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miércoles, 31 de diciembre de 2014

Wonderful Mini-posters on The 21st century Literacies

December 31, 2014
The concept of literacy is notoriously elusive and hard to define. Aside from the shallow and intellectually-impaired  definition that sums up  literacy in  reading and writing printed text, any serious and profound investigation of literacy does, by implication, entail an analysis of the new ways of learning and meaning-making afforded by digitality. New digital media have provided learners with novel and revolutionary ways of producing, discussing, sharing and interacting with text.

These ways, to say the least about them, are multimodally complex and call for an integrated set of skills that go beyond the mere ability to code and decode meaning. In this sense, to be literate in such a multimodal environment requires understanding and using a wide range of interconnected literacies. We are no longer talking about a single literacy as was the case since the invention of writing some 6000 year ago, we are, instead,  in front of multiple new emerging  and interdependent literacies. Today's students are asked to have a working knowledge of these literacies in order to be able to thrive in a globalized knowledge economy. Katchy Schrock has this wonderful resource where she features some awesome mini-posters defining the key literacies making up today's Literacy (with capital letter) landscape.  These visuals are ideal for classroom inclusion. I invite you to check them out and share with your colleagues.

Here is a quick round-up of the major literacies included in these posters:

  • Information literacy
  • Visual literacy
  • Critical literacy
  • Media literacy
  • Tool literacy
  • Digital literacy
  • Data literacy
  • Global literacy
  • Economic literacy
  • Civic literacy
  • Health literacy
  • Historical literacy
  • Traditional literacy

Here is an  example of Kathy's posters. Check out the rest of these posters from this link.


martes, 30 de diciembre de 2014

Excellent Video Tutorials to Help You Sketchnote on iPad

December 31, 2014
After posting about top iPad apps for creating sketchnotes, I received a couple of requests for sharing video tutorials on sketchnoting on iPad. The videos below are probably the best tutorials you would find out there.  These are the videos I used myself when I first started learning about sketchnoting. There are also some other great resources where you would find more materials and helpful guides on how to create electronic sketchnotes. The first thing I would recommend in this regard is Mike Rohde's book " The Sketchnote Handbook". It is a short book which you can read in a single reading session. This book is particularly useful for beginners who have just started muddling their way through sketchnoting. Another great resource is Kathy Schrock's sketchnoting page which contains a lot of links, tutorials and examples of excellent sketchnotes. You can also use twitter hashtag #sketchnotes to browse through links and resources sketchnoters share their.

1- Visual note taking on the iPad by Karen Bosch




2- How to create sketchnote on an iPad by Linda Saukko



3- Visual Recording on iPad by Rachel Smith



4- The basics of visual Note taking by Claudine Delfin




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The 18 Skills Every 21st Century Learner Should Develop

December 30, 2014
Here is another great visual from Dr Jackie Gerstein featuring a set of some important universal skills for learners. Personally, I prefer to view them from a competency based lens and consider them as competencies that lead up to the development of the required skills. But regardless of the theoretical stance underlying your view, these competencies/skills are the key drivers of learning in a multimodal and multimedia environment. From time management to how to ask effective questions, the insights included in this visual are definitely something you would to have a look at.
Thanks to Reid Wilson through whom I learned about this resource.

For more details and resources related to this visual, I recommend that you check Jackie's post "Universal Skills All Learners should Know how to Do". It is really a great read.


Universal skills for learners


These Are The 16 Attributes of The Modern Educator

December 30, 2014
As teachers and educators, we are constantly required to review, evaluate and renew our teaching strategies to align them with  the cultural, technological and pedagogical ethos of the era we are living in. In today's era, the digital component is at the foreground which obviously calls for a new mindset, a novel conceptual framework that views technology not as an end itself but solely a mean to an educational end. It is a truism that digitality has opened a new horizon of unprecedented learning opportunities and experiences  but we can only tap into its full educational potential when we equip ourselves with the proper mindset: a growth and open mindset that as much as it adapts it also disrupts the century-old orthodoxies underlying teaching and learning practice. Teaching is a dynamic concept which is constantly evolving and expanding and that is why teachers and educators are forever learners.

Engaging in such a life-long learning journey entails that teachers develop a set of robust thinking habits that allow them to fit in the rapidly evolving educational landscape.These habits are, according to Reid Wilson, what make the profile of a modern educator. Below is an awesome visual created by Wilson featuring some of the characteristics of a modern teacher which I want to bring to your attention. Have a look and share with us what you think of it. Enjoy


Characteristics of the modern educator

lunes, 29 de diciembre de 2014

A Beautiful Sketchnote on How Teachers Can Use Twitter for Professional Development

December, 2014
Twitter is a powerful  social networking tool with huge potential for teachers professional development.  In a relatively short span of time, Twitter evolved into one of the best educational social networking platforms of choice for educators and teachers. It has also become an essential element in teachers life-long learning and a key driver of professional development.

