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Showing posts from January, 2014

Free iOS Apps for a Limited Time

In case you're interested, here's a few potentially interesting iOS apps that are currently FREE! (Descriptions are copied from descriptions in the app store.)  I have not vetted these, but they look promising.... Let us know if they are any good in the comments! littleBIG History (Usually $4.99)   - " A revolutionary interactive timeline that lets you explore world history on an unprecedented scale - from the first miliseconds after big bang to the present and beyond.  It places humanity in the large context of cosmos, earth and evolution of life." Wonderful Days - Diary with Style (Usually $2.99)   - " An ideal app for diary, journal, and note-taking. It is polished with a lot of customization options, including themes, photo frames, fonts, and icons. You can effortlessly keep track of your wonderful moments everyday, and enjoy them in exciting ways." Prompts - For Writers (Usually $2.99)   - "Get more than 1,000 starting lines and creati

Blended Learning vs. Tech Integration

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Like many others, my department has been drawn to blended learning and the personalized learning it allows. Both this year and last year, we worked with a small group of teachers in our district to help them implement blended learning pedagogy in the classroom. We've had much success, but make no mistake, transforming teaching to provide students with a blended learning experience is no small task. One of our favorite articles on the topic, The Basics of Blended Instruction , by Catlin R, Tucker, provides some great tips for teachers looking to pursue blended learning. One thing we observed in working with teachers is that it's extremely difficult to wrap your head around the difference between tech integration and blended learning. Truth be told, we were probably a bit fuzzy on it ourselves for quite some time! In order to help explain the difference, we created a graphic based on Dr. Ruben R. Puentedura's SAMR Model .   Because we receive numerous requests f