Here is today’s presentation – I’ll add some useful links and a step through on how to make Web Quests using the template files and how to make a custom search engine with Google.
Please take a few minutes this week to fill out the following survey – it is part of the class, as a way for you to see how you progress in your confidence when it comes to technology. It is also likely to be used in some research being conducted by the School of Education faculty – soon you will be given a form asking your permission to use the data in that research.
Both blogs and wikis are basically web sites that are easily created. Where they differ is in their design and use. Blog are essentailly online journals, organized around posts by an author about a topic. In contrast, wikis are more like user-generated encyclopedias, meant to be created by the sharing of multiple authors.
In an education context, most uses of blogs are by a teacher as a means to provide information to parents and students, while some go further and have students themselves create blogs. The same is true of wikis, though often neither goes beyond teacher-centered use, This is unfortunate, as students will often jump at the chance to write in the online format over more traditional assignments such as essays or papers.
For both wikis and blogs, the real power comes when students share their knowledge. As a teacher, you will want to find meaningful activities in which students value sharing their work in an online form. In addition to the examples linked in the Prezi, you can see some examples created by previous class members here in the blog.
Lastly, there are two sites I recommend for starting your own blog or wiki. If you want a blog, use Edublogs – if you let me know you want to use that site, I can set you up with a username as well as make your blog capable of embedding video files (can’t do that unless I upgrade your account). If it is a wiki you want, use Wikispaces – free to create an account and start using it.
Welcome to the Spring 2012 sections of INTC 3610. This blog site will be used as the place for me to communicate with you, including the updated syllabi, presentations, and links for information that will help you in this course. Note that this semester there are two sections, so be sure that you are following the correct syllabus
Interactive whiteboards allow you to control your computer from a touch projection screen that is similar to a normal whiteboard. However, interactive whiteboards also allow you to write on the projected image as well. There are several different types of board, the most prominent in K-12 schools being the SMARTBoard brand.
SMART has developed their own software, Notebook, to help you design lessons for use with their product. They also have a suite of other products including response system software, a classroom management product, and the student edition of Notebook. You can the 30-day free trial at their support website:
Here are links to a few resources to help you with your lessons:
Video and audio technology can be powerful tools in the hands of teachers and students. With the explosion of digital camera devices, online tools and easy-to-use software for editing, what would have been extremely difficult – to make a video that looks and sounds good – is now commonplace. Here are some examples of how video and audio files can be used in classrooms:
Some software based tools for those wishing to do more than the online editors can accomplish:
iLife – Apple’s suite of creative tools includes iPhoto (for slideshows), iMovie (for movies – duh!), and Garageband (for music and audio recordings) – available for your desktop, laptop, or as apps for the iPhone, iPod or iPad.
Moviemaker – on the Windows side, a simple to use video editing tool built into the operating system.
PowerPoint – at the most basic level, you can narrate PowerPoint files or add sounds, then run it self-running to make it video-style presentation
MORE! – here are some sites that list all kinds of alternative presentation tools (including some of those already mentioned – you can see that there is no dearth of tools:
An important change in the syllabus – due to scheduling conflicts, we are moving the SRI-ETTC visit to Thursday Nov. 17th, 10:30 –12:30. We will therefore be on campus in D-019 both next week and on Tuesday November 15th. So here are the new dates and topics for the rest of the semester:
11/22 Open Class – suggest using this time to finalize as a group your plan for your tech tip presentations, or to get your individual portfolio organized
11/24 NO CLASS – Thanksgiving holiday
11/29 Tech Tip Groups 1 and 2
12/1 Tech Tip Groups 3 and 4
12/5 Monday MAIT Showcase for those of you still in need of an event 6-8 PM in the Campus Center
12/6 Tech Tip Group 5
12/8 Prep portfolios
12/13 Final Portfolio Poster Session in D-019
Suggest you begin working on those Tech Tips in your groups – especially using the week of Nov. 8 and Nov. 10 since we will have no class meetings.
