It’s just what every computer lab needs—a cool poster (like the one shown below) containing some general guidelines to help students make the most of their time tech-ing it up! Of course, all of these rules may not apply to your specific circumstances, but it’s a pretty good list to kick start your very own checklist of do’s and don’ts for your school’s (or your classroom’s) digital space.

A shout out to B.E. Publishing for creating and sharing this useful visual! Purchase your very own copy here.

Digital literacy… Information literacy… Technology literacy… There are so many “literacies” in education these days, but what do they all mean? Probably just what you might imagine—and then some! But besides becoming competent in these essential 21st Century skills, it’s important for you, your students and your colleagues to understand their significance.

That’s where The Road to Digital Literacy poster/infographic shown below will come in handy. It’s a simple but informative visual explaining the basics of these real-world proficiencies. Check it out below!

Snag the PDF of this image—one that can be used to create your very own poster—here.

Classroom Connection:

This poster can be displayed anywhere in a school—classrooms, computer labs, hallways, etc.—to provide students and teachers with an explanation of 21st Century skills they need to acquire and why.

Thanks to the Techie Teacher for creating this cool poster and to Educational Technology and Mobile Learning blog for sharing it!

When I saw this post on Facebook this morning, I just knew I had to share it everywhere possible!

And that’s because I believe we—as educators—cannot miss one single opportunity to impress upon our students the importance of exercising good judgment and digital responsibility when using all forms of technology—both in and outside of the classroom!

Now if we could just only get them to listen to this advice…

Classroom Connection:

Add this poster to your collection of resources for teaching and learning about digital citizenship.

Thanks to TechChef4u (Lisa Johnson) and Alan Stein for sharing this cool image!

Tech guru Lisa Johnson introduced me to this fabulous resource right on time.  My students are beginning a geometry unit, and I can’t think of a better way to expose them to the voluminous vocabulary than using thinglink!  What is thinglink?  Check it out here.

To make my own creation, I designed a slide in Keynote with various geometric figures of interest.  I scanned the web for some links for students to explore, and quickly found that interactive iPad-friendly links for geometry topics are a bit sparse out there (sooo many great goodies rely on flash currently, boo!)  I did stumble upon shmoop.com which I found to be very refreshing with just enough dry humor for any middle-schooler to enjoy.  Plus, there are some iPad-friendly “exercises” built in for each geometry topic so students have a chance to quiz themselves along the way.  Nice!

I plan to use this thinglink tomorrow as an anchoring activity after students finish an assessment on the previous unit.  Once we can come together as a class and get started on the new content, my hope is that students have already become quite familiar with the thinglink content.  What a versatile little tool!

*Update* This was a great way to introduce the next unit as students finished a quiz today.  It was fun to watch them all clicking different topics and previewing the upcoming content.  I explained to them that this Thinglink even serves as a nice little study guide for a future assessment.  I would love to create one or two of these for every chapter! After using the Shmoop website, I couldn’t resist showing this popular Seinfeld clip at the end of the class period.  No, You’re Shmoopie! P.P.S. Here’s another ThingLink for exploring Scientific Notation topics too:

This guest post was written by Cathy Yenca, Middle School Mathematics Teacher in the Eanes Independent School District in Austin, Texas. Cathy has recently started writing about her classroom experiences with iPads  via the MathyCathy blog.

Every once in awhile we, as educators, need to be reminded that in addition to preparing students for standardized tests, it is also our responsibility to prepare them to enter and successfully compete in the ever-expanding high-tech global marketplace. Like it or not, we need to create environments where students can experience real and relevant project-based learning and the use of a variety of communication and collaboration tools. In order to meet the challenges of our digital society, teachers need to become facilitators, guides, and co-investigators while students are producers, apprentices, and co-explorers.

OK, so now that you know where I stand on all that, check out this must-see poster depicting the digital, learning and thinking skills students need in order to be productive citizens in the 21st Century.

Don’t forget to use the embedded Zoom.it tools to zero in on the details of the poster.

A shout out to Med Kharbach, author of Educational Technology and Mobile Learning, for creating and sharing this cool poster.

Classroom Connection:

Display this poster in your classroom and/or school to remind students of the skills they need to thrive in our global society. It could also be shared with colleagues to encourage them to develop lessons, activities and projects that allow students to acquire and hone these skills.

By the way, infographics make really neat classroom posters too! Use the Block Posters web tool to create your poster and/or download a copy of the infographic by clicking on the document shown below.

President Barack Obama once said, “Making your mark on the world is hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. But it’s not. It takes patience, it takes commitment, and it comes with plenty of failure along the way. The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won’t. It’s whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere.”

With that said, use this inspirational poster created by Peter H. Reynolds to remind students and colleagues—or even family and friends—that despite obstacles, they should keep striving to achieve  goals, to fulfil dreams and of course, to make their mark on this world!

Download your personal copy of this poster below.

Make Your Mark Poster

Classroom Connection:

Whether via a discussion and/or writing activity, utilize the quote and/or poster to generate creativity and bravery in your classroom. Ask questions such as, “What does ‘make your mark’ mean?” or “How do you envision making your mark on society?”. My bet is that your students will share some pretty interesting responses!

Thanks to Fable Vision Learning for sharing this neat resource!

Want a cool yet powerful classroom poster reminding students (and/or yourself and colleagues) to be responsible digital citizens?

Then be sure to check out the “Before you Facebook, TXT, Twitter or Blog… Think!” original creation developed by Shannon Long , author of the technology rocks. seriously. blog.

Regardless of whether you’re a novice or expert technology integrator, this is a must-have resource for every educator dealing with students in our social media-based society!

Snag a larger version of this image—one that can be used to create a classroom poster—here.

Classroom Connection:

Utilize this poster to continually remind students to exercise good judgment and digital responsibility when using all forms of  technology—both in and outside of the classroom!

Thanks to Susan Oxnevad for sharing this “cool tool”! Need more digital citizenship resources? Check out Susan’s Avatar Adventure here!