In Honor of Digital Learning Day, 2/5/14: Resource Roundup

The Lesley NTC is getting ready for our March  NTC Technology Event at University Hall in Cambridge.  In preparation, feast your eyes on this set of wonderful resources!

 

Digital Learning Day: Resource Roundup

The third annual Digital Learning Day is on February 5, 2014. The wonderful educators and researchers at Edutopia have compiled some useful resources to support digital learners all year long. (Updated 1/2014)

By Edutopia Staff

Resources by Topic

• Integrating Technology into Schools
• Online Learning and Blended Classrooms
• Teaching with New Media Tools
• Digital Games in the Classroom
• Working with Digital Learners
• Additional Resources on the Web

Integrating Technology into Schools

• Video: An Introduction to Technology Integration (2012) Integrating technology with classroom practice can be a great way to strengthen engagement by linking students to a global audience, turning them into creators of digital media, and helping them practice collaboration skills that will prepare them for the future. For a look inside the classrooms of educators who use technology tools in their lessons every day, also check out our "Tech2Learn Video Series: Success Stories of Technology Integration in the Classroom."
• 
  
• Research Review: How to Successfully Use Technology in the Classroom (2013) Edutopia's tech integration review explores some of the vast body of research out there and helps you navigate useful results. In this series of five articles, learn about three key elements of successful technology integration, discover some of the possible learning outcomes, get our recommendations on specific practices and programs by academic subject and promising tools for additional topics, find tips for avoiding pitfalls when adopting new technologies, and dig into a comprehensive annotated bibliography with links to all the studies and reports cited in these pages.
• Social Media in Education: Resource Roundup (2013)This collection of blogs, articles, and videos aims to help teachers deploy social media tools in the classroom to engage students in 21st-century learning. For a window into Mimi Ito's research in this area, view our video "Big Thinkers: Mimi Ito on Learning in Social Media Spaces."
• Mobile Learning: Resource Roundup (2013)Edutopia’s resource roundup includes links to blogs, articles and other resources related to mobile technologies--from smartphones and tablets, to MP3 players and e-readers. VideoAmy's playlist on this topic, "Five-Minute Film Festival: Mobile Learning," provides additional insights into the challenges and the promise of using mobile devices for instructional purposes.
• The Persistent Appeal of Technology in Learning, by Terry Heick (2013)Edutopia blogger Heick considers three reasons why education and technology seem like such an inevitable pairing.
• Technology in Schools: Defining the Terms, by Matt Levinson (2013)Principal and blogger Levinson suggests that, if we're going to talk about technology in schools, we should begin by coming to a general agreement about what technology is.
• For more ideas, check out our lineup of blogs that focus on technology integration.

Back to Top

Online Learning and Blended Classrooms

• The Flipped Mobile Classroom: Learning “Upside Down”, by Beth Holland (2013)Holland of EdTechTeacher considers the mechanics and benefits of flipping both an English and a science class, and suggests a variation on the flipped model for younger or less connected students. For more on the challenges and benefits of flipped classrooms, check out this video playlist from VideoAmy: "Five-Minute Film Festival: Flipped Classrooms."
• Blended Learning Series, by Lisa Michelle Dabbs, Andrew Miller, and Heather Wolpert-Gawron (2012) This three-part blog series covers tips and strategies for incorporating blended learning -- a combination of both online and face-to-face education -- in the classroom.
• Connecting Project-Based and Blended Learning, by Brian Greenberg (2011) PBL and blended learning prove to be two educational approaches worth combining.
• Salman Khan on Liberating the Classroom for Creativity (2011) The founder of Khan Academy, a free educational video library that features over two thousand titles and an interactive dashboard for formative assessment, discusses how his videos can help create a "flipped classroom" that allows blended learning -- online lectures can happen at home and project-based learning can happen during school.

