The use of photos in my classroom has been significantly undervalued. Watching videos that are only a minute or two long but show a change over time can be in essence a story. Videos/photos can have a great impact on the viewer. Having lived in Indonesia for almost 10 years, I often read about the [...]

I really didn’t know where to start with this assignment. I looked at all the possible sites, fussed with what I should do…worried about whether it would interesting, exciting, fun. Finally, I decided to stick with what I know and to do a topic of importance and interest to me and my students. Once I [...]

Maybe I’m just slow on the uptake, or just determined to make a decent product…but seven hours, at least six Prezi’s later, I have made a presentation about Photosynthesis. I am hopeful that it will be an interesting introduction or review of photosynthesis to my seventh grade students. I have never used any presentation format besides Power [...]

Photo by Kevin Dooley licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic . Slow on the uptake I am. I had done the dutiful reading… Creative Commons , Flickr, compfight, photos, blah, blah, blah…now I am beginning to get it, see the light if you will. By using photos, reality sets in. I am not using diagrams to explain a concept,…[Read more]

In my experience, visual literacy has not been addressed as a type of literacy. It seemingly is viewed as technology and I don’t hear conversations regarding the distinctions or parameters set up for visual literacy.  Erin Riesland states in her article Visual Literacy and the Classroom , “many students are expected to present complex visual…[Read more]

Technology Integration assumes all teachers have the same skill sets and the same understanding of what is “out-there” that can be used in the classroom.  We do not treat ‘Technology” as a skill with skill specific tasks. No one, subject area/department nor for that matter grade level seems to be “assigned” to be responsible to [...]

I met someone online this week. I know where he works and what he does professionally. I have never seen him and only corresponded with him via email. Yet we were able to complete a UbD together, literally together, working on a Google doc online regarding students and digital piracy. When I finished I felt [...]

Wayne Barry in his slide show The Generation Game discusses how generations are different. He also says that instead of using the stereotypical terms digital native and digital immigrant terms such as digital efficacy and digital literacy are more appropriate. The term digital efficacy gives me the power to change. Can I produce the desired…[Read more]

The article written by Danah Boyd clearly shows that what adults view as bullying and what youths view as bullying is two different conversations. Establishing “turf”, settling disputes regarding boyfriends, gossip and rumors were NOT viewed as bullying by teenage girls. The girls in Danah’s article defined bullying as picking on someone that…[Read more]

I’m reading articles, watching videos, taking in terms…and have decided…it’s complicated. How do I teach international copyright laws? In general international copyright laws are not honored in my part of Asia. Harsh words. What do I mean? Walking distance from my house first run movies are available in video stores a week after the movie has [...]

Is there really such a thing as online privacy when using a social networking system? If you are a current member of a social networking system or an active user of electronic devices, what are you potentially willing to give up in regards to privacy? The Oops factor Consider Ashley Payne . A 24 year old teacher in [...]