What a week!!I found myself in a car this past Tuesday driving the 10 hours to Illinois for the Google Apps for Education Summit 2015. This conference was hosted by the amazing EdTechTeam just outside of Chicago. The first thing we were asked, before we ever set foot in the building, was how well do you know Google and the apps used for education. I typically walk into any setting knowing I am likely the least knowledgeable person in the room on the topic. This way there is more collaboration and I can see how others are using things rather than push the ways we do things. I humbly said I knew quite a bit, but that I was no Google Ninja.However, I felt pretty confident about my Google skills, but tried to undersell myself.HA!!Turns out...there was absolutely no frickin' reason to undersell my abilities. These programs which I have been using and sharing for the last couple of years have a whole new level of kick-ass to them that I am pretty sure educators are not even touching. For instance, take this quick quiz for me and see what I am talking about. This blew my mind. I mean, I have been using Forms for many reasons and for over a year now. Think about all of the cool ways you can then formatively assess your students in the classroom. This still comes with all of the analytics so you have an overall snapshot of your class or group in pretty pie charts or bar graphs.Sidebar - Summative assessment is the icky word that makes people think of standardizing or Unit reviews because they are in the book. Formative assessment is the super cool way to know if your kids get it. NOT because it will be on the test.Ok, so another cool thing I learned this week is Google Sites. Teachers, and principals for that matter. Hell, administrators!!! You can use Google Sites for your classroom, school building, or district website. And it's free. Or as my friend Johnny Atchley likes to say, "it's free 99!".I will link the overview page here and here is a video on the process if it's all new to you. The leader of the session I attended, Molly Schroeder, explained how to use Google Sites as a digital portfolio for her students to upload their work. Gosh, I have had students work together to create a "textbook" of the content they learned over the year, but the potential here is astounding. You could have a shared or individualized 2015 website where the students share with the/their parents the work you have been teaching and they have been learning all year. Here is a link to Molly's (our session presenter and Google Certified Teacher) presentation on how to use sites as digital portfolios for your students. The link is her own Google Site. You can see how professional it looks, and again, ITS FREE. #gooddealThe last take home for the week was the idea of throwing out the grade book and going with a badge system. My Twitter feed has been slowly coming around to the idea in the last year. It completely disrupts everything tradition schools schools stand for, so I am sure I will catch some flack on this one. If it helps you traditionalists out there, the session was titled WTF: Why Teach Failure. So in this session Google Certified Teacher Jeffery Heil (On the twitter he's @jheil65) talks about giving a syllabus of all assignments at the beginning of the semester or school-year and assigning badges to different checkpoints along the way. You will have to decide for yourself if this will work for your age of students. He works with undergrad students at the secondary level. I have tried this with my students in personal finance. Each checkpoint had an essay, presentation or video that allowed the students to demonstrate their level of knowledge for each subject. This was a LOT of work for me and I had to let the parents know what I was doing and that their kids would not be receiving weekly grades in the class. This was incredibly difficult for some parents....and students to wrap their minds around, but the level of work was amazing. I did not provide a three column rubric, only a single column. For them it was sort of a check list of all the things that the projects needed. Why would we show the first and second column of that rubric? Why would we allow them the chance to fail at a topic so crucial to life? Because the school system was not ready for a non-graded system, and students must receive a final grade, the number of badges awarded in the class determined the grade at the end of the class. But all of the projects ended up looking amazing. So, there is another EdTechTeam #GAFEsummit this October here in Oklahoma. I highly, ardently, and insanely recommend this conference if you think you know Google and want more or if you want to see what other amazing educators are doing with Google. I will be attending this conference again, as there were like 10 rooms per session, so there is obviously more to know out there. Here is the link to get signed up for the Tulsa Conference.Cross-Post from Educating Me BlogErin Barnes

