Treasure Trove of Materials at Shmoop

http://shmoop.com

This site contains test prep materials as of now.  They plan to add in online MOOC style classes for 187 different Common Core classes.  As of now, they have some quality material for biology but none for chemistry or physics.  Some of the material, including the test prep stuff,  is behind a paywall.  The material is interesting as it is geared totally for test prep, allowing a student to pay for the stuff and then get a higher grade.  They even feature an Essay Lab designed to help a student start essays on literature.  This feature is behind the paywall but there is a tour.

Overall, the site could help for AP test prep.  It will be itneresting to see what they put up for Common Core.

Who Owns the Learning? - Summary and Review

This slim volume contains a wealth of ideas, both theoretical and practical, for transforming a classroom to better prepare students for the 21st century workplace.  Alan November describes what he calls the "Digital Learning Farm", in analogy to a family farm in which children of all ages performed necessary tasks around the farm, helping to provide for the family's success.  In contrast, he argues, today's education system is built around graded classrooms in an industrial model with a teacher as the central figure and students as passive receptors.

While life outside our schools has changed dramatically over the past century, we cling to an early industrialized classroom model that often fails to encourage collaboration, innovation, a global work ethic, or critical problem-solving skills. ... We have inherited an organizational structure in which the teacher owns and manages the learning.  This industrial model underestimates the natural curiosity of students to direct their own learning; they have little opportunity to contribute to the design of the learning process or find a sense of greater purpose in their work.  (p. 5)

November advocates a shift from teacher-centered to student-centered classrooms, and showcases four examples from around the country.  He highlights student roles in those classrooms, as tutorial designers, student scribes, student researchers, and global communicators and collaborators.  Each chapter introduces the reader to another teacher, another classroom, and another way in which students are owning their own learning.

While these four student roles are a good start, they do not seem to be sufficient for a complete shift to student-centered learning, and November does not present them as such.  Nevertheless, the book is a quick but powerful read, introducing us to simple ways in which teachers can help students take control of their own learning.  If you're interested in borrowing this book, just let me know.

Free Online Materials at CK-12.org

http://www.ck12.org/browse/


This site contains online learning materials.  I browsed chemistry.  The chemistry heading has 8 headings and each heading has a number of concepts.  Each concept has 1 or more modalities.  Clicking on a modality brings up something to read, often with pictures, and sometimes with youtube videos and even some questions at the end.

Biology has 9 headings and many more concepts than chem.  They also have physics, life science, and physical science.  The material I looked at is clear and appealing to the eye.

This site would be an excellent reteaching resource for students identified as in need of help by formative assessment.  It could also serve as an online textbook type resource.

Link Medley

Sharing some good reads with you:

• Tweet to Learn (Scientific American Blog Network)
• Research on students' use of cell phones (The Innovative Educator)
• Professional Development: Whose Job Is It?  (Education Week)
• Chromebooks vs iPads (Jamie Reaburn Weir)
• The Teacher's Guide to Copyright and Fair Use (Edudemic)
• A Physics PLC: Collaboration at a Distance (Learning and Physics)
• 4 Tips for Transitioning Your Classroom to Digital Media (TeachThought)

More on Connexions

http://cnx.org/

In addition to full books Connexions has modules such as the physics of music or how a police radar works.

For example, accelerated 1D motion can be found here:  http://cnx.org/content/m13834/latest/

It features clearly written material with plenty of diagrams.

Overall the site appears to be a gold mine for any teacher interested in flipping.  Remember that flipped materials don't have to be videos, they can be readings as well.

Free Online Textbooks at Connexions

I've been searching for free online textbooks of sufficient quality.  I found this:  http://cnx.org/

College Physics is high quality.  http://cnx.org/content/col11406/latest/

Grade 10 chem is pretty good.  http://cnx.org/content/col11303/latest/

There are 169 pages worth of links to free online books in Science and Technology alone.

The College Physics book contains quality exercises for immediate reinforcement but not enough for drill and practice or problem sets.

General Chemistry I is incomplete.  Combined with General Chemistry II there is almost enough for a full book (with no problems/solutions).

I recommend that teachers visit this site and if they like a book, link to it for their students.  That way, students always have access to a textbook if they have internet access.


I'm going to keep searching for a trove of problems with solutions and explanations to supplement my own.

What is a 21st-Century Learner?

Here are three videos that have been shared with me.  Each one attempts to describe how 21st-century education must be different that 20th- (or 19th-) century education.  Enjoy!

What is 21st-Century Education? (2:10)



The Voice of the Active Learner (2:18)



Social Media in Education - Teaching Digital Natives in 2011 (4:10)