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NJAET News - February 2011
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NJAET Newsletter  February 2011
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Six Sounds Contest Winners
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NJAET Announces Winners of
Six Sounds in Search of an Author Contest
We are very pleased with the number of participants in the Six Sounds contest. Participants created a one-minute audio story that included six sound effects—a striking match, an engine roar, a beating heart, cricket chirps, a ringing phone, and a splash.
Congratulations to all participants and especially to the students and teachers in each winning school. The winners are:
Elementary School
Comedy/Romance:
Students of Mimi Rowland/Newell Elementary for "The Cricket Vacation"
Drama/Adventure:
Students of Heather Carline/John F. Kennedy School, North Bergen for "Fire Safety Dudes"
Horror/SciFi/Fantasy:
Students of Denise Harlem/Park Avenue Elementary School, Orange, for "Escape from Camping"
Middle School
Comedy/Romance:
Students of Debbie Knox/St. Augustine of Canterbury School, Kendall Park for "Diet Water"
Drama/Adventure:
Students of Ruthann Meyer/Brigantine North Middle School for "A Stranger Calls"
Horror/SciFi/Fantasy:
Students of Debra Goldberg/Lawrence Middle School for "Home Alone"
High School
Comedy/Romance:
Students of Jeremy Dusza/Monmouth Regional High School for "Dear Diary"
Drama/Adventure:
Jeremy Dusza/Monmouth Regional High School for "Unknown Love"
Horror/SciFi/Fantasy:
Michael Beckwith/Old Bridge School District for "Scary Story"
Every winning entry will receive a choice of either a Sanyo Digital Stereo MP3 Voice Recorder or a Coby - 3.0MP Mini Digital Camcorder.
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The Myth of Multi-tasking
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by
David
Cochran
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We are living in the age of distraction. It happens everywhere. People are trying to carry out one task while doing something else. They might be listening to their iPod while reading a book. Or, they might be talking with one person while texting another. Or, they might be checking their email while concurrently listening to a teacher dispense important directions.
Some call this multi-tasking, the ability to do two or more things at once. Its proponents are often young. They think they can pay attention to several things and do justice to all of them. When it comes to deep learning, we really cannot give full focused attention to more than one thing at a time.
Psychologist William James said that learning is a result of our experiences. In order to truly understand something, we need to experience it. He further said that experience is a result of what we pay attention to. Therefore, if we follow his logic, we learn when we pay close attention to whatever our pursuits are.
Problems occur when we try to pay attention to several things at once. The likely result is that we are getting limited or fragmented attention to any one thing. If the discussion is about Newton’s Three Laws of Motion and we are texting about who will win tonight’s basketball game, something will give. It will likely be Mr. Newton’s Laws.
Many of us think that we can multi-task. Some of us actually take pride in having this ability. However, the overwhelming majority of us can at best pick up fragments of topics when we try to multi-task.
The bottom line, especially for educators who use technology in the classroom, is to minimize multi-tasking possibilities. Instead, we need to concentrate more on the topic at hand. Most of those other things we think we need to do concurrently will not suffer if we wait awhile to do them.
At stake is real learning, so we need to keep our focus on that goal. When we minimize distraction and focus on attention, we do our students a big favor. Their attention will yield better experiences, which will result in better, deeper learning.
Join the Discussion
What are your thoughts about helping students keep focused? This article is also on our online Journal. Go to http://njaetjournal.ning.com/, login and add your voice to the conversation.
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Big Deal Book of Technology |
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You and your students may want to participate in the world’s first online global science competition, the Google Science Fair! Google has partnered with CERN, The LEGO Group, National Geographic and Scientific American to create a new kind of online science competition that is more global, open and inclusive than ever before. Students aged 13 - 18 from around the world are invited to enter and compete for awesome once-in-a-lifetime experiences, scholarships and real-life work opportunities. Sign up today at www.google.com/sciencefair. For tips on how to get started helping your students prepare for the Science Fair, register for this webinar on February 8, 4:30PM PT/ 7:30PM ET: Embrace your inner Einstein: Using Google Apps for the Google Science Fair Online. https://google.webex.com/google/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=961203885.
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Education Grants - February Deadlines |
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Education Grants - March Deadlines |
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The “ Educational Technology” Index will allow K-20 schools, after-school programs, non-profit educational organizations, and colleges and universities to meet the constant challenge of providing up-to-date technological training, equipment and materials by drawing on new available resources. Expand your present offerings, or create new and challenging courses with the help of cash grants, hardware, software, computer/IT training, and staff professional development grants, as well as funding for new programs and curriculum development. http://www.technologygrantnews.com/grant-index-by-type/educational-technology-grants.html |
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US Department of Education
Grant Programs
Office of Educational Technology
http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/os/technology/edgrants.html
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