Author Archive

Should Coding be the “New Foreign Language” Requirement?

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/coding-new-foreign-language-requirement-helen-mowers

Coding, Cognition and Communication

In terms of cognitive advantages, learning a system of signs, symbols and rules used to communicate — that is, language study — improves thinking by challenging the brain to recognize, negotiate meaning and master different language patterns. Coding does the same thing. Students who speak English and Mandarin are better multitaskers because they’re used to switching between language structures. Coding, likewise, involves understanding and working within structures.

Foreign language instruction today emphasizes practical communication — what students can do with the language. Similarly, coding is practical, empowering and critical to the daily life of everyone living in the 21st century.

Coding is Ubiquitous

Programming is the global language, more common than spoken languages like English, Chinese or Spanish.

5 Reasons Why You Should Teach Kids to Code ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/10/5-reasons-why-you-should-teach-kids-to.html

https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2013/11/19/finland-eyes-programming-classes-for-elementary-school-students/

Why We’re Learning about Coding in Our 6th Grade Writing Class

http://www.middleweb.com/11559/learning-coding-in-writing-class/

Should coding replace foreign language requirements?

http://www.educationdive.com/news/should-coding-replace-foreign-language-requirements/361398/

Washington state and Kentucky have both proposed legislation that mirrors this trend, with Washington asking that students be allowed to count two years of computer science courses as two years of foreign language studies.
In an October post, Washington Post columnist Valerie Strauss wrote that coding is something like “cursive 2.0” — a practice that will soon become compulsory in schools across the nation.

Howard Gardner: ‘Multiple intelligences’ are not ‘learning styles’

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/10/16/howard-gardner-multiple-intelligences-are-not-learning-styles/

Gardner now teaches at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He is the author of  numerous books on intelligence and creativity. His new book  ”The App Generation,” co-authored with Katie Davis, explains how life for young people today is different than before the dawn of the digital age, and will be published on Oct. 22  by Yale University Press.

Gardner’s theory initially listed seven intelligences which  work together: linguistic, logical-mathematical,  musical,  bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, interpersonal and intrapersonal; he later added an eighth, naturalist intelligence and says there may be a few more.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Excerpts from the blog entries under the article

Emily Sedlock

10/21/2013 7:51 AM CDT
The idea that multiple intelligences and learning styles have become interrelated is so true. Learning about all the different types of intelligences and learning, it can be hard to keep them all straight. This article was helpful in pointing out the differences. Educators should be aware of these differences, so that they might be able to better teach their students.

GRoo

10/20/2013 11:59 AM CDT

1) Learning
The basis:
– how how human capacities are represented in the brain,
Multiple Intelligences:
– a number of relatively independent mental faculties
– a number of relatively autonomous computers—[that compute] … information
A strong intelligence:
– an area where the person has considerable computational power
What matters
– the power of the mental computer, the intelligence, that acts upon that sensory information, once picked up
So “learning” = us[ing … (different) cognitive faculties?
Q1: Is that ok to assume and say?
Q2: What of “dimensions” – cognitive processing (higher order thinking) and knowledge (concrete to abstract) and sense of self, or affect[ive]?

2) Teaching
– Individualize your teaching
– Pluralize your teaching. Teach important materials in several ways, …reach students who learn in different ways… [present] materials in various ways

MnSCU Mediaspace AKA Kaltura

Getting Started with MediaSpace v5 (PDF attachment)

From: Todd Digby <Todd.Digby@so.mnscu.edu>
Date: Thursday, October 31, 2013 10:52 AM
To: Todd Digby <Todd.Digby@so.mnscu.edu>
Subject: MnSCU Mediaspace Update – New Version – New URL

Hello MnSCU Mediaspace user,

We have upgraded MediaSpace systems and now have a new permanent address for MnSCU MediaSpace http://mediaspace.mnscu.edu

You will also see that there have been some changes to this version from the previous version.   Just use your StarID to login, all you existing videos will be available in the site.  There are a few new features in this version of Mediaspace.    I have also updated the getting started document that I originally distributed to make adjustments for the new version.  Once we are confident that you have made the transition to the new version, we will start broadening the use to other campuses and to faculty / staff use.  Expect more announcements to come over the next couple weeks.

