Hello everybody. My name is Renee Vinci and I attend St John Fisher college and want to become an elementary school teacher. I would like to learn about some new technologies that are being used in the classroom today and the pros and cons of using them. Can any current teachers help me by giving me your insight, information and or opinions. I would really like your help and hope to hear form some of you. Thanks : )
There are lots of great blogs you can read to help improve your knowledge of what is out there. Mine is... http://www.educationtechnologyblog.com/ and if you click on my Blogroll, you will see all the other ones that I read on a regular basis. If you haven't already started reading some of these, then this would be a great place to start.
Glogster, Animoto and Wordle are among my favorites because they are free and innovative. Otherwise, I use a lot of these sites... http://www.mrwylie.com/web-links.html ... from my class website. If you want to teach elementary, there is probably a lot here you could use.
As for what I dont like? I would probably say Twitter is not something I would likely not use. I know that some people do, but it is too random for me.
Lot of online tools, some are useful, some not as much.
Edmodo is really good even for not so savvy students like me, it is like Twitter for education.
Also check these :
Curriki, Mobl21 and Footnote are other useful online web apps.
As mentioned already, there are many great blogs to keep you informed. That being said, the pros and cons of each usually depend on your teaching style. Try to incorporate those technologies that complement your style. I personally believe that learning technology includes learning hardware, software, etc. so that you feel comfortable working with it. I also have a site that you can look at: http://www.CoachJeffreyThomas.com Take a look at the Web Links and Smartboard buttons to get a comprehensive list of sites. Good Luck!
Hey thank you very much....I will take a look at these links. What do you like using or what do you use in your classroom? Is there any new technologies that you dont really like or one that you love. Im trying to learn what teachers use in there classrooms and how it has been working out for them. Thanks hope to hear from you soon.
Hey! The main rule of thumb is only use technology when it enhances learning. Many times, teachers use technology for the sake of using technology. Some of the hot tech projects going on involve video. Students of all ages are able to use the pocket camcorders (Flip, Vado, etc.) and then learn to edit those movies in Windows Movie Maker (or a commerical package). Instead of a written summary, there is now a video summary. Next, the video can be uploaded to the teacher/student website/blog for viewing by parents. Digital storytelling is also big--really a slideshow presentation with audio. Microsoft PhotoStory is free for downloading. Voicethreads.com is an on-line solution and has more interesting features like audio & video comments by viewers. Both of these involve knowing hardware (webcams, pocket camcorders, microphones, etc.) I haven't even touched on interactive whiteboards, classroom response systems, document cameras and the like. Let me know if you'd like me to narrow my focus on any of this. It is usually good to pick one facet of tech and get some success with that project. Google Wave is a new form of e-mail that is collaborative as opposed to regular e-mail. Many people can be part of a wave and and add their input. Sort of like e-mail, wiki, twitter, etc. Let me know if you need an invite and I can get you one. It is in beta testing now and you need an invite. If you want one, I will need to know your e-mail address. Sorry so long! Have a great night!
I regularly use a smartboard and a smart airliner wireless slate. I love both of these devices. I also use vernier logging equipment and software for designing and measuring experiments. I utilize Lego Mindstorms robotics equipment in class to show different simple machines, gear ratios and sensors etc. the kids really like using that stuff.
Recently, I've been using a pulse smart pen by livescribe to record some of my lessons and put them on the website. Here is an example: (for some reason lately, the image has not been showing up.. just click the link up top called "workandpower")
This was one of my early pencasts- it's pretty crude. Lately, I've been adding music- and some goofy drawings to spice it up.