If anyone's either building a case for social media in school or worried about such a crazy idea, check out this 2-min. video at The Educator's PLN blog (PLN for personal learning network). In it, English teacher Delainia Haug at Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis says, "My take on education is that if you don't engage the kids you might as well be talking to the wall." So Twitter is one of the … [Read more...] about Why some MN high schools use social media
education technology
iPads at school
It sounds like iPads-at-school isn't ready for prime time yet, but Fraser Speirs, a school tech director by day and Mac software developer by night, has successfully launched a program at his private school in Scotland and chronicled his experience here. Speirs is pioneering an iPads program at Cedars of School of Excellence, a private K-12 school in Greenock, Scotland (about 26 miles west of … [Read more...] about iPads at school
A parent & educator on what gaming can teach
To parent, educator, and graduate student Seann Dikkers, videogaming is a great parenting, teaching, and learning tool. A teacher for 10 years and school administrator for four, Dikkers is now working on his PhD in education, and he says in his site, GamingMatter.com, that the PhD part is his students' fault because they "were the first to ‘get it’ and point him toward games as a means to … [Read more...] about A parent & educator on what gaming can teach
Second Life 101 for teachers, parents
What a service University of Westminster in London provides! Even watching a little bit of this video tutorial can answer a lot of questions about what virtual worlds are like – whether you're curious about what (non-cartoony) avatars look like, want to set up an account and get started with professional development, or want to learn how to build a virtual chair or house. It's narrated in a lovely … [Read more...] about Second Life 101 for teachers, parents
What social media in school looks like
If any parents think social media in the classroom sounds absolutely crazy, watch this video. In a little over 3 minutes, a student explains how her "paperless" 7th grade science class uses blogging, online games, Google docs, videoconferencing with scientists in the "real world," social notetaking, and a digital poster tool for posting text, photos, and video in a Web page (the digital poster's … [Read more...] about What social media in school looks like