Educational Origami

Here are a selection of interesting articles on education, technology and digital citizenship:

New Zealand Herald

Defence force highlights social network dangers – http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10870096 – This is a Digital citizenship basic concept, look after yourself by not posting information that can potentially put you at risk. For these guys it could be life and limb at risk

Dotcom’s shut down good for studios – http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10870142 This another DC related post, this time for respecting and protecting intellectual property. The big studios are reporting they are better off now Dotocom’s Megaupload is Mega closed.

New MOE figures show its true – Kids struggling at maths – http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10870138 – Basic arthimatic skills are suffering. This is a bit of a powder keg, but its actually very healthy to take a critical eye and look at what we do. We expect our kids to be reflective, we need to model this.

BBC News

US state (south Dakota) to arm teachers – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-21722377 This is sad. This isn’t how you fix a problem, by introducing more of the problem into the system. The answer isn’t peace through superior firepower.

Web based brain for robots goes live - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21714191 - This is both cool and alarming at the same time. The opening paragraph explains it

” Robots confused about what they encounter in the world of humans can now get help online. European scientists have turned on the first part of a web-based database of information to help them cope. Called Rapyuta, the online “brain” describes objects robots have met and can also carry out complicated computation on behalf of a robot.”

I will keep this in mind next time I encounter a robot on the street.

Stuff

Your new boss is a robot – http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/gadgets/8399881/Your-new-boss-is-a-robot  – This robot being developed by MIT is learning to run a factory and give orders to artifical co-workers – this is an interesting topic and links with the interesting BBC article abot the web based brain for robots

3D printing revolution: Rethinking form – http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/gadgets/8394655/3D-printing-revolution-Rethinking-form  – Fascinating article and the example of use are amazing – 3D printing is becoming affordable for the classroom and schools. This is a trend to watch.

One NEWS

News Corp unveils new tablet for schools – http://tvnz.co.nz/technology-news/corp-unveils-new-tablet-schools-5362867 – Interesting – an android powered tablet for schools, particularly secondary schools. “digital innovation to transform teaching and learning” hum

3 News

Beer Goggles to raise awareness of drink-driving – http://www.3news.co.nz/Beer-goggles-to-raise-awareness-of-drink-driving/tabid/423/articleID/289563/Default.aspx – This a driver education tactic by Auckland transport. I like it and its worth doing. I use a similar concept with my senior IT students when we are looking at accessibility and disability with computers – earplugs, glasses, think gloves you name it we try it.

This is the next in the assessment series – this use a blog as the medium for a student applying the reflective cycle to reflect on an event.

The reflective cycle has 5 stages -

1. Select an event
2. describe the event – what, where, when and who
3. Analyse the event – break it down into the component elements and as the How and why questions
4. Evaluate the event – make a judgement having considered the impact, importance, effectiveness and relationships
5. Transform – make a change based on the process

This can be used in a wide range of situations whether it is a student reflecting on their learning and contribution, a students posting a comment on a peers blog and using the cycle to offer critique and comment or a student reflecting on the events of the day.

Starter sheet reflection cycle in a blog post

As always comments are appreciated

For the complete set of starter sheets visit the education origami wiki – http://edorigami.wikispaces.com

educational origami wiki

The BBC website hosts a series of brilliant gems that are very useful to teachers. While many of us will be familiar with the news page which is accessable via the web or using apps on our phones, there is a whole lot more that’s worth exploring and using. Here are some of my favourites…

1. BBC Future - http://www.bbc.com/future this is a stimulating site that has some interesting and often challenging articles. The site matches well with ITGS and also TOK for the IB’s out there.
2. BBC Science and Nature - http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/ and Nature home page – http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/ some great resources here including videos
3. BBC School - http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ this is cool, stretching across the curriculum there are over 7000 resources here.
4. BBC Learning – http://www.bbc.co.uk/learning/ this is learning for all ages from the very young to the not so young.
5. BBC bitesize http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ and GCSE bitesize http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/ this is learning resources grouped by year level and subject area. Awesome.

source: http://store.storeimages.cdn-apple.com/2790/as-images.apple.com/is/image/AppleInc/ipad2012-step0-ipad-gallery-01-normal?wid=520&hei=410&fmt=png-alpha&qlt=95

The iPad and other gesture based tablets have capture the minds and fingers of many in education. Whether its in pre-K or senior classes these intuitive devices are making changes to how teaching and learning occurs in the classroom.