New Features

Direct links to videos can now be used.  The steps to follow

  1. Click on your Video title from your My Media listing
  2. Click on the Action button (below the video player box, to the right)
  3. Select “+ Publish”
  4. Chance the privacy settings to “Unlisted”
  5. Click on the “Share” button
  6. Copy link and send out.

Embedding can use an Iframe or the standard legacy embed.  

  • The embedding feature will now have the necessary security measures in place so that the D2L mixed content issues will not be present.

Downloading a copy of the video

  • You can now download a copy of the video from MediaSpace.  If you are the owner of the video, when you select the “Edit” screen for the video, the player will have a “Download” option in the middle of the screen.  This will allow an MPEG moving file to be downloaded to your workstation.  This is only available in the “Edit” screen player, so only the owner of the video will have the ability to download it from MediaSpace.

Thanks,

Todd
_______________________________

Todd R. Digby

System Director of Academic Technology

Minnesota State Colleges and Universities

30 7th St. E., Suite 350 | St. Paul, MN 55101-7804 | 651-201-1812 l 612-803-4922 (cell)

todd.digby@so.mnscu.edu  | http://www.asa.mnscu.edu/academictechnology

Collaborative cloud-based tools to consider, Real-Time Collaboration Tools

5 Free Cloud-Based Document Collaboration Tools to Power Your Productivity

http://ow.ly/qkji8

  1. Evernote
    Learn More about Evernote with These Excellent Video Tutorials ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning 
  2. Google Docs
    Kaizena: add audio comments to the  content of your Google documents http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/10/a-great-tool-to-add-audio-feedback-to.html 
  3. MindMeister (paid, might want to skip it)
  4. Trello
  5. WordPress

http://www.21things4teachers.net/3—collaboration-tools.html#!

Lino

Doodle  – Meeting Wizard

Google Drive, formerly known as Google Docs

The 10 best powerPoint Alternatives!
http://www.powtoon.com/blog/10-best-powerpoint-alternatives/

33 Highly Useful Presentation Tools
http://smallbiztrends.com/2009/09/33-useful-presentation-tools.html#!

Prezi http://philpresents.wordpress.com/2011/08/30/two-reasons-i-dont-recommend-prezi/

http://popplet.com/
http://stampsy.com
https://www.slideshark.com

20 Options for Real-Time Collaboration Tools

http://edtechreview.in/news/news/products-apps-tools/825-20-options-for-real-time-collaboration-tools

Neat Chat: It is one of the easiest and fastest ways to have online conversations with a group of friends or colleagues. It provides a clean, fast and robust chat room where you can share files, send private messages and even access conversations that happened in your absence.

Today’s Meet: Allows you to have quick conversations in private online chat rooms. It has a back channel which gives you the ability to adjust your audience’s needs and emotions. In your chat room you can use live stream to make comments, ask questions and use that feedback to tailor your presentations to address your audience’s needs

Zoho Writer: Is a powerful rich text-editor for Android devices, which allows you to create documents seamlessly with a rich feature-set. You can either save these docs in local devices or cloud devices like Zoho Docs. Zoho Docs workspace is a collaboration tool, which allows you to share work on the same doc with other people in real-time.

Scriblink: Is a free digital whiteboard that users can share online in real-time. It can be used by up to 5 users at the same time. It can be used just for fun or for more practical things like layout planning, concept diagramming, or tutoring a friend.

Stinto: Is for creating free chats and inviting others to join just by sending a simple link. It allows you to share photos and images with others. You can upload photos, sketches, diagrams, etc. to your chat for others to view.

Mind42: Allows collaborative online mind-mapping and brainstorming. It runs in your browser and allows you to manage your ideas alone or while working in a group. It allows you to quickly create, manage and edit the data structure required for mind maps.

