Today, we announce that we have been selected as a Finalist for Red Herring’s Top 100 Europe award, a prestigious list honoring the year’s most promising private technology ventures from the European business region. The Red Herring editorial team selected … Continue reading →

Group management Eliademy adds a huge time saver for HR people - group management feature. Now E4B administrators will be able to: Create custom groups (like Accounting, Management, Engineering etc.) View and filter user of the organization by a group … Continue reading →

Acá te mostramos una manera sencilla de motivar a tus pequeños genios a realizar un experimento de ciencias que amen. Para despertar la creatividad en tus pequeños estudiantes y mantenerlos llenos de pasión por aprender cada vez más, este experimento … Continue reading →

Today we update Eliademy with the some of the most requested features by you, our coummunity of learners and educators. Auto-generated curriculum and new navigational model Each course now has an automatically generated table of content on the left side … Continue reading →

Dreaming big since she was a little girl, Anniina Karvinen had very clear what she wanted to accomplish with her life. For the ones who know her or the ones who are reading her right now, you can clearly tell … Continue reading →

Currently living in Finland, in a small town called Jävenpää, Darren Trofimczuk came from the UK with huge ambitions and dreams. Despite having found love for his wife and 2 children, Darren also found passion for education and technology, something … Continue reading →

Cambiarse de carrera o universidad no es una tarea fácil. Cuando entras a una universidad, tu clase ha sido previamente seleccionada, por lo que mayormente no existe mucho espacio para estudiantes extras que vienen de otros lugares. Reconocer que cambiarte … Continue reading →

The University of Applied Arts Vienna (German: Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien, or informally just Die Angewandte) is an institution of higher education in Vienna, the capital of Austria. The Angewandte was founded in 1867 as the k.k. Kunstgewerbeschule des k.k. Österreichischen Museums für Kunst und Industrie. It was the first … Continue reading →

Cairo University (previously King Fuad I University, Egyptian University) is a public university in Giza, Egypt. It was founded on 21 December 1908. It is the second oldest institution of higher education in Egypt, notwithstanding the pre-existing higher professional schools that later … Continue reading →

Today we are happy to welcome Educare Online from Australia to the expanding family of associations and academic organisations that are utilising Eliademy. Educare Online has been established to promote understanding and practice of universal Human Values in daily life through formal … Continue reading →

Informational technology needs to be holistically integrated into our learning environments. The integration of information technology into our unique learning environments can be greatly enhanced if we apply constructivist approaches. Such approaches could include, but are not limited to discovery learning, inquiry based learning, play-based learning and making. But they also include listening, reflecting, and […]

Originally created and shared by Deborah McCallum on https://sites.google.com/site/guidetoholisticeducation/librarianship: The purpose of this post is to provide examples of holistic instructional strategies involving information technology in any learning environment. Rather than solely focusing on objectives, assessment outcomes and a heirarchy of subject matter, which are important, the role of the Teacher-Librarian is to help learners […]

Genius Hour encompasses many new pedagogies for fostering deeper learning. With more traditional pedagogies, all students work on the same worksheet, task, or iPad app at the same time with minimal modifications and accommodations. Sometimes the tasks are even conducted as centers. By contrast, Genius Hour is about creating a balance of tech use based […]

With the release of the Google Classroom API I decided to make a Chrome Extension that adds the web site you are currently on to Google Classroom. So when you come across a useful website you can quickly share it with your class.  Click here to download.     Instructions for Use 1. Download the extension from the Chrome Web Store. 2. When visiting a website that you want to share with your class, press the Classroom Button. It will check the site can be shared and load a larger button, press it again.  3. A new window will open for you to select the Classroom (the group you are sharing with) and then if you want an announcement or assignment. 4. Finally you can add a comment and post it to your Google Classroom. If you have any comments on the Chrome Extension - please leave them below..

iPad critics everywhere like to point out that the device, about to celebrate its 4th birthday, wasn’t designed as a content creation device, but a content consumption device. While that may have been true of the initial iPad apps available upon release in 2010, the iPad now has tens of thousands of amazing apps designed to do just that: create content. In this review, I take a look at Halftone 2, from Juicy Bits software.  Join me as I demonstrate this powerful interface for making high-quality comicbook like pages with user-generated content.  Enjoy! Halftone 2 from the iOS App Store  

