Jeopardy

Here's a quick and easy way to create a Jeopardy! game for your classroom:

http://jeopardylabs.com/

77 Web Resources for Teachers

Do you want more things to do over summer, here is a great list of web tools that you can research and plan to incorporate next year.  The list is divided into subject areas as well as general curriculum use.  They've even included a section for specialists.

What I like about this list is that it is not "educational" sites, rather, they are sites that can be used to enhance education.

Summer is here...Time to learn about technology

Here is an interesting article about what you can do over your summer break to develop your tech skills.

Some highlights:

• Create a framework for your use of educational technology. Use that framework for evaluating technology and how it will help you reach your instructional goals.
• Start a blog or revive a dormant blog. 
• Get familiar with an OS that you don't normally use.
• Try a tablet-only weekend. 
• Subscribe to some new-to-you blogs about technology and education. 
• Follow and converse with some new people on Twitter. 

Online Class Assessment

Google Docs is a wonderful, free tool set.  It has applications that, for most people, could replace Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.  Unlike the Microsoft Office suite we are all most used to, Google Docs is available from any computer with an Internet connection.  Furthermore, all of the documents, spreadsheets, and presentations you create using Google Docs is stored online for free.

One of the lesser known features of Docs is the Forms feature.  This tool allows you to create easy to use forms that could be used as tests or surveys. 

Snapguide

Snapguide is a wonderful, simple, visually pleasing way to present instructions.  Students are able to create a set of instructions complete with pictures and then post them on the web. 

Could be a great app to use when teaching instructions, but it could also work really well to have the students explain the steps of a new concept.  One of the examples that showed me the power of this app was one where a students wrote out the steps of long division with pictures of his work included.

Thanks to techchef4u.com for this great app suggestion.

Apps of the Day

I have updated Josh's App List with apps on:

• Fractions
• multiplication
• angles
• brainstorming
• Oregon Trail. 

Go to the bottom of the app list to see the latest updates.

Apps and Ideas for Literature Circles

Here is an interesting article that discusses the use of iPads in literature circles.

http://thejournal.com/articles/2012/05/08/apps-and-ideas-for-literature-circles-on-ipads.aspx

Sock Puppet Idea

Here is an example of how the Sock Puppet app we discussed at the staff inservice can be used within the classroom.  In this example, the teacher was working with her students to identify various character traits. This presentation was the culmination of that research.

Using Augmented Reality in the Classroom

Once the "Wow" factor has worn off, what can teachers really do with augmented reality apps?  Here are two apps that answer that question. 

Fetch! Lunch Rush is an easy to use, drill & skill app.  Here's the story:  The children (one to four players) are the gophers on a movie set and must provide lunch-the crew likes sushi.  The app provides the student with a single digit plus single digit addition problem.  When students point their iPads at preprinted numbers to answer the problem, virtual sushi will appear.  Students then touch the sushi to complete the problem.

Aurasma Lite is a little less straight forward, but far more interesting.

For any augmented reality app, the user must point the iPad at a preassigned target that is typically printed out.  Pointing the iPad at the target causes a virtual "thing" to appear on the screen as if it were actually there.

This app is different.  Rather than passively pointing at a target, the app allows the user to create, and then share, their own target. Furthermore, the target doesn't have to be a piece of paper. It could be anything. A page in a book, a picture on a wall, a building, a billboard, even a pencil can be used as a target. The targets can be assigned to display a picture or to play a video.

This app provides a number of possibilities for classroom use.  Some examples:

• Make the students' books more interactive. Text books, picture books, and chapter books could all have augmented reality added to them.  Pointing the app at a preselected word in their book could cause the definition to appear.  A picture in their social studies book could trigger a video explaining the image. FYI: Currently all videos and images you use need to reside on your iPad. You couldn't have it trigger a YouTube video.
• Create a scavenger hunt. Use different parts of the school/classroom as targets. When the student points the iPad at the target it could trigger a question the student must answer, give information about the target, or give them a clue to help them find the next target.
• Students could create a poster about a topic and then use different parts of the poster as targets that could trigger a video of the student explaining the topic.

Augmented Reality

Many teachers were impressed and amazed by the Augmented Reality App, "String."  To see what the future holds for this amazing technology, visit: http://augmentedstories.wordpress.com/

Apps in Education: Gaming Based Maths Skills

Apps in Education: Gaming Based Maths Skills: I watched my 12 year old spend 35 minutes working out how to advance to the next level on a character based game on a console the other day....

iPad Training Guide

I created an iPad training guide to help teachers fully implement the iPads in their classrooms.  The guide contains both information on how to use the iPad device as well as how to use it as a teaching tool.  Also included in the guide are recommened apps as well lessons for K4-6 that use those apps. 

