Marcel Proust was quoted as saying, “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” Travel can be a wonderful experiential learning tool. However, not everyone is able to invest the time and money necessary to travel. Edudemic posted a list of ten virtual resources to (re) discover the American West. Travel online along rivers, across deserts and over mountains-west.
Tip: This is a wonderful research tool for students and future explorers; Classify the biology of indigenous plants or animals living in national parks and monuments; Study the social divergence of California cultures; Learn the history of the “American West”; and more.
The 2012-2013 school year is coming to a close. Despite dwindling budgets, this past year continued to challenge many K-12 and Higher Education institutions to redefine learning and redesign traditional classroom concepts.
As a result, industry leaders such as SXSWebu, a technology and learning think-tank, took a hard look at the leading trendsetters in education during their annual conference held in Texas. Read Edudemic’s post listing the top 10 hot topics discussed by these front-line classroom educators. These trends should be of interest to K-12, college, and public librarians alike!
Glogster is a fusion between a blog and an electronic poster. It allows educators to create a virtual poster about any given subject. So in terms of library uses, think about upcoming events, special reading programs, or guest speakers/authors, etc. This recommended application was highlighted by The eLearning Site and is offered as a free trial version tool with optional upgrades ($0.50/year and $39/year).
Here are four links to help you learn more;
1) Registration & download information
2) Tutorial: Basic features & uses of Glogster
3) Glogster in 90 seconds
4) Glogpedia: Library of the best glogs created
Recently the President’s speech called for universal preschool programs. He went into detail about the achievement gap among children as young as age 3. Nine states and the District of Columbia fund universal prekindergarten programs for 4-year-olds, and most states fund some preschool for low-income families.
Does it surprise you that the benefits of receiving preschool programming are best measured in how much better kids do as adults? Can universal preschool close the achievement gap? Read more at The Washington Post (2/13)
The Minnesota Budget Project, an initiative of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits (MCN), recently released a snapshot of Governor Dayton’s budget proposal specific to education. This information is broken down into various areas of specialization/interests such Special Ed., MnSCU, Early Childhood Ed., E-12, Higher Ed., etc. This format makes it a quick, must read to help you stay connected. Click here for more information.
