Happy Holidays!

    Feel the peace, joy, and love of Christmas in your heart this holiday season.

     A snowy Christmas tree.
     ( Ricardo Reitmeyer / Getty )

Check these out! Cool Web 2.0 tools your classmates recommended

Canva  https://www.canva.com/
"Canva is a design tool that allows the user to create everything from flyers to brochures to worksheets. When I    first used Canva, it took a little bit of practice to get adjusted to the tools that were at hand; however, once I  gained more experience, I was able to easily understand how to use each tool. - Emory"

Glogster  https://edu.glogster.com/
"It has you make posters for any subject and make them visually appealing. This can help kids to understand problems and subjects better while also getting a better understanding of technology. - Grace"

"Glogster can be very useful in classrooms for several different projects and allows students to utilize technology and the resources available to them to be creative and express themselves. - Peyton"

"Glogster is a webpage that is a digital poster that can be used to display media such as text, images, videos, and other visually interesting aspects to enhance the experience of what could have been a boring project to watch and design. - Claire"

Storybird  https://storybird.com
"This is a site where children and adults can write picture books as well as create more advanced stories. It is easy to use and has pictures that children can use as templates and then they can move words over the picture, similar to a picture book. - Taylor"

Linoit  http://en.linoit.com/
"It is set up as bulletin board where you post “stickies” that look like Post-It notes and on that stickie,  you can type whatever message you want or add a link. I think this would be useful in a classroom setting because it is colorful and social which would catch students attention but can also be a useful tool for students and teachers to communicate in a healthy environment. - Faith"

Flickr  https://www.flickr.com/
"Flickr is one that I'd like to use to add some flare to the lessons. It is a platform that focuses around pictures and is often used as a way to share photos without posting them to each social media account a person has. - Raul"

YouTube  http://www.youtube.com
"It is very convenient when searching for content. It also covers a lot of different videos and they all differ. - Logan"

"Teachers in my high school used Youtube all the time in lesson plans. - Kayla"

"This is beneficial to my students because they will be able to see me and hear my voice to learn lessons that I post on Youtube. - Aneli"

"Every minute someone is uploading a video on things like tutorials, their thoughts, or even academic lessons. Academic lessons is what I would use from YouTube to teach. - Sara"

Skype  https://www.skype.com
"Skype is a tool that you can video and live chat with one another. I think this would be so helpful if I could not make it to class, then I would still be able to give my students the lectures. - Kaylee"

"I've used it a lot in my personal life, but I think it would be perfect for the classroom. As a teacher I could get guest speakers from all over the world to come and talk to my classes, without having to worry about flights and hotel rooms! - Story"

"Within the classroom I can see its value for broadening the classroom for students who can't always be there, or to bring a guest to class without having to physically have them come give a talk to the class. - Colin"

Edmodo  http://www.edmodo.com
"Edmodo was also used so that if the students had any questions we could easily get in contact with the professor as well as fellow classmates. - Jordyn"

Google+  https://plus.google.com/discover
"It's a solid social media like tool that's good for sharing articles with a group and commenting on others' posts. I used it in high school during a project with the class and it was easy to use and collaborate on. - Cassie"

Diigo in the classroom

Check this out!  → Using Diigo in the classroom

Give comments on your classmates' VoiceThread (blog #4)

Sara's VT      https://voicethread.com/share/11452021/
Aneli's VT     https://voicethread.com/share/11461502/
Kaylee's VT  https://voicethread.com/share/11461105/
Cassie's VT  https://voicethread.com/share/11461142/
Kayla's VT    https://voicethread.com/share/11468369/
Claire's VT    https://voicethread.com/share/11469768/
Taylor's VT    https://voicethread.com/share/11469578/
Faith's VT     https://voicethread.com/share/11473891/
Emory's VT   https://voicethread.com/share/11466353/
Grace's VT   https://voicethread.com/share/11474430/
Jordyn's VT  https://voicethread.com/share/11473908/
Story's VT     https://voicethread.com/share/11468992/

[Common Core Controversy] Why is this Common Core math problem so hard?

