When this film maker ran out of money, he turned to the $2 8mm Vintage Camera app on his iPhone to finish up. So, why aren’t your kids turning out media content with those iPods?
Entries Tagged as 'Elementary'
An Academy Award nomination….from an iPhone
April 26, 2013 · 2 Comments · Classroom Tools, Elementary, Secondary
More iPad in the Classroom Ideas
April 25, 2011 · 1 Comment · Classroom Tools, Elementary, Learning, Secondary, Teaching
Tom Barret has a great slideshow worth passing along with “53 Interesting Ways to use an iPad in the Classroom.”
Low Tech but High Engagement
October 18, 2010 · No Comments · Classroom Tools, Elementary, Learning, Science, Secondary, Teaching
Thanks to a previous post by my fly fishing buddy @RMByrne I found Chris Bergmann. Chris is not your normal science teacher. Well, he’s not like the science teachers I ever had. This guy either thinks out of the box or he is a master of the Googles when it comes to finding creative ways to teach science concepts with his middle school students. Notice I said with. They seem to always be a part of the teaching and learning. Novel concept, right? Let’s just say he gets it and the kids are getting it as well. I am also sure there are plenty of great science teachers out there, but they are not taking heed to what Dean calls the moral imperative, sadly. So, we all lose out.
Watch this video as Chris utilizes a trash can and some Styrofoam cups to teach about the properties of air. Reminds me of an interactive movie I sat through near the Alamo many years back. Watching that canon smoke ring zip through the air held me captive to the content. Low tech, but very engaging. I’m just glad he is documenting his cool lessons to maybe inspire other science teachers around the world. Check out his YouTube channel here as well for other great videos. If you have any great science teacher video links like this one, please share in the comments below.
“iPhone/Touch App” shared Doc has a new sibling: iPad Only
September 5, 2010 · No Comments · Classroom Tools, Elementary, ESL, Fine Arts, History-SS, Learning, Literacy, Math, Science
The Google Spreadsheet for iPhone/Touch Apps by subject area we (over 60 contributors) have been building since November 2009 has been extremely popular. How do I know? Well, the Apple rep said she has been sharing it with all of the other Apple reps and they have requested an iPad only version as well. I actually had that in the works, but I just never got to sharing it out. So, I’m doing that now.
iPad Only Apps spreadsheet is now ready for contributions. I shared it with the same crew who has been editing the iPhone/Touch apps sheet. Hopefully, this one will grow as plentiful and popular as the other. I have a few listed already, but I know there are tons more ready to be added. Yes, I do realize the iPhone and Touch apps will work on the iPad, but there are some just for the iPad that will not roll backwards and are worthy of attention. Now is the chance for that to happen.
Leave me a comment below or shoot me a message on Twitter (@woscholar) if you want to be added as a contributor on either/both of these. I just need your Google Docs email address.
Just when you thought…
August 13, 2010 · No Comments · Classroom Tools, Elementary, Eportfolios, Learning, Online Projects, Secondary, Teaching
From the files “Just when you thought your students and teachers were ahead of the curve,” here is a short video to show us we all have room to grow. The young lady shares exactly why students like the freedom of utilizing technology as well as gaining ownership. I did find it funny that the things “not for school” (Facebook, etc) are across the top of her site while the school links are along the bottom. It truly is cool to see a young student “get” PLE’s while many still struggle with the concept and the freedom it entails. Enjoy:
TCEA Promotes Engineering, Math, and Problem Solving via Robotics
May 28, 2010 · No Comments · Classroom Tools, Elementary, Math, Science, Secondary, Teaching
This video was shot during the TCEA State Robotics Tournament recently. It has some great sound bites from the kids how discuss all of the skills they are acquiring through this project. Be sure to attend the TCEA Area 7 Technology Conference in White Oak on June 11th to check out the robot you see in the video.
A Paradigm Shift in Classroom Design
April 19, 2010 · 2 Comments · Administration, Classroom Tools, Elementary, Leadership, Learning, Literacy, Pedagogy, Projects, Teaching
Photo: Science Lab at Smithsonian in DC. We need one of these.
I have really been struck with the idea that we have reached a plateau in new technologies. I realize that useful, new gadgets and sites will continue to come out, but what we have currently will help us provide so much more to our students than we ever have before. So, why aren’t we seeing the change we need at the pace we need it and the pace the kids deserve it?
The answer is us. It truly is us. We are the problem. We are the disablers. We are the barriers the students cannot break through. Don’t get me wrong. We are using new tools with students in some amazing ways. We are engaging them like never before. Yet, we do it in spurts. It is just a modernized version of our old, standby friend the poster project. The kids get all excited, not because it is a good project, but because it is not a text and worksheet. That’s just wrong. To quote my friend and mind stretching mentor Dr. Gary Stager, “The blame lies within the bankruptcy of our imaginations.”
Yes, it is a start, but what good are starts if we hit the brakes every single block. It takes us forever to get across town where we should really be at already. We should be buried in the middle of local conversations about how we could be changing teaching practices to better fit the kids we see coming through our doors. Seriously. What progress is made if we only automate the same boring routines? What new level (notice I said level and not concept) of learning is achieved if we continually return to the old textbook and worksheet far more often than open ended projects? And, yes, tests can still be passed if we do things differently.
It’s not just the teaching style that needs change, though. Shouldn’t it also be about the learning space? It is for them.
