Announcement:

NYIT has launched the iTunes U New York. As of February 6th, 

free exemplar educational content from New York State educators is available through iTunes U

 

New York. You could be part of it. Our Bookbuilder and Digital Storytelling projects will be perfect for iTunes U. I want to encourage you to participate. I will select a few exemplars to submit to iTunes U. Read the following rubric if you think you will be submitting your work to the iTunes U. Remember to go along with the lesson plan that aligns with the Common Core State Standards. Let me know if you are interested. :D

NYIT iTunes U Press Release

NYIT iTunes U Rubric

By this time we should know what a "new literacy" saturated classroom looks like. Students should practice new literacies in and outside of the classrooms to:

1. Using ICTs to research information.
2. Using ICTs to locate information.
3. Using ICTs to evaluate information.
4. Using ICTs to sythesize information.
5. Using ICTs to communicate information.

Teachers should not only provide opportunities to let students practice their new literacy skills, but also their cognitive skills. Teachers will need bridge the gap by developing their own new literacy skills. :D

I like one of the statement from reading your blogs, "It (technology integration) takes a tremendous amount of time. But eventually it was worth it because this resulted in more student engagement."

This statement is so true! Currently my colleague, Dr. Wang, and I are working with 45 NYC science teachers on using technology (ICTs) to enhance students' new literacy and scientific inquiry skills. We introduce them the New Literacy Framework (Hsu & Wang) to integrate ICTs in their teaching and student learning. To translate what they've learned from our workshops to their classroom practices, they've made the same comments. They took the time to learn the technologies and break them down to different parts for instructional deliveries. Once you've done that part, the rest will come easy. 

Dear all,

Many of you asked, "how to post PPT to your blog?"

There are different ways to accomplish this purpose. I am sharing the two:

Use Dropbox (www.dropbox.com)
Go to www.dropbox.com and create an account.
Upload your PPT to the Public Folder.
Open the Public Folder to find the PPT you uploaded.
Right click on the PPT file for a dropdown menu.
Select Copy Public Link.
Paste the link on your blog.

Use Google Drive (if you have google account already, if not, create one)
Go to Google Drive.
Click on Create (you will see a dropdown menu with options).
Select Presentations to start creating your PPT.
After you are done. Click Share (on the upper right hand corner).
You will then see "Who has access" option.
Change it to "Anyone who has the link."
Then copy the link on your blog for sharing.

Remember, we talked about "new literacies." As teachers, we need to practice new literacies and translate the practice to the classroom so in return students will develop new literacy skills in the educational settings. :)

About week 3:

In your discussion, I found the following emerging topics that worth further conversation among you and your peers and/or colleagues.

 

• Bridging the “digital gap”
• Focus on the “new literacy” and “informational text”
• Technology vs. classroom management control
• Flipped classroom
• How to use the limited resources based on the instructional decisions (ex. instructional grouping, working at home, using computers at the public library, remember that the 21st century practices should not be taken away from our students due to limited resources)

Technology (SmartBoard, or Interactive Whiteboard) commonly used in the schools, but teachers may not know how to use it. Research some interactive whiteboard lessons

• SmartBoard (Interactive whiteboard lessons):http://www.scholastic.com/smarttech/teachers.htm

iPod Touch, iPhone, or iPad app for voice recognition: 

• ShowMe (see my sample ShowMe on Osmosis and Diffusion, create your own if you have iDevice and share with us). ShowMe allows you to build a flipped classroom easily. For similar purpose, if you'd like to create a short instructional tutorial, you can also try Jing (http://www.techsmith.com/jing.html) using desktop computer.
• Dragon Dictation Free

About week 2

I’d like to introduce Teaching & Learning with New York Times. It provides lesson ideas on how to address CCS through New York Times. It is great resource because in the CCS we see the focus on the role of “informational literacy” on students’ learning. Read and respond (Tell us what you think about it).

The Times and the Common Core Standards: Reading Strategies for ‘Informational Text’ 

We’ll be exploring the new Common Core State Standards, and how teaching with The Times can address them, through a series of blog posts. You can find them all here, in the lesson plan category “Common Core.” 

Project Gutenberg - 42,000 free ebooks: offers over 42,000 free ebooks: choose among free epub books, free kindle books, download them or read them online. 

Google Drive (Google Document and Google Drawing) allows you to “keep everything” and “share everything.” Let’s try to explore the use of Google Doc and Google Drawing for ELA instruction that can align with the CCS. Remember the Google Doc (Field Experience Placements Form) I shared with you. Here’s another example (Harbor Day) I started using Google Drawing. Come up with your own examples. Create doc and drawing and invite your peers to comment or edit. 

Today’s iPad highlight: Toontastic is a storytelling and creative learning tool that allows kids to draw, write, narrate and share their stories with the family and the world. It provides story structure for kids to follow. Easy and fun! See example: Mt. Chocolate Eruption. If you have an iPad, you could try it. 

Edmodo. Try to explore how your and the ELA teachers can use Edmodo to enhance teaching and learning. I am sharing our recent social networking article here. Once you explored the features of Edmodo, have a small talk with your colleagues or administrators to discuss the possibility of using Edmodo or similar social networking tools to enhance teaching and learning . (Alignment with CCSS and 21^st Century Skills). Sharing your conversation with us. 

 

About Week 1

Dear all,

We started our week 1 to get to know each other with lots of fun stuffs. I really enjoyed reading these jokes and the book titles. I always cracked up with this joke: "What do you call cheese that's not yours? NACHO CHEESE!!!! "  LOL *_^ If I were to write a book now, it would be "Another Day in Paradise" (hint: also one of my favorite song). But I do have a book just came out freshly from the oven, it's called "The Amazing iPad Book for Teachers."  It is an interactive ebook for iPad users. Dr. Wang (many of you took her course already) and I wrote this book to help teachers integrate iPads to enhance teaching and learning. In this course, I will introduce you some apps, but we won't use them for course assignments since I know not everyone has the device. However, with increasing schools adopting or establishing the iPad program, it is important to know the trend. Again, remember in this course, we will be focusing on new literacy (using information and communication technologies, ICTs, to enhance learning across the curriculum. The keystone assignment is to have your work with an ELA teacher to design and implement a lesson with a technology and write a report on the entire process, the student learning outcomes, and your reflection (Guidelines and rubric are in the Blackboard Assignments folder and on the syllabus). Let's start our week 2. :D

PS. We will be using your blog as an e-portfolio. Please polish up your blog and provide comments to your peers. 

Important reminder: Everyone must fill out this Field Experience Placement Request Form (no matter you have a placement already or if you need to be placed). The minimum 10 hours will be needed.