Featured 7-9-2014: Global Writes

 

Global Writes works with schools and school districts to develop and implement programs integrating performing arts techniques with literacy programs.

 

Global Writes helps schools develop technology applications to share student-created work for publication and feedback. This includes the use of digital media, videoconferencing, podcasting, and blogging.

 

Schools and districts can get assistance in finding local arts partners as a classroom collaboration resource as well as in seeking local funding to sustain arts integration programs.

 

Global Writes helps schools around the world work together to foster communication and collaboration among students around literacy-based projects integrating the arts using technology as a resource.

 

 

Professional development opportunities focus on arts integration with existing literacy curriculum, providing teachers with opportunitites to develop an appreciation of the arts across the curriculum and confidence in using performing arts techniques in their classrooms.

 

 Watch a Global Writes overview

 

Global Writes provides both formative and summative evaluations to monitor student progress in their programs and supplies data to support increases in student achievement and teacher knowledge.

 

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/0

Featured 7-1-2014: The GLOBE Program

 

The GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) program is a worldwide hands-on science and education program for primary and secondary schools.

 

The vision of the GLOBE program is to promote and support students, teachers, and scientists collaborating on inquiry-based investigations of the environment and the Earth system.

 

Participation in the GLOBE program is open to teachers in participating countries who become trained in GLOBE scientific protocols. These teachers mentor students in taking, reporting, and using high-quality data and using these data to perform investigations.

 

 

The GLOBE program works in partnership with NASA, NOAA and NSF Earth System Science Projects in study and research about the dynamics of Earth's environment.

 

 Visit the GLOBE program’s YouTube channel

 

Since its start on Earth Day, 1995, 112 countries have participated in the GLOBE program. There are more than 66,000 GLOBE-trained teachers representing over 24,000 schools around the world. More than 10 million students have participated and contributed more than 100 million measurements to the GLOBE database.

 

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/0

Plus 6-20-2014: Global Read Aloud

 

Pernille Ripp, a 5th grade teacher in Wisconsin, started Global Read Aloud in the summer of 2010 to expand the global collaboration of her students.

 

Participating educators choose a book to read aloud to their students during a certain time period during which they try to make as many global connections as possible.

 

 

Individual teachers decide how much time they would like to dedicate to Global Read Aloud and how deeply they would like to be involved. You can connect with just one class or go for as many as possible.

 

Tools such as Twitter, Skype, Edmodo, wikis, email, regular mail, and others have been used to make these global connections.  Last year more than 144,000 students in more than 30 countries on 6 different continents were represented.

 

The official start date for this year's project is October 6th, 2014. The book choices are:

• The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
• The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer L. Holm
• One For the Murphy's by Lyndy Mullaly Hunt
• The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

 

 Watch What is the Global Read Aloud?

 

You can sign up to participate in Global Read Aloud here.

 

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/0

Featured 6-17-2014: Radix Endeavor

 

The Radix Endeavor is a multiplayer online game for STEM learning in high school.

 

When a player enters the Radix Endeavor  she finds herself on an island with many unknown species of plants and animals, many mysterious places waiting to be discovered, and many problems to be solved. She must try to determine what is causing the problems, how the natural systems work, and which factors need to be changed to improve the lives of the people and save the island from destruction.

 

 

The game offers students the opportunity to participate in a collaborative, social experience in a systems-based game world while they explore how that world works and discover important scientific concepts.

 

The initial phase of the Radix Endeavor will cover topics in biology, algebra, geometry, probability, and statistics. Designed to align with the Common Core standards in mathematics and Next Generation Science Standards for high school students, there is also particular emphasis on developing key mathematics practices and 21st century skills.

 

 

Innovative task-based assessments will be embedded into the game, and that data will be used to track players’ strategies, progress, and potential misconceptions. The data will be analyzed in real time to offer feedback and support to the player to promote learning when concepts and skills are being first introduced. It will also be available on a 'Teacher Portal' to help teachers monitor student progress and differentiate their lessons to meet students’ needs.

 

 Watch The Radix Endeavor Trailer

 

The Radix Endeavor is being developed at the MIT Education Arcade in collaboration with Filament Games, and is funded by the Gates Foundation.

 

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/0

Featured 5-21-2014: ChalkUp

 

ChalkUp is a student engagement platform designed to foster real-time school-work collaboration, learning, and studying, ChalkUp enables students to ask questions, discuss and share interesting educational content, and work with each other.

 

Dashboard is a real-time feed where you can comment on discussions, submit assignments, and even view files. Chalkup keeps all assignments, quizzes, and tests in one place.

 

Assignments can be delivered to students quickly and in real-time. Drag-and-drop a document from your computer or use one that you have stored on Google Drive or Google Apps for Education. Create folders, rename files to be organized.

 

Students can turn in assignments as easily as dragging-and-dropping, uploading as many files as necessary. Annotate and grade uploaded file submissions right inside ChalkUp. Personalize feedback with a quick note.

