tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71552389917001533952024-03-07T22:53:10.705-08:00EduTekkA new view of EDUcational TEchnology in the new millennium-KK-2K and beyond! This blog is about technology useful in educating today's students.Ms. Agbowohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450820332471112624noreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7155238991700153395.post-32808053630007289672011-03-18T11:19:00.000-07:002011-03-18T11:19:57.504-07:00CUE Conference 2011Man, if you've never been, you're missing out! You can still review the phenomenal resources compiled by the presenters at the schedule calendar site: <a href="http://2011.cue.org/">http://2011.cue.org</a>, and you can watch some sessions in whole at <a href="http://www.cue.org/conference/extend/2010">http://www.cue.org/conference/extend/2010</a>.Ms. Agbowohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450820332471112624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7155238991700153395.post-53693769274336199802011-01-29T20:48:00.001-08:002011-01-29T20:48:03.650-08:00Google Cloud PrintI own an iPod Touch: it's the best...as long as there's wi-fi! Reading a document online and I'm given the option to print...so I try it, just to see what happens. And I'm introduced to Google Cloud Print, which lets you share a printer then you can print from any device. And Google's world domination continues. If I'm able to print from this iTouch, I may never buy a desktop again. A laptop because I can't develop curriculum on my 8" netbook's screen, but never a desktop! As it is I do most of my browsing/blogging/reading on the iTouch.Ms. Agbowohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450820332471112624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7155238991700153395.post-71308130229865397662011-01-10T20:07:00.001-08:002011-01-10T20:07:49.986-08:00Resources, Internships and Professional Development Opportunities for the Tech TeacherI am taking a credential class, <a href="http://extension.berkeley.edu/spos/cateched.html">Instructional Strategies for the Adult and Adolescent Learner</a>, and have the great honor of being a student of the <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/programs/descriptions/Endeavor_Science_Teaching_Certificate_Project.html">NASA - Endeavor Science Teaching Certificate Project</a>, so I will be a busy bee! Though each class has just met for the first time in the last 48 hours, I already have useful resources:<br />
<br />
Benchmarks & Standards<br />
<br />
<ul><li>entire book! <a href="http://www.project2061.org/publications/sfaa/online/sfaatoc.htm">Science for All Americans</a>: the ideal science knowledge people will have long after graduation</li>
<li>entire book! <a href="http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=4962">National Science Education Standards</a>: adopted in the 1980's and useful to compare to your state guidelines</li>
<li>entire book! <a href="http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11625&page=1">Taking Science to School: Learning and Teaching Science in Grades K-8</a>: methods to make science relevant in the K-8 classroom</li>
</ul>When was the last time you took a refresher course or participated in professional development? There are so many programs and opportunities available, especially with the abysmal ratings U.S. students have received:<br />
<ul><li>Krause Center for Innovation's <b><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/kcimeritprogram/" target="_blank">MERIT Program 2011</a></b></li>
<li><a href="http://www.krauseinnovationcenter.org/">Krause Center</a> for their tech in education classes: they have face-to-face classes in San Jose (?) and online classes to learn or brush up on technology skills</li>
<li>U.S. National Laboratory <a href="http://www.scied.science.doe.gov/scied/sci_ed.htm">Teacher & Student internships</a> (high school & college)</li>
<li>National Lab Day (tba) ... <a href="http://www.nationallabnetwork.org/pdfs/FLYER-NationalLabDay_012010_8_5x11.pdf">President's Call to Action</a> ... <a href="http://www.nationallabnetwork.org/">community</a></li>
<li>Edublogger <a href="http://teacherchallenge.edublogs.org/">Teacher Challenge</a>: having successfully completed their <a href="http://studentchallenge.edublogs.org/">Student Challenge</a>, this is the first opportunity for teacher's to get some blogging professional development to implement in the classroom (beginner & advanced challenges)</li>
