Monday 11 March 2013

33 Digital Skills every 21st Century teacher should have


Med Karbach published this post on the Educational Technology and Mobile Learning Blog, which is a resource of educational tools and resources for teachers and educators in June 2012.

We are so fortunate to have these wonderful people out there who are prepared to spend the time and effort compiling and collecting useful on-line resources in this way and to share them with other educators.

Every single teacher is concerned about his/ her teaching practices and the skills involved in this process. How many times have you wondered about a better way to teach the same lesson you have delivered to an eariler class? How often have you used technology to engage your students and improve their learning ? These are some recurring questions we keep regurgitating each time our teaching skills are put to the test.




It is amazing how technology has changed the whole world giving rise to new forms of education we never thought of. Our students are more digitally focused than any time before. They spend more time interacting with their mobile devices than they do with their parents or close relatives. Admittedly, this digital boom has both  positive and negative impact on our students. Lack of concentration, short attention span, distraction, visual  stimulus overload, identity theft, lack of real world socializing, privacy issues, depression, and many more are but a direct result of the growing exposure to this technology. Studies have even proved that multitasking, which some educational technology experts brag about in relation to the use of today's technology, reduces the power of our concentration to the half.  We should not, However, only look at the empty side of the cup, the other side is way bigger.

There are  actually several pluses for the use of technology in education and to try and list them  all here is way beyond the scope of this short post. Generally speaking,  no two argue over the fact that technology advantages in education ( and in our life at large ) way  outnumber  its downsides. It is thanks to technology that you are now reading this post and will probably share it with your colleagues.


digital skills for 21st century teachers


There is no blinking the fact  that the type of students we teach today are completely different from last century's. We , definitely, need to look at some of the skills we, as teachers, need to equip ourselves with to better live up to the challenge. Among all the challenges we would have in education, there is not as daunting a challenge as catching students focus and getting them engaged in the learning process. For this particular reason, and in addition to the skills I initially mentioned in 21st Century Teaching Skills article, I would like to provide you  with another list of  some equally important digital skills that you, as a teacher, need to seriously consider if you want to pave the way for the 21st century teaching. I have added a list of web tools under each skill for teachers to better exploit it.

Please, remember that I have spent many laborious hours working on  this post and all I ask is a credit back toEducational Technology and Mobile Learning when re-using this content somewhere else.


digital skills for 21st century teachers


The 21st century teacher should be able to :

1- Create and edit  digital audio

Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
Free Audio Tools for Teachers

2- Use Social bookmarking to share resources with and between learners

Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
A List of Best Bookmarking Websites for Teachers

3- Use blogs and wikis to create online platforms for students

Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
Great Tools to Create Protected Blogs and Webpages for your Class

4- Exploit digital images for classroom use

Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
5- Use video content to engage students
Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :


6- Use infographics to visually stimulate students

Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :

7- Use Social networking sites to connect with colleagues and grow professionally

Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :


8- Create and deliver asynchronous presentations and training sessions

Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
A List of The Best Presentation Tools for Teachers

9- Compile a digital e-portfolio for their own development

Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
Free Tools to Create Digital Portfolios 

10- Have a knowledge about online security

Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :

11- be able to detect plagiarized works in students assignments

Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
Free Plagiarism Detector Tools fr Teachers and Educators

12- Create screen capture videos and tutorials

Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
Five Great Screen Capture Tools for Teachers

13- Curate web content for classroom learning

Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
10 Must have Bookmarklets for Teachers

14- Use and provide students with task management tools to organize their work and plan their learning

Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
A List of Great Task Management Tools for Educators

15- Use polling software to create a real-time survey in class

Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
15 Free and Easy Poll/ Survey Tools for Teachers

16- Understand issues related to copyright and fair use of online materials

Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :



17- Exploit  computer games for pedagogical purposes

Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :


18- Use digital assessment tools to create quizzes

Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
Free Tools to Create and Administer Quizzes

19- Use of collaborative tools for text construction and editing

Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
A List of Great Free Collaborative Tools for Educators

20- Find and evaluate authentic web based content

Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
The Three Effective Ways Teachers Should Know about

21- Use of mobile devices like tablets

Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :

22- Identify online resources that are safe for students browsing

Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
A List of Awesome Kids-safe Websites

23- Use digital tools for time management purposes

Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :

24- Learn about the different ways to use YouTube in your classroom

Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :

25- Use note taking tools to share interesting content with your students

Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
26- Annotate web pages and highlight parts of text to share with your class

Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
13 Free Web Annotation Tools for Teachers to Draw, Add notes, and highlight interesting parts in webpages

27- Use of online graphic organizers and printables

Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
A List of Free Graphic Organizers for Educators

28- Use of online sticky notes to capture interesting ideas
Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill : 
13 Free Sticky Notes Tools for Teachers and Students


29- Use of screen casting tools to create and share tutorials

Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
A List of The Best Free Screen Casting Tools for Teachers to Record and Share Tutorials

30- Exploit group text messaging tools for collaborative project work
Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
9 Free Group Text Messaging for Educators

