Year: 2014

With a new app, young children learn important skills as they program stories and games. Source: newsoffice.mit.edu The power to imagine and create is a  powerful motivator! See on Scoop.it – personalised learning…Continue Reading ScratchJr: Coding for kindergarten

It’s one of the most talked-about trends in education right now. Right behind the iPad and Common Core. Flipping your classroom is a trend that doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon. That’s great, because it offers a lot of advantages for your classroom regardless of your students’ age or what subject matter… Continue Reading The 6-step guide to flipping your classroom – Daily Genius…Continue Reading The 6-step guide to flipping your classroom – Daily Genius

These apps are designed to help learners with dyslexia develop literacy skills at a manageable pace. Source: mashable.com Great apps that complement @jmweightman ‘s brilliant iBook on Dyslexia http://tinyurl.com/nx8kclm See on Scoop.it – personalised learning…Continue Reading 7 iPad Apps to Help Learners With Dyslexia

Source: www.edgazette.govt.nz A powerful article. The quote for me is "Jane Farrall and our very own Sally Clendon uphold the premise that all students can learn to read and write. Nobody is ‘too anything’ to benefit from meaningful opportunities to communicate, play, read and write!" See on Scoop.it – personalised learning…Continue Reading Nobody is ‘too anything’ at Carlson

Teenager Christopher Hills has found IT solutions to some profound physical barriers. Source: www.smh.com.au This is why I am so passionate about assistive technology and in particular the work Apple has done for so many years to build inclusive features within their products. It is about empowering people to participate on the same basis. I… Continue Reading Assistive technology puts creativity within reach…Continue Reading Assistive technology puts creativity within reach

Learning to Teach Online is a free online class taught by Simon McIntyre and Negin Mirriahi of UNSW Australia (The University of New South Wales). Based upon the successful educational resources of the same name, the Learning to Teach Online (LTTO) MOOC is designed to help existing educators establish or improve their own online or blended teaching practices. The target audience is primarily teachers in higher education, K-12, community college, and vocational or private education.

Source: www.coursera.org

If you are looking to invest in your skills to teach online, this free course could be the one for you. It lasts 8 weeks and will take about 3 hours per week to complete each module.

…Continue Reading Learning to Teach Online Continue Reading Learning to Teach Online

Most educators who learn to use Twitter effectively say they learn more from their personal learning network (PLN) on Twitter than they’ve achieved from any other forms of professional development …

Source: theedublogger.com

Another great guide from the team at Edublogger! Well worth a read if you really want to make the most out of the twitter for PLNs!.

…Continue Reading The Twitteraholic’s Ultimate Guide to tweets, hashtags, and all things Twitter Continue Reading The Twitteraholic’s Ultimate Guide to tweets, hashtags, and all things Twitter

Here is a great interactive Thinglink image on the process of digital storytelling I want to share with you today. This graphic is created by Tonia and features a wide variety of iPad apps that go with each of the stages of the digital storytelling process….Continue Reading A Handy Interactive Visual on The Digital Storytelling Process ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning Continue Reading A Handy Interactive Visual on The Digital Storytelling Process ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

Dwayne Szot from Zot Artz – Artz for all doing a huge adapted art project. In this pic Dwayne is pushing student with a “Give it a whirl” mounted on the front of her chair. Also at the camp are ADE’s Adam Goldberg and Dr Luis Pèrez. Adam is doing some fantastic music activities using iPads. Luis……Continue Reading Monday at ACC TechnoCamp | Anne Carlsen TechnoCamp 2014 Continue Reading Monday at ACC TechnoCamp | Anne Carlsen TechnoCamp 2014

Responsive design teams create a single site to support many devices, but need to consider content, design and performance across devices to ensure usability….Continue Reading Responsive Web Design (RWD) and User Experience Continue Reading Responsive Web Design (RWD) and User Experience

Used to just clicking “yes” to pesky app permission requests? Then this Android change affects you….Continue Reading Google Play changes open the door to rogue developers Continue Reading Google Play changes open the door to rogue developers

See on Scoop.it – Brain Bytes Greg Alchin‘s insight: Users hand draw their levels using a pencil, grid paper, and specific markings called “glyphs,” and then Pixel Press transforms that schematic into a modifiable, playable, and sharable digital version. very powerful game based learning tool. #plearnchat See on projectpixelpress.com…Continue Reading Pixel Press Floors – Pixel Press | Draw your own video game.

