Technology Review

Juan Loeza

Link:  http://www.delicious.com/stacks/view/Oc4pDJ

App:  Teacher Pal

TeacherPal is application for the iPad, it is an application that becomes a personal organizer for the teacher.  It enables the teacher to organize classes, and students.  Its simple and intuitive interface enables teacher to track the attendance, grades and behavior of students.  You can create seating assignments with pictures.  And you can create a grade book and homework checking spreadsheets.

Website:  Funbrain.com

Funbrain.com is a website that has a lot of math and reading games.  It was created 1997, and since then kids, teachers, librarians, and parents have been using Funbrain for its free educational games, online books, and comics.  Funbrain, created for kids ages preschool through grade 8, offers more than 100 fun, interactive games that develop skills in math, reading, and literacy. Plus, kids can read a variety of popular books and comics on the site, including Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Amelia Writes Again, and Brewster Rocket.  Funbrain's games can help students build on what they have learned in class and acquire new skills in reading, math, and problem solving. The Playground helps parents introduce their preschoolers to the Internet and teaches them how to manipulate the mouse and keyboard.  Funbrain was selected by FamilyFun magazine in its September 2010 issue as one of the top ten websites for kids.

Website:  Mathplayground.com

Math Playground was created in 2002 by Colleen King.Hi, I'm Colleen King. Although it was originally created for the students in her class who needed a fun way to practice math facts, since then, Math Playground has grown to include a wide variety of math topics, from problem solving and mathematical art to real world math.  And it keeps adding new games and challenges for kids of all ages.

Last summer I was the math teacher for the summer school program.  I used this site as a reward to my students, whenever they were able to accomplished to work successfully, I would give them permission to use the computer to go to this site.  Also, sometimes at the end of the class, I would have mini competitions with the whole class where I would pick one of the games and then call on students to compete against each other.  I would use the projector so that everybody could see how they were doing and even help them.  They really enjoyed the games and it was just a really fun way to practice some math skills.

ISTE Article:  Learning Connections: Managing and Maximizing a Class Set of iPads

The article article talks about a district in Arizona implemented a pilot program to look at the effectiveness of using iPads in the classroom as a teaching tool.  The pilot program was run in a fifth grade class of 84 students from diverse background.  30 iPads were assigned which were rotated through three classrooms and two teachers were trained as coaches.  Some guidelines and use agreements were established before starting the program.

Several positive things came out such program, for instance in a number of interviews with students, most were excited to use the iPads for schoolwork and therefore did not want to be absent.    Teachers noticed that when using the iPads, students were on task—even those who had been difficult to engage or those with learning disabilities. In fact, many teachers and administrators from within and outside the district who came to observe the classes commented that it was difficult to identify students with special needs or English language learners because they all were engaged in the learning activity and assisting each other.  The teachers also noticed that their role had changed to that of active facilitator. Some teachers said the visual aspect of one app, Lobster Diver, helped students understand and apply measurement concepts. Additionally, because most apps provide multiple levels with increasing difficulty, students enjoyed challenging themselves and working ahead. 

ISTE Article:  Learning Connections: iPad: The PE Teacher's Digital Age Clipboard

This article gives some suggestion for great apps that are out there for the iPad for educators.  Apps such as, Gradebook Pro, My LessonPlan, Splashtop Whiteboard, Grader, Chronology Timer, LogMeln, and Prezi Viewer among others.

Video:  Ted Talk:  Kiran Bir Sethi teaches kids to take charge

Kiran Bir Sethi is en elementary teacher from India.  In this video she talks about how students perform academically, when they are given the chance to take charge and act on issues happening around them.  As an example, she talks about a group of students in India who became concerned with the problem of child labor.  The students were empowered to do something about it and so they did.  They began educating their communities about the the problem of child labor and thanks to that their communities began to address the issue and find solutions.  

Webinar:  Google Apps Education Edition Recorded Webinar

 This webinar talks about how organizations, companies, schools, etc. are taking advantage of all the tools found in Google Apps.  It particularly focus on the advantages and benefits that they are providing for educational institutions.  It gives a description of all tools that are available and finally it provides a short demo on how to use them.

