#Jacqui the problem solver

[hey-michael-young-history]

Imōto

Something that I casually work on because i love Jakeda so much.

When Jacqui Briggs Takahashi took stock of her life, she realized that, despite the traumatic events, she was pretty fortunate. 

She was comfortable in her skin as an Alpha, satisfied with her career, married to an amazing man, beat the odds to have a beautiful daughter with that amazing man, and perhaps most importantly, was able to contribute to her father finding light in the world again. 

Her life wasn't perfect but it was manageable. For the first time in a very long time, she and the people in her life could focus on happiness, not solely on survival. 

Tonight, she was sitting on a swinging bench, in the most comfortable kimino, overlooking a small waterfall with her husband. Her father offered to take Makaira for the weekend and suggested that they take a trip, courtesy of his new boyfriend, who still blushed deeply at being referred to as such. 

Jacqui loved being in Japan, loved seeing Takeda comfortable in his childhood home amongst the Shirai Ryu. Hanzo Hasashi was the ideal father-in-law, always welcoming with such comforting pheromones that stayed with her, no matter where she was in the Fire Gardens. His love easily grew to embrace not only Jacqui, but Makaira as well. 

Kuai Liang was much more reserved but a true Omega who clearly pushed past his discomfort to try being as warm and welcoming as Hanzo. Jacqui remembered that flicker of warmth present when they first met. Now, it was a full flame, cautiously extended to everyone in Hanzo’s life. When Jacqui thought about how good they were for each other, she wondered if she and Takeda were selfish for loving each other and not finding Omegas to help. 

I don’t care if it’s selfish. I love you. Takeda smiled as he touched her knee, then pulled her close. 

How dare you trespass in my mind, she thought, wrapping her arms around him. 

I can’t resist a beautiful mind.

Takeda and his cheesy lines. Should we go find Hanzo and Kuai and invade their dinner plans?

His pheromones muted as he stiffened. Just for a second before he caught himself. No, they’ve got the baby now…

Lì-Yán, Jacqui corrected. And they could probably use some help with her. Or at least some company. 

Hanzo never said it, but Jacqui caught on to the fact that Kuai Liang wasn’t doing well. Pregnancy was a unique experience and the months afterwards could be a hell that she wouldn’t wish on anyone. She got through those months with loving family, supportive friends, and the luxury of preparing for it during her pregnancy– Kuai Liang got the short end of all of that. He had to put all of that to the side to save the realms. 

“I’m sure they’re fine. Hanzo finally has his own kid, I don’t want to disturb them,” Takeda mumbled. 

Hanzo, not “Papa-san.” Jacqui sat up and pulled his head to her chest. “Takeda, don’t say that, babe.”

“Well, he’s not my dad,” he insisted. “My actual dad chose to fight a crime syndicate rather than stick around for me… and still isn’t interested in sticking around for my kid, clearly. and Pap– Hanzo has his own kid to think about.”

Takeda pulled away from her and hung his head. “He shouldn't have to keep taking over for my dad. And I don't want the baby to miss out because he's trying to fix me.”

“Lì-Yán. It’s okay to say her name,” Jacqui teased. 

His pheromones became heavy with the scent of rainfall. She was sorry immediately. “I know, Jacqui.”

“Sorry,” she offered, squeezing his arm. 

“I know it doesn’t make sense but… so much changed when Ice Pop came into the picture…”

“Like us getting pregnant and moving in with Muscle Dad?”

“Just… for so long, everybody was so afraid of Papa-san. So it would just be me and him. And then after the… Havik thing… it was just me and him. Chiyoko was there but she didn’t reveal herself to us for weeks… and…” He frowned as words fled his mind. 

He was wary of Chiyoko at first. That she would distract Hanzo from rebuilding, from him. But Chiyoko was kind, despite the bitter ash of her pheromones and just as focused as Hanzo himself. 

Hanzo Hasashi’s heart belonged to his wife, his Omega, his one true love. And the son who never grew. 

Until that day Takeda knocked on his door and smelled another Omega all over the place. Then, the sweets that Hanzo ordinarily stored for Takeda became Kuai Liang’s. He had to swallow his pride and say he didn’t mind if Hanzo couldn’t officiate his wedding because of Kuai Liang. They never fished or sparred or did anything outside of Shirai Ryu duties because of Kuai Liang. 

But it was fine because Takeda could at least cherish the fact that no one else got to be Hanzo Hasashi’s chosen heir. The pride of the Shirai Ryu. 

Except now… the baby existed. Somehow. How did a male Omega have a kid? How did those two geezers–

Takeda quickly blanked his mind before his mind could take him into the place where his platonic sexual questions were intercepted with his platonic acquaintances. 

The baby was all he ever heard about. Even in America. Watching Kenshi dote over Makaira– when he did show up– was hard enough. But hearing him discuss Hanzo’s baby and referring to her as his niece– it was the final straw. The baby came in and ruined everything for him. 

And he was so stupid to still be so stuck on Kenshi. He was supposed to let it go. To either forgive or shun. Every time he thought he was close, he saw his mother’s worried face telling him it was time to go and he had to go alone. 

“Hey.” At some point, Jacqui had pulled his head onto her chest. Now, she was patting his arm and sitting him up. “You look like you could use some air.”

“We’re already outside.”

“Some different air. Let’s go.”

[daryl-dixsin]

Witchcraft: Part 6

Daryl Dixon x Fem OC

The Camp

       "Why'd we stop?" Daryl asked groggily, lifting his head from where it rested against the truck door window, looking around skeptically before gazing between Merle and I, "You know these people?" I couldn't help but laugh softly; he didn't seem so tough when he was this tired. "The hell you laughin' at?" He challenged, rubbing a hand down his face, which only made me laugh more.

        "Never you mind," I sneered at him playfully, "We should probably go talk to these people before they start to get too suspicious," I thought out loud, noticing some of the people start to slowly approach the truck. "Come on, move over," I tapped Daryl's leg lightly, ushering him out of the truck, "We gotta make a good first impression, so watch your mouth, man," I eyed Merle playfully before hopping out of the truck after Daryl, swinging my backpack onto my back. 

        "Someone mind tellin' me where the hell we are?" Daryl asked again, getting a bit frustrated as Merle joined him at his side.

        "Looks like we're gonna find out, brother," Merle said as he watched me walk up to the middle aged man that had approached the truck, followed by a young Asian man and a blonde woman. The two brothers hung back, listening closely to the words exchanged between the three strangers and I.

        "You three come from Atlanta?" The older gentleman asked, "We've been calling out with the radio all morning hoping to reach people, but no luck so far," he informed me with a sigh.

        "Yeah, you guys are the first people we've seen since we put this camp together," the Asian man added, looking at each of us thoughtfully.

        "Well, I'm from a small town outside of Atlanta, but I met these two on the way up here after I got separated from my sister and my nephew," I said, motioning to the two brothers behind me, "I'm Mackenzie and their names are Daryl and Merle," I introduced us us with a smile.

        "My name's Dale," the middle aged man held his hand out for me to shake, "It's nice to know there are more people out there," he smiled.

        "I'm Glenn," the Asian man smiled at me, "And this is Andrea," he introduced the blonde woman next to him as she smiled and waved at the Dixons, who nodded in return.

        "Why don't you come meet everyone," Andrea offered, giving me a kind smile, "I think there might be someone you'd like to see," she said, waving me over.

        I looked behind me to see the brothers give me another nod, "Go on, we'll catch up," Daryl assured me, "Just got some questions 'bout this place," he said, looking to Dale as if he was asking permission, earning a nod from both him and Glenn. I gave Daryl another smile before jogging to catch up with Andrea.

        "So how many people are here?" I asked her, excited to see more people after everything I'd been through the day before, "And who is it you think I'd want to see?" I was both curious and cautious. This woman did't even know me, but anything was worth a shot at this point.

        "Just keep walking," Andrea laughed, leading me around the corner of a huge RV to see a group of even more people, "There's a boy here that just hasn't stopped talking about his aunt Kenzie," she trailed off as she looked around for someone specific, "And I thought that might be you," she looked at me with kind eyes as she pointed to a young boy, who I immediately recognized to be Carl.

        My eyes started to tear up as soon as I saw him, which made it exponentially harder to get any words out as I tried desperately to call his name, "C-Carl? Carl, oh my god," I started laughing almost as fast as I had started crying when his wide eyes met mine.

        "KENZIE!" He all but yelled as he broke into a run, crashing into me as I held him tight in my arms. I sank to my knees, clutching Carl as tight as I could. I know it had only been a couple days, but I missed this kid more than anything.

        "Mackenzie? Oh my god, Mack, is that you?" I heard Lori call from a distance before she broke into a run, "I thought we'd lost you, I thought you were gone, I didn't know what to do- a-and Shane just said we should keep moving, I didn't-" Lori cut herself off as she sank to her knees and joined Carl and I in a mushy pile of relief. I didn't even care how ridiculous I must have looked in front of all the people I hadn't even met yet, I was just glad to have my family back.

        "What happened out there?" I managed to gain enough composure to ask Lori through my sobs, "I came back and you guys were just gone, I didn't know what to think."

        "I'm so sorry Mack," Lori apologized through tears, "It got bad so fast, I tried to get Shane to go look for you before we left, but we had to keep moving," she explained, guilt evident in her voice. Picking up on this, I put a hand on the back of her head and pulled her in closer yet again, letting her know I understood. "How- How did you get here? Is everything okay?" she asked me, slightly worried.

        I nodded swiftly, a smile present upon my face, "I met two guys, Daryl and Merle, they let me tag along and we ended up here after driving for ages," I reminisced, laughing lightly, "I guess I really owe them, don't I," I joked, earning a laugh from Lori and Carl. We were savoring this moment, as we figured they'd be few and far between from this point on.

        The sun had finally set after a long day of meeting new people at the camp and we were all sitting around a fire, talking and learning more about each other. Dale was a nice and helpful man who kept watch over camp and did anything he could when it came to helping around the community. Glenn was a young Asian man who took pride in being quick on his feet and a fast problem solver, as he often went on runs into Atlanta by himself. Andrea and her sister, Amy, were relatively quiet, but sweet, and were very close to each other. I vaguely remember Ed, Carol, and their daughter Sofia from the crowded highway, but I couldn't quite figure them out yet. T-Dog was an incredibly sarcastic man, who I personally hit it off with, as sarcasm functions as a second language for me at this point. Jim and Jacqui were by far the quietest members of the camp, but they seemed like nice people so far. Finally, Morales and his family were pretty quiet as well, but from the looks of it, Lori and Carl had become quite close with them, which was good enough for me. Of course, the only thing that really mattered to me was that I'd found Lori and Carl again. As for the Dixon brothers; I guess everything seemed to check out here, because they decided to stay as well. Everything was looking up, that is, until Shane decided to open his mouth. If I had a bad feeling about him before, I definitely had a bad feeling about him after he deserted me in the woods at night.

        "So you mean to tell me you just got into a truck with two random guys you just met?" Shane asked me sternly as he started the camp fire, looking up every few seconds to eye me. I just rolled my eyes, planning to ignore him before I heard a voice to my left answer for me.