See on Scoop.it – personalised learning Game making is one way to create a space where students are empowered to freely experiment with their own way of framing ideas and choosing perspectives. In this way, game making is tantamount to project-based learning. Greg Alchin‘s insight: Game design is a powerful means by which learners can… Continue Reading Making Games: The Ultimate Project-Based Learning…Continue Reading Making Games: The Ultimate Project-Based Learning

See on Scoop.it – personalised learning Sarah sings Let it Go her way sharing what it is like to live with autism. All of us need to tell our own stories. We need to be able to see the person first not the disability or challenge.We need to change our education system so each of… Continue Reading See the You in You | Rethinking Learning – Barbara Bray…Continue Reading See the You in You | Rethinking Learning – Barbara Bray

See on Scoop.it – personalised learning Greg Alchin‘s insight: @TouchCastApp. really is a game changer for how learners can communicate and collaborate on shared learning. #ADE #UDLchat #plearnchat See on www.touchcast.com…Continue Reading TouchCast

See on Scoop.it – personalised learning Twitter bootstrap theme Greg Alchin‘s insight: This is seriously cool. I must buy one. It ticks all the boxes. See on www.giraffe-reader.com…Continue Reading OCR scanning for Blind iPhone users – the Giraffe Reader

See on Scoop.it – Brain Bytes Greg Alchin‘s insight: Design is always the key. See on usergeneratededucation.wordpress.com…Continue Reading Educator as a Design Thinker – User Generated Education

See on Scoop.it – personalised learning “You don’t have to see to have vision.” That is the author’s motto as a person with a significant visual impairment who uses photography to educate others on the importance of inclusive design. This book focuses on the what, why and how of adaptive photography with iOS devices. A… Continue Reading A Touch of Light…Continue Reading A Touch of Light

See on Scoop.it – personalised learning What does the future of education look like? One where the student play an active role in their education through an interactive, personalized, and continuou… Greg Alchin‘s insight: Personalised learning is dynamic as every learner is different. See on www.youtube.com…Continue Reading The Voice of the Active Learner – Education From a Digital Native’s Perspective

See on Scoop.it – personalised learning Rita Pierson, a teacher for 40 years, once heard a colleague say, “They don’t pay me to like the kids.” Her response: “Kids don’t learn from people they don’… Greg Alchin‘s insight: The power and importance of building and sustaining relationships with all learners. Seeking first to understand the… Continue Reading ▶ Rita Pierson: Every kid needs a champion – YouTube…Continue Reading ▶ Rita Pierson: Every kid needs a champion – YouTube

See on Scoop.it – personalised learning “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning.” – Albert Einstein Questioning is the very… Greg Alchin‘s insight: The art of posing thought provoking questions is a cornerstone to creating a ‘culture of inquiry’  that opens minds and stimulates truly independent… Continue Reading Questioning – Top Ten Strategies – HuntingEnglish…Continue Reading Questioning – Top Ten Strategies – HuntingEnglish

See on Scoop.it – eBookED After nearly four years of stagnation, Pages’s ebook export tools have recently received several promising updates. Macworld’s resident ebook expert Serenity Caldwell takes a look at what’s changed (and what’s still broken). Greg Alchin‘s insight: In a BYOD world as much as I love iBooks Author and the awesomeness of… Continue Reading Making ebooks in Pages 5.2: Here’s what works now (and what still doesn’t) | Macworld…Continue Reading Making ebooks in Pages 5.2: Here’s what works now (and what still doesn’t) | Macworld

See on Scoop.it – personalised learning Considerations for choosing iPad apps for students with visual impairments, including book apps, and other suggested apps. Greg Alchin‘s insight: It is always worthwhile having a consistent framework for making selections about apps. This is a  useful list of considerations. One I would add to it is "Does the… Continue Reading How to Select iPad Apps for Students with Visual Impairments | Paths to Literacy…Continue Reading How to Select iPad Apps for Students with Visual Impairments | Paths to Literacy

See on Scoop.it – Brain Bytes Google Docs are a commonly used web-based word processing tool. Because of the collaborative nature of the application, it is especially important that your shared files are as accessible as possible, so that all users who need to access the document can comprehend the content.  Greg Alchin‘s insight: Google… Continue Reading Google Docs | AccessAbility…Continue Reading Google Docs | AccessAbility

See on Scoop.it – Brain Bytes Simplicity, complexity, DNA and dark matter It’s easier to complicate than to simplify. Simple ideas enter the brain quicker and stay there longer. (Saatchi) Simple can be harder than complex. You … Greg Alchin‘s insight: “Just understand that Simplicity is more than a goal – it’s a skill. To successfully leverage… Continue Reading Simplicity, complexity, DNA and dark matter…Continue Reading Simplicity, complexity, DNA and dark matter

