Use Splashtop!

Splashtop is a great application that you can use on your tablets in order to control your computer. The program is basically a remote desktop tool that you can access on your tablet. This is important because you can use it as a teaching tool. Being able to control your computer from your tablet means that you can walk around the room, face the students, and initiate interactive activities with the students. You can even use the tablet as a virtual slate by opening annotative software on your computer from the tablet. This would allow you to draw on or highlight important information on the computer, which could be projected on to a wall or screen. If the students are given access to the tablet during class then they could solve problems, show media, and access files on the computer as it is projected to the front of the room. Get Splashtop at the following link: Splashtop. Don't forget to get the compatible app from the iTunes App Store or Android Market!

More Web 2.0 Information

Check out my website for more information and examples of some things you can do with Web 2.0. Following is the link: Mr. D's Website

Dropbox

Many of you may already be using this tool, but for those of you who aren't, consider trying Dropbox. This is a cloud based storage folder that works on several different platforms. You can download the program and create an account for the service. The greatest thing is that it is completely free! Once you download the program you can put pictures, folders, files, music, video, etc into the Dropbox icon. After dragging the files into the Dropbox you can then access them from any device you have installed the program onto. For instance, if you write a paper on your laptop and need to access it on the go, simply download Dropbox to your smartphone and as simple as that you will have access to that file from the phone. You can also use Dropbox on tablets and any other smart media device with the right requirements. Get Dropbox at the following link: Dropbox.

What can a tablet do for you?

As we begin to see more and more tablets arrive in the market, it is important to try and see the potential of the devices in education. Apple has already done a great job getting into the field as they have developed a ton of great apps and devices to help out with teaching and learning in the classroom.  A quick trip to the app store and you can find a great educational app for almost any subject or person. Android tablets are slightly further behind but are definitely beginning to dip their toes in the water a bit in regards to education. The Android market is now starting to provide its users with more and more educational tools. The apps themselves are self explanatory when considering their use in the classroom, but how else can these devices be used to help engage the students and help with student learning and differentiated instruction? One of the main uses for the tablets that is now starting to creep into the classrooms is its replacement of interactive whiteboards. Most tablets can now run a desktop sharing tool, where the teacher can control his or her computer from their tablet. This allows the teacher to remotely access files, pictures, videos, presentations, and other visual aids straight from the tablet. This is  important because the teacher can then project the material onto a wall or screen to help aid in instruction, as long as the host computer is plugged into a projector or large television. This also allows the teacher to always be facing the classroom and providing more one on one attention to his or her students. Another great use for the tablets is to put the technology in the students' hands. It is amazing what students are capable of accomplishing when given the right resources. They can use these tablets to look up information, create projects, and even research. All of this right from their desks in the classroom. Of course this also opens up collaboration opportunities between the students if they all have access to a tablet or computer. Students can share documents with Google docs, they can create videos through a variety of different sources, they can create maps and diagrams, they can participate in backchanneling and the list goes on. Because of all of these opportunities that tablets can give to students and teachers alike, it is definitely worth taking a look at them for your classroom.

The Kinect in Education

The amount of possibilities for a device like the Xbox Kinect in education seems endless. This video does a great job showing the capabilities technologies we have today have for our classrooms.

Educational Technology Podcasts

There are a ton of great resources out there for people who are looking to learn more about educational technologies. Podcasts are one of these resources. If you log on to iTunes and search through their podcasts you will find a ton of good audio and video selections to choose from. If you narrow down the search results to education technology there are several great podcasts. One of my favorites is called "The State of Tech" which can be found through a simple search on iTunes. This podcast provides its audience with a variety of great technology topics and ideas from educational technology people in the state of Ohio. You can also find them at the following website: The State of Tech

Wii Whiteboard?

