Using Classroom Tools

On the Classroom Tools web site (which has so many great things for teachers) was a video showing some children using the web site to reinforce their learning about fractions.




The children are working in groups and are showing obvious excitement about their learning - isn't that we all strive to do - enhance their learning and make it fun. You will find other videos on their web site to help you using some of their tools in your classroom.

I have used Embed Plus to just show a small snippet of the video on this blog post (another great tool for teachers.

Bit Torrent

I have always found Common Craft's videos very well done and useful for teachers to use to explain the technologies to students.


Common Craft have released a new video to explain Bit Torrent.



"This video teaches the basics of how BitTorrent's technology works to make downloads faster when more people are involved. It includes points on:

•How files are shared on the web and what makes BitTorrent different
•The BitTorrent application and how it's used
•How trackers, peers and hosts work together to deliver "pieces" of files
•How anyone can use BitTorrent to share or download files" From: Common Craft web site

Explorer

Microsoft has warned of a serious security hole in Internet Explorer. If you are using this browser you are at risk of having the computer hijacked, emails, credit cards and bank accounts hacked.

"Microsoft has issued a global warning that there is a security hole that allows hackers to install malicious scripts." Christchurch Press 2 Feb 2011

Users of other browsers such as Firefox or Google Chrome are not affected.

If you are using Explorer:

Go to:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2501696

scroll down to fix it under the enable heading

follow the download and installation instructions

Embed Plus

A great web site for everyone (but especially for teachers) is Embed Plus.

Teachers often use videos from YouTube in their classrooms to enhance the thinking and learning. These videos can stimulate interest or illustrate a point. With Embed Plus you can edit the movie from YouTube to customise it for the needs of your class.

The slow motion is great for action videos or if you are teaching how to do something like a long jump in PE. The Previous and Next buttons let viewers skip forward and back within scenes that you’ve marked. The zoom will give viewers a closer look at wherever they move their cursor. You can also add your own annotations to the movies - something teachers will love where they can point out things that they want the students to take particular notice of.

A beauty of this web site is that it is all free! All you have to do is click the Get Started button and away you go.

I would love to hear how anyone is using this site for their classrooms.

Guest post

3 Must-Use Websites for Teaching and Education

The Internet has completely redefined the way we do everything – it’s easier now than ever before to communicate with people, it is simpler today to enhance knowledge and learn additional skills, and it has opened up a world of opportunities that did not exist before. In the world of education, the web has ushered in a revolution of sorts – what was exorbitantly priced earlier is now available free of cost. You don’t have to sign up for expensive courses anymore; rather, you can learn pretty much anything you want on the web, for free. For teachers who’re looking to supplement their arsenal of classroom tools and searching for creative ways to boost the interest of their students, the web is a treasure trove of resources. The three websites below contain an abundance of information; they’re updated regularly, and they can be tapped to augment your teaching methods and enhance the quality of your lessons:

• BBC Schools: The BBC’s own site for schools, teachers and students, these pages feature content for learners of all school ages and subjects that span junior, middle and high school. You can download video clips to play in your classroom, you can find content for various subjects including History, Geography, Mathematics, Art, Languages, Music and Science, and while the syllabus leans predominantly towards the standard of British schools, the facts and information presented are accurate and apt for students from all over the world.

• Teacher Resources: This site is a collection of links to various resources that are useful to teachers. It caters to the needs of those who teach younger children, from Kindergarten up to the 6th and 7th grades. It has exercises and worksheets designed to make learning more fun and more interesting, and it allows teachers to creatively plan their lessons and make their classes more stimulating and exciting.

• Lantern Fish: If you’re looking for resources geared towards learning the English language, then this is the site for you. From quizzes to crosswords, creative writing to phonetics, this site has it all. It is particularly useful for students who are not native speakers of English, and it provides lesson plans, holiday worksheets, flash cards and many more interactive ways to study English and improve your written skills and vocabulary in the language. If your medium of education is English and your students are not native speakers of the language, they could find it hard to learn other subjects as well. So helping them to improve their English first is the best way to help them improve their grades in all other subjects as well.

