Big Deal Media K-12 Technology Newsletter

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Get Ready for Summer, Investigate Biomes, Preserve Street Art & More

June 16, 2014

In Partnership With:

VSTE

IN THIS ISSUE

Grants, Competitions and Other "Winning" Opportunities

Resource Roundup

Professional Development Plus

Mobile Learning Journey

STEM Gems

Worth-the-Surf Websites



Grants, Competitions and Other "Winning" Opportunities


Collaborate in the Media Literacy Classroom

The ninth annual NCTE Media Literacy Award will be presented to an individual, team or department that has implemented and refined exemplary media literacy practices in their school environment. The award selection process will be based on a portfolio review by a selection committee. The key elements of the portfolio should demonstrate analysis, evaluation and creation of media; the reflective processes used by the instructor(s) and participants; and the growth of media literacy instruction in the course/department. The winner will receive a plaque along with a cash award of $2,000.

Deadline: June 30, 2014, for nominations

Click Here for More Information

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Read Under the Stars

The Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge is a free reading program dedicated to stopping the “summer slide” and encouraging students to read every day during the summer. Now in its eighth year, the Summer Reading Challenge invites students to log the minutes they spend reading as they strive to set a new world record for summer reading. The top elementary school with the most minutes read/logged will win a school visit from author David Shannon. The top middle school with the most minutes read/logged will win a school visit from author Gordon Korman. The top 20 schools with the most minutes logged will receive recognition in the 2015 Scholastic Book of World Records. The top 20 schools (along with the top school in every state) will also receive a reading plaque to display at school. This year’s theme for the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge is Reading Under the Stars! Students will unlock constellations and learn fun facts about space as they reach reading milestones every week.

Deadline: September 5, 2014

Click Here to Join Reading Challenge

Plus: On Scholastic’s website, you’ll find free downloadable Summer Reading Challenge booklists by age range along with Summer Reading Challenge printables (Sign-Up Cards, Pledge Forms, Reading Logs and Certificates of Achievement) in English and Spanish. Also find a free printable Star Guide; a Stopping the Summer Slide Roundtable video in which educators share their strategies, tips and lessons learned around keeping students reading all summer; and Messages to Parents in English and Spanish.

Click Here to Access Free Resources

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Educate Global Problem Solvers

Debate teams are commonplace in high schools, and students learn excellent critical thinking, speaking and persuasion skills through them. In debate, students are typically assigned one side or the other of a fabricated either/or question. Imagine Solutionary Teams in which students work together to come up with innovative and cost-effective solutions to actual problems, whether in their own school, their community, their nation or the world. You can organize a Solutionary Congress, a competitive event in your school or district. During the competition, Solutionary Teams gather to present practical solutions to problems in their communities or beyond that affect people, animals and the earth. The event involves students in creating a caring, humane world while developing such vital skills as effective researching, writing, public speaking, critical thinking, problem solving, consensus building, conflict resolution and collaboration, project management and more—all in a practical, engaging and authentic context. You can help students make a real impact in your community and beyond, starting immediately. Download a free starter kit if you would like to start a team in your school.

Click Here for More Information

Click Here to Download Free Starter Kit

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Supplement Your Stretched Budget

GetEdFunding is a free and fresh website sponsored by CDW•G to help educators and institutions find the funds they need in order to supplement their already stretched budgets. GetEdFunding hosts a collection of more than 2,400 (and growing) grants and other funding opportunities culled from federal, state, regional and community sources and available to public and private, preK–12 educators, schools and districts, higher education institutions and nonprofit organizations that work with them. GetEdFunding offers customized searches by six criteria, including 43 areas of focus, eight content areas and any of the 21st century themes and skills that support your curriculum. After registering on the site, you can save the grant opportunities of greatest interest and then return to them at any time. This rich resource of funding opportunities is expanded, updated and monitored daily.

Click Here to Visit Website

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Sponsored By:

Resource Roundup

Manage Classroom Technology

LanSchool delivers classroom management software that helps teachers confidently use technology to teach. LanSchool’s CODiE award-winning classroom management software enhances the learning experience by enabling instructors to easily manage classroom technology and monitor student involvement. Tools such as thumbnail monitoring, electronic assessment, voting, screen sharing, remote control, screen blanking, and web and app limiting help teachers know that technology is being used productively in a classroom. Take a guided tour and then sign up to download a free, fully functioning 30-day trial version for your classroom.

