Where are the media rich textbooks?

Where are the media rich textbooks?

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Push Pop press, which was developing software to easily create and publish interactive media rich books, has abandoned its development and sold the program/process to facebook so facebook can become a bigger book. Kind of sad really.  Trying to find quality, interactive media rich books already created is pretty slim. The possibilities offered here by PushPop were wonderful.   I have been looking for such books for the ipads our students use.  Most textbooks I find are still primarily text based. …

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What do you do?

What do you do?

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Yesterday I dropped my son off at camp and was catching up with old friends.  I was asked several times about what I did.  The conversation usually starts as follows. “What do you do?” “I am an educator.” “What do you teach?” In my head I say, “People” but my mouth says “I work with students and teachers on how to use a variety of tools to research, communicate, collaborate and share information.” Long ago I learned to skip the…

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Pt 2: Taking a Few Apps for a Spin

Pt 2: Taking a Few Apps for a Spin

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This continues my exploration a few apps that might support what we do in schools. GoDocs Many schools and individuals use Google Apps to collaborate and work online. GoDocs is an app to allows you to access and work with your Google Docs. I like this one.  Nice lay out, good functionality and nice integration with Google+.  You can edit, upload and download your docs. You can even open with another application like pages and numbers.  I like that I…

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Taking a Few Apps for a Spin

Taking a Few Apps for a Spin

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I have been looking over a variety of apps for the iPad. Here is what I have been playing with thus far.  If you have any suggestions I would appreciate you commenting below. Browsers: I have been looking at iChromy as an alternative browser for the ipad.  I like the tabs in the browser, instead of the window switch of Safari.  I also like the read later feature to view web pages offline.  If you are roaming though a school…

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Moving to Moodle 2.0

Moving to Moodle 2.0

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Last month I attend Moodle boot camp hosted by Remote Learner.  The focus of the 3 days of training was on Moodle 2.0. It was one of the first training sessions they have run on Moodle 2.0.  Just as it can be a challenge to first adopt it new release, attending the first training sessions can run some risks as well as not everything is always ready. I currently manage a 1.9 Moodle server and am looking forward to upgrading. …

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Learning is Not an Instructional Method

Learning is Not an Instructional Method

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Learning takes place within a learner it results in the change of the learners understanding and behavior.  As toddlers we learn that fire is hot, and ice is cold.  Those of us who watched A Christmas Story learned not to stick our tongue on a frozen flag pole. Though I am sure a few were inspired to try any way, they still learned the lesson. Learning takes place all the time as we engage with our environment and each other….

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Thoughts on “Beware the straight-A student”

Thoughts on “Beware the straight-A student”

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Doug Johnson recently wrote “Beware the straight-A student.” Doug wonders…. if straight-A students are “demonstrating, not intelligence, but the ability to conform, to mindlessly follow instructions, to support the established order? Do truly original thinkers and creative problem-solvers get high grades in school?” This reminded me of a situation I faced two years back in taking an online course designed for middle school science teachers.  The course was in earth science and I have a strong back ground in the…

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