McLelland-Crawley: Creating an authentic learning experience through digital technology

The following guest blog post comes from Rebecca McLelland-Crawley of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. She is the K-12 Science Supervisor at West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District.

Ms.McLelland-Crawley is one in a group of experts who will be blogging for High School Soup every Thursday as part of the Alliance for Excellent Education's Project 24 series. Learn more about Project 24 and how your school district can get involved and connected with the resources needed to plan for progress in a digital transformation here.

Consider my request.

Close your eyes and follow a hypothetical middle school or high school student for her entire school day. How many minutes is she sitting down? How often is she in a group discussing a misconception versus simply hearing her responses are incorrect? Was she allowed to connect to the Internet to research why her response was incorrect? How many times was she told that she can be a digital detective, a blogger, or a software engineer?

I envision a different kind of classroom with very different pedagogical ideas. I dream of a classroom where children are empowered to succeed leveraging technology in a way that maximizes the learning experience for all stakeholders in the community. Read Entire Post

Digital Learning Day lessons in action: Video commercials, online research models, and collaborating with Russian schools

Calling all Educators!

To help educators celebrate Digital Learning Day, the Alliance for Excellent Education is pleased to offer Digital Learning: Lessons in Action, which incorporate multiple strategies with digital learning, such as collaboration, personalized learning, project-based learning, flipped classrooms, virtual access to experts, and simulations.

We encourage you try one of these lessons and blog about it as we lead up to Digital Learning Day. Join the tens of thousands of educators who will tailor these lessons for use in their classrooms on Digital Learning Day and beyond. Try a lesson now!

Today’s lessons are:

Front Pages to Landing Pages: How do you bring history to life for students—and spur them to action? Students learn how to translate knowledge into action by creating and curating research papers on a 20th century American history topic into engaging websites.

Video Introduction   Lesson Plan

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Collaborate with Russian School: Students in Virginia collaborate with students in Russia to learn about culture focusing on similarities and differences in how a school in Russia compares with our school.

Video Introduction    Lesson Plan   Video from Russian Students   Storyboard    Outline

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Thirty Second Propaganda: Students will work in groups to produce a short, persuasive video commercial to advance a political viewpoint on a controversial social issue.

Video Introduction   Lesson Plan  Supplemental Materials

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“I declare!”  Founding Fathers Sound Off on Contemporary Issues: Students use the Online Research Models (ORM’s) to engage in sustained research and critical thinking in order to answer the Essential Question: How would a Founding Father respond to a contemporary American issue?  

Video Introduction     Lesson Plan   Lesson Introduction

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Digital Learning Day lessons in action: Newton's law, astronomy, and combining like terms

Calling all Educators!

To help educators celebrate Digital Learning Day, the Alliance for Excellent Education is pleased to offer Digital Learning: Lessons in Action, which incorporate multiple strategies with digital learning, such as collaboration, personalized learning, project-based learning, flipped classrooms, virtual access to experts, and simulations.

We encourage you try one of these lessons and blog about it as we lead up to Digital Learning Day. Join the tens of thousands of educators who will tailor these lessons for use in their classrooms on Digital Learning Day and beyond. Try a lesson now!

Today’s lessons are:

Newton's Laws - Students apply Newton’s Laws to new situations using digital tools.

Video Introduction  Lesson Plan

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Astronomy - Students will learn to identify features of the night sky and gain an understanding of how the sky’s motion is related to the motions of Earth and the observer’s latitude.

Video Introduction  Lesson Plan

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Combining Like Terms - Students will learn how to simplify algebraic expressions in preparation for solving multi-step equations and inequalities.

Video Introduction  Lesson Plan   Flip Class Video Homework  Powerpoint

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Digital Learning Day lessons in action: Digital DNA and touch & learn technology

Calling all Educators!

To help educators celebrate Digital Learning Day, the Alliance for Excellent Education is pleased to offer Digital Learning: Lessons in Action, which incorporate multiple strategies with digital learning, such as collaboration, personalized learning, project-based learning, flipped classrooms, virtual access to experts, and simulations.

We encourage you try one of these lessons and blog about it as we lead up to Digital Learning Day. Join the tens of thousands of educators who will tailor these lessons for use in their classrooms on Digital Learning Day and beyond. Try a lesson now!

Today’s lessons are:

Raving About The Raven with Touch and Learn Technologies - This is a snapshot of how we use twenty-first century tools for teaching and a sample of digital resources used to facilitate students' understanding of literary devices in Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven.

Video Introduction   Lesson Plan

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Digital DNA - Students determine what their digital footprint looks like and discover tools that will help the student maintain the appropriate digital footprint in the future.

Video Introduction   Lesson Plan   Supplemental Materials

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Digital Learning Day Lessons in Action on The Hunger Games & Inquiry-Based Research Projects

Calling all Educators!

To help educators celebrate Digital Learning Day, the Alliance for Excellent Education is pleased to offer Digital Learning: Lessons in Action, which incorporate multiple strategies with digital learning, such as collaboration, personalized learning, project-based learning, flipped classrooms, virtual access to experts, and simulations.

We encourage you try one of these lessons and blog about it as we lead up to Digital Learning Day. Join the tens of thousands of educators who will tailor these lessons for use in their classrooms on Digital Learning Day and beyond. Read Entire Post