Problems and Possibilities with New Technologies

I stumbled across this BBC podcast only after I forgot to turn off the proceeding podcast for history, and realized that it dealt with a conversation from the morning in our staffroom. It is called "Cheating in Internet Age", 7 min., and the simple message is "if life [or technology] gives you lemons, make lemonade." Great lesson ideas regarding book reports and other common assignments or tasks that are plagiarized from the web.

This podcast, also from the BBC, reviews "Technology and Teaching" and reviews some of the current trends as well as uses for technology for teachers.

The final clip is from a school board in California (found while searching for a lost link to a similar podcast).

Here is a link to a cell phones and teaching post by W. Freyer on his blog. There is also a debate regarding cell phones in schools in the December/January 2001-8 issue of ISTE's Learning and Leading with Technology.

Setting up a class blog

The instructions here are for blogger, but the basic principles will work with other free hosts such as wordpress and edublogs. The instructions will include registering with Google, then setting up a blog at blogger, managing comments, setting up an account with wikispaces, uploading content to wikispaces, and then writing posts that include links to content.

Sample blogs using this format include:

Academic English 12, http://www.academicenglish12.blogspot.com .
IB HL History http://ibhlhistorya207.blogspot.com/
Room A207 http://rooma207.blogspot.com/
PreCal and other pages at Mr. K's page

Steps to follow and remember to keep this set of instructions open to read as you work.
1. Register with Google and gmail.

2. Open an account with blogger, it is the same username and pasword as gmail. Follow the instructions and create a new blog. Do not close this window.

3. Open a new browser window and go to wikispaces and register for an account.

4. Once you have an account and create a page, then select the page and choose manage space (third option on left hand menu), in manage space select list and upload files from the Contents, then upload a file from your computer to this space. Right click on the blue file name in the list of files and copy the complete url or address as it appears in the little box that has appeared.

5. Go back to the window and blog that you created in #3 and in the posting section select create post. Write a comment, make sure the compose option is selected, and include the name of the file in the comment. Highlight the name of the file select the button at the top of the text box with the link and the earth and paste the address (url) of the file from wikispaces.

6. Select publish post.

7. Go to settings and select comments and turn off each comment option as you scroll down the page. Select save. If you wish to have comments make sure that you select the moderate comments option and have all comments first emailed to you.

8. Select view blog and see your work.

Rubrics Rubrics Rubrics

Here is a link the Rubistar site for teachers looking for online rubric creation site with templates, sample rubrics, and rubrics saved by other teachers. I have found the sample rubrics and templates to be the most useful as it can be difficult to sort through the very long list of rubrics posted by other teachers.

You may register as a user to save your rubrics on the site or you may copy the rubric that you create and paste it into a word document.

Teacher Web Pages

Here are a selection of teacher webpages from several schools:

The chemistry webpage has good links and materials for chemistry teachers and teachers looking to use more ICT in their teaching. Of particular interest may be the chemistry webquests for teachers looking for alternate IB IA activities. F. Clark's page.

M. McNeil's page will be of interest to Science Ten teachers and biology teachers in terms of its lessons, links, and ideas.

Wireless Keyboards

After a testing period, the school has purchased several new wireless keyboards for teachers to use with the projectors and interactive whiteboards.

The keyboards may be used to type class notes during class time by teachers who wish to write more clearly for their students, but who do not want to be restricted to previously prepared presentations. It seems that a dark blue background with white letters has provides good visibility while typing.

The keyboards may also be used to navigate through pages or presentations from anywhere in the class by teachers and students. Additionally, the students and teachers may use the keyboard to create content in real time with the interactive whiteboards. Content that may then be manipulated using the Smartboards.

Interactive Activities from Class Tools

The site Class Tools has a variety of good resources for teachers using interactive whiteboards or seeking to create interactive activities for their students. The activities may be embedded into a webpage or blog by pasting the appropriate code into the page. The activities include timelines, puzzle pieces, Venn diagrams, and essay organizers. This example is a demo activity from the Class Tools webpage. The puzzle pieces may be shifted and put into place by dragging the puzzle pieces.

Image and link to come.

Link to What to do! Blog for Educators using ICT

The What to do! blog is a good site for educators who want to include more ICT in there courses and in the words of the author, "screen grabs and audio explanations - demonstrating ways of using information and communication technologies for teaching and learning online".

The screencast for embedding media into a blog was quick and easy to follow. You can see the result at IB HL History in A207.