Click here to view the pdf.

Twitter

Having always passed it off as pointless and silly, I was a late adopter of Twitter and quickly realized how wrong I had been.  Twitter is a wonderful way to share to ideas and get ideas. 

Twitter allows you to find information in two main ways.  The first is to follow a person or organization. There are many prolific tweeters out there who spend their time sharing their thoughts and ideas about a given topic. After finding these people, you can "follow" them and all of their posts will appear in your twitter stream.

The other way of searching out information is through hashtags.  Hashtags are the markers that tweeters put on their tweets as a form of categorizing them.  By searching for a given hashtag, you can view the current conversations about your topic.  Below you will find a list of educational hashtags as assembled by the New Jersey Education Association. #elearning and #mlearning are the two hashtags related to technology. 



#edchat
Created by educators Tom Whitby, Steven Anderson, and Shelly Terrell, #edchat offers a great platform for discussion among teachers and other professionals related to education. Follow along with weekly chats hosted each Tuesday at 12 pm and 7 pm with teachers from around the world to discuss weekly topics.
#edtech
You'll learn about education technology resources, new web tools for students, and how other educators are putting technology to work in the classroom and beyond.

Online Sticky Notes

http://en.linoit.com/

http://www.wallwisher.com/

Here is the basic premise. Imagine giving each child in your class a stack of sticky notes. They would then write something on one, and stick it on a board in your room. With this, instead of sitting back down and being unable to read what anyone else writes, each student can post virtual sticky notes and read other students’ notes at the same time. I initially pictured it as a great way to brainstorm with the kids, but I saw another class’ board and the teacher had students posting sentences that they constructed using a specific format. I think that this would work anytime you want the students creating multiple ideas that need to be shared with the class.

Presentation Tools

Prezi
This is an interesting alternative to PowerPoint. It is still a presentation device, but does it in a different way and without actually purchasing software. In some ways, it does make presentations more dynamic.


Glogster

What the site allows students to do is create a virtual poster.Think “science fair” boards, but instead of just pictures and text, students could include videos, audio clips, narrations, animation, and other tools that make it more interesting, visually attractive, and engaging.

Link Shorteners

bitly

goo.gl

tinyurl

fur.ly

If you know about these sites already, you should at least read about fur.ly, it’s really cool.

Sometimes you want to give your students links to specific pages, but the address is just too long for them to type in.  Often times, we just give them the main page to type in, and then have them navigate through to get to the specific area we want them to visit. 

These websites that allow you to bypass this by shortening the link.   Bitly and goo.gl work pretty much the same and will  assign a random, but short, address to your site.  Tinyurl allows you to customize the address a bit.

Fur.ly is even better.  It allows you to add multiple sites to one link. When students enter the address, it will take them to one site with a bar on top that allows them to scroll through three preselected sites.

SAILOn

Subject Area Interactive Lessons On-line (SAILOn)is a website that has compiled hundreds of interactive websites with the goal of helping teachers integrate technology into their classrooms.  When navigating the website, you first select your grade level.  Once in your grade level, the site is organized by subject area and you will find dozens (if not more) of websites.  The site helpfully describes each site's contents and labels the math sites based on what skills the site focuses on. 

Can You Trust the Internet

Too often students will search for a topic using Google, click on the first link, and report the information found there as fact. Google does a good job at providing students information, and often times the best links are found in the first five.  It is not infalible.

Have students search for the following phrases, and they might learn to be a bit skepticle of the sites they are viewing. 

"The Tree Octopus"
"All About Explorers"

The first site returned from these searches look completely legitimate on the surface, but you'll be surprised at what you learn.  For instance, did you know Christopher Columbus was born in 1951 in Sydney, Australia? 

http://www.cafepress.com/zapatopi.509768159

MyFakeWall.com

Liz Kuhn found this great website that allows you to create a Facebook page for historical or fictional characters.  What a fantastic way to write a research report on someone! 

The page looks just like facebook complete with "friends," pictures, and wall posts from both friends and the page "owner." Through the series of posts, the student would be able to demonstrate understanding of key events throughout the character's life.

Take a look at Elizabeth I's page.  She has some ammusing back-and-forths between two suitors and even received a personal invite to a new play from Shakespear.

Elizabeth I Fake Facebook Profile - MyFakeWall.com

Quixey

Quixey is a fantastic web tool.  Searching for the right app is hard and time consuming.  Working within iTunes works great if you know what you're looking for.  Quixey is a search engine specifically for finding apps.  It allows you to narrow it down by platform (iPad, Android, Chrome, etc) and by cost.  Great place to start your search.