Voki

Voki

Want to foster student creativity, problem solving, and communication skills.  Try using Voki in your next lesson.

Voki is a free service that allows you to create personalized speaking avatars and use them on your blog, profile, and in email messages.

Below is a short tutorial on how to create a voki avatar.

Changing Education Paradigms

Michael McCabe shared this video with me and I thought it was worth passing on. 

Ken Robinson (creativity expert) challenges the standard paradigms used in education.

Technology Mini-Sessions on Wednesday

Want to learn how to include more technology into your daily lessons?

Want to have a little time to catch up on all the technology that has been thrown at you this year?

Want to learn something new?

Want to get away from your department?

Here is your chance.

This Wednesday (October 20th) the KHS Technology Team (who keep telling themselves that they are not geeks) will be offering mini-sessions during Teacher Learning Time (7:25-8:15). 

• Overview of the iPod Touch  (Jim Hietpas -- Room 1174)
• This sectional will be a basic introduction to the iPodTouch. The participants will get a hands-on introduction covering some basic functions of the iTouch. We will cover some basic settings on the iTouch for logging on and off of the network for both staff and students. The Safari internet browser will be covered as well as Apple iTunes and the App store. We will search and download free apps to add to the iTunes library for particular departments. There will also be a short classroom application involving a math application. At the end we will have time for questions and answers. 

•  Classroom Apps for the iPod Touch (Brad Klitzke -- Room 0015)
• We'll go through a short lesson (10 minutes) to demonstrate how they can be used in the classroom.  We will also go over an app that can be used for your specific department.  Don't worry, we'll have plenty of time for you to play.

• Google Calendar (Kendra Scherg -- Room 1177)
• Want to make sense of all the calendars available to you?  This is the session for you.  Learn how to view calendars, add events and even create your own calendar.

• Google Docs (Laura Kading --Room 1177)
• In this session you will learn how to create and share your work online with Google Docs.

• We'll show you how to upload your existing documents to Google Docs
• We'll show you how to access and edit your documents from anywhere in the world
• We'll show you how you can collaborate in real-time

• Google Sites (Mike McDermot and Phil Yunk -- Room 0045)
• Google Sites is the easiest way to make information accessible to people who need quick up-to-date access.  People can work together on a Site to add file attachments, information from other Google applications (like Google Docs, Google Calendar, YouTube and Picasa), and new free-form content.  Creating a site together is as easy as editing a document, and you always control who has access, whether it's just yourself, your team, or your whole organization.  You can even publish Sites to the world.  The Google Sites web application is accessible from any internet connected computer.

Animoto for Educators

Animoto for Teachers

I'm sure many of you are familiar with Animoto, ( If not, Animoto is an online web application that creates  professional looking videos from the images and video clips that you provide) however, did you realize that Animoto offers a free upgrade to teachers.  If you click on their education link Animoto will provide you with a promo code that you can share with your students.  This promo code allows your students to make videos of unlimited length.

In this post I placed an Animoto video that my son created.  Below his video you will find a short tutorial on how to create an Animoto video.


Below is an animoto my son created.

A tutorial on Animoto.

Prezi

Prezi might just be the death of PowerPoint.  

Okay, probably not.  But it allows me to be a lot more creative and fluid.  Prezi is an online presentation maker that doesn't believe most people think linear. Prezi allows creators to zoom in, slide over, link ideas, and do other eye-catching stuff with your information.  

I would recommend you watch Prezi's tutorial video due to the fact that the tool bar of Prezi takes a little while to become familiar with.

Check out the Prezi I created below:

Introduction to Prezi on Prezi

Glogster

WHAT IS IT?:  A Glog is a multimedia poster your students create online 

WHY WOULD I USE IT?:  It requires students to create, explore and share

HOW MUCH IS IT?:  Glogster is a free site that allows you to set up an entire classroom with 3 simple steps.

CAN I SEE AN EXAMPLE?:  Sure, click here to see an example I created. 

DropBox

DropBox

What is Dropbox?  Dropbox is one of the most useful apps I have ever used.  PERIOD.

Today, many people find themselves working on multiple computers.  They have a computer on their desk at work, a laptop at home, and a mobile device.  The problem is, what do you do when the file you need to work on is on your work computer and you're working on your laptop at home?  Now with the Dropbox application we know longer have to worry about it.

 Dropbox enable users to store and share files and folders with multiple computers.  The best part, it couldn't be any easier.  Simply install Dropbox on any computers you want to link together, sign in to your Dropbox account (Free of charge) and drag a file into your Dropbox folder.  Any file you place in that folder will automatically pop up in your Dropbox folder on all your devices.

I have to give thanks to Michael McCabe for this one.  He pushed me to try Dropbox and I couldn't be any happier. 

Below is a short introduction video.

Classmarker - Online Assessment

 ClassMarker

Online Assessment

The ClassMarker online testing website is a professional looking, easy to use, online test maker that provides students with instant feedback and saves you time by correcting your exams for you.


This video shows you how to create a class in classmarker.

 

 

A short video showing you what exams look like to the students

A short video showing you how to create an exam (this one is a hyperlink to a youtube video).

WELCOME!

WELCOME

I've created this blog to provide you with some insight as to how you can include technology in your daily lessons. My hope is that I will be able to assist you in the daunting task of finding useful technology tools that you can use in your classroom.

Each week I will be creating new posts that will highlight technology that you might want to include in your lessons.  I will also be conducting short and specialized seminars to help you become familiar with these tools.

Please, feel free to subscribe to this blog and leave any comments you believe will be useful. 

A short video by Professor Michael Wesch(Kansas State) summarizing some of the characteristics of students and education today.  You might also want to check out Dr. Wesch's follow up blog titled A Vision of  Students Today (And What Teachers Must Do).