31- Conduct an effective search query with the minimum time possible

Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
The Entire Google Search Guide for Teachers

32- Conduct A Research Paper Using Digital Tools

Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :


33- Use file sharing tools to share docs and files with students online

A List of The Best File Sharing Tools for Teachers
Med Karbach
My Twitter is @medkh9
http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/06/33-digital-skills-every-21st-century.html

Blogs and other ICT in Bio




Our Bio teachers have just done a section on eco columns and we love how they went about this. Firstly, instead of typing the instructions out, Jacky made a short video which she linked off the academic Intranet site. Instructions on how to Blog and examples of what a good blog should contain were also posted there. She then used Stixy as a pin board to upload further resources / instructions and Blogger as a platform for the pupils to blog the process. In this way she was able to connect pupils to the subject content in a meaningful and fun way. The boys worked together and could communicate with each other anytime / anywhere and also get real-time feedback from their teachers. In this way the teachers could monitor the process, rather than mark an end product. The pupils enjoyed the authenticity and excitement of being able to engage with the various parties –and parents were invited to see the work too. 


Sunday 10 March 2013

What Teens get about the Internet that parents don't

This is an article that was published in The Atlantic on 8th March 2013 that I thought
was worth putting onto our blog for you to read. Mimi Ito makes some relevant 
and poignant observations about the kids of today and the world that they are 
growing up in and the type of world that they wil be exposed to when they leave school. 
There are some important points for us as parents and teachers to consider in this article.

By Mimi Ito


 - Mimi Ito is the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Chair in Digital Media and Learning at the University of California, Irvine.






Parents more often than not have a negative view of the role of the Internet in
 learning, and young people almost always have a positive one.

My 15-year-old daughter has been playing the viola since the fourth grade at school 

and she's been encouraged by her teachers to keep at it since, among other things,
 it's marketable for college. She has been contemplating a new instrument, guitar, 
more in line with her interests and what she listens to with her peers. GuitarLessons365Song/YouTube
This is how the conversation goes about the guitar. Me: "Do you really want to add
a new activity?" Her: "We already have a guitar. I can learn on my own and with my
friends." Me: "It seems like you should get lessons for the basics." Her: "Mom,
that's what the Internet is for." It turns out she's already been practicing with
the help of YouTube tutorials.
My daughter's comment is ironic: She knows I've spent the past decade researching
how young people are learning differently because of the abundance of knowledge
and social connections in today's networked world. But in certain ways, our interactions
are also typical of struggles that many families are facing in balancing the competitive
pressures of college-readiness, the need for unstructured learning and socializing, and
 the role of the Internet in all of that.
Today's young people are more stressed than ever. They are facing a dismal job market.
Tuition is soaring and student loan debt is at an all-time high. As Phillip Brown, Hugh Lauder,
and David Ashton argue in The Global Auction, globalization means greater competition
for jobs, but also greater competition for good schools. We can no longer rely on the
common wisdom that if kids work hard at school, get good grades, and go to college
they will be set for life. A college degree is a requirement for most good jobs, but no
longer a guarantee of one.
Consequently, kids feel pressure to not only do well on tests and in school, but in their
out-of-school activities as well. Trends indicate that families with the means to do so
are investing more and more in enrichment activities to give their kids a leg up.
Whether it is the robotics club, violin lessons or athletics, too often it is less about
genuine interest and more about padding resumes for college.
It's an arms race in achievement -- and the cost isn't just a financial one. Studies
have documented how it used to be the struggling student who was more likely to cheat,
but today college bound students are just as likely to do so when it comes to high-stakes
tests and exams. Other research shows that wealthy teens suffer higher rates of
depression, anxiety, and substance abuse than teens in other socioeconomic groups.
The pressure to succeed along narrow paths is exacting a staggering cost on the values
and well being of our children.
It is no wonder my daughter wants to mess around with the guitar and the Internet
and pursue some interests at a pace that doesn't feel like the relentlessly scheduled
pressure of school and structured activities. For her, the Internet has been a lifeline
for self-directed learning and connection to peers. In our research, we found that
parents more often than not have a negative view of the role of the Internet in learning,
but young people almost always have a positive one.
When we interview young people, they will talk about how the Internet makes it easy
for them to look around and surf for information in low risk and unstructured ways.
Some kids immerse themselves in online tutorials, forums, and expert communities
where they dive deep into topics and areas of interest, whether it is fandom, creative
writing, making online videos, or gaming communities. They also, of course, talk about
spending time hanging out with their peers, but this too is a lifeline that is sorely lacking
in many of today's teen's schedules.
In his state of the union address, President Obama took universities and colleges to task
for rising tuition costs and their failure to foster skills that connect young people to job
opportunity. Obama's remarks reflect our economic realities, as well as our longstanding
assumption that college is where career-relevant learning will happen. We are also seeing
a growing push for universities to put their offerings online, in the form of "massive
open online courses" in addition to long standing online, distance, and extension offerings.
While I would be the last one to argue against getting more good educational material
online and accessible, I do question whether our focus should be exclusively on classroom
instruction.
Young people are desperate for learning that is relevant and part of the fabric of their
social lives, where they are making choices about how, when, and what to learn, without
it all being mapped for them in advance. Learning on the Internet is about posting a
 burning question on a forum like Quora or Stack Exchange, searching for a how to video
on YouTube or Vimeo, or browsing a site like Instructables, Skillshare, and Mentormob
for a new project to pick up. It's not just professors who have something to share, but
everyone who has knowledge and skills.
When my daughter graduates from college, I want her to be able to ask interesting questions,
make wise choices in where to direct her time and attention, and find a career that is about
contributing to a purpose that's more than her own self-advancement. I am proud of her
for managing a rigorous course of study both in school and out of school, but I'm also
delighted that she finds the time to cultivate interests in a self-directed way that is about
contributing to her community of peers. The Internet and her friends have offered my
daughter a lifeline to explore new interests that are not just about the resume and getting
 ahead of everyone else. In today's high-pressure climate for teens, the Internet is feeling
more and more like one of the few havens they can find for the lessons that matter most.

