Group items tagged

"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

This site is terrific! It identifies and links to many different search engines. You can choose the best search engine depending upon your need.

Another great site to support special education students that need more practice and sometimes modified work. It's also a great resource for all students.

This is a great site for printouts and theme based activities. I use the project ideas on the site a lot. It is free, but you need to create an account. 

Blog that integrates information about using technology in the educational setting with ways to better teach special needs students. Written by an CCC-SLP, this blog both gets down to the basics of using technologies such as ipads to using specific applications with a targeted population in schools.

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.

"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

iPad Apps - in a handout for spec needs

A wonderful resource for special educators using technology to enhance the learning of their special needs students. The Journal of Special Education Technology

This Website is useful for those of us who need to convince our administrators that technology is essential in delivery of instruction.

I send my students to this website so they can view possible careers and the related education needed to obtain that position.

I want to improve my students' writing skills... to do this I need to better understand the process of Writer's Workshop. Here are some basic guidelines...

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.

This is a great site to download activities that others have already made on Boardmaker. It works for assistive technology and on computers. You need to have the Boardmaker software at your school though.

Do you know of any sites or blogs that focus on technology specifically to assist special Ed teachers?

Learning Ally is a website that helps support students with learning disabilities. They offer many audio books that assist students reading needs. They provide support for parents, students, and educators.

Educreations is a website on which teachers can create online video lessons and tutorials using their own voice. This tool is utilized a great deal at our school to explain math concepts. It helps students (and parents) when they need help doing homework--they can simply log onto a tutorial that the teacher has created in order to clarify the day's lesson.

Not necessarily appropriate for students, but very entertaining.

Okay--this is not necessarily appropriate for students, but is valuable for educators who need to handle the demands of the work by acknowledging that sometimes, there is nothing you can do but just laugh. If you run across something worthy of notice among your own classes, you can immortalize your students' writing gems by submitting them to the blog. Educational applications? Well, there are some fine and entertaining mistakes which could provide fodder for exercises in editing, revision, etc. as well as discussion on the importance of choosing the right word. If you check out the site, you'll see what I mean. Enjoy!