For this first interview, we interviewed Chelsie Jolley, a third grade teacher in Stillwater, MN.  We interviewed Chelsie via Google Hangouts and she joined us from Stillwater, MN.  She has some very insightful comments about classrooms with a handful of mismatching devices, how she uses an interactive Whiteboard, her use of SmartNotebook software and her own mission to help kids use technology to discover their place in the great outdoors. Chelsie refers to a few different lessons she has created in the interview.  She was kind enough to share her "Morning Messages", Math lesson, Reading lessons, and Engagement activities she uses with her SmartBoard (*note you have to have the SmartNotebook software to open this file). Morning Messages Math Lesson Reading Lesson Engagement Activites I hope you enjoy the podcast/vodcast!    

Many teachers have seen or heard the power of online collaboration using Google Docs. Google Docs allows the creator to add collaborators through email. An often overlooked feature is that you can create a document for your students to collaborate without them having an account. Let’s take a look at why and how you could go about this in your classroom.  The biggest answer to "why" use Google Docs in this way: Many elementary students do not have email accounts and the time/management of trying to set them up for an entire class can be too much of a process to dive into.  The process I will demonstrate next requires only the classroom teacher to have a Google account.  If you are brand new to using Google Docs, check out this Getting Started Guide.  Once you are ready to get started, follow the steps below to get your students collaborating. Making Predictions Making predictions is a tried and true way to engage students and have them start to think about what they are going to learn.  The Common Core standards weave making predictions throughout all content areas.  One of the reasons you may want to have your students make collaborative predictions is to help differentiate your instruction.  I will touch on this more later in the post, but for now let’s look at the process. The first step is to create a new document.  After your document is created and named, click on the "Share" button in the upper right hand corner of window.  This screen shot illustrates the process: Notice that I have my Title, Question, and generic placeholders for teams.  This could be an individual placeholder if you wanted every student to make a prediction.  After clicking the share button, a pop-up window appears.  By default all newly created Google Docs are private (Meaning accessible by only you).  This is where we need to make a change: Click on the "Change…" linked text.   After you click on the "Change" link an option appears to make the document visible to "Anyone with the Link".  Click on the button next to "Anyone with the Link" and then change the access to "Can Edit".  This will allow your students to have access to the document and enter their predictions.  If the setting is left as "view only" they will only be able to view the document.  Now click the green Save button.     You have created a publicly  (with link) available document that can be shared.  The last part of getting this to students easily is sharing the link.  Google Docs notoriously has long links.   The shorter the link the better for students.  Best practice is to have the link online somewhere for students to just click, but this doesn’t always happen.  Let’s look at a URL shortening service to address this issue.  Bit.ly is the service I use most often.  Bit.ly takes a long URL and turns it into a short address.  You can copy any URL address to Bit.ly to get a shortened URL.  If you take one more step you can truly be Tech-Savvy.  By signing up for a Bit.ly account you can save and edit your Bit.ly links. So if I take my shared Google Doc address (located in the Share Settings pop-up window we were just looking at) and copy the link address to Bit.ly, I can then shorten the URL.  Shortening your URL link Now jump over to Bit.ly.  You could just paste the Google Doc URL in the shortening box, but let’s take the time to sign up for an account. After you have an account you can paste the Google Doc URL into the shortening box.   The last step is the coolest.  Bit.ly automatically generates a random combination of letters after Bit.ly/, but you can edit and change the random letters to something that will make sense to your students.  This is a public link which means it has to be unique so things like bit.ly/dog will already be taken, but by adding a few more meaningful characters you can almost always get what you want.  I always use CRA (My middle school initials) as the starting point and then whatever the link is about.  So in this case the link is http://bit.ly/cracandypre   It all comes together Students enter the lab or grab iPads and enter the URL http://bit.ly/cracandypre  and they are ready to make their predictions. Remember how I was talking about differentiation at the start of this post?   A cool thing happens when all students are making predictions in one collaborative document, some jump in right away and answer, while others sit back and wait to see what others say.  This allows all students to have a voice while helping some students, who on their own will struggle, find success in making predictions.    My objective is to get students to start thinking about what will happen.  Even if they are straight copying someone else’s idea, they have taken the time to write a prediction.  This is a powerful way to get ALL students to engage with predicting what will come next. As always, share your thoughts in the comment section below…

