photo credit: quattrostagioni

“Turn in a 3 page paper, size 12 font, 1 inch margins.” How many times have we heard those instructions for the length of a writing assignment? I never understood why we define a length requirement in pages when it’s so easy to modify. You can change line spacing slightly, adjust the margins just a bit, use two spaces after a period or the particularly devious trick of just changing the font of periods. And that’s not to mention all the filler writing students add in to get over that page requirment.

I’ve always found myself conflicted on requiring a length on writing. The goal of any writing isn’t the length, but the quality of communication. Students often hit the length requirement and stop, as if the length were the goal, instead of editing and whittling down their writing to a focused, concise point. As Mark Twain said, “If you want me to give you a two-hour presentation, I am ready today.  If you want only a five-minute speech, it will take me two weeks to prepare.” Perhaps we should be requiring student writing to be shorter, not longer.

I’ve always framed my lengths as a suggestion – that in order to answer the questions presented, most students would find their paper would need to be a certain length. If I were to require a length in a piece of writing, I had always required a word count on papers. It’s so quick to do a word count in Google Docs or Word, and you can’t cheat the system. There’s still the issue of filler content, but my evaluation for quality would account for that.

So why do many teachers use page requirements instead of a word count?

It wasn’t until only recently during a conversation that I realized the painfully obvious. I chose word count because my students turned all their work in online in our class Moodle. I’m sure I would be using pages as a measure of length if I were collecting dead tree papers – who has time to actually count every word on a writing assignment? Having digital copies of student work made taking work home to grade a breeze, checking for plagiarism quick and allowed me to add comments without marking up the work permanently. That’s not to mention the environmental impact of all that paper and ink we saved across my classes.

Even the fact that we call them “papers” shows that the physical printout is what we’ve always been concerned with. Digital definitely has analog beat in this comparison, and it’s about time that every teacher ditches the paper and collects student work digitally.

A great reminder that what is obvious to you is mostly likely eye-opening to everyone else.

Obvious to you. Amazing to others. – by Derek Sivers

If you’re using Chrome as your everyday browser (if you’re not switch already!), the new extension Chrome Remote Desktop comes in very handy. Using the extension, you generate a one time code to give to who ever needs to see your screen. They enter the code and through the Googley magic, they have access to your desktop. Sure, there are other remote desktop products out there, but none that I’m aware of that work so smoothly with Macs, PCs and even Chromebooks.

While it’s still in beta, it’s another example of how the Chrome team is walking the line between features and minimalist simplicity.

Chrome Remote Desktop BETA

Ever play a YouTube video and which you could hide all the distractions? SafeShare.TV is a simple tool to make YouTube safer in your classes. Simply paste the url to your youtube video and you’ll be given a new url that hides all the distracting “related” videos and comments.

Compare this:

To this:

 http://SafeShare.tv

A Google A Day is a fantastic way to test your (and your students) search engine skills. Each day, a challenge is presented where finding the answer will take a little more searching skill then your everyday search. The site uses a ingenious system that searches the web as it was the day before the A Google A Day challenge was given, ensuring that you don’t stumble across spoilers.

Many students think they are good “Googlers”, but often they are just scratching the surface of what search engines can offer. This short activity can be used as a great transition activity, discussion starter, or even class competition to compare times. You can even embed the challenge as I have below to highlight the day’s challenge on your class website.

A Google A Day

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” – Steve Jobs

photo credit: Unhindered by Talent

While I believe that preparing students to succeed in the workplace is an important part of education, the true goal is to prepare students for life. However, after reading You are now a Consultant, How work is changing, I couldn’t help but wonder if we are preparing students to become self-sufficient in their careers.

The article highlights the fact that the average length of employment is now 2.3 years. The majority of our students will have 12+ jobs in their careers. The author describes 5 tips to thrive as a “consultant” in the workplace, and I couldn’t help but think how each tip is a reminder of what our students need in their classes.