Tech Project

Clases de Espanol

Here is the link to my tech project. I wanted to create a place where students can interact with each other by posting videos, pictures, audio and creating their own slide shows. Students are constantly using tech in their everyday lives. I want to be able to use this to my advantage and make them work without them knowing that they are doing homework.

Tech Project

One of the purposes in the Migrant Education Program is to ensure the students have the tools they need to succeed in school. In BSD we believe that helping parents is also helping students to achieve in school. For that reason, our school district has decided to provide basic computer classes for parents and out-of-school youth, so they can use this technology tool to help their students at home.

The series of videos presented here are a very brief summary of what was taught in the classes. It was a six-week class, once a week/for two hours, with 16 migrant parents. None of this parents had used a computer before or had a computer at home.

Technology Project

Jeopardy for High School Biology

By Bob Hankel

For my technology project I created a Jeopardy game from JeopardyLabs.com using the

Biology curriculum from my placement. I chose to do this technology project because I think

I would actually use this in my classes in the future. I would even like to eventually create a

game to use at the end of every unit of study for a fun way to prepare for the exam.

This Jeopardy game could help a variety of learners to get a grasp on the big picture of

each unit of study. It could also help create a sense of camaraderie for students who aren’t

involved in sports and are good at science. This fits well with the TPACK model due to the

use of technology to enhance content knowledge. From a pedagogical standpoint, by knowing

how students learn in different ways, this teaching approach will help to add to a more diverse

learning environment that in conducive to a variety of learners. It could also be used as an

assessment to judge how much the students know about the material.

When I was creating this Jeopardy game it became evident quickly that I was going to enjoy

doing it. It is a good way to be creative by creating different categories of subject material. You

don't have to just create a category called "Cell Biology" or "Photosynthesis" but can create

titles like on the TV show like "starts with C", potpourri, or "before and after" etc. It is also fun to

come up with questions that fit the point values. It really helped me to brush up on the material

as well since I have to take the ORELA Science exam in the coming weeks. The site was very

user-friendly and it was very easy to move around the categories and return as needed. Also,

the site was free and all your games can be stored online for easy access at a later time.

Technology Project - Aaron Bentz

Context:

This is an application for either apple products or android products (it is available on both the Apple store and the Google play store) and it intended to be a fun way to have people, and in my circumstance students learn math facts. The subject area is clearly math, but goes over a fairly broad range of math exercises, making this application work for kids from grade 3 all the way through high school (I have yet to beat the final level). The premise of this application is that math facts should be memorized and doing so through a fun and competitive game makes the process a lot more fun and will encourage students to keep on playing the game. The game is set up as a timed round where the system gives you one question at a time, the user types in the correct answer, either the correct answer was given and the system moves onto a new answer or a vibration and a noise signal the user they entered the wrong answer. The previous answer is erased and the user must enter the correct answer. Each round 20 answers must be completed and to move to the next round where harder questions will be given the 20 questions will need to be completed in a given amount of time. Each incorrect answer is a penalty of 5 seconds.

Description of project:

This application could be implemented into many math classes as a fun way to encourage the students to memorize their math facts. The classroom I worked in had a few students that even in third grade had to look on a sheet for each multiplication problem when using single digits. If this application was implemented for students to use even just once a day at the end of their math period it would create make the students want to memorize facts that are crucial to being a student. When students fail to memorize their math facts they fall behind in math and ultimately are not as successful as a student as they potentially could be. With the implementation of this application the students will want to have fun playing the game, but will be learning important facts at the same time.

Theoretical Framework:

                Theoretical framework consists of three parts, the technical knowledge, the pedagogical knowledge, and the content knowledge. The technology in my project consists of using either a smart phone or a tablet in the classroom. This is feasible for most classes because more and more students of all ages have access to these technologies and more and more school districts are providing these technologies. Either an apple devise or an android powered devise will work; the app is free with either operating system. The pedagogical knowledge is simply knowing how to effectively teach math. For this app the math instruction is done through the program itself, simply drilling of math facts will teach the students the facts and will ingrain the facts in their memory? The content of this application is variable depending on what level the game is set to. The easy level has easy math that could easily be completed by 3^rd graders, on the medium level the math is appropriate for students in the middle school range and on the hard level the math is appropriate for students in high school and beyond. None of the math is extremely difficult, but because it is about memorizing math all the facts should be completed in the users head.

