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"3 Tips on Integrating Technology in the Classroom Former Gov. Bob Wise discusses Digital Learning Day and how high school teachers can embrace technology. By Laura McMullen Jan. 25, 2012 SHARE Integrating technology into a high school classroom isn't a one-step process. "You can't just slap a netbook [computer] on top of a textbook and say, 'Great, now we have technology," says Bob Wise, former governor of West Virginia and president of the Alliance for Excellent Education, an advocacy organization. Wise says that digital learning starts with teachers, whose performance is enhanced by technology-not the other way around. That's also the idea of Digital Learning Day, which the Alliance is spearheading. The first annual Digital Learning Day falls on February 1 and will celebrate innovative K-12 instructors who successfully bring technology into the classroom by assigning online course content, using adaptive software for students with special needs, and utilizing online student assessments and other digital tools. Educators, as well as parents, students, librarians, and community leaders, can learn about classroom innovations and get new ideas by chiming in during the virtual National Town Hall meeting held on Digital Learning Day. [Learn how a new iPad app is revolutionizing textbooks.] "The whole intention of Digital Learning Day is to really celebrate teachers and good instructional learning practices," says Sarah Hall, director of the Alliance's Center for Secondary School Digital Learning and Policy. And good teaching, especially the kind that involves working with evolving technologies, sometimes requires good advice. Hall and Wise shared the following ideas for effectively using technology in the classroom-not just on Digital Learning Day, but anytime. 1. Plan ahead: There has to be a comprehensive strategy in place to implement technology into the school system, Wise says, and the teachers have to be involved in the planning stages. "When a schoo

"Five Ways Teachers Can Use Technology to Help Students Posted: 05/07/2013 8:34 am Follow éducation , Classroom Technology , Open Source , Public Schools , Teacher Technology , Technology In The Classroom , Technology News SHARE THIS STORY 57 273 34 Submit this story By Darrell M. West and Joshua Bleiberg Thomas Edison once said, "Books will soon be obsolete in the public schools... our school system will be completely changed inside of ten years." Amazingly enough, however, one of our nation's most important inventors was proven quite wrong. The American education system has a remarkable resistance to innovation and the classroom experience has changed very little in the 100 years since Edison's prediction. Advances in information technology have revolutionized how people communicate and learn in nearly every aspect of modern life except for education. The education system operates under the antiquated needs of an agrarian and industrial America. The short school day and the break in the summer were meant to allow children to work on family farms. Schools have an enduring industrial mentality placing students in arbitrary groups based on their age regardless of their competencies. Technology has failed to transform our schools because the education governance system insulates them from the disruptions that technology creates in other organizations. The government regulates schools perhaps more than any other organization. Rules govern where students study, how they will learn, and who will teach them. Education regulation governs the relationships of actors in the system and stymies the impact of innovative technologies. Furthermore the diffuse system of governance creates numerous veto points to limit innovation. To overcome these obstacles, we must persuade teachers that technology will empower them and help their students learn. We argue that there are five strategies for successful teacher adoption of education technology and that these principles will he

"Best Practices for Using Technology in the Classroom Technology in the Classroom When using technology for teaching, there are four basic principles to be kept in mind: Alignment: Technology should be used for a purpose-not for the sake of being flashy and not as a distraction from other forms of pedagogy. Carefully consider the ways in which video or other media that you share with your class are aligned with your learning objectives. Consider the technology that is most closely in alignment with your teaching skills and the needs of your students-if you don't like to teach with Power Point, consider giving students a handout outlining the main points of your lecture and listing major concepts to assist them in note-taking. Accessibility: Be sure that the technology that you intend to use is accessible to your students. While computers are virtually ubiquitous, and students living on campus have ready access to computing labs and other technology on campus, do consider whether or not your students have access to technology that you want them to use. Also, consider your own access to technology: make sure that you are familiar with all of the technology that you use and that media technology in your classroom is functioning correctly before the class. Plan ahead. If you are going to show a film, for example, don't wait until you walk into class to find out if the player in your classroom supports your DVD's regional format, or you will find yourself scrambling to come up with a lesson plan that does not include the film. By checking the regional format in advance, you will be able to have a matching-format DVD player delivered to the classroom by Technology Services. Assessment: As with lectures, discussions, and labs, provide your students with guidance when dealing with media technologies. If you are showing them a film, provide them with the learning objectives that you have for them in watching the film. Consider giving them a short assignment to be fil

This is the Official Site of a Consortium of Educators who research, write, and educate in the field of UDL. Rose and Meyer are the leaders and they are the authors of several UDL Books published by the Harvard Education Press.