Below are the 5 tips and some thoughts on teaching these skills:

1. Become self-sufficient by building your network

Are we teaching students to build their network, or are we letting them fend for themselves? Creating a PLN for educators has been at the forefront for a few years, but it’s time to teach our students how to cultivate and participate in a learning community.

2. Every time you start a new project you must learn very fast about the client and the work

Project-based learning where students must investigate the problem, and develop a plan before starting, provides an opportunity to discover that successful projects are made in the planning phase.

3. You must keep up with the latest technologies and best practices

Can we teach students to teach themselves the newest technologies and find optimum practices? While the technology we have today won’t be what they use in the work place in 5-10 years, through learning how to learn technology, we can prepare them for whatever tools become essential down the line.

4. Project lengths are short…

Giving many, fast paced projects might be a better strategy than one quarter or year long project.

5. Have a skill set that is in demand

Instead of teaching skills, let’s first have students identify the skills they need, develop projects and a learning plan, and ensure that each student is prepared with the skills they need.

You are a Consultant, How work is changing

Via ijohnpederson

Technology: Exciting, Disruptive but No Longer Overwhelming! – goo.gl/UVLdB

• A Day in the Internet – http://www.onlineeducation.net/internet
• The Top Ten Disruptive Technologies – http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=681107
• Everything’s Amazing and Nobody’s Happy – http://www.tubechop.com/watch/170739
• The Cost of Technology – http://www.intac.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/cost-of-technology.jpg

Polleverywhere.com – goo.gl/RLB7I

• Polleverywhere.com – http://www.polleverywhere.com
• Classroom Example -http://www.polleverywhere.com/multiple_choice_polls/NDI4MDE2MTQz
• An affordable CRS accessible to all educators – http://www.polleverywhere.com/sms-classroom-response-system
• Real Time Assessment – http://novemberlearning.com/resources/handouts/real-time-assessment-with-poll-everywhere/
• Using Poll Everywhere in the Classroom – http://digitalteach.wordpress.com/2010/12/13/using-poll-everywhere-in-the-classroom/

Presented at Technology Boot Camp @ CEDFA Summit 2011

The Technology Toolbox – http://goo.gl/JQSD0

• Skype – http://www.skype.com
• Skype Projects in the Classroom – http://education.skype.com/projects/
• Call Recorder for Skype – http://ecamm.com/mac/callrecorder/
• Skype Explained Visually – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1mflr-kQlk
• Find Other Schools and Students on Skype – http://www.epals.com
• Find Authors Willing to Skype – http://skypeanauthor.wetpaint.com/
• Tips from a Teacher Using Skype – http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2006/10/using-skype-in-classroom-or-just.html
• Teachers’ Experiences with Skype – http://www.robcoschools.org/cpes/teachers_and_skype
• Class Skypes with Ill Classmate – http://learningismessy.com/blog/?p=196
• Skyping with an Illustrator – http://langwitches.org/blog/2009/02/12/skyping-in-mike-artell-illustrator-author/
• Production Staff of Movie Skypes with Class – http://clc.yale.edu/2009/02/18/videoconferencing-in-the-classroom-with-skype/
• Dropbox – http://dropbox.com
• Teacher Shows How He Uses Dropbox – http://www.thenerdyteacher.com/2010/03/dropbox-must-for-all-teachers.html
• The Magic Pocket – A Dropbox Manual – http://manuals.makeuseof.com.s3.amazonaws.com/MakeUseOf.com-Dropbox.pdf
• Have Students Upload Documents into your Dropbox – http://dropitto.me/
• Prezi – http://www.prezi.com
• Prezi Quickstart Guide – http://www.activehistory.co.uk/Miscellaneous/free_stuff/worksheets/Prezi.pdf
• Free Prezi License for Educators – http://blog.prezi.com/2010/01/24/new-release-features-educational-license-reuse-learn-center/
• Evernote – http://www.evernote.com
• Posterous – http://www.posterous.com
• Instapaper- http://www.instapaper.com
• QR Codes – all QR codes in this presentation made with goo.gl