Something that I’m a bit obsessed with at the moment is infographics. I think I may have posted about David McCandless’ ‘The Beauty of Data Visualization’ before – the man has an uncanny knack for making statistics into works of art. Now, infographics are everywhere. Some are funny, some are scary and some are poignant. … Continue reading »
We’ve all been there. It’s the last class of the day and you’d rather skewer your own eyeballs with a rusty compass than have to stand up and teach a class. You know you shouldn’t, but you resort to the ‘stuff-it-I’ll-just-show-them-a-DVD’ trick. Oh yes. We librarians see this all the time. The grab and dash … Continue reading »
For some reason, a lot of students think that finding primary sources for History means looking in books. Absurd but true. In my experience, students (and teachers!) will go to the Internet for the text, and the books for the photos, maps, etc. I guess it’s just a case of old habits dying hard and … Continue reading »
When I say Pinterest, most people think one of two things. It’s either ‘Pfft! Pinterest – what is it? I see people “pinning” left right and centre, but I don’t actually know what it is’, or it’s ‘Pfft! Pinterest – that’s for bridezillas and obnoxiously crafty Martha Stewart types, right?’. Yes, virtual ‘pinning’ has become … Continue reading »
I recently went to a PD where there were eight of us in the room and we were having a discussion – in complete silence. Our facilitator had set us a discussion topic in a real time forum and all eight of us were furiously discussing the topic, tapping away at our laptops like mad … Continue reading »
Yeah, so it’s been awhile since I posted to this blog. In my defence, heaps has been going on in the ol’ real world, the most exciting (slash daunting slash frustrating) of which has been my school’s roll out of an online classroom space. I won’t go as far as saying it’s an LMS, and … Continue reading »
So, unless you’ve been under a rock, you’d know that education is all about collaboration these days. We’re slowly but surely moving away from the institution of ‘chalk and talk’ and starting to reorganise our spaces and share the love. Libraries – primary, secondary and tertiary – are evolving by creating more collaborative spaces, and … Continue reading »
I reckon most of us are for getting our classrooms online in some form, whether it be a single unit or a whole term’s worth of content, tasks and resources. One thing I’ve discovered from helping teachers get online is that not every application works for everyone. Blogs can be fiddly, wikis can be limited, … Continue reading »
I find that the best way of learning any new technology is by getting your hands dirty (digitally, of course) and having a play. No amount of manuals or even PDs will make you proficient in any program or application – you have to use it, and you have to use it at your own … Continue reading »
Here’s an interesting one to start the term – ’17 Signs Your Classroom Is Behind The Times’. I always wonder how helpful lists like these are. On one hand, they serve as a good reflective tool, where you can cogitate on exactly where you sit in terms of integrating technology in your own class. On the other hand, lists … Continue reading »
