Big Deal Media K-12 Technology Newsletter

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Explore Design Thinking, Spark Imagining, Stand Against Racism & More

September 15, 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


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 2,900 (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.

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Honor Exemplary Reporting

The National High School Yearbook Adviser of the Year award program, sponsored by the Journalism Education Association (JEA)/ National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA), honors outstanding high school yearbook advisers and their exemplary work from the previous year as well as throughout their careers. A $1,000 award for the winner’s school, and up to four $500 awards for Distinguished Advisers’ schools, may be used to buy equipment for the yearbook classroom or to fund student scholarships to summer workshops. The Yearbook Adviser of the Year will have travel and hotel paid for the spring JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention, where he or she will receive the award. The recipient will also receive a $500 prize.

Deadline: October 15, 2014

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Imagine New Uses for Data

NASA has launched a contest that gives the public access to the space agency’s earth-science data on the Open NASA Earth Exchange platform. The OpenNEX challenge invites the public to imagine and build new uses for the vast amount of data to design and implement concepts that enable climate resilience. There will be $60,000 in prize money available to participants as a reward for their innovations.

Deadline: November 15, 2014

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Resource Roundup


Respond to Students' Individual Needs

SunGard’s BESSIE Award-winning software PerformancePLUS provides educators with information to make data-driven decisions that enrich instruction and increase individual student achievement as well as overall district achievement. PerformancePLUS provides districts with tools for efficient management and analysis of curriculum and assessment data, enabling educators to build a cycle of continuous improvement by analyzing performance data and adjusting curriculum to respond to student needs. SunGard offers more than 75,000 assessment items aligned to state and Common Core standards.

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Build a Digital Classroom

As teachers and students head back to school, PBS LearningMedia is welcoming them with the return of its “Get Your Tech Oninitiative designed to support technology and digital resource integration in the classroom. Now through November 30, teachers can access free tech-themed content collections, how-to guides on building digital classrooms and professional development webinars. They can also enter to win weekly tablet giveaways. From gaming and coding to 3-D printing, the “Get Your Tech On” collection offers more than 87,000 digital resources for preK–12 educators nationwide.

Click Here to Register for Free Tech Resources

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Encourage Cross-cultural Understanding

A coming-of-age historical fiction set in the 1850s, the free educational film Never Give Up! Ama’s Journey to Freedom on the Underground Railroad provides well-researched content on slavery in the United States as well as on everyday acts of resistance by enslaved people. The richly textured, innovative film breathes life into history by weaving live footage of students acting out the story of an enslaved girl named Ama with compelling original illustrations, historical photographs and a powerful, emotional music score. Download and watch the entire 28-minute film online with your students or use the online form to request a free DVD from the filmmaker.

Click Here to View Free Film

Plus: Designed for students aged 14 and up, the Stand Against Racism board game is a free interactive educational tool that encourages cross-cultural understanding and compassionate action in a safe environment. Players will become more aware that racism exists in many everyday kinds of situations. They will learn why each situation is racist and acquire tools to interrupt these situations. After responding to “Healer” cards that each describe a specific incident of racism (see samples on the website), players move markers on the game board toward the finish line. A unifying element is that all players on a team must reach the finish line in order for the team to win. The downloadable game board, Healer cards and Facilitator’s Guide are free. Teachers will need to provide dice and pens, paper and game markers.

Click Here to Access Free Game

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Professional Development Plus


Become a Certified Autism Specialist

The International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES) offers certification as an Autism Specialist. Its professional certifications highlight an individual's commitment to autism and continuing education. Pursuit of the Certified Autism Specialist (CAS) designation requires a master’s degree, 14 CE hours in autism and two-plus years of experience in the field. The Autism Certificate (AC) requires that an individual is currently working in the field and has 14 CE hours in the field of autism. Readers of the Big Deal enewsletters can use the code BIGDEAL for 20 percent off their certification.