See on Scoop.it – Brain Bytes Last night’s Tonight Show was one for the ages. Jimmy Fallon introduced Billy Joel to a beatboxing iPad app called Loopy HD. Watch the video. Magic. Greg Alchin‘s insight: Music is a universal language. The beauty of iPad apps like Loopy HD is how ease by which you can create powerful and… Continue Reading Jimmy Fallon and Billy Joel take an iPad app for an incredible ride…Continue Reading Jimmy Fallon and Billy Joel take an iPad app for an incredible ride

See on Scoop.it – Brain Bytes We are delighted to publish the second tutorial to our brand new section within theappwhisperer – Photo Education & Accessibility. There are many photographers and artists with special needs, whether… Greg Alchin‘s insight: Switch accessible photography is another example of what is possible using the inbuilt power of Apple… Continue Reading Photo Education – Accessible Photography through Switch Access in iOS 7 – TheAppWhisperer…Continue Reading Photo Education – Accessible Photography through Switch Access in iOS 7 – TheAppWhisperer

See on Scoop.it – Brain Bytes The pendulum swings back and forth in education. Waiting at one end of the arc is a myopic focus on academics and accountability, often in the form of high-stakes testing. Fueled by a fear of “falling behind,” learning environments that encourage exploration and experimentation are pushed aside in favor… Continue Reading Creative Educator – The Power of Play…Continue Reading Creative Educator – The Power of Play

See on Scoop.it – personalised learning Greg Alchin‘s insight: Now this is what I call an apptastic backpack! Many thanks to Apple Distinguished Educators  @mcopp @darrylbedford&  See on dl.dropboxusercontent.com…Continue Reading Apps for Dyslexia

See on Scoop.it – personalised learning Split into four zones the iHouse will replicate a vision impaired persons’ experience in the home with the assistance of the latest accessible technology. Greg Alchin‘s insight: Every Apple device not only has accessible features — but accessible principles — built in. This is inclusion by universal design that… Continue Reading iHouse | Vision2014…Continue Reading iHouse | Vision2014

See on Scoop.it – personalised learning Greg Alchin‘s insight: A powerful and useful interactive graphic of visualisation methods.. See on www.visual-literacy.org…Continue Reading A Periodic Table of Visualization Methods

See on Scoop.it – personalised learning iOS 7.1 is now available for download via Over-the-Air Update and iTunes.   Since November of last year, members of the AppleVis Editorial Team have been busy testing iOS 7.1 in all stages of the beta process. Greg Alchin‘s insight: The new and changed accessibility features in iOS 7.1… Continue Reading What’s New and Changed for Blind and Low Vision Users in iOS 7.1 | AppleVis…Continue Reading What’s New and Changed for Blind and Low Vision Users in iOS 7.1 | AppleVis

See on Scoop.it – personalised learning Greg Alchin‘s insight: Great quote.:"You’re getting beyond the one-size-fits-all textbook: I would add as long as all digital resources are designed to be accessible and usable by all learners. See on www.bbc.com…Continue Reading Textbooks replaced by iTunes U downloads

See on Scoop.it – personalised learning Hattie’s Index Of Teaching & Learning Strategies: 39 Effect Sizes In Ascending Order Greg Alchin‘s insight: "Every study has a story, and every strategy and impacting agent has a background." It is worth teasing out and reflecting upon the comments listed on the right hand side of notes. See… Continue Reading Hattie’s Index Of Teaching & Learning Strategies: 39 Effect Sizes In Ascending Order…Continue Reading Hattie’s Index Of Teaching & Learning Strategies: 39 Effect Sizes In Ascending Order

See on Scoop.it – eBookED The total cognitive load, or amount of mental processing power needed to use your site, affects how easily users find content and complete tasks. Greg Alchin‘s insight: Greg Alchin’s insight: To improve learner comprehension and engagement, educators should:1. Implement strategies to support intrinsic cognitive load such as adding glossaries.2. Minimise… Continue Reading Minimize Cognitive Load to Maximize Usability | Nielsen Norman Group…Continue Reading Minimize Cognitive Load to Maximize Usability | Nielsen Norman Group

See on Scoop.it – personalised learning TOUCH this image to discover its story. Image tagging powered by ThingLink Greg Alchin‘s insight:  The incomparable Luis Perez’s nABLE Framework in a fully interactive format. It takes SAMR to a more inclusive perspective. Gotta love the man’s work! @_luisfperez  #plearnchat See on www.thinglink.com…Continue Reading nABLE Framework by Luis Perez

