PRINCETON, NJ, May 1, 2014 – The use of mobile devices is increasing rapidly in schools. It is estimated that over 30% of students are now using a mobile device provide by their school, but the device alone won’t accelerate learning. Those devices need to enable teachers to deliver better, more engaging, more personalized lessons. When done right, results will revolutionize how lessons are created and will help teachers save time so they can focus more on individualized instruction. But educators need help implementing great new ideas that use technology, and online professional learning communities are a great way to do that.
edWeb.net and ClassFlow have partnered to create Reinventing the Classroom, a professional learning community (PLC) to help educators use technology to revolutionize the learning process and the entire learning environment. This free community is a collaborative forum for ongoing PD and continuing dialogue to change teaching and learning in a significant way.
The Reinventing the Classroom PLC is part of edWeb.net, a professional learning and social network for the education community. This PLC provides free webinars, presented by innovative experts and educators in the K-12 technology space. Educators receive a CE Certificate for attending the live webinars or for viewing a recording. The PLC also hosts online discussions that make it easy for educators to stay connected over time with colleagues to share ideas, best practices, examples, lesson plans and other resources on using technology to revolutionize learning. Reinventing the Classroom is a growing PD hub – with webinar archives, CE quizzes, and support materials that can be accessed at anytime, anywhere – for educators striving to innovate education with technology.
ClassFlow is a revolutionary cloud-based teaching and learning platform that makes lesson planning easier and lesson delivery more dynamic. ClassFlow makes building dynamic lessons simple and seamlessly connects mobile devices and the front-of-the-classroom display. Educators can create interactive lessons, connect with every student, and achieve instant feedback. ClassFlow is free for educators.
On April 15th, Joe Dale, independent languages consultant from the UK, presented the Reinventing the Classroom community’s first webinar on “Creating Lessons through the SAMR Model.” The one-hour session provided a useful framework to help teachers rethink how they design activities that involve the use of technology. Joe demonstrated how to use SAMR to plan lessons which are relevant and challenge 21st century learners as well as engage and stretch them.
On April 29th, Tom Whitby, Twitter-in-education guru, retired secondary teacher and adjunct professor, and Steven Anderson, Content and Relationship Evangelist for Promethean, presented the community’s second webinar on “Being a Connected Educator.” Tom and Steve, two of the most prolific users of social media, led a lively, interactive discussion on how being connected empowers educators to do more and learn more.
The community’s next live webinar is scheduled for Tuesday, May 13th at 5 p.m. ET when Jerry Blumengarten, host of Cybraryman.com and former NYC educator, will present on “Evaluating and Curating Online Information.” Jerry will share ways to help students critically evaluate, organize, curate, and disseminate online information. Educators can register here for this interactive event.
“It’s exciting to see education and technology coming together to provide these types of innovative learning opportunities for educators. We’re confident our partnership with edWeb.net enables educators to positively impact their instructional processes and student achievement.” said Machele Stefhon, Head of Strategic Marketing for Classflow.
Lisa Schmucki, founder and CEO of edWeb.net, added, “The educators in our network are the leaders in adopting technology in their schools and districts and can help increase the adoption of innovative ideas like ClassFlow. We are always delighted to help spread the word on great solutions to improve learning.”
View the recording of the webinar with Joe Dale on “Creating Lessons through the SAMR Model” here.
View the recording of the webinar with Tom Whitby and Steven Anderson on “Being a Connected Educator” here.
Register for the upcoming webinar on May 13 with Cybraryman Jerry Blumengarten on “Evaluating and Curating Online Information” here.
Educators are invited to join the free Reinventing the Classroom professional learning community on edWeb to stay informed about upcoming webinars, join in discussions with peers and experts, and gain access to valuable resources.
For more information, contact:
Lynn Scott, Senior Program Director, edWeb.net
203-272-9059 | Lynn@edweb.net
Susan Hanson, PR with Panache!
763-657-0987 | Sue@PRwithPanache.com
ClassFlow was built to let teachers get back to what they love, helping their students learn and achieve more. The platform allows teachers to foster student engagement by connecting all the technology devices in the classroom, including tablets, laptops and teachers’ surface systems. Once connected, teachers can share content, poll the class in real time and exchange lesson content via mobile devices. For more information about ClassFlow, please visit www.classflow.com.
edWeb.net is a free professional learning and social network that makes it easy for educators to connect and collaborate, share information and best practices, and create professional learning communities. edWeb hosts online professional learning communities for educators to connect with peers and experts all around the country and the world on the most innovative and progressive areas in education such as game-based learning, mobile learning, tech tools for the classroom, digital citizenship, Common Core Standards, and much more. edWeb programs get high praise and participation by offering free webinars, online chats and discussions, archived resources, and CE certificates. Schools and districts lack the time, expertise, and funding to provide the professional development educators need – edWeb fills that gap. Learn more at www.edweb.net or follow us on Twitter @edwebnet.