What is Core 24?

Core 24 is the new set of credit requirements for high school graduation being considered by
the Washington State Board of Education. Core 24 will require students to develop a high school and beyond plan and choose courses to help them achieve their goals. Core 24 requirements will provide students with a strong academic foundation, and the flexibility to prepare them for whatever path they choose—whether that’s the workforce, an apprenticeship in the trades, or a community or four-year college.

• SBE Website
• State Board QEC Presentation on Core 24
• Washington State CTE Issues

Innovative teacher Vicki Davis leverages wikis, blogs, digital storytelling, podcasts, virtual worlds, and other digital tools to connect students in rural Georgia to the world. – Edutopia

Read more: http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-teachers-vicki-davis

Edutopia published a nice article about VoiceThread in the classroom.  Check it out.

VoiceThread Blog

Many great topics including sample work and research supporting VoiceThread’s use in the classroom can be found on their blog

• VoiceThread Digital Library
  • “The Digital Library is a database of articles about successful VoiceThread projects. Our hope is to create a resource that offers guidance and inspiration for people undertaking new projects. Please contribute a VoiceThread to help the Digital Library grow.”
• VoiceThread Effects On Learning
  • “A total of 101 students were surveyed and 87 responded (an 88% response rate). Out of those who responded, 70% of the students either strongly agreed or agreed that the use of VoiceThread contributed to establishing a sense of community in this class. Community is an important element in fostering a student’s motivation to continue with an online class, as online learners continually struggle with feelings of isolation as they go about their learning experience physically isolated from their classmates and instructor.”
• The Power of the Human Voice
  • “This video from SECC, details an amazing VoiceThread project created by Gail Desler, Halerin Ferrier, and 4th grade students from Prairie Elementary School. Letters from the Internment Camps brings elements of historical research, ethics, art, self-reflection, writing, speaking, and collaboration, all together in a VoiceThread. The result is truly remarkable.”
• The Horizon Report
  • “Traditionally, a learning environment has been a physical space, but the idea of what constitutes a learning environment is changing. The “spaces” where students learn are becoming more community-driven, interdisciplinary, and supported by technologies that engage virtual communication and collaboration. This changing concept of the learning environment has clear implications for schools, where learning is the key focus of the space.”

Click the Image Above for School 2.0 Vision of Tomorrow

Imagine the school of tomorrow. How would you design it? How would you integrate creativity, problem solving, collaboration, participation, and put all the tools together to help this happen? Explore the School 2.0 web site to see what some are imagineering.

The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) has released its annual National Trends Report, revealing new data on the power of technology to increase student achievement and describing the need to equip American children and teachers with the knowledge and technological proficiency necessary to make America a leader within the competitive—and “increasingly digital”—global economy. The report, titled “Focus on Technology Integration in America’s Schools,” describes programs that “effectively integrate technology in efforts to create robust subject matter content, innovative curricula, ongoing professional development, and diagnostic assessments to facilitate individualized instruction.” One of the report’s highlights is the Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program, a component of the NCLB Act, and explains how states are using funds to increase student achievement.  – From April 9, 2009 Tech and Learning Magazine

Highlights:

• 31% increase in innovative use of technology by teachers in core subject areas
• 17% – 33% increase in reading achievement
• 18% – 36% increase in math achievement
• 14% increase in graduation rate (66% to 80%)

Great article addressing technology adoption, management and innovation for education in the March 2009 edition of Tech and Learning

Now that digital technology is an integral part of many of our classrooms, we have a new challenge: How can we manage this essential technology? How can we maximize the school district’s financial investment? Most importantly, how can we maximize the students’ educational benefit? Unfortunately, in many districts these questions haven’t been asked, much less answered. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

- By Jennifer J. Farr, Certified New York State Educational Administrator

Joel Barker, “paradigm man” and famous futurist, reviews Debbe Kennedy’s Book, Putting Our Differences to Work.  One of his famous quotes, “You can and should shape your own future; because if you don’t someone else surely will.”  This book is a must for all educators.

Sir Ken Robinson is author of Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative, and a leading expert on innovation and human resources. In this talk, he makes an entertaining (and profoundly moving) case for creating an education system that nurtures creativity, rather than undermining it. (Recorded February, 2006 in Monterey, CA.) – TED.com

I watched Wade Davis’ Cultures on the Edge presentation yesterday and it has impacted me tremendously. I in one fell swoop have changed my view of story telling and it necessity in the world. Wade is a persuasive and polished presenter. His simple stand and deliver approach is understated and modest but the images and words blast right into your soul. His understanding of the cultures is inspiring and will leave a lasting impression on all who watch. A must see!

With stunning photos and stories, National Geographic Explorer Wade Davis celebrates the extraordinary diversity of the world’s cultures, and argues passionately for the preservation of the “ethnosphere.” (Recorded February 2003 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 22:44) – TED.com

• http://www.brainpop.com
• http://kidshealth.org
• http://www.polleverywhere.com
• http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com
• http://fantasticcontraption.com
• http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powersof10
• http://freeology.com
• http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/addiction/drugs/mouse.html
• http://www.nettrekker.com
• http://voicethread.com
• http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/view
• http://www.edutopia.org/scratching-surface-creativity
  • http://scratch.mit.edu
• http://www.usbourne-quicklinks.com
• http://speakingofhistory.blogspot.com
• http://fayette.k12.in.us/~cbeard/dictionary/intro.html
• http://www.webquest.org
• http://www.csta.acm.org/Resources/sub/DownloadableResources.html
  • Toward the bottom of the page, PBL resources
• http://www.theapple.com
• http://pocketmod.com

Watch the screencast to observe how to create and set up your Wikispaces.com wiki.  This is free to students and teachers.  The built-in tutorials are very useful. The best thing is there are no ads.