In a recent post I shared here a few days ago, I featured 10 effective ways teachers can leverage the power of Twitter to grow professionally. However, today as I was wading through my Pinterest feeds I stumbled upon this beautiful sketchnote from Langtwiches on the same topic I covered in the aforementioned post: Twitter for professional development. I liked this sketchnote and decided to share it with you. You can also check this  Pinterest board for similar sketchnotes.

Click here to access the original full version of the sketchnote below


Top iPad Apps for Sketchnoting and Visual Notetaking

December 30, 2014
Sketchnoting is the art of visual recording in which the sketchnoter draws on a multimodal set of tools to communicate their ideas. Unlike traditional note taking, sketchnoting is a primarily visual medium in that it foregrounds the visual element and  highlights connections and hierarchies. Sketchnoting involves the blending of words with drawings, shapes, diagrams, and graphic organizers ( e.g arrows, pointers, bullet points..etc). In short, sketchnoting, as I like to think of it, is an advanced form of doodling.

Here is a very good example of how a sketchnote looks like. This is done created by Rachel Smith

According to Mike Rohde, author of The Sketchnote Handbook, sketchnoting has several pluses:
  • It engages your whole mind
  • It creates a visual map
  • Sketchnoting helps your concentration
  • Sketchnoting taps our visual language
  • Sketchnoting is relaxing
  • Creating Sketchnotes is dynamic and fun.
One great  and easy way to sketchnote is to do it on iPad. You can be in a conference, listening to a lecture, watching a TED talk, or reading an article and take sketchnotes on your iPad. There are several powerful apps that you can use to facilitate your sketchnoting. The list below features the ones I highly recommend.

But before you install of these apps, let us talk a little bit more on sketchnoting as a process. To sketchnote, you can either use your finger which is most definitely not handy or use a stylus. A stylus is a pen that enables you to scribble, draw, and write on the screen of your iPad. The top five styluses out there now are included in this list. I personally use Adonit Jot Pro which is by far the most versatile among them all.

Now that you have got your stylus , you will need a good app where you can sketchnote. If you are looking for  a very simple and easy to use app, FlipInk or Adobe Ideas are what you need. For advanced sketchnoters I would recommend Paper 53.

1- Flipink
Flipink is a neat app for you to sketch, share and organize your ideas, thoughts, write down your memos and notes.you can insert images,type texts,and draw graphics as you want, It helps you stay organized and improve productivity, capture ideas flashed through your minds, either at home, at workplace, or on the go.

2- Paper 53

Paper is the simplest way to express your ideas. You don’t need to know how to draw. From sketching out a new product design, to drafting a kitchen remodel or outlining a great business plan, Paper sets your ideas free. It works the way you think, with no fussy settings or distractions. Available with Paper are five beautiful tools to Sketch, Write, Draw, Outline, and Color.
3- Adobe Ideas

Adobe® Ideas gives you the ability to draw freeform vector illustrations wherever you are. Replace your pen and paper with a huge virtual canvas, customizable brushes, and pressure sensitive stylus support. With a Creative Cloud membership, easily sync Adobe Ideas projects to Creative Cloud and open them for refinement in Illustrator.

4- Air Sketch
Air Sketch is great for presentations in the boardroom, classroom, or on the go. Just fire up Air Sketch on the iPad and open the specified URL from any HTML-5 compatible browser on the local network. Your photos and drawings show up natively in the browser. There's no additional client software to install, or services to subscribe to.

5- Brushes
Brushes is a painting app designed exclusively for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Rewritten from the ground up, Brushes 3 is universal — the same version runs on both your iPhone and your iPad. Move paintings between your devices and keep working wherever you go!

6- Sketchbook Pro
Autodesk SketchBook® Pro for iPad is a professional-grade paint and drawing application. Using the same paint engine as its desktop counterpart, SketchBook Pro delivers a complete set of sketching & painting tools through a streamlined and intuitive user interface designed exclusively for the iPad experience.

domingo, 28 de diciembre de 2014

10 Ways to Integrate Google Drawings in Your Teaching

December 29, 2014
Google Drawings is a tool that is often overlooked by teachers. Being part of Google Drive, Drawings has some powerful features hat make it an ideal platform for creating educational posters, visuals, mind maps an many more. I have been using it to create several of the posters I shared here in the past and I find it really handy. Here is a step by step visual guide to help you learn how to use Drawings  to create posters.

I am also sharing with you this excellent visual from Shake Up Learning featuring more ideas on what you can do with Google Drawings. To access Google Drawings: Head over to your Google Drive, click on "New" then on "More" and select " Google Drawings".





10 Ways to Use Google Draw