        "Yeah, after you left 'er fer dead," Daryl interrupted him harshly, "Don't go leavin' that part out," he said, shooting Shane one more dirty look before looking back down at the fire that was starting to rise. I discretely placed a hand on Daryl's shoulder, letting him know I appreciated the gesture, removing it mere moments after, not wanting Merle to see and give his brother shit about it. Shane was about to fight back before Dale jumped in, wanting to avoid any unnecessary conflict.

        "Mackenzie, why don't you tell us about yourself, huh?" Dale offered kindly, "We've been talking your ear off all day, it's only fair," he finished with a smile. It had been a long day and I was tired beyond belief, but I guess they were as curious about me as I was about them.

        "Well, I moved here from Washington not too long ago after graduating from university because I wanted to get a master's degree from the university in Atlanta," I began, thinking at what I could say that would even be remotely interesting, "My degree is in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Science, so naturally, I work at a zoo," I finished with a smile, trying not to worry myself sick about how all the zoo animals were doing at this point.

        "Not to mention she sucks at Mario Kart," Carl piped up from my right hand side, "That part's important!"

        "You know what you little punk, that was one time you beat me," I narrowed my eyes jokingly at Carl as he began to laugh, "One. Time."

        "And don't you forget it," Carl teased me back as I stuck my tongue out at him. Just about everyone around the fire was smiling at that point, even Carol and her daughter, Sofia, who hadn't cracked a smile all day.

        "You better watch your daughter, Carol, this one's a charmer, he is," I smiled at Carol as I continued teasing Carl, ruffling a hand through his hair, "His auntie taught him everything he knows about charming the ladies," I cooed as he desperately tried to pry my hand off his head in a fit of laughter. To my surprise, she actually laughed a bit, which made me happy.

        "Must mean he don't know much then," Daryl gave me a playful smirk as another round of laughter erupted from the circle, "Can't say you're the smoothest person I ever met," he finished as I put a hand over my heart, pretending to be offended.

        "Yeah, tough guy? Who managed to charm two men enough to give her a free ride, eh?" I challenged him as he just raised an eyebrow.

        "Charmed us, huh?" Merle asked skeptically from across the fire as I nodded, "You broke into our truck and fell asleep lil' girl, ain't nothin' charmin' 'bout that," he finished with a laugh, backing his brother up. At this point, everyone was in high spirits, happy to just have a light hearted conversation again.

        "Alright, alright, I just came here to have a good time, guys, damn," I smiled, placing my hands up in a mockingly defensive manner, "I am feeling kinda tired though, so I think I'm gonna head to bed," I thought aloud, raised arms turning into a stretch.

        "We'll go too," Lori offered, standing up and placing each hand on Carl's and my shoulder, "Come on you two, lets get to the tent," she said, turning towards numerous tents.

        I turned towards Daryl before getting up, only to see him already looking at me, expressions soft, "Where will you guys be?" I asked, referring to him and Merle, "You're staying here, right?" Once I asked, I could have sworn I just saw him smile.

        "Yeah, we are," he said reassuringly, "We'll probably go out huntin', then set our shit up by the truck," he finished, nodding towards where the truck was parked.

        I gave him a quick smile before standing up, "Night, Daryl," I said, turning around to follow Lori and Carl to our tent. And behind me, in the faintest voice, I heard a singular,

        "Night."

[evnoweb]

Resources You Need During Covid-19

My inbox–probably yours, too–is flooded with suggestions, how-tos, and don’t-do’s, on teaching online as a strategy for dealing with Covid-19. Though I’m not happy about the reason, I’m thrilled at the interest in online classes. I’m an adjunct professor – online only–for a variety of major universities (CSU for one). I’ve taught many years in both environments and love online teaching because it is flexible, diversified, self-directed, and self-paced. I agree with many studies—that online is more effective (one from IBM).

As I received the onslaught of teach-online resources, I collected those that made the most sense. Below is a short curation of the most useful articles, links, resources, and webinars to help you through this challenging environment:

Online articles:

Resources, tips and more for remote and e-learning (teaching online) — from Educational Technology Guy

Tools to prepare for school closures–suggested by Common Sense

Advice for new Online Teachers–from EdSurge

Navigating Uncertain Times: How Schools Can Cope With Corona virus–from EdSurge

Understanding the Impact of Coronavirus on K-12 Education–from EdSurge

Newsela COVID-19 resource center (and free access to their paid products this school year)

A live-tracker of the spread of the disease from Johns Hopkins University.

Snow Day? 7 Ways to Keep Teaching

An Open Letter to Teachers About Online Classes

Remote Learning: Tips for Thriving in This Ecosystem

Alice Keeler’s Tips and Resources for Managing and Maximizing Remote Learning

Online webinars:

One of the best I’ve watched in the last few weeks (as I dig into this subject) is Rushton Hurley’s (here’s the link). Here are some great suggestions for teachers who have to start fast with little preparation:

Here are three webinars from the knowledgeable Richard Byrne: Three Free Webinars About Transitioning to Teaching Online 

Distance Learning Strategies for Education Leaders, Part 1 Date: March 17th, 2020

Distance Learning Strategies for Education Leaders, Part 2 Date: March 20th, 2020

A short curated list of resources for teaching online:

How-to

Distance Learning with Google Slides–from Alice Keeler

Resources for Teaching Online–from Edublog

Online chats

Adobe Connect–fully-featured with lots of options for meeting students online

Google Hangouts–max. of 10-15 people

Nepris–bring experts into your classes

Skype

Unhangouts–gather in the virtual lobby and then join a GHO

Online course sites

Blackboard

Canvas

CourseSites–like Blackboard, but free for some set-up

Iteach.world–online class platform

Virtual Classrooms/Meetings

Canvas–and it’s Big Blue Button conference option

Draw Chat–virtual meeting with a whiteboard

Google Hangouts

Webroom.net — virtual conference or meeting room

Zoom

Big Questions

If you’re still with me, here are quick notes on questions I’ve gotten from fellow educators over the past week or so:

What can you as a parent do in advance?

Be positive, upbeat about these changes. They are good—you will grow to like them. Know the pros and cons—they are balanced, maybe even skewed in favor of online.

Assume the teacher will be flexible with students as they adapt to online learning.

Don’t give up—try, try again, and come up with a solution that works even if it isn’t perfect.

Let your child try to solve their problems but be there to help if they get stuck. Most online classes aren’t a virtual meeting. They’re a list of assignments, discussion boards, forums, and projects that are accomplished at the students own pace. While you’re at work, you can help your child with your own virtual meeting (via free programs like Google Hangouts, Zoom, and Webroom.net) by screen-sharing their assignment page. You can even remote in without nearly as much trouble as that used to be. Your child is not in the same room as the teacher. Don’t think you must be in the same room as your child to help.

Know how to get in touch with the teacher (since you can’t walk in and visit their classroom). FB? Messaging? Email? What’s the best way?

What are the biggest problems I face moving my teaching online?

Tech knowledge–don’t give up; there are only so many problems. Once they’re solved, most of the rest of the experience will go smoothly.

Problems—solve these together, you and the parents. Don’t try to be perfect, just a problem-solver.

Many students don’t have a home computer or access to the internet. What do I do?

These are difficult issues and have caused many schools to resist online teaching. To meet the suddenness of the Corona-19 pandemic, some schools are lending out their extra Chromebooks and purchasing more with newly-available Federal and State funds. Many Districts are deploying mobile hotspots to help students with internet access. Where that isn’t practical, teachers send work to students as PDF files that can be viewed and annotated on a computer and then printed with student input (this is the choice made by some New Jersey schools with a high percentage of students without computers or internet connectivity).

What should students and families know before their first online session?

Don’t be afraid.

Get help if you’re stuck.

Be a risk-taker—boldly go where few have gone before.

***

In the end, it comes down to flexibility. We as educators must be mindful of the students without access to technology and provide alternative-but-equal options that adapt lessons to their circumstances. The issue of equity is one of the most important as schools move to online teaching. NEA Today will cover this in upcoming issues as this evolves.

#coronaviruseducation

#coronavirus

–also published on NEA Today

Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, contributor to NEA Today, and author of the tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.

Resources You Need During Covid-19 published first on https://medium.com/@DigitalDLCourse

[corpasa]

Resources You Need During Covid-19

My inbox–probably yours, too–is flooded with suggestions, how-tos, and don’t-do’s, on teaching online as a strategy for dealing with Covid-19. Though I’m not happy about the reason, I’m thrilled at the interest in online classes. I’m an adjunct professor – online only–for a variety of major universities (CSU for one). I’ve taught many years in both environments and love online teaching because it is flexible, diversified, self-directed, and self-paced. I agree with many studies—that online is more effective (one from IBM).

As I received the onslaught of teach-online resources, I collected those that made the most sense. Below is a short curation of the most useful articles, links, resources, and webinars to help you through this challenging environment:

Online articles:

Resources, tips and more for remote and e-learning (teaching online) — from Educational Technology Guy

Tools to prepare for school closures–suggested by Common Sense

Advice for new Online Teachers–from EdSurge

Navigating Uncertain Times: How Schools Can Cope With Corona virus–from EdSurge

Understanding the Impact of Coronavirus on K-12 Education–from EdSurge

Newsela COVID-19 resource center (and free access to their paid products this school year)

A live-tracker of the spread of the disease from Johns Hopkins University.

Snow Day? 7 Ways to Keep Teaching

An Open Letter to Teachers About Online Classes

Remote Learning: Tips for Thriving in This Ecosystem

Alice Keeler’s Tips and Resources for Managing and Maximizing Remote Learning

Online webinars:

One of the best I’ve watched in the last few weeks (as I dig into this subject) is Rushton Hurley’s (here’s the link). Here are some great suggestions for teachers who have to start fast with little preparation:

Here are three webinars from the knowledgeable Richard Byrne: Three Free Webinars About Transitioning to Teaching Online 

Distance Learning Strategies for Education Leaders, Part 1 Date: March 17th, 2020

Distance Learning Strategies for Education Leaders, Part 2 Date: March 20th, 2020

A short curated list of resources for teaching online:

How-to

Distance Learning with Google Slides–from Alice Keeler

Resources for Teaching Online–from Edublog

Online chats

Adobe Connect–fully-featured with lots of options for meeting students online

Google Hangouts–max. of 10-15 people

Nepris–bring experts into your classes

Skype

Unhangouts–gather in the virtual lobby and then join a GHO

Online course sites

Blackboard

Canvas

CourseSites–like Blackboard, but free for some set-up

Iteach.world–online class platform

Virtual Classrooms/Meetings

Canvas–and it’s Big Blue Button conference option

Draw Chat–virtual meeting with a whiteboard

Google Hangouts

Webroom.net — virtual conference or meeting room

Zoom

Big Questions

If you’re still with me, here are quick notes on questions I’ve gotten from fellow educators over the past week or so:

What can you as a parent do in advance?

Be positive, upbeat about these changes. They are good—you will grow to like them. Know the pros and cons—they are balanced, maybe even skewed in favor of online.

Assume the teacher will be flexible with students as they adapt to online learning.

Don’t give up—try, try again, and come up with a solution that works even if it isn’t perfect.

Let your child try to solve their problems but be there to help if they get stuck. Most online classes aren’t a virtual meeting. They’re a list of assignments, discussion boards, forums, and projects that are accomplished at the students own pace. While you’re at work, you can help your child with your own virtual meeting (via free programs like Google Hangouts, Zoom, and Webroom.net) by screen-sharing their assignment page. You can even remote in without nearly as much trouble as that used to be. Your child is not in the same room as the teacher. Don’t think you must be in the same room as your child to help.