Back to Top

Teaching with New Media Tools

• Coding Across the Curriculum, by Matthew Farber (2013)Teacher and edtech leader Farber discusses the history of computer science education in the run-up to this December's Hour of Code initiative.
• Creating a “Least Restrictive Environment” with Mobile Devices, by Beth Holland (2013)Holland looks at how mobile devices can help create a 'least restrictive environment' not only for students with disabilities, but for everyone else as well. For more information about selecting and assessing assistive technology and accessible instructional materials, see Edutopia’s "Assistive Technology: Resource Roundup."
• Six Tips for Teachers: How to Maximize Shared Resources, by Mary Beth Hertz (2012) Hertz suggests six ways to overcome the problems of technology resource sharing in a school where there may not be enough to go around.
• Challenging the Model of 1:1 with BYOD, by Amanda Paquette (2012) Tech specialist Paquette describes how her school district is blending the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) and 1:1 classroom technology models to meet students' needs.
• Doing More with Less (and Other Practical Educational Technology Tidbits), by Adam Bellow (2011) Bellow, Outstanding Young Educator at ISTE, shares his thoughts on simple ways of integrating technology.
• Top Ten Tips for Teaching with New Media Guide (2011) Our downloadable PDF classroom guide is full of succinct and practical ways to prepare our students for 21st-century success. This guide will help you deliver the relevant and meaningful education all students deserve.
• Technology Tools Community DiscussionVisit Edutopia's community discussion for information about technology tools, resources, and recommendations (including the vast world of online learning).

Back to Top

Digital Games in the Classroom

• Made With Play: Game-Based Learning Resources (2013)Edutopia's Made With Play series takes a look at game-like learning principles in action and commercial games in real classrooms -- and offers tips and tools for bringing them into your own practice.
• Game-Based Learning: Resource Roundup (Updated 2013)Check out our collection of articles, videos, and resources on using video games, simulations, and gaming concepts in the classroom.
• Five-Minute Film Festival: Game-Based Learning, by Amy Erin Borovoy (2012) The social Web is buzzing about the possibilities and potential downsides of video games in education. VideoAmy has put together a playlist of videos about games for learning.
• A Neurologist Makes the Case for the Video Game Model as a Learning Tool, by Judy Willis (2011) Blogger Judy Willis MD was a neurologist before she became a teacher; she shares some insights about how the brain responds to video games.
• Games for Learning Community DiscussionVisit Edutopia's community discussion to collaborate with colleagues around ideas for implementing digital games in the classroom.
• For more ideas, check out our lineup of blogs that focus on game-based learning.

Back to Top

Working with Digital Learners

• Building Technology Fluency: Preparing Students to be Digital Learners, by Beth Holland (2013)Holland reminds us that we're preparing students for a future that has yet to be invented as she defines technology fluency and offers three strategies for building it into curriculum.
• Big Thinkers: Henry Jenkins on Participatory Culture and Media Education (2013) University of Southern California media scholar Henry Jenkins describes how educators might fuel civic engagement by tapping the skills their students build in interest-driven online communities.
• Digital Citizenship: Resource Roundup (Updated 2013) Check out Edutopia's collection of articles, videos, and resources on cyberbullying, netiquette, and internet safety. For a playlist of videos on the importance of online safety, manners, privacy, and responsibility, also be sure to watch VideoAmy's "Five-Minute Film Festival: Digital Citizenship."
• The Digital Divide: Resource Roundup (Updated 2013) The "digital divide" is still a critical issue in education. This updated resource roundup includes resources and organizations to help educators understand the changing landscape and find information about supporting all learners to develop digital and media literacy.
• Project-Based Learning for Digital Citizens, by Andrew Marcinek (2011) Blogger Andrew Marcinek shares the real payoff for his digital literacy students: collaboration, networking and results.

Back to Top

Additional Resources on the Web

• Digital Learning Day (February 5th, 2014) and on Twitter: @OfficialDLDay and #DLDay
• Virtual Conference information, "Plan an Activity or an Event," and Interactive Events Map: "How Will You Celebrate?" from Digital Learning Day
• The National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) from ISTE
• Digital Learning Now! (check out their Advocacy Toolkit)
• Common Sense Media and Graphite
• National Writing Project: Educator Innovator, Digital Is, and #Make4DLDay on Twitter
• "Be Inspired, Be an Innovator" Collection (Digital Learning Day resources), from PBS LearningMedia
• Digital Media and Learning Research Hub
• Center for Teaching Quality (check out their free report (PDF), "Teaching Effectiveness for the New Millennium")
• Council of Chiefs State School Officers (CCSSO)
• eMINTS
• iNACOL (check out their PDF, Fast Facts About Online Learning)
• SchoolSpeedTest.org (test how fast your school's Internet access is!)
• See more partners at the Digital Learning Day partner page

This article originally published on 1/23/2012

http://www.edutopia.org/digital-learning-technology-resources