Welcome to my home on the web!

I like to think of this as my online lab for practicing, talking about, and studying 21st century skills. I've got parts of the website for my classes, places for teachers, and some space for my ongoing reflections. Drop me a line if you find this useful or have a question. Thanks for stopping by.

Bob Irving

 

Moodle quizzes for dummies

Posted on March 3rd, 2010 by admin and tagged .
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 Actually, I'm the dummy. And today is my first attempt at using a Moodle quiz. There are plenty of good videos on YouTube on how to make quizzes, and lots of documentation over at moodle.org. Just drop in there and do a search. I was inspired by a webinar I attended yesterday on Moodle and Efficiency put on by the PA Dept of Ed. It so happened that my 7th grade history class is having a quiz today, so last night I made up the quiz in Moodle.

Extreme presentation makeover

Posted on March 3rd, 2010 by admin and tagged , .
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 This is so needed. I call it DBP (Death By Powerpoint). In 10 minutes, John Nash gives some great pointers on how to make those presentations really work.

Old John Dewey on the role of the teacher

Posted on March 2nd, 2010 by admin.
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"The older type of instruction tended to treat the teacher as a dictatorial ruler. The newer type sometimes treats the teacher as a negligible factor, almost as an evil, though a necessary one. In reality, the teacher is the intellectual leader of a social group, He is a leader, not in virtue of official position, but because of wider and deeper knowledge and matured experience. The supposition that the teacher must abdicate his leadership is merely silly." -- How We Think, 1910

Change will come

Posted on March 1st, 2010 by admin.
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Came across this gold nugget of wisdom from Fred Bartels of Rye Country Day School: The process of significantly changing schools is going to take years, if not decades, so although we need to get started we also need to remember that we are all on our own individual learning paths (as are our schools), with all the diversity of solutions that implies. What is different now is that we can all be in touch so much more easily, and quickly learn from each other which new approaches work... and which don't!

Alan November -- Myths and Opportunities

Posted on February 24th, 2010 by admin.
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 Alan November walks around his hometown and reflects on authentic learning. Extra bonus: we get to see him pick out and cook lobsters.

Chat with Alfie Kohn

Posted on February 18th, 2010 by admin.
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I've listened to about half of this so far. Really thought-provoking: he's not just against homework, standardized tests, and grades, but he makes a case for authentic learning and assessment.

The Class

Posted on February 9th, 2010 by admin and tagged .
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 Ouch.

The Machine is Using Us

Posted on February 8th, 2010 by admin.
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 It's an old one (originally Feb 2007), but I have a feeling it's still light years ahead of where most educators are.

Trying to get Drupal image galleries working

Posted on January 28th, 2010 by admin and tagged .
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Is there a wall nearby I can bang my head against? I want to get some pix of my Lego robotics team up here on the site. Just using the standard, low-fi Image module, nothing fancy. But can't seem to get the pix into galleries. Stay tuned.