</ul>Ms. Agbowohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450820332471112624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7155238991700153395.post-45004809454995741672010-12-12T18:25:00.001-08:002010-12-12T18:25:55.855-08:00Cartoons in the Classroom!Found a wonder blog that features lots of lovely tools for technology in education. Not sure how I happened upon <a href="http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2010/12/10-ways-to-create-comics-online.htm">Creating Comics Online</a>, but I'm glad I did: cartooning makes teaching storyboard design relevant, and the online tools are much easier than demonstrating my stick figure storyboards and having students draw on sheets of paper.<br />
<br />
He ends the article with <a href="http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2009/10/20-ways-to-use-comics-in-your-classroom.html">20 Ways to Use Comics in Your Classroom</a> and <span style="color: #006600;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2010/01/more-than-100-editorial-cartoon-lesson.html">More than 100 Editorial Cartoon Lesson Plans</a> which makes cartooning immediately relevant to the classroom.<br />
</span></span>Ms. Agbowohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450820332471112624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7155238991700153395.post-69036993945865664112010-12-12T18:08:00.000-08:002010-12-12T18:08:56.257-08:00Embedding Blogger into Google SitesI wanted to embed my <a href="http://k12compsci.blogspot.com/">Blogger</a> into my <a href="http://sites.google.com/site/k12csed">Google Site</a> without reinventing the wheel...<a href="http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/blogger/thread?tid=3083676b28bf2b06&hl=en">this article</a> provided the code to make it happen.<br />
<br />
Single feed from Blogger<br />
<ol><li>Insert> More Gadgets > Search for "Generic Feed Reader"</li>
<li>insert "your blog url"/<wbr></wbr>atom.xml ---> Blogger's built-in RSS feed</li>
</ol><br />
Feeds from Multiple blogs<br />
<ol><li>Insert > More Gadgets > Search for "RSS News Feed Scoller"</li>
<li>add blogs to gadget </li>
</ol>Ms. Agbowohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450820332471112624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7155238991700153395.post-19834957275202884442010-12-06T13:10:00.000-08:002010-12-06T13:10:13.784-08:00Include gadget for Google SitesI've been using [free] Google Sites for years to organize my lessons, present to students, and have students access resources and lessons. Google Pages, the precursor to Google Sites, was more flexible in formatting different pages: I had 1 site but could change the design of individual pages. Because Google Sites does not have this functionality (I really needed to differentiate between my regular site and pages for a Computer Science Education Week), I built a new site just for CS Ed Week. The problem was how to direct students to the site without too much interference in the normal procedure (ie. going to the regular website).<br />
<br />
Solutions<br />
<ul><li>refresh the homepage to the new website: functionality not available</li>
<li>embed the new site: embed did not work but ....</li>
<li>Solution: <a href="http://www.google.com/ig/directory?type=gadgets&url=hosting.gmodules.com/ig/gadgets/file/110543442524307353585/include-gadget.xml">Include gadget</a>: embeds a URL like an iframe</li>
</ul>Not as elegant as a dynamic refresh, but it kept the interface familiar and I could direct students to working from that website.Ms. Agbowohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450820332471112624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7155238991700153395.post-51490481810795967682010-12-06T13:01:00.000-08:002010-12-06T13:01:22.119-08:00Update: Robotics are the new programmingI read somewhere [link coming] that there is grant money for student robotics competitions to prepare the next generation of computer scientists.Ms. Agbowohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450820332471112624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7155238991700153395.post-14192663800767844562010-11-17T15:57:00.000-08:002010-11-17T15:57:21.071-08:00Robotics are the new programmingAt the Grace Hopper Conference 2010 I attended a workshop on getting girls in grades 4-12 excited about computing, and 2 of the 4 technologies featured used robotics of some sort. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://scratch.mit.edu/">Scratch</a> & <a href="http://alice.org/">Alice</a> are programming languages, and allow students to make incredible animations (2D and 3D respectively) limited only by their imaginations.There are lots of programming challenges for students to participate in throughout the year to really flex their programming muscles.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.picocricket.com/">Pico Cricket</a> & <a href="http://www.pleoworld.com/Home.aspx">Pleo Dinosaur</a> kits were passed around for us to program and play with...total fun! During a meeting with my peer computer teachers I also learned about <a href="http://www.picocricket.com/picoboard.html">Pico Boards</a>, which are like Pico Cricket connections but powered by Scratch...totally awesome...gotta get a few!!!<br />