This article available online at:

Wednesday 6 March 2013

Teaching Poetry Using Thinglink





Our English teacher is impressed by Thinglink, a very easy to use piece of free Internet software that allows one to annotate images.What a great app to use for teaching poetry! By using the tagging tool he is quickly and easily able to enrich the text (picture) with explanations, questions, photos, sound and videos. He is then able to share the interactive image with his class - either via email or our Intranet.

Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants

Marc Prensky wrote an article in October 2001 entitled “Digital natives, digital immigrants”. He is a writer, consultant and inventor in the areas of education and learning and is also the author of “Digital Game-based Learning (2001)”. He has a master’s degree from Yale University, Middlebury College and Harvard Business School. I thought that it would be useful to summarise some excerpts from this article where he talks about today’s students and how we as educators should be looking at ways to bridge the gap between their learning styles and the type of education we are imposing upon them.

According to Prensky, today’s students have not just changed incrementally from those of the past, nor simply changed their slang, clothes, body adornments, or styles, as has happened between generations previously. Today’s students represent the first generation to grow up with new technology. They spend their entire lives surrounded by and using computers, video games, digital music players, video cams, cell phones and all the other toys and tools of a digital age. As a result, today’s students think and process information fundamentally differently from their predecessors. One can call the students of today “Digital Natives” whereas the rest of us, who were not born into the digital world but have adopted many aspects of the new technology, can be called “Digital Immigrants”. (Prensky, 2011)

The single biggest problem facing education today is that our Digital Immigrant instructors, who speak an outdated language (that of the pre-digital age) are struggling to teach a population that speaks an entirely new language. The students in classrooms have grown up on the “twitch speed” of video games and TV. (Prensky, 2011)

They are used to the instantaneity of hypertext, downloaded music, cell phones, a library on their laptops, beamed messaging and instant messaging. Today’s average college graduates have spent less than 5000 hours of their lives reading, over 10 000 hours playing video games and a further 20 000 hours watching TV. Computer games, email, the internet, cell phones and instant messaging are part of their daily lives. (Prensky, 2011)

They have been networked for most of their lives. They have little patience for lectures, step-by-step logic. Clearly today’s learners are different. “Every time I go to school I have to power down”, complains a high-school student. Is it that Digital Natives can’t pay attention, or that they choose not to? Often from the Native’s point of view their Digital Immigrant instructors make their education not worth paying attention to compared with everything else they experience – and then they blame them for not paying attention! We need to reconsider both our methodology and our content. (Prensky, 2011)

In Maths for example the debate must no longer be about whether to use calculators or computers – they are a part of the Digital Native’s world – but rather how to use them to instil the things that are useful to have internalised from key skills and concepts to multiplication tables. (Prensky, 2011)

If Digital Immigrant educators really want to reach Digital Natives – i.e. all their students – they will have to change and despite possible grumbling and reservations, they will succeed in the long run and their successes will come just that much sooner if their administrators support them (Prensky, 2011)

 Bibliography Prensky, M., 2011. The Digital Divide. London: Penguin.

Tuesday 5 March 2013

Cyber Bullying


'Let’s Fight It Together' is a short film, created by Childnet, to raise awareness about Cyber Bullying and to provide a starting point for discussions about the various related issues.


There are some posting guidelines we may like to encourage:
Before you post, you should T H I N K

  • Is it TRUE?
  • Is it HELPFUL rather than HURTFUL?
  • Is it INTERESTING or INSPIRATIONAL?
  • Is it NECESSARY / NICE?
  • Is it KIND?


Another great site to visit is http://www.cyberbullying.org/. The site offers loads of resources that give insight to what young people may face online.

You may also want to look at Childline. This site is aimed at children to answer questions they may have about cyber bullying or to offer support in addition to other support they may be given at home or at school.



Stop cyber bullying is great for helping tutors / parents approach the subject with young people. There are age-appropriate section.