Beyond Catch Phrases - Digital Age Best Practicies for Real Classroom Teachers

Presented by Dr. Chris Moersch www.loticonnection.com

Digital age best practices:

• Promoting shared expertise through networked collaboration
• strategies: problem-solving, investigation, experimental inquiry
• tools: Edit Grid www.editgrid.com, Monster Exchange www.monsterexchange.org, Gaggle www.gaggle.net 
• Bolstering purposeful inquiry through student questions
• strategies: surveys, discrepant events, staged scenarios, 
• tools: wordle www.wordle.net, survey monkey www.surveymonkey.com, YouTube
• Personalizing and globalizing content by making authentic connections
• strategies: 21st century themes, current events, consumerism
• tools: 270toWin www.270towin.com, Google Earth, Scholastic News Online 
• Accelerating individual growth through vertical/horizontal differentiation
• strategies: anchor activities, centers/stations, tiered assignments
• tools: wikispaces www.wikispaces.com, ReadWriteThink www.readwritethink.org, Thinkfinity www.thinkfinity.org
• Anchoring student learning with digital-age tools in the classroom 
• strategies: challenging, collaborating, analyzing
• tools: Interactivate www.shodor.org/interactivate, Blogger www.blogger.com, Audacity http://audacity.sourceforge.net
• Clarifying student understanding with formative assessments
• strategies: discussion forums, online quizzes, open-ended problems
• tools: Moodle www.moodle.org, Rubistar rubistar.4teachers.org, Wikispaces www.wikispaces.com

Ways to insure academic rigor in your "Digital Age" teaching. Levels of Teaching Innovation LoTI. Useful research-based tools available on his website.

• H.E.A.T.  checklist is a succinct way for teachers to assess their own lessons for rigor and engagement. 
• LoTI implementation model is a checklist for building capacity