<br />
Then <a href="http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/03/welcome-to-the-machines-designing-useful-robots/?src=twrhp">this article</a> about a robotics lesson plan came in my e-mail and I now know that robotics are the next big thing in student computing. Of course it makes sense: artificial intelligence has remained behind the scenes in computing, we have a number of domestic robots (the vacuumers and floor cleaners, and toys) that make us more comfortable with independently operating machines. So the next wave of computers is to develop programmers who are comfortable and familiar with robotics. This means we technology teachers have to step our game up!Ms. Agbowohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450820332471112624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7155238991700153395.post-76136119410313330782010-11-04T14:44:00.000-07:002010-11-04T14:44:32.291-07:00Google BookmarksI've been using <a href="http://bookmarks.google.com/">Google Bookmarks</a> to organize my classroom bookmarks. I like that <a href="http://bookmarks.google.com/">Google Bookmarks</a> (G.Books) allows me to create folders instead of insisting on using it's search box to find what I've categorized: that used to drive me crazy with Gmail so I label important messages and only search using the iPod Touch.<br />
<br />
I used <a href="http://del.icio.us/">del.icio.us</a> (aka <a href="http://delicious.com/">delicious.com</a>), but did not separate work and personal bookmarks.Ms. Agbowohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450820332471112624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7155238991700153395.post-22631041059130553722010-11-04T14:39:00.001-07:002010-11-04T14:39:31.357-07:00Adding Interactive Internet Safety LessonsI now have to practice what I preach: I have a severely learning disabled student in my class for whom I CANNOT give text-based lessons. In addition we read an article in our staff meeting about the purpose of homework and types and length of assignments we should give students. All of this coalesced in my looking for interactive lessons on cyber safety.<br />
<ul><li>BBC <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/help/web/staysafe">WonderWebWorld</a><br />
Impressed by <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/">Dance Mat Typing</a> I Google'd "bbc internet safety" and found this site.</li>
<li><a class="gn-thread-result-title gn-title
surl" href="http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fritter.tea.state.tx.us%2Fimet%2Fintersafe%2Feducators%2FEDgames_lessons.html&sa=D&usg=AFQjCNE0fP8c32QUF9D6QYj_jvPddmJGLw" id="NDQ-CDQoQvNOgxsEl-title" target="_blank">TEA - Internet Safety - Activities and Lessons</a><br />
Texas once again leading the way with links to<i> really</i> great resources</li>
<li><a href="http://www.teachersfirst.com/safety.cfm">Teachers First</a><br />
Haven't reviewed because the first few were already on TEA site</li>
<li><a href="http://www.dmoz.org/Kids_and_Teens/Computers/Internet/Safety/">DMOZ</a><br />
Really came through on <i>interactive</i> sites<br />
<br />
<span class="gn-thread-result-spacer"> </span></li>
</ul>We increasingly discuss students who grew up in a multimedia, multi-modal world, yet because we teachers grew up in the text age and are comfortable in the text age, we tend to give students...text. The test will be if students retain the internet safety lessons better through an interactive module than with reading through.Ms. Agbowohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450820332471112624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7155238991700153395.post-74949154529455030912010-10-29T07:28:00.000-07:002010-10-29T07:28:11.443-07:00Board Games teach logic, right?Today I had the privilege of fore knowledge of a planned network outage so I brought in some board games and cards that had been used in an outreach 10 years ago to keep students occupied. My 7th and 8th graders were mystified by Kerplunk, a game that came before their 1999 birth years lol! It got me thinking that it's possible to teach logical thinking "unplugged" using certain board games that promote logical thinking:<br />
Kerplunk: modern version of Pick Up Sticks where marbles fall through a column, winner has fewest number of marbles in receptacle<br />
Mancala: strategy game that requires counting, and quickly or your opponents confuse you<br />
Ludo, Parcheesi or Sorry: game of chance and strategy as you try to get all your pieces "home" while keeping your opponents from reaching "home" first<br />
Dominoes:<br />
Uno:<br />
Go:<br />
Monopoly:<br />
