World of Media: March 2011

Coming Fall 2011

These online databases will be added to the suite of resources in the Heartland AEA virtual library in fall 2011. Read more about it at http://www.aea11.k12.ia.us/library/OnlineDatabases.

• Culture Grams (daily life and customs around the world)
• Britannica Digital Learning (multimedia encyclopedia)
• Gale – Cengage Learning (full-text periodicals, newspapers, and reference)

Training, support resources, workshops, will be available starting in April.

Digital Media: New Learners, K-12

Many educators and parents follow the Iowa Future blog to monitor education trends and discussions lead by Iowa leaders, http://www.iowafuture.org. The March 1 posting referred to the "Digital Media" PBS video. Education experts share how students are becoming more active in directing their own learning, exemplifying Harvard educator Tony Wagner's seven skills students need for their future. View the full video or selected clips at http://video.pbs.org/video/1797357384.

Teach with iPads, K-12

The Bryan Independent School District in Texas created a dynamic page with practical information, strategies, and activities for using technology in the classroom--particularly iPads.

http://teachwithyouripad.wikispaces.com/IPAD+Activities+Examples

CHANGE HOW YOU READ ONLINE
Readability is a web and mobile app that zaps online clutter and saves web articles in a comfortable review view. https://www.readability.com/
It performs some reformatting magic and strips all the sidebars and ads, and gives you a nicely formatted chunk of text in a format that you choose. Choices include style (Newspaper, Novel, eBook, etc), font size, and margin/line length. All you need to do is make your choices, and then drag the bookmarklet to your bookmark bar in your browser. Anytime you run across a long article, click the bookmark and Readability gives you a very legible version of the text.

Instapaper is an app that let's you mark web pages, articles, feeds, etc. that you don't have time to read right now but want to read later. The free version will hold links to 10 sites--which may be adequate if students are researching a topic. When you find something you want to read later, you click the Read Later bookmark, and the text of that article is saved to your Instapaper account. You can then view the article at the Instapaper site, or read it on your iPad. Read more about it at http://www.alatechsource.org/blog/2010/05/change-how-you-read-online.html

Google Classes, K-12

Wish you had the time to take a class on how to use all the features in Google? Try some of the short tutorials on Atomic Learning. Use the online database username/password assigned to your school. Find a buddy and take a few minutes during your busy day to work through the tutorials.

Check “Tutorials” under the Applications dropdown box:
Google Chrome
Google Docs
Google Earth
Google Sites
Google SketchUp

Check “Project-based” under Applications dropdown box:
Google Blogger
Google Calendar
Google Docs
Google Earch
Google Reader
Google SketchUp

BioED Online, K-12

http://www.bioedonline.org/
This site is for teacher education. It features streaming video presentations on research lab techniques, inquiry science, and assessment. The Slide Library is a great resource where teachers will find hundreds of searchable slides that can be downloaded and used to customize their own lesson plans and activities. Each slide includes talking points and references. The Teacher Resources area includes ready-to-go lessons and instructional materials such as the grade 4-8 activity guides: sleep and daily rhythms, muscles and bones, and food and fitness. There is also a separate section for K-5 educators that includes presentations, slide sets, teacher resources, and professional development.

Chemistry & Everyday Life, 9-12

http://www.nbclearn.com/chemistrychapters
This is a new online series of free videos and resources. It has three weekly lessons available now with many more to be added through the rest of the school year. The project was created with the National Science Foundation and covers a variety of topics ranging from the chemical breakdown of all the components of a cheeseburger to the chemistry of fear. Each series contains several one- to six-minute videos, charts, related news stories and lesson plans created by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). The site also features profiles of scientists making chemistry breakthroughs.

Physclips: Multimedia Physics, 9-12

http://www.physclips.unsw.edu.au/
The site uses film clips, animations, still photos, montages, and diagrams to demonstrate the different principles of physics, and includes links to other supporting and related pages as well as to background information and materials. Topics: constant acceleration, projectiles, circular motion, Newton’s laws, center of mass, momentum, rotation, and more. The tutorials for the modules are accessible from the main page of the site. Teachers can go straight to the download page and download resources for use in their classrooms.

New Nature DVDs, 6-12

This new DVD series for checkout/reservation is a classroom version of the PBS Nature episodes.

Adaptive animal anatomy #810277
Adaptive function of form: the beauty of ugly #809748
Breeding cattle by humans: domestication and genetics #809749
Death Valley: desert biome survival #809750
Endangered: extinction's cost #810274
Fellowship of the humpback whales #810280
Frogs and amphibians: crisis and CSI #810278
How dogs became man's best friend: genetics and domestication #809752
Hummingbird adaptations in dazzling motion #810279
Kilauea: Hawaii's birth volcano #810276
Mystery of disappearing honeybees: fusion of form and function #809753
Population crash: disappearing horseshoe crabs #810275
Raptors: adaptations for predation #809751
Scary squid, octopuses and other cephalopods #809754
Scientific methods and the venom cure #809755
Yellowstone bears' ecosystem #809756
Yellowstone wolves: territoriality and clan behavior #809765

Mark Twain’s Mississippi, 6-12

http://dig.lib.niu.edu/twain/
Mark Twain’s Mississippi is a searchable and indexed multimedia digital library of some of Samuel Clemons publications and reminiscences. The materials include primary sources, such as historical statistics, texts and images, as well as interpretive essays and digital video segments in which scholars discuss their ideas. The materials are grouped into four themes: economic development, politics, race, religion and culture. Included is a biography of Mark Twain and sound files of songs such as “Steamboat Bill” and “The Slave Mother’s Lament” which illustrate society, politics, and culture on the Mississippi River from 1830-1890. RealPlayer and a special plug-in are needed; they can be downloaded for free at the site.