Know how to get in touch with the teacher (since you can’t walk in and visit their classroom). FB? Messaging? Email? What’s the best way?

What are the biggest problems I face moving my teaching online?

Tech knowledge–don’t give up; there are only so many problems. Once they’re solved, most of the rest of the experience will go smoothly.

Problems—solve these together, you and the parents. Don’t try to be perfect, just a problem-solver.

Many students don’t have a home computer or access to the internet. What do I do?

These are difficult issues and have caused many schools to resist online teaching. To meet the suddenness of the Corona-19 pandemic, some schools are lending out their extra Chromebooks and purchasing more with newly-available Federal and State funds. Many Districts are deploying mobile hotspots to help students with internet access. Where that isn’t practical, teachers send work to students as PDF files that can be viewed and annotated on a computer and then printed with student input (this is the choice made by some New Jersey schools with a high percentage of students without computers or internet connectivity).

What should students and families know before their first online session?

Don’t be afraid.

Get help if you’re stuck.

Be a risk-taker—boldly go where few have gone before.

***

In the end, it comes down to flexibility. We as educators must be mindful of the students without access to technology and provide alternative-but-equal options that adapt lessons to their circumstances. The issue of equity is one of the most important as schools move to online teaching. NEA Today will cover this in upcoming issues as this evolves.

#coronaviruseducation

#coronavirus

–also published on NEA Today

Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, contributor to NEA Today, and author of the tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.

Resources You Need During Covid-19 published first on https://medium.com/@DLBusinessNow

[statrano]

An Open Letter to Teachers About Online Classes

Nearly three million students currently attend online programs and six million take at least one online class. This means learning online has become one of the most popular approaches to education.

I am an adjunct profession who teaches solely online for a variety of big-name colleges and Universities. Each year, the classes grow in size. Whether you like it or not, this is the future of education, where people pursue learning without the need for a car, expensive gas, parking fees, campus-based meals, housing (if you live on campus), traffic delays, absent teachers, wait lists for full classes, inflexible time schedules, conflicts with personal schedules, and all those details that make attending college a juggling act. Done right, you don’t have to give up the collaboration, camaraderie, and new friends to get the passion of learning, the huzzah of amazing knowledge, and the high of improving yourself.

What I like best about online classes is that they are personalized learning that differentiates for varied student needs, learning styles, and communication methods. Don’t get me wrong. I know it’s not for everyone but for some, it allows them to achieve their goals without the suffocating structure usually associated with attending on-campus classes.

Before I get into how I teach online classes, here are some of the factors to consider when you weigh online or on-campus:

Pros

Here is a sampling of reasons why students love to learn online:

They develop a community of learners much greater than a typical on-campus class, and these learners can be as involved or distant as they choose to be.

Students learn new tech tools they will see again and again — in fact, that are being adopted by K-12 schools for snow days and student sick days.

Once learned, they are easy. They are designed not for geeks but for everyone else who will try a webtool if it’s intuitive and easy to use.

Online enrollment is not limited by geography or age, making the learning network students access larger than any on-campus class.

Many online classes are accredited by a variety of traditional organizations. That means they’re as rigorous and robust as on-campus versions.

Regulations for online colleges are not decided by where you live but your qualifications, preparation, and interest. This means you may (or may not) have more flexibility in attaining a degree than you would at your local schools.

Students who have reasons for avoiding others — maybe they’re shy — will find online classes better suited to their particular needs.

While most online classes include deadlines and due dates, they don’t restrict how much time students do or don’t spend preparing the material, just its submittal. If you’re one of those who spends more time than the norm (or less), when it’s done from the comfort of your home on your own schedule, it doesn’t matter.

Many students don’t learn well in a traditional school due to classmates, the environment, rules, time limitations, or a different reason. Online classes include fewer distractions, no worries about what to wear, and there are no cliques.

Cons

Online classes aren’t for everyone. Here are some of the reasons why some say they aren’t a good choice:

The perception is that online classes aren’t as rigorous. Pushing your limits is a great benefit of education. If you haven’t found the classes you take online offer this cerebral push, they probably aren’t a good choice in your area.

Some universities don’t yet offer online classes. If your goal is to receive a degree from a particular school, they may not offer fully-fleshed out online degrees. Yet.

If virtual meetings are required (which more and more online classes do), these may be new technology to you and intimidating to try.

Your Internet connection or WiFi may be too spotty or undependable to trust it will work throughout the time required for an online class.

Technology is a show-stopper for some who feel unequipped to handle online LMSs like Blackboard, class forums, virtual get-togethers, homework submittal, and more.

Online classes require self-motivation. While they do have deadlines and due dates, there is little peer or teacher pressure to submit. It is the student responsibility to do the required work and submit it on time.

Be sure the school you are considering is accredited by a group approved by the US Department of Education to meet certain education quality standards.

Running an online class

I have taught both on-campus and online throughout my career. I prefer online not only because it better fits my schedule but because I have always favored responding to the needs of students underserved by traditional education choices. As the professor for an online class, I can adapt to student needs, meet them outside of office hours when required, respond to their email requests more quickly, and approve their desire for program modifications more quickly. Overall, I like being a partner with those passionate about learning but poorly-suited to campus-based classes.

Here are some of the features my students like best about my online classes:

I use a robust Learning Management System (Canvas for some and Google Classroom for others) for all classwork from assignments to sharing resources, submitting homework, taking tests, participating in discussion boards, and attending virtual meetings. Everything a student needs is found in one place. Becoming familiar with the system is no more complicated than finding parking at a campus, locating the room, and understanding the teacher’s particular rules.  

Sometimes I work from a textbook but more often, I teach from carefully-selected topical articles, videos, and resources that I collect from what’s available online (legally).

I require weekly Discussion Board participation and I grade student involvement with their classmates. This activity not only replaces the typical classroom socialization but provides students with the start to their own ongoing Professional Learning Network, a valuable resource they take away from classes. I treat the Discussion Board like a faculty lounge where students/teachers stop in, chat, ask and answer questions, and share what’s on their mind.

In most of my online classes, I require attendance at a weekly virtual meeting that lasts between 30-60 minutes and is graded. These are delivered via Canvas’ Big Blue Button (which is fully integrated into the Canvas LMS), Google Hangouts, or Webroom.net. I assign questions that summarize class learning and provide a basis for conversation during the meeting. Virtual meetings give all of us an opportunity to see each other, pursue conversations started on the Discussion Board, and ask about issues from the weekly material. Because I want to encourage lifelong learning, students can join these meetings from anywhere — their home office, classroom, a family picnic, even the car ride to a social event. 

I’m always available for questions or dedicated virtual meetings. But before I help with tech issues (like how to use the virtual meeting or the discussion boards), I ask students to try to solve the problems themselves. I want them to realize that the required tech 1) isn’t that hard, and 2) is within their ability. They are problem-solvers even if they don’t know it. And, how they learn the required tech is a model for how they can expect their students to learn it. 

Did I miss any details you’d like to know? Ask in the comments!

Oh — BTW — if you’re looking for an interactive online class, I have four starting in June on Differentiation (MTI 563), Tech Tools in Class (MTI 562), Building Digital Citizens (MTI 557), and Using Tech to Teach Writing (MTI 558). They include great resources, are project-based, and offer lots of opportunities to interact with classmates and build your own Professional Learning Network.

More about online classes:

Certificate/College Credit Classes

Remote Learning: Tips for Thriving in This Ecosystem

15 Takeaways from Online Grad School Classes

Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, contributor to NEA Today and TeachHUB, and author of two tech thrillers. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.

An Open Letter to Teachers About Online Classes published first on https://seminarsacademy.tumblr.com/

[endevia]

An Open Letter to Teachers About Online Classes

Nearly three million students currently attend online programs and six million take at least one online class. This means learning online has become one of the most popular approaches to education.

I am an adjunct profession who teaches solely online for a variety of big-name colleges and Universities. Each year, the classes grow in size. Whether you like it or not, this is the future of education, where people pursue learning without the need for a car, expensive gas, parking fees, campus-based meals, housing (if you live on campus), traffic delays, absent teachers, wait lists for full classes, inflexible time schedules, conflicts with personal schedules, and all those details that make attending college a juggling act. Done right, you don’t have to give up the collaboration, camaraderie, and new friends to get the passion of learning, the huzzah of amazing knowledge, and the high of improving yourself.

What I like best about online classes is that they are personalized learning that differentiates for varied student needs, learning styles, and communication methods. Don’t get me wrong. I know it’s not for everyone but for some, it allows them to achieve their goals without the suffocating structure usually associated with attending on-campus classes.

Before I get into how I teach online classes, here are some of the factors to consider when you weigh online or on-campus:

Pros

Here is a sampling of reasons why students love to learn online:

They develop a community of learners much greater than a typical on-campus class, and these learners can be as involved or distant as they choose to be.

Students learn new tech tools they will see again and again — in fact, that are being adopted by K-12 schools for snow days and student sick days.

Once learned, they are easy. They are designed not for geeks but for everyone else who will try a webtool if it’s intuitive and easy to use.

Online enrollment is not limited by geography or age, making the learning network students access larger than any on-campus class.

Many online classes are accredited by a variety of traditional organizations. That means they’re as rigorous and robust as on-campus versions.

Regulations for online colleges are not decided by where you live but your qualifications, preparation, and interest. This means you may (or may not) have more flexibility in attaining a degree than you would at your local schools.

Students who have reasons for avoiding others — maybe they’re shy — will find online classes better suited to their particular needs.

While most online classes include deadlines and due dates, they don’t restrict how much time students do or don’t spend preparing the material, just its submittal. If you’re one of those who spends more time than the norm (or less), when it’s done from the comfort of your home on your own schedule, it doesn’t matter.

Many students don’t learn well in a traditional school due to classmates, the environment, rules, time limitations, or a different reason. Online classes include fewer distractions, no worries about what to wear, and there are no cliques.

Cons

Online classes aren’t for everyone. Here are some of the reasons why some say they aren’t a good choice:

The perception is that online classes aren’t as rigorous. Pushing your limits is a great benefit of education. If you haven’t found the classes you take online offer this cerebral push, they probably aren’t a good choice in your area.

Some universities don’t yet offer online classes. If your goal is to receive a degree from a particular school, they may not offer fully-fleshed out online degrees. Yet.

If virtual meetings are required (which more and more online classes do), these may be new technology to you and intimidating to try.

Your Internet connection or WiFi may be too spotty or undependable to trust it will work throughout the time required for an online class.

Technology is a show-stopper for some who feel unequipped to handle online LMSs like Blackboard, class forums, virtual get-togethers, homework submittal, and more.

Online classes require self-motivation. While they do have deadlines and due dates, there is little peer or teacher pressure to submit. It is the student responsibility to do the required work and submit it on time.

Be sure the school you are considering is accredited by a group approved by the US Department of Education to meet certain education quality standards.

