What technology do you use most in the classroom?

I'd love to know about what technologies you are using most frequently in your classroom. Whether it's PowerPoint presentations or a fancy studio kit, I'm interested in hearing back from this community of educators about what technologies are most often used in the classroom.

Follow-up questions to this broad question include:

-What technologies that aren't readily available right now do you wish you had in the classroom?

-If you could build the ideal classroom technology, what would its main functionality be?

Music Education:

-What music-related technology do you currently use in the classroom?

-If there were no budget or other restrictions, which other music technologies would you acquire for use in your classroom?

UJAM:

-For those of you familiar with UJAM, what do you see as its potential for use in the classroom?

-What would you like to see added to UJAM to become a better educational tool?

-What have you already used UJAM for, either personally or in the classroom?

I sincerely appreciate your engagement with this topic, and hope it's enjoyable for others besides myself. It's tremendously helpful to hear from talented, forward-thinking educators as I work with UJAM to build the best educational platform from our technology, and I'm very interested in your input in order to accomplish that goal.

Thanks for your time!

Kathryn Moreadith

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Permalink Reply by Mrs. C on March 13, 2011 at 7:19pm

Our Smartboard is used A LOT. Lost if something goes wrong and I can't use it! We also use the Smart Response clickers and document camera a lot. We are lucky to also have 12 netbooks that we share with a couple other classrooms. Those are used frequently, too. We have one ipad and it is constant use with the two ipod touches - students prefer those over the netbooks.

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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Cronk on March 14, 2011 at 11:07am

I use a lot of secured social media in my classes, from Ning, Twitter, Pageflakes to wikis. If it is free, and allows students to publish their work for an authentic audience then I am all over it.

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Permalink Reply by Katy Scott on March 14, 2011 at 12:36pm

I created a pdf for teachers suggesting some of my favorite tools that can completely transform a classroom. Here are the highlights:

- Edmodo for social networking

- Student blogs (I like classblogmeister, but there are others as well)

- Interactive Whiteboard (if you can't afford one, the Wiimote Whiteboard is only $55)

- Student wikis (I like wikispaces)

- Prezis for presentations

In terms of music software, I really like UJAM,but I've also used Audacity and Garageband.

Katy Scott

Stretch Your Digital Dollar

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Permalink Reply by Daniel Long on March 15, 2011 at 10:45am

In music classes, I use Audacity, Garage Band, iPod, and often find YouTube videos that prove to be helpful. We also video conference with composers or clinicians. Our Music Lab uses Midi controllers with iMacs, with a number of different software apps.

I am very interested in adapting the smart phone into our use, though I haven't had the time to think it through yet!

Dan

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Permalink Reply by Lisa Branstetter on March 15, 2011 at 5:05pm

In one of my classes we use an iclicker to take polls in class on the topics we are discussing. I really enjoy this peice of technology. I get excited every time its iclicker time. It really does break up the monotony of listening to lectures the entire class period.

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Permalink Reply by Kathryn Moreadith on March 16, 2011 at 2:25pm

Great comments so far - thanks everybody! I'm enjoying learning about some new tools that I didn't previously know about. Please feel free to keep the ideas and thoughts coming - it's all very helpful.

- Kathryn

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Permalink Reply by Ana-Alicia Valdez on March 21, 2011 at 11:16am

I'm in a technology class and recently learned about Prezi. It is a neat alternative to PowerPoint and definitely lends itself to student creativity. Signing up for an account is easy and there are a few account options to choose from. There is a limited version that is free to the public, but if you are a student or educator you can get a version with more features for free. The most advanced version is called Pro. For the public is it $159 a year but as a teacher you can purchase it for $59. This version has four times the storage space and allows you to download Prezi to your computer and access it offline. I am not yet in the classroom, but it seems to me that Prezi would be more engaging for students to view and create. I believe this was case with PowerPoint a few years back, but students have grown used to that software and there is less excitement around its use. I think PowerPoint is still a great choice for standard presentations. If you want students to create their own presentations however, I think Prezi is the new way to go. Is anyone currently using Prezi in the classroom? Any pros or cons from your own experience?

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Permalink Reply by Kathryn Moreadith on March 21, 2011 at 11:31am

Hi Ana-Alicia,

Thanks for your response. I hadn't heard of Prezi before but it seems like a neat new tool, as you said. Thanks for sharing!

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Permalink Reply by Daniel Long on March 21, 2011 at 1:29pm

A friend of mine used Prezi (the free version) to do a presentation, and it was unique enough to hold me attention by itself, nevermind the data in the presentation! It is something I will look into for sure.... maybe this summer! :)

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Permalink Reply by Tim on March 21, 2011 at 1:18pm

Online:

Sliderocket and Prezi

Resident on server:

Moodle

Newly trying:

GoogleDocs (with a colleague)

Wikispaces (with students)

Hardware

Doc camera

projector

Planning to make

whiteboard out of shower board

smart board using Wiimote

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Permalink Reply by Kathryn Moreadith on March 30, 2011 at 12:41pm

These are great - thanks very much Tim, and everyone for contributing so much!

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Permalink Reply by Connie Gallagher on March 21, 2011 at 4:23pm

Hi Kathryn,

Have you heard of SchoolTube.com? Many educators and students share thier videos on our site. You will see over 24 categories filled with videos that can be uploaded by both teachers and students as well as finding a wealth of videos using all sorts of technology from SmartBoards to Digital Story Projects in the classroom and lots more.

Visit our Educators Page http://www2.schooltube.com/Educators.aspx to find some great resources for digital media sharing and best of all it is a moderated platform and nationally recognized and endorsed video site for use in the classroom which is why Schooltube is not blocked out of most schools like YouTube or other video sharing sites which pose that problem. It is also Free to register and use for teachers and students! Let me know how you like it if you have some time to check it out.