Free Moocs

The summer vacation is around the corner and while it is a great time for us to have a break from the classroom routine, it is also the convenient time for us to do things we always wanted to do but we were not able to because of lack of time and busy time schedules.You might have plans for some freelance reading, learning a new digital literacy, writing a short story...you name it, but whatever your plans are you should always keep in mind that as teachers we are constantly looking for new opportunities to expand our knowledge and grow professionally. Your plans should always operate within this framework.

Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/gforsythe/

Yes summer vacation is a golden opportunity for you to learn new things and MOOCs ( Massive Open Online Courses) are among the top choices I would recommend. If you haven't tried a MOOC before then grab one this summer and explore the learning experience it provides. It is definitely worth trying. Open Culture features a list of more than 800 MOOCs from top universities from all around the world. The majority of these MOOCs offer " certificates" or " statements of completion" (not a university credit). You can sift through this list and pick out the ones that interest you. Courses in these MOOCs are organized by start date and some of these courses (called evergreen) are not time bound and you can start them anytime you want. Evergreen courses are featured in the bottom of the list.

Related: MOOCs Explained for Teachers

If you find the number of the MOOCs featured in Open Culture too overwhelming then consider this curated list I made specifically for teachers and educators. These are some great MOOC courses that  will start next June.

1. Technology in A Foreign Language Class (NI) - Canvas Network - June 3 (5 weeks)
2. Tangible Things: Discovering History Through Artworks, Artifacts, Scientific Specimens, etc. (CC) – Harvard on edX – June 2 (5 weeks)
3. 5 Habits of Highly Creative Teachers (NI) - Northwest Colorado BOCES on Canvas - June 2 (5 weeks)
4. Understanding Research Methods (SA) – University of London on Coursera – June 2 (6 weeks)
5. Programming for everybody
6. Model Thinking (CC) – University of Michigan on Coursera – June 2 (10 weeks)
7. Evolution: A Course for Educators (NI) – American Museum of Natural History – June 2 (4 weeks)
8. Education in a Changing World (SA) – Open2study – June 2 (4 weeks)
9. Teaching Adult Learners (SA) – Central Institute of Technology on Open2study – June 2 (4 weeks)
10. Decision Skills: Power Tools to Build Your Life (NI) - Decision Education Foundation on NovoEd – June 16 (6 weeks)
11. Crafting an Effective Writer: Tools of the Trade (SA) – Mt. San Jacinto College on Coursera – June 20 (5 weeks)
12. The Addicted Brain – Emory on Coursera (NI) – June 23 (8 weeks)
13. Teaching Goes Massive: New Skills Required (NC) – University of Zurich on Coursera – June 23 (3 weeks)
14. Assessment and Teaching of 21st-Century Skills (SA) – University of Melbourne on Coursera – June 30 (5 weeks)

Post Source : http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2014/05/over-800-free-moocs-to-help-you-grow.html

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Pillars of Digital Literacy

Essential Elements of Digital Literacy

• Cultural – Look at the context in which the literacy is situated
• Cognitive – How do we think when we are using a device (vs when we are not)?
• Constructive – We should aim to use technology in a constructive (vs a passive) way
• Communicative – We should be using technology to enhance our communications
• Confident – You need to be confident to jump in feet first and explore/use/master/learn technology
• Creative – Using technology in the classroom requires some creativity and risk taking – don’t stick to the basics when you can test out a new idea or use for technology
• Critical – You need the ability to look at the technologies you’re using (and what you’re using them for) with a critical eye
• Civic- We should be using the technologies available to us for greater good (which can be widely defined)

Post Source : http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2014/05/the-8-pillars-of-digital-literacies.html

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Integration of Games in Teaching

Games are ubiquitous digital activities that students , regardless of their grade level, engage in online. They play them on their computers, smart phones, with each other and with others they have never met. Several scientific studies published in this regard speak for the advocacy of game integration in education (see the list of resources at the end of this post). I have spent sometime reading some of these studies and came up with the list below featuring the main reasons why you need to consider using games in your teaching.

1-   Games  combine  activities that require movement, listening, speaking, reading, and writing. As such games activate both the right and left sides of the brain. According to Judy Dodge (author of 25 Quick Formative Assessments for a Differentiated Classroom, 2009), "If you're only listening, you're only activating one part of the brain, but if you're drawing and explaining to a peer, then you're making connections in the brain."

2- Gaming activities stimulates kids brain., and as Ben Mardell, PhD( researcher with Project Zero at Harvard University) argues : kids learn through all their senses and they like to touch and manipulate things".

3-  Students have different learning styles and games can cater to all these styles: auditory, kinaesthetic, tactile, and visual learners.

5- Games enhance students motor skills coordination, an essential element for carrying on functional activities throughout their entire lives.

6- Situated learning (local learning or inside learning) is greatly enhanced through game play.

7- Virtual game environments provide learners with an immersive experience that encompasses frequent opportunities for reflection and collaborative meaning construction.

8- According to Richard Van Eck, Games and play can be effective learning environments not because they are fun but because they are : immersive, require the player to make frequent important decisions; have clear goals, adapt to each player individually; and involve a social network.

9- Their social and experiential natures make out of games ideal activities for developing memory, understanding, and problem solving.