The combination of ease of use, cost effective applications, simple navigation and user friendlyness plus a generally lower entry price compare to a full laptop (rather than a netbook) make these the tools of choice for many schools. Its worth noting that for many people there is also a convenience and aesthetic factor as well.

As schools grasp with these devices its great to see people sharing their teaching practice. Here are some sites that I have recently stumbled across that are useful.

1. TCEA - http://www.tcea.org/ipad A useful list of applications broken down into curriculum areas

2. Apps in education  – http://appsineducation.blogspot.co.nz/ This site is broken down again into learning areas and has detailed lists of suitable applications.

3. ipad curriculum - http://www.ipadcurriculum.com/ this is a regularly updated blog on the use of ipads featuring a single app per post

4. ipad schools http://ipadschools.wikispaces.com/home this is a wiki on the use of ipads again detailing apps by learning areas

5. ipad multimedia tools – https://sites.google.com/site/ipadmultimediatools/home this google site is focused on the multimedia aspects of ipad use. It looks at the ipads apps by use rather than by learning area.

6. iPad as… http://edtechteacher.org/index.php/teaching-technology/mobile-technology-apps/ipad-as this is an excellent post examining the use of the tool rather than the curriculum area.

7. Bridging the gap – http://bridgingapps.org/ This is a site bridging the gap between applications and disabilities – they have reviewed a number of apps for suitability for special needs students, a very useful site.

Harry Dickens & I wrote the apps for learning book with scenarios from different subject areas to examine how the tools could be used from a variety of perspectives.

When I am preparing a presentation I often like to take a snap shot of whats happening in the world at the moment to frame the amazing rate of change we are seeing. So here are some of my favourites:

1. CIA Factbook – https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html Say what you like about the CIA this is an interesting site filled with huge amount of information and statistics.

2. Worldometers - http://www.worldometers.info/ This site is actually a little bit scary. With updating totals that tick over a a very fast rate this page will tell you about

• world population
• governments and economics
• society & media
• environment
• food
• water
• energy
• and so much more.

Enjoy the visit, but the numbers are stunning

3. Gap Minder – http://www.gapminder.org/ The website of stats genius Hans Rosling. This is a must visit site and like worldometers, is a little frightening. But watch the videos and dive into the statistics presented in interesting and understandable ways. Just brilliant.

4. World Internet Stats – http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm This site will give you a continent by continent breakdown of connections and more. Again a useful site particularly for those who need a global perspective.

5. Royal Pingdom – http://royal.pingdom.com/2012/01/17/internet-2011-in-numbers/ – this is a great snap shot of 2011, and it examine more than just connection to the internet. have a look at these comments about email

• 3.146 billion – Number of email accounts worldwide.
• 27.6% – Microsoft Outlook was the most popular email client.
• 19% – Percentage of spam emails delivered to corporate email inboxes despite spam filters.
• 112 – Number of emails sent and received per day by the average corporate user.
• 71% – Percentage of worldwide email traffic that was spam (November 2011).
• 360 million – Total number of Hotmail users (largest email service in the world).
• $44.25 – The estimated return on $1 invested in email marketing in 2011.
• 40 – Years since the first email was sent, in 1971.
• 0.39% – Percentage of email that was malicious (November 2011).

6. Youtube statistics – http://www.youtube.com/t/press_statistics/ Youtube like facebook is an icon of our age. Its not surprizing that its changing how we view our media and how media producers are publishing media. Have a look at the traffic they have

• Over 800 million unique users visit YouTube each month
• Over 3 billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube
• 72 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute
• 70% of YouTube traffic comes from outside the US
• YouTube is localized in 43 countries and across 60 languages
• In 2011, YouTube had more than 1 trillion views or around 140 views for every person on Earth

7. Facebook newsroom http://newsroom.fb.com/content/default.aspx?NewsAreaId=22 The social network with 900+ million subscribers

• 955 million monthly active users at the end of June 2012.
• Approximately 81% of our monthly active users are outside the U.S. and Canada.
• 552 million daily active users on average in June 2012.
• 543 million monthly active users who used Facebook mobile products in June 2012.

