Something to think about....

Here just some food for thought - Why do we need to start thinking about using Technology in our classrooms?

A vision of K-12 Students Today 

A vision of k-12 students today

Questions to think about while you review this video:

- What do you think about the stats? Good? Bad? Ugly?
- How do our kids interact with technology?
- Why should we care about incorporating technoto into our classes?
- How can we be a change agent?

Connections all around the world using technology!

Guest Post by Elaine Hirsch

Thank you Elaine for creating another great blog post about several different technologies which can be utilized to connect classrooms around the world!

Using Technology to Connect Classrooms Worldwide

In today's global marketplace, it is more important than ever for students to learn how to connect and communicate with people around the world. Whether a student is in high school, college or even completing a masters degree, they can benefit from exposure to diverse cultures and global projects. Not only does collaborating with other schools provide new learning opportunities for students, but it is also a great opportunity for teachers, as it provides them with alternative perspectives on the subjects they are teaching as well as chance to develop lessons plans with other educators.

Electronic Pen Pals

One method of getting students interested in other cultures is by assigning them a pen pal. Use a website such as epals.com to locate a school in another country with students that are around the same age. Students can then write to their new friends on a weekly or monthly basis. It's a good a idea to develop a rubric to ensure students write about the topics you want them to learn. Besides letting students “meet” kids in another country, having pen pals is great for students in foreign language classes as it allows them to practice writing in the language they are learning. Students can even practice speaking the language by setting up video conferences with their pen pals.

Skype

Skype is a telephone and videoconferencing tool that teachers can use to show their students people from around the world.  Use to service like Edublogger to locate other schools around the world that are signed up with Skype. After pairing up with a partner school, let the students discuss their environments, similarities and differences. Students can also work on a project in their respective countries and then demonstrate the projects to the students from the other country during a video conference. Not only will this allow students learn about other countries, but it will also help students develop relationships with students from other countries and develop brainstorming ideas for collaborative projects.

Collaborative Projects

Collaborative projects are another great way for students to get to know others around the world. For example, a school in Delaware participated in a history project in which the students gathered items that were common around the time of a shipwreck that occurred in 18571. On the anniversary of the shipwreck schools from all over the world shared their projects with each other. Likewise, students can also partner up with students from other schools to share literary works or digital projects.

Forums such as Blackboard are often used for these types of projects. Additionally, Epals also offers an extensive list of projects that allows teacher to find and pair up with other schools to complete a project. Projects vary greatly from completing written works, encouraging diversity, sharing information about cultures, and exploring math and science problems. Students can also study factors that affect people all around the world, such as politics and the economy. Students can also complete webquests online, which will allow them to learn about other countries and customs.

Virtual Tours

Virtual tours offer another opportunity for students from around the world to learn together. Many virtual tours can be completed independently at the teacher's and students' convenience, making it for teachers to incorporate them into lesson plans. Tours can also be scheduled in advance in which schools from all around the world can hear information regarding a country or museum. This type of project helps connect multiple schools and provides students with the opportunity to hear and ask questions in real time.

Students use new technology everyday and educational progress should reflect this dynamic. Using services like Skype and Blackboard  to complete projects will not only allow students to work with other young adults across the globe, but they also give students the chance to learn about issues on a global scale, improve their foreign language skills and become familiar with social customs around the world.

Guest Post: Elaine Hirsch: How iPad Textbooks can be Used in Schools

Guest Post by Elaine Hirsch

Thank you Elaine for developing another blog post about a critical piece in our educational system.

How iPad Textbooks can be Used in Schools

As technological innovation continues in our modern society, changes in the delivery of content are now foremost. Desktop and laptop computers quickly became more commonplace after their initial appearance, and it will be the same in the case of e-readers and tablet computers. While many think the novelty of the iPad will be short-lived, a strong camp of thinkers is promoting iPads as the next classroom revolution.

iPads are at this point still the most technologically innovative and user-friendly tablets available. The iPad offers mobile multimedia options, thus kicking learning up a notch as an entertaining way to engage students in a slim, portable package. Many teachers from elementary schools to master's degree programs realize the future of textbooks will be digital, both to save paper and energy, and for easier distribution.

