Edina Digital Age Learning

The following is a guest post from South View Middle School Government Teacher, Claude Sigmund . Claude needed a way to present and chat with his AP Government students outside of class, and we decided it was the perfect time to use WebEx , a video conferencing tool that we had recently purchased. Up until this time, we had only used it to present professional development to staff , but we thought there would be times, especially at the secondary level, where teachers could use it for help sessions with students outside of the school day. I like that the teacher can present, include video of themselves, have a backchannel chat as well as audio and video with the students, AND it all can be recorded for playback if students couldn't attend. Here are Claude's thoughts about the experience.  My teaching time was cut short.  With a retreat, NWEA MAP testing and the Education Minnesota Conference,  I was only going to see my kids 2 times in three weeks.  This is ...

Earlier today I asked CoP members, and other staff who are blogging with students if they had any students who fit Will Richardson's definition of a good student blog . Later, I saw Clay Burrel's post at "Beyond-School.org" regarding one of his students who fit the bill as an excellent student blogger. It may be worth giving kids an exemplar of what student blogs can look like. Tim K's response regarding his students attitude about blogging at school brings up an interesting point, "some suggested writing about movies they see outside class (definitely makes it seem less “schoolish,” which seems like a problem with blogging assignments in general). " Do blogging assignments seem too "schoolish" ? How can we make them more authentic, and less busywork? I'd love to hear your comments.