What happens from here:

                What I would love to see happen from here is to see this application implemented into a class’s daily routine. It would be very interesting to see the long term effects of the memorization of these math facts over a student’s educational career, but finding that information would be nearly impossible. I believe the implementation of a math game like this that can track the students progress and will create a competitive environment about learning would greatly increase the students interest in math and ultimately improve their overall outcome in math classes.

                One downfall to this app is that on an android tablet it does not display correctly, it is stretched and you cannot see all the buttons needed for the game. If this could be fixed, then I would have no complaints.

Here is a link to the applications website.
http://www.mathsworkout.net/

Response to Chapter 9 Social Media - Aaron Bentz

So... I was quite disappointed when we searched facebook for educational pages. I worked with Andy to find anthing that would revlove around history teaching, but found very little. The pages on facebook that refer to elements of American history are essentially blogs that have the creator and people who subscribe to the page making posts about whatever they want. Even the library of congress page just had the creator posting in a blog like matter different links that have to do with history. These links would be greatly informative and interesting if just the content of the link could be searched or catalogued at all.

One facebook page that was more collaborative and set up for teachers was the European association of history educators. This group is set up and fairly developed, with over 1200 members. One interesting aspect of this group is that there are a few people who have asked for information or advice of their fellow group members regarding their history classroom. One in particular that I found interesting was a woman that asked for information, articles or journals that would be helpful teaching students with disabilities high school history. This page is much more helpful for teachers as a resource because it has the potential to be a place where a person that is part of the group can pose questions and expect answers from educators.

http://www.facebook.com/groups/euroclio/

Classroom2.0

As far as a social network for education this is a much better option than facebook. Just the way the website is set up makes it clear that it is designed to be much more of a resource for teachers than it is a social tool. The social aspect of this website is what makes the resource aspect of the website useful whereas the social aspect of facebook is the main draw of the site. One part I really liked was the blog area where it listed different blogs. It also made it available to search for a particular blog or look at the most popular blogs. This is much more user friendly for a person that is looking for specific information. Just the vast amount of educational information on this site dwarfs facebook’s educational information.

http://www.classroom20.com/profiles/blog/list

Social Networks_SauloHJ

Response to Chapter 9…Social Networks

Among the phrases and words that really resounded in my mind through the reading of this chapter are “Connections and Communities”, “Networked, interest-based Learning”, “Social engagement.” Without a question, the direction we are heading with technology demands a cooperation and interactivity. Students are in a new era. Learning is not about a teacher and a textbook any more. Social skills are not about face-to-face interactions anymore. Collaborating is not about meeting in a room and planning together anymore. Technology has made a great impact that is hard to understand and describe for many of us. As future educators we have a big challenge ahead of us. We need to step up and be able to relate and teach according to the current needs and practices of our students. Facebook is a clear example of this. The use of this tool is not even. I will take a risk and say that most of the students (upper grades) have a Facebook account, but not all the teachers in those classrooms have one. This tool is being used as a private and personal way to communicate with people but not much in education. I have to say I do not feel very comfortable using Facebook in the classroom. Perhaps I would need to explore it more and create an account for specific school purposes, as the book states “…no teacher should be denied exploration of a technology that with good pedagogy could be a valuable learning tool for students, or, more importantly, could provide important context for learning in general.” (p. 134). Teachers need to be creative and smart to take advantage of this great tool and bring it into our personal practice, perhaps the sharing and posting could happen under one roof and private to those whom we want to participate. The alternative presented by Ning seems to be a good option for those teachers looking for an environment for developing writing skills for a dedicated audience with opportunities to have discussions through the participation and interaction of more people.

As I said before, technology is making a huge impact in education. We, teachers, need to step up and live accordingly, adapt and act based on the current practices and ideas of our students; if we don’t, we are setting ourselves for failure.