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Find the Funds You Need

Need more money to turn your educational technology dreams into reality? On September 17, 2014, from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. (EDT), edWeb.net and the GetEdFunding community will co-host “Build Your Grant Writing Toolkit, Part I,” the first of two free webinars sponsored by CDW•G. During this free webinar, the presenter will help you prepare parts of your grant-writing toolkit to use in searching for and writing winning grants. The presenters will cover researching your school profile to know what grants you are eligible for; prepping the profile of grant leaders; using the GetEdFunding.com database to search for grants that fit your school and your student population; and finding partners in your community to help with grant-required matching funds or donations. In addition, the presenter will field questions from participants submitted throughout the webinar.

Click Here to Register for Part I of Free Grant-Writing Webinar

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Create a Thoughtfully Designed Learning Environment

As a follow-up to “Setting Up a Wow Classroom” sponsored by Quill Corp., Amazing Resources for Educators and edWeb.net will co-host “Setting Up a Brain-Friendly, Beautiful Classroom,” on September 18, 2014, from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. (EDT). In this follow-up webinar, the presenter will discuss how to begin the process of rethinking your classroom redesign, give you easy and manageable tips to get started in your redesign and demonstrate examples of thoughtfully designed learning environments. You’ll learn how to get started setting up your classroom in a way that will make a big impact on your students’ learning success. You’ll also get affordable ideas for setting up a brain-friendly space. And as a bonus, during the live event, Quill.com and Carson-Dellosa will give away two “Back-To-School” Bundles with a retail value of $90.

Click Here to Register for Free Webinar

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Remove the Mystery Surrounding Autism

Autism spectrum disorder can be diagnosed in people of all ages, not just young children. When it comes to identifying students at risk, educators are on the frontlines. On October 7, 2014, from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. (EDT), Amazing Resources for Educators and edWeb.net will co-host a free webinar entitled “Identifying Autism Spectrum Disorder at Any Age: Keeping Students from Slipping Through the Cracks,” sponsored by the Southwest Autism Research & Research Center (SARRC). In the webinar, the presenter will describe the signs to look for in your students as well as the critical importance of appropriate identification. The interactive session will help participants identify the subtle signs of autism spectrum disorder, utilizing the free tools available through SARRC’s ThinkAsperger’s website. The presenter will also field participants’ questions throughout the webinar.

Click Here to Register for Free Webinar

Click Here to Visit ThinkAsperger’s Website

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Create and Invent Together

MIT Media Lab has developed the Family Creative Learning Facilitator guide to help parents and children create and invent together. This guide provides a basic framework to implement the Family Creative Learning series. It also includes MIT Media Lab’s photo documentation and strategies to illustrate how these workshops were implemented across multiple sites in the Boston area. The guide is for educators, community center staff and volunteers interested in engaging young people and their families to become designers and inventors in their community. The guide includes information on Imagining: What will your Family Creative Learning workshop look like? This section includes an overview of the workshop series and how the workshops are organized. Preparing: What do you need to get ready for your workshops? This section provides information on recruiting families, designing your space and preparing materials. Facilitating: How can you support your learners? This section details how you can build a team of facilitators, how you will work together and how you can document the workshops. And Workshopping: What happens each day during a workshop? In each of the five workshop days, you will learn about preparing for, reflecting on and facilitating each day’s activities. You’ll also find an Appendix that includes a glossary of frequently used terms, a full copy of the Design Journal and handouts, and useful forms and flyers.

Click Here for More Information About Family Creative Learning

Click Here for More Information About Family Creative Learning Workshops

Click Here to Download Free Facilitator Guide

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Put Design Thinking into Action

Classrooms and schools across the world are facing design challenges every day, from teacher feedback systems to daily schedules. Wherever they fall on the spectrum of scale—the challenges educators are confronted with are real, complex and varied. And as such, they require new perspectives, new tools and new approaches. Design Thinking is one of them. The design process is what puts Design Thinking into action. It’s a structured approach to generating and developing ideas. The five phases of the design process are (1) discovery (I have a challenge. How do I approach it?); (2) interpretation (I learned something. How do I interpret it?); (3) ideation (I see an opportunity. What do I create?); (4) experimentation (I have an idea. How do I build it?); and (5) evolution (I tried something. How do I evolve it?). The Design Thinking Toolkit for Educators, along with the Designer’s Workbook, contains the process and methods of design adapted specifically for K–12 education. The toolkit offers new ways to be intentional and collaborative when designing, and it empowers educators to create impactful solutions.