Running an online class

I have taught both on-campus and online throughout my career. I prefer online not only because it better fits my schedule but because I have always favored responding to the needs of students underserved by traditional education choices. As the professor for an online class, I can adapt to student needs, meet them outside of office hours when required, respond to their email requests more quickly, and approve their desire for program modifications more quickly. Overall, I like being a partner with those passionate about learning but poorly-suited to campus-based classes.

Here are some of the features my students like best about my online classes:

I use a robust Learning Management System (Canvas for some and Google Classroom for others) for all classwork from assignments to sharing resources, submitting homework, taking tests, participating in discussion boards, and attending virtual meetings. Everything a student needs is found in one place. Becoming familiar with the system is no more complicated than finding parking at a campus, locating the room, and understanding the teacher’s particular rules.  

Sometimes I work from a textbook but more often, I teach from carefully-selected topical articles, videos, and resources that I collect from what’s available online (legally).

I require weekly Discussion Board participation and I grade student involvement with their classmates. This activity not only replaces the typical classroom socialization but provides students with the start to their own ongoing Professional Learning Network, a valuable resource they take away from classes. I treat the Discussion Board like a faculty lounge where students/teachers stop in, chat, ask and answer questions, and share what’s on their mind.

In most of my online classes, I require attendance at a weekly virtual meeting that lasts between 30-60 minutes and is graded. These are delivered via Canvas’ Big Blue Button (which is fully integrated into the Canvas LMS), Google Hangouts, or Webroom.net. I assign questions that summarize class learning and provide a basis for conversation during the meeting. Virtual meetings give all of us an opportunity to see each other, pursue conversations started on the Discussion Board, and ask about issues from the weekly material. Because I want to encourage lifelong learning, students can join these meetings from anywhere — their home office, classroom, a family picnic, even the car ride to a social event. 

I’m always available for questions or dedicated virtual meetings. But before I help with tech issues (like how to use the virtual meeting or the discussion boards), I ask students to try to solve the problems themselves. I want them to realize that the required tech 1) isn’t that hard, and 2) is within their ability. They are problem-solvers even if they don’t know it. And, how they learn the required tech is a model for how they can expect their students to learn it. 

Did I miss any details you’d like to know? Ask in the comments!

Oh — BTW — if you’re looking for an interactive online class, I have four starting in June on Differentiation (MTI 563), Tech Tools in Class (MTI 562), Building Digital Citizens (MTI 557), and Using Tech to Teach Writing (MTI 558). They include great resources, are project-based, and offer lots of opportunities to interact with classmates and build your own Professional Learning Network.

More about online classes:

Certificate/College Credit Classes

Remote Learning: Tips for Thriving in This Ecosystem

15 Takeaways from Online Grad School Classes

Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, contributor to NEA Today and TeachHUB, and author of two tech thrillers. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.

An Open Letter to Teachers About Online Classes published first on https://medium.com/@greatpricecourse

[corpasa]

What is Constructivism and How Does it Fit Your Class?

Constructivism is a student-centered philosophy that emphasizes hands-on learning and active participation in lessons. Constructivists believe that learning is an active process so the most effective way to learn is through discovery. With hands-on activities, learners actively create their own subjective representation of objective reality. Because new information is blended into prior knowledge, the result is – of course – subjective, heavily dependent upon the personal lens of each learner. That, in turn, is dependent upon their society, culture, past knowledge, personal experiences, and more.

Learning is constructed, not acquired, and is based on the fullness of a person’s individual lifetime of learning. It is continuously tested as new ideas are added, either causing long-held beliefs to evolve or be replaced.

Constructivism is not a pedagogy or a theory. It is a mindset — a way of thinking used to guide learners.

Guiding Principles of Constructivism

Constructivism 1) encourages students to use active techniques (such as experimentation and problem solving) to build their knowledge base and then reflect on and/or talk about how that is changing; and 2) encourages teachers to guide activities that address and/or build on student conceptions.

Constructivism teaches students not the bullet points of a curriculum but how to learn by engaging in problem-solving, higher-order thinking, and collaboration.

Constructivism’s cornerstones are similar to the concept of spiraling where students learn new material and then rewind to earlier learnings to review and integrate them. Constructivism’s rewind refers to student learning and experiences rather than previously-learned facts and figures.

Constructivism works with any curricula because it isn’t one. It’s a learning philosophy like Habits of Mind or John Hattie’s Visible Learning (click for a discussion on those).

Constructivism also works well with inquiry-based learning (click for more on inquiry-based teaching). Constructivism taps into and triggers student curiosity.

In order to teach well, constructivism expects teachers to understand the assumptions students make to support their learning.

To truly learn, students construct their own meaning, not memorize the “right” answers or regurgitate someone else’s meaning.

Learning is incremental. Students don’t receive a data dump and walk away brilliant. They spend copious amounts of time learning, incorporating, and blending before understanding.

Learning is iterative. Students constantly build new understanding on old knowledge.

Constructivism builds on well-accepted education ideas like Jean Piaget’s belief that play is critical to learning, Marie Montessori’s teachings that exploration is essential to growth, and Lev Vygotsky’s theory that knowledge leads to further learning (the foundation for life-long learning).

Constructivism is not a stimulus-response (as you would see in Behaviorism). It is an active response to the receipt of new information.

Objective truth is unknowable. There are no absolute truths. Truth is dependent upon the learner’s personal reality. In a learning ecosystem, this puts the focus on evidence provided to support a claim rather than the memorization of rote facts.

Traditional teaching vs. Constructivism 

Traditional classes focus on teacher lecture; constructivism focuses on personal inquiry and class discussion.

Traditional classes are teacher-centered while constructivist classes are student-centered.

Traditional classes are teacher-paced (teachers decide when lessons are taught including quizzes) while constructivist classes are student-paced (dependent upon student investigation).

Traditional classes tend to be less about higher-order thinking because of the importance placed on teacher lectures and overseeing. Constructivist classes insist students think about the lesson while engaging in problem-solving and critical thinking as a path to understanding.

Traditional classes are based on teacher-prescribed facts (which could be mandated by state standards or curricula) where the constructivist approach expects students to compare new facts to the old and their personal experiences.

Traditional classes include prescribed assessment where constructivism calls for the elimination of grades and standardized testing. Assessment becomes part of the learning process, expecting students to judge their own progress.

Myths

Because constructivism doesn’t align with the common education philosophies and thus isn’t taught in depth even in teacher training programs, it’s not surprising that there are misunderstandings about what it is and how it is unpacked in the education ecosystem. Here are some popular myths that prove untrue in the constructivist classroom:

Teachers can’t answer questions: This refers to the idea that students are expected to be problem-solvers and find answers based on their own experience. This forgets that constructivism asks teachers to share their educated ideas and that becomes part of the student knowledge base, incorporated into future learning. The expectation is that students build their knowledge based on multiple inputs (which includes class teaching).

Constructivism replaces teachers with guides: Not really. Constructivism does not dismiss the active role of the teacher or the value of expert knowledge. Rather, it modifies that role, expecting teachers to help students construct knowledge but without demanding they reproduce a series of rote facts.

Knowledge is subjective: For this one, we’ll have to stipulate that all knowledge is subjective and heavily-dependent upon a learner’s experiences. For example, most agree a panther’s color is black, but for some, it isn’t. Black is the absence of color (or the blend of all colors), not a color itself. When someone asked Pierre-Auguste Renoir (a prominent Impressionist painter) what color a black panther was, he replied:

“A black panther is actually a melanistic leopard or jaguar, the result of an excess of melanin in their skin …”

So which answer is right — the common one or Renoir’s? Or both?

Education applications

If this sounds confusing, Let me de-muddle it for you. Look at all these ways constructivism is already blended successfully into most lesson plans:

role-playing: See the world through the eyes of historical figures.

debate: Gain perspective on differing views in politics, philosophy, or policy.

experimentation: Perform individual or group experiments in support of a lesson plan, followed by class discussion.

research projects: Research a topic and present findings to class (like the popular Genius Hour).

cooperative learning: Work in small or large groups to gain exposure to different perspectives.

internships: Engage in community activities to determine how class theory meets the real world.

community service: Offer student skills in support of community needs to gain understanding of how they fit.

field trip: See the real-world context to class concepts such as farming, a factory, or local government in action.

***

In any given class, how well a lesson plan works depends on the students. If you are frustrated because your best teaching falls on bored ears, try a different approach, like constructivism.

More on education pedagogies

What is the VARK model of Student Learning?

What is a Growth Mindset?

Is Whole Brain Teaching Right for Me?

Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, contributor to NEA Today and author of the tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.

What is Constructivism and How Does it Fit Your Class? published first on https://medium.com/@DLBusinessNow

[evnoweb]

What is Constructivism and How Does it Fit Your Class?

Constructivism is a student-centered philosophy that emphasizes hands-on learning and active participation in lessons. Constructivists believe that learning is an active process so the most effective way to learn is through discovery. With hands-on activities, learners actively create their own subjective representation of objective reality. Because new information is blended into prior knowledge, the result is – of course – subjective, heavily dependent upon the personal lens of each learner. That, in turn, is dependent upon their society, culture, past knowledge, personal experiences, and more.

Learning is constructed, not acquired, and is based on the fullness of a person’s individual lifetime of learning. It is continuously tested as new ideas are added, either causing long-held beliefs to evolve or be replaced.

Constructivism is not a pedagogy or a theory. It is a mindset — a way of thinking used to guide learners.

Guiding Principles of Constructivism

Constructivism 1) encourages students to use active techniques (such as experimentation and problem solving) to build their knowledge base and then reflect on and/or talk about how that is changing; and 2) encourages teachers to guide activities that address and/or build on student conceptions.

Constructivism teaches students not the bullet points of a curriculum but how to learn by engaging in problem-solving, higher-order thinking, and collaboration.

Constructivism’s cornerstones are similar to the concept of spiraling where students learn new material and then rewind to earlier learnings to review and integrate them. Constructivism’s rewind refers to student learning and experiences rather than previously-learned facts and figures.

Constructivism works with any curricula because it isn’t one. It’s a learning philosophy like Habits of Mind or John Hattie’s Visible Learning (click for a discussion on those).

Constructivism also works well with inquiry-based learning (click for more on inquiry-based teaching). Constructivism taps into and triggers student curiosity.

In order to teach well, constructivism expects teachers to understand the assumptions students make to support their learning.

To truly learn, students construct their own meaning, not memorize the “right” answers or regurgitate someone else’s meaning.

Learning is incremental. Students don’t receive a data dump and walk away brilliant. They spend copious amounts of time learning, incorporating, and blending before understanding.

Learning is iterative. Students constantly build new understanding on old knowledge.

Constructivism builds on well-accepted education ideas like Jean Piaget’s belief that play is critical to learning, Marie Montessori’s teachings that exploration is essential to growth, and Lev Vygotsky’s theory that knowledge leads to further learning (the foundation for life-long learning).

Constructivism is not a stimulus-response (as you would see in Behaviorism). It is an active response to the receipt of new information.

Objective truth is unknowable. There are no absolute truths. Truth is dependent upon the learner’s personal reality. In a learning ecosystem, this puts the focus on evidence provided to support a claim rather than the memorization of rote facts.

Traditional teaching vs. Constructivism 

Traditional classes focus on teacher lecture; constructivism focuses on personal inquiry and class discussion.

Traditional classes are teacher-centered while constructivist classes are student-centered.