One of the topics of concern for both technology and library teachers is the way in which our students conduct research online. All too often students and even classroom teachers choose an open Google Search as their first step when looking for information on a topic. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but when you combine this with a lack of understanding on how to conduct a web-based search there is the risk that students will get results that may not only be inaccurate but also not appropriate for their age level. Enter Google’s Research Tool for Google Docs and Slides.In coordination with our two librarians, I put together a mini-lesson that would ask students to access prior knowledge ("What research tools do you have access to here in our library?") and teach them how to conduct more efficient searches for information on the Internet: ("How do you make your search ‘smarter?'"). Our target audience was third grade who was just beginning their Maine Animal Research Project. I started by giving us a problem to research: "We need a new pair of sneakers, but what kind should we get?" I then threw out different scenarios for how to go about this research and asked the students to evaluate whether or not I was being a "smart" researcher so that they would begin to ask this question over and over again in their minds during the research process. Once the mantra seemed to take hold, I transitioned to showing students how Google’s Research Tool could help them be a smarter researcher using the Maine Gray Wolf as an example. Before I entered any text, we talked about how the different search tools (e.g. images, quotes, dictionary) could make my search smarter. I then introduced the second theme in the lesson: the power of keywords. By purposefully only typing in the keyword "wolf" I was able to apply this theme to domain names ("Is a .com more or less trustworthy than a .edu?"), website titles, and the site descriptions. Students were able to eliminate several of the search results almost immediately, saving ourselves time and maintaining our "smarter searchers" label. When we found a site that looked promising, we then used the "preview" button to evaluate the site to see if it was worth our time to investigate, thereby making our search even smarter. Finally, I asked the students to brainstorm lists of keywords that I could add to my initial search term "wolf" that would make the Research Tool results even more smart (e.g. wolf habitat, wolf diet, Maine gray wolf). I wrapped up the lesson by showing how to use the "cite" button to begin building they bibliography section of our project, emphasizing the concept that we must always make the effort to give credit to the original author(s) by "citing" our sources.Classroom teachers were invited to sit in and participate in these lessons. I wanted to ensure that they knew how to access this tool themselves and have an opportunity to connect the themes of my lesson with those they had already introduced back in the classroom. And, because the final product was a Google Slides presentation, the Research Tool was a perfect and welcomed addition to this project. The feedback was so positive in fact that the librarians reached out to our fourth grade teachers, who were getting ready to start their own research projects on national parks. I ended up spending the next week training them to be smarter searchers as well. Google’s Research Tool can’t do the research for you, but it is a good place to start and an invaluable resource to help students be safer and smarter searchers of the vast and enormous database of information that is the Internet. Resource Links:Google Slides Student Presentation (w/presenter notes)Google Research Tool TutorialYork School Department online library database (i.e. Minerva)Nick has worked in education for over 13 years at the elementary, middle, and high school levels as a computer technician, technology integrator, and digital literacy teacher. He has a Masters degree in Technology Education, is an authorized Google Education Trainer, and an Apple Certified Trainer. He has worked with a variety of technologies including interactive whiteboards, multimedia creation and editing applications, mobile devices, and an ever-growing list of web 2.0 tools.Email: shumanstudios@gmail.comGoogle+: google.com/+NickShumanIoTTwitter: http://twitter.com/nshuman78School Site: https://sites.google.com/a/yorkschools.org/ysdit_nshuman/

LIVE from Redondo Beach, CA at the sold-out South Bay Summit was Michael Wacker's "30 Forgotten Buckets of Googlicious Awesomeness." Full to the brim with quick ideas for using buckets of Google tools in your pedagogy-- watch above and use the links in his resources below to virtually learn with us. Check www.gafesummit.com for the next summit that's coming near you to see it in real life, and stay tuned on our Global Community for the next EdTechTeam Summit Session on Air!Sure there are those easy targets for awesome. Everyone knows how great +Google for Education +Google Drive ,+Gmail , Calendar, Plus, etc are. But there are so many more hidden gems or strategies for use that need uncovering and time to explore. Let's look at a bunch of these and spend time sharing ways we are using some of these tools in EDU!Presenter:+Michael Wacker Position: Director of PD, Google Certified Teacher, Google Certified TrainerOrganization: EdTechTeamLocation: ColoradoContact Email: michael@edtechteam.comWebsite: http://www.edtechteam.com/A former elementary teacher, Michael has since served as an Online Learning Specialist, Online/Hybrid PD Coordinator, Blended Learning Manager,  and Curriculum Developer/Designer. With more than five years of progressively responsible experience in eLearning and Blended Learning, he is consulted around ideas of strategic design and innovation in public and private schools internationally to support the professional development and redesign of classrooms, pedagogy, and traditional instructional models, to better serve all learners. Michael's strengths are in helping to maximize learning opportunities through the design of dynamic spaces (online and face to face) of interaction, inquiry, and engagement for students, teachers, and administrators. Dedicated to educational innovation, he strives to utilize best practice eLearning techniques and leverage a pedagogy and technology that allows for anywhere, anytime learning.