The thing is these games may be old fashioned to us because we are of the "7 channel"-"do homework every night"-"play board games or play outside" because "there was nothing else to do" generation. These games are not familiar to our students because they are about 100 generations away from ours, their teachers. So for your next fundng cycle, be sure to invest in a few board games to take your logic-teaching lessons offline and to a whole new level.Ms. Agbowohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450820332471112624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7155238991700153395.post-20117375032914058322010-10-13T13:02:00.000-07:002010-10-13T13:03:26.394-07:00Professional Development Goal: becoming Google CertifiedIt seems that Google is going international now with Google Teacher Academy, and relying on the corps of teachers in the U.S. built up in the last few years. However, if you really want access to the materials and resources, they can be [partially] obtained from <a href="http://sites.google.com/site/gtaresources/events/2010-07-29/materials">this site</a>. As a non-GCT, it can be viewed, and it's not the official site of Google Certified Teachers (GCTs), which is closed to the public.<br />
<br />
Access to another professional network of Google Workshop for Educators participants (GWEN) can be gained by paying a fee to attend a workshop at a <a href="http://www.cue.org/stories/storyReader$803">CUE conference</a> or paying a fee to have the session <a href="http://www.cue.org/cuetoyou/google">delivered at your school</a>, instead of attending a free Google workshop, but as I mentioned, they seem to be branching out from Mountain View.Ms. Agbowohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450820332471112624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7155238991700153395.post-18065092194260180482010-10-13T07:20:00.001-07:002010-10-13T12:32:55.142-07:00more iPod Touch love: Classroom toolsThe iRevolution continues! Did you know that the Calculator app becomes a scientific calculator by horizontally orienting the iTouch? Yet another device replaced by the iPod Touch! So far this year I am replacing with my iTouch:<br />
<ul><li>Taking attendance wirelessly via PowerSchool website</li>
<li>Using Clock app as a timer instead of purchasing a separate timer </li>
<li>Posting to my Blogger blogs via PenMyBlog app</li>
<li>Add assignments to my class site via Google Sites (though there's a weird glitch with certain fields where I edit via HTML instead of WYSIWYG...guess I should report that to Google)</li>
<li>Research anything for assignments (need to share my bookmarks to access on other computers, though Google Bookmarks will solve that)</li>
<li>Checking e-mail instead of having multiple windows open on my class netbook (you know the kinds of things that embarrassingly show up on e-mail!)</li>
<li>Make phone calls with Rebtel, Skype and Google Voice (but I was taught to use my classroom phone so less of this :) </li>
</ul>Things I would be able to do with the latest iTouch:<br />
<ul><li>Take pics of our whiteboard discussions and instantly post on class pages (camera added) </li>
</ul><br />
Accessories that would [almost] render a laptop/desktop obsolete:<br />
<ul><li>16 pin projector (they have that)</li>
<li>Speakers (they have that) </li>
</ul>Ms. Agbowohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450820332471112624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7155238991700153395.post-54701918931461831572010-10-11T17:11:00.000-07:002010-10-11T17:26:35.388-07:00Google Revolution 2.0Preparing the next phase of lessons to aid students' research reports and investigating Google Tools for Educators...something called <a href="http://www.google.com/googlenotebook/newusers.html">Google Notebook</a>, which has been phased out (rightly so, it's very similar to Google Docs) but is a cool metaphor for notebooks students take notes in. That page refers you to <a href="http://www.google.com/bookmarks/?hl=en">Google Bookmarks</a>, which is similar to <a href="http://www.delicious.com/">del.icio.us</a> social bookmarking but is part of the beloved Google suite of apps. This will take group projects and online research to a whole new level and will hopefully not be blocked by filters.<br /><br />Google also sponsored a series of workshops for computing teachers in Summer 2010 called <a href="http://www.cs4hs.com/">CS4HS</a>-Computer Science for High School (though it can be used for Middle School also); take a look at <a href="http://www.cs4hs.com/summer-workshops.html">the agenda and links</a> for the various workshops and stay tuned for 1 coming near you...I didn't attend my local session, but that's another story...