Steps in the Research Process, 6-12

http://www.crlsresearchguide.org
This research guide takes the student step-by-step through the process with tip sheets for each step. Each tip sheet also contains links to additional information for clarification and additional learning. Students can use the tip sheets to learn or review the entire process or easily locate the specific information for the step that they need. Tip sheets include: Selecting a research topic; Listing keywords; Making source cards; Finding information within sources; Writing a statement of purpose; Brainstorming research questions; Writing a thesis statement; Making an outline; Citing sources; Writing an introduction and conclusion, etc.

The King's Speech--The Real Story, 9-12

http://www.awesomestories.com
AwesomeStories features a collection of multimedia primary source materials—photos, video, audio and historical documents—held together in a series of digital stories about films, famous trials, disaster and historical events. Teachers can signup for a free membership and see everything on the site including an extensive image database where they can explore all its features (including narrated stories). Teachers can also dig deeper with lesson plans and text documents and stay up to date with a free newsletter profiling current events and hot topics.

Teaching About Egypt Today, 6-12

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/31/ways-to-teach-the-unrest-in-egypt/?src=twrhp
The New York Times Learning Network blog offers suggestions and resources for including the latest developments in lessons. One suggestion is to post text about Egypt and its history in the classroom and lead students on a gallery walk as they read and take notes. Then students can be divided into groups to study questions about the issue. The blog also suggests having students study varying viewpoints and the roles of technology, media and U.S. diplomacy in the unfolding events.

Ameriquest Kids, K-6

This animated DVD series for checkout/reservation can be used for civic literacy. They include an on-screen quiz.

Why we serve #810259
Your right to vote #810258

The Love of Money DVDs, 9-12

This series for checkout/reservation is about the global economy and the 2008 financial crisis. Use these programs for financial literacy, math, social studies, current events, social studies, ethics.

The age of risk #810255
Back from the brink #810256
The bank that bust the world #810254

Math Tools for Teachers, K-12

http://www2.ups.edu/community/tofu/home.htm
Tools for Understanding is an online professional self-development resource for teachers. The math concepts section provides a wide variety of lessons arranged by topic such as spreadsheet basics, factors, primes and functions, fractions, decimals, percents, geometry, working with data, and more.
The lessons integrate technology (either spreadsheets or calculators) into the learning process and can easily be included in the existing curriculum.
The integrated lessons section provides examples of in-depth problem solving in mathematics and explicit suggestions for moving students through the problem solving process toward high-quality products.
The journaling section explores the idea of writing in mathematics and offers tips for getting started as well as prompts to use, strategies for incorporating writing into the mathematics class, and lesson plans.

Math & Teaching for Understanding Videos, K-12

The Heartland Eduvision channel (think YouTube) has some locally-produced videos about the various components of the Iowa Core and best practices. It's an excellent tool for school-wide or personal professional development. There is a browsable index and a keyword search--just like YouTube. Dr. Eric Hart, UNI, discusses how to enhance math instruction and teaching practices—particularly in conjunction with the Iowa Core.

A New Way to Get to Carnegie Hall, K-5

http://www.carnegiehall.org/article/explore_and_learn/art_online_resources_listening_adventures.html
Help students learn about sound, music notation, text, and instruments through engaging Web-based games. This interactive site is a great way to learn about the orchestra and its instruments as well as the symphony and some history of Carnegie Hall. The Young Person's Guide teaches students about the four families of musical instruments and their place in the orchestra. Students go on a safari through the instrument filled jungle collecting all the instruments in a problem solving adventure. In Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 "From the New World" students listen to and view an animated version of the symphony while learning about the music, instruments of the orchestra, and the composer.

Documentaries, K-12

Heartland AEA purchased some interesting DVD documentaries for the high school classroom to spark a guided discussion. The DVDs can be reserved online or call the Heartland library.

Oceans of Plastic #073688
This program asks what can be done to clean up the plastic wastes that are polluting the oceans and what the long-term impact will be.

Malls R Us #810251
This program examines the enclosed shopping center and how they function as a communal, even ceremonial experience and, for retailers and consumers. It discusses the psychological appeal of malls, how architects design their environments to combine consumerism with nature and spectacle, how suburban shopping centers impact social values, and how malls are transforming the traditional notions of community, social space and human interaction.

The Koran: the origins of the book #810252
This documentary explores the origins of the Koran, which according to Muslim tradition, has remained static and unchanged since its revelation to the prophet Mohammed between 610 and 632 CE in Mecca and Medina. Recent discoveries of Koranic manuscripts analyzed by scientists indicate that the Koran would appear to have a more complicated history.

Home across lands #810266
This documentary shares the story of a small group of Kunama refugees that have been given the opportunity for resettlement, and how they re-establish their sense of community in America.

Bloodlines #810257
This documentary reveals how biotechnologies are raising ethical, legal and social dilemmas as science intersects with the law.