Links

These are some of the websites I used in learning about integrating technology into the classroom. I think there may be some helpful information within these sites to help you decide whether you want to use it in the class, and give you a jump-start in teaching with technology!
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Readings and Tutorials
These websites are either articles or videos relating to topics within this blog, or ideas about integrating technology into classrooms. 
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Applications and Tools
Most of these are tools that we learned about and used in our technology class, and a few are ideas that were explored that I think can have a positive influence in a classroom.
This picture represents several ideas
that teachers can use to integrate
 technology into the classroom.
.
    • This website organizes a list of sites that are relevant to your search topic, or you can create your own track of websites and organize them for your students. Great to help kids "stay on track"!
    • This is one of many websites that allows you to create an avatar. This is a free service and is  simple and appropriate for any grade level.
    • The avatar that follows you through this blog has been created using Voki.
  • Bubbl.us
    • As a class or in groups, users can create a brainstorming map that can be edited by multiple people. Great for all ages to participate in collaborative mind-mapping. Could be used at any grade level; however, when large groups are using this simultaneously, it seems to slow down the loading processes.
    • On the Collaborative Work page, there are two examples of Mind Maps that my Personal Learning Network (PLN group) created for a brainstorming process.
  • Google Translate
    • If you have students (or their parents) whose first language is something other than English, this is a quick translating tool. Using this tool can help teacher-parent communication, and can make parents more comfortable in being a part of their child's education. I would consider this more of a "teacher-tool" than a tool for students, unless they're learning another language
  • Diigo
    • This is a community where students can highight, add notes to, annotate, bookmark, or share any part of a webpage. It can be used as a personal tool, or as a group tool where the information can be shared. This is a very effective tool for researching and sharing information between peers.
  • Wetoku
    • With this tool, students can hold interviews over the internet. This could be used to create interviews where students ask professionals about certain topics, where classmates interview each other (or other children near or far), where the teacher interviews the students, and so forth.
    • An example of a Wetoku interview that a classmate and I created is available on the Collaborative Work page.
  • YouTube
    • YouTube is a website where people can watch and share original videos. Videos can be saved to playlists so they can be added to blogs or wikis. Since not all videos on this site are appropriate for in-school activities, there are alternatives that are more secure. TeacherTube (by teachers, for teachers and students), SchoolTube (by teachers and students, for teachers and students), and KidsTube (by younger kids, for younger kids) are all good examples. KidsTube is even monitored for safety and to make sure only age-appropriate videos and comments enter the site.
    • An example of using YouTube (or an alternative) to stream video is on the left-hand navigation bar, on all pages of this blog.
  • Schoology
    • This is a social networking site, similar to facebook. Since using facebook for school is pretty controversial, schoology creates an atmosphere that most students are already familiar with while leaving distractions aside. This site can have students, parents, and administrators involved, creating a community where all can interact. This site also has classroom management tools, such as attendance and grade tracking, graphing and charting tools, and a place where assignments can be added to the site. Yammer is also an alternative to this.
  • Flickr
    • This site offers an opportunity for students to organize, edit, and share pictures. It would be good for students to be able to edit and use pictures to create projects like posters or their own newsletters, but can also be used for students to upload and store pictures and  videos that they will use for online projects, like blogs.
  • Blogger
    • As you may have realized, I created this blog for my technology class, using Blogger. We used blogger as a portal to introduce many of these other tools, since most can be incorporated into a blog. Blogs can be used in classrooms for many reasons - organizing and sharing information, share personal perspectives and giving feedback to other students.
  • WikiSpaces
    • A wiki is a space where multiple users can alter and add information, and can work together to achieve a common goal. This is great for group projects, where students can communicate, share, organize, and present information collaboratively.
    • An example of a wiki that my Personal Learning Network (PLN group) made for class is on my Collaborative Work page.
  • Prezi.com
    • This is a website that allows you to create a more modern type of slideshow presentation. It can be very unorganized, but if you put your effort into it, you can create a great looking presentation that is far different than the standard powerpoint.
    • I have posted an example of my Prezi on my Resources page.
Using the web is a good way to differentiate instuction,
and allows students more opportunities to practice
using higher-level thinking skills.



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