US DOE’s new National Educational Technology Plan – US DOE

TN DOE Prepares New Assessment – Tim Childers

I Don’t Think Blocking Networked Learning in Our Schools Is an Option – Darren Draper

Using Maps in an Elementary School Math Lesson – Richard Byrne

Use Drop.io’s Upload Widget to Collect Student Work – Richard Byrne

• Suggested Reading for 11/18/2008
• Suggested Reading for 02/21/2009
• Suggested Reading for 09/22/2008
• Suggested Reading for 11/20/2008





]]> http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3422/feed 0 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3481 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3481#comments Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:30:07 +0000 Clif http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3481

• National Lab Day

  An initiative to build local communities of support that will foster ongoing collaborations among volunteers, students and educators. Volunteers, university students, scientists, engineers, other STEM professionals and, more broadly, members of the community are working together with educators and students to bring discovery-based science experiences to students in grades K-12. When an educator posts a project, our system will help them get the resources needed to bring that project to fruition.

  tags: Math, Science, Network, Networking, PBL, Technology, Technology-Integration

• Hannah’s Homework Help Station

  Research Skills and Search Engines. FREE Presentations in PowerPoint format, Free Interactives and Games

  tags: Games, PowerPoint, Presentations, Research, Search, Free

• Greta’s Game Station

  FREE Games for Kids. Math, Science, Reading, Grammar, Art, Music, Social Studies, and more

  tags: Games, Math, Science, Reading, Art, Music, Social-Studies, Geography, Lesson-Plans, Resources, Free

• Pete’s Power Point Station

  Collection of FREE Presentations and Games in PowerPoint format for K-12 Teachers and Students

  tags: Games, PowerPoint, Presentations, Elementary, Middle, Secondary, Resources, Lesson-Plans, Teaching, Skills-Practice, Math, Social-Studies, Geography, Language-Arts, Science

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

• An Introduction to Presentations 2.0
• Diigo Notes for 05/07/2009
• Prezi
• Developing Better Presentations





]]> http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3481/feed 0 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3473 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3473#comments Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:46:53 +0000 Clif http://clifmims.com/blog/?p=3473 Computers, software and even cell phones have radically altered our relationship to mass culture and technology, providing consumers with the tools to become producers, or “remixers,” of their own media. But long before everyday people began posting their video mash-ups on the Web, hiphop musicians perfected the art of audio montage through a sport they called “sampling.” “Copyright Criminals,” a documentary by Benjamin Franzen and Kembrew McLeod, examines the creative and commercial value of musical sampling, including the ongoing debates about artistic expression, copyright law and (of course) money. (Source)

Wednesday
March 10, 2010
8:00 PM — 9:00 PM EST
Full Webinar Details here

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]]> http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3473/feed 0 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3461 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3461#comments Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:30:08 +0000 Clif http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3461

• Read the Words

  Free text to speech voices.
  –Alternative methods to process written information.
  –Can be used to assist non-readers/struggling readers.
  –Helpful in ESL/EFL classrooms

  tags: 2.0, Video, Audio, Dual-Coding, Language-Arts, ESL

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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]]> http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3461/feed 0 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3459 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3459#comments Thu, 04 Mar 2010 22:09:56 +0000 Clif http://clifmims.com/blog/?p=3459 These are the slides for today’s presentation at the NCTIES Conference. Examples of how both teachers and students have used these tools are included. The full set of notes and resources from this session are available on the wiki.
Digital Tools for Teachers Toolboxes
View more presentations from Clif Mims.
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• Multiple Representations of Understanding through Digital Media
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]]> http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3459/feed 2 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3446 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3446#comments Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:30:59 +0000 Clif http://clifmims.com/blog/?p=3446 I encourage new visitors to the website and blog to join our professional learning network (PLN) via Facebook and Google Friend Connect so that we can all engage in more active and collaborative ways. I hope you’ll join our educational community (click on the buttons below) and let’s have fun learning together. Please feel free to invite other educators, preservice teachers, homeschool families, and anyone with an interest in education and technology, too.
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• Using Facebook Pages
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• New Diigo Group





]]> http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3446/feed 0 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3457 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3457#comments Wed, 03 Mar 2010 11:40:14 +0000 Clif http://clifmims.com/blog/?p=3457 I’m enjoying the North Carolina Technology in Education Society’s 2010 Conference in Raleigh, NC. I’m excited about being one of the featured speakers and having opportunities to work with and learn from classroom teachers, media specialists, administrators, and more.

