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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

"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

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 site provides practical and technology -specific information for students with disabilities. The author sets forth specific disabilities (ex. dyscalcula, dyslexia) and demonstrates which technologies will best help students with those disabilities.

This is a great website for information on teaching students with learning disabilities. The site has information on tech tools for students with learning disabilities and how to use the tools in an inclusion setting.

Here is a good game for equivalent fractions! This does take a little getting used to -- I shared this with my students early on in their study of equivalent fractions. I think this may be more useful as students have more knowledge with the subject -- would be confusing otherwise...

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.

This site addresses the various ways we can use technology to teach our students with autism

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!

library with links to various technologies and how to use with special education.

The NCTM website is one everyone is familiar with; there are a lot of resources here that are great for explaining concepts. This is an interactive activity working with vectors to help students understand basic facts about the difference between magnitude and direction.

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 website is an amazing resource for students and teachers. The Study Island website has aligned with state standards and created tests, activities, and games that promote student mastery of each standard. Students are able to use their Study Island account at school or at home and teachers can monitor their progress with the reports that are provided from the program. I think this site is an excellent resource for teachers to utilize in order to ensure that students are mastering the necessary standards. It can be very useful for differentiating instruction and using with small groups, or as a computer center station in the classroom.

Van notating web pages with diigo

Free math teaching resources, math games, center activities and math journal tasks for K-5 aligned with the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. Great Resource

Free math teaching resources, math games, center activities and math journal tasks for K-5 aligned with the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. Great Resource

This is an excellent learning website for Early Childhood students.

Starfall.com opened in September of 2002 as a free public service and has been teaching children to read with phonics ever since. Our systematic approach, in conjunction with phonemic awareness practice, is perfect for preschool, kindergarten, first grade, second grade, special education, homeschool, and English language development (ELD, ELL, ESL).

Such a fun tool! It's a free and diverse visual drawing piece. If I were using this in the classroom, I might do it to create graphic organizers, which would be highly helpful! It also allows you to upload images, text and documents and mark them up with simple "paint" type tools. Very useful!

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.