Therefore, the logical step is to use the latest innovation in personal computing tools to be able to access these textbooks. Schools in 600 districts across the nation are already supplying their students with new iPads.

George Fox University in Oregon has attracted students by giving out laptops to incoming freshmen since 1991. This has always been an expensive program, and officials have considered dropping it. However, offering iPads might prove just as attractive to prospective students for half the cost of the laptops they've been offering.

The principal at Burlington High School in suburban Boston sees the iPad as a more cost-efficient alternative to textbooks. The iPad's $500 price tag seems like an intensive budget drain, but in the long term the savings are significant. Multiple textbooks (and buying new editions) per student easily exceed this amount every year. On the other hand, digital textbooks can be updated by the publishers with ease and at somewhat reduced cost.

Even schools with smaller budgets are purchasing the tablets. Woodford County High School in Kentucky is the first public school in the state to give every single one of its 1,250 students a new iPad. The school is using the iPads for digital textbooks, and for the many subject-specific learning apps, such as Star Walk for astronomy, Molecules for biology, iTranslate for language courses, and many more.

The iPad is front and center in the future of education. By engaging students through multimedia, this isn't just an entertaining tech gadget; it's a novel educational device.

TRETC Livebinder

My colleague, Mindy McMahen and I presented about how to use livebinders in the classroom. This was a create and take session. We taught and demonstrated all about livebinders and then gave time for the participants to investigate the site.

Here is a link to our livebinder http://livebinders.com/play/play_or_edit?id=221082

TRETC conference part 3

The second session I attended was about learning portals. Learning portals are a great way to extend learning outside the walls of the classroom.

Walls come tumbling down

• http://learningportals.wikispaces.com
• What are learning portals?
• real time learning
• diverse learning
• 24/7
• provides more resources
• discussion boards
• polls
• reminders/calendars
• contact
• enrichment and review
• links and resources
• videos / podcasts
• class notes
• paradigm shift in instructional design
• we need to change the way we think to present information differently
• We don’t need to know how to code or know how to create websites to create a learning portal
• A learning portal is never finished it is fluid and grows
• this is a blended approach used for supplementation
• digital divide is shifting from have and have not to know how and  not know how to

• Tools to create a learning portal:
• wikispaces.com
• wix.com
• wordpress.com
• edublogs.com
• weebly.com
• googlesites.com
• wetpaint.com
• pbwiki
• moodle
• jimdo
• webs
• webstarts
• ning
• moogo

Things to put on your webpage

• animoto
• crocdoc
• slideshare
• coveritlive
• screecast
• edistorm
• quizlet
• glogster
• khanacademy

Resources

• edistorm - similar to wallwisher free post it not bulletin board, able to vote on ideas!
• coursesites.com - free online management of instruction, tools, assessment

TRETC conference part 1

Good morning. I thought I would take some time to discuss the TRETC conference that I attended yesterday with a colleague of mine. Here are some notes from the keynote speaker panel.

• Gregg Behr - keynote speaker along with panelist
• great time to be a kid to learn about informal learning - anytime, anywhere learning
• kids today are learning anytime and anyplace
• Neil
• students can create sites, videos, blogs, podcast, etc as independent study or differentiated instruction assignments
• Traci Blazosky
• give students choices regarding assignments (tic tac toe board)
• go on virtual field trips with your class by using google earth
• combination with Web 2.0 tools such as Glogster, blabberize
• technology evens the playing field for projects and assignments.
• Dr. Wilder
• find your element
• ask students
• let students find their dreams
• Karen Cater
• education is a matter of national security and economic development
• challenge students get them fully engaged
• shift to digital learning environment from paper based
• learn from people, books, and interfaces
• accessibility is vital
• text to speech, video calls online
• assistive tech and accessible options are made for individuals with disabilities, but are used everyday by others
• opportunity to learn and engage at this time are strong