Today I’ll be sharing a pre-conference workshop on Multiple Representations of Understanding through Digital Media. This energetic session will demonstrate that with freely available digital technologies students can demonstrate their understanding of course content in multiple ways (images, audio, video, presentations, artwork, and more). Each student’s end product (learning artifact) allows them to personally self-express their understanding/mastery of the content/skills. Although teachers may not be comfortable using all of today’s technology it is important to consider allowing students to use it to communicate their understanding as they are often more naturally able to more fully express themselves with digital media. The PowerPoint presentation is below and the full workshop notes are available on my wiki. Note that the links and logos in the PowerPoint presentation are clickable.

Multiple Representations of Understanding through Digital Media 2.0
View more presentations from Clif Mims.
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]]> http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3457/feed 0 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3427 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3427#comments Wed, 03 Mar 2010 11:03:13 +0000 Clif http://clifmims.com/blog/?p=3427

Today is World Math Day. Unite with students and schools from around the world to set a new world record! This year’s challenge – to correctly answer more than 182,445,169 questions in 48 hours. Please participate and be part of the new world record.

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]]> http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3427/feed 0 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3389 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3389#comments Sun, 28 Feb 2010 16:00:38 +0000 Clif http://clifmims.com/blog/?p=3389

Here are a few more words that I’ve come across that I think merit being on my list of good words.

• Grotesque
• Luminescent
• Chasm
• Collusion
• Legion
• Veracity
• Muscadine (Thanks Kristy and Joanne!)
• Ointment
• Placate
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• Good Words #6
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• Good Words #5
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]]> http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3389/feed 0 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3414 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3414#comments Sat, 27 Feb 2010 15:00:02 +0000 Clif http://clifmims.com/blog/?p=3414 Creating game-based learning environments or experiences using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) games is becoming an increasingly tenable, valuable, and popular instructional method. COTS games are computer or video games created for entertainment purposes. A few popular examples are SimCity, Age of Empires, ZooTycoon, and Railroad Tycoon.

My good friend Dennis Charsky invited me to co-author Integrating Commercial off-the-Shelf Video Games into School Curriculum. Ten suggestions to help educators effectively integrate COTS games are shared in this research article. Below is an overview along with a few notes from this publication.

10 Things To Do When Integrating a Commercial off-the-Shelf Video Gam
View more presentations from Clif Mims.
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]]> http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3414/feed 0 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3401 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3401#comments Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:27:06 +0000 Clif http://clifmims.com/blog/?p=3401 The Millennials: Confident. Connected. Open to Change. – Pew Research Center

Phished through Twitter – Dr. Leigh Zeitz

The Thin Red Line… – Jenny Luca

Gifted Teacher Wins First STELLAR Award – Huntington News

The Facebook Imperative – TechCrunch



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]]> http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3401/feed 0 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3434 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3434#comments Thu, 25 Feb 2010 06:00:07 +0000 Clif http://clifmims.com/blog/?p=3434

I’m looking forward to being part of the North Carolina Technology in Education Society’s 2010 Conference in Raleigh, NC on March 3-5, 2010. I’m excited about being one of the featured speakers and having opportunities to work with and learn from classroom teachers, media specialists, administrators, and more. On Wednesday (03/03/2010) I’ll be sharing a pre-conference workshop on Multiple Representations of Understanding through Digital Media. Thursday and Friday mornings I’ll be leading interactive demonstrations and discussions about Web 2.0 tools and personal learning networks (PLNs) in the classroom.

I’m looking forward to meeting many of my friends from my blog, Twitter, Plurk, etc. in Raleigh!

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]]> http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3434/feed 0 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3381 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3381#comments Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:30:37 +0000 Clif http://clifmims.com/blog/?p=3381 Here are a few more words that I’ve come across that I think merit being on my list of good words.
• Ergo
• Contraction
• Tension
• Smite
• Obnoxious
• Abhorrent
• Crusty
• Ukulele
• Calamity (Thanks Jerry!)