Holly Clark shared her great session, "Critical Thinking and the Web: Search Strategies in a Google Infused World" LIVE from Homer, Illinois at the sold-out Illinois Summit in June. Watch the archived video above, and view the resources and read the transcript below. Stay tuned for more Sessions on Air in the future!SlidesTranscript Available Here

We were so fortunate to sit in on Jim Sill's live EdTechTeam South Carolina Summit Session on Air today live from South Carolina! As Jim enjoyed his South Carolina Sweet Tea, he took viewers from around the world-- around the world! Check out his resources and watch the archived event above. Stay tuned for our next Summit Session on Air soon!Take your lessons around the globe with Google’s MyMaps. Jim Sill, a member of Google Geo Education Advisory Board, will show you how to can engage students with map building. Discover a great way to create, collaborate, and publish on +Google Maps. We will dig into the tools that help you import data from +Google Drive, measure distances, create multimedia placemarks and develop geo literacies across the curriculum. Be inspired to try it yourself with real examples from real teachers.Presenter:+Jim Sill Position: Director of Regional DevelopmentOrganization: EdTechTeamLocation: AustraliaContact Email: jim@edtechteam.comAfter almost a decade in the video and television industry, Jim Sill hung up his producer hat and embarked on a career in education. Using his industry experience, he created an award winning video production program at El Diamante High School in Visalia, CA. By involving students in real world video projects, they garnered awards and recognition at the local, state, and national level. With experience producing local television and industrial videos for non-profit organizations, many of his former students now work in the industry.As a Google Certified Teacher, Apple Distinguished Educator, Google Education Trainer and Apple Certified Trainer, Jim leads professional development workshops on Google’s collaborative tools, social media, and video production.  In 2012, Jim was featured in Edutopia and their Teach2Learn series for his work in Building Career Skills in Video Production. He was also awarded The Computer Using Educator (CUE) Outstanding Teacher Award in 2009 and nominated for the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Outstanding Teacher Award. 

How much time do we spend each day on Google Chrome, emailing, searching for resources, communicating with parents and students? Make more time for the good stuff by using some of these time-saving tricks with Chrome's tabs, brought to you by the always-knowledgable Monica Martinez on our team.Check out our 10 Things You MUST Start Doing with Tabs! Which have you done? Which do you think are going to be your new go-to functions?Want more Google Chrome love? Check out Lisa Thumann's LIVE Session On Air this Thursday in Riverside, CA at 1pm Pacific for "Drive it Home with Chrome!"

Google recently released the new EDU Training Center, and we've been excited to be a part of these programs and help educators prepare to become a part of the community!We know it's a lot to process, so please join us in watching the archive of "The 411 on Google's Educator Certifications" with Monica Martinez!   Presentation Slides   Doc Q and A Transcript We hope you take your Level 1 and 2 Educator Exams, prepare for the Trainer application that just opened, and stay tuned for when the first Innovator Academy will take place! Let us know if you have any questions and we look forward to hosting another EdTechTeam On Air session soon focusing on the Trainer Application! If you're interested in learning more, request a Trainer Bootcamp in your neighborhood or join us at an upcoming Summit!

