Libmedia201

Are you looking for a way to make math more interesting for your students?

Maybe you don’t like that young students are interested in computer games, but you can actually use that affinity to your advantage

Be ready to do something different if the network is down or if all of the laptops seem to be acting up. (Also trust your kids, sometimes it is easy for them to figure out something that seems impossible to you.)

“My country invested in me … and now I want America to invest in you,” Obama said. “Because in the faces of these students, these are future doctors and lawyers and engineers, scientists, business leaders. We don’t know what kinds of products, services, good work any of these students may do. But I’m betting on them. And all of us have to bet on them.” “In a country where we expect free Wi-Fi with our coffee, we should definitely demand it in our schools,” he later added.

All worksheets were created by teachers. Worksheets are organized by category and listed by title and grade level. First, select a category, then click on the worksheet title to view the worksheet.

unlimited access to information,

Technology inspires creativity like little else and it’s time to take a close look at what technology really means for your classroom.

Students are aware of its facility and its creative potential. Technology is nothing new to them; almost every aspect of their life requires its use and given any gadget they become most imaginative.

Teachers can still hold onto the teaching values you hold dear while embracing technology and promoting creativity in the classroom.

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.

Students in elementary school are not too young to benefit from 1:1 technology. Care must be taken, however, to ensure that the benefits of 1:1 are maximized for young students without taking away physical books, manipulatives, and opportunities for physical movement. 1:1 is all about students having ubiquitous access to technology when it is beneficial; it certainly does not mean that students will use technology for every single minute of their classroom experience.

Beginner or experienced, if you'd like to create a video for your class or research project and are looking for instruction, advice and information, this is the place to start. ETS Classroom Technology encourages the use of video within the Cal community and we are collating this grouping of tips, links and articles to further this goal. This section is expanding as we find and create more content, so check back often! Pre-Production Pre-production is the blanket term for everything that you do before the video shoot. There are many elements of creating a video that need to be planned for ahead of time in order to have a successful end product, many of which aren't obvious upon first consideration. 90% of a production should be an execution of an existing plan! Some fundamental questions What am I trying to achieve with my video? What am I going to shoot? What locations/people/resources do I need to accomplish my goals? What can I remove to simplify the process? Where is my video going to be shown and what do I need to do during production to make sure it displays correctly? If you answer these questions before you shoot, you will save a significant amount of time, money and frustration, and your video will be better for it.

Blackboard SMU uses the course management system Blackboard.  For help creating Blackboard courses and learning the basics, consult Academic Technology's Blackboard help page, as well as this Blackboard online tutorial. Access your Blackboard courses here. Presentation Software Sometimes it's helpful to provide visual aids to complement teaching, stimulate discussion, or allow out-of-class teaching. Tools designed for this purpose, such as PowerPoint, can be used well or used badly. Click here for resources that provide advice for thoughtful use of PowerPoint, as well as a few additional presentation tools. Classroom Response Systems ("clickers") One way to encourage student engagement is by using electronic devices that allow students to record their answers to multiple choice questions and allow you to instantly display the results. The anonymity encourages participation, and their answers help the teacher know when further discussion is needed.  Use of clickers can also serve as a catalyst for discussion.  Click here to learn more about using response systems effectively.

Converting a Face-to-Face Course to an Online Course Teaching online, whether in a hybrid course or a wholly-online course, requires different techniques and different tools.  Without the F2F contact, professors will need to be even clearer about setting and articulating expectations for digital work and participation.  Encouraging interaction between professor and student and among students is an additional challenge, as is monitoring student learning as the course progresses.  The online environment requires the use of basic technologies to digitize course materials as well as mastery of the university's learning management system.  And various tools like Skype allow synchronous communications, while blogs and Twitter can encourage asynchronous interaction.  Here are some ideas to get you started.