Sharing Tips and Tricks of Using Technology in the Classroom Part 2

[Carrie Albin]

In your courses you have been asked to share your tips and tricks of using technology in the classroom. 

[Hugh Potter]

Okay, so I must be one of the last people to get a Mac, but holy cow, the potential is amazing! I have recently fallen into the iBook author world and amazed. Immediately it impressed me with teh potential for huge tranformational impact within the classroom. I have already used to author to create a book regarding a school trip to Italy and am now working on a book with my Geography class as an assignment relating to the history of European capitals. It is an amazing tool...what I am most amazed by is the 3d widget that allows you to implant a tactile, movable piece to help students explore various places, things or components in ways never imaged by students. Absolutely unbelievable! 

I am curious if anyone else has worked with this tool or knows more tips to make an iBook better!!

Thanks

Hugh Potter

[Suzanne Reinhardt]

One of my favorite technology tools is all the great stuff on TED.com. I teach university ESL and the value of having authentic lectures to use is invaluable. This site allows you to search topics, so it can realistically be used for almost any subject. They have also recently added Conversations where students can debate, ask questions and share ideas. This is a wonderful interactive medium for higher level students that combines many of the English skills for ESL students in one place. Not to mention all the cutting-edge, thought provoking information that is shared in the talks.

[diane spence]

Here is a creative site for publishing work or creating posters or GLOGS - online multimedia posters - with text, photos, videos, graphics, sounds, drawings, data attachments.  Check it out!  http://edu.glogster.com/

[JANET TOMBRE]

I am currently using a great web 2.0 tool called Collaborizeclassroom. This is a great blogging site that my students love. As a teacher we can upload video or pictures and then have students respond. This site is also very teacher friendly and easy to grade!

[Chris Groenhout]

Popplet.com- this is an easy to use, free, online presentation tool that allows student to collaborate in real time. Students produce bubbles in connected series that can be arranged by their relationships. Text, pictures and video can be added to these bubbles. The final product can then be shared via an e-mail link to the popplet. There is also a paid and free iPad app. Just go to the site and watch the intro video. They have recently added a recording feature. Not as many features as Prezi but very effective and much easier to use. I use it with my 10th grade chemistry students for projects.

[Beth Berube]

When I was at a hybrid summit yesterday, I learned some new technologies that we could integrate into the classroom.  Thanks to Steve Dembo, he had some wonderful information to share! 

One of the many web 2.0 tools that were given was classdojo.com.  This is a student behavior tracker that I think could be very useful in tracking the student behavior especially within the elementary setting.  If you have an iPad or tablet that you carry around it would be easily accessible on the go, and I also believe that they have an app you could download for you phone.  It was really interesting to see and play around with, because you can get a graph of how the student has behaved in the week, etc. and this report can be emailed out to send home!

Just something that I thought could be shared :-)

[Tami Basso]

At the March 2012, MACUL conference I attended a presentation titled "What It's Like to be "Special" by Shauna Coleman and Jenn Wenner. The two are media specialist at the Warren Consolidated School District. The two presented the elementary media/technology curriculum the media specialists in the district developed. As media specialists they meet with students K-5 grade and as a "specials" teacher. The curriculum incorporates standards for the 21st Century Learner (ALA) and the METS curriculum. They demonstrated how their curriculum is organized and shared some of the lessons they teach. If you are a media specialist and you are teaching technology classes as a "specials" this curriculum is excellent. You will be sure to find ideas to incorporate into your lessons.

[Ben Rimes]

Is there a direct link to these resources someplace? Would love to checkout the curriculum that was shared!

[Julie Heintz]

I really like using Google Forms to create surveys for my students.  They're quick, and I use them as Bellringers, and Exit tickets.  I use them as formative assessments to see if I can continue a topic or if I have to reteach something.  The great thing about the Google Forms is students don't necessarily have to put their names in (I can create that) so I may just get fully honest responses if someone is having trouble with a topic.  

I'm not a fan of video conferencing.  It seems like every time I've tried to participate in one, something seems to go wrong. I use Skype pretty regularly and like it, but if there is anything amiss with the internet connection, it doesn't work.  I haven't found any cheap video conference things that I'm totally in love with.  I'll stick with Skype for now.

[Nancy Wilson]

I have found a great website to use with students to practice their math facts.  The website is called xtramath.com .  This website allows the teacher to go in and create a class roster.  The teacher chooses which facts they want the students to work on (addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division).  After it is all set up, students use the computer to practice their facts.  It records how they are doing and it moves them through the facts.  Weekly reports are sent to the teacher to show the progress the students are making.  Another great part of this site is the students can use the site at home to practice their facts.  

[Ashley Witherow]

Wikis are a great tool to use in the education field. You can create a wiki using Wikipedia, Wikispaces, or PBWorks. Wikipedia requires the use of software and a server. However, Wikispaces and PBWorks are both web-based wiki creators! And both are available to use for free! There are also options available on PBWorks for a fee. Wikis allow anyone with access to a computer and the internet to view, add, or edit information. Its a great learning tool for teachers and students. Wikis can also be used in other settings as well!

[Dale Ehrhart]

Tagxedo is my favorite alternative to Wordlemostly because you can create word clouds with uploaded images.  Here's a cloud using information from the MAET website.

Bubbl.us has been one of my favorite mind mapping applications for a while.

Cell Phone Workshop