One of my coworkers works for this family and I cried when she shared this video with our classroom teachers. The family made this video because their son/brother has Autism and they wanted to educate the public about the impact of Autism. The boy's sister wrote a song for her brother and performs the song along to slideshow of family pictures. 

TenMarks is an excellent resource to use for Math. This website is aligned with the Common Core Standards and provides students with excellent practice and understanding of each standard. The classroom teacher can sign her class up on the site and provide each student with a username and password. From there she can assign different problems for the class to solve based on the skills they are learning or have already learned. Each question has a video lesson and hints to support the students if they are struggling. TenMarks also automatically provides the students with an intervention or a re-teaching video if they continue to struggle with a concept. It also provides the teacher with reports on the progress of each student. This is something that my fifth grade colleagues and I started this year and it has been great!

This is a great blog on activating prior knowledge, so important when expecting full comprehension and engagement from students! It is amazing that the simplest things can make the biggest difference in the classroom, each student has something unique and valid to offer, we as teachers need to make sure we give them the opportunity to share what they know and discuss what they are learning.

A free, downloadable website that provides students options for accessing web content minus the clutter. It is a great tool for students that need to change the visuals on a page, bringing the text forward. You can customize the font size and type to suit a student's style. Let's you save articles in that format to your iPad too.

Keith Hughes explains how to flip your classroom. He gives a quick tutorial about how to do the video piece. He emphasizes three things: 1. Know your curriculum, 2. Know your audience. 3. When you know your curriculum and your audience, you can focus on how to engage kids so they understand your objective clearly. He suggests making a 10 minute video, and explains how incorporate the videos, font and lecture into the video. The students watch it at home and come to class prepared to discuss the concept. In this way, class time is not used to teach content, but to respond to the concepts the students viewed in the video at home.

Varied online games across several academic areas. Different medium for students to access information. There is a game called windfall; the point of the game is to set up and maintain a wind farm to create energy and revenue. Instead of just lecturing to the students about clean energy this allows them the opportunity to try it.

Basically, this is a helpful google tool called "Swiffy". Many computers (like iPads) do not yet allow for the use of "flash" content, which is how most video clips and visuals work. This handy tool essentially converts files rapidly into HTML5, giving individuals with incompatible software the opportunity to access all Flash SWF files. It's easy to just upload the file and convert with a click of the mouse!

This is a brief blog entry describing the "circles" feature of the new Google+. It describes how it can be used for the classroom. I'm so excited for the possibilities!

I think someone mentioned this in class. The third grade teacher I work with is using Class Dojo and the students love it. I think she has it as a free app on her phone, so as she is walking around the classroom she can give either the whole class, or an individual student some positive reinforcement. She uses just the positive reinforcement buttons, but there are negative behaviors that you can identify as well. You can type in any positive or negative behavior you wish. I think this looks very motivating for students. I would use it on my phone, too, rather than project it because I think it can be very distracting for students to see the avatars and hear the bell ringing when the teacher reinforces a student's behavior.

This is a great website for information on the latest assistive technology. The website was founded over 25 years ago by parents of a child with a disability. The website is easy to use and very informative. An annual conference, webinars, and magazine are also available. 

After reading chapter two of Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts I was slightly hesitant about starting a blog for the school. The author mentioned this website as a good resource for parent letters and student guidelines. This is the homepage wiki for Bud's resources, but there are many good links shared on it. Good luck!

This website offers social stories and videos regarding common everyday occurrences. I found this website useful for students with special needs. One game in particular that stood out for me was "Rufus Goes to School". First, a video plays introducing Rufus and the beginning of his day. After the video, the students can proceed to the game where they are to help Rufus make choices and cope with the changes in his day. I loved this site, it was not only visually stimulating but also engaging and meaningful to the students everyday life and routine.

The prologue is the most eye opening. Its only 12 minutes, but it changed my teaching forever.

The Daily Riff is a great site for articles about education, technology, and a variety of other interesting topics. It sort of reminds me of Huffington Post, but more niche.

The Daily Riff

With the ongoing transition to new standards and assessments in the United States, this scoop.it is intended to curate all materials relevant to implementation of the standards and preparation for next generation assessments.

This is the blog of a second grade teacher who provides insight on various common core standards and shares many resources related to the common core. She provides 2nd grade writing rubrics related to the common core standards.