Digital Learning Day 2014

Wednesday was the 3rd annual Digital Learning Day. Promoted by the Alliance for Education, Digital Learning Day "is a nationwide celebration of innovative teachers and common-sense, effective applications of digital learning in America's schools that support teachers, improve learning and provide options for students to achieve their highest potential". Some schools and teachers have embraced this day as a way to introduce digital learning. Others argue that digital learning should not be assigned a day, but be integrated into the daily school routine. This year, Algonac Community Schools celebrated by doing what we do every day, using our digital tools to improve learning and provide options for students.

Featured iPad Apps

Drawing Grid by Maciej Chrzastek is a free app available on the iTunes store. The app will draw a layer of grid on top of an image without making any changes to the image. The grid will help you keep the proportion of the drawing object and is customize-able, allowing changes to color and opacity for the right contrast. Students in Mr. Griffin's art class use the app to practice scaling and to use grid strategies for proper placement.

Maximizing Google

One of the applications available in Google Drive is a blog tool, called Blogger. In fact, this blog is made with Blogger! There are many applications for blogs in the classrooms. As a GAFE school, students already have access through their school account. Blogs can be set to private, shared only with specific people (the teacher, or a class) or shared publicly. In European Literature and Composition, Ms. Melanie Bokano decided to have students blog because she felt it was important that they continually write and explore their own thoughts and ideas. It is also a wonderful way for them to practice synthesizing information- drawing their own conclusions about information studied and making parallels between what is being studied and the students' own life. Having the technology readily available to them through the the Blogger and Word Press apps allows for  consistent writing practice.On Digital Learning Day, students completed their 8th blog post, analyzing four essential questions from Macbeth. The questions will be used in the future for formal research papers. 

Blogs can also be used as Reading Journals:

Or for an online book club:

Getting the Most Out of Your Learning Platform

Mrs. Stephanie Ford's 6th Grade Social Studies Virtual Learning is a small group of students who are taking a technological approach to academics, which better suited their learning style. They have a Moodle-based classroom and are currently working on collecting research to write a state report.  They are also writing letters of request to visitors bureaus and creating an oral presentation in the form of an informational booth at a Travel Fair that their friends and family are invited to towards the end of the month.

Twitter Friday Follow

Digital Learning Day should not be a once a year occurrence! Follow @OfficialDLDay for tools, resources and examples of best practice. This is a good resource to find interactive opportunities for students and classrooms. 

Library News

With the emphasis on digital learning, it is a good time to highlight the digital resources that are available through the library, especially databases. With 1:1 implementation, library services and collaborative assignments can still take place in the library learning center space, with the advantage of every student having a personal devise. No distribution, login, or wait times! Schedule time for research, projects or help with tech tools by contacting Rachelle via e-mail or phone.

Algonac High School subscribes to one database, Global Issues in Context, from the Gale corporation. Watch the overview video below for an introduction:

Don't forget to use the FREE resources, including test prep, databases and teacher support material; available through the Michigan eLibrary.