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Not free but this is really cool looking!!!!

What do you think?  Will PC sales begin to grow?  Do you think the iPad will replace the need for laptops?

I dont' know if PC sales will go up! At the current moment the demand is for ipads and tablets! I don't think that the ipad will replace the need for laptops. Believe me I love the ipad but its just like a larger version of the iphone!! I have a macbook which I love!! I think that Mac is better but that is just my opinion, it just seems easier to us. But maybe this is because I have been using Mac for about three years now and a PC is difficult for me to use. Only certain functions like excel! Its just that mac and PC are different but both are still great!!!

I really enjoyed the article and I will say that I agree that testing is not making our students smarter. I have been in the teaching field for 22 years and year after year I see the students so disconnected with learning. Students have been taught how to pass a test, rather than how to think creatively. I have students that can't answer an open ended question in a complete thought, but can pass a state exam. I have always refused to teach to a test, and have gotten very good results at the end. Since I teach Science my class is very hands-on, so the students love the class, but they don't have the background ability to apply it on a test. These students have been trained not to think only to answer multiple choice questions. It takes me a whole semester to get them to make the connection from the experiment and how to apply it to the test. My first year at my school the teacher who was teaching Science before me gave me boxes full of TAKS materials that she used in her class and she told me that I wouldn't have time for hands-on activities. As soon as she left my room I threw everything in the trash and my principal was surprised that I didn't want her materials. Needless to say my students became thinkers by the end of the year and grew a new appreciation for Science. Being in the MTT program I have begun integrating technology in my Social Studies class and I have never seen students so interested in learning about the American Revolution. We are getting ready to create newsletters about different topics they learned about the American Revolution. They are even getting ready to create a voki to present a part of their newsletter. I have seen technology even motivate the most reluctant learner in my class. I have students that will come in the morning and begin working on their project that they need to complete. I even have students going to the public library to use the computers. I am a true believer in integrating technology. I

Loved this fable!! It reminded me about a book I read a few years ago titled Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell . It was a whole bunch of stories about real-life success stories such as The Beatles and Bill Gates. The one thing that all of these people had in common was that they all spent tens of thousands of hours honing in on their craft. Some of them just got lucky and had the opportunity to practice. Others had parents that knew that they had cultivate their child's passion and not force them to do things that they were just not capable of doing or that they were not interested in. This fable reminds me of what we are doing in education today. We want all of the students to be "good" at everything and never give them enough time to become great at something. If students were allowed to follow their passion, the benefits would overflow into other subjects.

I often use this analogy to encourage my students who feel that they are unintelligent because of their struggles to pass tests. Our school system tries to make all of our students fit a specific mold-- some fit, some adapt, and some give up. We've give up the ability to provide our students with the freedom to explore and be creative for a sense of security in "accountability." Sure, we need to hold schools and educators accountable for providing a quality education and yes, there have been schools in the past who have misused the freedoms allowed to them. However, I cannot and will not believe that an annual multiple choice test will sum up all of the knowledge that my students have gained. I strive to teach my students to think critically and be a part of the world around them. In my opinion, being able to think your way through a problem is going to be much more valuable to my students in the future than knowing the difference between rotation and revolution. (Unless they plan on being aerospace engineers that is). We need to focus on inspiring students to learn through their own drive and interest. Let's not kill their natural curiosity with our adult need for accountability.

21st century literacy

Internet technologies may be a good way to teach computer literacy and content, but it may be easy for students to skim through information. In a traditional classroom lecture, the listener may only retain twenty percent of the lecture. When we have our students using online resources, can we be sure that they are thoroughly learning the content. Even in class our instructors reiterate thoroughly reading the materials, because they know we tend to skim the material and miss important information. More on the way we are learning now. We have a new category of learner rather than traditional, according to Dr. Michael Herbert, whom conducted a study of of content retention and course satisfaction at the college level. It is useful to note the five reasons why adult learners drop out of online learning programs: "poor design, failure to understand the new medium, lack of consideration for a variety of learning styles, lack of support systems and ignoring the self-selecting content need of learners." All of these reasons are the same reasons our students may struggle with internet technologies and online learning. Herbert, M. (2006, Winter). Staying the Course: A Study in Online Student Satisfaction and Retention. Retrieved April 1, 2012, from http://www.westga.edu: http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/winter94/herbert94.htm

What really caught y attention in this article was the part where it says: Make it personal - Passion-driven learning. Teaching mathematics in the seconday level is no easy task. Having to teach probably the least favorite subject of high schoolers is such a big challenge that most teachers prefer to teach the subject in a traditional way. Quiet classroom, teacher in the front, books on the table and students quietly listen to to the teachers dicussion. This method is widely opossed nowadays and classroom collaboration many believe is the most effective way of learning. Technology helps this goal to be achieved. Passion driven learning is one of the ways that I truly believe could work in a math class. Online resources such as the Gallup Poll's web page http://www.gallup.com/home.aspx - offers information on how they use data and other information to predict outcomes and verify results. The site is loaded with graphs, data and other information relevant to mathematics in the real world setting. If we could spark that passion in our kids, they themselves, on their own will search for other resources and learn along the way. Dyck, B. (2005, winter). Meridian: A Middle School Computer Technologies Journal; When Technology Integration Goes to Math Class, from http://www.ncsu.edu/meridian/sum2003/math/index.html

Really interesting site for current information on scientific discoveries. Good resource for students - source for latest research news

Thank you this has been very useful.

