Tech Tips for Teachers

Looking for videos to show in class? Try TED.com

There are high-quality talks on nearly every subject imaginable, especially in the fields of technology and science. But there are also motivational talks like the one embedded below by author Dave Eggers.

Check out this site.

PollDaddy.com – Insert polls into your blogs. (When using Edublogs, be sure to use the HTML setting above).

Do you understand this post?
( polls)

Edutopia.org – The teacher-technology Web site maintained by The George Lucas Educational Foundation. The site includes articles on teacher development and technology integration into the classroom. There are also vidcasts of Edutopia.org information on iTunesU.

Just an FYI post:

Driving the increased applications for federal aid, in part, have been nontraditional students returning to school to improve their job skills during the economic downturn, said Terry W. Hartle, senior vice president for public affairs at the American Council on Education, which represents colleges and universities.

…

 

 As of July 31, 800,000 more students had applied for grants than on that date last year, according to the memorandum, which called the increase one of the largest ever year to year.

 

This year, more than six million low-income college students will receive Pell Grants ranging from $431 to $4,731, federal officials said.

Congress appropriated $14 billion for the grants for the current fiscal year, but because of the increase and because of accumulated shortfalls from previous years, lawmakers will need to add $6 billion in new funds next year or cut the size of the grants, Department of Education officials said.

 

Article

Pretty interesting take on Web 2.0 from the British Government:

1. Don’t think about Web 2.0 or e-government as being just about technology. It is about saving time and making life easier and more efficient for citizens.

2. Make sure you are resourced to cope. No point setting up a blog that encourages comments if you can’t respond to each comment.

3. Carefully plan your strategy if using blogs. If it’s a council blog, make sure it’s part of a wider communications strategy and not the domain of one or two keen individuals.

4. Consider the reputational risks of publishing un-moderated citizen comments in online forums or blogs. Don’t assume comments represent universal opinion.

5. Identify the audience you are trying to reach and use the appropriate channel. Not everyone has an account on Facebook, Myspace or Bebo, and not everyone has broadband. Know who you are excluding and plan for this.

6. Ensure there is a staff policy for using social media sites during working hours.

7. Most Web 2.0 solutions are relatively cheap to deploy. If you are planning to spend more than £100k on an enterprise solution you’re doing something wrong – or you have particularly complex requirements.

Reading the entire article really started me thinking about the enormous potential of Web 2.0 in schools.

I haven’t really tried this yet, but on a theoretical level I’m pretty sure Twitter could be one of the most powerful Web 2.0 applications. Twitter taps in to the hyper-connectedness of students-constant texting, status updates on Myspace and Facebook. In order to test my theory, I just created a Twitter account to be used only for school.

So, what is Twitter?

Twitter is a form of “micro-blogging.” With Twitter you can post quick updates that students can read online, or, if they choose, via a text message to their phones. These messages, at most, can be 140 characters. Most URLs are compressed.

How “safe” is Twitter?

On my blog, I told students that they can “follow” my updates, but I won’t follow their updates. In addition, you can block any unwelcome followers. But Twitter updates do get posted in the open – although there are so many updates, it’s almost as if they are private.

How can Twitter be used in the classroom?

I see several ways in which Twitter can be used in the classroom, but I’ll begin with the most basic and most useful:

• Once their mobile devices are set up for Twitter updates, students AND PARENTS can receive homework and test reminders via text message.
• Study for tests. Once students add one another on Twitter, they can ask questions and any one of their followers can answer.
• Give students practice in writing concisely. They only have 140 characters to get their points across.

Who uses Twitter?

As far as I know, Metrolink Trains is using Twitter to update riders on delayed trains, CNN and The New York Times are using it to link readers to breaking news stories, and Metro Los Angeles is using it to update commuters on street conditions.

How do I sign up?

To get updates, you need to do the following:

1. Sign up for Twitter. Be sure to use an appropriate screen name.
2. Click the following: My Twitter account
3. Underneath my picture will be the word, “Follow.” Click on that and you’ll get all my updates.

To get the updates on your phone:

1. Go to settings in the upper, right-hand corner on Twitter.
2. Click “Devices.”
3. Enter your cell phone number
4. Select, “It’s okay for Twitter to send txt messages to my phone. Standard rates apply.”

Two Final Recommendations

If you find Twitter useful, I recommend creating two accounts. One for school and one for personal use.

Once you start using Twitter, install Twitterfox on your Firefox browser. Sign in and the only time you will have to visit Twitter.com is to add new people to follow.

Make it private!

1. Go to settings
2. Scroll to the bottom
3. Click on the button that says, “Protect my updates.”

Here’s the list according to The National Council of Teachers of English:

Develop proficiency with the tools of technology


Build relationships with others to pose and solve problems collaboratively and cross-culturally


Design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes


Manage, analyze and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information


Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multi-media texts


Attend to the ethical responsibilities required by these complex environments

OttoBib.com

- No matter how many times you teach a student how to properly write out an MLA-formatted works cited page, it seems that at least half the class “doesn’t get it.” If that’s the case for you, ottobib.com might be your life saver. Students plug in the ISB-number on the back of their book and, walla, a properly formatted works cited page shows up. Separate multiple ISB-numbers with a comma.

Historical trips guide

- Follow the trips of Marco Polo, Columbus, or even Amelia Earhart on this interactive map.

The OWL at Purdue University

- This is BY FAR the best online writing lab in the country. Print out worksheets and handouts for review. Use the overhead projector in class to review some writing basics. Just give the folks at The OWL their due.

Wordle.net

- Mr. Escovar posted this Web site on his blog.

- This site can be used to analyze word usage in essays and in speeches. Here’s an example of Barack Obama’s acceptance speech:

ning.com

- A social networking site that might actually have some use at a school.

- Add a badge to your site:

View my page on Bishop Amat

Pretty neat stuff regarding election tools for educators:

Election tools

Included in this are:

- Embeddable electoral map

- Google Map presentations of the candidates’ lives

- A quick link for election news

Unfortunately, some embeddable tools cannot be used on Edublogs and other sites. To embed the map, create a new post, click on “HTML” in the upper right-hand corner of the writing portion of the site. Copy and paste the HTML code into your post.

Step 1: Log on to Edublogs.org

Step 2: Click “Sign Up Here”

Step 3: Fill out the needed information, and when you get to the bottom of the page, be sure to have the “Gimme a blog!” box checked. (Tip: Use a simple User Name and a simple blog name. Your students will need to be able to find you. I suggest first initial, last name for your user name.)

Step 4: When you get to the next page, enter your blog domain name (I suggest first initial last name). Give your blog a title (ex. Mr. Del Muro’s Classes). Be sure blog type is clicked on “Teacher” and then click “Signup.”

Step 5: You must verify your email address by going to your inbox and clicking the link in the email that Edublogs sends you.

You are now ready to begin blogging.