See on Scoop.it – personalised learning The total cognitive load, or amount of mental processing power needed to use your site, affects how easily users find content and complete tasks. Greg Alchin‘s insight: To improve learner comprehension and engagement, educators should:1. Implement strategies to support intrinsic cognitive load such as adding glossaries.2. Minimise extraneous cognitive… Continue Reading Minimize Cognitive Load to Maximize Usability | Nielsen Norman Group…Continue Reading Minimize Cognitive Load to Maximize Usability | Nielsen Norman Group

See on Scoop.it – personalised learning As social media continues to grow as a powerful medium for sharing information and ideas, the need for accessible infographics has become more critical.   An infographic is a visual representation of data that turns complex information into bite-sized pieces that can be read at a glance. Because it… Continue Reading How to create an accessible infographic | Access iQ…Continue Reading How to create an accessible infographic | Access iQ

See on Scoop.it – personalised learning Greg Alchin‘s insight: Putting SAMR into practice. This is one for my apptastic backpack. As always we just need to make sure that there are flexible and accessible options for all learners.  See on www.educatorstechnology.com…Continue Reading A Wonderful Visual on How to Use SAMR Model On Different Classroom Tasks ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

See on Scoop.it – personalised learning This Education Week special report is the latest installment in an ongoing series about online education. These stories examine the opportunities and persistent questions that surround schools’ and districts’ implementation of blended learning, the widely used instructional approach that combines technology-based instruction with traditional, face-to-face lessons. Greg Alchin‘s insight:… Continue Reading Exclusive Special Report on Blended Learning…Continue Reading Exclusive Special Report on Blended Learning

See on Scoop.it – eBookED SEATTLE, WA: International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) and IBM  today announced a collaboration to develop a white paper highlighting lessons learned from IBM’s recent decision to support EPUB as the company’s primary packaged portable document format.   EPUB is the widely adopted open standard format, for digital publications, developed by… Continue Reading IBM standardizing on EPUB to reduce digital barriers and increase mobile support…Continue Reading IBM standardizing on EPUB to reduce digital barriers and increase mobile support

See on Scoop.it – Brain Bytes Want to start conversion testing your website, but don’t know where to start? Here 6 conversion rate optimization case studies + actionable advice to help. Greg Alchin‘s insight: How do you motivate online learners to actively engage and participate in activities? Conversion rate optimization offers some interesting research that… Continue Reading 6 Of My All-Time Favorite Conversion Rate Optimization Case Studies…Continue Reading 6 Of My All-Time Favorite Conversion Rate Optimization Case Studies

See on Scoop.it – personalised learning The Stages of Personalized Learning Environments (version 2) was updated from feedback and input from educators around the world. Greg Alchin‘s insight: The brilliant work of McClaskey and Bray continues to evolve. A must read and implement for all educators committed to empowering novice learners  to become expert learners.… Continue Reading Stages of Personalized Learning Environments (v3)…Continue Reading Stages of Personalized Learning Environments (v3)

See on Scoop.it – Brain Bytes Defines User Experience (UX), the disciplines included in User Experience and how your business can benefit from providing a good user experience Greg Alchin‘s insight: Good User Experience (UX) is crucial if educators wish to engage  and sustain learners. Many educators only focus on one of the six UX disciplines… Continue Reading What Is User Experience (UX) | Why Is User Experience Important…Continue Reading What Is User Experience (UX) | Why Is User Experience Important

See on Scoop.it – Brain Bytes Engage website visitors better by designing your site to match how people’s eyes move on the page. Here are some surprising eye tracking stats to help. Greg Alchin‘s insight: Understanding eye tracking research helps educators create and curate digital resources that will engage  and sustain learners.  See on blog.crazyegg.com…Continue Reading Eye Tracking 101: How Your Eyes Move on a Website

See on Scoop.it – Brain Bytes Student reflection is a key ingredient in project-based learning, and for good reason. As John Dewey reminded us nearly a century ago, “We do not learn from experience . . . we learn from reflecting Greg Alchin‘s insight: Just because it is old doesn’t mean it isn’t valuable! John Dewey’s… Continue Reading PBL Teachers Need Time to Reflect, Too…Continue Reading PBL Teachers Need Time to Reflect, Too