Click Here to Sign Up for Free Trial

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Plant the Seeds of Learning

EAT THINK GROW provides short-term and long-term support for school garden education and farm-to-school programs. When the school garden is planted and growing, learning opportunities about life cycles and living and nonliving things abound. There are observations to be made about diversity in plants and animals and within the environment. There are data to collect, harvests to gather and cooking to do. Select a grade level and use the free seasonal activities to help students at K–5 eat, think and grow throughout the year.

Click Here to Access Free Lessons

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Get Ready for Summer

Reading Rockets has packed a “virtual beach bag” of activities for teachers to help families get ready for summer and to launch students to fun, enriching summertime experiences. Educators will find materials to download and distribute as well as ideas and resources to offer to students and parents to help ensure summer learning gain rather than loss. Get Ready for Summer! Ideas for Teachers to Share with Families presents a lengthy list of family-friendly resources, including free children’s books online, interactive educational sites and other resources to encourage literacy.

Click Here to Access Free Summer Resources

Plus: Check out Reading Rockets’ new summer website, Start with a Book. You’ll find a treasure trove of themed children’s books, parent–child activities and other great resources for summer learning.

Click Here to Visit Website

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Connect Knowledge and Experience Through Art

New grade-by-grade standards for dance, media arts, music, theatre and visual arts for prekindergarten through grade 12 are now available to educators. Unrelated to the Common Core State Standards, the National Core Arts Standards (NCAS) were developed by a coalition of arts and education organizations as voluntary guidelines that states or districts can adopt or adapt. The NCAS creators intend for the standards to help educators provide all students with a well-rounded education that includes quality arts instruction and supports 21st century skills and college- and career-readiness. The standards integrate the four artistic processes—creating, performing, responding and connecting—with the skills and knowledge, sample assessments and criteria necessary for successful arts learning. Visit the interactive NCAS website for resources, including an archived webinar of the standards’ launch, a white paper on the framework for the arts standards and the option to create customized standards handbooks that match your curriculum and your students’ learning needs.

Click Here to Browse New Arts Standards

Click Here to Access Archived Webinar

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Sponsored By:

Professional Development Plus

Close the Access Gap in Schools

Working toward a goal of equity in access, CoSN has produced a new toolkit in partnership with the National Title I Association. The toolkit, entitled Rethinking
Equity in a Digital Era: Forging a Strong Partnership Between District Title I and Technology Leaders
, is intended to help you build a relationship with your Title I director. The toolkit includes a discussion guide for using technology in Title I programs, tips for building collaboration between the Title I director and the chief technology officer (CTO) and three in-depth case studies.

Click Here to Download Free Toolkit

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Enrich Learning with Digital Photo Stories

On June 24, 2014, at 4 p.m. (ET), the Amazing Resources for Educators Community on edWeb.net will be hosting a free webinar in which participants will learn strategies to effectively integrate a single app, Shutterfly’s Photo Story, to deepen and enhance the learning process across the curriculum while supporting state, Common Core and ISTE standards. During the webinar, two technology specialists will share examples of successful implementation of Photo Story in regular education, related arts and special settings across their school district. Participants will see lesson plans illustrating how teachers are using Photo Story in classroom projects to address standards and engage students. They will also be invited to apply to be part of a limited classroom pilot, including free books for their students.

Click Here for More Information About Photo Story

Click Here to Register for Free Webinar

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Create Successful Online Courses

Online education platform WizIQ is hosting Teachers Teaching Online (TTO), a free massive open online course (MOOC) beginning June 15, 2014 and ending July 12, 2014. This self-paced, four-week course is dedicated to the development of skills needed to be a successful online teacher. The course introduces participants to a variety of online teaching experts, all of whom possess exceptional talent for engaging learners. It is designed for teachers with or without any previous experience in online teaching. Participants in this free and open course will explore the best in online learning tools and discover how to engage students in the virtual classroom. They will also learn how to create and manage successful online courses and network with educators from all over the world. TTO is designed to suit teachers’ busy schedules. The workload is light: live online classes, discussions on class and tutorial pages, and short quizzes to check understanding of material. Live classes will be delivered via the WizIQ Virtual Classroom, and class recordings will be available for download. Learners will have lifetime access to class recordings and course content. Certificates of Participation will be awarded to those who attend or watch at least four one-hour classes and do the accompanying assignments.