• Badges or achievements in formal education
• informal learning spaces
• badges for mastery of topics learned
• move to competency based system

Resources from the keynote:

• https://sites.google.com/a/propelschools.org/theplaneteers/ - recylcing site made by a student from Propel School in Pittsburgh, PA
• www.b-7bobcats.wikispaces.com - Traci Blosky’s site
• Cha-ching - earn, save, spend, donate, financial literacy
• http://bugscope.beckman.uiuc.edu/ - great way to review and learn about bugs in your own backyard!

Guest Post: Lindsey Wright

Lindsey Wright is fascinated with the potential of emerging educational technologies, particularly the online school, to transform the landscape of learning. She writes about web-based learning, electronic and mobile learning, and the possible future of education.

Tools and How You Use Them

As schools scramble for funding and try to increase the number of technological tools available for students, it's easy to get caught up in technology for technology's sake. Instead, it can be helpful to focus on what the access to this technology actually means for the students and the learning outcomes as a result of the technology. Not all schools should be as technology-laden as online college classes, and this is especially true when we consider the role of educational technology in the field of special education.

Tablets

Recently, tablet computers like the iPad are beginning to show up in more and more schools. At the college level, they're being given out to incoming students, and meanwhile becoming teaching tools in elementary and middle schools. In some districts pilot programs are being implemented to introduce tablets in special education classrooms, loaded with software to help engage children with communication and autism spectrum disorders.

The goal of using tablets in these classrooms is to allow students to better express their needs. What makes the tablet so useful in this regard? Touch screens are well suited to kids who have trouble with fine motor skills, and are easier to manipulate than writing utensils or even a computer mice. Young students with or without disabilities are also fascinated by the technology and eager to try it out.

Voice Recognition Software

Voice recognition software such as the popular Dragon application is starting to turn up in more and more individual education plans. This software is invaluable to students with learning disabilities such as dyslexia, who can articulate thoughts but have trouble expressing themselves with written words.

Other students who can benefit from this type of technology are those with sensory-processing issues, who have trouble manipulating traditional writing utensils. Instead of falling further behind because of difficulties with writing, students with these types of challenges can instead turn to voice recognition software and dictate essays, research papers, and book reports.

Along similar lines, using digital audio recordings of books is also a great way to engage students who have difficulties reading. The goal here is to allow students the same access to information and education, regardless of disability.

Educational Games

When kids think an activity is fun, they are more likely to participate with gusto. Turning notoriously challenging subjects into games is an excellent way to engage kids and get them excited about subjects like math and science. Using software like IXL and XtraMath, which have built-in rewards like certificates and skill-
ups, lets kids think that they are playing a game when in reality they're practicing and building important math skills.

The customizable nature of these programs makes them ideal for nearly any teaching environment. Students with ADHD or autism spectrum disorders do well with these types of activities, as they tend to be drawn towards the bright imagery and fast-paced action of computer games. Taking advantage of these qualities can help engage students who previously were having difficulty with math.

Games that utilize the principles of physics, such as Angry Birds, can also be good options for the classroom. With this type of game, students don't even realize they're learning science basics. Simple interfaces keep students with sensory issues from being overwhelmed, and they remain engaged by simply having fun. Games like these are excellent for teaching scientific principles to kids with disorders
like autism or cerebral palsy. When kids find out that they can increase their skill at the game by learning more about how physics works, they are more likely to be engaged in classroom activities as well.

Introducing technology simply for the sake of modernizing a classroom is not necessarily going to be beneficial for students. However, breaking down the advantages and seeing which educational and life skills students can obtain through the use of technology tools highlights their importance in today's general education and special education classrooms. Any tool that can engage students otherwise
trapped in their shells can have a powerful impact on those students' future.