8. Netcraft webserver survey - http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2012/08/02/august-2012-web-server-survey.html This site does a monthly survey and presents data on the number of webservers in the world each month. The growth over time is impressive, but last month saw the number of websites decrease by 30 million.

This is a very useful site with a great list of different iPad applications sorted by subject areas and then these are broken down in to different categories. The applications are both free and paid subscription/purchase.

For Example – Language Arts apps has sub categories for

• literacy
• reading practice
• hand writing
• spelling
• grammar
• graphical organisers

This is a useful reference site - http://www.tcea.org/ipad

It is also worthwhile reading the Educause – Seven things you should know about iPad apps for learning. This is another excellent synopsis that helps clarify the use of iPads in the classroom.

For the Scientist, here are some free iPad applications that I have recently added to my laptop:

• Owl pellets lite – http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/owl-pellet-activities-lite/id413711518?mt=8
• Chemistry Formula practice lite – http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/chemistry-formula-practice/id422958981?mt=8
• Building atoms, ions and isotopes – http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/building-atoms-ions-isotopes/id437001161?mt=8

This is an interesting interactive article hosted on the BBC website.

The article asks two pieces of information from you, the first is the country you are in and the second your pre-tax monthly wage. It then calculates your wage against your own countries average wage and the global average wage.

Its fascinating

The URL for this interactive is - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17543356

Its also worth while visiting that master of statistics, Hans Rosling at gapminder –  http://www.gapminder.org. Check out the Wealth and Health of Countries – which relates well to the Global pay scale question.

If you have a spare hour, I wold recommend that you check out the Joy of stats video, broadcast on the BBC and hosted on the Gapminder site.

Comparing life expectancy and wage for Nepal and NZ. Interesting, you would have thought the gap would have been bigger.

Here are a set of resources from Microsoft for working with Windows and MS office in the classroom. This is useful set of materials.

1. accessibility in the classroom - http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/teachers/guides/Pages/Accessibility.aspx
2. Mathematics 4.0 in the classroom _ http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/teachers/guides/Pages/Mathematics-guide.aspx – this includes a step by step guide, plus links to the download of the product as well
3. Bing (Microsofts search engine) in the classroom  - http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/teachers/guides/Pages/bing.aspx
4. Windows 7 in the classroom - http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/teachers/guides/Pages/windows-7.aspx this also has videos as well to help you out.
5. One note in the classroom - http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/teachers/guides/Pages/one-note.aspx again with videos to support the professional development.
6. Microsoft Office in the classroom - http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/teachers/guides/Pages/microsoft-office-system.aspx  - videos and other resources.
7. Digital Storytelling in the classroom - http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/teachers/guides/Pages/digital_storytelling.aspx
8. Free tools from Microsoft - http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/teachers/guides/Pages/free-tools.aspx – this is Autocollage, photo synth and Movie maker live
9. Product How to’s - http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/teachers/how-to/Pages/index.aspx
10. Microsoft Free Products - http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/teachers/Pages/free-products.aspx some interesting software here like the chemistry add in for word, the mathematics add in, flash cards, songsmith, Kodu game lab and more. Check out this as well - http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/faculty/Pages/free-software.aspx 
11. Templates - http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/teachers/Pages/templates.aspx This is an interesting set of templates, some of which are quite useful.
12. Critical thinking in the classroom - http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/teachers/guides/Pages/critical_thinking.aspx – This is an interesting one with set of lesson plans, students hand outs and teacher resources for:

• Searching
• Plagarism
• Citing web resources
• Validity and reliabilityt
• Civil Discourse

They call this the new wonders of the world but these are interesting and useful resources which give a 360 degree perspective on some of the fascinating places most of us will never visit. Check these out:

1. Colosseum - http://www.panoramas.dk/7-wonders/colosseum.html
2. The Great wall of China - http://www.panoramas.dk/7-wonders/great-wall.html
3. Petra - http://www.panoramas.dk/fullscreen2/full24.html
4. Taj Mahal - http://www.panoramas.dk/fullscreen/fullscreen23.html
5. Machu Picchu in Peru - http://www.panoramas.dk/fullscreen6/f2-machu-picchu.html
6. Christ the redeemer in Rio de Janeiro - http://www.panoramas.dk/fullscreen6/f40-rio-de-janeiro.html
7. Chichen Itza in Mexico - http://www.panoramas.dk/7-wonders/Chichen-Itza.html
8. There are more in the archive - http://www.panoramas.dk/archive.html

I have been enjoying this summer break and having a little technology downtime. However the kids have been playing quite extensively on the iPads as the weather has not always been conducive to swimming and playing around outside.

We have a wide selection of games on the iPad for the “kids” enjoyment and a couple leap to mine as useful tools that could be applied to learning. Why would I want to use games for learning, well they are engaging, self motivating, rewarding and have instant feedback. So here are a couple that I think have potential:

Simple Physics. Here you are required to build structures for a specific task. In the image below its a bomb shelter. The task is to build a shelter that withstands three explosion and remain within budget. The lower the cost the more points. To build it you must consider angles and strength, direction and force. Its fun and engaging. But its more than a bomb shelter, you build dams cranes, tree houses, submarines and staircases.

URL: http://itunes.apple.com/nz/app/simplephysics/id408233979?mt=8

Here is a screengrab

Tinkerbox – this is a similar physics game to Simple Physics. Here you use logic, force, motion and mechanics to solve a series of problems. The game is supported by a tutorials (see below) that assist you in developing your solution. They are not easy either, there is considerable challenge involved in this game.

URL: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tinkerbox-hd/id415722219?mt=8

Rush Hour – this is a change of style and genre, but is an excellent learning and thinking game. This is a computer simulation of the real game of the same name. The objective is to move the cars in a sequence to allows you to release the red car from the grid lock it is in. The number of cars and the complexity of the sequence varies from easy to hard. Its a great game for developing logic and process. .

URL: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rush-hour/id336542036?mt=8

W.E.L.D.E.R. This stands for Word Examination Laboratory for Dynamic Extraction and Reassessment. Yea its a triffle ostentatious, but behind this mouthful lies a great game for the english student. Simply rearrange the letters and add in a few to create words (they have over 15000 loaded in the dictionary) Spell the word correctly, score the points and the letters are removed. It is a very addictive game.

URL: http://itunes.apple.com/nz/app/w.e.l.d.e.r./id471056941?mt=8

Its easy to overlook the potential of games for learning. Find a game that matches your learning objectives, that reinforces a concept, that provides a different mode of understanding and you can unlock a world of engagement and fun.

WHAT GAMES HAVE YOU FOUND THAT COULD BE USE IN CLASS? I would love to hear about them.

For the last year, Harry and I have been working on the ipad applications book for high schools. The Book is called Apps for learning, and is published as part of the 21st Century Fluency series with my Colleagues Harry Dickens, Lee Crockett and  Ian Jukes. This book has been a huge amount of fun to write. I had a great excuse to by numerous applications and try these out. The book details what we consider to be the best applications for high school at the moment.

Some people have criticised the ipad, and the same criticism could be leveled at any of the new genre of touch screen devices, that these are consumption devices. I disagree emphatically. I put my money where my mouth is and wrote ALL of my contributions to the book on the iPad using pages. I editted ALL of my pictures using Adobe Photoshop Express. I planned and brainstormed for the book using iThoughts HD.

You only need to look at the increasing list of schools adopting the ipad or its kin as their primary mobile learning device to see the huge potential for this tool when used properly. It is the use of the tool that is critical, deliberate and considered, meaningful and purposeful use to enhance teaching and learning.

Here is the link to the book - http://www.amazon.com/Apps-Learning-iPhone-School-Classrooms/dp/1463612850/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1314830290&sr=1-1.

Also worth checking out is book number three - literacy is not enough which is available on line from Corwin Press.