Discovery Education Speakers Bureau
Supporting the most effective use of technology in classrooms and schools
Supporting the most effective use of technology in classrooms and schools
Audience participation is key in this interactive session which examines the growing diversity in America’s classrooms and ways in which media, online and otherwise, can assist teachers in supporting their students. Utilizing statistics, practical examples and student samples, attendees will visit a typical classroom and explore ways to support each student through the integration of technology.
Students today engage with content differently than any previous generation of learners. Yet even with the irrefutable evidence that our students have a clear preference in how they choose to interact with information, we largely ignore these facts when considering instructional content. Come examine the future of instructional materials including recent legislation which allows the use of traditional “textbook” funds for digital content, the instructional benefits and examples of current success.
The landscape of education is changing and teachers are being asked to do more with less, or so they think. Your students have been and will continue to be your best helpers when it comes to planning, teaching and assessing learning, and they are ready and willing to help you make your classroom more collaborative, engaging and efficient! Learn how you can use digital media, technology, your state standards and the authentic task to engage your students and move them from the best seat in the house to the director's chair.
Every classroom can go digital! New (and often free) software has flattened the learning curve--and even older hardware can make magic. Scaffold teachers and students with successful digital project building. Make a digital video in under five minutes with a simple program that uses still images and creates music. Progress next to a free video editor that encourages student content creation in the curriculum. Finally, a program that lets students insert themselves into videos! Media creation leverages engagement and takes learning to a new level.
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If students could be taught using the skills and tools they have today, and teachers provided instruction that worked to meet the needs of the world tomorrow, what would it look like? This session will give a glimpse of what is taking place in far too few classrooms across the world today. Pulling examples from lessons using digital stories, Google Earth, podcasts, blogs, wikis, and many Web 2.0 resources, educators will get a glimpse of what education can look like. Integrating current technologies with instruction will provide increased student motivation, development and use of higher-order thinking skills, and better connectivity with the needs of the world today.
If students could be taught using the skills and tools they have today, and teachers provided instruction that worked to meet the needs of the world tomorrow, what would it look like? This session will give a glimpse of what is taking place in far too few classrooms across the world today. Pulling examples from lessons using digital stories, Google Earth, podcasts, blogs, wikis, and many Web 2.0 resources, educators will get a glimpse of what education can look like. Integrating current technologies with instruction will provide increased student motivation, development and use of higher-order thinking skills, and better connectivity with the needs of the world today.
Audience participation is key in this interactive session which examines the growing diversity in America’s classrooms and ways in which media, online and otherwise, can assist teachers in supporting their students. Utilizing statistics, practical examples and student samples, attendees will visit a typical classroom and explore ways to support each student through the integration of technology.
From California and Texas to the Atlantic, trailblazing states, districts and classrooms have begun a serious conversion to digital--a move from trees to bits. Moving classroom practice more deeply into digital resources provides major benefits for differentiation, extended learning, assessment, remediation, and data gathering for effectiveness. Far beyond text-bound PDFs, digital resources offer links, translations, expansions, and incorporate the wild energy of Web 2.0 tools. The different needs of learners are more easily met and digital resources foster networking, innovation, and curriculum support. Digital assignments and assessments move from white boards to mobile student pockets. A snapshot of what can be done right now, and a preview of where digital is heading.
This interactive session examines the growing diversity in America’s classrooms and how embracing this diversity can have a positive impact on the educational process. Utilizing statistics, classroom examples and imagination, attendees will journey through cyberspace examining ways in which students are connecting with others throughout the world.
What's the one thing our classrooms have in common today? They are all very different. Students with many different learning styles. Different interests. Different backgrounds. And, different gadgets. How do we address the needs of today's learners? This session will draw upon real-life examples (including a legendary school duck) as we explore ways that we can use media and other technologies to get students interested in the content and engaged in meaningful learning experiences.
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is the backbone of many of the most popular new web technologies, such as blogs and podcasts. However, that's just the very tip of the iceberg. Learn what RSS is and then learn how RSS can be used to create individualized professional development and learning communities. Explore built in browser tools and aggregators and gain an understanding of how you can take control of your blog's RSS feed as well as how to use other feeds to drive dynamic content throughout your site. You'll be amazed by the diverse ways RSS can be used.
