WHAT WORKS IN EDUCATION The George Lucas Educational Foundation
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8
Teaching with Google+
Terry HeickFebruary 9, 2012
Tags Classroom Technology, Integrated Studies, Online Learning, Project-Based Learning, , Technology Integration, Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle (6-8), High (9-12)

Google+ Parts

Google+, as you likely know, is Google's own foray into social media.

As much the digital overlap of Google Search, Docs, Calendar, and Gmail software as it is a response to Facebook, Google+ has strong potential application in formal learning environments. First, a look at what makes Google+ tick.

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2
Civic Engagement Tactics 2.0
Todd FinleyJanuary 31, 2012
Tags Integrated Studies, Leadership, Media Literacy, , , Technology Integration, High (9-12), History

Start with Courage

In 1969, RAND political analyst Daniel Ellsberg risked espionage charges by photocopying secret Pentagon Papers that documented how U.S. presidents lied to the American public about military escalation plans in Vietnam and lied about its chances of success. In the documentary The Most Dangerous Man in America, a reporter interviews Ellsberg after the famous whistleblower gave himself up to the authorities for leaking boxes of information to media:

REPORTER: Dr. Ellsberg, do you have any concern about the possibility of going to prison for this?

DANIEL ELLSBERG: Wouldn't you go to prison to help end this war?

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2
The Gamification of Education: What School Can Learn from Video Games
Terry HeickDecember 15, 2011
Tags Game-Based Learning, Media Literacy, Project-Based Learning, , Technology Integration, All Grades

So recently this idea of "gamification"i has been jumping around in my head. There's something simultaneously immature and brilliant about it, but I haven't been sure exactly what.

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2
One Day in the Life: An Antidote to Insular Living
Chris BaerNovember 11, 2011
Tags Classroom Technology, Global Education, Project-Based Learning, , Technology Integration, Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle (6-8), High (9-12), Geography

I teach high school visual arts on the same island where I was born, a 45-minute ferry ride from the mainland. It's a small community here.

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6
Why Wikis Still Matter
Audrey WattersOctober 18, 2011
Tags Classroom Technology, Online Learning, , Technology Integration, All Grades

Wiki is a Hawai'ian word meaning "fast" or "quick." As a technology platform, Ward Cunningham installed the very first wiki on the Web in 1995. That was two years before the word "weblog" was coined (and four years before that term was shortened to "blog"). Wikis predate Facebook and Twitter by roughly a decade. At sixteen years old, the wiki predates almost every other social media tool (other than email, of course, which historians of technology say turns 40 this year). Why then, in the face of rapidly changing technology -- all the new bells and whistles and Web 2.0 tools -- should we still use wikis?

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22
Mentoring Matters. Will You Take Up the Challenge?
Lisa Michelle DabbsOctober 14, 2011
Tags New Teachers, , Teacher Development, All Grades

Mentoring matters. It matters, because it offers acceptance, guidance, instructional support, hope, and optimism to teachers -- and particularly for new teachers. The act of mentoring is a part of the fabric of so many educational institutions. Yet it's still a piece that's missing at our schools for those new to the education profession. Why is that? With so many great teachers around, why are we lacking in mentors?

Mentoring matters. It matters, because it offers acceptance, guidance, instructional support, hope, and optimism to teachers -- and particularly for new teachers. The act of mentoring is a part of the fabric of so many educational institutions. Yet it's still a piece that's missing at our schools for those new to the education profession. Why is that? With so many great teachers around, why are we lacking in mentors? Read More

3
Twenty Tips for Managing Project-Based Learning
Andrew MillerSeptember 14, 2011
Tags Project-Based Learning, , Teacher Development, Middle (6-8), High (9-12)
In honor of Edutopia's 20th anniversary, we're producing a series of Top 20 lists, from the practical to the sublime.

20 Tips for Managing Project-Based Learning


1. Use Social Media One of the best ways to document collaboration and engage students with technology is use social media platforms like Edmodo. Read More

23
Twenty Tidbits for New Teachers
Lisa Michelle DabbsSeptember 2, 2011
Tags Leadership, New Teachers, Online Learning, Professional Learning Network (PLN), , Technology Integration, All Grades

Teachers around the world are gearing up for the new school year -- but the experience is going to be vastly different for new teachers. Where an experienced teacher has the knowledge of what worked and what didn't, a new teacher is going to be bombarded with tons of new info and the need to process it! Not to mention, they will be preparing for the most important piece of all: their classroom instruction.

Teachers around the world are gearing up for the new school year -- but the experience is going to be vastly different for new teachers. Where an experienced teacher has the knowledge of what worked and what didn't, a new teacher is going to be bombarded with tons of new info and the need to process it! Not to mention, they will be preparing for the most important piece of all: their classroom instruction.

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3
Google+ and Privacy: Better for Educators?
Audrey WattersAugust 15, 2011
Tags Classroom Technology, , Teacher Development, All Grades

One of the biggest ongoing concerns surrounding social networking continues to be questions of privacy -- users' private conversations or users' personal data exposed, whether as a result of error, negligence, or intent. So when Google unveiled its new social network Google Plus, it wasn't surprising to see the search engine position Google Plus as an antidote to the "sloppy," "scary," and "insensitive" sharing options -- in other words, the lack of privacy -- it pointed to on other social networks. Google actually never mentions "privacy" outright in its blog post introducing Google Plus, but that's certainly the subtext, as it positions itself as an alternative to Facebook, the dominant social network, but a site that has had a long string of privacy snafus.

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2
Reinventing Education One Tweet at a Time
Elana LeoniAugust 11, 2011
Tags Classroom Technology, Education Reform, Game-Based Learning, Leadership, Online Learning, , Student Engagement, Teacher Development, Technology Integration, All Grades

Elana Leoni is Edutopia's Social Media Marketing Manager. Follow her on Twitter, @elanaleoni.

Last week I attended #140Edu, the first ever 140 Characters Conference (#140conf) dedicated to education, hosted by Chris Lehman (principal of the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia) and Jeff Pulver (thought leader, author, and social media advocate). #140confs are held all over the nation and explore "the state of now": the effects of real-time Internet. Pulver elaborates about the power of the real-time Internet: "There's something amazing happening on the Internet today -- right now. When enough people speak up, voices can be heard, and it can affect change."

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