ISTE Series Features BYOD

The new ISTE series targeting online and hybrid learning features three books, which will be available in January 2014. The books help educators with design fundamentals, putting designs into action, and learning about trends and technologies.  Prices range from $73.40 for ISTE members to $104.85 for non-members. Individually, the books are $34.95. Topics covered include: aligning learning assessments to learning objectives, using practical tools with students, interpreting laws, using instructional strategies, using game-based theories of learning, managing large classes, making use of virtual worlds, and much more.

The Wireless TabCam Streams, Records, Presents, and Shares

TabCam, a wireless streaming camera, works with iPads, Android tablets, and computers and can present live video with annotations, highlighting, and more without “being tethered to the camera.” The device captures lessons, which can be used for future reference and for use with substitute teachers and students who were not present for the lesson. The advantage of having a wireless device that has a battery life of eight hours can’t be underestimated in a mobile classroom. Take a look at the videos, which describe using TabCam for flipped and blended instruction. The price on the Touchboard site is listed at $527.99. Kathy Hagar, a Director of Technology on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, tells us that she purchased several at a price of about $515 each and that her teachers love them. If interested, do a query on the AVer site.

Paper Vs. Electronic Texts

Do students learn better when reading from and studying from traditional books or digital books? An article in ISM (Independent School Management), “Paper Versus Electronic: Debating Comprehension,” cites research relating to the topic. Digital resources were found to be more mobile, easier to carry, and greener than paper. Two studies, one in the Journal for Advancement of Marketing Education (2012) and another to be published in College & Research Libraries in 9/2014 found that although college students “relied heavily on their mobile devices”, they reported that study tools such as highlighting, bookmarking, and even searching worked better when they use traditional text. Although, a study by Ferris Jabr, in the Scientific American, found that “modern screens and e-readers drain more of our mental resources ... and make it harder to remember”, this study did not, according to John Jones of DML Central, include various types of electronic readers and “did not support his [Jabr’s] claims about the nature of paper versus screen reading for comprehension.”

The argument continues with some preferring paper and others, digital. It seems that only time will tell, because we must remember that the college students in these studies grew up using paper texts. Only recently have we seen digital textbooks starting to replace paper.

ISTE Inspiration Awards: Nominate Yourself or a Colleague

ISTE (The International Society for Technology in Education) recognizes individuals who inspire others through innovative use of technology. If you know of a teacher or school leader who deserves this recognition, be sure to fill in one of the nomination forms.  Categories for recognition include: Outstanding Leader Award, Outstanding Teacher Award, Outstanding Young Educator Award, Sylvia Charp Award for District Innovation, Public Policy Advocate Award, President’s Volunteer Service Award, and several more. Winners will receive recognition at the ISTE Conference and Expo, free registration, membership to ISTE, and other prizes and cash awards. Deadline: February 28, 2014.

Should Schools Teach Social Media Skills?

Should it be the job of schools to teach the do’s and don’t of social media? Many educators think the answer to that is “yes.” One counselor, using a curriculum created by the non-profit Common Sense Media, talks with his students about “Disinhibition, reputation, anonymity.” He says that teens get right away that disinhibition means acting impulsively, without showing due restraint, in a way that’s aggressive or plays up another personality trait. He also talks about the number of fights that start at school that have their root in things that started online.

Others, though, including Dennis Kelly, president of the United Educators of San Francisco, a local teachers union, says teachers are already drowning in work — especially now with Common Core. While social media is important, Kelly says, so are other things. “It would be very difficult for schools trying to keep up with Instagram, Facebook, all of the apps that exist out there that are essentially market driven.”

The truth is that, while apps come and go, and the contingent issues and yet to emerge problems that come with them are yet to raise their ugly heads, social media is here to stay. The social media world boils over into schools every minute of every school day. Without schools keeping a finger on the pulse of what’s going on in the digital world, teaching online etiquette to students, and discussing the implications of what is going on in the social media world, it is like saying that current events shouldn’t be part of ongoing lessons. School, parents, and teachers have to get serious about talking about what is going on in this parallel universe or risk being seen as irrelevant.

AAA Traffic Safety Competition

Students at all levels are invited to create AAA Traffic Safety posters or Public Service Announcements emphasizing traffic safety. Prizes include VISA gift cards and AAA gifts. You’ll find competition activities listed according to grade level. All entries are due by February 14, 2014.

Art & Technology

We Are Teachers offers excellent ideas for integration of art into the curriculum. You might try taking art “out of the box” by displaying a cubist painting on an interactive whiteboard and having students check out and draw over geometric shapes in the painting. After the lesson, students might create their own Cubist paintings using digital art programs or by creating shapes on paper. Make use of document cameras when studying how light and darkness interact. You can “manipulate light and color in your classroom by covering the bulb on your document camera with a piece of colored cloth.”  As you do this, “place various objects under the camera” in order to investigate changes in appearance that are dependent on different colors of light. Check out the article, “4 Ways to Take Art ‘Out of the Box’ Using Technology” to find more suggestions for the use of art in technology and in other subjects such as science, math, and social studies.

Using Vine & Instagram Video in the Classroom

With Twitter’s app, Vine, your students can create videos in six seconds. Put that together with Facebook’s Instagram video-capturing feature and challenge your students, or yourself, to create. Take a look at Edutopia’s “Five Minute Film Festival: Vine and Instagram Video in the Classroom.” It features examples of teachers having fun by producing short videos using these digital resources, and it compares uses of Vine and Instagram video.

Big Bird’s Words: eSchool News App of the Week

It comes from Sesame Street, works on Apple and Android devices, and features Big Bird, games, and fun. Big Bird’s Words, an eSchool News and Metro Bistro App of the Week, encourages children ages four and up to learn vocabulary and read written text.  The App ($.99) uses Big Bird’s wonderful Word-O-Scope to get children hunting for words in their real-life environment. Finding words is fun, especially when they get to use their devices’ camera to click on images of the words—like cereal on their breakfast table. Wired Magazine recommends it as a great app for children who are just starting school. Take a look at the demo reel from Qualcomm to better understand what this app does.

Differences Between e-Readers and Tablets

The CNET Community, in its Tablets Forum, offers a comparison between e-readers and tablets—information that parents of your students may find helpful this holiday season. Advice is given in answer to a question from a parent of an eight-year-old who wants to know what is the best mobile device for her child. Answers include visiting an electronics store to have a salesperson demo different products, finding products that fit the interest and age level of the child, going with tablets because they have more functionality, and thinking about going to the library for traditional books if all that is needed is a book reader. Some CNET members suggest that if parents already have an iPhone, for example, that purchasing an iPad or iPod Touch is a good idea.

Parents should also keep in mind that schools are successfully putting digital devices to work in classrooms with younger children. Tablets have more flexibility for learning activities and, dressed in a sturdy case, they usually can endure time in backpacks and accidental drops. Of course, checking with school personnel about devices that children can bring to school and use in the classroom is always wise advice.