<br /><br />Lastly I want to highlight <a href="http://www.teachertube.com/">TeacherTube</a> though not a Google app: my district cleverly redirects all social networking requests to TeacherTube, prompting one student to ask if Facebook was blocked. Funny as all get out, but effective. However as teachers we should be using the resource, so get out your digital still or video camera and start taping your classes!Margaret Nkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11735521509029300504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7155238991700153395.post-52625883385219012462010-10-11T14:26:00.000-07:002010-10-11T15:24:27.348-07:00Creating Video Games as an introduction to Computer ScienceMuch ado in the educational sphere about making programming sexy by introducing youth to creating computer games. My opinion: there are people and there are programmers and a student may be enticed by being able to create a game, but the true computer programmer will be onto a programming language faster than you can say, "Call of Duty 3"!<br />
<br />
I remember in a cognitive science class we were asked to classify games, that is define them based on our knowledge of the parts that make up a game. This is much more difficult than it seems but is a great way to start discussing all types of games, and ensures that students consider games other than point-and-shoot. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game">Wikipedia</a> offers an inkling of the enlightened discussions and definitions we held in that class!<br />
<ul><li>Creating sprites (avatars): http://gamedesign.wikidot.com/spriteart:tutorials</li>
<li>Step-by-step to design your own game: http://www.squidoo.com/gamedesignconcept</li>
<li>Select programming language to design game with </li>
</ul>Ms. Agbowohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450820332471112624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7155238991700153395.post-79318372523832593442010-09-30T19:35:00.001-07:002010-09-30T19:35:47.107-07:00Periodic Table iPhone apphttp://itunes.apple.com/us/app/periodic-table-of-elements/id325789896?mt%3D8&ved=0CBAQFjAA&usg=AFQjCNGvkmpWAaxb51nehsWQjXXWcBWHKw
Includes the latest elements, exciting after returning to Lawrence Berkeley National Lab as a teacher intern (having been a high school intern) and seeing how many elements had been filled in since the 1990's! And some were discovered during Summer 2010 when I was there!Ms. Agbowohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450820332471112624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7155238991700153395.post-47902815984055591632010-09-23T07:30:00.000-07:002010-09-23T07:33:23.504-07:00$99 WhiteboardEnough said: <br />
<object width="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5s5EvhHy7eQ&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5s5EvhHy7eQ&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="350"></embed></object>Ms. Agbowohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450820332471112624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7155238991700153395.post-41646667996823992512010-05-21T13:57:00.000-07:002010-05-21T14:04:39.487-07:00Cool ScienceWas invited to participate in a Chemistry class blog, chemistry being one of the sciences I can participate in (biology NOT being in that company), and happened upon a number of science experiment sites:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://teachers.net/projects/">TeachersNet</a></li><li>Exploratorium's <a href="http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/">Science of Cooking</a></li><li>Steve Spengler sells <a href="http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiments/">kits</a>, or you can sign up for the <a href="http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment-of-the-week/">weekly enews</a> which sends free experiments<br /></li></ul>Margaret Nkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11735521509029300504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7155238991700153395.post-91565497415636603812010-05-05T08:44:00.000-07:002010-10-11T14:23:53.220-07:00Interdisciplinary Curriculum via computer gamesOn the topic of educational games: "What good are they?", "Oh, those games are just like the drill-and-practice games from the 1980's, they're of no use to students". Well, they're not.<br />
<br />
In continued exploration of educational uses of the iPod Touch, I downloaded a number of games and thought, "Well, this teaches math, geography, and critical thinking, in addition to being fun and addictive!" Isn't this the best of all worlds in educating students?<br />
