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Flipping a classroom is not a teaching technique, it is more in line with a philosophy or way of teaching. It involves using technology as a tool, not the main focus, for helping students increase their understanding of science or math concepts.

In contrast to the technology teachers use in a classroom for their professional use, what is the technology (or digital) footprint of your students?

Your students' future and education needs are not like yours and mine. For the most part, we are a product of an education system heavily influenced by the industrial age - lectures and rote memorization. This style of teaching was primarily designed to produce factory and skilled trade workers.

Strategies are provided for taking advantage of Wikis to provide opportunities for students to collaborate with other students, share what they have learned, and become a centralized online resource for educators.

Due to lack of time and resources, students are quickly approaching different mediums for education. This has evolved many educational tools and resources to assist students of almost all grades

Are you searching for a way to share documents, presentations, slideshows, or a series of photos or images with your students? Then Voice Thread is the free Web 2.0 tool for you and your students (teachers can register for a free education account).

Digital Media follows the old adage "A picture is worth a thousand words!" when it comes to science and math. The use of visuals is ideal for helping students construct background knowledge for developing a better understanding of science and math concepts.

When students are engaged in learning science or math which is personal to them (real world problem solving), they become more engaged in the learning process. Project based learning situations in science and math increase opportunity for students to internalize and make connections.

The top five search tools for finding Flickr images are designed to help teachers and students locate just the right image for use in any subject area and project. Without these tools finding the right image on this image hosting site is often an impossible, or at least a tedious, task. The value of this site is its ability to provide digital pictures which are often impossible for a teacher to obtain any other way. Like everything else on the internet, trying to find something is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. This where the top five search tools become valuable resources for teachers and students trying to find images comes into play. These search engines are specifically designed to search the more than three billion pictures on the Flickr hosting site.

In contrast to the digital footprint you use for your personal learning network, this focus is on the online digital footprint students' use in your science or math classroom. The power of a well designed digital footprint brings the capacity to transform a classroom into an online learning community. Within this community your students use digital tools to create and develop a personal learning network.

A project-based approach to science and math activities is enjoyable for every student and teacher involved. Fun activities, supported by making connections with concepts promote learning. Over the past decade an increasing number of studies have shown the positive impact of project-based learning on student achievement.

Math applications (apps) for iPod Touch offer students and teachers are excellent ways to focus students in math classes. Although many Math Apps are loaded with ads and other distracting information, I have found several that are add free.

As many of you may have discovered, I also found that many of my previous colleagues have little use for technology for teaching. They are mired in excuses such as using technology is cheating, students learn best through lecture, the stresses of NCLB makes it too difficult to do anything but have students memorize facts to pass the tests, etc.

Project-based learning or Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is one of the best teaching strategies for engaging students in realistic learning activities. Students are not only interested, they are also learning math in the process. Why? Because their minds are engaged, critical thinking is taking place!

For students to make connections in algebraic thinking in problem solving situations, it is important they learn to use algebra symbolism to represent known and unknown information. To this end they must express problem solving situations as linear, quadratic, or exponential models. This way of thinking also requires students to model, represent, analyze, and generalize contextualized problems in a variety of problem solving situations as they begin to think algebraically.

Most of today's students either own or use iPods, iPod Touches, MP3 Players, and computers everyday. These digital tools provide a natural strategy to support student learning - Podcasts!

"Ever wondered how to make science or math flash cards for students to use with their mobile devices? This typically comes about because finding science and math flash cards specific to a particular concept, topic area, or unit is difficult. Often when appropriate flash cards are found, they are too expensive or need modification. Technological advances have uncomplicated the process of making tailor made free flash cards for students."

Writing in math is an excellent way to determine if students' understand or do not understand the math they are learning about. Allowing students to explain how they solved a math problem, how they developed a formula to solve a problem, or how they applied a math concept requires critical thinking.

Encouraging students to use critical thinking is more than an extension activity in science and math lessons, it is the basis of true learning. Teaching students how to think critically helps them move beyond basic comprehension and rote memorization. They shift to a new level of increased awareness when calculating, analyzing, problem solving, and evaluating.