 | | | Head of the Class |  | | |  | - Can a new student-response system raise academic achievement?
How do you make sure every student in the class understands what you're teaching without resorting to constant quizzes? Student-response systems, or clickers, allow students to send responses to their teacher's questions quickly and anonymously, but systems can be expensive and academic results have been mixed, according to this article. Now, a new K-12 teacher-designed, device-agnostic clicker system aims to help students in six pilot programs make real academic gains, its creators say. Vator.tv (8/13)        |  | From Culture Shock to Citizens of the World
As teachers, is it our duty to break stereotypes and show students the true value of understanding a foreign culture? How can students turn culture shock into empathy and acceptance of other lifestyles? Download our free whitepaper Discovering a Foreign Culture for an in-depth analysis of the impact of cultural activities on educational tours. |
 | | | eLearning | | | |  | - Online tool helps students explore presidential debates
Lynn University in Florida has partnered with Apple's iTunes U to create an online curriculum intended to help students learn about an Oct. 22 presidential debate being held on its campus. The Debate Curriculum for Education can be downloaded to any smartphone device for free. The civics activities -- intended for students in kindergarten through fifth grade -- include mock scenarios, videos of past debates and fact sheets. TMCNet.com/Politics & Technology (8/15) - New documentary focuses on advances in teaching tools
A former middle-school teacher now is working to design interactive games intended to help students learn math concepts, including ratios, graphing and geometry. Scott Laidlaw and Jennifer Lightwood, who launched the company Imagine Education, also have produced a documentary titled "The Biggest Story Problem: Why America's Students Are Failing at Math." "It looks at the tools that have been handed to this generation of teachers, from traditional stand-and-deliver to techniques underlying even the shiniest new technology devices," Laidlaw said. The Salt Lake Tribune (Utah) (8/16) | Systems Management | | | |  | - D.C. teachers filmed to improve teaching
Officials in Washington, D.C., are seeking to improve teaching and learning by hiring a reality television company to produce videos of teachers in the classroom. The videos, funded through a $900,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, were proposed after teachers said they would like examples of high-level teaching. The 80 videos are intended to complement the city's Impact teacher-evaluation system, which assesses teachers based on students' test scores and classroom observations. The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (8/15) - Technology enables distance learning for students with disabilities
A program in place at the Washington State School for the Blind in Vancouver allows students from across the state to access courses through a combination of communication and collaborative functions, including voice, video and instant-messaging. The program utilizes Lync -- a Microsoft communications application typically used by large corporations that can be controlled completely by a keyboard, an important consideration for users who have visual impairments or who cannot see. T.H.E. Journal (8/15) |  | What are 8 keys to schoolwide math success? Small Steps, Big Changes helps you and your staff set goals, create a culture of mathematical thinking, and translate high-level standards such as Common Core into effective classroom practice. Includes examples from diverse schools across the country. Preview the entire book online! |
 | | - Can open-source textbooks help cut costs?
Students have saved about $1 million in textbook costs for the fall semester by using an online textbook publisher, OpenStax College. Richard Baraniuk, the company's founder, said the goal is to save students about $95 million over five years. Fifty-five colleges and universities have announced plans to use the open-source books this year. eCampus News (free registration) (8/14) - Technology helps jump-start student study
A research project to complete a portrait of American students fizzled in the 1980s when researchers ran out of money. However, buoyed by renewed interest and technology, such as online databases and social networking websites, researchers again began to track students. "This generation is on Facebook, etc.; that's one of the easiest ways to find folks," said Sandy Eyster, a managing researcher at the American Institutes of Research. Education Week/Inside School Research blog (8/15) | | | - Audi sends a penniless blogger on a social road trip
Audi recently asked a young blogger to embark on a social-media-powered road trip from Boston to San Francisco, without spending a dime on accommodation or transport. The experiment -- which ended in success, thanks to the student's use of social media to line up free rides -- illustrates the way technology is changing the face of transport, says Dominik Stampfl of the Audi Urban Future Initiative. "In the future, we'll need more than cars," he says. FastCoExist (8/13)  | When we have done our best, we should wait the result in peace."
--John Lubbock,
British banker, politician, naturalist and archaeologist |
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