VSTE

Virginia Society for Technology in Education

Big Deal Book

Big Deal Book, September 1, 2016

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It's Back to School with VSTE and Big Deal Media! The September 1, 2016, newsletter focuses on Personalizing Student Learning, Stimulating Computational Thinking & More. 

We've chosen a few favorites from this newsletter but be sure to explore all the resources from funding to STEM/STEAM/STREAM to social media.

Collaborative Music Making Studio

Students can jam with friends and band members using Soundtrap—a free online collaborative music and audio recording studio. To make music online, students have the options of plugging in their own instrument, using the software instruments available in Soundtrap, or recording a song directly with their computer’s microphone.

Interactive Virtual Reality Journeys

The developers of the interactive media platform ThingLink have launched a virtual reality content app called VR Lessons. The app is designed for elementary school students and their teachers and parents. VR Lessons is a collection of high-quality, interactive, 360-degree image and video journeys on a variety of topics, including science, language, and the arts.

Stories of the Complexities of Teaching

The STORRI website was designed by students and faculty members of Teachers College, Columbia University, to attract, share, unpack, engage, and reflect on stories that teachers tell about the complexity of contemporary classrooms. Through STORRI, teachers and teacher educators have opportunities to write about moments in their practices when their belief systems “wobbled”—that is, when something happened in the classroom that compelled the teacher to pay attention, to stop and think, to raise a question, to open himself or herself to other perspectives.

Big Deal Book, September 1, 2016

Archives

Big Deal Book, August 15, 2016

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VSTE partners with Big Deal Media to bring you the best in online resources, grant and competition opportunities and more. In this edition, you can Transition to NGSS, Create Digital Stories, Relive Past Events & More.

Here are a few of our favorites from this edition...be sure to check the full Big Deal Book for more great resources!

Grants for Enhancing Imaginative Learning

The Kids in Need Foundation awards grants ranging from $100 to $500 to preK–12 teachers to provide innovative learning opportunities for their students. Projects that make creative use of common teaching aids, approach the curriculum from an imaginative angle, or tie nontraditional concepts together for the purpose of illustrating commonalities may qualify for funding.

Weekly Creative Thinking Math Lessons

To help K–12 students approach math with creativity and enjoyment, youcubed, a Stanford University center that provides research-based resources for teaching and learning mathematics, has released a series of free lessons in time for back to school. The Week of Inspirational Math (WiM) lesson series for teachers, parents, and students includes five lessons that offer students open, rich mathematics experiences to inspire creative thinking and a growth mindset.

TV Programs Examining Today’s Education Challenges

PBS has announced SPOTLIGHT EDUCATION, a special week of primetime programming examining the challenges facing today’s students and America’s education system. The programming features 11 films and documentaries on local PBS stations from September 12 to 17, 2016 (check local listings), and includes special episodes of NOVA, FRONTLINE, and PBS NewsHour. It also presents a new film from POV and the premiere of TED Talks, “The Education Revolution,” and concludes with the fifth annual American Graduate Day, a special broadcast celebrating individuals and nonprofit organizations dedicated to helping youth stay on track to high school graduation.

Big Deal Book, August 15, 2016

Not everything in the Book is time sensitive so be sure to check out the archives.

Big Deal Book, August 1, 2016

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VSTE partners with Big Deal Media to bring you the best in online resources, grant and competition opportunities and more. In this edition, you can Experience Virtual Reality, Make Original Media, Think Globally & More.

Here are a few of our favorites from this edition...be sure to check the full Big Deal Book for more great resources!

Virtual Reality Desktops

Educators can transform and accelerate STEM education with the zSpace STEM lab. The lab includes a set of student virtual reality stations and a teacher station, each outfitted with an interactive stylus, as well as educational software covering a wide variety of subjects, from science and physics to engineering.

Courses Focusing on Digital Literacies

KQED Teach, a new online learning platform, supports educators’ growing media literacy needs by helping them develop the media skills necessary to bring media production to their learning environments. KQED Teach courses are free and self-paced so that educators can learn what they want, when they want.

One Book Connecting the World

The Global Read Aloud program uses social media to improve student learning. Over a six-week period, classes all over the world read the same book. Using Twitter, Skype, Write About, Edmodo, or another social media platform, students connect and engage with other classes from every corner of the globe to discuss the book. The 2016 Global Read Aloud will take place between October 3 and November 11.

Big Deal Book, August 1, 2016

Not everything in the Book is time sensitive so be sure to check out the archives.

 

Big Deal Book, June 15, 2016

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VSTE partners with Big Deal Media to bring you the best in online resources, grant and competition opportunities and more. In this edition, you can Decipher Code, Collaborate Across Cultures, Evaluate Tech Tools & More.

Here are a few of our favorites from this edition...be sure to check the full Big Deal Book for more great resources!

Cryptology Project for Improving Math Skills

The CryptoClub Project in the Learning Sciences Research Institute at the University of Illinois at Chicago develops classroom and web-based materials to teach cryptography and related mathematics to middle school students in informal settings. During a typical session, students are introduced to a cipher (method of encrypting) and then practice it through games andactivities that involve secret messages.

Lively Science Podcast

How does memory work? Will our descendants be human or machine? What’s the origin of humor? The Big Picture Scienceradio show and podcast ponders these questions daily and expounds on them weekly. Produced at the SETI Institute in Menlo Park, California, this one-hour radio magazine engages the public with modern science research through lively and intelligent storytelling.

Webinar on STREAM in the Classroom

At 3 p.m. (ET) on July 19, 2016, the Amazing Resources for Educators community on edWeb.net will host a webinar titled “How to Connect Science, Technology, Engineering, Robotics, Arts, and Math in the Classroom,” sponsored by Quill.com, In this webinar, the presenter, a library media specialist and Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert, will explore how STREAMteaching can create meaningful learning for students.

Big Deal Book, June 15, 2016

Not everything in the Book is time sensitive so be sure to check out the archives.

Big Deal Book, June 1, 2016

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VSTE partners with Big Deal Media to bring you the best in online resources, grant and competition opportunities and more. In this edition, you can Explore Fabrication, Gamify Instruction, Demystify Shakespeare & More.

Here are a few of our favorites from this edition...be sure to check the full Big Deal Book for more great resources!

Web Event on Gamification in Education

On June 14, 2016, at 3 p.m. (ET), ASCD will host a free webinar titled “Get in the Game: The Magic Circle of the Gamified Classroom.” Participants in this webinar will have an opportunity to explore the basics of the gamified classroom.

3D CAD Software for Fabrication

Some schools, makerspaces, and fabrication labs have introduced a free online block-based program called BlocksCAD, which is specifically designed to help elementary-aged children create 3D printable objects while learning math and programming. With BlocksCAD, students create, combine, and manipulate 3D shapes by stacking “block” commands rather than by typing precise coding syntax.

Real-World Interactives Challenging Algebraic Thinking

Get the Math mixes video and web interactivity to help middle school and high school students develop algebraic thinking skillsfor solving real-world problems. The multimedia mathematics challenges are presented in the context of the “real world” scenarios of fashion design, videogame design, music production, restaurant management, professional basketball, and movie special-effects production.

Big Deal Book, June 1, 2016

Not everything in the Book is time sensitive so be sure to check out the archives.