See on Scoop.it – Brain Bytes Watch our YouTube videos featuring some of Australia’s best-known disability advocates talking about the technologies and apps that have changed their lives as well as their daily frustrations of dealing with websites and apps that haven’t been made accessible to people with disability.   Greg Alchin‘s insight: Powerful stories… Continue Reading Why access matters…Continue Reading Why access matters

Every school in Australia has legal obligations and responsibilities under Federal legislation such as the Disability standards for education (2005) to ensure that all learners with or without a disability are able to participate in learning on the same basis. To ensure that all learners are able to participate in learning on the same basis… Continue Reading Designing inclusive digital learning environments…Continue Reading Designing inclusive digital learning environments

See on Scoop.it – Brain Bytes From the “I have a dream” speech to Steve Jobs’ iPhone launch, all great presentations have a common architecture. In this talk, Nancy Duarte draws lessons on how to make a powerful call-to-action. (Filmed at TEDxEast.) Greg Alchin‘s insight: An extremely powerful presentation. Great learning has a powerful narrative… Continue Reading The secret structure of great talks…Continue Reading The secret structure of great talks

See on Scoop.it – eBookED Photo courtesy of cbc.ca As things got underway at the annual Digital Book World conference in New York, one of the first news items to come was the results Greg Alchin‘s insight: Further data on the paragigm shift to eBooks. This new US study reinforces previous studies from across the… Continue Reading Digital Book World: Kids and eReading Study Data Released…Continue Reading Digital Book World: Kids and eReading Study Data Released

See on Scoop.it – eBookED The process of reading is undergoing a paradigm shift where kids are starting to read on smartphones and tablets more than physical print. The quintessential Greg Alchin‘s insight: The data confirms our annecdotal experience. The data also only gives a snapshot of what was rather than what is. The paradigm… Continue Reading Report: Kids Tend to Read Digital More Than Print…Continue Reading Report: Kids Tend to Read Digital More Than Print

See on Scoop.it – Brain Bytes The How to Chunk Content for eLearning infographic gives a good idea of what is content chunking and why it is useful. Greg Alchin‘s insight: Chunking information makes for smooth learning – Peanutbutter pedagogy! 🙂 See on elearninginfographics.com…Continue Reading How to Chunk Content for eLearning Infographic

See on Scoop.it – Brain Bytes We’ll reach a new state of web skills when we reinvent technology tools to better enhance our personal learning. We’ll be at 3.0 when schools are everywhere and not viewed as daycare. Greg Alchin‘s insight: Don’t sweat the number (3.0). Focus on the fact that it is a cultural… Continue Reading What Is Web 3.0 And How Will It Change Education? – Edudemic…Continue Reading What Is Web 3.0 And How Will It Change Education? – Edudemic

See on Scoop.it – Brain Bytes Three experts shared tech tips and tools during “Flipped School Libraries,” a rapid-fire, dynamic session during The Digital Shift: Reinventing Libraries (#TDS13) webcast.     Through the use of innovative technologies and online resources, school libraries can now be available tostudents wherever—and whenever—they need them. “Flipped” or blended learning offers students thepower of personalized… Continue Reading Flipping the Library: Tips from Three Pros | The Digital Shift 2013 – The Digital Shift…Continue Reading Flipping the Library: Tips from Three Pros | The Digital Shift 2013 – The Digital Shift

See on Scoop.it – Brain Bytes On this site you will find information on our school’s implementation of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) initiative for students, parents and teachers on BYOD at Merrylands High School. Greg Alchin‘s insight: Congratulations to the staff at Merrylands High School.who are implenting BYOD in a such a well thought out… Continue Reading Merrylands High SchoolBring Your Own Device…Continue Reading Merrylands High SchoolBring Your Own Device

See on Scoop.it – Brain Bytes Improve the layout of your online forms by placing form labels near the associated text field and by grouping similar fields. Greg Alchin‘s insight: User experience (UX) gains inspiration from nay fields including psychology.  Teachers as digital learning designers can we learn alot from the Law of Proximity. See on… Continue Reading Group Form Elements Effectively Using White Space…Continue Reading Group Form Elements Effectively Using White Space

See on Scoop.it – personalised learning Bray and McClaskey provide the Top 10 Trends for Personalized Learning in 2014 Greg Alchin‘s insight: Another well written piece Barbara! The cornerstone is the definitely changing the language TO Learner AWAY from Student. This simple but powerful change is the first step in reframing the whole paradigm. I… Continue Reading Personalize Learning: 10 Trends for Personalized Learning in 2014…Continue Reading Personalize Learning: 10 Trends for Personalized Learning in 2014