4 ways students can control the pace of content delivery

Deliver the goods!

tech-rich social studies Rather than creating a unit on the Civil War, imagine working with an individual student or small group on a topic that fully engages them, but might be something you know little about. First we looked at how to find resources in multiple formats, to meet students’ different learning needs and preferences.

Now, how do we deliver those materials in a way that responds to students’ needs and also gives them some choice in how, when, and where they learn?
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April 5, 2017April 29, 2022

The tech-rich social studies classroom

Building a differentiation & personalization toolkit

tech-rich social studies I was privileged recently to work with a number of pre-service teachers here at the University of Vermont. All were eager to gain access to tools and resources to help them respond to the variety of learners’ needs they will face in classrooms.

Using the Civil War as our (broad) topic, we developed a workflow for creating a tech-rich social studies unit responsive to different learners’ needs. And using ourselves as learners, we tested out our methods.

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February 29, 2016December 7, 2018

How does professional development affect technology integration?

The impact of PD in a 1:1 teaching environment

A trio of middle grades educators from Mill River Union High School, in Clarendon, Vermont, presented the results of their semester-long action research project, examining what role professional development plays in increasing the amount of time technology is integrated into the classroom in a 1:1 environment.

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February 17, 2016July 25, 2019

What are some good tools for studying hurricanes?

Science app-smashing in a 1:1 environment

Brendan Nerney, a middle grades educator at Mill River Union High School in Clarendon, Vermont, explains some of the edtech tools his students use to study hurricanes with their iPads. The students used a variety of edtech tools to produce a mock newscast documenting a hurricane and its aftermath.

Let’s look at some good tools for studying hurricanes.

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November 20, 2015April 22, 2022

Blended learning in the math classroom

Where is the tech in math classrooms?

According to recent studies, math teachers, tend to integrate technology into their teaching less frequently than those in other disciplines(1).

What was at the core of these research findings I wondered? And what do we know about math classrooms here in Vermont?

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November 2, 2015April 22, 2022

How to save, edit and share video clips

Part 1: Finding and editing great videos with your students

Flipping your classroom? Found a great video about 18th century French military history that’s far too long for your students to stay focused on? Looking for great videos to share with students but stymied as to where to even start?

Worried that editing videos takes too much time and technical knowhow? Or possibly a different platform than the one you’re reading this blog entry on?

Let’s jam econo, y’all.

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March 9, 2015

Encouraging Conversations with EdPuzzle

Make active video viewing a social activity

Edpuzzle opens up the possibility for both students and teachers to encourage a two-way exchange, a conversation, if you will, during video viewing. Any video can be uploaded into Edpuzzle including your own, and they make it convenient to do so with this comprehensive side bar access to multiple video-based resources.

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February 21, 2015April 15, 2022

Active video viewing

Encourage critical thinking & discussion with note-taking

I have been excited lately with the potential of using VideoNot.es in blended classrooms to support active participation in video viewing. VideoNot.es is a web-based tool that allows users to take notes while watching a video. Here is an example of some notes I took while watching Robert Duke’s video “Why Students Don’t Learn What We Think We Teach”

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September 8, 2014September 8, 2014

How to use EdPuzzle for differentiation

New cool tool for flipped classrooms and personalized learning

Check out this great resource for differentiation and the flipped classroom: EdPuzzle. It lets you mark up videos with commentary, crop them for time and embed quizzes. And as an educator, you can see behind-the-scenes exactly how students are engaging with your content, so you can use EdPuzzle for differentiation.

Let me walk you through how to get up and running with it.

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