Have you ever made a quilt?

Well, I have not… Till today. And it is an image quilt. It’s a pretty cool tool: you download the Crome app, search for image (I searched for Nazarbayev University), and with one click of a button it is there: Nazarbayev University image quilt. Want to read more about it? Please start here. I can see it used for some projects, digital storytelling, and simply for fun!

NU_Quilt

Are you clicking?

NU received Promethean ActiveExpression clickers (they are also called audience  or student response systems). As soon as the devices are inventoried and released, they  will be distributed to each school as previously requested. In a mean time, you can start exploring and learning why the devices might be used in education, what are the best pedagogical approaches, and what instructional activities they can support and enhance.  Please start with this diigo collection list.

clicker

8 Strategies for Teaching Academic Language

I communicated with many students the last couple of days. It was a great fun! I also heard some faculty mentioned that one of the challenges was not English mode of communication and instruction per se, but academic English. So, this article from Edutopia is very timely! Please access it here.

Strategies offered:

  • Encourage students to read diverse texts
  • Introduce summary frames
  • Help students translate from academic to social language (and back)
  • Have students complete scripts of academic routines
  • Dynamically introduce academic vocabulary
  • Help students diagram similarities and differences
  • Have students write with a transition handout
  • Teach key words for understanding standardized test prompts

Digital storytelling

Since our childhood, we all love stories. Technology allows digital storytelling: using images, text, recorded audio,, video clips, and  music. Ever thought about encouraging students to present their projects as digital stories? Social science, history, geography, and similar areas might be the most appropriate. But who knows, there might be a digital story of a life of the D7S820 DNA marker… Want to learn more about application of digital storytelling and available tools? Please start here.