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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

Reason Effectively * Use various types of reasoning (inductive, deductive, etc.) as appropriate to the situation Use Systems Thinking * Analyze how parts of a whole interact with each other to produce overall outcomes in complex systems Make Judgments and Decisions * Effectively analyze and evaluate evidence, arguments, claims and beliefs * Analyze and evaluate major alternative points of view * Synthesize and make connections between information and arguments * Interpret information and draw conclusions based on the best analysis * Reflect critically on learning experiences and processes Solve Problems * Solve different kinds of non-familiar problems in both conventional and innovative ways * Identify and ask significant questions that clarify various points of view and lead to better solutions

Intended for elementary and secondary school students and teachers who are interested in learning about the nervous system and brain with hands on activities, experiments and information.

Intended for elementary and secondary school students and teachers who are interested in learning about the nervous system and brain with hands on activities, experiments and information.

Flipped and Blended Interactive Video Learning Platform

Flipped and Blended Interactive Video Learning Platform

Flipped and Blended Interactive Video Learning Platform Flipped and Blended Interactive Video Learning Platform. This site is transforming! Use the power of a youtube video within the context of a lesson! With this free site, you can take any video from youtube and install pause points where students MUST answer a question before playing it again! You can also track student responses instantly and collect valuable assessment data.

This website is accessible for all ages, elementary, middle and high school. It has four main tools and services: The Renzulli Profiler, Differentiation Engine, Grouping and Reporting Tools, and Personal Success Plan. The Renzulli Profiler uses a strengths based assessment to find out a student's top three strengths, interests, and learning and expression styles. The Grouping and Reporting Tool then takes these results and uses them to group students.

This website has interactive math and reading games that can be played as a class on the smartboard, or individually on the computer. It is very clearly organized by grade, and the games are engaging and fun!

Games and activities for elementary students in grades 1-5. Created by teachers

ABCya is a wonderful website that we use at out centers with Pre-K and K ages. It is loaded with free online educational games. The games are mostly math and ELA based and are fun and interactive.

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!

Empowering and connecting teachers, administrators, and parents with innovative solutions and resources to better education. This site has ideas for group learning and motivating students.

Free printable worksheets and puzzles for parents and teachers covering a number of topics and age-ranges.

This website has some great video lessons, complete with lesson objectives, notes for the instructor, and links to external resources. It doesn't have anything for English, but it does have a big math and science section.

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.

Faces of Learning is a collaborative, solution-oriented site that seeks to answer the questions: What does an ideal learning environment look like? and How do we create more ideal learning environments? It is a blog as well and there are many shared stories of learning experiences. There is an interactive 'learner sketch' to determine your own (or a student's) strengths and weaknesses. You can record your own story too.

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.

When used educationally, podcasts can empower students and teachers to become content producers rather than content consumers, and they can give them audiences beyond the classroom. Student-created podcasts reinforce course concepts, develop writing skills, hone speaking ability, and even help parents stay current on classroom activities.

With Scratch, you can program your own interactive stories, games, and animations - and share your creations with others in the online community. Scratch helps young people learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively - essential skills for life in the 21st century.

IXL has hundreds of Math related games, categorized by grade and topic. It is a subscription based site, but allows quite a few free uses, and even once you've used up your free practice for the day it refreshes and let you try again the next day.

I've used this for students to play independently at my classroom computer

IXL is the world's most popular subscription-based learning site for K-12. Used by over 5 million students, IXL provides unlimited practice in more than 4,000 math and English language arts topics. Interactive questions, awards and certificates keep kids motivated as they master skills.

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.