Traditional classes are teacher-paced (teachers decide when lessons are taught including quizzes) while constructivist classes are student-paced (dependent upon student investigation).

Traditional classes tend to be less about higher-order thinking because of the importance placed on teacher lectures and overseeing. Constructivist classes insist students think about the lesson while engaging in problem-solving and critical thinking as a path to understanding.

Traditional classes are based on teacher-prescribed facts (which could be mandated by state standards or curricula) where the constructivist approach expects students to compare new facts to the old and their personal experiences.

Traditional classes include prescribed assessment where constructivism calls for the elimination of grades and standardized testing. Assessment becomes part of the learning process, expecting students to judge their own progress.

Myths

Because constructivism doesn’t align with the common education philosophies and thus isn’t taught in depth even in teacher training programs, it’s not surprising that there are misunderstandings about what it is and how it is unpacked in the education ecosystem. Here are some popular myths that prove untrue in the constructivist classroom:

Teachers can’t answer questions: This refers to the idea that students are expected to be problem-solvers and find answers based on their own experience. This forgets that constructivism asks teachers to share their educated ideas and that becomes part of the student knowledge base, incorporated into future learning. The expectation is that students build their knowledge based on multiple inputs (which includes class teaching).

Constructivism replaces teachers with guides: Not really. Constructivism does not dismiss the active role of the teacher or the value of expert knowledge. Rather, it modifies that role, expecting teachers to help students construct knowledge but without demanding they reproduce a series of rote facts.

Knowledge is subjective: For this one, we’ll have to stipulate that all knowledge is subjective and heavily-dependent upon a learner’s experiences. For example, most agree a panther’s color is black, but for some, it isn’t. Black is the absence of color (or the blend of all colors), not a color itself. When someone asked Pierre-Auguste Renoir (a prominent Impressionist painter) what color a black panther was, he replied:

“A black panther is actually a melanistic leopard or jaguar, the result of an excess of melanin in their skin …”

So which answer is right — the common one or Renoir’s? Or both?

Education applications

If this sounds confusing, Let me de-muddle it for you. Look at all these ways constructivism is already blended successfully into most lesson plans:

role-playing: See the world through the eyes of historical figures.

debate: Gain perspective on differing views in politics, philosophy, or policy.

experimentation: Perform individual or group experiments in support of a lesson plan, followed by class discussion.

research projects: Research a topic and present findings to class (like the popular Genius Hour).

cooperative learning: Work in small or large groups to gain exposure to different perspectives.

internships: Engage in community activities to determine how class theory meets the real world.

community service: Offer student skills in support of community needs to gain understanding of how they fit.

field trip: See the real-world context to class concepts such as farming, a factory, or local government in action.

***

In any given class, how well a lesson plan works depends on the students. If you are frustrated because your best teaching falls on bored ears, try a different approach, like constructivism.

More on education pedagogies

What is the VARK model of Student Learning?

What is a Growth Mindset?

Is Whole Brain Teaching Right for Me?

Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, contributor to NEA Today and author of the tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.

What is Constructivism and How Does it Fit Your Class? published first on https://medium.com/@DigitalDLCourse

[corpasa]

Math Webtools to Support Any Curriculum

Math used to be a tedious memorization of facts and formulas. That changed somewhat when online worksheets allowed students to practice until they got it but it didn’t make it any more fun. Then that too changed when rote drills and worksheets were replaced with cerebral challenges and dynamic exercises. Thousands of students found out, to their surprise — and often, their parents — that they loved math. Here are five online math resources that will turn boring math into a favorite subject:

Mathletics

Fee

Mathletics is a captivating online learning space that provides students with all the tools needed to be successful math learners both in the classroom and beyond. Programs are geared to the particular learning of Elementary and Middle School, and Middle and High School with games and lessons aligned to state and national standards like Common Core, TEKS and MAFS. Teachers can set content and specific tasks for students to practice skills they lack, reinforce current coursework, or enrich personalized student needs and interests. The program caters to each teacher’s unique blend of student-driven learning and teacher-led instruction giving teachers the ability to provide resources for specific students or groups. Students who love games can compete against classmates or other students from around the world (with teacher permission), with high scorers displayed on a web-based leaderboard.

Students have their own customizable dashboard which includes required tasks, questions to answer, and extra help (with videos and a dictionary) on difficult questions. There is also a section with math games for those who learn best by challenging themselves. The teacher dashboard makes it easy to manage students and classes and dynamic reporting tools allow for the analysis of student progress and the provision of comprehensive data for specific school requirements.

I like that this program includes parents as partners in learning by providing parents with a view of their child’s learning.

Interactivate

Free

Provided by CSERD (the Computational Science Education Reference Desk), Interactivate offers a series of free web-based math games, puzzles, and challenges for students in grades K-12. Some of the activities allow users to select a difficulty level, problem type, and time limit. A few are for two players (like the Connect Four games) but most are for individuals. Students can track correct responses allowing it to be used as an assessment if desired.

There are about 118 games, sorted by age group (grades 3-5, 6-8, and high school) and subject, including:

Algebra Four

Angles

BarGraph Sorter

Caesar Cipher

Equation Solver

Function Machine

General Coordinates Game

Maze Game

Number Cruncher

Pascal’s Triangle

Statistics

Trigonometry

Most games are simple to play, will run on any system, and are intuitive to set up. Teachers can allow students to select games related to a particular topic without worry that it will be too difficult to use or have questionable content. Game choice can be sorted by subject or audience, or searched under the specific name. The games are part of a larger offering from CSERD that includes online courseware, activities, lessons, and discussions.

IXL

Fee

IXL is one of the most widely-recognized and popular educational websites for literacy and math. One in eight US students use the mostly self-guided resources in math, language arts, science, social studies, and Spanish to support classwork, as homework, or for enrichment. Through the vehicle of games and drills, students pursue individualized learning needs and personal education goals without grade level limitations. Teachers can make any topic from any grade available to students who are ready, interested, or simply need a brush-up.

Math topics include everything from counting, place-value, and graphs for youngers to geometry, algebra, and pre-calculus for high school. Topics are aligned with popular curricula (such as EngageNY, Bridges, enVision, and GoMath) and there’s a teacher guide to help find the right topic for each chapter. Teacher dashboards include what skills the class and each student have covered, how long was spent on each, and who needs help with what. Comprehensive analytics evaluate where students have holes in their learning and provide schools with evidence of learning for data-driven reporting. IXL can be used on the web, as an app (iOS or Android), or on Chromebooks though there are differences in how each operates and what is offered.

IXL is great not just for school-based classrooms but homeschools and summer programs designed to keep students math-ready for their next grade level.

The MathFacts

Fee

Math facts fluency is essential for all math subjects beyond the basics like fractions, decimals, and all higher-level math skills. When students can automate the recall of basic math facts, it frees up their cognitive resources for more complex problem solving. Lots of online programs offer assistance with math facts but The MathFacts is one of the most organized, effective, and exciting available. It offers twenty-five different timed tests with varied degrees of difficulty to cover each of the four operations or a mix of all. As students work, their tests are instantly scored and available on the teacher dashboard, with a comparison to prior timed tests. Students also see their results as well as what is called Trophy Case where they win virtual awards based on their effort and progress.

XtraMath

Free on the web; fee for the app

XtraMath is a self-driven online option that helps students master math facts. It can be used at home or school, as homework or in after-school programs.  A teacher can set up a class quickly — the XtraMath folks say in about ten minutes. Parents and teachers receive emailed progress reports so they can see how the student is progressing. More detailed reports are available online through the user account. XtraMath runs on mobile platforms as well as desktops, making it easy for kids to work on math facts whenever they have a few minutes.

***

These four math websites are best used in support of a comprehensive math curriculum with the goal of filling in holes in student knowledge and/or enriching interests beyond the typical grade-level programs. They vary in complexity, cost, and collection of data. Which is right for you will depend upon your particular school and student needs. Let me know what you think!

–published first on TeachHUB

More online math practice

Quick Review of 7 Popular Math Programs

Zapzapmath adds multiplayer option

10 Articles on Using Tech to Teach Math

Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice reviewer, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, contributor to NEA Today and TeachHUB, and author of the tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.

Math Webtools to Support Any Curriculum published first on https://medium.com/@DLBusinessNow

[evnoweb]

Math Webtools to Support Any Curriculum

Math used to be a tedious memorization of facts and formulas. That changed somewhat when online worksheets allowed students to practice until they got it but it didn’t make it any more fun. Then that too changed when rote drills and worksheets were replaced with cerebral challenges and dynamic exercises. Thousands of students found out, to their surprise — and often, their parents — that they loved math. Here are five online math resources that will turn boring math into a favorite subject:

Mathletics

Fee

Mathletics is a captivating online learning space that provides students with all the tools needed to be successful math learners both in the classroom and beyond. Programs are geared to the particular learning of Elementary and Middle School, and Middle and High School with games and lessons aligned to state and national standards like Common Core, TEKS and MAFS. Teachers can set content and specific tasks for students to practice skills they lack, reinforce current coursework, or enrich personalized student needs and interests. The program caters to each teacher’s unique blend of student-driven learning and teacher-led instruction giving teachers the ability to provide resources for specific students or groups. Students who love games can compete against classmates or other students from around the world (with teacher permission), with high scorers displayed on a web-based leaderboard.

Students have their own customizable dashboard which includes required tasks, questions to answer, and extra help (with videos and a dictionary) on difficult questions. There is also a section with math games for those who learn best by challenging themselves. The teacher dashboard makes it easy to manage students and classes and dynamic reporting tools allow for the analysis of student progress and the provision of comprehensive data for specific school requirements.

I like that this program includes parents as partners in learning by providing parents with a view of their child’s learning.

Interactivate

Free

Provided by CSERD (the Computational Science Education Reference Desk), Interactivate offers a series of free web-based math games, puzzles, and challenges for students in grades K-12. Some of the activities allow users to select a difficulty level, problem type, and time limit. A few are for two players (like the Connect Four games) but most are for individuals. Students can track correct responses allowing it to be used as an assessment if desired.

There are about 118 games, sorted by age group (grades 3-5, 6-8, and high school) and subject, including:

Algebra Four

Angles

BarGraph Sorter

Caesar Cipher

Equation Solver

Function Machine

General Coordinates Game

Maze Game

Number Cruncher

Pascal’s Triangle

Statistics

Trigonometry

Most games are simple to play, will run on any system, and are intuitive to set up. Teachers can allow students to select games related to a particular topic without worry that it will be too difficult to use or have questionable content. Game choice can be sorted by subject or audience, or searched under the specific name. The games are part of a larger offering from CSERD that includes online courseware, activities, lessons, and discussions.

IXL

Fee

IXL is one of the most widely-recognized and popular educational websites for literacy and math. One in eight US students use the mostly self-guided resources in math, language arts, science, social studies, and Spanish to support classwork, as homework, or for enrichment. Through the vehicle of games and drills, students pursue individualized learning needs and personal education goals without grade level limitations. Teachers can make any topic from any grade available to students who are ready, interested, or simply need a brush-up.

