EDIT 7500 @ UGA

Students around the world study a local water habitat. They collect data, a suggested list is provided, and share their findings with others. The idea is to promote understanding of the various impacts on water habitats and to take action to improve and sustain quality habitats based on scientific understandings. This project includes mentoring from a university environmental scientist.

Scratch is a Web 2.0 programming environment for beginners, where kids can use a simple programming syntax to create their own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art, and share their creations on the web. Students use built-in sprites or they can draw their own. Once the student finishes the game or animation, they can publish it online.

Students describe a typical day in their life and/or a special event such as a birthday. Students may also submit a captioned digital photo of themself representing an event in their life on an agreed upon subject (e.g. typical meal, transportation to school). This is a great way for students around the world to learn what it is like to be a child in different countries. Students may develop a deeper understanding and tolerance for cultures that are different from their own.

For those Early Childhood and/or preschool teachers, Baby Smash is a free "keyboard banger" game for very young kids (ages 1-3 years). It disables all system keys such as ctrl-esc, alt-tab and the Windows key, so that the kids do not exit the program accidentally or harm the computer. When the child hits the keys, colored shapes and letters will appear on the screen. The names of the shapes and colors will be read out loud, as well as the names of the letters. Babysmash for Windows (created by Scott Hanselman) is a copy of the Alpha Baby software for Macintosh. It requires the .NET framework version 3.5 to be installed.

Students research and write about traditional celebrations in their country or region. Helps younger generations preserve traditions and helps students better understand various global traditions. With a better understanding of customs of other countries, our students may develop more compassion and tolerance for those who are different!

SuccessMaker is an excellent program that provides help and instruction in English, language arts, math, science, and social studies. According to the Pearson website, over 16,000 schools nationally use the 3,300 hours of supplemental instruction available. It is also used as part of SCORE! Educational Centers' after-school tutorial program. Each seperate program allows online interactivity to sync progress at home and school, as well.

Very interesting project that well help students make personal connections to historical events. Students interview family or friends about life experiences related to world or local history. It is interesting to read what students in other parts of the world have written about events we are familiar with. I would love to see them organize the family stories by events as well as countries.

LeapFrog recently released the LeapFrog 2 educational gaming system. Several software titles are available for students of various ages. The new system connects to the LeapFrog Learning Path, which is an online tool that allows parents and/or teachers the ability to monitor progress.

Commonly used in classrooms lacking LCD projection ability, this piece of hardware makes it possible to project images from a computer to a television. iMicro supports resolutions up to 1280 x 1024, ands it works with both Mac and PC. Images can be cropped and enlarged for better viewing.

Document cameras, also known as "visual presenters," are electronic presentation tools teachers and instructional technologists use to display anything from documents and drawings to 3-D renderings and other objects that cannot be displayed on a standard overhead projector. Through the use of a megapixel sensor camera (instead of a set of mirrors and light tables), images can be displayed on an interactive whiteboard or overhead screen just by placing the item on the presenter, therefore eliminating the need for transparencies. Most models also offer the ability to interface with other electronic media in order to display digital images and video.

The ability to display images, video, and sound on demand with little download time has proven itself essential to the classroom teacher or instructional technologist looking to bridge what is said to what is seen and heard. Using MPEG compression technology through a broadband connection, streaming media, such as that provided by Discovery Education Streaming, readily provides students the opportunity to see/hear prerecorded movies, music, and excerpts from online libraries more extensive than any school media center. Live broadcast feeds enhance classroom experiences through real-time experiences and interactions with other students or experts. Online classes utilize streaming technology, as well.

From the simple, easy to use Interwrite Cricket (previous posting) to the versatile SMART Senteo, response systems, while already in use by instructional technologists in school computer labs, are quickly becoming a necessity in the mainstream classroom, as well. With this technology, students can make real-time, wireless responses to questions posted through a variety of software formats such as PowerPoint and Word. These "clicker" remotes offer the ability to answer/receive feedback on multiple-choice and true/false questions, while some allow for multi-line entry for open-ended questions. Set up is easy and takes just a few minutes. Assessment software is available, as well.

From the simple, easy to use Interwrite Cricket to the versatile SMART Senteo (different posting), response systems, while already in use by instructional technologists in school computer labs, are quickly becoming a necessity in the mainstream classroom, as well. With this technology, students can make real-time, wireless responses to questions posted through a variety of software formats such as PowerPoint and Word. These "clicker" remotes offer the ability to answer/receive feedback on multiple-choice and true/false questions, while some allow for multi-line entry for open-ended questions. Set up is easy and takes just a few minutes. Assessment software is available, as well.

Students experience life as a water droplet as they play this online game. You can also go back into the NASA website to find information on the Hydrologic Cycle. There students can learn about the five processes: condensation, precipitation, infiltration, runoff, and evapotranspiration.

Broken down by grade level, this site gives an in-depth look at the United States government. The branches, election process, and national symbols are all covered, as is how laws are made, important history aspects, and the concept of national versus state government. Students can also refer to a glossary for important terms.

Kids in the House is all about the United States Congress. Students can dive into learning more about the House of Representatives as well as how a bill becomes a law. Interactive activites and games are available, as is a virtual "field trip" where students visit Capitol Hill. The Time Traveler feature is also helpful, as students can learn about the rich history of the House. Information about the Senate is also covered.

This is an interactive game that teaches fractions. Students learn about the many ways a fraction, and in this case one-half, can be represented. This game is part of the PBS Kids Cyberchase collection of pages. PBS Kids is a very helpful site the provides many features for students, teachers, and parents.

The National Center for Educational Statistics created this site to help students and parents learn about school systems, plan for college, play math games, take math quizzes, participate in probability and graphing exercises, and much more. The "Create a Graph" feature comes in handy when teaching bar graphs, pie graphs, and line graphs in lower elementary.

BrainPop provides animated movies and follow-up quizzes/activities related to hundreds of curriculum topics in Science, Social Studies, English, Math, Art, Music, Health, and Technology. The movies are correlated to the Georgia Performance Standards, so you can select a standard (objective) and search for movies that are related to a specific standard.

270toWin.com is an excellent tool for reinforcement instruction in government, the Electoral College, and the way our country elects its leaders. The level of interactivity is amazing, as it allows students to play out different scenarios, respond on blogs, take quizzes, etc. Regardless of the year, this site can be used for instructional purposes. Previous presidential elections are archived for reference. This year's Senate races are also highlighted.