BrainPOP

    BrainPOP is a program that is available for kids k-12 to use for practive in all subject areas such as math, reading, science, social studies, English, art, music, health and technology. It is an animated education system that asks kids questions and gives them fun ways to learn or receive information. The site is very easy to navigate and it is colorful. The illustrations are fun and are easy for kids to enjoy and to get excited to learn with. There are also free movies about subject areas that kids can download and watch every week. BrainPOP is also aligned with education standards form all  50 states. It is a great way for kids to have fun and learn as with any other program like leapster. You can visit the BrainPOP website at the following link:

http://www.brainpop.com/

The Tech Teachers

 Episode #8 of Teach With Teach, is about Ray and Holly and their Podcast The Tech Teachers. Their podcast is about using technology in their classrooms. Their podcast focuses on using the most technology they have available with limited resources. They both teach science in separate school and receive $500 a year for technology tools for their classrooms. They do podcasts on their teaching and on the science that their students do. Both Ray and Holly frequently listen to DZ TV and Twitch which are other educational podcasts. They demonstrate the simplicity of podcasts by using just their home computer and two microphones to air. One technoogy they use that I was unfamiliar with was ORB which streams audio to other computers and physics kits which can be used on computers or graphing calculators to take data and display it in real time using sensors. You can check out the podcast about Ray and Holly at the following link. 

http://www.podfeed.net/play/play.asp?id=8012

The Stir About Second Life

The podcast Teach with tech features Sarah Roberts in its 20th session, Teaching in a Virtual World. Sarah is a professor at Ball State of a freshman seminar class. She is also currently doing a 12 conference tour about the program she teaches called Second Lofe. Second life is a technology similar to the Sims, but each character in the virtual environment is customized. The user creates an account and can personalize the life and appearance of their character down to the facial features and clothing. The Second Life virtual environment is similar to a 3D emersive wiki. For her class, the students must create an account. They then research and write about the environment. It contains 100 universitoes and libraries. Some question her class and method. Sarah responds by expaining that Second Life is not a game and though it is fun, it is still work. While it may seem like play, it is both constructive and refective. The students have to write about what they learn from the environment. Second Life is a technology that is both fun and educational. It is an effective method to use in teaching to involve students in learning with something that interests them.

http://www.podfeed.net/play/play.asp?id=8012

Presentation by Alan Levine

At the k12 2007 conference, Alan Levine along with two of his colleagues, spoke about new technologies that can be effectively used in education. The keynote was called More Than Cool Tools, and it was very informative. The Arizona native began the session by summarizing his previous conference, Small Pieces Loosely Joined. Alan made several noteworthy points, and although I was unfamiliar with many of his ideas, the conference introduced me to technologies that I was previously unaware of.

Technology’s place in education began with simple things such as blogs, wikis, and software. With the introduction of Web 2.0, many more free tools were added to the access of students and educators. The most common trend in technology and learning has been through social sharing and collaboration. Alan went on to describe the most common use; the imbed tag and the you-tube effect. This was important to education because it allowed the possibility of re-using content from other sites for learning.

He also discussed his project of 50 ways to tell a story. This was the majority of the session. There were many key points and many technologies were introduced. The first was API, which allows things such as media to be shared between websites. The next was picnic, which is a technology new to me that allows the user to edit and connect images. Mixercast is a tool that features multimedia slideshows. It went on to explain flickr, a site that’s purpose is to tag, organize, and share photos and their geographic relativity. Del.ic.ious was also included, which allows for sharing and tracking documents with multiple tags. Another interesting technology was slideshare, a powerpoint sharing location. The last technology that was introduced was google docs. The program is like word but can support multiple users on the same document.

There were two technologies that I had never heard of in the session. One was OEA Commons. This permits users to sort information according to grade level, which is very interesting, as it would be a very helpful resource for an educator. The second is RSS which is a re-mixable format program that allows any content to be republished.

The last point of the conference, which I found interesting was the three strategies to restrict and filter, so as not to scale the entire Internet in searching. The first of which is an editorial gatekeeper to control flow. The second is a network concentrator to make connections between communities, and the third is a social rating system, where the community rates a site as a bookmark.

The k12 Online Conference 2007 was extremely informative and well performed. I learned a lot about technology and its new advances. Alan Levine’s session is loaded with information and is available at the following link.

 http://k12onlineconference.org/?p=149

Classroom 2.0

 Today I viewed Clarence Fisher’s online Classroom 2.0 keynote as part of the k12 online 2007 conference. Classroom 2.0 is a broad concept of teachers bring change into the classroom. While this technological change can be interpreted in several different ways, Clarence made some very valid points and suggestions for successfully adopting and practicing the Classroom 2.0 theory. The keynote contained some interesting aspects and I noted some important points. He explained that the Classroom 2.0 experience is all about changing education to meet reality.                    

The first important step in doing this is changing the way we teach. To make education meaningful and to encourage students to learn in the best possible way, teachers must change their pedigogy. Clarence explained that it’s important for teachers to engage students in thought and learning, not to simply have them memorize facts.

The second idea Clarence proposed is change by tools. The role of collaboration and the factor of students learning by networking is extremely important to Classroom 2.0. The part of free technology makes the whole idea possible. He explained the technologies such as blogging, flicker, podcast, and networking. Voicetread, a new technology to me, is even being introduced to classrooms.

