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echnology for the Elementary

Technology for the Elementary

Technology Working in the Classroom... examples of iPads in Schools

grab your student’s attention then by teaching them with the newest gadget

Using laptops, tablets, iPads, etc, allow students to relate to their learning in observable, immediate ways.

echnology is now a necessary skill in the workplace.

The tech solutions available to teachers now go far beyond the overhead projector. Below, a look at some tools in this burgeoning category. BetterLesson The Boston-based startup BetterLesson, founded in 2008, is a social media platform that educators can use to organize and share their curricula. Last year, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded BetterLesson $3.5 million. “Considering the startup allows teachers to browse a serious repository of documents, presentations, lessons and even complete units and courses, all through a simple search interface, and upload their own lessons onto a dashboard, you can see why teachers will love this kind of resource,” TechCrunch wrote in 2011. “Add the ability to share curricula directly with international educators and receive feedback, and you’ve got yourself a goddamn deal, as Dave Chappelle would say.” . ClassDojo Launched in August 2011, ClassDojo helps teachers with what many call their hardest task: classroom management. The platform, which teachers can use on a smartphone, laptop or tablet, allows them to give students points (or take them away) “in real-time, with just one click,” as the website has it. Students are notified (“Well done Josh! +1 for teamwork!”), and teachers can use the platform to generate analytics and reports to share with parents and administrators. . PowerSchool PowerSchool allows teachers to track attendance, grades, and a lot more for students and parents to view at home. According to Pearson, which sells the system, PowerSchool supports 10 million students in over 65 countries. . SMART Board An “interactive whiteboard,” SMART Board allows teachers to write class notes digitally, so they can be saved for students to access later. (Feel like building your own whiteboard? At TED in 2008, Johnny Lee showed how you can hack a Wii Remote to build a simple interactive whiteboard.) . Remind101 Started by a team of two brothers, Remind101 enables students and parents to sign up to receive teachers’ text-message reminders about assignments. It’s private—these are mass texts, and teachers can’t see students’ phone numbers. It’s also one-way, meaning that teachers can send out texts, but students can’t respond to them. . Educreations Using Educreations, teachers can produce video lessons using a “recordable interactive whiteboard” via an iPad app or the website. There’s a public directory of lessons, available for browsing by students or other teachers (or you).

Classroom

Last year Donna Baumbach created a Google Slides presentation titled 26+ Ways to Use ThingLink In the Classroom. Yesterday, I received an email from Donna in which she shared the updated version of that presentation. The presentation now contains more than 65 tips and ideas for using ThingLink in the classroom. The presentation is open to contributions from others. If you have ideas to add to the presentation, you can do so here. Big thanks to Donna for creating and sharing this excellent resource about one of my favorite web tools. By the way, ThingLink is now available as an iPad app too.

s it really OK to give ipads to four and five year olds? When you’ve got the American Academy of Pediatrics making fairly strict recommendations about screen time for children under two, it makes sense to consider the question for young children as well.

It is almost impossible to exist without at least a computer, if not also a smartphone, laptop and tablet. There comes a time when it is foolish to pretend that the world has not changed

Technology is a language that some of them speak quite fluently.  If we really want to reach them and meet their needs, we may need to start speaking their language, and that means using technology in their classrooms.

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can't just hand out iPads just for professional development or training for the teachers

iOS is the world’s most advanced — and most accessible — mobile operating system. Innovative features like VoiceOver, AssistiveTouch, and Guided Access help students with special needs enjoy more of what iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch have to offer.

Powerful features designed for students with special needs are integrated in every Mac. Technologies like VoiceOver, built-in braille support, and Sticky Keys and Slow Keys help students navigate and control the Mac. All without having to buy additional software.

Innovative teachers, inspired learners.Learn more

The Difference Between Technology Use And Technology Integration

Using technology for learning makes sense. Technology creates access, transparency, and opportunity. Any smartphone or tablet is media incarnate–video, animation, eBooks, essays, blog posts, messages, music, games.

While there is much on-going research on new technologies and their effects on teaching and learning, there is little rigorous, large-scale data that makes for solid research, education experts say. The vast majority of the studies available are funded by the very companies and institutions that have created and promoted the technology, raising questions of the research’s validity and objectivity. In addition, the kinds of studies that produce meaningful data often take several years to complete—a timeline that lags far behind the fast pace of emerging and evolving technologies.

For example, it is difficult to pinpoint empirical data to support the case for mobile learning in schools—a trend that educators have been exploring for several years now—let alone data to support even newer technologies such as tablet computers like the iPad. The studies that do look at the effects of mobile technologies on learning are often based on small samples of students involved in short-term pilots, not the kind of large-scale, ongoing samples of students that educators and policymakers would like to see (Education Week, Feb. 23, 2011).

However, there are a handful of large-scale studies that do point to trends and observations in the education technology field. For example, Project RED, a research initiative linked closely with the One-to-One Institute, which supports one-to-one laptop initiatives in K-12 schools, released a study about successful implementation models of education technology in October 2010. That study found that most of the schools that have integrated laptops and other digital tools into learning are not maximizing the use of those devices in ways that best make use of their potential. The report goes on to outline the critical steps needed to capitalize on that potential (Project RED, 2010).

The sharing and commenting features in Google Documents are fantastic for giving students feedback about their work. Likewise, those features are great for students to use for peer editing. But if you want to really add your voice to then you'll want to add the Voice Comments application from Learn.ly to your Google Drive account. Thanks to a Tweet from Alec Couros I learned about a Google Documents voice comment tutorial produced by Jennifer Roberts. Her video tutorial is embedded below.

One free online method of creating report cards is to use a Google Sheets template. Rather than starting from scratch, my recommendation is to search in the Google Drive template gallery for a report card template.

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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

Despite the challenges, incorporating technology into education still has proven benefits, especially when it comes to personalized learning. From math games that adjust the level of difficulty as players progress to electronic books that talk and respond to the tap of a finger, products that personalize the learning experience for students often benefit their understanding. An interactive game is more engaging than a book, so technology often promotes more practice and review in areas requiring memorization, such as spelling, math and geography. This frees up time in the classroom so educators can focus on skills like problem solving, character development and critical thinking.