Timelines aren’t simply for history class.  In any lesson where change occurs in a somewhat organized sequence of events, a timeline can be implemented to make the student’s thinking incarnate/visible. For example, in English Language Arts teachers can use timelines to see inside student’s heads concerning a story they are reading in class.  Having  students use one of the timeline sites below will allow a visual representation of how the students perceive the arch of action and character interaction.  Even if they’re haven’t completed the book, they can use the latter parts of the timeline to make predictions. Chemical reactions, cause and effect, predicting a response to a variable, water/life cycles (put in a linear form) and so many more instances of scientific inquiry can quickly be placed on a website based timeline for quick evaluation.  Further, timelines can act as a review tool for students right before a test on the aforementioned topics. I was inspired by Mrs. Saunders, our reigning Teacher of the Year at Byron Nelson HS,  and her U.S. History classes.  She instructed her students to flesh out an assignment where they will present a certain facet of the 1920s decade.  I was called in to introduce some tech-tools and during our discussions the idea of layering timelines on top of each surfaced.  Allowing students to see how seemingly separate events occurred simultaneously is a great way to study a decade from an interesting perspective. For example, one group of students can do "Supreme Court Cases of the 1920s" another group can put together a "Women’s Rights Movement Timeline" and a final group of students can work on "Women’s Rights In Other Parts of the World in the 1920s" timeline.  Once completed, students can present all three timelines to show the complexity of a single issue or time like the 1920s, gun rights, character development in play, weather systems, etc. Here are some good online timelines: 1) www.tiki-toki.com - (featured above) This is my favorite timeline, by far.  You have 2D and 3D options and the background looks like really nice.  Uploading images and videos does time a little bit of time, but it’s totally worth it. 2) www.timetoast.com - It’s a nice basic timeline with a nice basic look.  Very easy to use. 3) http://timeglider.com/ - Another free online timeline…but you only get to make 3. 4) www.dipity.com - Another basic timeline that’s quick and easy to use.Filed under: In The Classroom, Technology Tagged: classroom tech, classroom technology, education tech, instrucitonal technology, line, lines, teacher, teacher tech, teacher technology, time, time lines, timelines

Source: ictevangelist.com See on Scoop.it - Educational News and Web Tools

As educators we may teach various and sundry disciplines, one thing we all have in common, however, is that there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything we want done.  Saving time without sacrificing your focus on student achievement is key. That’s why every time you use the "Assignments" (resource) in netSchool you should also utilize the ability to create a rubric to make grading easier, but still authentic and meaningful. If you click on "Add an activity or resource" at the bottom of each section in netSchool/Moodle, you’ll find the "Assignment" option at the top of the pop-up box.  The dialogue to the right of the radio button states: The assignment activity module enables a teacher to communicate tasks, collect work and provide grades and feedback.  Students can submit any digital content (files), such as word-processed documents, spreadsheets, images, or audio and video clips. So adding a rubric to this resource can save time grading, not only essays or written work, but ANYTHING your students create and upload!  The grade and comments will be digitally documented so students, parents, and teachers see exactly why Johnny earned the grade he received. Here is the Mr. Gatlin (and his fruit fly buddies) inspired tutorial: Filed under: In The Classroom, Technology Tagged: classroom technology, edtech, education technology, innovate, making it legit, moodle, Netschool, NISDNOV8, rubric, teacher technology, thrasymachus, thrasymakos

50% off software for teachers, trainers, and instructional designers June 1-15, 2014          |          PROMO CODE:   LS360summer14 With 360training.com’s summer software sale, now is definitely the time to try something new! As always, our award-winning LCMS and LMS software are yours for FREE. At 360training.com, we’re committed to the idea that a price tag should never get in the way of creating great learning experiences for your students. If you haven’t already tried them, download the FREE software pack and take them out for a spin! For a sneak peek of just a few of the things you can do, check out the movies on our support page. Then get ready to create! Add on your favorite easy-to-use activity and game templates to take your online training to the next level—or go with a starter pack to save even more. You can even get your own store! At 50% off our normally low software prices, helping people learn was never easier or more affordable. When you get to the cart page, just put   LS360summer14   in the PROMO CODE field, click update, and watch prices get cut in half.   Make a difference this summer. Teach what you know. Your students are waiting. - Laura and the 360 Authoring team. …

Last week I gave a talk to our new staff about teaching. The night before, I asked the good people of twitter for their input: It caused a bit of a discussion! So I thought I would elabora… Source: classteaching.wordpress.com See on Scoop.it - Educational News and Web Tools

Cue Movie Voice-Over Guy: Imagine a world where student work can be graded and immediately sent to their email in-box.  In the future, students will have feedback on everything from presentations to Socratic discussions to "exit slips" waiting for them instantaneously.  That future is here! It is a fairly easy endeavor to set up a Google Form to act as a rubric.  Now, if you follow the steps in the video below, you can add a further functionality to that rubric.  The second that student presentation is done, for example, and you tap the submit button… they have their evaluation waiting for them in their inbox.  The same can be done so parents receive these evaluations as well. If it looks too tricky for you (and it’s really not) call me in and I will help you set up the form    Filed under: In The Classroom, Technology Tagged: classroom tech, classroom technology, easy grading, edtech, education technology, email, evaluation, feedback, google docs, google form, google script, grading, instant, iPad, ipad mini, iPhone, quick grading, rubric, teacher tech, teacher technology

Earlier this week I attended an ICEM (International Council for Educational Multimedia) board meeting in Vienna. ICEM has a long history, going back over 60 years, starting with a focus on film, through to today’s rich multimedia offerings. ICEM as an organisation hosts an annual conference, this year it is in Singapore at the beginning of October, there are some great keynotes lined up and also some interesting parallel themes. In addition, ICEM has a journal associated with it, Educational Multimedia International, I can thoroughly recommend it as a publication outlet. Pambo Vrasidas, the editor, always provides timely and critical feedback, as do the reviewers. At the meeting we discussed a number of things, including looking at the new website, which will be launched soon, as well as more clearly articulating what are the benefits of being a member of ICEM. For me an interesting focus for ICEM is that it brings academics and multimedia producers together, something that other professional bodies in the field don’t do. So if you haven’t come across ICEM before, I can recommend taking a look and finding out more about what we do. 

Are you planning to sell your courses online? If you are new to the e-learning business and want to test the waters without investing a lot of money, you may want to start by selling your courses through an online training provider. By offering your course to an established online training provider, you can earn more profit with less investment, while assessing the value and effectiveness of your online training. Benefits of offering your courses to an online training provider: Will it sell? What will it take to find out? As an independent course provider, you may not have an established customer base for the content you want to create and sell. Large online providers could have this already in place. Consider the venture a pilot test run for your course. You can get a sense of how popular your course will be in the marketplace by its sale volume and the feedback you get from the company through whom you are offering the course. With course evaluations, you may also be able to gauge the effectiveness of your course and make any needed adjustments. If your courses perform well, you may want to create more online training and even open a store of your own! If things are less successful, you have the opportunity to learn, refine, and build without having invested much out-of-pocket. Volume makes things exciting. By selling your courses through an established online course provider, your courses get exposure to a huge audience, cultivated and maintained by a professional marketing department. 360training.com, for example, has more than a decade of experience providing training to millions of students worldwide—and an entire team of people dedicated to making that happen, day in and day out. Further, all things being equal, learners are more likely to buy courses from sites and vendors they know. Selling with an established vendor can mean cranking up the volume on sales, particularly when you’re just getting started! Track record can mean increased dollars. When you are the new course provider in town, you might find yourself offering significant discounts on your courses just to get people to take a chance and try out your brand. Online course providers with established reputations often have more freedom to name their price (within market constraints)—allowing them to increase the average order value of their sales. When you offer your courses through an established reseller, you can often make higher profit, even with revenue share agreements in place. Get an expert opinion. Online training companies have fully trained experts in their respective fields. Once you have offered your course to them, your course will be scrutinized and feedback typically provided that can help fine tune the course prior to sale. Getting a second pair of expert eyes on your course can be invaluable. Keep up to date. Online training companies insist that courses be kept up to date with changing trends and industry regulations. While you are probably keeping abreast of these changes, a partner who is also doing so and funneling in customer feedback on courses can help ensure that your course remains in tip-top shape. Offering courses to online training providers can be a win-win situation. Is it time to test your training skills and start enjoying the fruits of your labor? - Shazia Wajid and the 360 Authoring team. …

After setting a goal, focus on process and not the goal itself: Something Better than Results.Filed under: In The Classroom

Source: www.educatorstechnology.com See on Scoop.it - InformationCommunication (ICT)