Scribblar: Offers you an online whiteboard, real-time audio, document upload, text-chat and more. It is a perfect online-tutoring platform. You can use it to revise artwork and images; create brainstorming, product demos, interviews and tests.

CoSketch: Is a multi-user online whiteboard designed to give you the ability to quickly visualize and share your ideas as images. Anything you paint is shared in real-time and can be saved and embedded on forums, blogs, etc.

Twiddla: Is a real-time online collaboration tool, which allows text and audio chat in real-time. It also allows you to review websites within the application.

Etherpad: Is an open source online editor providing collaborative editing in real-time. You can write articles, press releases, to-do lists and more along with your friends or colleagues all working on the same doc at the same time.

Tinychat: It lets you create a private chat room in an instant, the URL of which can be emailed to others to participate in real-time. It is very easy to use and also has features to support video capability.

FlashMeeting: Is an easy-to-use online meeting application. A meeting is pre-booked by a registered user and a URL, containing a unique password for the meeting, is returned by the FlashMeeting server, which is passed on to the people who want to participate.

BigMarker: It combines messaging, file sharing and video calls into one place. BigMarker communities have features for conferencing for up to 100 people, presenting PowerPoints and other docs, sharing your screen, recording, storing, exporting sessions and more.

Meetin.gs: Is a web and mobile meeting organizer which brings the benefits of online collaboration to both online and offline meetings. It provides a dedicated online meeting space for scheduling, material sharing and agenda setting.

Conceptboard: It provides instant whiteboards to create a platform for you to communicate with your team. Feedback on visual content is easy and there is support for tasks, reports and more. It simplifies and improves collaboration on visual content and accelerates collaboration processes within your team.

Speek: Allows you to simply organize conference calls. Speek uses a personal or business link instead of a phone number and PIN for conference calls. Participants can join or start a call from their phone, web or mobile browser. You can see who’s joined, who’s talking, share files, use call controls and more.

Draw It Live: Is a free application that allows you to work together with other people to draw in real-time. You can create a whiteboard and share its URL with other people to let them join.

LiveMinutes: Is an online conferencing app. A unique URL address is created for your conference that you can share with people you want to connect with. You can share audio, virtual whiteboards, documents, etc. and a feature to share videos is coming soon.

FlockDraw: Is an online whiteboard based painting and drawing tool. It makes it easy to draw online free with multiple people participation. There can be unlimited people in a room with drawing updates in real-time.

VIDquik: Is a video-conferencing platform where you can connect and talk with anyone you want. You just need to enter the Email of the person you want to call, they click on the link and the two of you are in a web-based video call.

Heutagogy

Where andragogy grew out of the term pedagogy, heutagogy was created as an offshoot of andragogy.  We see that in Hase and Kenyon’s 2000 article entitled, “From Andragogy to Heutagogy.” Heutagogy maintains the andragogical learner-centered emphasis, but takes it a step further by also highlighting the importance of develop the skills necessary to learn on one’s own. As such, heutagogy is often described as the study of self-determined or self-directed learning.  It is not just about learning content, but also learning how to learn.  It is an especially relevant approach in the digital age, given the vast amount of content and resources available to anyone with a device and Internet access.

http://etale.org/main/2013/04/23/a-primer-on-three-gogies-pedagogy-heutagogy-andragogy/

bibliography list of peer-reviewed literature on “flipped classroom”

list of peer reviewed literature on “flipped classroom”

Findlay-Thompson, S., & Mombourquette, P. (2013). EVALUATION OF A FLIPPED CLASSROOM IN AN UNDERGRADUATE BUSINESS COURSE. Global Conference On Business & Finance Proceedings, 8(2), 138-145.
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip&db=buh&AN=89496806

Davies, R., Dean, D., & Ball, N. (2013). Flipping the classroom and instructional technology integration in a college-level information systems spreadsheet course. Educational Technology http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip&db=keh&AN=88785048

