This writing prompt will be near and dear to your students hearts: The Cell Phone.  Did you know that the handheld cell phone has been around for over 40 years!  In this writing prompt students are asked to create the "IT" cell phone of 2025.  The catch: They have to use their best descriptive writing skills. Absolutely no pictures. An extension activity:  Take the writings and make three copies of each. Next, give a copy to 3 students and have them draw the phone as described.  This is a great way to demonstrate to students how descriptive they are in their writing.  If the 3 drawings look fairly similar then the writing used good description, if not your class will have a good laugh! Another extension:  Web Designer Depot has a great blog post on the evolution of the cell phone from 1983 -2009 if you want to go into more detail. The Writing Prompt: Did you know that the handheld cell phone has been around since 1973?  We have seen amazing changes over the past 40+ years.  In 2025, what features, look, materials, abilities, size, battery life, functions, .etc will be the norm?  User your best descriptive writing, No Pictures.  Pant a picture in your readers mind with your detailed description of the most popular phone of 2025.   The post Tech Savvy Writing Prompt: Cell Phones appeared first on NCCE's Tech-Savvy Teacher Blog.

[YouTube Thursday is a series featuring our favorite educational channels on YouTube.  We believe in the power of video, produced by professionals, teachers and students alike!] I was recently doing some reading and research on the phenomenon of Internet trolls to help support a presentation I am working on about facilitating positive communication in digital learning environments. [Side note: Don't know what a troll is? Wikipedia has you covered.  I use this specific article with every college social media and educational technology class I have taught as inspiration for discussion about this behavior.]  I ran into this fascinating video about "trolls" that hand around the comment sections of many newspapers and news sites: (Seriously… watch this whole video.  It is good.) This video is part of the excellent web series BrainCraft, which is now produced by PBS Digital Studios.  The videos are short form videos covering topics related to psychology and neuroscience with an just enough polish to be very watchable without losing the engaging edge of independently produced content.  With only 37,000 subscribers, the channel hasn’t exploded into the subscription stratosphere but appears to have more stability with its association with PBS. Here are some excellent examples from the library: Is Google Killing Your Memory? (Spoiler: It’s complicated. Sleep Drunkenness Explained   All in all, these are excellent videos for those teaching psychology, biology or those looking to inspire conversations with your students about their brains. BrainCraft via YouTube The post YouTube Thursday: BrainCraft from PBS Digital Studies appeared first on NCCE's Tech-Savvy Teacher Blog.

I <3 this video!  David Pogue is a prolific tech reporter who now hangs his digital hat at Yahoo Tech.  This TED talk from 2013 highlights 10 technology tips that everyone should know, but, not everyone does.  These are great, time-saving tips.  I even learned something!  Enjoy and have a great weekend! The post Weekend Project: Learn 10 Tech-Savvy Tips from David Pogue appeared first on NCCE's Tech-Savvy Teacher Blog.

Good morning from the Tech-Savvy Teachers!  We want to start our your week with a bit of technology inspiration.  We are big fans of David Allen’s excellent book and organizational philosophy: Getting Things Done.  If you haven’t read the book, the $8.44 you will spend for the Kindle version (or, buy a used copy for just 1 cent!) is the best money you will spend to inspire the development of workflows and, as Allen says it, "stress free productivity." In this week’s episode of the excellent Mac Power Users podcast from 5 by 5, David Sparks and Katie Floyd talk with Mr. Allen on technology and productivity, including a nuts-and-bolts look at his own technology-dominated systems for getting things done. The discussion is obviously iOS and Apple-focused, however, the information on technology applies across the technology universe. This is great fodder to start the week.  Have a good one! 219: Getting Things Done with David Allen via Mac Power Users The post Be awesome this week: David Allen on Getting Things Done with Technology! appeared first on NCCE's Tech-Savvy Teacher Blog.

How do you foster investigative learning in your classroom? Interest based learning has been a popular research topic in the Ed Tech community over the past 15 years.  Research has shown that when students have an interest in the topic of study, the students own curiosity creates motivation to learn the topic.  The challenge to this is that students interest vary so drastically it can be difficult to create lessons that trigger everyone’s curiosity.  One tactic to encourage interest based learning in your classroom is to incorporate the website DIY.org. DIY is a platform for students to discover Skills and share what they make and do with a global community. Educators everywhere are using DIY to explore skill-based learning and introduce collaboration into their classroom - during homeroom, Genius Hour, after school, and even regular classes. Blend the DIY Skills platform into your core curriculum, or let your students explore new subjects while practicing skills. Think of the spark you would ignite in your students by giving them the time and space to pursue their interests, take risks, and publish original works.  DIY.org reports over 100,000 active students collaborating, creating, and giving authentic feedback. In addition to the website, the DIY app (iOS) gives students the freedom to easily share their findings and creations with the DIY community.  Let us know if you try DIY in your classroom in the comments section below. The post Encourage interest based learning with DIY.org appeared first on NCCE's Tech-Savvy Teacher Blog.

Now in its 7th great year, the incredible excellent K-12 Online Conference begins this week!  The K-12 online conference is a free professional development event that publishes excellent content created by teachers, for teachers on how to up your game with in your school or classroom. Each year, the conference chooses strands to organize their presentation, and this year’s topics are excellent for teachers of all skill ability teaching all grades, including Gamification, Stories for Learning, Passion-Driven Learning, and STEAM. The topical presentations starting next Monday, but, the conference kicks off this week with a keynote address from Wes Fryer, a friend of the tech-savvy teachers and well-respected professional development trainer and teacher.  In his address, he speaks about the need to ignite innovation in the classroom and pulls in some great voices from across the learning landscape, including someone you may recognize from NCCE: Enjoy this year’s conference!  Check our our commentary on Twitter, or check back here for our favorite presentations! K-12 Online Conference The post Excellent Free Professional Development: the K-12 Online Conference 2014 BEGINS! appeared first on NCCE's Tech-Savvy Teacher Blog.

I am honored to be presenting several sessions this week as part of my day job, Assistant Director/Curriculum Director of the state public virtual school in Montana.  I will be part of the team putting on the Online Teacher Symposium at the MEA-MFT Fall Teacher Convention in Missoula, Montana.  As part of that event, I will be presenting a new presentation focusing on teacher communication in digital environments, along with Susan Quinn, the Digital Learning TOSA for the Great Falls Public Schools and MTDA lead teacher. Here are our slides: This topic is very interesting to me and I will be developing future trainings.  If you are interested in having me present this in your district or for your program, please contact NCCE to discuss! The post Presentation Slides: Finding the Teacher Voice in Online Courses appeared first on NCCE's Tech-Savvy Teacher Blog.

Happy Friday from the Tech-Savvy Teachers!  We leave you this week with this amazing TED talk from Toby Shapshak, the editor of Stuff Magazine on innovation and invention.  He points out that many of the technological innovations of the developed world today was actually inspired by necessity in Africa.  This talk gets at the core of inspiration.  Enjoy and have a great weekend! The post Weekend inspiration: Africa is the mother of technology invention appeared first on NCCE's Tech-Savvy Teacher Blog.

The K-12 Online Conference is in full swing this week, and I was particularly inspired by Ben Wilcoff’s presentation, "6 Second Stories for Learning" where he makes an eloquent point using Vine videos that our goal is to capture moments of learning.  Here is his presentation: This is one of many excellent, free online videos posted in the next two weeks as part of the conference.  View, think and respond using comments and social media. Have a great week! 6 Second Stories for Learning via K12 Online The post Be awesome this week: Ben Wilcoff’s "6 Second Stories for Learning" from the K-12 Online Conference appeared first on NCCE's Tech-Savvy Teacher Blog.

As part of the K-12 Online Conference, Jeffery Bradbury (@teachercast) has shared a very powerful example of the power of having your own PLN: What happens when an educator starts educating outside of the classroom? Why do so many teachers spend their free time blogging, podcasting, conference presenting and much more? What if the work they are doing outside of the classroom is impactful to their work inside of the classroom? What if… the work that happens inside the classroom is transferred back to the work happening outside of the classroom? In this presentation, Jeff Bradbury takes a look at a very personal subject all based on the work happening both in and outside of the classroom walls. Check out more about Jeffery and his Teachercast site! The post PLN Power: A Personal Story appeared first on NCCE's Tech-Savvy Teacher Blog.