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. 

[Robert Prudhomme]

I'm currently in CEP 810 and although I'm not an experienced teacher I currently am substituting in different school districts in Ingham County. I recently subbed in a first grade classroom with a student teacher in the room. She basically lead the class and I assisted. I noticed all the technology-related devices in the classroom. One simple thing that I thought was extremely helpful was that she has a microphone that she wore around her neck allowing her to speak without shouting over the students. Personally I am not the loudest person and know a simple microphone implemented in the classroom would probably save my voice. Another way the microphone was used was that the students spoke individually about the project they were working on. Almost every student was excited about sharing their work and to speak into the microphone. It allowed everyone to hear what each student had to say. I would definitely try to get a microphone if I taught my own elementary classroom.

[Susan Wright]

Great tip! What a terrific way to differentiate instruction for hearing impaired students=8-)

[Sharlene Kroneck]

Why should schools move to cloud computing? In this economy it only makes sense to switch to or at least investigate your options. Cloud computing is less expensive, you pay as you go, you only pay for what you use, you can add more or less on a as needed basis. You do not have to worry about downloading the latest updates, no down time which means more efficient for the school/business. Being able to share information anywhere anytime is also convenient for users.

Learn more
http://www.ibm.com/ibm/cloud/?cmp=agus_aositgtscc-20090225&cm=k...


http://www.microsoft.com/windows/cloud/?CMXID=2120.win7_7D4CDEBE-02...


http://www.brighthub.com/environment/green-computing/articles/10026...

[miztech]

Sharlene,

Thanks for the additional information on cloud computing. Do you have a favorite cloud application or resource that you like to use?

[Dessa Schurr]

I'm currently in CEP 810 and although I'm not an experienced teacher I am currently substituting in a few local schools. The elementary school where I student taught, and where I still substitute, had a big fundraiser to buy Smart Boards for each classroom over a year ago. Since they now have a Smart Board in every classroom, they have the opportunity to integrate technology all day long. When I substitute at this school, it actually makes it a little easier to teach. Every teacher has their plans/lessons organized on the Smart Board and has it ready for me, or at least easily accessible. This is a great tool for teachers and substitutes. The students absolutely love them! They also love to help me if I have any questions! The Smart Boards also allow the teachers to use other technologies through the Smart Boards, such as having an electronic reader read the story to the students while they follow along. The capabilities of the Smart Boards are endless!

[Stephanie Six]

I am guessing that many of you that work with elementary school children know about this site, but I thought I would share it anyway, as it was a lifesaver for both my son and I when he was struggling with learning to read. Sylvan Book Adventure (www.bookadventure.com) is a free program that allows kids to select books they would like to read. Once they have finished the book, there are questions that the child answers and receives points for getting correct. The fact that my son was able to take the "quiz" on the computer was very exciting to him. Then when he learned that his points added up and when he got to a certain level he could pick out a prize, he was hooked. And what kid doesn't like to get things in the mail? That is how he received his prize! The whole process was fun for him, which led him to wanting to read more. He is now in the 6th grade and reads at a 10th grade level.

[Susan Wright]

This is one of my favorite sites. If you haven't had a chance to explore the site, you will want to spend some time in the Teachers Lounge.

[Colin Gallagher]

Just thought I would add my experiences with EDMODO.

For all who haven't experienced Edmodo it is a micro-blogging platform perfectly suited for a project or class discussions and activities. It is very simple to set up as a teacher; you sign up, create a group and tell your students to join up with a private code.

I have linked up one of our Grade 4 classes here in Hong Kong with a class in Australia to discuss the book Charlotte's Web. Every couple of chapters the teachers give activities the students are to post to the Edmodo group. The results have been fantastic. There is a real camaraderie between the two groups of students with lots of praising and commenting on each others work.
Another advantage of Edmodo is that it allows us to broaden the types of activities can do. For example, they have drawn pictures of certain parts of the stories, scanned them and uploaded them into Edmodo. They also in the latest activity are recording their voices (some in Voki, some just using an audio recorder) to relate a story in the book to their lives.
This collaboration in Edmodo has opened up a friendship between our two schools and we have started Skyping each other because of it to the delight of both sets of students.
Please find attached a few pics of the activities that have been done.

[Melanie B]

Thanks for the information on EDMODO.  I have heard a little bit about it. Our school district is starting to do grade level problem based learning activities. Edmodo sounds like a great tool to use in collaborating between the classes across the district, then maybe branching out. I would also think that Edmodo would also be a way to get the families involved in the activities as well.

[Eric Ray]

Hi,

Unfortunately this is for Mac users only. Do you have a student that has difficulty reading? Could he/she benefit from text to speech capability? If so and you own a Mac, then you already have it. Simply go to your system preferences, select the speech icon and make sure the Text to Speech button is selected. Select your system voice and speaking rate. After this, check the box next to "Speak selected text when the key is pressed." If prompted set your key (these are the keystrokes or shortcut used to activate the text to speech capability). If you are not prompted click the "Set Key" button. Follow the directions. I chose "Command + r" for reading. Once you have completed this close your system preference window. To activate the reader, highlight any text on any page. It can be a web page, an email, a document, etc. After you have highlighted your text, type your key (in my case "Command +r") and the text will be read aloud through the speakers on your computer. This could be a great tool for students with accommodations such as having the test read to them. Give this a try. I hope you find it helpful.

[Jeff Powers]

If you have spent some time in Best Buy lately, you might have noticed some square black and white images near the price label of their products. It would look like the image to the left. This is a QR code or quick response code. It is a 2 dimensional bar code .They are becoming more popular as a method of mobile web browsing and they are showing up in more and more places. Unlike the one dimensional product codes, made up of a series of alternating black lines of varying thicknesses, these codes are read in two dimensions and can store much more data. Any smart phone with a camera that can down load scanner software can read them. If you were to scan one of these in Best Buy it would instantly load product information that would otherwise take much longer if you tried to load a browser and then search for the product on a web page. If you go to flightstats and enter an airline flight, you will see a QR code, once scanned and loaded, will give you real time flight information on your smart phone.
To get started, you would have to download the scanner onto your phone. 3GVision offers a scanner called i-nigma and allows you to check compatibility with your phone. Next, find a code you can scan and you will be offered an option to view it. Another feature is the ability to generate your own QR code. This is the quality that would bring the technology to the classroom. Go to the i-nigma reader page and you can generate a bar code for a web site, a contact, a SMS, or an encoded message. 2Tag is also another QR code generator. Once you generate the image, do a right mouse click on it to save it to your “pictures” . The image can be included into a webpage, blog, or copied onto a printable file.
As mobile technology use increase among school kids and parents, this technology offers the classroom teacher another medium to transfer information. A teacher could generate a picture portfolio of bar code images that lead to websites or class documents. Barcodes could be printed onto hand out materials to be scanned later by a parent or student. Uses are only limited by the imagination.
Now, I know this should go in the mobile technology discussion, but our CEP810 assignment directed us to this discussion group. I will post it in both. Let me know where the QR code above takes you. I hope this topic is fresh and informative.

[Andrell D. Williams]

SWAET! (It was intentionally spelled that way).

This is a cool tool and i definitely think my group can benefit from using Voice Thread. We have had trouble communicating using email, this may be what we need to get over our hump.