Math topics include everything from counting, place-value, and graphs for youngers to geometry, algebra, and pre-calculus for high school. Topics are aligned with popular curricula (such as EngageNY, Bridges, enVision, and GoMath) and there’s a teacher guide to help find the right topic for each chapter. Teacher dashboards include what skills the class and each student have covered, how long was spent on each, and who needs help with what. Comprehensive analytics evaluate where students have holes in their learning and provide schools with evidence of learning for data-driven reporting. IXL can be used on the web, as an app (iOS or Android), or on Chromebooks though there are differences in how each operates and what is offered.

IXL is great not just for school-based classrooms but homeschools and summer programs designed to keep students math-ready for their next grade level.

The MathFacts

Fee

Math facts fluency is essential for all math subjects beyond the basics like fractions, decimals, and all higher-level math skills. When students can automate the recall of basic math facts, it frees up their cognitive resources for more complex problem solving. Lots of online programs offer assistance with math facts but The MathFacts is one of the most organized, effective, and exciting available. It offers twenty-five different timed tests with varied degrees of difficulty to cover each of the four operations or a mix of all. As students work, their tests are instantly scored and available on the teacher dashboard, with a comparison to prior timed tests. Students also see their results as well as what is called Trophy Case where they win virtual awards based on their effort and progress.

XtraMath

Free on the web; fee for the app

XtraMath is a self-driven online option that helps students master math facts. It can be used at home or school, as homework or in after-school programs.  A teacher can set up a class quickly — the XtraMath folks say in about ten minutes. Parents and teachers receive emailed progress reports so they can see how the student is progressing. More detailed reports are available online through the user account. XtraMath runs on mobile platforms as well as desktops, making it easy for kids to work on math facts whenever they have a few minutes.

***

These four math websites are best used in support of a comprehensive math curriculum with the goal of filling in holes in student knowledge and/or enriching interests beyond the typical grade-level programs. They vary in complexity, cost, and collection of data. Which is right for you will depend upon your particular school and student needs. Let me know what you think!

–published first on TeachHUB

More online math practice

Quick Review of 7 Popular Math Programs

Zapzapmath adds multiplayer option

10 Articles on Using Tech to Teach Math

Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice reviewer, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, contributor to NEA Today and TeachHUB, and author of the tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.

Math Webtools to Support Any Curriculum published first on https://medium.com/@DigitalDLCourse

[corpasa]

An Open Letter to Teachers About Online Classes

Nearly three million students currently attend online programs and six million take at least one online class. This means learning online has become one of the most popular approaches to education.

I am an adjunct profession who teaches solely online for a variety of big-name colleges and Universities. Each year, the classes grow in size. Whether you like it or not, this is the future of education, where people pursue learning without the need for a car, expensive gas, parking fees, campus-based meals, housing (if you live on campus), traffic delays, absent teachers, wait lists for full classes, inflexible time schedules, conflicts with personal schedules, and all those details that make attending college a juggling act. Done right, you don’t have to give up the collaboration, camaraderie, and new friends to get the passion of learning, the huzzah of amazing knowledge, and the high of improving yourself.

What I like best about online classes is that they are personalized learning that differentiates for varied student needs, learning styles, and communication methods. Don’t get me wrong. I know it’s not for everyone but for some, it allows them to achieve their goals without the suffocating structure usually associated with attending on-campus classes.

Before I get into how I teach online classes, here are some of the factors to consider when you weigh online or on-campus:

Pros

Here is a sampling of reasons why students love to learn online:

They develop a community of learners much greater than a typical on-campus class, and these learners can be as involved or distant as they choose to be.

Students learn new tech tools they will see again and again — in fact, that are being adopted by K-12 schools for snow days and student sick days.

Once learned, they are easy. They are designed not for geeks but for everyone else who will try a webtool if it’s intuitive and easy to use.

Online enrollment is not limited by geography or age, making the learning network students access larger than any on-campus class.

Many online classes are accredited by a variety of traditional organizations. That means they’re as rigorous and robust as on-campus versions.

Regulations for online colleges are not decided by where you live but your qualifications, preparation, and interest. This means you may (or may not) have more flexibility in attaining a degree than you would at your local schools.

Students who have reasons for avoiding others — maybe they’re shy — will find online classes better suited to their particular needs.

While most online classes include deadlines and due dates, they don’t restrict how much time students do or don’t spend preparing the material, just its submittal. If you’re one of those who spends more time than the norm (or less), when it’s done from the comfort of your home on your own schedule, it doesn’t matter.

Many students don’t learn well in a traditional school due to classmates, the environment, rules, time limitations, or a different reason. Online classes include fewer distractions, no worries about what to wear, and there are no cliques.

Cons

Online classes aren’t for everyone. Here are some of the reasons why some say they aren’t a good choice:

The perception is that online classes aren’t as rigorous. Pushing your limits is a great benefit of education. If you haven’t found the classes you take online offer this cerebral push, they probably aren’t a good choice in your area.

Some universities don’t yet offer online classes. If your goal is to receive a degree from a particular school, they may not offer fully-fleshed out online degrees. Yet.

If virtual meetings are required (which more and more online classes do), these may be new technology to you and intimidating to try.

Your Internet connection or WiFi may be too spotty or undependable to trust it will work throughout the time required for an online class.

Technology is a show-stopper for some who feel unequipped to handle online LMSs like Blackboard, class forums, virtual get-togethers, homework submittal, and more.

Online classes require self-motivation. While they do have deadlines and due dates, there is little peer or teacher pressure to submit. It is the student responsibility to do the required work and submit it on time.

Be sure the school you are considering is accredited by a group approved by the US Department of Education to meet certain education quality standards.

Running an online class

I have taught both on-campus and online throughout my career. I prefer online not only because it better fits my schedule but because I have always favored responding to the needs of students underserved by traditional education choices. As the professor for an online class, I can adapt to student needs, meet them outside of office hours when required, respond to their email requests more quickly, and approve their desire for program modifications more quickly. Overall, I like being a partner with those passionate about learning but poorly-suited to campus-based classes.

Here are some of the features my students like best about my online classes:

I use a robust Learning Management System (Canvas for some and Google Classroom for others) for all classwork from assignments to sharing resources, submitting homework, taking tests, participating in discussion boards, and attending virtual meetings. Everything a student needs is found in one place. Becoming familiar with the system is no more complicated than finding parking at a campus, locating the room, and understanding the teacher’s particular rules.  

Sometimes I work from a textbook but more often, I teach from carefully-selected topical articles, videos, and resources that I collect from what’s available online (legally).

I require weekly Discussion Board participation and I grade student involvement with their classmates. This activity not only replaces the typical classroom socialization but provides students with the start to their own ongoing Professional Learning Network, a valuable resource they take away from classes. I treat the Discussion Board like a faculty lounge where students/teachers stop in, chat, ask and answer questions, and share what’s on their mind.

In most of my online classes, I require attendance at a weekly virtual meeting that lasts between 30-60 minutes and is graded. These are delivered via Canvas’ Big Blue Button (which is fully integrated into the Canvas LMS), Google Hangouts, or Webroom.net. I assign questions that summarize class learning and provide a basis for conversation during the meeting. Virtual meetings give all of us an opportunity to see each other, pursue conversations started on the Discussion Board, and ask about issues from the weekly material. Because I want to encourage lifelong learning, students can join these meetings from anywhere — their home office, classroom, a family picnic, even the car ride to a social event. 

I’m always available for questions or dedicated virtual meetings. But before I help with tech issues (like how to use the virtual meeting or the discussion boards), I ask students to try to solve the problems themselves. I want them to realize that the required tech 1) isn’t that hard, and 2) is within their ability. They are problem-solvers even if they don’t know it. And, how they learn the required tech is a model for how they can expect their students to learn it. 

Did I miss any details you’d like to know? Ask in the comments!

Oh — BTW — if you’re looking for an interactive online class, I have four starting in June on Differentiation (MTI 563), Tech Tools in Class (MTI 562), Building Digital Citizens (MTI 557), and Using Tech to Teach Writing (MTI 558). They include great resources, are project-based, and offer lots of opportunities to interact with classmates and build your own Professional Learning Network.

More about online classes:

Certificate/College Credit Classes

Remote Learning: Tips for Thriving in This Ecosystem

15 Takeaways from Online Grad School Classes

Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, contributor to NEA Today and TeachHUB, and author of two tech thrillers. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.

An Open Letter to Teachers About Online Classes published first on https://medium.com/@DLBusinessNow

[evnoweb]

An Open Letter to Teachers About Online Classes

Nearly three million students currently attend online programs and six million take at least one online class. This means learning online has become one of the most popular approaches to education.

I am an adjunct profession who teaches solely online for a variety of big-name colleges and Universities. Each year, the classes grow in size. Whether you like it or not, this is the future of education, where people pursue learning without the need for a car, expensive gas, parking fees, campus-based meals, housing (if you live on campus), traffic delays, absent teachers, wait lists for full classes, inflexible time schedules, conflicts with personal schedules, and all those details that make attending college a juggling act. Done right, you don’t have to give up the collaboration, camaraderie, and new friends to get the passion of learning, the huzzah of amazing knowledge, and the high of improving yourself.

What I like best about online classes is that they are personalized learning that differentiates for varied student needs, learning styles, and communication methods. Don’t get me wrong. I know it’s not for everyone but for some, it allows them to achieve their goals without the suffocating structure usually associated with attending on-campus classes.

Before I get into how I teach online classes, here are some of the factors to consider when you weigh online or on-campus:

Pros

Here is a sampling of reasons why students love to learn online:

They develop a community of learners much greater than a typical on-campus class, and these learners can be as involved or distant as they choose to be.

Students learn new tech tools they will see again and again — in fact, that are being adopted by K-12 schools for snow days and student sick days.

Once learned, they are easy. They are designed not for geeks but for everyone else who will try a webtool if it’s intuitive and easy to use.

Online enrollment is not limited by geography or age, making the learning network students access larger than any on-campus class.

Many online classes are accredited by a variety of traditional organizations. That means they’re as rigorous and robust as on-campus versions.

Regulations for online colleges are not decided by where you live but your qualifications, preparation, and interest. This means you may (or may not) have more flexibility in attaining a degree than you would at your local schools.

Students who have reasons for avoiding others — maybe they’re shy — will find online classes better suited to their particular needs.

While most online classes include deadlines and due dates, they don’t restrict how much time students do or don’t spend preparing the material, just its submittal. If you’re one of those who spends more time than the norm (or less), when it’s done from the comfort of your home on your own schedule, it doesn’t matter.

Many students don’t learn well in a traditional school due to classmates, the environment, rules, time limitations, or a different reason. Online classes include fewer distractions, no worries about what to wear, and there are no cliques.

Cons

Online classes aren’t for everyone. Here are some of the reasons why some say they aren’t a good choice:

The perception is that online classes aren’t as rigorous. Pushing your limits is a great benefit of education. If you haven’t found the classes you take online offer this cerebral push, they probably aren’t a good choice in your area.

Some universities don’t yet offer online classes. If your goal is to receive a degree from a particular school, they may not offer fully-fleshed out online degrees. Yet.

If virtual meetings are required (which more and more online classes do), these may be new technology to you and intimidating to try.

Your Internet connection or WiFi may be too spotty or undependable to trust it will work throughout the time required for an online class.

Technology is a show-stopper for some who feel unequipped to handle online LMSs like Blackboard, class forums, virtual get-togethers, homework submittal, and more.

