My daughter’s world and that of my students is dominated by digital media. Within this new world is an abundance of knowledge, networking and possibilities that none of us yet completely understand. I know there is wealth here. Yet sometimes it seems that the screens are blocking our kids’ awareness of natural phenomena, in the same way I become distracted from friends and family when I have an iPad in front of me.
Online educator Smadar Goldstein introduces us to Ilana, the “fabulous” kindergarten teacher who taught each of her four children — and describes four ways she’s incorporated Ilana’s teaching methods into her own distance learning practice.
Many teachers who opt for the flipped classroom strategy are not pursuing a student-centered approach to teaching and learning, says Shelley Wright. The traditional model is simply being reversed — not reinvented. The lecture (live or on video) is still front and center. “Learning isn’t simply a matter of passively absorbing new information while watching a lecture on video,” she says. “New knowledge should be actively constructed.”
Over the summer, Voices blogger Margaret Haviland taught her first online high school course — a survey of US History in six and a half weeks! Margaret journaled about her experience at her personal blog. We found her account rich in useful detail. Any teacher about to embark on a first-time online teaching experience will likely find Margaret’s narrative helpful, so we’ve posted excerpts here.
In this post I want to highlight my favorite Mind Mapping program – MindMeister — and talk about several ways I use mind maps in my classroom. If you think you might like it as much as I do, you can participate in an opportunity to get a free professional account for a year. (Editor’s note: Winners of the MindMeister giveaway are announced in the comments section of this post.)
Embedded technology is not evidence of a transformational shift in teaching practice. It’s possible to embed technology into every aspect of teaching and learning and still have a completely teacher-centered classroom, with the teacher in control of what is learned, how it’s learned, and for the most part, how students show their learning.
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