Davies, R., Dean, D., & Ball, N. (2013). Flipping the classroom and instructional technology integration in a college-level information systems spreadsheet course. Educational Technology Research & Development, 61(4), 563-580. doi:10.1007/s11423-013-9305-6
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip&db=keh&AN=88785048

Missildine, K., Fountain, R., Summers, L., & Gosselin, K. (2013). Flipping the Classroom to Improve Student Performance and Satisfaction. Journal Of Nursing Education, 52(10), 597-599. doi:10.3928/01484834-20130919-03
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip&db=rzh&AN=2012318677

Butt, A. (2014). STUDENT VIEWS ON THE USE OF A FLIPPED CLASSROOM APPROACH: EVIDENCE FROM AUSTRALIA. Business Education & Accreditation, 6(1), 33-43.
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip&db=buh&AN=90567007

Strayer, J. F. (2012). How Learning in an Inverted Classroom Influences Cooperation, Innovation and Task Orientation. Learning Environments Research, 15(2), 171-193.
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip&db=eric&AN=EJ977852

Critz, C. M., & Knight, D. (2013). Using the Flipped Classroom in Graduate Nursing Education. Nurse Educator, 38(5), 210-213. doi:10.1097/NNE.0b013e3182a0e56a
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip&db=rzh&AN=2012296027

Herreid, C., & Schiller, N. A. (2013). Case Studies and the Flipped Classroom. Journal Of College Science Teaching, 42(5), 62-66.
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip&db=keh&AN=86988365

Jottings by Saquarrah. (2013). Medical Teacher, 35(6), 532-533.
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip&db=aph&AN=89131643

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip&db=tfh&AN=85672747

Brunsell, E., & Horejsi, M. (2013). Science 2.0. Science Teacher, 80(2), 8.
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip&db=sch&AN=85127911

 

“whiteboard screencasting” and “lecture capture” apps: please enter your choices and suggestions

Greg Jorgensen emailed us with his new darling:

Explain Everything – https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.morriscooke.explaineverything

and raises a very good question:

What do we know and how do we organize our tools and apps for whiteboard screencasting and lecture capture?

Screencasting
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-learning#Screencasting

Screencast
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screencast

Greg’s choice of the day is atop of a list from the Ed Tech/y and Mobile Learning web site:
http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/05/6-useful-ipad-apps-for-creating.html

next on that top-6-list are

Teach

Show Me

Educreations Interactive Whiteboard

Doodlecast Pro

Pixntell

Doceri (http://doceri.com/) is a very promissing app, which Bob Lessinger was pushing to be installed on campuos computers (being free), but it is ONLY iPAD-bound (not even iPHone or iTouch)
In addition to Doceri: Stage : Interactive Whiteboard and Document Camera and Splashtop Whiteboard per: 3 Apps to Turn Your iPad into Interactive Whiteboard ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

Here is a neat table about the compatibility (iOS and Android) for several of these apps:
http://www.elcamino.edu/administration/staffdev/training/whiteboardscreencasting.pdf

Here is another good resource from Alaska. The screencasting apps reviewed are the same as above, but other good sources regarding a pedagogy involving the technology.

A broader approach to this issue (Presentation & Screencasting Apps) on Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/itechservices/presentation-screencasting-apps/

More apps and possibilities, as well as “how-to” directions here:
http://castingoutnines.wordpress.com/2011/06/07/how-i-make-screencasts-the-whiteboard-screencast/

Here is an useful blog entry, comparing  ExlpainEverything with Educreation —
http://freebiologyschool.blogspot.com/2013/04/explaineverything-app-better-than.html

More apps:

Lecturnity ( http://www.lecturnity.com )

Tegrity http://tegr.it/

FlySketch http://flyingmeat.com/flysketch/

http://presentationtube.com/
a lengthy review is available here: http://smorgastech.blogspot.com/?goback=%2Egde_2038260_member_5807615489219772416#%21

1 471 472 473 474 475 491