Online classes require self-motivation. While they do have deadlines and due dates, there is little peer or teacher pressure to submit. It is the student responsibility to do the required work and submit it on time.

Be sure the school you are considering is accredited by a group approved by the US Department of Education to meet certain education quality standards.

Running an online class

I have taught both on-campus and online throughout my career. I prefer online not only because it better fits my schedule but because I have always favored responding to the needs of students underserved by traditional education choices. As the professor for an online class, I can adapt to student needs, meet them outside of office hours when required, respond to their email requests more quickly, and approve their desire for program modifications more quickly. Overall, I like being a partner with those passionate about learning but poorly-suited to campus-based classes.

Here are some of the features my students like best about my online classes:

I use a robust Learning Management System (Canvas for some and Google Classroom for others) for all classwork from assignments to sharing resources, submitting homework, taking tests, participating in discussion boards, and attending virtual meetings. Everything a student needs is found in one place. Becoming familiar with the system is no more complicated than finding parking at a campus, locating the room, and understanding the teacher’s particular rules.  

Sometimes I work from a textbook but more often, I teach from carefully-selected topical articles, videos, and resources that I collect from what’s available online (legally).

I require weekly Discussion Board participation and I grade student involvement with their classmates. This activity not only replaces the typical classroom socialization but provides students with the start to their own ongoing Professional Learning Network, a valuable resource they take away from classes. I treat the Discussion Board like a faculty lounge where students/teachers stop in, chat, ask and answer questions, and share what’s on their mind.

In most of my online classes, I require attendance at a weekly virtual meeting that lasts between 30-60 minutes and is graded. These are delivered via Canvas’ Big Blue Button (which is fully integrated into the Canvas LMS), Google Hangouts, or Webroom.net. I assign questions that summarize class learning and provide a basis for conversation during the meeting. Virtual meetings give all of us an opportunity to see each other, pursue conversations started on the Discussion Board, and ask about issues from the weekly material. Because I want to encourage lifelong learning, students can join these meetings from anywhere — their home office, classroom, a family picnic, even the car ride to a social event. 

I’m always available for questions or dedicated virtual meetings. But before I help with tech issues (like how to use the virtual meeting or the discussion boards), I ask students to try to solve the problems themselves. I want them to realize that the required tech 1) isn’t that hard, and 2) is within their ability. They are problem-solvers even if they don’t know it. And, how they learn the required tech is a model for how they can expect their students to learn it. 

Did I miss any details you’d like to know? Ask in the comments!

Oh — BTW — if you’re looking for an interactive online class, I have four starting in June on Differentiation (MTI 563), Tech Tools in Class (MTI 562), Building Digital Citizens (MTI 557), and Using Tech to Teach Writing (MTI 558). They include great resources, are project-based, and offer lots of opportunities to interact with classmates and build your own Professional Learning Network.

More about online classes:

Certificate/College Credit Classes

Remote Learning: Tips for Thriving in This Ecosystem

15 Takeaways from Online Grad School Classes

Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, contributor to NEA Today and TeachHUB, and author of two tech thrillers. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.

An Open Letter to Teachers About Online Classes published first on https://medium.com/@DigitalDLCourse

[endevia]

What to do when you lose a digital document

With classwork and homework now heavily digital, the days of “the dog ate my homework” are gone. It’s simple to track, isn’t it? It’s right on the student’s LMS account or in their digital portfolio, somewhere in the cloud.

Maybe. But the latest excuses are even more frightening — “Someone stole it from my digital file” or “The cloud ate it”. Every adult I know (myself included) has lost a critical, time-sucking digital file. It was saved wrong or got corrupted or simply vanished. The reason doesn’t matter. All that matters is that a week’s worth of work is now forever-gone.

Saving work correctly on a digital device isn’t as easy as it sounds. There’s a learning curve to knowing where to save, how to do that correctly, and then ultimately how to retrieve it. It can be especially complicated for students who use a different digital device at home than the one they use at school. Sure, it’s pretty easy if saved to a school-centric cloud account (like Google or One Drive) but that’s not always the case. If students use an online webtool, their work could be saved in that webtool’s server or as a link rather than a file.

Most kids learn how to properly save/retrieve digital files by suffering a painful experience. Before that happens, teach them this first place to look when save fails and they must search for it:

Go to the digital device’s general Search field. This will find the file if it’s on that digital device or any drive connected to it.

Search for the exact name or whatever part of the name is known. If you’ve taught students to always include their last name in a filename, they will now thank you!

If they don’t know the file name but do know the file extension (maybe it was created in Google Docs or Excel), search for that using the general search term: *.[extension]. In this case, * is a general search term and replaces the file name. If they don’t even have that much information, look down this page under “When did you create the file?” for help.

I start students saving their own files and understanding what that means as soon as they create work on a digital device they want to be able to find at a later date. I start very (very) simply and scaffold year to year. When they can’t find a project, here are six questions they can ask themselves:

A note before starting: Don’t answer these for students. Let them experience the thrill of critically thinking through how to solve this problem successfully.

Where did you save it?

Most programs have a default location where files are saved. This may be preset by the school (or parents) or it may be the system default. Where is that? If the student doesn’t know, this is a good time to have them ask that question.

Next, show them how to granularly discover where a file is saved. This is simple to do: The first time they save a project, the program tells them where that is. Show students how that works.

Did you “save” or “save-as”?

“Save” puts the file in the same spot it was opened. It takes about half a second so students love this time-saving approach. “Save-as” is employed only to change the location where it’s saved or the name under which it’s saved. I teach students to stick with “Save”. Some students want to be sure it’s saved so use “Save-as” and invariably lose it under the wrong name or wrong location.

Having said that, let students think about how they saved the file.

What’s the file name?

Elementary-age students rarely know the file name. Starting in kindergarten, I ask them to save with their last name in the filename but don’t enforce it until about second grade. I do ask them about the filename to get them to think about it. If they don’t know the filename, how do they expect to find it?

That logic usually makes sense to them.

When did you create the file?

Surprisingly often, students can pin down the date they created a file with help from classmates. They know when they were in the computer lab working on the project or what day the teacher had them working on it in the classroom. The steps for finding a file by date created will differ depending upon the operating system but all are pretty similar. Here’s how it works in Windows:

Open the Windows File Explorer.

In the search box (or simply push Ctrl+F), type datemodified.

A calendar will appear; select the date for when you believe the file was created or last modified.

If it’s not in the drive you selected, reselect to search another server or attached drive.

If students don’t remember what date they created the file, start in the digital device’s “Recent” folder. This is found not only in the digital device being used but in many programs students use (like Office). This allows students to open recent work quickly without all the usual tedious steps.

Here’s one more way to search by date created: If you’re on a PC, click the Cortana icon in the taskbar and a list of recent activities shows up under “Pick up where you left off”. This includes the most recently saved files.

Did you delete it?

This question and the next one are unlikely to occur but do make a difference in rare instances. Sometimes, students delete the file by accident or because they think it’s an older version. It’s always worth checking the trash. If it’s in there, it’s easy to restore.

Where were you sitting?

This is only for classes that 1) don’t assign seats, or 2) move students around for whatever reason during class (maybe a computer is broken or the current seating doesn’t work that day). Have the student think back to where they were sitting the last time they worked on this project. They may have saved the file to that device’s local drive which means they must return to it and see if they can find it there.

This used to be a serious issue before cloud-based classroom accounts like Google Drive and One Drive became popular.

***

With the increased use of technology to deliver education, solving tech problems has become critical. If tech used for school only works because the teacher is available to solve a myriad of problems, well, it doesn’t work. It must be transferrable to wherever students wish to learn and students must learn to be their own problem-solvers. I’d love to hear what you do when files disappear in your classes.

–published first on TeachHUB

More on tech problem solving:

How to Teach Critical Thinking

Doc Saved Over? Try This

How to Undelete with 2 Keystrokes

Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, contributor to NEA Today and TeachHUB, and author of two tech thrillers. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.

What to do when you lose a digital document published first on https://medium.com/@greatpricecourse

[corpasa]

What to do when you lose a digital document

With classwork and homework now heavily digital, the days of “the dog ate my homework” are gone. It’s simple to track, isn’t it? It’s right on the student’s LMS account or in their digital portfolio, somewhere in the cloud.

Maybe. But the latest excuses are even more frightening — “Someone stole it from my digital file” or “The cloud ate it”. Every adult I know (myself included) has lost a critical, time-sucking digital file. It was saved wrong or got corrupted or simply vanished. The reason doesn’t matter. All that matters is that a week’s worth of work is now forever-gone.

Saving work correctly on a digital device isn’t as easy as it sounds. There’s a learning curve to knowing where to save, how to do that correctly, and then ultimately how to retrieve it. It can be especially complicated for students who use a different digital device at home than the one they use at school. Sure, it’s pretty easy if saved to a school-centric cloud account (like Google or One Drive) but that’s not always the case. If students use an online webtool, their work could be saved in that webtool’s server or as a link rather than a file.

Most kids learn how to properly save/retrieve digital files by suffering a painful experience. Before that happens, teach them this first place to look when save fails and they must search for it:

Go to the digital device’s general Search field. This will find the file if it’s on that digital device or any drive connected to it.

Search for the exact name or whatever part of the name is known. If you’ve taught students to always include their last name in a filename, they will now thank you!

If they don’t know the file name but do know the file extension (maybe it was created in Google Docs or Excel), search for that using the general search term: *.[extension]. In this case, * is a general search term and replaces the file name. If they don’t even have that much information, look down this page under “When did you create the file?” for help.

I start students saving their own files and understanding what that means as soon as they create work on a digital device they want to be able to find at a later date. I start very (very) simply and scaffold year to year. When they can’t find a project, here are six questions they can ask themselves:

A note before starting: Don’t answer these for students. Let them experience the thrill of critically thinking through how to solve this problem successfully.

Where did you save it?

Most programs have a default location where files are saved. This may be preset by the school (or parents) or it may be the system default. Where is that? If the student doesn’t know, this is a good time to have them ask that question.

Next, show them how to granularly discover where a file is saved. This is simple to do: The first time they save a project, the program tells them where that is. Show students how that works.

Did you “save” or “save-as”?

“Save” puts the file in the same spot it was opened. It takes about half a second so students love this time-saving approach. “Save-as” is employed only to change the location where it’s saved or the name under which it’s saved. I teach students to stick with “Save”. Some students want to be sure it’s saved so use “Save-as” and invariably lose it under the wrong name or wrong location.

Having said that, let students think about how they saved the file.

What’s the file name?

Elementary-age students rarely know the file name. Starting in kindergarten, I ask them to save with their last name in the filename but don’t enforce it until about second grade. I do ask them about the filename to get them to think about it. If they don’t know the filename, how do they expect to find it?

That logic usually makes sense to them.

When did you create the file?

Surprisingly often, students can pin down the date they created a file with help from classmates. They know when they were in the computer lab working on the project or what day the teacher had them working on it in the classroom. The steps for finding a file by date created will differ depending upon the operating system but all are pretty similar. Here’s how it works in Windows:

Open the Windows File Explorer.

In the search box (or simply push Ctrl+F), type datemodified.

A calendar will appear; select the date for when you believe the file was created or last modified.

If it’s not in the drive you selected, reselect to search another server or attached drive.