Click Here to Enroll for Free

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Facilitate Use of Formative Assessments

Success at the Core is a series of free videos that profile effective formative assessment practices. These videos, developed as part of an online professional development toolkit, show students as active partners in the assessment process and teachers making real-time decisions based on assessment data. The Common Formative Assessments module is a 120-minute Learning Experience that will help your team to develop a shared understanding of key common formative assessment concepts and skills. The module will also assess the capacity of a group of teachers to create and use common formative assessments and identify how the team can support a group of teachers in implementing common formative assessments. A free downloadable Facilitator Guide provides step-by-step facilitation instructions and handouts for the Learning Experience. A multimedia presentation—with video, activities and discussion questions—guides a team through the Learning Experience.

Click Here to Register for Leadership Teacher Modules

Click Here to Access Three Sample Modules

Click Here for Information About Facilitator Tools

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Mobile Learning Journey


Energize Classrooms, Activate Minds

In a 1:1 iPad classroom, ClassFlow allows every student the opportunity to learn by doing and to show what they know. With ClassFlow, a free, cloud-based teaching and learning tool for K–12 classrooms, educators can create dynamic lessons, deliver interactive content across multiple devices (including tablets, laptops and interactive whiteboards and displays) and conduct real-time formative assessment. To get started with ClassFlow, simply register for free at ClassFlow.com.

Click Here to Register for Free Cloud-based Tool

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Open the Doorway to Game Making

For those students who love games but are a bit intimidated by the technological skill needed to make one, the Pixel Press Floors app for the iPad and iPhone is perfect. Users hand-draw their levels using a pencil, grid paper and specific markings called “glyphs,” and then Pixel Press transforms that schematic into a modifiable, playable and sharable digital version. The physical to digital transformation opens doorways to game making for youth more analogically inclined.

Click Here to Visit Website

Click Here to Visit iTunes App Store

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Wander, Root and Grow Learning

Tinybop’s PLANTS app for the iPad and iPhone lets students unearth the secrets of the green kingdom and investigate an interactive diorama of the world’s biomes. Students begin in the forest and the desert, where they will burrow with badgers, spark a wildfire and spin through seasons and time. They will see how flora and fungi germinate, pollinate and decompose. They can easily switch between text labels in 50+ languages, including scientific names in Latin. A recording tool lets students leave questions and messages for one another, and a universal dashboard allows you to follow, save and share conversations with students. Cost: $1.99, but if you buy the app now, you’ll get the next two biomes—tundra and grasslands—for free when they’re released.

Click Here to Visit Website

Click Here to Visit iTunes App Store

Plus: The PLANTS handbook offers facts, interaction tips and plenty of prompts for conversation as students wander earth’s biomes.

Click Here to Download Free Handbook

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STEM Gems


Bridge the Digital Divide with Technology

The Computer Clubhouse, a project of the Boston Museum of Science, in collaboration with the MIT Media Laboratory, is internationally recognized as a successful learning model that uses technology creatively to bridge the “digital divide” and make a difference in the lives of inner-city youth. Founded in 1993 by The Computer Museum (now part of the Museum of Science) with the MIT Media Laboratory, the Clubhouse spawned 14 other sites in the United States, Europe and South America in its first six years. In 2000 the Clubhouse program became the model for the Intel Computer Clubhouse Network worldwide. With $30-plus million from the Intel Foundation and other sponsors, more than 100 Computer Clubhouses have been established, touching the lives of 50,000 youth, aged 10–18, in underserved communities around the globe. Today hundreds of young people in Clubhouses worldwide work with adult mentors on projects based on their own interests, creating computer-generated art, music and video; scientific simulations; animations; kinetic sculptures and robots; and web pages. In the process, youth become excited about learning and fluent with new technologies, developing the skills, confidence and experiences to help them succeed in their careers, contribute to their communities and lead outstanding lives. The Intel Computer Clubhouse Network’s Locations web page includes contact information for Clubhouses in the United States and other countries.