This is where you share additional comments. I want to add more

Lot's of information for grants

Article about the flipped classroom

I really admire those math teachers especially being able to work with each other being that they were both from far ends of the spectrum when it came to the education profession. I have been hearing a lot about the "flipped classroom" and I have also been able to connect my previous course work with it. I find that being able to have all your information narrated and easily accessible for your students is a great way to reduce stress. This means that the students will be able to review the lesson at their own pace and in a comfortable environment. Even though I hear many good things, as a 5th & 6th grade Language Arts and Reading teacher I still hesitant to flip my classroom. I know it's not impossible but it will require much training and guidance for it to work effectively.. This article has really opened my eyes to where our future educational system might be or should be gearing towards.

As teachers we should be open-minded and ready to accept new ideas that can revolutionize the way we teach. Always keeping in mind that everything we do is to improve our teaching.

Strong possibility for a grant

Useful for Social Studies and it's free.

Totally agree for the use of Social Studies, I can use this tool for technology classes as well.

Dipity is a great Web 2.0 technology to integrate in the classroom. It provides an excellent way to create timeline presentations.

Some really great ideas for different Web 2.0 tools in a variety of subject areas.

This is one of my favorite websites. All you have do is click on one any of the icons and it will direct you to the page. Also, The Bloom's Digital Taxonomy provides the types of technologies for the appropriate learning domains. Bloom's Digital Taxonomy Created by Samantha Penney http://www.usi.edu/distance/bdt.htm

I had heard about this website zooburst and I just signed up it is great. I can't wait to share it with my students. I want them to create a book on a favorite science topic they learned this year. http://www.zooburst.com/index.php?state=login&invaliduser=1

As you can see from this video, people have always been resistant to new technology innovations. If we can all learn to laugh our way through and be patient when others are trying to figure out a new technology, then change seems to happen more quickly.

I know that this video was a comedy bit, but I never stopped to realize that many people struggled, or wished not to learn about new items that were coming about with time. What I liked about the video was that the "help desk" did not get frustrated with the person who was asking what many of us would think as silly questions. Many of us have trouble with wanting to teach technology, or integrate it into our lesson because we feel it would be a pain having to teacher a class of 20+ students how to use it. I know that at times, I find my self getting a bit stressed out when my mom asks me how to do a function that I think to be easy on the computer. I have to stop my self and remind myself that what I might think is easy, is new to others, such I am sure is the same when I don't know something and some one has to teach me.

Lol, the video was very funny. Had me laughing the whole way through. I can't believe how far we have come. I remember going through my blocks in UTPA, when I returned back to the classroom after finishing my 12 in school my self and seeing the NEW projectors, the elmo, and smartboard in the classroom and thinking, "Wow, look where technology has taken us to from chalkboard, to overhead projectors, to smartboards. A board that you touch the screen on and it moves, changes, and recollects information. I was amazed and engaged myself. I laugh every time my co-workers think I am so young because this year is my 10 year reunion and yet the classroom has changed so much!

At our school district, students log onto the network using their own account on any terminal within the district, in which they can keep individual files. Although they can't permanently personalize any computer I do always see them changing wallpapers every now and then. Integrating technology into the classroom will have to be more than a method or means. It must go beyond access and utilization. I believe students will have achieved true integration whey they have created something or honed a skill using technology as a tool.

In the article Shaping Tech For the Classroom, it lays out a visual representation of what is happening in our classrooms throughout our district. While we are trying to keep up with the latest technology, it seems that most teachers are still at a loss as to what should be happening in the classroom with the technology available to us. At the moment, many teachers at our campus have a smart board, student computers with internet access, class response clickers, projectors, EKI machines, digital cameras and new gadget called KINEO that our district Migrant department has provided to our Migrant students. This apparatus is supposed to help our migrant students in leveling their knowledge of math, reading and science skills throught the program WEBACHIEVER. We have had this gadges in our library for about two months and have been used only once because no on has been trained as how to use them. I can say that Donna ISD has done a very good job at providing opportunities for us teachers to get technology savvy but unfortunate, not many have taken that opportunity. We have even had the opportunity to complete technology staff development in our pajamas. As a result of these initiatives by our district, it is safe to say that our district is in the right direction as far as providing us the technology and advancing software that is available to students and teachers. Through MTT Donna right Technology Grant, more teachers will become masters at providing the right tools so that teachers can change their attitudes towards technology. However more training and accountability needs to be in place in order to assure that the technology is being used correctly so our students can compete in the real world.

Lots of Apple stuff here - but other stuff is available for us Non-MACS.

Wow! That is a ton of information! I feel like I need to slowly go through each one. I am a Mac enthusiast, and I wish that our district would convert. I feel like we would be able to accomplish a lot more with the different interface. It's much more user friendly--- hence all of the copycats. THank you for sharing such a wonderful list of options!