 

 

Messaging lets the people in your class chat in real-time and share files with each other. Teachers can send messages to students to clarify, remind, and keep them engaged. Chalkup uses 256-bit AES encryption to make sure your messages are safe.

 

The free version of ChalkUp provides 1 GB of storage per class with a file size limit of 25 MB, and all the core features including integrated flashcards.

 

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/0

Featured 5-7-2014: Shooloo Learning

 

 

Upper-elementary and middle school students can help one another practice word problems and apply math to real life using the collaborative learning platform, Shooloo, which means “Number Joy” in Chinese.

 

At Shooloo  students can write their own math word problems, publish them onto the web, get feedback from other students, demonstrate their solutions, and continuously clarify their math reasoning.

 

Tagged with the associated Common Core State Standard, word problems are accompanied by I Can statements. Students can easily compile their own I Can journals, enabling teachers to assess which students are struggling with which Common Core standard. Analytics provide automated progress tracking, real-time reporting, and standards-based grading.

 

 

Founded just last year, Shooloo already claims the world’s largest collection of student-authored math word problems that can be used for on-line learning, worksheets, discussions, and assessment.

 

 Watch Shooloo -- Collaborative Learning for Common Core Math

The Shooloo concept aligns with the Common Core State Standards for Mathematical Practices. Students publish their own math word problems, construct viable arguments, critique the reasoning of others, and model real life with mathematics.

 

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/0

Featured 4-29-2014: Literacy Design Collaborative

 

Literacy Design Collaborative is a community of educators providing a teacher-designed and research-proven framework, online tools, and resources for creating literacy-rich assignments and courses.

 

The mission of Literacy Design Collaborative is "to ensure that every student in America graduates from high school with the Common Core literacy skills necessary for success in college and career.” In the furtherance of this goal, LDC strives to provide continuous, reflective professional development; to integrate literacy and content in K-12 instruction; and to help educators succeed in implementing the high expectations of the Common Core Standards.

 

Core Principles of Literacy Design Collaborative:

• Align with the Common Core State Standards.
• Promote the distribution of reading and writing instruction among all teachers.
• Make tasks central with clear goals.
• Connects reading and writing instruction.
• Use back mapping to identify the specific literacy skills students need if they are to succeed on a task.
• Foster a responsive system that encourages teachers to adjust their instruction in response to the formative information they gather on student performance.
• Encourage local choice with a balanced focus on results as well as means.
• Be teacher-friendly.

 

LDC offers educators an instructional system for developing students’ literacy skills in preparation for the demands of college and careers. LDC does not provide off-the-shelf curriculum units or lesson plans. Rather, LDC encourages teachers to build students’ literacy skills and understanding of science, history, and other content through meaningful, CCSS-aligned reading and writing assignments.

 

 

 Visit the Literacy Design Collaborative YouTube channel

 

Literacy Design Collaborative, as a dynamic community of teachers, is rapidly expanding its library of exemplary instructional modules, effective mini-tasks, and tools and resources for supporting teachers’ efforts to engage students in rigorous, CCSS-aligned learning.

 

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/0

Featured 4-28-2014: Scrawlar

 

Scrawlar offers schools free cloud-based collaborative word processing that works on any smartphone, tablet, or computer.

 

Use Scrawlar to create, edit, share, and save documents on any web-connected device. No app, installation, or plugin is needed.

 

 

After creating and saving a document, students have the option to share with any classmates. They can also choose whether other people can edit or just view the original document.

 

As a teacher, create an account for any class. Add your students to your network, each student is assigned a password. Students login using the class code you provide and their unique passwords. No student signup or email is required.

 

Teachers can leave feedback right on documents, and parents can follow along in real-time from anywhere.

 

 

Scrawlar also offers an easy-to-use whiteboard interface that includes basic drawing tools and text.

 

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/0

Featured 4-3-2014: Coggle

Coggle is a free, easy-to-use web application for creating beautiful informative diagrams.

 

Coggle users can quickly and easily produce attractive diagrams and share them with others to enhance collaboration. Classmates can work on diagrams simultaneously.

 

Key features of Coggle:

• Drag-and-drop images from your desktop into your diagrams.
• No limit to the number of images you can add.
• History mode lets you go back to an earlier version.
• Track who made what changes to shared documents.

 

The mission of Coggle is to "change the way that people work and collaborate forever, to make you more productive, and to make it easier to share information with others, and to do it in a way that's beautiful, and a pleasure to use."

 

 Watch a video introducing you to the basic controls for using Coggle

 

Coggle is free and promises that it always will be.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/0

Featured 4-2-2014: Doing Science: The Process of Scientific Inquiry

Doing Science: The Process of Scientific Inquiry is a creative, inquiry-based instruction program designed to promote active learning and stimulate student interest in medical topics. 

 

Doing Science: The Process of Scientific Inquiry brings cutting-edge medical science and basic research discoveries from the National Institutes of Health into middle school classrooms. The objective is to help students:

• Experience the process of scientific inquiry and develop an enhanced understanding of the nature and methods of science.
• Appreciate the role of science in society and the relationship between basic science and human health.