Click Here to Visit Website

Click Here to Visit Locations Page

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Nurture Young "Epsilons" Who Love Math

Epsilon Camp is a nonprofit summer camp for extremely gifted children, aged 8–11, who love mathematics. A residential camp combining family vacation in the lap of nature, it is an intensive student camp and parent workshop—running in parallel. A unique feature of Epsilon Camp is on-campus apartment-style housing with cooking facilities for each family; partly subsidized sibling care is available so all parents can participate in the workshop. The program admits 55 to 60 students of whom more than a third will be returning students. The program runs in three levels—Year I, Year II and Year III—which are referred to by the names of famous, mostly past, mathematicians. The application season for new students begins November 15 by which time the important details of the camp, including location, dates, admission criteria and fees, will have been posted. There is no application deadline; admissions close when enrollment capacity is reached. Epsilon Camp is a program of Altus Math, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Click Here to Visit Epsilon Camp Website

Plus: Delta Camp, a new program that will run alongside Epsilon Camp, is a learning environment for extremely high-IQ six- and seven-year-olds, where each competes with oneself and is mentored to surpass oneself.

Click Here to Visit Delta Camp Website

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See a Different Side of NASA

Celebrated artists translate NASA’s mission “to reach for new heights and reveal the unknown” into stunning images. The NASA Art Program began in 1962 and enlisted some of the era’s greatest visual artists across various disciplines and backgrounds in conveying to the public the Space Agency’s cutting-edge research in ways more vibrant and less sterile than research reports. Among the images found in NASA’s Flickr Commons archive are artworks by such legends as Andy Warhol, Norman Rockwell and Annie Leibovitz. The art was featured in a Smithsonian traveling exhibition celebrating NASA’s 50th anniversary in 2008 and was subsequently collected in NASA/ART – 50 Years of Exploration, featuring an afterword by Ray Bradbury, champion of space exploration. To make the collaborations as powerful and authentic as possible, NASA gave the participating artists unprecedented access to the agency’s facilities and, in some cases, even lent them prized equipment to ensure true-to-life portrayal.

Click Here to Visit Website

Click Here to View NASA/ART Gallery

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Worth-the-Surf Websites


Make Learning Social

PenPal News connects students, aged 10–19, from around the world and across the United States, to discover new cultures, learn about global issues and practice another language in six-week PenPal exchanges. For each week of the exchange, PenPal News provides a short animated video about a particular issue, such as immigration, as well as a text requiring critical reading and questions for response about the subject. Students are prompted to comment on what their penpal writes and take the discussion further. The PenPal News curriculum includes two modules: Module 1 covers Technology and Innovation, Poverty, the Environment, War and Conflict, and Education (one topic will be covered each week). Module 2 covers Immigration, Health Care, Role of Government, Energy and the Economy. The modules are accessible at multiple difficulty levels for students of all ages. Students complete their assignments on PenPal News’s safe and easy-to-use platform; no emails are required. Students can log in from school or home, and teachers can monitor and comment on all work. The next sessions will begin in September and October and are free for first-time teachers.

Click Here to Visit Website

Click Here to Preview Module 1

Click Here to Preview Module 2

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Map the Walls

Google’s Street View is now pointing its panoramic lenses to the walls around the world by adding street art to its portfolio. Google’s Street Art Project is a new initiative that documents and preserves the often-transient nature of this art form. The project launched with more than 5,000 high-resolution images, including work that no longer exists, such as the 5 Pointz NYC murals in Long Island City and the walls of the Tour Paris 13. On the Street Art Project’s website, students will discover online collections and exhibitions about the history, locations and artists of street art. They can start their journey by exploring the map. Then they just follow the Street Art Project link to continue the experience.

Click Here to Visit Website

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Explore Global Art History

The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History presents the Met’s collection via a chronological, geographical and thematic exploration of global art history. Authored by the Met’s experts—predominantly made up of curators but also of conservators, scientists and educators—Timeline comprises 300 timelines, 930 essays, close to 7,000 objects and a robust index, and is regularly updated and enriched to provide new scholarship and insights on the collection. World Maps, and accompanying regional maps, are used to navigate to different regions of the world within a selected time period or geographical region. Timelines provide a linear outline of art history and allow visitors to compare and contrast art from around the globe at any time in history. Thematic Essays focus on specific themes in art history, including artistic movements and periods, archaeological sites, empires and civilizations, recurrent themes and concepts, media and artists. Each thematic essay includes links to related themes and timelines and often demonstrates the cross-fertilization of civilizations. The Works of Art in the Metropolitan’s collection celebrate human creativity from around the world and from all eras. Each image can be enlarged for closer scrutiny and is accompanied by supporting material, including (when available) links to technical glossaries and artist biographies from Oxford Art Online.

Click Here to Visit Website

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