<ul><li><a href="http://www.playfirst.com/game/chocolatier">Chocolatier</a>: think <a href="http://oregontrail.org/">Oregon Trail</a> but it's all about sourcing ingredients for ... CHOCOLATE! You travel to different countries to buy ingredients to make chocolate, use math and critical thinking for projecting how much of each ingredient you need to keep your factories stocked, use memory to recall which nations paid the highest price for your CHOCOLATE, history parallels to understand the transportation routes (Panama Canal, ship route Slave Trade, railroads)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.coolmath-games.com/0-mancala/index.html">Mancala</a>: an age old game that teaches projections and critical thinking, a bit of math to calculate how to maximize as you try to get more marbles than your opponent. </li>
<li>any electronic version of board games: Monopoly, Scrabble, Scattergories, etc. all taught strategy in addition to academic and life skills: counting, money, spelling, facts.</li>
<ul><li>Monopoly, especially having students research the locations or objects featured in any of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_licensed_and_localized_editions_of_Monopoly">special editions</a></li>
</ul></ul>So you see educational gaming has come a long way: it's not just improved graphic capabilities, it's that they are more interdisciplinary and more interactive. With enough time, students will hopefully gain knowledge and skills and have fun doing so.Margaret Nkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11735521509029300504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7155238991700153395.post-42481266934409494142010-04-28T17:19:00.000-07:002010-05-12T10:41:10.120-07:00iRevolution: iPod Touch in the ClassroomNote the eMacs in the background. <a href="http://www.apple.com/education/stories/escondido/">Ubiquitous computing in the flesh!</a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://storeimages.apple.com/1688/store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/ipad/img/product-wifi.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 173px; height: 116px;" src="http://storeimages.apple.com/1688/store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/ipad/img/product-wifi.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>With the hurrah over the <a href="http://store.apple.com/ipad">iPad</a>, I wandered over to my local Apple Store, which was packed as usual. I ventured tentatively in to the front door and asked the salesperson, "What's the big deal?" All he could discuss were the "apps", which didn't impress me: I just bought myself a birthday <a href="http://store.apple.com/ipod-touch">iPod Touch</a> and to date have only purchased <a href="http://www.iwin.com/games/jojos-fashion-show">1 game that I'm obsessed</a> with and one of my <a href="http://music.aol.com/album/graceland/14605">all-time favorite albums</a>. The other apps I've downloaded are all free and about 90% entertainment, 10% productive/informative/educational. I thanked him then walked out.<br /><br />Then my eye doctor asked me about the iPad: initially I said, "I don't get it," but being in a doctor's office I recanted, "I can see how it would have great use in a hospital, especially with digitizing medical records." He agreed. Then I convinced him not to upgrade to Windows 7, to downgrade to Windows XP...I'm lethal!<br /><br />Then a friend mentioned getting a Touch to entertain her 1 year old and we researched age appropriate entertainment options: come to find out, there are enough apps for keeping actual kids of all ages occupied, not just kids at heart!Margaret Nkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11735521509029300504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7155238991700153395.post-29799087013758863862010-04-28T10:41:00.000-07:002010-05-12T10:44:29.122-07:00iRevolution (continued): iPad<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.geekosystem.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/ipad_touch_mock_up.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 229px; height: 174px;" src="http://www.geekosystem.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/ipad_touch_mock_up.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Yesterday I realized it would be easy to have an <a href="http://www.apple.com/ipad/">iPad</a> connect wirelessly to my projector to enable walking around while demonstrating. The problem is my students are on PCs and Apple and PC are not speaking on speaking terms (Apple is not speaking with a lot of proprietary formats right now). So even though I can foresee a use good enough for me to invest in the iPad (for teaching purposes, of course :), I'll have to take my own advice and wait for the next generation or for Apple to play nice with other formats.Margaret Nkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11735521509029300504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7155238991700153395.post-44619610846680959782009-12-18T10:23:00.000-08:002009-12-18T10:34:06.886-08:00Lesson Plan templatesNothing screws