The Doing Science curriculum supplement has been designed to complement existing life science curricula and to be consistent with the National Science Education Standards. The supplement was developed and tested by a team composed of teachers, scientists, medical experts, representatives from the NIH, and curriculum-design experts. Real scientific data and actual case studies are incorporated into classroom activities.

 

 

Teachers can effectively facilitate learning and spark student interest by using scientific concepts in real-life scenarios. The inquiry-based activities promote active and collaborative learning and help students develop problem-solving strategies and critical-thinking skills.

 

 

The Doing Science: The Process of Scientific Inquiry curriculum supplements, available at no cost to teachers across the US, each come with a complete set of classroom materials including printed materials, background and resource information, and an interactive website.

 

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/0

Featured 3-31-2014: Next Generation Science Standards

Through a collaborative, state-led process, new K–12 science standards, Next Generation Science Standards for Today’s Students and Tomorrow’s Workforce, have been developed.

 

Rich in content and practice, the Next Generation Science Standards are logically arranged across disciplines and grades to provide all students an internationally benchmarked science education. 

 

The process for developing the science standards included having the scientific and educational research communities identify core ideas in science and integrate them across grade levels.

 

 

The scientific practices in the NGSS include critical thinking and communication skills that students need for real-world success. In the standards, these science practices are intertwined with content.

 

 See Paul Andersen introduce his video series on the Next Generation Science Standards.

 

The Next Generation Science Standards are based on the Framework for K–12 Science Education developed by the National Research Council. The writing process began in the summer of 2011, and the final version of the NGSS was released in April of last year.

 

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/0

Featured 3-13-2014: Vyew

Vyew is a free next-generation online collaboration and web conferencing service that brings people and content together.

 

With Vyew you can give a presentation to an entire class or post a document for review by your students in class or at home, facilitating a 'flipped classroom' concept. Vyew is extremely flexible allowing you to bring online collaboration and sharing into your teaching.

 

Vyew allows you to meet and share content in real-time or at anytime convenient to your viewers. Upload images, files, documents, and videos into a room that users can access and contribute to at no matter when.

 

Vyew is web-based, running in your browser, no downloads necessary. Consequently it's compatible with PC, Mac, and Linux. Vyew supports a broad array of file types: doc, xls, pdf, ppt, jpg, gif, png, swf, txt, rtf, mp3, flv, and more. Mix and arrange files any way you like.

Conferencing features include whiteboarding, video conferencing, screen sharing, and VOIP. Collaboration features such as contextual discussion forums, voice-notes, tracking and logging activity can be found. Continuous rooms are always saved and always-on. 

Key features of Vyew:

• Draw/Annotate – full set of drawing, commenting and discussion tools
• Desktop Sharing – Stream your screen in real-time to people in your meeting
• Instant Screen Capture – Take snapshots of your screen and insert them into a meeting
• Video Conference – Up to 5 people can broadcast their video to everyone in the room.
• Publish – Include read-only versions of your meeting on a web site, blog, in HTML emails, etc.

 View a demo of Vyew

 

Vyew promises the free version (unlimited use with up to 10 people) will remain free, however, it is ad-supported.

 

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/0

Extra 2-21-2014: Corkulous

Corkulous idea board is an iOS app that can be used to collect, organize, and share your ideas.

 

Corkulous features:

• Notes, Labels, Photos, Contacts, Tasks, Index Cards, and Arrow Flags
• Full board view with pinch zooming
• Search cork board items
• Email board snapshots as PDFs or images
• Export board PDFs via iTunes File Sharing
• Save images to Saved Photos album
• Unique back side of the cork board
• Excellent and proven customer support

The free version of Corkulous gives you a single board on your iOS device's collection to work with and lets you connect with Dropbox folders and view Corkulous boards shared by others. 

 

Corkulous Pro adds iCloud support, multiple and nested cork boards, and passcode locking.

 

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/0

Featured: 2-20-2014 Timeglider

Timeglider is a flexible time-based visualization tool that can be utilized for a variety of applications.

 

Timeglider can quickly enhance your experience of the past, present, and future. It has been used by thousands of teachers. Students can easily create timelines, helping them understand the history of an event.

 

Timeglider is a data-driven, interactive timeline application. You can drag the timeline left and right, zoom in and out to view centuries at a time or a few hours. You can create event spans to see durations and how they overlap. 

 

 

Timeglider lets you collaborate and share easily. If you choose to make a timeline publicly accessible, a URL will be created with which to share your timeline. You can use that URL inside of an embed code, as well, for placing on blogs and web pages.

 

 See how to sign up for and use Timeglider

 

Individual students can open a free Timeglider account that provides up to 3 timelines. A basic teacher account that allows up to 30 student users is $5 US monthly ($50 US annually). School accounts are also available.

 

 Timeglider is not Flash-based. It uses HTML-5, so it functions on an iPad and other iOS devices through their browser.

 

 DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/0