Google Chrome is full of amazing Easter Eggs and Goodies, and Lisa Thumann took us through a whole truckload of them in her "Drive it Home with Chrome" session LIVE from the Riverside, California Summit!  Check out her resources here, and watch the archive below.

ABOUT BOB LITTLE (Senior Partner, Bob Little Press & PR) Bob Little is a writer, commentator and publicist who works globally, specializing in the corporate online learning industry. His interests include singing and sport - notably cricket. He is also a Liveryman in the Worshipful Company of Carmen and a Freeman of the City of […]The post Bob Little - Crystal Balling with Learnnovators appeared first on Learnnovators.

Nick Leffler shared a tweet of mine in his blog post Community Advice for New Bloggers. It's a great post. And I say that because it got me thinking. Not many posts that I read, or write for that matter, do that any more. In fact I reflected so deeply on the post that I felt moved to blog here again. I haven't posted here in a while and the few posts that I have done have been few and far

by Dan Butin, Huffington Post This is exciting in many ways. For we actually know a lot about how teaching and learning works and, in an ideal world, can begin talking about how to move from the "flipped classroom" model of education to a "flipped university" model. But the scary part is that technological advancements keep [...]

by Association of MBA’s I think MOOCs allow universities to take their great content and project it onto a larger audience than they ever did before.  Twitter Perhaps not surprisingly, this allows universities to reach a much larger, much more diverse audience than has ever been possible. I think this knowledge is so radical in everyday [...]

by Devon Haynie, US News "Online College Students," a July report by Aslanian Market Research and the Learning House, surveyed about​ 1,500 graduate and undergraduate students enrolled, recently enrolled or about to be enrolled in online programs in spring 2015. Among the most surprising findings in the report, authors say, is the shifting age of online [...]

Once again - the 13th year in a row - I made the trip across the Pacific to attend the International Society for Technology in Education conference - this year in Philadelphia again.With about 20,000 people attending ISTE 2015 was its usual hectic and inspiring event. This year I went with the role and associated duties of Global Collaboration PLN President. I also ran a workshop, and co-presented a Global Poster and a presentation....amongst other things. One of the highlights was the Global Education day organised by Lucy Gray and Steve Hargadon where 300+ educators came together for the afternoon to explore global connections and collaborations. In addition I was able to talk to many about the book I am writing called The Global Educator and am madly finishing this off now (deadline pending!).Here are some pics and further highlights ISTE 2015......See my random pics and screenshots from ISTE 2015 on FlickrA big thank you to members of the ISTE Global Collaboration PLN for their hard work - running the Community Networking fair session, the Birds of a Feather gathering and our brief 'team' meeting to collect thoughts about goals for the coming year. More updates coming soon.  Congratulations to Pernille Ripp - Award winner ISTE Global Collaboration PLN for her Global Read Aloud project. Thanks to Ann Michaelsen for co-presenting the global poster session!Great work by Tina, Betsye and Barbara for global presentation!My Ignite Presentation at Global Education day"Putting the 'global' into online collaboration" Putting the 'global' into online collaboration from Julie LindsayNorms of Online Global CollaborationEight Norms of Online Global Collaboration to support global collaborative educators and students.   Norms of Online Global Collaboration from Julie Lindsay Thoughts about ISTE2016.....Innovation, Leadership, Creativity, Collaboration