10- Most of popular games develop communities around them. These communities are what James Paul Gee called "affinity space". In these gaming affinity spaces, gamers get to share ideas, use group problem-definition and problem solving, socialize and develop social skills .

11- According to SRI Study released a year ago, games particularly digital games can improve students achievements in areas of Math, Science, engineering, and technology.

I also invite you to check the infographic below to learn more about how games help students learn.

Post Source : http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2014/05/11-reasosn-why-you-should-integrate.html 

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State Of Girls’ Education

Ensuring access to quality education for girls is always a story, if you live in the education realm like we do. For many, though, especially if you live in a first world country with easy access to education, equal education for both sexes usually isn’t an issue at the forefront of our minds. Lately though, with the big story of the girls kidnapped from their school in Nigeria, brings the issue into the eye of the global media. The girls were kidnapped while at school by Boko Haram, the terrorist group whose name means “western education is forbidden”. While this is obviously an extreme example of education disparities between genders and different areas of the world, access to education – especially for girls, and especially in STEM subjects in ALL locations – is an ongoing issue in global education. 

The handy infographic below takes a look at girls’ education in 2013 – and tracks some of the progress that has been made since about 1990. Keep reading to learn more.

An Update On Girls’ Education

• The gap between boys and girls literacy has closed since 1990
• As of 2013, the global literacy rate for females 15-24 was 87%
• In 1990, that number was 79%
• For males, those numbers are 92% (2013) and 88% (1990)
• The largest gender discrepancies are found in Sub-saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East and North Africa
• Girls have nearly caught up to boys in primary enrollment – a marked change since 1990
• Sub-saharan Africa and South Asia are the main areas where large discrepancies still exist
• Eritrea has the lowest % of girls enrolled in primary school, followed by Mali, Nigeria, and Pakistan
• Secondary enrollment still suffers compared with primary enrollment, but is now nearly equal to that of males – the current rates are 49% for girls and 54% for boys
• There are nearly 31 million out of school primary aged girls
• There are nearly 34 million of secondary age
• Nigeria, Pakistan, and Ethiopia are home to about 1/3 of the world’s out of school girls
• Worldwide, more females are enrolled in higher education than males, though the reverse is true in low and middle income countries

Post Source : http://www.edudemic.com/girls-education/

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New Learners vs New Teachers

I am actually reading a book by Kalantzis Mary and Bill Cope entitled "Literacies". In this wonderful work, the authors take you into an eventful journey back into the history of literacy and guide you through the major changes that marked the use of literacy in each era and how teaching pedagogy has been shaped by the meaning that literacy takes in each of these eras. The book also outlines four major approaches to literacy : Didactic literacy , authentic literacy, functional literacy, and critical literacy. Each of these approaches has its own ramifications in education and pedagogy. I will write more in details about these four types of approaches in an article to be published in the few coming weeks.

As I was reading "Literacies" I came across this wonderful chart that captures the essence of the thinking and values that lie behind the new assigned roles of teachers and student. These roles are informed by the new conceptions of literacies which regard learning and teaching as a collaborative process of meaning making.

Table taken from " Literacies"

Post Source : http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2014/05/a-handy-chart-featuring-new-learners-vs.html

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Benefits of Learning a New Language

Learning a new language is scientifically proved to have positive impact on the way your brain grows and on the cognitive skills associated with processing information. For instance, bilinguals have denser gray matter in their language centers than monolinguals. Bilinguals can more easily focus on two tasks at once. They think more analytically. Parts of their brain devoted to memory, reasoning, and planning are larger than those of monolinguals (source:  How Bilingualism Boost Your Brain).

Besides these cognitive skills , learning a new language does also have some social gains such as getting to communicate with people from other countries, learning about different cultures, and even helping you understand your own native language. This social aspect of learning a new language is essential for raising bilingual or multilingual kids that tolerate and respect cultural and ethnic differences and value and look at linguistic diversity as an asset and not a difference.

This handy graphic outlines another 5 benefits of being a multilingual (and  bilingual ). Have a look and share with you students.

Here is a brief overview of these 5 benefits:

 1-More job opportunities:

The ability to communicate with people in more than one language could just help you acquire gainful employment.

2- Improved Intellect

Exposing yourself to foreign language can change the way you look at the world and create comprehensive avenues that would otherwise be unavailable.

3- Increased understanding of language

Learning another language can help you to gain a better understanding of your native tongue. It can also make it easier to learn other languages that are in the same vein.

4- Globalization

The interconnectedness of world cultures has brought people closer together. Learning other languages can help you to close the gap even further and take advantage of this globalization.

5- International travel benefits

Learning multiple languages can male all aspects of travel easier, from getting through customs to finding your way around foreign locales to haggling with local merchants

Post Source : http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2014/05/the-5-benefits-of-learning-new-language.html

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Evolution Of Storytelling

Storytelling has been around since the start of Mankind. Storytelling was the basic communicational strategy through which culture, traditions, mores, ways of life and early literature was transmitted from one generation to the other. With the advent of internet and web technologies, storytelling has got some new and wider dimensions. The journey of storytelling from its early beginnings to its actual state is the subject of this wonderful graphic below. It documents the major periods and forms  of storytelling that was pervasive during each era. It is really amazing to take a pause and take a look back into history to see how storytelling has evolved to be what it is now. Enjoy

Explore more visuals like this one on the web's largest information design community - Visually.

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