Click Here to Visit Website

Plus: Read about how a middle school teacher in northern California designed a challenge that spoke to her students’ real-life experiences, as bullying thrived on their urban campus, where classrooms were housed in corrugated metal portables and conflicts colored the school day. In the Bullies & Bystanders Design Challenge, students discovered that changing themselves might be even more important than changing the environment.

Click Here for Example of Design Thinking in the Classroom

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Mobile Learning Journey


Construct Arguments with Evidence

Mars Generation One: Argubot Academy is an engaging futuristic adventure game for iOS tablets. Aligned to the Common Core State Standards, the game brings STEM and STEAM content into the English language arts classroom and helps middle school students develop persuasion and reasoning skills. In Argubot Academy, players take on the persona of a new student at Argubot Academy, a middle school in a city on Mars in 2054. There, each player will have to make very adult decisions about the building and governance of the city—for example, What type of food should the citizens of Mars cultivate? Where will people get their protein? What species of pet would be best suited to life on Mars? Can robots really understand us? Players have to build sound arguments for every choice they make, but in this city on Mars, people settle their differences by equipping their robot assistants, called argubots, with claims and evidence, culminating in a robot battle of wits. Argubot Academy was developed by GlassLab in collaboration with NASA and the National Writing Project. The education edition of the game is free for K–12 institutions only, with registration on the game provider's website, Playfully.org.

Click Here to Visit Website

Click Here for a Video Walk-through

Click Here to Visit iTunes App Store

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Curtail the Spread of an Epidemic

Solve the Outbreak is a free iPad app produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The app is a game that contains three epidemics for students to research. In each investigation, students have to read the background, follow clues, analyze data and answer questions. The questions put students in the role of a medical professional tasked with helping to curtail the spread of the epidemic.

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STEM Gems


Support Youth on Their Path Toward the Future

The Microsoft YouthSpark initiative aims to help young people capture opportunity by learning skills that will prepare them for the jobs of the future and even to start their own businesses. To get started, students drag and drop skills onto the power symbols on the YouthSpark website. Then they determine their passion—what they love and what they’d love to do: doctor, entrepreneur, environmentalist, fashion designer, game developer, illustrator, inventor, journalist, nonprofit founder, nurse, policymaker, scientist, small business owner, software engineer or teacher. Next students choose from among YouthSpark’s 30 free programs—for example, Digital Literacy, Kodu Game Lab, Imagine Cup, DigiGirlz and Challenge for Change. Then they download and develop a plan for their individual path.

Click Here to Visit Website

Plus: Microsoft YouthSpark programs help educators teach tech skills, keep their students safe online and connect and collaborate with other educators around the world. Visit the YouthSpark website to find a YouthSpark program that supports young people in your community.

Click Here to Find a Local Program

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Unplug Computer Science and Spark Curiosity

A project called Computer Science Unplugged teaches students computer science lessons without technology, allowing students to get to the core of what the field is based on—computational thinking. The lessons incorporate physical activity as well as real-life objects that students are familiar with. In conventional computer science instruction, these principles are accessible only to those who learn how to program. This poses a big hurdle, especially for younger students. Two professors at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand have figured out how to teach the concepts of computer science to young children through games, puzzles and magic tricks. Taking the computer out of the picture—for the time being—allows children as young as five to learn about the basic ideas that undergird computer science. Youngsters can tackle topics as apparently abstruse as algorithms, binary numbers, Boolean circuits and cryptographic protocols. The activities offered by Computer Science Unplugged are aimed at students in kindergarten through seventh grade, although they have been used by students in high school and even college. All the resources for Computer Science Unplugged are available for free on the project’s website.

