|
Your Complete Resource for Classroom Organization | |||
|
Home > E-Newsletter Archive Listing Welcome to the CALLOWAY HOUSE E-Newsletter Archive April 2009 TODAY’S TECHNOLOGY FOR CLASSROOMS Blogging, Tweeting, texting, Googling: these are the technological verbs of today, and your students know all about them. Some teachers and schools resist bringing this technology into the classroom, others embrace it and still others aren’t sure. So whether you’re gung-ho or gun-shy, read on to find out ways today’s technology can benefit you and your students. By no means have we listed all the options for using technology in the classroom, but we’ve given enough to provide food for thought. If you are unsure about using technology the classroom, keep in mind that many assignments can be done outside the classroom. Use in-class time to analyze the data collected. For students without computers at home, provide closely monitored, in-class (or computer lab) time.
Some things to consider before bringing technology into your
classroom: - Obtain any necessary parental permissions before posting students' photos. Never list students’ names when posting pictures. - If you have control over which sites are blocked, you may want to block the sites you use so your students only have access when you want them to. - Establish an acceptable-use policy, including disciplinary actions for students who stray from these guidelines. - Teach students how to use websites and cellphones responsibly. Show them what kinds of things are inappropriate to say. Have a lesson in cyber-bullying (our BULLY-PROOF YOUR CLASSROOM KIT can be a great supplement). - Have a dry run to make sure everything will work as planned. Always have a back-up plan, just in case technology fails. Blogs/Vlogs/Wikis
A blog (or weblog) is basically an online journal that allows readers
to offer feedback. A vlog is a video blog. You can relate the same
information in a vlog that you can in a blog – you just add video
content. Although many cell phones can record video, students do not
have to record video themselves – they can obtain it from sites like
YouTube. With blogs and vlogs: - students can write reports, complete with video examples. - students can read each other’s posts and write persuasive articles for or against them. - parents and invited guests can read and comment on students’ entries. - you can post assignments. - you can summarize lessons. - you can create a class suggestion box. - you can collaborate with other teachers. - you can create a video of your lesson. Students can refer back to it to gain information they may have missed.
A wiki is like a blog, only it allows large groups of users to post
contributions – like an online encyclopedia. Contributions can
include writing, photos, music, videos or computer files. Anyone can
contribute, but the administrators (you) control the content. There
are many free wiki hosting sites like Wikispaces. Wikis are great for
team projects like: - creating mini encyclopedias. They can be ongoing – students can contribute year after year. - writing a collaborative story. Each student can contribute. This is a great project for any age. - creating a virtual annotated classroom library. Students post and comment on books they have read – in or outside of the classroom - creating student portfolios. Students can post their work and create a forum for peer editing. - collaborating on research projects. At first, the wiki can allow all students to brainstorm. It can then be broken down into a group project. - creating a classroom summary. Teachers can post lessons, informal assignments and generate class discussions. Students can ask questions, contribute to the discussion and post completed informal assignments. - creating student-submitted vocabulary lists. - creating a virtual tour of the school or the class. This is a great project for students to create for next year’s incoming class. - collaborate on any topic, for any subject. Students can post their logic for geometry proofs, list their area’s native birds, create a day-in-the-life-of page. . . the list is endless! Cellphones
Although elementary school students may not yet have their own
cellphones, many middle- and high school students certainly do.
