Saturday 26 January 2013

Technology in education

It'd been a long time since I delved into the world of technology in education and after a six year break I found lots of change. One of the many tools that caught my eye was LiveBinders.

LiveBinders markets itself as online ring binder and is a useful tool to collaborate information. While I'm still learning to use it and discovering its features, it's quite easy to get off to a flying start.

All you need to do is copy and paste a URL into a tab and it shows the content. You can also upload your own content. I have started collating links to short stories for an upcoming Year 10 unit but also collating professional resources which I have embedded below. If you have any great sites I can add to this list, leave me a comment below.
  


Saturday 12 January 2013

Welcome

Welcome to Education Mirror.

I created this blog because I want to create an online space where it's easy for teachers to discuss what is working in their classrooms and keep my own passion for effective pedagogy alive.

In part, this is because I have recently returned to teaching after a six-year hiatus. So much has changed. For most of 2012, I felt like a first year teacher in a fifth year teacher's body. If nothing else, it was a stark reminder that part of our job as teachers is continue to learn "how to teach", strive for improvement in what we are doing and be open to changes in our pedagogy. If we don't change our practices, how are we ever going to get the best results, not only out of our students, but also for them when the world they live in is changing at such a rapid pace?

Changes in technology have not only meant changes to what content is taught, how it is delivered, the processes used and how students demonstrate their understanding. These changes also mean access to information about our students, their histories, their strengths, their weaknesses and their needs is greater than ever before. In my opinion, the sheer availability of data available means we are stupid not to find new ways to use it to our advantage.

What are your thoughts? Leave a comment below or send me a tweet to @KerrynManifold.