I am often asked, "What would you get for your classroom if…..?"  I thought I would tackle that question today in the context of a $500 gift. Assumption #1 - Why $500? Mainly because I found the awesome cover picture of a $500 bill from WikiMedia Commons (A great resource if you are looking for Creative Commons licensed media).  The other reason for the $500 limit is that seems to be a reasonably attainable amount through grants,  donations sites (like donorschoose.org and adoptaclassroom.org), or your own money. Assumption #2 - I am going to approach this like my room has the fairly standard one computer and projector setup. And now the list: iPad 2 - $350 at Walmart Given the limited budget and the lack of mobile technology in this fictional classroom, the iPad 2 is the best overall option.  The larger screen allows the iPad to work great as a center with up to 3 students using it at one time.  It is important to note that the iPad 2 still retails for $399.  At that price you might be tempted to purchase a 1st generation iPad Mini for $299.  The reality is the 1st generation iPad Mini specs are almost identical to the iPad 2 in the areas that are important (Graphics Memory and Processor).  There are always deals to be found on iPad 2 if you spend a little time searching on the internet.  You can count on finding an iPad 2 for at least $50 off.  I usually start with Amazon and then move my way through all the big retailers.  If you can plan on doing your purchasing around Black Friday you can up the discount to $100 off.  The next step is to purchase a device that will maximize the iPad 2 in the classroom, the Apple TV.   Apple TV - $74 - Apple Refurbished Store The Apple TV usually retails for $99, but Apple is constantly offering it at $74 from the Apple Refurbished Store.  The refurbished store is often overlooked on Apple’s website but it is one of my first places to look when purchasing Apple products.  I have purchased monitors, computers, iPods, iPads, and accessories (like the Apple TV) from the refurbished store and have always had a great experience.  On average you can save 25% - 50% which makes the items much more affordable.  Everything comes with a 1 year warranty and you can still purchase Apple Care to extend the warranty to 3 years. Using Airplay this classroom now has the ability to project through the Apple TV (attached to the projector) everything that is on the iPad.  Students can display their group work to the class and the teacher can integrate the iPad 2 into lessons. HDMI to VGA/w Audio Converter - $30 - MacMall **(Check your projector)** This may be an item you don’t need if you have a new projector (purchased in the last two years).  The Apple TV only has HDMI out (pictured on the left).  However, most projectors in the classroom only have a VGA connection.  If the projector does have a VGA connection, then you need a way to convert the HDMI to VGA.  Cue the Kanex ATV Pro, it is available at MacMall for $30.00 as a refurbished item (50% off buying new from Apple).  I prefer this converter because it doesn’t require external power. iOS Apps - $46 The remainder of the gift will purchase apps.  This procedure varies widely between districts depending on your policies (VPP or iTunes).  Jason and I will continue to add to our list of our top apps (Jason just reviewed Halftone 2).  The best resource we have found for app discovery in education is http://ipadapps4school.com/ So there it is!  With this setup the teacher will be able to integrate apps into their daily instruction and throughout the day students can be rotated through the iPad2. They can present their work, findings, creations to the entire class easily.  I have found that if you present your principal with a plan of action like this they are much more willing to get you the resources.  Feel free to use this as a proposal if you like the idea of this setup! I am very interested in what you would do with $500 given your current classroom environment.  Please let us know in the comment section below…        

Are you looking for a stocking stuff for your favorite tech-savvy teacher?  CNET offers this great quick-watch video with suggestions for five gifts under $50.  Enjoy!  