Cellphones make a great, multi-use tool that can be taken advantage
of. With their cellphones, students can: - time experiments. - use the calculator. - maintain a calendar. - receive assignments or assignment reminders you text to them. - find reference material. All students have to do is text a search query to GOOGLE (466453) and Google will text the results back. Google provides the service free, but your phone’s service provider may have charges. Check first. - conduct first-person interviews using audio, video or both depending on their phone. - take pictures on field trips. You can create a scavenger hunt for them, providing a list of items student need to find. - conduct polls. Create instant, real-time polls to gauge your students’ knowledge of the lesson, to vote on class officers, or anything! Ask students a question – they answer via text message. Visit www.polleverywhere.com to learn more about it. It’s free! - record and listen to podcasts. MP3 PLAYERS and FLASH DRIVES are ideal for downloading podcasts from the internet, but there are several free, web-based services (Odeo, Gabcast™, etc.) that allow you to create your own channel for storing audio files (and your channel can stay private). Students use their phone to call the channel and record an audio file – great for collaborative projects. Digital Cameras Although cellphones can be used as cameras, there are times you need a higher resolution, which only a digital camera can provide. With a digital camera, you can photograph: - your students on field trips, in class, in plays or at special events. Use them for your class website, newsletter or for open house. Create a slide show and save it to a CD. Sell the CDs to parents as a classroom fundraiser. Use with our NAME BADGE KIT to create photo IDs. - your bulletin boards. Store them in a bulletin board file on your computer. Label the file with the same name you gave the bulletin board materials. You can also print a copy of the photo and keep it with the bulletin board materials to remember how the board looked. (Our STOR-MASTER CASE or CLASSROOM PORTFOLIOS are great for storing bulletin board materials!) - school staff. Use them in a paper or digital folder to familiarize new students with their new school. You can also use the photos in a back-to-school multimedia presentation. - parents (with permission). Keep the photos in the student files to remind you what each student’s parent(s) look like. - your room to create a virtual tour. Again, use them in your open house presentation or post them on your classroom website. Skype Skype is a great, free tool for making computer-to-computer phone calls – with video if you have a webcam - anywhere in the world in real time. Skype is great for: - conducting interviews with other students or individuals. For example, students could interview the fire or police chief about their job. - conducting parent conferences. Parents never have to leave home! - collaborating with other teachers. Visit www.epals.com to find opportunities for teacher or classroom collaboration. - connecting with another classroom (in your school or around the world) on collaborative projects. - allowing students on a medical absence to participate in the classroom from their home. - allowing parents to view classroom activities in real-time. - practicing a foreign language by speaking with students from another country. - adopting a foreign pen pal or soldier. - talking to authors of books you are currently reading. Social Networking Sites Bringing social networking sites, like Twitter, MySpace and Facebook, into the classroom - when used with limits - can be beneficial. These sites are a great way for you and your students to get to know each other. All three sites can be mainly used for blogging by you or your students. (Twitter limits the amount of characters that can be typed; these mini-blogs are called Tweets.) However, Facebook is a more private site – you can block anyone from visiting without your approval - and has many applications that can be used by you and your students. Just search within Facebook for an application you might be interested in. New apps are added every day! - you can make announcements, post documents, host discussions and more. - you and your students can maintain a calendar, create a to-do list, catalog your library collection, store and retrieve documents, create slideshow presentations and much more. - students can share books they’ve read, rate their teachers, create study groups, trade textbooks, create flashcards, organize their schedule and more! And because Facebook allows private, one-on-one communication, students can ask you questions or tell you something they might feel uncomfortable doing in person. Google Earth Google Earth is a 3D virtual globe. It’s free to download and has dozens of fun applications and features to enhance your lessons. You can “fly” from place to place – even to a specific address – and overlay your map with streets, landmarks, weather and more. It even has a flight simulator! With Google Earth, students can also: - study U.S. geology. - examine the world’s oil consumption. - examine green buildings. - study the sites of ancient Rome and other places around the world. - explore Mars, the ocean, the sky, Asia, the desert and more! - study Arctic drilling. - find distances that are difficult to measure. - take a virtual drive. - take trip through a story with Lit Trips. - take a virtual tour of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. HOT TIP: Make sure parents are “in the know.” Introduce parents to the types of technology you will be using. Consider having a lesson or even a class just for them. If the parents grasp the concepts, they will feel more comfortable allowing their child to use technology and can offer aid at home. |
|
©2009 Calloway House, Inc. |