If you have to teach subtraction to your students? How are you going to teach?
Simple mechanics? Or foundational concepts? Read the following column and think about the Common Core Standards, Curriculum, and your actual lesson plan to teach your students.

https://hechingerreport.org/common-core-math-problem-hard-supporters-common-core-respond-problematic-math-quiz-went-viral/

Why is this Common Core math problem so hard?

by SARAH GARLAND                                                                                           March 26, 2014

A frustrated father posted a subtraction problem from his second-grade son’s math quiz on Facebook this week with a note to the teacher calling it ridiculous. Conservative pundits, including Glenn Beck, seized on it as evidence that the new standards are nonsensical and “stupid,” adding more fuel to the backlash against the Common Core as it rolls out in schools across the country.

.....

The problem asks how Jack, a fictional student, miscalculated when he used a number line to find the answer to the subtraction problem 427 – 316. Students are then asked to write a letter to Jack explaining what he did right and what he did wrong.

............................................

So why is the problem so difficult? The Hechinger Report asked a couple of the lead writers of the Common Core math standards, Jason Zimba and William McCallum.

Their response? Don’t blame Common Core. Blame a poorly written curriculum.

“That question would not be in a textbook if I wrote it,” Zimba said.

McCallum, math department chair at the University of Arizona, had some of the same concerns about the problem as the conservative critics.

“It’s a complete reversal of the truth to call this a Common Core problem,” he said. What Common Core actually requires, McCallum argues, is fluency in the simple skills of adding and subtracting that critics are calling for. “Complaining that this is a Common Core method, when the Common Core doesn’t require this method, but does require the method he wants, it’s just a lie,” he added.

...........................................

So far, there has been little quality control. Some of the new curricula labeled Common Core include high quality materials that match well with the standards, but many don’t, supporters of the standards say.

“Like it or not, the standards allow a lot of freedom. People think the Common Core is a curriculum, and it’s not. The curriculum authors are going to interpret the standards in different ways,” Zimba said.

“There will be a lot of variety, and it doesn’t make sense to me to pick one thing and say that’s the Common Core,” he added. “Particularly something that doesn’t get at the mathematics that’s being emphasized in the Common Core.

FSU COE Technology Showcase (9/18, 2:00 to 3:00pm)

Please visit COE Technology Showcase before you come to class next week from 2 to 3pm.
Come back at 3pm so we can start our Skill Set#2. - Hajeen

PLN

I have been building my PLN through face to face meetings until now. I met people at schools, companies, or conferences. Based on these personal connections, I started being connected online to some of them. However, now with Web 2.0 technologies, we can build a connection online first then meet face to face later. But, can I do that? How can I do that? Where can I start? I found there were many online forums where educators, educational technologists, and instructional designers were interacting with each other. We can also find many educational technology related posts on Twitter using some hashtags such as #edtech. I have been only lurking some online forums or hashtagged posts but have not contributed to those online communities yet. My plan is…First, find more useful online communities and hashtags, Second, try to contribute to those communities whenever I can, and lastly, find some key players in the communities and try to connect with them through their Twitter accounts or blogs. :-)

This is your instructor.

Hi everyone! My name is Hajeen and I am a third-year doctoral student at ISLT. I am originally from Seoul, South Korea. I studied Educational Technology for my B.A and M.A at Ewha Womans University in Korea, and also studied MBA at Duke University. I worked for about 15 years at an AOL-like portal company, IT & business consulting firms, and an English education company before FSU. 

Currently, I am very interested in informal, social learning and produsage at social media. I am also interested in social media in online learning to promote student motivation and engagement.

Please visit the following website, introduce yourself, and learn about your classmates! Leave some comments on your classmates' introduction. Please do this by this Friday (August 31st). 

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1mETvUjDm1DNdMzqKrPI1SV35fHkVj3GNCsb5CKVkQf8/edit

Do's and Don'ts of Back to School

I hope you're as excited for the new semester as I am. Here are a few tips for coming back to school from the College of Education.

Welcome to EME2040 - Fall 2018

This is the class blog I will be using to share any information or knowledge throughout the course as well as to provide some links to and highlight content from your blogs. I will be posting to this blog, and I encourage your comments and conversation.

Let's have fun!