For those of you out there who are interested in having an interactive whiteboard in your classroom but do not have the funds, consider what a simple Nintendo Wii remote could do for you. With the purchase of a Wii remote, an infrared pen, and the download of some free software, you could have an interactive whiteboard like a SMART Board or Promethean Board at a fraction of the price. Check out the website from the creator of this innovative idea here: Wii Whiteboard. Don't forget to watch the video example above!

Flipped Classrooms

There are a lot of teachers out there who are starting to move over to flipped classrooms. This may not be the type of instruction that works for all teachers, but it would at least be worth a try to see if it works for you. Flipped classrooms are exactly what the title says they are. In a flipped classroom the time meant for homework and activities and the time meant for instruction are flipped. So instead of teaching during the class time and giving homework to do after class, the teacher instead assigns a video taped or recorded lesson for homework and then assigns activities or homework during class.  The teacher can now spend more time helping students with work and participating in engaging discussions rather than spending most of the class period trying to get the information across. Once students get the core knowledge and general background information from the taped lessons, it is far easier for them to complete activities and accomplish tasks in class with the guidance of the teacher and peers. One excellent recording tool that I have found to work very well with the flipped classroom is VoiceThread. This is an interactive and collaborative video making tool that allows you to record yourself, videos, text, and any other information you might find important. After you have completed your video simply give the students the link. The next day you can complete a variety of tasks and activities based on the video you assigned to your students. Following is a link to VoiceThread: VoiceThread

Scribd

A great web tool that allows you to save, view, and share documents is Scribd. Try it out: Scribd Website. I like to use this site to upload and share my notes, papers, or stories. The easy access to my papers allows me to project my text to my SMART board, Promethean board, or Mimio with the simple click of a link. This is also great for sending documents and sharing documents for students with 1:1 laptop.

Tired of Powerpoint?

For those of you out there who have about had it with Powerpoint or who really want to try something else, there are alternatives out there. Powerpoint has its place in education, this is true, but why not try something new and fun. There are several Web. 2.0 replacements for Powerpoint out there. These programs give you a fresh new way of presenting and teaching material to students. Rather than just going through slides you can instead inspire the students with interactive pictures, maps, and videos with Glogster Edu. This web tool allows the teacher to use an interactive poster platform to move through the information and create interactive discussions and activities with the students. The following link is an example of one of my Glogster creations: Mr. D Glogster Example.  Another fun presentation tool is Prezi. This is a zooming tool that allows you to jump around an open canvas of information. In the canvas you can put links, pictures, videos, and text. The following link is an example of one of my Prezi creations: Mr. D Prezi Example.

Mobile Desktop for Teachers

Linux logo at techiwarehouse.com

Seagate portable hard drive at seagate.com

For all of you out there who are stuck with a desktop at school and want to be able to access your information and files at home, here is a good solution. Many people use software in order to access their desktop at work or at school. There are many programs out their that can do this, like TeamViewer, but what about those teachers who want something a little more concrete. Sometimes the software to view your desktop at work is just to slow, or maybe you do not even have an internet connection. So what can you do? How about if you could take your whole desktop home with you! You can do this with the help of a mobile external hard drive. In my particular case, I have used the Seagate FreeAgent. This a wonderfully small and mobile external hard drive that can easily hold over 300 GB of memory. If you have one of these wonderful machines, you can simply put your entire operating system on them! This works perfectly with Linux Ubuntu, a free operating system with thousands of free programs and software that fits your needs. The database for the free programs has hundreds of educational tools. So what happens when you install Ubuntu on to your external hard drive? Well, this means that you can run your desktop or laptop straight from the mobile external drive! Some of you may be asking what you do about files you need to save or programs you need to download and run? Simply stated, the hard drive with the operating system on it will save files onto it just like it would a normal computer. All of your files, programs, and everything else will be able to go with you. So basically, after you install the system on to your hard drive, you can run it on any PC desktop! When you are at school plug it into your computer and use it throughout the day as your main work computer. When you go home, simply unplug the hard drive and take it with you. You can open it up on a computer at home and it will appear exactly how it did at school! Below I have attached useful links for those wishing to pursue this further!

