Expand your PLN and Win an iPod from eSchool News
When talking about building a Personal Learning Network (PLN), most people jump right in and mention connecting with people on Twitter, following certain bloggers, and building relationships with teachers across the hall. But building your PLN isn’t just about connecting with people (yes, that’s a big part of it). It’s also about diversifying your learning sources and finding great resources to help you grow. One source I turn to regularly is eSchool News - keep reading to find out how you can win an iPod!
eSchool News covers a broad range of topics – all dealing with education. From legislation and litigation, to case studies, to purchasing practices and new products. eSchool News has an informative website which is updated daily with news and information regarding all things ed-techy! They also provide a monthly print and digital newspaper focused on helping K-20 decision-makers successfully use technology to achieve their educational goals.
3 Ways eSchool News adds value to your PLN:
1.) They provide the latest news and reports on the applications of technology to improve learning
2.) They provide resources and tools to evaluate the funding, purchasing, and evaluation of technology
3.) They help educators collaborate and provide a valuable resource bank for the exchange of information, ideas, and best practices
They also have eSN.TV with lots of great videos – such as this video interview with Karen Cator, Director of Technology at the US Department of Education. Karen discusses technology funding and a new plan for broader and deeper integration of technology in all roles of learning, teaching, and assessment. You can download the plan here.
So…how do you win the iPod?
Expand your PLN by visiting www.eschoolnews.com and picking out ANY news story or video from eSN.TV that relates to you and tell us why. Post all comments and links to the article/video in this blog post. Contest open until 12:00 noon EST on Thursday, June 3.
Have fun, enjoy, and a BIG thanks to our friends at eSchool News for providing us with the iPod!
I just went over to the site and looked around – defineately a site that I will be visiting again. I took a preliminary look at some of the videos and watched the National Financial Capability Challenge with Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan. This is a particularly good topic and one that is becoming a passion of mine.
I teach an adult class for DHHR clients and one of the things we talk about is budgeting, spending, income, how to pay for schooling, balancing a checkbook, checking your credit history and how important it is to know how to do these things. Most of the time it is money-related problems that brings the students into my class from DHHR. Even though the material is for high school students it is very appropriate for my students as well. I will be making use of this in the future.
Thanks for passing along GREAT resources!
Sandra Adkins
Braxton Adult Learning Center
I love e-School News! It really does help me keep up with the newest and latest things happening in the world of educational technology.
I just received an email from them to renew/sign up for their Free Subscription for Educators.
Here is the link if you are interested! http://www.eschoolnews.com/offer052710/
Working in a high school computer lab, I get a pretty good idea of how tech-savvy students and teachers are. This article about a nationwide technology literacy exam ( http://www.eschoolnews.com/2008/10/07/on-the-way-nations-first-tech-literacy-exam/?ast=18 )is something that affects all students at all levels. We need to prepare kids to do more than play games if they are to succeed in the 21st century.
Michael Reply:
May 27th, 2010 at 2:05 pm
Hello Lisa and all:
In case you have not seen it, we offer a free school or district-wide student tech literacy assessment called SimpleAssessment which you can see detail of HERE. It’s now in use by about 2 million kids from over 1,700 school districts in just about every state and a few non-US lands.
eschoolnews has been one of my all time favorite resources for quite a while now. I find that I am constantly referring to it for updates on some of the newest trends and latest news in educational technology. I was especially interested this time in the renewed interest in the STEM initiative. As a computer science teacher I have found that there has been a decline in the numbers of students, especially young ladies and minority students, who are expressing interest in the areas of technology and engineering.
Since I am always trying to “keep up” with the young people, I found the articles about how young people are finally becoming more image conscious on the social network scene and realizing that the Internet is not very private. Along with this, it is good to read that Facebook is reviewing their privacy issues.
Once again, esn.com is a superb source of information and I refer to it frequently when trying to keep my faculty up to date on the latest tech news and information.
I like the piece about the Missouri Third grader winning the Google contest. I saw the new design on the Google home page and now I know why it is there. I wouldn’t even know where to start something like that and here is a third grader doing a great job.
I watched a video that talked, among other things, using folks that have retired for the first time to be involved in teaching. I really like the idea, but wonder how to make that work in our community.
I have subscribed to eSchool News for a while now but never really explored all of the fantastic resources available to you on the site. I LOVED the ‘Site of the Week’ and ‘Webinars’ that are offered. I will definitely be taking advantage of these in the future.
http://www.eschoolnews.com/events/webinars/
http://www.eschoolnews.com/resources/site-of-the-week/
GREAT STUFF!
I have checked out eSchool News a couple times but not paid as much attention to it. Funnily enough, I was just looking at it this morning about Justice O’Connor supporting the new Civics game. I am trying to explore different ways to teach Social Studies and games can be a good way to teach diverse learners.
http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/05/27/new-computer-games-promote-civics-education/
I forgot to tell my favorite news article from eSchool News and really it is difficult to select one. I teach teachers an introductory course on integrating technology in the classroom for Lewis University in Romeoville, IL, so I am always using eSchool News for information on new technologies to share with my teacher students or teachers-to-be.
The article I am selecting today is about Re-Imaging Education and Learning at http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/04/09/re-imagining-education/
The article talks about how to engage our students who have grown up in a digital world and uses a product from RM called Dance to Advance. Here is their website – http://www.rmeducation.com/shops/rmusa/Product.aspx?cref=PD1645897&rguid=853d9900-cbf2-49bf-99e2-1f377bd8e640
This is a new technology that I haven’t seen yet and will definitely share it with my classes during the summer courses. It combines something our elementary students do called brain breaks where they get up and stretch for a few minutes before continuing a lesson and giving an assessment at the same time. A great idea!
One Laptop Per Child’s next move: $100 tablet
I have been following this story since it first came out, and I appreciate eSchool News’ continuing coverage of it. The ideas of using tablet electronics and Android OS (Linux later) to save costs bring the $100 laptop even more into reality so more people can connect to the rest of the world without interventions by their governments.
I have been an eSchool News subscriber for several years and count on its unbiased articles and news coverage to form and/or refine many opinions. I also make or don’t make purchases based on their often hard-hitting analyses of new ventures currently heavily being marketed.
I have been a subscriber to eSchool News for quite a while, but never checked out the videos. I visited the site and watched the video on Brian Williams introducing NBC Learn. What a great way to share news events straight from the source. I signed up for a free trial version and have already begun spreading the word. To see the real footage from news events is such a powerful way to share history with our students. Sometimes the impact of the event is lost when it is put into print because you do not see the human side of it. These news clips bring relevance into the subject matter and will engage students as they learn.
Kelli Reply:
June 1st, 2010 at 11:04 am
Forgot to give the website for NBC Learn. http://www.nbclearn.com
Boost Student Achievement with Connected Teaching
Teachers do need to feel confident about using technology but students can make up for some of that while connecting with others. collibrating with others can cause the lights to go on for many and problems can be solved much quicker and with a more complete solution. Many minds make quick work.
WOW I never knew this site exited. I looked at a few of the videos and I think it’s a great site for teachers to go to. There seems to be something for every teacher. We are looking at making changes within our school and I watched one video about turning schools around and it had a great insite from a parent. It is imporant to look at these videos to keep up with what is happening in the world today because education is changing everyday and we need to keep up with it. This resource helps us keep up.
As a teacher at a rural school district as well as a former and future online learner, I can tell you that I agree 100% with the article about online learning serving as a lifeline. I think that this learning style is of huge benefit to intrapersonal learners, especially. So often, these kids fall through the crack because they don’t fit into the types of classrooms we provide for them. If this learning method helps even one child to succeed, it will be well worth the money and time spent.
The Article I chose: “New Language Learning Systems target K-12 Schools”
http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/05/10/new-language-learning-systems-target-k-12-schools/?ast=39
This article proved to be perfect timing. Our district has started offering foreign language beginning in the 8th grade. One of the teachers that was selected to instruct has very little “French” background, so we are needing to find supportive resources for this teacher to help enhance his instruction.
In addition, the idea behind offering at our Middle School this year, is to build upon the program and start having teachers pull in basic language skills at the elementary level.
Pam
Igniting and Sustaining STEM Education
Read the above article and couldn’t agree more! Over the past year, I have been involved in a STEM grant that brought 3D virtual worlds into the classroom. I has been an amazing experience that forced me to expand my PLN! In order to promote STEM careers in our classrooms, we must be role models and trailblazers! And in order to do so we must learn and search for answers in all that is available to us through technology today!
Even though I use technology more than some other staff members at my school, I am such a novice. Reading the articles on eSchool News really helps me to know what is going on in the world of my students and how our teaching can improve to reach them. Thanks for checking out ideas and subjects that can help us improve our instruction.
The last article I read from eSchool News’ abundant resources is Image-conscious youth rein in social networking http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/05/27/image-conscious-youth-rein-in-social-networking/
The information in the article is important to me because I provide professional development as an educational technology specialist and need to keep informed of the latest trends regarding technology. Sounds to me like our older adults need to be a bit more informed about maintaining a good online reputation. As a mother of 3 children in the 18-29 year old range, I could also relate to the article by understanding how that age group is approaching social networking and comparing it to my own children’s actions to safeguard their online reputation.
My related blog post is called “Good for them!”: http://inspiredimpact.biz/inspired-blog/
.-= Tammy Morris´s last blog ..Good for them! =-.
Researchers: Even violent video games can be learning tools
I guess I knew this, but didn’t want to really believe it. We can’t keep our students from playing these games so we might as well look on the bright side…
I really enjoy the site and will be coming back for more. It is nice to have all these education based stories in one place, so I wish I had known about it before!
Computing in the Cloud – http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/06/02/computing-in-the-cloud/
This story is important to me because we are limited by traditional networks and lack of access to them. As an educator trying to utilize the tools and benefits of technology and web-based applications, I have to do some legwork to make sure students can continue a project beyond the confines of the school/classroom.
I really enjoyed the videos. Anyway to keep up with what’s going on in the world of educational technology is a good thing. I hope to learn more techniques soon.
Here’s the link:
http://www.eschoolnews.com/category/funding/education-grants-and-school-funding/education-grants-ongoing/
Free Money, what’s more to say?
I have added Simplek12 to my Diigo research file, I intend to visit a lot!
I spend a lot of time talking with parents, teachers, and students about online safety and the real life consequences of their online actions. So many conversations tend to be centered around the negative impacts, so it is great to find articles and presentations such as eSN TechWatch: Social Networking’s Impact at http://www.eschoolnews.tv that shed a positive light on the educational benefits of social networking. One of the benefits is being open to new points of view, which would itself be a good topic of conversation within the context of online safety. Convincing parents and teachers to being open to new points of view can be a challenge, but this segment could be shown to hopefully open their eyes to possibilities that they haven’t yet considered.
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