Sure, you have heard about the Khan Academy (and maybe even the response videos to Khan), but YouTube, the world’s largest archive of videos, has become the repository of choice for any organization to share videos to the masses.  The result is an incredibly diverse collection of videos that could be used to enrich any classroom. Chances are you don’t have the time to review many of newest uploads (and no wonder… 100 hours of video are uploaded every minute!), so here is a collection of 10 great channels that might not have heard about. The National Archives The National Archives is really a personification of the power of YouTube.  The National Archives has untold numbers of videos that would be locked away in archives minus this amazing platform.  The channel itself includes over 1,000 videos, including products by the National Archives that take you behind the scenes of their efforts to preserve our nation’s history, like this video that discusses the infamous 18 1/2 minute gap in the Watergate tapes: The Clinton Presidential Library Along the same lines, many presidential libraries, including Truman, Roosevelt, Kennedy and Clinton, have started the process of digitizing the videos in their archive and pushed the gems to YouTube.  These are also public records that have great research value, but would be nearly impossible to share before the availability of archives like YouTube.  Here is a great event from 1998 featuring President Clinton and leaders like Nelson Mandela: The Open University The Open University, one of the world’s largest institutions of higher education, has a very developed distance learning program that produces an incredible amount of educational media.  As part of its mission, it has over 1,000 videos on its YouTube channel ranging from historical content to detailed information about structural and mechanical engineering.  Here is a great example video, a well-produced video on the atomic bomb in popular culture: Harvard University Universities have been the leader in pushing out content to content channels like YouTube since the beginning.  Many prominent universities have OER ("open educational resource") initiatives that seek to push out content of all varieties via YouTube, iTunes U, and other media systems. The Harvard University channel is a great example, sharing videos ranging from archives of great campus programs on diplomacy to videos like this, which explores a prototype of a brain scanner: Dan Izzo The Dan Izzo archive is an amazing collection of short videos, most of which last less than a minute.  The collection is vast and isn’t particularly well-organized, but I have found dozens of interesting videos that could be used in a variety or teacher or student media projects, like this video of soup kitchens during the Depression: The British Monarchy I love the British Monarchy channel, the British Royal Family’s archive of videos related to the UK’s most famous family.  Sure, you may not want to watch the Royal Wedding live on YouTube, don’t miss out on this excellent newsreel footage of the wedding between the Queen Mother and King George VI: ASAP Science ASAP Science is the work of biologists Mitchell Moffit and Gregory Brown and has tens of millions of plays to date.  The videos are quick, informative and have a style you will find engaging and entertaining.  Want to know about 3D printing?  ASAP Science has you covered: C.G.P. Grey The C.G.P. Grey channel might only have 64 videos, but the collection is diverse and well-produced!  Ranging from why the penny is dying to the the US-Canadian border (in two parts), each video is produced to be efficient and entertaining, like this video in 5 different historical misconceptions: SmarterEveryDay Destin has a mission of making science fun for its viewers.  His SmarterEveryDay channel is funny, as evidenced by this cat physics video which explores why cats always land on their feet… by dropping cats in slow motion. And… the NCCE Channel! Sure… it is only 23 videos right now, but NCCE is expanding its media reach!  Subscribe to us today to get first crack at interviews, how-to videos and other content to come.  Did you miss our interview with Chelsie Jolley last week?  Check it out here!

Educators, students, and architects explore three new elementary schools designed by HMFH Architects for the Concord, NH School District and discuss 21st century learning environments that support project-based, collaborative learning.  

Via Jane Millier, the Educational Technology Coordinator in the Spokane Public Schools: Spokane Public Schools is looking to fill a full-time, continuing contract Educational Technology Facilitator opening. The position closes January 7, 2014. Applications are being taken at:  http://employment.spokaneschools.org   Educational Technology Facilitator: Education technology facilitation supports integration of the WA State Educational Technology standards into district curriculum, improvement of teacher technology integration skills, student technology skill development, and professional development for new classroom and library tools. This position relies on the planning and implementation of building-level Technology SIP plans and collaboration with multiple departments and people.

Compelling video discussing how Arizona schools have dealt with decreases in budgets at the building level.  My favorite tip is using the local hardware store to outfit the entire school with individual slate boards for under $100.  What is your best money saving tip in the classroom?  

I often start presentations and classes with pre-service teachers noting that the future is here, whether we acknowledge it or not. Need evidence?  Look what AT&T was touting 20 years ago as "the future," which looks awfully close to our current technology landscape: