NPR: Oklahoma restricted how race can be taught. So these Black teachers stepped up. “The schoolchildren arrived at the community center’s cafeteria on a Saturday morning, their parents in tow. Some adults came without children, because they, too, wanted to learn the African American history that a new law has made many Oklahoma schoolteachers too afraid to teach.”
University of British Columbia: UBC researchers launch new online tool to help teachers take their classes outdoors. “Researchers from UBC and BC Children’s Hospital have launched a new online Outdoor Play and Learning tool, to help parents, caregivers and educators gain the skills and confidence to support outdoor play and learning in elementary schools from kindergarten through Grade 7.”
Make Tech Easier: 13 Free Google Slides Templates for Teachers . “As an educator, you may want to use a visual tool but don’t have much time beyond lesson plans, grading, and lectures. If you’d like to create a presentation for your students or fellow staff members, this list includes several free Google Slides templates for teachers to get you started.”
Mashable: How social media in the classroom is burning teachers out. “[Sari Beth] Rosenberg noticed the shift about a decade ago. Her students’ attention span seemed shorter, and the teens became more prone to distraction. Conflicts over being excluded or bullied via social media became routine. Students brought that tension into the classroom and hallways. Rosenberg noticed, through observation and conversation, how social media wore down her students’ mental health.”
Illinois State University: Creative Technologies professor creates gaming database for educators . “With more than 10,000 computer games of varying topics, themes, and designs released each year, the options are overwhelming. But by establishing an online database called ‘Using.Games,’ [Dr. Sercan] Şengün is aiming to make video games more accessible for educators who are teaching about and researching the humanities, social sciences, and the arts.” I think the database is currently available, but when I checked it it was down.
Associated Press: Paper exams, chatbot bans: Colleges seek to ‘ChatGPT-proof’ assignments. “For some instructors that means a return to paper exams, after years of digital-only tests. Some professors will be requiring students to show editing history and drafts to prove their thought process. Other instructors are less concerned. Some students have always found ways to cheat, they say, and this is just the latest option.”
British Library Knowledge Matters Blog: Building a Minecraft Gateway to the World of Books | User Stories . “Professor Sally Bushell drew on the British Library collections to create Litcraft, a project that builds worlds in Minecraft to inspire reluctant readers. Her most recent Litcraft game is called Steampunk Sherlock Holmes. Sally is a Professor of Romantic and Victorian Literature in the Department of English Literature and Creative Writing at Lancaster University. “
New York Times: ‘Now, Let’s Be a Starfish!’: Learning With Ms. Rachel, Song by Song. “Wearing her signature bluejean overalls, pink T-shirt and a matching headband, she became that friendly woman from the videos: the one who joyfully pronounces words, babbles if necessary, waves and sings to instruct her little viewers. She had morphed publicly into Ms. Rachel, playfully described as the ‘Beyoncé for toddlers’ in a TikTok comment.”
Larry Ferlazzo: This Week’s Free & Useful Artificial Intelligence Tools For The Classroom. “At least, for now, I’m going to make this a weekly feature which will highlight additions to THE BEST NEW – & FREE – ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TOOLS THAT COULD BE USED IN THE CLASSROOM.”
University of Birmingham: New project brings the work of Stuart Hall back into the spotlight. “A new multidisciplinary project will expand public understanding and engagement with the work of the celebrated cultural theorist, Professor Stuart Hall. Stuart Hall was a Jamaican-British academic, writer, cultural studies pioneer, public intellectual and teacher who was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1932. As a leading public intellectual, he made major interventions in the cultural and political life of Britain, such as coining the term ‘Thatcherism’ and his work on race and class.”
Larry Ferlazzo: This Week’s Free & Useful Artificial Intelligence Tools For The Classroom. “At least, for now, I’m going to make this a weekly feature which will highlight additions to THE BEST NEW – & FREE – ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TOOLS THAT COULD BE USED IN THE CLASSROOM.”
Larry Ferlazzo: AI Can Be Helpful To Teachers But, Despite What Sal Khan Says, It Will Not Be “the Biggest Positive Transformation That Education Has Ever Seen”. “The reality, to borrow from some of my posts’ headlines, is that all the bells and whistles of AI are going to be useless if students don’t feel like engaging with it. If students did what we wanted them to do, AI would be great! Though, if students did what we wanted them to do, there wouldn’t be any need to even think about using AI in the classroom.”
CNN: Teachers are on the front lines of a battle to change how teens use social media. “[Jennifer] Rosenzweig is one of a growing number of educators who find themselves on the front lines of a fight to change how students use social media, both in schools and at home, after rising concerns about the impact these services can have on the mental health of teens. And recently, there has been a push for more schools to effectively follow their example and develop programs to help educate students on the dangers of social media.”
United Nations: UNESCO unveils new AI roadmap for classrooms. “The UN convened the first ever global meeting with education ministers from around the world to explore risks and rewards of using chatbots in classrooms, announcing on Friday a new roadmap to chart a safer digital path for all.”
Larry Ferlazzo: The Best 34 Free AI Tools For Education In 2023 – So Far. “I’ve begun posting my mid-year ‘Best’ lists, and this is a new one – the first time I’ve shared a ‘Best’ list specifically on AI tools.”
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