Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 02/21/2012

Cool Cat Teacher Blog where remarkable teachers learning about teaching
  • Prepared Statement for the Dec. 14 Congressional Privacy Caucus | Common Sense Media

    While SOPA was going on, many of us missed that COPPA is under review. Here is an overview of the congressional testimony given on December 14, 2011 to the Congressional Privacy Caucus. One of the biggest issues is that privacy should be “opt-in” not “opt out.” This means companies would be required to express consent before they collect information and to get consent from parents for younger kids. Of course, this is a great idea, just know that nothing on the Internet is free and it could mean that less is free if this goes through. Kids come first, but if the rest of us opt in- many free sites may just go away. Anyone willing to pay for Facebook?

    tags: education privacy congress government news

  • The Complete Educator’s Guide to Using Google Reader | The Edublogger

    A handy and very current guide to using Google reader. This is more current than some of the RSS for educators, etc. guides, especially since Google reader has changed. Written by my friend, Sue Waters.

    tags: education news rss

    • WTO | intellectual property (TRIPS) – what are intellectual property rights?

      Schools often don’t discuss the intellectual property rights of their students. This is the World Trade Organization’s page about intellectual property rights. Most schools and colleges claim IPR over their student’s work, which I think is a shame. Educate students to find out and ask.

      “Intellectual property rights are the rights given to persons over the creations of their minds. They usually give the creator an exclusive right over the use of his/her creation for a certain period of time.”

      tags: news ipr copyright intellectual property

    • Jean Lave, Etienne Wenger and communities of practice

      Excellent overview of the term community of practice. The origin of the term and the use of it in education is important as many of us are working through the social aspects of learning. I have seen that when established community habits and expectations occur, that learning is facilitated and the group as a whole becomes more engaged and focused. I’m citing this research in my new book about collaborative writing from Eye on education.

      tags: news collaborative writing research

      Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

      Never miss an episode

      Get the 10-minute Teacher Show delivered to your inbox.

      Powered by Kit
      Facebook
      Twitter
      LinkedIn
      Pinterest
      Picture of Vicki Davis

      Vicki Davis

      Vicki Davis has been an educator and IT director in Georgia since 2002. Today, she also works as an instructional technology coach, staying side-by-side with active teachers and students so her work stays grounded in real classrooms.

      She's a mom of three, wife of one, and loves talking about the wise, transformational use of technology for teaching and doing good in the world.

      She has blogged at the Cool Cat Teacher Blog since 2005 and hosts the 10 Minute Teacher Podcast and Cool Cat Teacher Talk (radio, public access TV, YouTube, and all major podcast platforms), interviewing remarkable educators around the world. Vicki focuses on what unites us — a quest for truly remarkable, life-changing teaching and learning. The goal of her work is to provide actionable, encouraging, relevant ideas for teachers, grounded in truth and shared with love.

      If you talk to Vicki for long, she'll encourage you to "Relate to Educate," to "innovate like a turtle," or to be "a remarkable teacher." She loves homemade sourdough bread and cinnamon rolls and runs half marathons with her sisters. You can usually find her laughing with her students or digging into a book.

      Thank you for reading, sharing, and telling your friends about the work we do here! - Vicki

      All Posts »
      The Cool Cat Teacher Blog
      Classroom teacher Vicki Davis writes The Cool Cat Teacher Blog for remarkable educators everywhere