I think my favorite Tech tool I learned this week is the wiki. I have a lot more to learn about it, but I have a few ideas about how to use it. One is to open the wiki to parents and grandparents of 5th and 6th grade students so they can share their experiences and learn from each other. My concern is that the scope might be too big. Maybe I will start smaller.
Since I am not a classroom teacher, I only have the students for 4o minutes a week, so I thinnk I am going to have to contact some forward thinking open minding teachers to work with me to get one of these projects started in their class where they will have more time.
We do have SmartBoards and i have already contacted our Tech Services department and requested the Lessons Activity toolkit, Number Crunchers and Speller for SmartBoards, and that CPS software be added to our district build (Collection of software that is avaialable on every computer in the district.
Alan Fischer is in the process of creating a public wiki where teachers can share websites and lessons that correclate with each one of the GLCEs. I already requested and was granted permission to join his wiki. I think it is going to be extremely valuable. He said I could share it with the teachers I work with so they can join and add their information.
It would be extremely useful if this group could get together again to see how we have all used what we learned. I have learned so much from the peole around me this week and have made contact with people both within my district and in a neighboring district. I will try to stay in contact via email or one of the many web 2.o tools we've learned this year.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Yugma
I don't know if it is Yugma, but Monroe has something similar. Basically we use it for tech support. This works very well for fixing software issues that are related to properties or settings that just have to be reset. In the past you would put in a request for a problem you were having and wait sometimes days for tech services to address your problem. Now, you can email or call tech support and they can take control of your screen and change the setting or whatever is causing the problem. I have seen this in action and it is beautiful.
At Monroe, there is a program called Cross-Tech which is on the teacher's work station in the lab and on one of the computers on the COWs. This program allows the teacher to take control of the screens on the students work station. This is particulary helpful when you need to get attention because you can lock all the screens so no action can take place and give the students the verbal instruction you need to. I also use this program to demonstrate new software or how to do a particular assignment.
This is great in a work setting, but for your personal computer I don't think I would want anyone to have access to/ or control of my computer. It's a little out of my security comfort zone.
At Monroe, there is a program called Cross-Tech which is on the teacher's work station in the lab and on one of the computers on the COWs. This program allows the teacher to take control of the screens on the students work station. This is particulary helpful when you need to get attention because you can lock all the screens so no action can take place and give the students the verbal instruction you need to. I also use this program to demonstrate new software or how to do a particular assignment.
This is great in a work setting, but for your personal computer I don't think I would want anyone to have access to/ or control of my computer. It's a little out of my security comfort zone.
SKYPE
We only had the chance to learn about SKYPE in a general way, but I will definitely find time to look into this in more depth. From what I've learned so far, you will need a web camera, a microphone, earphones (optional) and a computer. Someone in class said i-chat has been around for years and it has similar features.
CLykowski, a fifth grade teacher from Bedford used skype in a class project she did with her class co authoring owrk sith a class from Columbia. The web site for their wiki is globalexplorers.wikispaces.com, http://jenuinetech.com/, imagiserve.org
CLykowski, a fifth grade teacher from Bedford used skype in a class project she did with her class co authoring owrk sith a class from Columbia. The web site for their wiki is globalexplorers.wikispaces.com, http://jenuinetech.com/, imagiserve.org
Professional Devlopment
I have taken an on-line course through ed2go, which was listed in the Michigan Learn Port. The classes are offered through Washtenaw Community College and Henry Ford Community College. There is a cost of about $90.00 for the class,which qualifies for 2.4 SB-CEU. The format is easy to follow once you are on-line. I enjoyed my experience and plan to take more in the future.
I took a look at the TED website and found this video on how to make an interactive whiteboard with a nintendo Wii remote control and somekind of infrared self made pen. Check it out.
I took a look at the TED website and found this video on how to make an interactive whiteboard with a nintendo Wii remote control and somekind of infrared self made pen. Check it out.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
My Thoughts on GoogleDocs
I like the idea that people don't have to buy expensive software applications in order to create computerized documents.
The online applications were slow and that can be frustrating. At times it even seemed to be frozen.
I liked the fact that multiple users could edit the document, but I wonder if there will be the same problem we had with the wiki when several people tried to update the data, some was lost.
The online applications were slow and that can be frustrating. At times it even seemed to be frozen.
I liked the fact that multiple users could edit the document, but I wonder if there will be the same problem we had with the wiki when several people tried to update the data, some was lost.
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