The third important part of the keynote was Clarence’s idea of constant change in curriculum. He went on to describe the importance of teachers constantly changing the content of what they teach to better engage students. Also, the role of technology is not to teach the students the skills, but rather the connections they can make with technology. A goal of Classroom 2.0 is to be able to eventually, track and evaluate the students’ activity to see their connections and their progress. Clarence closed his keynote by stating that teaching and learning are collective efforts, not individual accomplishments, and that is what I think makes Classroom 2.0 a well-rounded and effective idea.

You can view Clarence Fisher’s Classroom 2.0 at the following link:

http://k12onlineconference.org/?p=150

CueCard 1.5

CueCard 1.5 is a free technology that is extremely useful in education. The program is a free download that can be helpful to students of any age. The flash card program is simple and easy to use. Flash cards can be made for any material that needs to be learned or memorized and CueCard will test the student with them. One feature of CueCard 1.5 is Smart testing, which focuses on the cards the student is having difficulty with. Pictures and sounds may be incorporated in the cards and the flash cards may also be formatted and printed. Another helpful aspect of CueCard 1.5 is its multi-lingual operating abilities, making it accessible to any student. In addition to extra practice for students at home, this program would be extremely useful in a classroom setting. It provides teachers with the ability to create study tools for students that may be visual or interactive learners. The program also gives students more practice on their problem areas which doesn’t happen when a teacher may review with an entire class. CueCard 1.5 is a free technology that is well worth the simple download.

http://www.download.com/3000-2051-10075304.html?part=88333&subj=dlpage&tag=button/

Video Conferencing in Education

Video Conferencing combines audio and visual advances to allow individuals or groups of people to communicate. It is a system of cameras, screens, and monitors that communicate through an internet connection. There is a wide range of availability in video conferencing. From desktops, to laptops, to set-top devices, several different units can interact. This technology is very useful and provides many opportunities in education. Schools with video conferencing provide staff and students with communication and learning devices. A conferencing system could allow classes in different schools or districts to interact with each other. Also, joint lessons and discussions could be presented to many different groups of students at one time. This could be extremely time efficient for speakers or administrators that need to communicate with students. Opportunities can be presented to students through the video conferencing system by providing them a chance to participate in classes that are not offered at their home schools, such as foreign language. This technology is also helpful to teachers. Staff can interact and confer easier when a central meeeting place is not needed. Video Conferencing is a very useful tool and the technology is a good investment for any school system.

http://www.jkcit.co.uk/videoconferencing-intro.htm

The FLY Fusion Pentop Computer

The FLY Fusion Pentop Computer is a helpful tool made by LeapFrog for students in sixth to twelfth grade. It provides high speed homework help and digital processing.To use the tool, students write on FLY paper and the FLY Fusion Pentop Computer immediately digitalizes all of the written information. It can then be uploaded onto a computer. Different programs and software are available to correspond with the pen so while writing, the students can receive immediate feedback. Also, the student can interact with their notes and get step-by-step help with problems as they write. Available software to be downloaded to the pen ranges from math to French, Spanish, and writing. This technology is very helpful to the field of education. With the many different programs, students could greatly benefit from the extra help and explanation outside of the classroom. Homework help becomes an affordable convenience with the FLY Fusion Pentop Computer.

http://www.leapfrog.com/Primary/MiddleHighSchool/PRD_ff_Pentop/NEW+FLY+Fusiontrade+Pentop+Computer.jsp

Personal Digital Assistant

Personal Digital Assistant is a useful tool that can integrate technology into the classroom. It is a miniature handheld computer with many useful applications. Extremely versatile, it includes a calculator, calendar, word processors, and spreadsheets. More importantly, however, is the PDA’s available internet. With a PDA, students could access the internet and do research and submit work online in class. Teachers could also teach lessons using internet resources and integrate technology into the classroom. If every student had a Personal Digital Assistant, they could use it as a planner and it turn could become more efficient because all work could be done and submitted from one source. PDA’s integrate technology into learning and are very useful to teachers and students.

http://www.palm.com/us/products/handhelds/tx/

The Interactive Whiteboard

The interactive whiteboard is a promising new technology for the field of education. The whiteboard is a touch screen based projection of internet and all other computer functions. The computer projects on to the screen and work can be done on the system through the touch sensitive screen just as it could through the actual computer. Digit media such as sound and graphics can also be displayed through the interactive whiteboard.

With many functions and opportunities, the interactive whiteboard could be of great use in the field of education. In a classroom environment, students would greatly benefit from the use of the interactive whiteboard. As well as providing educational technology to students, they would benefit greatly from the daily computer use. Teachers however would be of greater profit. Lesson plans could be done on computer and all classwork could be digitally stored. All os the students could be taught the same lesson on computers at the same time. The interactive whiteboard would therefore make teachers’ work more efficient and they could spend more time on lessons and curriculum. The whiteboard provides class participation in lessons and exposses students to the technology of today. The whiteboard’ s place in the future of education is bright.

http://www.curriculumonline.gov.uk/Whatisa/whatisaninteractivewhiteboard.htm?cookie%5Ftest=1