S'Cool Tools 5 Great Tools to Perk up Your Classroom and Engage Your Students

These tools are based on the ability to potentially enhance teaching in new yet powerful ways, make subject easy to learn as well as be well supported, and it must be an innovative new tool or a substantial improvement on an earlier version.  For instance,  the first tool is Lego Education's WeDo Robotics Construction Set.  Lego Education Collaborated with MIT to created WeDo.  This tool is designed for kids 7-11 and includes more that 160 Lego elements, it motor, tilt sensor, motion sensor, icon-based software, and teacher notes with curriculum objectives, discussion questions, and suggestions for activity extensions.  Students use the drag and drop WeDo Robotics software to create their own on-screen animations with WeDo constructions, integrating virtual and physical worlds.  Students can even share their stories with children in other countries.  Cost= including Robotics Construction set 129.95, WeDo Robotics Software 39.95, and We Do Robotics Activity Pack, 129.95.  Altogether about $300
Smart Table by Smart Technology is similar to a white board, but it is a multitouch, multiuser, interactive learning center with customizable applications.  There are ready-made lessons that allow you to substitute your own images and content.  The Smart Table is a very interactive tool but it costs about $8,000 and that is a little too expensive for teachers to purchase on their own.  Hopefully new versions will be available soon.
Next we have an AVer Pen.  The AVer Pen is like having an interactive white board in the palm of your hand.   The pen is like a mini projector with interactive tools, image capture, video recording capabilities, and a variety of activities, plus the image can be projected on anything in a room, and pens can write on almost any surface.  There is a built in answer selection keypad that acts as a group response system that desplays poll results as graphs and tables, and the teacher's pen can interact with up to six student pens simultaneously making it a useful tool in any classroom. Cost 799.99
 Multiuser Virtual Environments are one of the most exciting programs for me.  These are virtual worlds were oys and girls from all over the real world comt to chat, play, learn, and have fun together.  Kids design their own character that have the ability to travel play games, visit theators, start their own businesses, buy cars, or even write for the town newspaper all through a virtual world.  So instead of teaching students about economics through text.  They can log on to the Virtual Environment and have the ability to work make purchaces and experience what their parents do every day.  Some examples of the Virtual Environments are Whyville (www.whyville.net), Skoolaborate (www.skoolaborate.com,Quest Atlantis (http://atlantis.crlt.indiana.edu), EcoMUVE (www.ecomuve.org/index.html), and even World of Warcraft in School (www.wowinschool.pbworks.com).
Google Apps Education Community is the last Tool talked about.  this site offers video tutorials on using Google Apps, lets users vote on their favorite apps for education, provides a forum where educators can share ideas and get advice, and contains a list of educators from around the world who are using Google Apps.  It has links to dozens of leson planss posted by teachers, and you can search by application, subject area, and grade level, and IT'S FREE.

Speak up 2009

This article focuses on education in the 21st century.  Students, regardless of community, demographics, socio-economic productivity, age, race, gender, etc. now have the ability to use technology as a platform of education.  As I learn more and more about web based learning I can see the benefits of having computers in the classroom.  Now we as educators can tap into the web and use the millions of sites in order to engage our students in a different, more hands on approach, of learning.  Some students are capable of learning information through lecture or reading information in a book, but many students like myself find it difficult to concentrate for long periods of time if they are not actively involved in the lesson.  Students are learning about all kinds of different things outside of the classroom.  They are involved with all kinds of social learning or social websites, blog sites, etc.  Students are using these sites in order to get help or information and if there are web based forums that students can communicate and/or collaborate outside of school in order to further their education or get help.   Now the teachers must get on the same page in order to keep up or to see how the class feels about the lesson or the information given in class.  Is the information well presented, or does it keep the focus of the students, are students interested, and we can figure all this out by reading what the students are talking about.  I feel like I am behind when it comes to social networking.  I was always anti Facebook and other social networks, but everyone is using them for all types of reasons.  The students of today have technology at their fingertips, and as educators we need to take advantage of this in order to reevaluate how we present information to the class.
I believe that technology is an amazing way to cut down spending in education as well.  Huge expenses in education are from text books, and paper.  With the virtual world of education we can do away with turning in hard copy papers, sending out hand outs, ordering new text books every year, etc.  We now have the ability to turn in all papers, reports, activities, handouts, etc. via email.  We can keep in touch with students and their parents by making a class forum where all the assignments, and lesson plans can be revisited from home or outside of the classroom.  Technology just makes the information more readily available.  There no more excuses like my dog ate my homework unless the dog ate the computer.  the digital age is upon us.  Its time to take advantage.

Computing in the Clouds By Doug Johnson

Cloud computing Originated from the cloud metaphor that represents the Internet on network diagrams.  It relies on applications and file storage that is on a network (local, district intranet, or Internet).  For instance Web-based applications that perform a wide array of productivity tasks are FREE! A school district can lower its computing costs by using these applications.  Instead of saving work to the hard drive students can use these apps to save their work as well.  There for a student doesn't have to have a computer with all the applications on it because the Apps are on the Internet.  The student doesn't have to use a flash drive or transport to anything else because it is web based.  The long term effect would be that the students and schools save money because the BIG COMPUTERS are not necessary.  IE: Power Point, Photo Shop, Illustrator, or any of the other programs that have to be bought.  Everything is on the Internet and this will save the school districts and students money.