Infographics and The Smartest Kids in the World

Two weeks ago I mentioned that Diane Ravitch appeared on +Daniel Pink's  podcast Office Hours. This past week writer +Amanda Ripley  was featured on the hourlong show discussing her new book The Smartest Kids in the World: And How They Got That Way.  

In the book Ripley interviews American high school students about their experiences studying abroad as foreign exchange students. Ripley weaves these anecdotal observations into her research on different educational trends and practices. I have yet to read the book but the podcast was an interesting hour of audio which I offer up for your multitasking drive time or treadmill pleasure. 

Sample infographic from OpenColleges

For the past couple of months infographics have begun to loom larger and larger on my radar. As you know the Common Core literacy standards state that students must "use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.6)." This is one of my favorite standards but I often wonder about how to craft assignments with a lower barrier of entry than podcast creation or film production. Infographics might be an introductory way for students to start thinking about design and research.

On that note Edutopia had a nice piece from +Sarah Mulhern Gross (@thereadingzone on Twitter) about how students in her class create infographics sharing their reading histories. The article details the specific web tools her students use and she also provides samples of student work.

Before we part ways, just a few more notes. Next week I will be heading off to the New York State Association for Computers and Technology (NYSCATE)(#nyscate13) conference in Rochester along with a couple of teachers and administrators involved in the Virtual AP grant. I will be sure to share anything of note in next week's post.

Lastly, I was wondering if I could get some brief feedback from you regarding possible future professional development courses. I would like to build a few courses for our teachers but I wanted to gauge interest before beginning development.

If you have two minutes*, please fill out this Google form to let me know your interest in learning about four tools (Google Drive, Evernote, Infographics, and podcasts for personal/professional consumption) at possible future professional development workshops.

As always, thank you for reading and keep on keeping on.
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*Seriously. Two minutes might be overestimating. The survey is five questions requiring quick clicks.

Things to Think About While Flipping, Helping Out, and Hanging Out

Check out this Infographic on Flipped Classrooms

Well, it is a busy time of year! Seniors are applying to colleges, juniors are ramping up for the SAT's and teachers are being approached with requests for letters of recommendation. 

Good times. 

This week there have been two really interesting sources in the news regarding student web practices, digital citizenship and college admission. 

The first, They Loved Your G.P.A. Then They Saw Your Tweets, is from the New York Times and shares insights about how colleges are mining social media to find out more about the character of applicants. It could make for a good article of the week. The second, 12 Things Students Should Never Do On Social Media, offers more food for thought and fleshes out a larger picture of risky student online activity. Both are interesting reads.

On a completely separate note, a few folks in the high school are working on integrating flipped models of instruction in our classrooms. We are exploring the use of instructional videos and thinking about the ways we ask students to use our time both in and out of school. If you are interested in reviewing this concept or learning a bit more about the flipped model, Knewton just published a handy infographic which sums it up nicely and offers more things to consider. 

In other news this week Google announced a new initiative called Google Helpouts. This program aims to put people within a quick video conference to find tutoring in finance, cooking, carpentry, and pretty much anything you can think of. Truthfully, I am not sure what the implications are for classroom use. Is it a new platform where teachers like you and I can offer assistance to the masses and add a little income after school? Is it a model to explore for providing extra remedial to students through Helpouts' cousin, Google Hangouts? I'm not too sure and as the program is in its nascent stages it is too early to tell. But here's a quick review of the program from CNET if you want to catch the wave before the swell. 

Finally, the district technology committee will be meeting this Thursday to discuss parameters of "technology take home" and "bring your own device" policies. If you would like to weigh in on this matter shoot me an email as your thoughts can help inform our discussion. 

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This is reposted from the technology integration blog, Connect(ed) School, that I have created for my position as high school technology integrator. For past posts please visit the site over at www.connectedschool.blogspot.com. 

Stealing Time with Podcasts

Welcome to November! This week I have a fairly random assortment of things to share.

First, I don't know about you, but I like to maximize my time. There are so many tiny little dead spaces in life that are perfect for passive consumption. While some of these dead spaces are perfect opportunities for quiet contemplation, other moments beg for something to step in and fill the intellectual void.  

Today, the majority of Americans have powerful personal devices in their pockets. As these devices have proliferated so too has free content. In many cases this content is junk. You get, as they say, what you pay for. In other cases, however, free content is professional and thought provoking and can provide a wonderful diet of fodder for learning and growth. 

Which brings me to podcasts.

Podcasts? you say. They are so 2002!

That may be true. However I've found that since the recent redesign of the IOS Podcast App that these nuggets of wonder are more accessible than ever before. These 20 minute to hour long audio programs are perfect for the drive to work, a long run or in the background while cooking dinner. There are podcasts available for a variety of topics; education, health, music, arts, business, and many more. IOS has a native app while Android devices offer Pocket Casts or Podcast Addict. 

I have found a number of these podcasts to be enlightening for my teaching. For instance, Daniel Pink has a weekly hourlong podcast called Office Hours. Each week Pink invites a guest in to interview and fields calls from listeners. Recently he has had popular authors Seth Godin, Malcolm Gladwell, and David Allen on his program. This past week he interviewed Diane Ravitch about her book Reign of Error and there was great discussion about what Ravitch sees as shortfalls in our current educational system which she asserts favors testing over learning and privatization over developing the public good. 

I also listen to The Accidental Creative, Entrepreneur on Fire and the TED Talks podcast. While some of these podcasts are not directly transferable to the classroom I like what they do for my learning and creative mindset. Good stuff. If you have an smartphone or tablet, take a gander at the podcast app and find something you like. 

Secondly, speaking of current educational reforms, there was an interesting article in yesterday's Buffalo News about school districts, InBloom and privacy concerns. 

Finally, a couple of our tech forward social studies teachers have been experimenting with Remind 101, a texting service which touts itself as "A safe way for teachers to text message students and stay in touch with parents." These teachers are using the service to mass text reminders to students about upcoming assignments, tests, etc. Here's a quick promo video which explains the service.