Tech News October

Vol. 10 Oct. 2010 pg. 1 Edited by M. Winter

I’m a teacher, a learner, an inquirer‌

Is the Use of Technology the Answer?

Questions to ask yourself before you choose to integrate a technology tool into your current curriculum.

1. What is the curriculum related purpose of the activity? The outcome or assessment should be aligned to your lesson objectives and standards.

2. Does the Internet enhance the activity? If the answer is no, find a more appropriate place to integrate the web.

3. How will students use the online resources? Once students locate information, they should be asked to apply, analyze, synthesize, evaluate, or create. The activity should require them to move to higher levels of Bloom's Taxonomy.

4. Do students have necessary information analysis/information synthesis skills or am I including these in instruction? The project should not become simply an exercise in locating information. Students must have the necessary background knowledge and pre-requisite skills to complete higher level tasks or these must be included in instruction prior to the web-based learning activity.

5. Do I have the necessary time and support for the activity? Double your original time estimate and always have access to technical support to resolve problems efficiently.

What are some ways you have found to ensure that your web-based instructional activities have a positive impact on student learning?

Vol. 10 Oct. 2010 pg. 2 Edited by M. Winter

The goal of the conference is to provide educators a hands-on environment in which they can learn more about how to use technology in their classrooms for both themselves and, even more importantly, for their students.

October 8, 2010 8:00-4:00

Vol. 10 Oct. 2010 pg. 3 Edited by M. Winter

I’m a teacher, a learner, an inquirer…

http://edu.glogster.com/ http://storybird.com/ Story bird is a fun free site that lets you create and publish stories.

There are several ways to use this site. 1. Create a story and embed it in a blog or Google site for your students to enjoy. 2. Create a story then copy and paste the pages into a document and then have students write a story. 3. Create a story and print it for students to read.

Glogster is an interactive magazine.

Students can create glogs around themes.

Teachers can use a glog to present information and resources for students to use. I am a glogger and a blogger. Glogs are easy to embed in blogs, wiki’s, and websites.

Vol. 10 Oct. 2010 pg. 4 Edited by M. Winter

http://jing.com/ Jing is a tool that allows you to take a quick snapshot of anything on your desktop. It will also let you make quick video tutorials. This is a must have on every computer that you own.

http://en.linoit.com/ Linoit is an online bulletin board. I have made it one of my start pages to help keep myself organized. I always have my sticky notes with me.

http://ineedtoreadthis.com/ I need to read this is a tool to add to your toolbar at the top of your browser. Click on the icon and it saves what you want to read for later when you have time. I have found this to be useful all summer long because I find that I do not take the time when I find something to read it so with this simple tool I can save it somewhere where I can easily find it for later.

http://lab.arc90.com/experim ents/readability/ Readability lets you easily convert a web http://www.lincut.com Lincut is another easy way to save websites that you like online.

page into an easy to read page without the distracting portions of a web page. No need to sign up for an account, just drag the icon to your tool bar and then click on it when you need to create a simple clean page to read.