If students don’t remember what date they created the file, start in the digital device’s “Recent” folder. This is found not only in the digital device being used but in many programs students use (like Office). This allows students to open recent work quickly without all the usual tedious steps.

Here’s one more way to search by date created: If you’re on a PC, click the Cortana icon in the taskbar and a list of recent activities shows up under “Pick up where you left off”. This includes the most recently saved files.

Did you delete it?

This question and the next one are unlikely to occur but do make a difference in rare instances. Sometimes, students delete the file by accident or because they think it’s an older version. It’s always worth checking the trash. If it’s in there, it’s easy to restore.

Where were you sitting?

This is only for classes that 1) don’t assign seats, or 2) move students around for whatever reason during class (maybe a computer is broken or the current seating doesn’t work that day). Have the student think back to where they were sitting the last time they worked on this project. They may have saved the file to that device’s local drive which means they must return to it and see if they can find it there.

This used to be a serious issue before cloud-based classroom accounts like Google Drive and One Drive became popular.

***

With the increased use of technology to deliver education, solving tech problems has become critical. If tech used for school only works because the teacher is available to solve a myriad of problems, well, it doesn’t work. It must be transferrable to wherever students wish to learn and students must learn to be their own problem-solvers. I’d love to hear what you do when files disappear in your classes.

–published first on TeachHUB

More on tech problem solving:

How to Teach Critical Thinking

Doc Saved Over? Try This

How to Undelete with 2 Keystrokes

Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, contributor to NEA Today and TeachHUB, and author of two tech thrillers. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.

What to do when you lose a digital document published first on https://medium.com/@DLBusinessNow

[evnoweb]

What to do when you lose a digital document

With classwork and homework now heavily digital, the days of “the dog ate my homework” are gone. It’s simple to track, isn’t it? It’s right on the student’s LMS account or in their digital portfolio, somewhere in the cloud.

Maybe. But the latest excuses are even more frightening — “Someone stole it from my digital file” or “The cloud ate it”. Every adult I know (myself included) has lost a critical, time-sucking digital file. It was saved wrong or got corrupted or simply vanished. The reason doesn’t matter. All that matters is that a week’s worth of work is now forever-gone.

Saving work correctly on a digital device isn’t as easy as it sounds. There’s a learning curve to knowing where to save, how to do that correctly, and then ultimately how to retrieve it. It can be especially complicated for students who use a different digital device at home than the one they use at school. Sure, it’s pretty easy if saved to a school-centric cloud account (like Google or One Drive) but that’s not always the case. If students use an online webtool, their work could be saved in that webtool’s server or as a link rather than a file.

Most kids learn how to properly save/retrieve digital files by suffering a painful experience. Before that happens, teach them this first place to look when save fails and they must search for it:

Go to the digital device’s general Search field. This will find the file if it’s on that digital device or any drive connected to it.

Search for the exact name or whatever part of the name is known. If you’ve taught students to always include their last name in a filename, they will now thank you!

If they don’t know the file name but do know the file extension (maybe it was created in Google Docs or Excel), search for that using the general search term: *.[extension]. In this case, * is a general search term and replaces the file name. If they don’t even have that much information, look down this page under “When did you create the file?” for help.

I start students saving their own files and understanding what that means as soon as they create work on a digital device they want to be able to find at a later date. I start very (very) simply and scaffold year to year. When they can’t find a project, here are six questions they can ask themselves:

A note before starting: Don’t answer these for students. Let them experience the thrill of critically thinking through how to solve this problem successfully.

Where did you save it?

Most programs have a default location where files are saved. This may be preset by the school (or parents) or it may be the system default. Where is that? If the student doesn’t know, this is a good time to have them ask that question.

Next, show them how to granularly discover where a file is saved. This is simple to do: The first time they save a project, the program tells them where that is. Show students how that works.

Did you “save” or “save-as”?

“Save” puts the file in the same spot it was opened. It takes about half a second so students love this time-saving approach. “Save-as” is employed only to change the location where it’s saved or the name under which it’s saved. I teach students to stick with “Save”. Some students want to be sure it’s saved so use “Save-as” and invariably lose it under the wrong name or wrong location.

Having said that, let students think about how they saved the file.

What’s the file name?

Elementary-age students rarely know the file name. Starting in kindergarten, I ask them to save with their last name in the filename but don’t enforce it until about second grade. I do ask them about the filename to get them to think about it. If they don’t know the filename, how do they expect to find it?

That logic usually makes sense to them.

When did you create the file?

Surprisingly often, students can pin down the date they created a file with help from classmates. They know when they were in the computer lab working on the project or what day the teacher had them working on it in the classroom. The steps for finding a file by date created will differ depending upon the operating system but all are pretty similar. Here’s how it works in Windows:

Open the Windows File Explorer.

In the search box (or simply push Ctrl+F), type datemodified.

A calendar will appear; select the date for when you believe the file was created or last modified.

If it’s not in the drive you selected, reselect to search another server or attached drive.

If students don’t remember what date they created the file, start in the digital device’s “Recent” folder. This is found not only in the digital device being used but in many programs students use (like Office). This allows students to open recent work quickly without all the usual tedious steps.

Here’s one more way to search by date created: If you’re on a PC, click the Cortana icon in the taskbar and a list of recent activities shows up under “Pick up where you left off”. This includes the most recently saved files.

Did you delete it?

This question and the next one are unlikely to occur but do make a difference in rare instances. Sometimes, students delete the file by accident or because they think it’s an older version. It’s always worth checking the trash. If it’s in there, it’s easy to restore.

Where were you sitting?

This is only for classes that 1) don’t assign seats, or 2) move students around for whatever reason during class (maybe a computer is broken or the current seating doesn’t work that day). Have the student think back to where they were sitting the last time they worked on this project. They may have saved the file to that device’s local drive which means they must return to it and see if they can find it there.

This used to be a serious issue before cloud-based classroom accounts like Google Drive and One Drive became popular.

***

With the increased use of technology to deliver education, solving tech problems has become critical. If tech used for school only works because the teacher is available to solve a myriad of problems, well, it doesn’t work. It must be transferrable to wherever students wish to learn and students must learn to be their own problem-solvers. I’d love to hear what you do when files disappear in your classes.

–published first on TeachHUB

More on tech problem solving:

How to Teach Critical Thinking

Doc Saved Over? Try This

How to Undelete with 2 Keystrokes

Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, contributor to NEA Today and TeachHUB, and author of two tech thrillers. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.

What to do when you lose a digital document published first on https://medium.com/@DigitalDLCourse

[statrano]

What to do when you lose a digital document

With classwork and homework now heavily digital, the days of “the dog ate my homework” are gone. It’s simple to track, isn’t it? It’s right on the student’s LMS account or in their digital portfolio, somewhere in the cloud.

Maybe. But the latest excuses are even more frightening — “Someone stole it from my digital file” or “The cloud ate it”. Every adult I know (myself included) has lost a critical, time-sucking digital file. It was saved wrong or got corrupted or simply vanished. The reason doesn’t matter. All that matters is that a week’s worth of work is now forever-gone.

Saving work correctly on a digital device isn’t as easy as it sounds. There’s a learning curve to knowing where to save, how to do that correctly, and then ultimately how to retrieve it. It can be especially complicated for students who use a different digital device at home than the one they use at school. Sure, it’s pretty easy if saved to a school-centric cloud account (like Google or One Drive) but that’s not always the case. If students use an online webtool, their work could be saved in that webtool’s server or as a link rather than a file.

Most kids learn how to properly save/retrieve digital files by suffering a painful experience. Before that happens, teach them this first place to look when save fails and they must search for it:

Go to the digital device’s general Search field. This will find the file if it’s on that digital device or any drive connected to it.

Search for the exact name or whatever part of the name is known. If you’ve taught students to always include their last name in a filename, they will now thank you!

If they don’t know the file name but do know the file extension (maybe it was created in Google Docs or Excel), search for that using the general search term: *.[extension]. In this case, * is a general search term and replaces the file name. If they don’t even have that much information, look down this page under “When did you create the file?” for help.

I start students saving their own files and understanding what that means as soon as they create work on a digital device they want to be able to find at a later date. I start very (very) simply and scaffold year to year. When they can’t find a project, here are six questions they can ask themselves:

A note before starting: Don’t answer these for students. Let them experience the thrill of critically thinking through how to solve this problem successfully.

Where did you save it?

Most programs have a default location where files are saved. This may be preset by the school (or parents) or it may be the system default. Where is that? If the student doesn’t know, this is a good time to have them ask that question.

Next, show them how to granularly discover where a file is saved. This is simple to do: The first time they save a project, the program tells them where that is. Show students how that works.

Did you “save” or “save-as”?

“Save” puts the file in the same spot it was opened. It takes about half a second so students love this time-saving approach. “Save-as” is employed only to change the location where it’s saved or the name under which it’s saved. I teach students to stick with “Save”. Some students want to be sure it’s saved so use “Save-as” and invariably lose it under the wrong name or wrong location.

Having said that, let students think about how they saved the file.

What’s the file name?

Elementary-age students rarely know the file name. Starting in kindergarten, I ask them to save with their last name in the filename but don’t enforce it until about second grade. I do ask them about the filename to get them to think about it. If they don’t know the filename, how do they expect to find it?

That logic usually makes sense to them.

When did you create the file?

Surprisingly often, students can pin down the date they created a file with help from classmates. They know when they were in the computer lab working on the project or what day the teacher had them working on it in the classroom. The steps for finding a file by date created will differ depending upon the operating system but all are pretty similar. Here’s how it works in Windows:

Open the Windows File Explorer.

In the search box (or simply push Ctrl+F), type datemodified.

A calendar will appear; select the date for when you believe the file was created or last modified.

If it’s not in the drive you selected, reselect to search another server or attached drive.

If students don’t remember what date they created the file, start in the digital device’s “Recent” folder. This is found not only in the digital device being used but in many programs students use (like Office). This allows students to open recent work quickly without all the usual tedious steps.

Here’s one more way to search by date created: If you’re on a PC, click the Cortana icon in the taskbar and a list of recent activities shows up under “Pick up where you left off”. This includes the most recently saved files.

Did you delete it?

This question and the next one are unlikely to occur but do make a difference in rare instances. Sometimes, students delete the file by accident or because they think it’s an older version. It’s always worth checking the trash. If it’s in there, it’s easy to restore.

Where were you sitting?

This is only for classes that 1) don’t assign seats, or 2) move students around for whatever reason during class (maybe a computer is broken or the current seating doesn’t work that day). Have the student think back to where they were sitting the last time they worked on this project. They may have saved the file to that device’s local drive which means they must return to it and see if they can find it there.

This used to be a serious issue before cloud-based classroom accounts like Google Drive and One Drive became popular.

***

With the increased use of technology to deliver education, solving tech problems has become critical. If tech used for school only works because the teacher is available to solve a myriad of problems, well, it doesn’t work. It must be transferrable to wherever students wish to learn and students must learn to be their own problem-solvers. I’d love to hear what you do when files disappear in your classes.

–published first on TeachHUB

More on tech problem solving:

How to Teach Critical Thinking

Doc Saved Over? Try This

How to Undelete with 2 Keystrokes

Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, contributor to NEA Today and TeachHUB, and author of two tech thrillers. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.

What to do when you lose a digital document published first on https://seminarsacademy.tumblr.com/