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]]> http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3381/feed 1 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3376 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3376#comments Thu, 18 Feb 2010 22:30:38 +0000 Clif http://clifmims.com/blog/?p=3376 I think it’s important that we ask ourselves this question from time to time. I know it helps me to readjust my priorities and tweak my moral compass. So,…

Did you change the world today?




photo credit: j / f / photos

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]]> http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3376/feed 2 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3362 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3362#comments Wed, 10 Feb 2010 03:48:01 +0000 Clif http://clifmims.com/blog/?p=3362 Today is the first full day of the 2010 Mississippi Educational Computing Association (MECA) Conference. The temperature dropped below 40 degrees overnight, so it is cold outside today (The conference site is 2 blocks from the hotel). I know this isn’t all that cold to many of you, but the temperature combined with the biting cold is extreme for this region.

Here are my notes from Day 2.

• Sights from Day 2 at the MECA Conference – Photo essay
• Multiple Representations of Mastery through Digital Media – My 8:00 AM hands-on workshop
• My notes from Tim Tyson’s keynote
• Breaking through the Walls of the Classroom – My 2:20 Presentation
• Using Gmail in Your Classes – My notes from Shuyan Wang’s presentation
• Accessibility Technology: How Universal Design Can Help Us All – My notes from Jon Beedle’s presentation

Event tag: #msmeca10

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]]> http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3362/feed 0 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3356 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3356#comments Tue, 09 Feb 2010 01:29:24 +0000 Clif http://clifmims.com/blog/?p=3356 I’m excited to be working with educators in Mississippi this week. I grew up in Mississippi and still consider it “home.” I also taught middle school here and most recently taught at the University of Mississippi before making the move to Memphis. I’ve also been a consultant with the MS DOE at different times in recent years. I’m teaching/ sharing 5 workshops and presentations here at the 2010 Mississippi Educational Computing Association (MECA) Conference. Day 1 of the conference included afternoon sessions and activities in the hall of exhibitors.

Here are a few notes from my Day 1 experience.

• Headed to MECA – A photo essay of my trip to the MECA Conference.
• Using Digital Technologies and Personal Learning Networks to Enhance Learning – My 4:15 PM presentation

Event tag: #msmeca10

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]]> http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3356/feed 0 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3345 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3345#comments Thu, 04 Feb 2010 12:00:48 +0000 Clif http://clifmims.com/blog/?p=3345 Today marks the 3rd blogiversary of Clif’s Notes. I am grateful to each of you with whom I’ve connected as a result of this online adventure. You’ve been a blessing to me personally and professionally.

I’m much busier this year and unable to do anything as creative as I did for last year’s celebration. Instead, here are a few of the most visited blog posts from the past 3 years.

• The Crisis in Darfur: A Mini-Lesson
• Favorite Children’s Books and More Favorite Children’s Books
• Why You Participate in PLNs
• Twitter in Education
• Why Would Teachers Use Diigo?
• No Words Needed
• An Introduction to Presentations 2.0
• Professional Development Meme 2008 and 2009
• THE CHALLENGE to All Teachers 2007, 2008 and 2009


Image Source

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]]> http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3345/feed 0 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3338 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3338#comments Tue, 02 Feb 2010 10:30:11 +0000 Clif http://clifmims.com/blog/?p=3338

Postcard from Groundhog.org

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]]> http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3338/feed 0 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3331 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3331#comments Sat, 30 Jan 2010 14:00:34 +0000 Clif http://clifmims.com/blog/?p=3331 Having been part of Podstock 2009 I can confidently say that Podstock 2010 is going to be an excellent weekend of professional development and fun.

The Podstock conference held July 16 & 17 in downtown Wichita, Kansas is for educators…who want to share technology integration strategies, acquire new instructional techniques and strengthen established learning networks. (Source)

• Podstock Ning
• Facebook Event Page
• Registration

The following video was recorded by Wesley Fryer and provides a preview of some of the things you can expect at Podstock 2010.

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]]> http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3331/feed 0 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3325 http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3325#comments Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:00:32 +0000 Clif http://clifmims.com/blog/?p=3325 THINKING OUT LOUD
Episode 008
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