Tech solutions for learning English are booming in China, with growth of 23.6 percent in the past five years, and the Middle East, with an estimated market size of $215.7 million by 2018. Our Startup List: ESL Global gives you access to over 50 edtech startups in the English as Second Language space across the globe. [purchase_link id="11339" text="Purchase" style="button" color="blue"] Each entry is carefully researched and covers the following points (when information is publicly available): Company Name, Website Country, City Founding Date, Founders B2C, B2B, Vertical, Type, Age Group, Language Tech Investment, Accelerator User / Download numbers CrunchBase / AngelList Profile Key Findings The 50+ ESL startups we tracked for this list have raised over $365 million in the past 15 years, with OpenEnglish ($120m), TutorGroup ($115m), 51Talk ($65m), Voxy ($18m) and EnglishCentral ($14m) leading the list. In terms of popularity within ESL we see the verticals of live tutoring, online schools and self paced online courses taking the top spots. 13 ESL startups on this list are located in the USA, 11 in Europe and 10 in Asia. [purchase_link id="11339" text="Purchase" style="button" color="blue"] What is a Startup List EDUKWEST Startup Lists exclusively contain startups, companies whose image is one of a digital company, and whose main business, if not exclusively, is generated through their online presence. We therefore exclude traditional businesses from our lists that have added online components to their portfolio as an additional revenue stream but remain focused on their real-life operations. Startups in our definition are new companies with high future growth potential that are exploring a new area or niche in the education market, and are (often) in search of their business model. They don’t need to be venture funded but can be entirely bootstrapped, or have an "exit" strategy. Startups included in our lists are often, but not exclusively, rather young companies. Purchasing this Startup List will help you to analyze the most promising markets and verticals for online language learning products worldwide and to evaluate the different market segments within online language learning. The Startup List comes in Excel format, so you can sort it easily by market segment, investment and other variables or add your own data to it. You also get a glossary, explaining how we define the different verticals in the language learning market. With this Startup List you will be able to see how startups approach the global ESL market, track down competitors and what they do. In many cases you also get data on how many users the listed language learning startups have today as well as how much venture capital the startups raised. [purchase_link id="11339" text="Purchase" style="button" color="blue"] Picture License  Some rights reserved by Free Grunge Textures - www.freestock.ca

Digital video has exploded on the web, and many assume it will play a major role in education in the future. Just watching a video, however, does not necessarily lead to learning. Realizing the potential of video for learning will require new technologies that make video interactive, engage learners, and enable video to be embedded […]

In this paper we document a six-phase video production process designed to support teachers’ continuous professional development in three disciplinary areas: scientific, linguistic-literary and foreign languages areas. This production has been carried out within the NOP1 - National Operational Programme funded by European structural funds and conducted by INDIRE between 2007 and 2014.The originality of […]

A recently-conducted phenomenographic research study described six ways of experiencing information literacy (IL) in nursing practice. These findings and a re-interpretation of those of several other studies into IL experience, appear to show that such experience is always focused on context-specific knowledge creation. This suggests that those definitions of IL which focus on information gathering […]

The purpose of this study was to determine the motivational level of the participants in a language classroom towards course materials designed in accordance with augmented reality technology and to identify the correlation between academic achievement and motivational level. 130 undergraduate students from a state-run university in Turkey participated in this study and Turkish version […]

Inclusion of the universal design for learning (UDL) model as a guiding set of principles for online curriculum development in higher education is discussed. Fundamentally, UDL provides the student with multiple means of accessing the course based on three overarching principles: presentation; action and expression; and engagement and interaction. Guidelines are also provided for incorporating […]

What do you call two crows on a branch? Attempted murder. What’s another name for Santa’s elves? Subordinate clauses. What do you get when you cross a joke with a rhetorical question? . . . There’s a reason jokes entertain us, and it has more to do with intelligence than...The post What Comedy Can Teach Us About Critical Thinking appeared first on InformED.

Considering how obsessed we are with student engagement, you’d think we would have stopped to ask the students themselves what they think of it all. Unfortunately, there is precious little research devoted to student views on engagement. Maybe this has been our first misstep. Student engagement is about increasing achievement,...The post Here’s What Learners Have to Say About Student Engagement appeared first on InformED.

When we think of resourceful people, we tend to look to the past, picturing our parents and grandparents building rich lives with what little they had at hand. But resourcefulness has become an important quality once again, something we need to instill in younger generations. With so many luxuries in...The post The Ultimate Lesson: Teaching Your Students to Be Resourceful appeared first on InformED.

The moment I received my college diploma, I knew I was going to enter the workforce remembering at best a third of what I’d learned. Nearly everthing I’d read or heard about Existentialism, British Imperialism, and Japanese wood block prints would slip from my memory and flutter away with every...The post Why Straight-A Students Haven’t Learned As Much As You Think appeared first on InformED.