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Design your Web site wit

h your audience in mind. Determine the purpose of your Web site, then put yourself in the shoes of your students and their parents. How will they actually use the site; what will benefit them the most; what options can help them improve their understanding of class content? With the answers to these questions, you can begin to plan your site design.

I believe that each child is a unique individual who needs a secure, caring, and stimulating atmosphere in which to grow and mature emotionally, intellectually, physically, and socially.

Developing a curriculum around student interests fosters intrinsic motivation and stimulates the passion to learn.

teaching with technology involves four major components: the course content, the instructor, the students and the technology tools (See Figure 17.1.). We need to attend to each component in order to make technology integration as successful as possible.   Each of these components is discussed in more detail below. Scroll down or navigate to a particular section: course content the instructor the students technology tools

1. Get Some Training. You don't have to become a computer expert, but you need to have some basic understanding of how computers operate and what to do when they do not operate properly. You should also become familiar with a web browser such as Firefox or Internet Explorer and websites that provide tech-integration resources and tutorials. Your school or college likely has an instructional technology specialist to help you in this regard. 2. Don't Re-invent the Wheel. There are plenty of credible and experienced educational technology organizations, administrators and teachers out there who can lead you to quality materials, lesson plans and activities for use in your classroom. You don't have to spend hours using search engines to locate appropriate sites and materials. Some of the best educational Web sites for integrating technology in the classroom are: Center for History and New Media Classroom 2.0Edutopia Discovery Education: Kathy Schrock "Guide for Educators"PBS Teachers: Media InfusionThinkfinity 3. Establish a Partnership with Your Students. Many of your students will be excited about computer use, but you and they may be apprehensive about how technology will change your learning environment. Tell your students that computer use in your classroom is new and exciting for you as well, and that you are all part of an experiment whose ultimate success will largely depend on your combined efforts and cooperation. Stress how special this educational opportunity is and how much you need their input. Remember, it's about the students, not you. Your students will probably appreciate you asking for their help, and it may spur them to take ownership of the program. It also may soften some frustrations when technical problems occur. 4. Have a Plan B Ready. You are going to run into some technical difficulties in class and how you handle them will go a long way in determining how successful and enjoyable your technology experience is. You can minimize unwanted surprises by getting some training from an instructional technology specialist and by minimizing your reliance on live web connections. However, you will invariably run into technical problems during class that you are not able to solve immediately. In such instances, if you appear overly perturbed and frustrated you will send a signal to your students that they too can moan about technical problems and perhaps use them as excuses to forego completing computer-based work. Even worse, you may inadvertently cause them to question the ultimate merit of computer-based learning. Instead, try to make a smooth transition to a backup lesson plan, thereby sending a signal that technical glitches are just part of your educational adventure.

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social media pervades all aspects of modern society, and it has become an imperative for us as educators -- and parents -- to model appropriate digital citizenship to even our youngest learners.

Students already have enough screen time.

Students need to be able to communicate in person.

"Kevin can be far more involved in group activities. He can converse with his peers, participate in class discussions, and do his homework, no matter where he is. This has increased his ability to be an independent member of the school and the community."

traditional assistive technologies have converged with consumer technologies

today's smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices come equipped with universal access functionality, making it possible for users to deploy built-in or easily downloaded assistive technologies.

Give students the practice to read with ease and confidence, and watch accuracy and understanding soar

1. Model Fluent Reading

3. Promote Phrased Reading in Class

Flashnotes allows students to upload their lecture notes and sell them to other students who need more help or resources. The rating system allows the best note takers to get more business and the general pool of knowledge expands as students continue to share their work with one another.

Study Blue’s main attraction is that it is mobile. Whether standing in line for coffee, riding the train, or waiting at the dentist, a student can easily access their class work and prepare for an exam. The social aspect also helps students find other people studying similar subjects, capitalizing on a different set of notes and study guides.

Despite the rising popularity of tablets, Google’s Chromebook may snatch the competition in the lower grade school classrooms. The laptops have a few distinct advantages over the apple iPad: -They are less expensive -One-button-push easy setup -Easy to control settings and restrictions -Offers the traditional keyboard for fast typing and note taking -Hardware fixes are easier and less costly

Feelings Game 4 graduated lessons for learning about emotions. Faceland Build skills in facial recognition of emotion

, students will learn how to edit work and will practice common editing notations, marks and the use of colored pens when editing and rewriting work.

Encourage prewriting steps as well as both creative and persuasive communication with this easy lesson.

Allow your students to dig into their own personal backgrounds to write an expressive essay.

n a "Flipped Classroom," students' initial exposure to content is shifted outside of the classroom via readings, instructional videos, individual or collaborative activities, or a combination of these. Then during class, rather than lecturing, all or a significant portion of the time is used for practice, application exercises, discussion-based activities, team-based learning, or other active learning techniques. Some preliminary assessment, such as an online quiz or brief assignment, may be used to gauge student understanding and tailor instructional plans prior to class.

This archive compiles many of the features we have done on the subject of using technology in the classroom. Many of these articles have been updated many times or even rewritten as technology changes. That said, due to the ever-changing nature of technology, there will be articles on this list that are a little past their prime period of usefullness.

their ideas become posts to classroom blogs