with a tech teacher worse than spending hours preparing a lesson just to have some element not work, either technical or curricular. Today I downloaded documents to help me plan my lessons for the rest of the school year ... so that I can squeeze in the curricular and extra-curricular lessons I want my students to learn! <a href="http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/default.aspx">Microsoft Office's templates</a> feature a number of lesson planning documents that will work just fine and I don't have to 'reinvent the wheel'. In order to download any of these you must use Internet Explorer:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/TC010191361033.aspx?pid=CT101441451033">Substitute Teacher Guide</a> will come in handy to ensure my lesson schedule continues as I plan which professional development conferences I attend</li><li><a href="http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/TC300020211033.aspx?pid=CT102530631033">Monthly Unit Planner</a> for an overview of what you wish to accomplish each month</li><li><a href="http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/TC010183891033.aspx?pid=CT102530631033">Weekly Planner</a> so week to week you can adjust your monthly planner (personally I like to have a monthly overview then work on each lesson, so I have a binder with units and lesson-level sheets to accompany each unit)<br /></li><li><a href="http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/TC010184001033.aspx?pid=CT102530631033">Lesson Planner</a> to plan details of each lesson</li><li><a href="http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/TC012276861033.aspx?pid=CT102530631033">Lesson Planner</a> to remind you to define concepts for younger tech students</li></ul>Other templates are available at Microsoft Office's <a href="http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/default.aspx">Template site</a> (link to <a href="http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/results.aspx?qu=lesson+plan&av=TPL000">custom search for "lesson plan"</a>)Ms. Agbowohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450820332471112624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7155238991700153395.post-56932158132941664722009-12-13T10:52:00.000-08:002009-12-13T11:01:35.647-08:00Dell Pushes Advances of the Intelligent ClassroomFound <a href="http://www.dell.com/html/us/segments/biz/emails/16150/16150_enews_k12.htm">this article</a> while clearing my Inbox, yet a lot of the discussion still resonates in 2009 as schools struggle with reduced budgets.<br /><br />I like the items mentioned in the "<a href="http://www.techlearning.com/article/8272">Checklist for Technology Planning</a>" because if departments/schools/districts incorporate a good portion of these elements, they will achieve buy-in since all stakeholders will participate in the decision-making process, thereby reducing wasted money on tech that is not used. The checklist also emphasizes the Technology Plan which should document where a department/school/district currently stands regarding technology and where they'd like to be in a defined future time frame.<br /><br />Most of their <a href="http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/index.cfm?i=51475">2008 Top 10 Ed Tech stories</a> are familiar, some are intuitive to educators forced to implement new classroom initiatives they had no input in developing, some are amusing. But they also remain issues in 2009 and going forward into 2010.Ms. Agbowohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450820332471112624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7155238991700153395.post-80710023170639746462009-06-03T11:57:00.001-07:002010-05-05T11:18:20.939-07:00A book whose title says it allFree download of a cute story that will enlighten anyone working with technology:<br /><a href="http://www.lulu.com/content/2404458"><br />Machines are easy, People are the Hard Part</a>: free e-book, $12 print versionMargaret Nkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11735521509029300504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7155238991700153395.post-47144332568065017582009-05-31T12:18:00.000-07:002009-06-03T12:22:49.634-07:00Free software ... use in your schoolSo your budget has been cut in half or eliminated all together? Hopefully your technology planning for the last flush years has been effective and you're now just in maintenance mode. If so, open source is the way to go for free software that's usually just as if not more effective than the professional version.<br /><br />This week I discovered a <a href="http://www.stevehargadon.com/">blog</a> by Steve Hargadon that documents the latest in open source software.Ms. Agbowohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450820332471112624noreply@blogger.com0