You buy technology and resources. But does your school use them effectively? What about monitoring and mentoring? Learn how to use the amazing data digital resources generate for these administrative tasks—and more. Digital media takes informative snapshots every, day, month, and year. Match it with data from state tests. Use data to increase achievement, steer in-house professional development, and increase differentiated instruction. Learn how to maximize classroom resources and craft strategies for elevating the instructional plan using powerful tools at your fingertips. Many products have admin features. For this session, DiscoveryEducationStreaming data will be the model for district, school, and teacher data.
Being part of the "Millennial" generation and the Information/Technology Age is nothing new. It happened before, in the few hundred years surrounding the beginning of the last millennium. This difference now is that our society and educational community are going through that same information upheaval in less than a generation. From the Moors' invasion of Spain to the printing press to Web 2.0, let history help you steer where we might be going.
Being part of the "Millennial" generation and the Information/Technology Age is nothing new. It happened before, in the few hundred years surrounding the beginning of the last millennium. This difference now is that our society and educational community are going through that same information upheaval in less than a generation. From the Moors' invasion of Spain to the printing press to Web 2.0, let history help you steer where we might be going.
More and more, our students are influenced, stimulated, and informed by a myriad of multimedia formats. As educators, how do we engage those student's who, in the matter of minutes, can watch a video, text a friend, and have a conversation with another - all at the same time? See examples of how today's technologies -- from calculators to the web, from music files to video-on-demand -- can (and should) engage and teach a new generation of students.
Mobile is the next wave in technology. Cellphones text faster than email, spread video faster than cameras, and webcast in real time. They take assignments, document work, translate and podcast. Mobile interfaces with Web 2.0. Best of all: teachers and students carry them already! Learn what we can adapt to achieve educational goals. Examples are in place. Mobile is the web all over again—be ready.
We live in an era that has seen the democratization of knowledge, the flattening of the earth, and the rise of wikinomics. The amount of information online keeps increasing while the barriers to accessing it continue to decrease. 21st century students aren't merely products of these shifts, they are the instigators at the forefront of the next digital revolution. Are you prepared for students that live online in a state of transparency, defining 'private' as only being seen by a few thousand people? In order to guide students to safely navigate this new digital frontier, teachers have to learn to speak the same language. Thankfully, thousands of teachers are giving free lessons every hour of every day. While the tools may evolve at a dizzying pace, educators who create a personal learning network will always have the resources they need to stay ahead of the curve. Come learn how teachers worldwide have banded together to become their own best source of professional development.... and lost their digital accent along the way.
Students were born into in an age where information on nearly every topic was only a few keystrokes away. Consumers across the globe and students in classrooms now interact with content in a fundamentally different way than five years ago. Academic success can no longer be defined as the recitation of facts and figures. Instead, the degree to which our students access global expertise, engage with content, and create meaning becomes important as the criteria of a new age. Explore the steps for education to move beyond the Information Age.
In a time when there has never been a greater discord about instructional methods, student learning processes, and the needs of the business world, it is imperative for administrators to provide an educational environment that is conducive to change and adaptation while addressing the concerns of standardized testing and parents perception of what education should be. Administrators are responsible for providing effective staff development and must provide leadership that is directive, facilitative, and nurturing. Learn how administrators can provide systems of communication that are clear, consistent, easily maintained, and limit the impact on classroom instructional time.
In an era when student missteps can linger on the internet for years, and stories of predators and cyberbullies dominate the news, there are plenty of reasons for schools to tighten their firewalls. But is banning really a viable response? How do we help students learn to leverage the powerful new tools that are available to them? What policies do we set that ensure that learning and safety go hand in hand? See how some districts have embraced new technologies while still maintaining high standards and keeping their students safe.
Presentation with sample policies and articles
Web 2.0 has brought online versions of most of the programs you use on a daily basis. Alternatives to Word, PowerPoint, Photoshop and others are available for free! Discover the 10 best Web 2.0 sites and how your school can save thousands by using them.
The increased use of media and technology by students at every age range is having a profound impact on the physical brain. Neural connections are being made that prior to now did not exist. What does this mean for teachers, students and parents? Is it possible for the digital immigrants in the teaching community to ever catch up? The difference in learning is significant. As students change, instruction must change to remain effective. Take a look backwards and then a leap forward to where we are headed in society and in education as we prepare for the challenges and opportunities the iBrain presents.