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Collaborate to Develop New Technologies

The Air Force Collaboratory is the first collaborative platform dedicated to solving some of the nation’s toughest science and technology challenges. The Collaboratory was built from the ground up so STEM-inclined high school–aged youth and a community of peers could work alongside real Airmen on real Air Force projects. Currently the Collaboratory has three projects: Search and Rescue 2.0, which involves developing new technologies through rapid prototyping to save lives trapped in collapsed structures; Mind of a Quadrotor, in which participants build a quadrotor to navigate its surroundings with minimum human intervention; and The Launch of GPS IIF, which involves targeting the precise coordinates within the GPS constellation to launch the Air Force’s newest GPS satellite.

Click Here to Visit Website

Plus: A free downloadable Teacher Guide developed by Discovery Education provides an introduction to the Collaboratory along with suggestions for classroom implementation, ideas for facilitating digital collaboration, an explanation of the engineering and design process as well as background for the teacher, an introductory activity and online resources for use in implementing each project.

Click Here to Access Free Teacher Guide

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Worth-the-Surf Websites


Interact with Classes Around the Globe

Skype in the Classroom uses technology to take students—some less fortunate than others—on virtual field trips or to hear lessons from noteworthy people in various career fields. Classrooms in the United States have interacted with classrooms in New Zealand; had the CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America as a guest speaker; and taken a virtual field trip to Biscayne National Park to learn about sea turtles—plus hundreds of other experiences. Skype in the Classroom offers 9,300 lessons that include teacher-to-teacher classroom collaboration, guest speakers and virtual field trips. All the programs are free. An interactive map makes it easy for teachers to find and collaborate with classes from across the world!

Click Here to Visit Website

Plus: Just in time for the new school year, Skype in the Classroom has put together 26 days of inspiration, advice and lesson ideas to share with you and your fellow teachers. Follow Skype in the Classroom on Twitter and Facebook to get the daily updates from A to Z over the next month. Join in by sharing your own tips and tricks on #SkypeAtoZ.

Click Here to Get Instant Updates Via Social Media

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Join the Smart Girls Community

Bringing together their unique talents, comedian Amy Poehler and friends, executive producer Meredith Walker and musical artist Amy Miles, created the web series Smart Girls at the Party. The Smart Girls series has won a Webby Award and been recognized by SXSWEducation and Common Sense Media for its inspiring content. However, Poehler, Walker and Miles were not content with merely creating empowering shows for young women; they wanted to create a community as well. A Smart Girls at the Party website was born. Amysmartgirls.com provides a hub for teens, parents, teachers and fans of all ages to learn, become a part of the greater Smart Girls community and participate in Smart Girls projects. The website has grown and evolved toward online campaigns to engage followers in volunteerism, civic activism, cultural exchange and self-expression through the arts.

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Connect Through Digital Storytelling

Digital storytelling utilizes various types of media to tell stories or illustrate academic concepts in a way that is engaging and stimulating for today’s students. The concept has been around since the late 1980s, but several programs have recently started to use digital storytelling in the classroom to illustrate concepts and create cultural connections. Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling serves as a useful web resource for educators and students interested in how digital storytelling can be integrated into a variety of educational activities. Among the stories featured on the site are “Adapting to a New Culture,” “The Idea Maker Evolution” and “Kindertransport: The Unknown Children of the Holocaust” (full version). The site was originally created in 2004, and faculty members and graduate students in the Learning, Design and Technology Program at the University of Houston College of Education continue to maintain the site and add new content. The long-term goal is to make the website a comprehensive clearinghouse of information both for those just starting to use digital storytelling as well as for educators, graduate students and researchers who want to explore deeply the many facets of this educational technology tool.

Click Here to Visit Website

Plus: “8 Steps to Great Digital Storytelling offers numerous activities and resources for helping students work through the Digital Storytelling Process.

Click Here to Access Step-By-Step Digital Storytelling Resource

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