21st Century Skills

I recently collaborated with an innovative group from Hastings School District. This district, which is located in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota, has many forward thinking staff. While meeting with this group of education professionals the topic of mobile devices and SAFARI Montage was discussed. Can they work together? What would it take to get this done? What are the benefits of marrying our [Hastings School District] SAFARI Montage system with mobile devices? Those, among many other questions, lead to great discussion and a list of integration strategies. Below I have shared three of these strategies in detail.

Forsyth County School District in Georgia is visioning for how to change education in our school district to meet the needs of students today and in the future.

In today’s world many teachers are starting to integrate more and more digital content into instruction. With SAFARI Montage teachers do not have to download internet content the night before class and hope it will play the next day! Our content is not streamed from the internet but instead we use a file sharing process, where the content is provided on a server that “lives” in your school building or district. What this means to you as a teacher is with one click, from one interface, you can access thousands of digital assets to include in teaching.

On Sunday, June 26 from 1:00-2:50 in the SAFARI Montage Effective Digital Classroom, Meeting Room 105A at ISTE, we will be offering a free hand-on workshop for advanced users of SAFARI Montage.   If you are a SAFARI Montage experienced user, then this session is for you!   

In today’s world many teachers are starting to integrate more and more digital content into instruction. With SAFARI Montage teachers do not have to download internet content the night before class and hope it will play the next day! Our content is not streamed from the internet but instead we use a file sharing process, where the content is provided on a server that “lives” in your school building or district. What this means to you as a teacher is, that with one click, from one interface, you can access thousands of digital assets to include in your lessons. 

Reading my current issue of School Library Journal, I was impressed to read an item about SAFARI Montage’s launch of an app for iPads and iPhones. While I have not treated myself to an iPad yet, I am enthusiastic to see technical applications for the “popular” tools such as the iPad get into the hands of educators.

Thank you to everyone who participated in our playlist contest!

Our Grand Prize winner was Jason Sharrock of Sarasota County Schools in Florida. Jason, a science teacher, submitted a great playlist about the cycles of matter in the environment, called Round and Round We Go. 

After a long, snowy winter in Baltimore spring has finally sprung! An annual spring event in Baltimore is the highly anticipated Maryland Society for Technology Educators conference.

Teaching and learning with technology has been proven to raise student achievement. We also have a recent body of evidence that points to our ability to use these powerful experiences to engage students in civic action and take on socially responsible roles in their local communities. At the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, we use SAFARI Montage to do just that.