Go here to find a Seagate external hard drive
Go here to get the Ubunu operating system. It is FREE!
Go here to find directions for installing Ubuntu on to your external hard drive

Userful MultiSeat

Logo from www.userful.com

Sometimes teachers are hard pressed for money and funding in their classroom. This can be difficult when a teacher wants to educate students in technology or press them to do inquiry based learning and work on the computer. Many schools try to get by this funding problem by purchasing cheap and out of date computers. But there is another way! This is through Userful MultiSeat by Linux. This program allows the teacher to turn one computer into several independent computer stations. This allows students to get computer access without using a separate system. Essentially the only extra items you need are the monitors, keyboard, and mouse. With the Userful MultiSeat students are given access to their own interface and can use different programs independently from one another without even using an extra computer. So with this program, you can get a full working order computer lab with just a fraction of the cost. The best thing is that most of the programs are free. This is because Userful MultiSeat is a Linux based system!  Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cfu5GSS664Q for more information. Here is the link to the website: http://www.userful.com/products/userful-multiseat-linux.  Go Linux!

An idea

Rome: Total War from gamespot.com

Who ever said that video games could not be used in the classroom. You do not see many teachers utilizing video games in classrooms these days, but I think that it would be a great resource. There are several games out there that accurately depict information and events that students could benefit from. This is particularly true in the social studies and history areas. Xbox 360 has several educational games that students could benefit from. A great example of this would be a game that the History Channel produced called Civil War. This game has accurate weaponry, accurate scenes, information from real historical battles, and it even shows how many of the battles took place. There are also several other games that the students could benefit from on the Xbox 360, including flight simulators. There are several other games on different devices as well, like computers. There is a particular game for the PC called Rome: Total War. This game can be found at http://www.totalwar.com/rome This game puts a large emphasis on Roman battle formations and tactics during war. The students could benefit greatly from this game as the experiment with real Roman battle formations and weaponry. They can place soldiers, armies, and weapons and experiment with their formations against rival armies. I can not think of a better way to learn about Roman battle formations than through this game. These are only a couple examples of video games that students could benefit from in the classroom and I think that it should be pursued further.

1:1 Laptop Schools

BCLUW logo at zazzle.com

My former school district, BCLUW, was fortunate enough to become one of the few 1:1 laptop schools in Iowa. I was unfortunate enough to miss this program by about two years. I have however heard great things about it and can only wish that I could have participated in this while I was a student at BCLUW. Being able to do research, take notes, save documents, and even do homework on a laptop, while sitting in a high school classroom, is awesome. This frees the teachers up to be able to explore different and more useful teaching techniques and it also allows them to support inquiry based learning from right in their own classroom as they can promote student exploration of information through the computers. It is also very nice that the students can now reach important article and text databases from the comfort of their classroom desk without moving an inch from the classroom. This could be extremely useful when trying to read up more on a topic discussed in class or for further learning. Visit the BCLUW website to learn more about the school at http://www.bcluw-ia.schoolloop.com/.

Higher thinking technology

Gimp logo at www.gimp.org

There are a lot of technologies and programs out there on the internet. Many of them are excellent sites for student learning and thinking. There are a couple of programs and websites out there that are of particular interest to me as a future educator. Both of these programs require higher order thinking skills and would take their place near the top of most educators thinking pyramid. They are Glogster.com and Gimp. Glogster.com is a website that allows students to create an online poster with images, text, audio, and video that best expresses their view on a topic. Gimp is a creation tool that you can download from the internet. This is a free photo editing tool that rivals programs like Photoshop. This allows students to create and edit photos or media in a way that expresses their learning. In order to edit and change these photos students need to use higher order thinking skills in order to alter, change, or create images. Here are the links to these websites: www.glogster.com and www.gimp.org. Enjoy!  To the right is an example of a glog that I created about the Battle of Actium in Ancient Rome!