Preparing Your Teachers for the 21st Century Student
Students today are growing up in a world much different from ours. Sounding them are computers, laptops, cell phones, Gameboys, iPods, and so much more. Children are constantly sending text messages, writing blogs, and downloading music into their iPods.
As teachers, we have to jump on the band wagon and join the Digital generation to play their own game or we will lose them.
Point Click Learn’s national speaker Misty O'Connor provides an eye-opening, head-turning, digitally wired program that will give educators the tools they need to keep pace with the Digital Native and not get left behind. Learn through exploratory activities the 21st century Skills kids need to stay competitive in the global marketplace while exploring web 2.0 applications to engage the most reluctant learners.
Bring Misty into your school for a high-energy, life-changing, professional development that your staff will never forget. Misty is a former educator with a passion for spreading the word about the Digital Learner that is texting, blogging, and IM’ing faster than we can we can check our email.
I. Blogging
- A portmanteau of web log, a blog is an increasingly popular way for individuals to think locally, but communicate globally! There are presently more than 106 million blogs, and many are hosted by educators or students. Any educator or parent concerned that today’s kids don’t write need only spend a brief time in the blogosphere to see they are writing more than ever. Let Point Click Learn introduce you to this powerful learning tool.
http://mistysdigitaldigressions.blogspot.com
II. Wiki
- How can you get your students to work on group assignments outside of school? Point Click Learn can show you the “Wiki-way”. A Wiki is a free, web based platform allowing multiple users in multiple locations to simultaneously contribute ideas to the same project.
Resources
III. Digital Game Based Learning
- DGBL combines serious learning and interactive entertainment in a fun, engaging, and highly exciting medium. Gaming encourages risk taking and learning by doing without the real life consequences of learning through experience.
IV. Twitter
- A free micro-blogging service allowing users to send brief text based posts to those who have signed up to receive them. It’s like having your own personal marquee. Perhaps the next time one of your students goes on vacation, they can share their cultural experiences while staying connected with the rest of the class.
http://twitter.com
V. Flickr
- A web based photo sharing platform. Yet another communication tool for educators and students. Imagine a neatly organized digital collage without the glue!
http://www.flickr.com/
VI. Podcasting
- A podcast is a digital media file distributed over the internet using syndication feeds for playback on portable media players or personal computers. Point Click Learn can help your students share their thoughts, ideas, and experiences around the globe.
VII. YouTube
- A video sharing website that has fast become one of the top five activities for teenagers outside of school. Due to the enormous amount of users and contributors, YouTube has gained mainstream acceptance and recently featured Presidential candidate debates! http://www.youtube.com http://www.teachertube.com
VIII. Moodle
- Designed to help educators create online courses with opportunities for rich interaction. The stated philosophy of Moodle includes a social constructionist approach to education, emphasizing that learners (and not just teachers) can contribute to the educational experience in many ways.
IX. Web Safety
- In order to safely operate in the digital schoolyard it is important to understand the rules of the game. Let Point Click Learn guide you through CIPA, COPPA, and FERPA allowing your school district to develop policies, practices, and procedures based on educational outcomes, not fear and misconception.
CIPA is the Children's Internet Protection Act, and was passed in late 2000. It requires schools and libraries receiving certain types of federal funding to filter or block Internet access to "visual depictions" of material that is obscene, child pornography, and when minors are using the computer, material that is harmful to minors.
COPPA is the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, and was passed in 1998. It requires commercial Web sites oriented to minors to get parental permission to collect personally identifiable information from children under age 13
http://www.securedistrict.org/
Call Point Click Learn today to schedule a professional development expert to train your staff on any of the 21st Century / Web 2.0 technologies listed above.