We have so many places we need to start with this. ISTE is moving forward with a new initiative as well. Consider getting involved with it. But for now, let me begin with the presentation below. It is a nice conversation starter sure to thrill some, confuse some, and tick off others. Which category are you in? Wanna talk?
Google Docs changes easier to see
December 4, 2009 · No Comments · Classroom Tools, Elementary, Secondary
For teachers viewing student’s (or students’) Google Docs, this is good news. I picked it up from a tweet from Steven W. Anderson.
Here is the entire post from the Google Docs blog:
New additions to the settings page
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 3:25 PM
Earlier today we made two additions to the Google Docs settings page. The first, “Where items open,” lets you pick if you want items to open in a new window (how it works today) or in the same window.A couple weeks ago, we launched “New!” and “Viewed/unviewed” indicators in the docs list which allow you to easily spot brand new and updated items. Since not everyone loves these — shocking, I know
– we also added an “Update indicators” setting, which lets you turn these indicators off.
Electronic Portfolios and the Thoughts of Educator
December 3, 2009 · No Comments · Classroom Tools, Elementary, Eportfolios, Learning, Random Thoughts, Secondary, Teaching
I sent this email recently to some in my district. I thought I would post it here to gather feedback from my PLN if any of you see fit.
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Earlier this year we began in earnest a push toward integrating electronic portoflios (ePortfolios) with staff and students at the middle school level using blogs and the intermediate level using USB flash drives. There is an article in T.H.E. Journal that cites studies from Gartner supporting our choice in this.
While we are in the infant stages of ePortfolios, we are indeed headed in the right direction. I feel we should consider expanding this program into more grades to further enhance our goal of graduating 21st Century enabled students under the direction of 21st Century enabled staff.
The article states:
“And the holy grail is a personal digital portfolio, where you can store your accomplishments and have them verified by your mentors, teachers, or employers, and then take it all with you wherever you go. We’re nowhere near that at the moment.”
White Oak ISD is at that point now. We have the technology tools in place and the training available to implement this at all grade levels.
Please read the article if you have a chance. While it focuses on several software solutions, it also shares what others are doing and the possibilities. We are still fully capable of handing EVERY graduating senior from White Oak High School a flash drive with their entire eportfolio on it to be used anywhere they would like. Imagine the power of that if they are starting those in their earliest years in WOISD and maintaining it throughout.
I am always willing to discuss our ideas and goals with anyone at anytime.
My Session on E-Portfolios with Staff and Students
July 11, 2009 · 8 Comments · Classroom Tools, Elementary, Eportfolios, Learning, Literacy, Online Projects, Secondary, Software Solutions
Slide Credit: Dr. Helen Barrett
I have had several inquiries as to how my poster session went that was centered on using free online tools (Web 2.0) in creating, organizing, and maintaining electronic portfolios for staff and students. Well, in a word, great! I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to speak with so many others trying to do the same thing we are. While I am in a better situation than most due to a technology department and curriculum department that plays VERY well together, we still have our struggles. Training is one of them. There is so much to building effective eportfolios that one person relatively new to the concept cannot learn and regurgitate it all back to staff in a productive way.
Thankfully, someone I admire for her knowledge and ability to share and teach stepped up to my session. Dr. Helen Barrett appeared in the corner of my booth. Fortunately, I saw her arrive and noted to everyone there that she was THE one to talk to about all things eportfolios. Anything I have to share about eportfolios would pale in comparison to this wonderfully read and prepared professor. Another awesome piece of luck was that my curriculum director walked up behind me about the same time. I put the two of them together quickly to schedule some training in our district. If/When we are lucky enough to get Dr. Barrett in White Oak, our staff and students will never be the same again. We will be fully on track to creating portable archives of learning and teaching that all should be proud of. Exporting the eportfolio from the WordPress blog right to a flash drive will be a common happening for our students in the near future to allow them to take their representative work with them to college interviews, job interviews, competitions, etc.
Another piece of luck came along when I ran into Sue Waters from Edublogs. After a lengthy conversation with Sue in the Blogger’s Cafe, my chief of technology and I decided it was time to move our entire WPMU blogging system to Edublogs Campus Ultimate where it will get the care and support it deserves. James Farmer, Sue Waters, and company will do more to keep up our system than we ever could. We know that this will now be the Cadillac version of our goals that we have wanted and needed all along. I have already noticed an unprecedented increase in speed in initial loading and navigating within and between blogs. Thank you, Edublogs! Our staff and students are going to be overjoyed when they log back in.
Photo Credit: AJC1 (Hartnell-Young, E. et al. (2007) Impact study of e-portfolios on learning partners.)
Another advantage for me in the move to Edublogs Campus Ultimate is the ability to batch create blogs and users. This was a headache when our system was at SiteGround because having a class or two of kids hitting the server at the same time never ended with anything but timeouts and 404 errors. It was what pushed us into seeking out a better host of our system. Considering we went from a Gig of traffic a month to over a Gig a day by the end of the year, we had to do something proactive before it all crashed down around us. You can go read for yourself all the benefits of making the move to Edublogs Campus Ultimate, but I can see this relationship being a very good one for all of us in White Oak ISD.
Stay tuned as we ramp up our electronic portfolio process with training by Dr. Helen Barrett and implementation by our staff and students this school year.
