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"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

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.

When learning vocabulary, or to study for a quiz, one of the most common practices has been to make flashcards. This is done in foreign language classes, English classes, and other classes where learning vocabulary is necessary. Some teachers require their students to make flashcards.

Free Online College Classes

Free Online College Classes

This is a way to turn the class into a game.

I didn't see it listed by anyone else. A great source for information for your math class room

free online resources engage elementary kids:  awesome, short video about a fifth grade class using technology tools on the web to create multimedia presentations.

UDL course

UDL course

Free Tech Class

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!

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.

"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

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

Interactive website designed to help visually teach students the inner workings of cells.  Great for Middle and High School science classes.

Socrative lets teachers engage and assess their students with educational activities on tablets, laptops and smartphones. Through the use of real time questioning, instant result aggregation and visualization, teachers can gauge the whole class' current level of understanding. Socrative saves teachers time so the class can further collaborate, discuss, extend and grow as a community of learners.

This article gives me a new perspective on Project Based Learning, and one teacher incorporates a lot of interesting technology to expand her anatomy class.

Half flashcard, half dictionary, and full awesome! Teachers can create class accounts and word lists for students.

Good website to find documentaries for class with many different categories to choose from

This website has some fun games for teaching/refreshing basic math facts. There are also some more complicated games for things like fractals and calculator use, so the site could be used with a variety of classes.