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

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

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Susan Wright on May 25, 2011 at 10:48pm

Terrific resource for iPhone users. I'll have to check to see if there's a similar app for my Aria.

Permalink Reply by Scott Hudson on May 25, 2011 at 11:04pm

I have had success w/ starting a website on Weebly.com. My students have a high level of absenteeism, and the site allows me to upload assignments, notes, and videos so the kids can keep up. Also, there is a blog on my site that I plan on using in the near future. Also, I like SurveyMonkey's potential as a tool to pretest and to check for understanding. Other nice things about both of these is that they are free and easy to use. Check out mrhsgroovyalgebra.weebly.com.

Permalink Reply by Chuck Commeret on May 26, 2011 at 9:38pm

Your website is looking great! You have created a wonderful resource for your students.

~chuck

Permalink Reply by Jeffrey Patton on May 26, 2011 at 10:19am

I also recented experimented with Prezi. I had never even heard of the program until CEP 810. I wanted to do something different to complete my PLN for the class so I created a Prezi. They are absolutely awesome; visually entertaining, and easy to use. The first time I created a Prezi I definitely had to get used to the controls because I kept accidentally moving my words out of alignment. I've been creating them since then and have developed my skills. So far I created a Prezi for the mission and vision statement for our school to put on the school website, and I taught my 8th graders how to use the program. As of yesterday, they were finishing up their Prezi projects. Some students chose to do autobiographies of themselves, others chose to create biographies of their favorite celebrities, music artists, etc., and one student opted to create a "walkthrough" of his favorite computer game (Super Mario Bros). The cool thing is that when they are finished, they share their Prezi with me and it goes directly to my email account. Go Green...no printing.

Like Danielle, I also received an email recently. New features have been added, and they updated the zebra tool!

Permalink Reply by Mike Hagedorn on May 27, 2011 at 7:26am

I also just learned how to use Prezi. I was impressed with what the program could do. I feel my presentation for CEP 810 turned out really well and I am excited to introduce this program in one of my classes next year. There are a couple of things concern about the program. One concern is that you need an email to be able to use the program and not all of my students have emails. While students are more connected than ever, I still have some that refuse to be connected. The second concern is; is there a tutorial or instructions for the students? Given 25-30 in the classroom, I can see one day fully devoted to learning Prezi and doing an introductory activity. I think this is an awesome tool and very interactive, two things that students need to promote their own creativity!

Permalink Reply by Samantha Forster on May 26, 2011 at 12:45pm

I introduced a project today with various options for presentation. The students have the option to create a physical product or use technology. I presented various free programs for them to choose from including: Prezi, Capzles, Animoto, and Glogster. They seemed very interested in a couple of the programs and I am anticipating great results. Does anyone have suggestions for other free programs?

Permalink Reply by Anna Cajiga on May 26, 2011 at 11:45pm

Lots of folks are becoming familiar with VoiceThread. This website allows users to post voice, text, or drawing "comments" on any image, video or text that is uploaded to the site. There are countless uses for this FREE resource in the classroom. Teachers have used it to create digital stories, to encourage students to comment on each others work, and even to have students make inferences and observations about historic documents or images.

Recently, the use of VoiceThread that I am most interested in is using it to create electronic portfolios. Students can select the work they feel best reflects their learning and upload it to a VoiceThread project. Then, using the comment tool, they can create a recording that explains their learning to viewers. The teacher, peers, parents, grandparents, and any other VoiceThread users can then add their own comments. This process allows students to reflect on their learning in an authentic way and gives parents concrete evidence of their child's progress, strengths, and needs.

Permalink Reply by Jenna Kuess on May 27, 2011 at 11:39am

Hi everyone!

Here is a great link to some great SmartBoard resources if you have a SmartBoard in your classroom: http://livebinders.com/play/play?id=7376. This website is for all grades and covers a wide range of subjects. If you are having trouble finding sites to use on your SmartBoard, check this out! I don't know about you but I always love finding new websites and activities to use on my SmartBoard because I know there is way more that the SmartBoard can offer than I even know about. I hope you enjoy!

CEP 812

Jenna Kuess

Permalink Reply by Katherine Raphael on May 27, 2011 at 2:40pm

Hi everyone,

First of all, HAPPY FRIDAY! :-) I've been playing around with different free survey software this week. I've used Survey Monkey in the past and I like it very much. I tried to send a survey with 12 questions however and learned that a free account only allows for 10 questions. Luckily, a friend recommended Zoomerang, which I had not used before. It was just as easy, customizable, and it's free too. A free account with Zoomerang allows for up to 12 questions which was perfect for my need. I have not tried Google docs yet, but figure that this application might allow for unlimited questions. Does anyone have experience with this?

Thanks and have a good weekend!

Kathy

Permalink Reply by Justine Koszela on May 27, 2011 at 7:03pm

Hi Everyone,

There are some great ideas free resources on here that I would love to use in my classroom! Thank you all for sharing. I haven't found any great tools that haven't already been mentioned here. But one area that I am focusing on for my Wicked Project is digital story telling. Since I teach 1st grade, a great one that I have come across is storybird. This is a great tool because it's simple, fun and easy for my students to use and be creative with. Any great tips or ideas on using digital story telling that you have learned along the way?! :)

Permalink Reply by Dana Collett on May 27, 2011 at 8:31pm

Justine- Anna and I (and 2 other group members as well!) did a project in another session in which we did a Prezi on digital storytelling and we incorporated a lot of resources in it- take a look if you like....

http://prezi.com/pzzhl0dsq8pe/digital-storytelling/

Hopefully no one minds that I am sharing this- :)

Hope this helps a bit- however, it may be too basic, for you- but I thought I would share.

Permalink Reply by Allyson bush on May 27, 2011 at 9:58pm

Using iMovie on a mac I created 5 different short lessons for my students. I was absent or half a day and left the videos for the sub to play. I was able to speak with the sub afterwards and she said that all of the students were very engaged in the movie. So students who usually gave a sub a run for their money was suddenly engaged in a movie that was actually teaching them new content. I polled the students afterwards and most of them really enjoyed the videos and felt like they had learned something new.

I even tried playing one of the videos while I was there with a group of students who are very rowdy. They were so enthralled in the movie, although it was the exact same thing that I always do in class, that there were less behavior problems.