Teachers,
This Tech Update consist of information on the following topics:
WBAIS Teacher Tech Profiencies: Skills and Practices
23 Things: Web 2.0 Tools to Know
Going Digital: Preparing for laptops in the classroom
Emerging Tech: Web based program similar to Smartboard clickers
Blackboard: Features, projects, username
Email Address: Check address spelling in the Email Directory
File Management: Backups, clean-ups
Teacher Tech Skills Training: WBAIS, Atomic Learning
MathType: User information site
Virtual Field Trips; Sites to check out
2008-09 Tech In-services: Going Digital
Top 100 Tech Tools for Learning
A Personal Note: Thanks for the condolences and prayers
For more information on these topics visit our Tech Update Blog October entry at http://wbaistechupdate.blogspot.com/ or read below. Please let me know if there is a topic you would like me to address in a future Tech Update.
WBAIS Teacher Tech Profiencies: Technology Practices that every WBAIS teacher should have can be found at
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ddkhkgjs_427hf5nn6gp
23 Things: Learn about Web 2.0 tools by visiting
http://schoollibrarylearning2.blogspot.com/2007/02/23-things_27.html Check with Peggy and Marina for more details on our collaborative efforts with this program.
Going Digital: Not sure what laptops in your classroom means or how you will manage the use of these tools? Take a look back at some of the resources we referenced at our Jun 16 Late start In-Service, Going Digital 2: Managing the Digital Classroom. See videos of teachers actually doing it and hear about the different classroom management steps they take. Get ideas of when and how you can use and manage laptops in your classroom. Thanks to Marina we have the following resources to reference.
Irving High School Laptop Initiatives:
http://www.irvingisd.net/one2one/classroom_management.htm
Classroom Management Videos:
http://www.irvingisd.net/one2one/classroom_management/cm_video_series.htm
Classroom Management of Laptops
http://schoolcomputing.wikia.com/wiki/Classroom_Management_of_Laptops
Florida State University. 10 Ways to Manage Laptop Use in the Classroom
http://learningforlife.fsu.edu/ctl/explore/bestpractices/docs/10WaystoManageLaptops.pdf
Laptop Use in the Classroom / out of the Classroom
http://learningforlife.fsu.edu/ctl/explore/bestPractices/docs/teachingwithlaptops.pdf
Emerging Technology: A web based program similar to Smartboard clickers called QuickieQ used for surveying and assessing student in real time can be used for free until the end of the school year. Check it out at http://www.quickieq.com/
Blackboard Update: Highlights of the fall's NVS meeting included th planned exploration of Safeassign as assignment plagiarism check systems in blackboard. This features should be active in your course control panels Feel free to explore it. Moodle is being explore as an added feature to blackboard. The following Regional Projects are being planned. Let us know if you are interested in joining or would like more information, Video Festival, Speech Contest (WBAIS Lead) Global Studies, Global Initiatives, Online Tech tools video showcase from NESA Schools. Discussion was also held on user name changes. We suggested using email address as user name for blackboard. What are your thoughts. No decision made yet and changes would not take place until next year.
Email Address: Check for proper address spelling in the Email Directory. A misspelled address will cause it to be undeliverable.
File Management: Is a basic and maybe one of the most valuable skills a computer user can have. Organizing you files for easy access and backing them up on a regular basis is an expected practice when using School owned laptops. It is a common practice in Laptop programs to solve a software problem by wiping the hard drive clean and re-cloning the laptop. This mean all personal files would be deleted. This and Hard drive crashes is why backing up your files is so important.
Teacher Technology Skill Profiencies: Learn the skills you need to use a variety of digital tools by visiting Atomic learning anytime anywhere through the link on the library website.
Math/Science Teachers MathType User information can be found at:
http://cl.exct.net/?qs=6faf19034e6a4cb5d4f4a91dd474cd1e905bd7b95effbd90
Virtual field trips sites
Technology In-Services: For the latest notes on this year's technology In-service Plan "Going Digital" visit this site http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ddkhkgjs_425gj6d55fc
Top 100 Digital Tools for Learning: Jane Hart's PowerPoint slide show presents the results of her popular annual survey of over 220 technology professionals to determine the most popular e-learning tools of the year. Ranked #1 is Delicious, followed by Firefox, Google Reader, Skype, and WordPress. See the presentation at:
http://www.slideshare.net/janehart/top-100-tools-for-learning2008-presentation?type=powerpoint
A Personal Note: Please accept the sincere appreciation of myself and my family for your condolences and prayers over my dads passing. When I had doubts about going overseas it was his simple and direct advice to "go ahead and explore" that has brought me here. If you like, feel free to visit a memorial site I create in his memory.
http://jroberts28.blogspot.com/
As always Kim, Susie, Fred, Gintas, Moe and myself are ready to provide you with any assistance needed. If your have any questions or topics you would like addressed in future Tech Updates feel free to email me at sroberts.
Keep Computing!
Steve
Your Friendly IT Guy,
Steven Roberts
Technology Coordinator
Walworth Barbour American International School
"The man who can make hard things easy is the educator." by ~Ralph Waldo
Emerson~