There is no doubt that media plays an influential role in our student’s lives. In fact, most children spend an average of 6 ½ hours per day exposed to media. However, students today are no longer satisfied simply passively consuming information; instead they want to be active participants. From participating to producing, this session will explore the role media plays in today’s classroom and examine the research that supports its inclusion.
The rapidly changing needs of the business world demand rapid changes in the way we teach students. Restructuring of teacher workdays and budget cuts reduce professional development time to a minimum. The answer: Enhanced use of forums, blogs, wikis, podcasts, twits, and educational communities for teachers to learn new skills with support from peer experts throughout the world. The model for professional development has changed without many of us realizing it or taking advantage of it. The advancement of Web 2.0 makes the opportunities for professional development easily accessible to even the most basic computer users.
Teachers used to threaten that if students didn't behave, it would go down on their permanent record. While there was no such record in the past, there is now. Students are leaving a trail of their online activities behind them that will last far longer than they ever might expect. This presentation delves into specific actions that students are engaging in now that have long term consequences for them and how we, as educators, can guide them to the right path..
Web 2.0 technologies such as Podcasting and Blogging break down the barriers to publishing teacher and student created content on the internet. Schools that do so are finding the benefits reach far beyond the classroom walls. By making learning transparent, many schools are creating a strong sense of community while offering their students the opportunity to collaborate with others on a global level. See how some districts have embraced these new technologies while still maintaining high standards and keeping their students safe.
What veteran teachers suspected the research has proved: 21st Century students are different. With different attention spans, higher IQ test scores, and social networks, their sophistication comes earlier—with a different skill set. There is a silver lining: We can teach this “New Brain” more effectively, more efficiently, more engagingly. We have the technology! Media has evolved and education must evolve to match.
The “stand alone” method of teaching is fading and being replace by a model that taps colleagues, content, experts, and communication from both around the world and across the hall. Collaborative projects with 'real time' elements take boldness and planning but building 21st Century Learners into 21st Century citizens makes it worthwhile . Watch some case study previews of coming classroom practice that tap Web 2.0, state curriculum standards, and student dedication .
The cameras in their cell phones make them citizen journalists. The web is their personal library and media center. Social networks give them enormous group expertise. They communicate in real time with the ends of the earth. But can they convince their teachers to let them learn at school with help from such powerful tools? Beyond the "wow," technology provides nearly limitless potential for connectivity and education. See examples of how today's technologies can (and should) engage and teach a new generation of students.
One of the unforeseen consequences into technology’s integration in the social fabric is the creation of new knowledge, including new content and new strategies for teaching and learning. The challenges of content creation especially match 21st Century learners and the digital classroom. Jobs, global problems, and communication will be intertwined with the creation of both knowledge and content, and the ability to look at and analyze what is newly created will become a 21st Century skill. Originally created as a strategy for teachers of the gifted, this approach applies to all learners and gives a new perspective on what to do with all those digital tools
You’ve heard the term in the media, trade publications, at staff developments. Even Congress is talking about it. But what is a “21st Century Student” and what makes him different from the student of a decade ago? Their brains are developing in a different way. They are processing information differently than any students before them. They learn new skills in entirely new manners. They have skills that many adults cannot conceptualize or are not comfortable with, so we limit their use in the classroom. By understanding the students we are teaching, as well as what preparations they need to be successful in the future, educational institutions can adjust their methods of instruction to better meet the needs of these students.
For only a sliver of time in human culture has learning meant decoding the written word. Learning means assimilating information in a way that matches our wiring: responding to the terabits of information in motion and sound. Technology brings education access to the transformative visual tools of an image-based society--- a move closer to the way we truly learn. Follow with a veteran the 30-year path of projects from film to Internet2. Learn what this technology means for your school and what a commitment to simple truths can mean to education.
For only a sliver of time in human culture has learning meant decoding the written word. Learning means assimilating information in a way that matches our wiring: responding to the terabits of information in motion and sound. Technology brings education access to the transformative visual tools of an image-based society--- a move closer to the way we truly learn. Follow with a veteran the 30-year path of projects from film to Internet2. Learn what this technology means for your school and what a commitment to simple truths can mean to education.