Howard High School Media Center Newsletter August 2009 Volume 1, Issue 1
Technology News & Opportunities Featured Technology Digital Cameras
Contents:
Begin the new school year by using the digital cameras available for check out from the media center. Use them in all subject areas and enjoy the creative talents of your students.
Featured School Technology: Digital Cameras
Featured Emerging Technology: Promethean Board
Free Open Source Technology: Google Earth
Professional Development Opportunity August 10, 2009
Techie Tip: Print Screen Word 2007
Some ideas are: (1) take pictures of a project or field trip and include them in the class web page, create presentations or submit them in the yearbook; (2) take pictures of students working in groups or centers to help them see what they need to do; (3) students create a class newsletter/web page and insert pictures of things that took place during the week/month; (4) display are work or photos of the process/work in progress; (5) students create author pages which is a photo plus biography as a part of students’ book or writing; (6) create an on-line field guide such as taking pictures of insects, identifying them and posting them to the class web site; (7)take virtual reality tours of your community using images from the digital camera; (8) store images on a student’s electronic portfolio; (9) show images for open house - “A day in the life of our students;” and (10) use a digital camera to document a student’s progress.
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Media Center Newsletter
Emerging Technology Promethean Board
Students enjoy the interactive component with the Promethean Board and slate.
How do I get started with the Promethean board? Here are five suggestions for new users: (1) Make the most of images. The huge canvas is a great place to display beautiful, engaging images to your class. Use the resource pack to use lovely full screen images to draw students to your topic; (2) Use the functions of the program to create exciting content. Layers and the Magic Ink tool to create interactive maps; (3) Look for ways to make text interactive. Use the pen, highlighter, or fill tool to identify key words; (4) Turn static into interactive for students. For example, use shapes in the Activsoftware library to create a flag of a country; and (5) Use the ready-made templates that encourage discussion. Acivsoftware resources contain hundreds that can be used for analysis or reflection. Utilize Prometheanplanet.com for many ready made and innovative lessons on a wide variety of topics. These can be edited to meet your needs for your lessons.
Open Source Free Technology Google Earth Print Screen a quick way to capture a still image of the current image on the computer. Press print screen on the keyboard and open another program such as Word and paste as usual. You can edit the picture with a program such as Irfanview or Paint.
Google Earth is a free downloadable application that can be used with science, math, language arts and math classes. It combines satellite imagery, maps, 3D terrain and 3D buildings to create a realistic virtual globe. Go to http://earth.google.com to download the online program and enjoy its many unique features such as historical imagery from around the globe. Additional features of Google Earth are: • •
Ocean floor and surface data from marine experts Simplified touring with audio and voice record
Professional Development Opportunity Plan to attend training on the Promethean Board, ActivSlate, and AcitvExpression devices on August 5 from 8 am – 11:30 am in the media center. We will provide “hands on” opportunities that teach you how to design flipcharts in your content area. In addition, you will learn about Prometheanplanet.com and how to download interactive ready made flipcharts from the website.