By-line:
This guest post is contributed by April Davis, she writes on the topic of Accredited Degree Online . She welcomes your questions and comments at her email id: april.davis83@gmail.com

More earthquakes

Believe it or not we were hit by more earthquakes on 26 December. (see blog posts in September) Everyone here was just starting to relax as the after shocks had settled down and then...

we were rocked by several big ones on one day and a lot of further damage has been caused. I have been very lucky as we have had very little damage but many of the buildings in the central city area were badly hit again. Some of the ones suffering damage this time had survived the first major one but not this one. Hopefully that is the last of them but they are predicting that it is not all over yet.

Christmas

One of my favourite web sites at this time of year is Portable North Pole.

You put in the information about your child (or a child that you know) and a Christmas video is made. They are just beautiful. Santa talks to the child about them in a video (you can also upload your own graphics of your child which are used in the video.

Last year my sister did one for a family member. She was Skyping them when the child opened the video. Children just love this one, try it and see...

Happy Christmas

Using ICT in Literacy Instruction: Tips for Teachers

Guest Post

Using ICT in Literacy Instruction: Tips for Teachers

There are many benefits to using ICT in education, especially math and literacy – ICT is a growing field, and related skills are required for many types of work now. Technological developments continue to increase the widespread applicability of ICT in a variety of venues, from the medical field to the arts and everything in between. Using it to teach literacy and other educational subjects can give students a head start on learning how to successfully use ICT in daily life, which could increase their chances of receiving higher education opportunities and jobs.

Teaching with ICT can also help students learn material more efficiently with a better rate of internalization – so they’ll be able to recall what they’ve learned from you about literacy when they need to use it. The connection between information and ICT skills is great for students, especially where literacy is involved. With both communication technology abilities and literacy knowledge, students will be better prepared to interact with the world in a successful and rewarding way. So if you’re thinking about integrating ICT into your literacy instruction methods, try using some of the following tips from a Newcastle University ICT research team to get started on the right track.

Get Comfortable with Educational ICT

ICT isn’t the tough subject you might imagine it to be – it’s just Information and Communication Technology. By breaking the title down into its three individual components, you’re simply using these tools to help you teach literacy: information, communication, and technology. Brainstorm to come up with ways to include these tools in your literacy lesson plans, such as using word processors, presentation software, spreadsheets, database software, desktop publishing, graphics software, and more. There are also many online tools that can be used in effective teaching, such as introducing students to Google Notebook to keep track of online research more easily.

Identify Ways ICT Can Contribute to Class Objectives

Now that you have some potential ways to use ICT in your classroom, check your objectives to make sure that ICT has something to contribute. Using new technology just to use it doesn’t make for effective teaching, so unless the ICT activity brings something unique and important to the table, don’t use it. Students can be easily confused by activities that don’t relate to the content you’re teaching. While many forms of educational ICT are relevant to almost any topic, it’s important to make sure that your ICT activities are on-target.

Assess Students’ Current ICT Skills

Do all of your students know how to use the technology you’re considering for the classroom? If not, you’ll need to teach them how to participate in educational ICT before you assign any activities. You can check for ICT skill by doing a simple exercise in class that uses the technology you’d like to fully implement later on. While students are trying to complete the task, walk around the room to make sure everyone is familiar with the technology.

Assess Available Equipment, Resources and Back-Up Options

You’ll need to make sure that you have the resources to use ICT in your classroom. For example, you’ll probably need a computer lab with at least a few computers – about three students can share one computer at a time if needed. It’s also helpful to evaluate which types of software are available to you, what kinds of licenses they have (single or multiple), and what your budget might allow in terms of new software or other types of technology. You can even collaborate with other teachers to see if you can share resources, propose purchases that would benefit the whole school, and get some practical educational ICT advice.

Integrate ICT Activities into Lesson Plans

Now, the last step is to modify your lesson plans to include ICT activities. This doesn’t always mean tacking on ICT as an afterthought or as a lifesaver if you run into unplanned down time. The best way to integrate it is to re-structure your lesson plan, using ICT as a focal point in the lesson content and methodology. Your students will be better able to connect ICT and literacy if your lesson plans incorporate both themes seamlessly.

Bio: Maria Rainier is a freelance writer and blog junkie. She is currently a resident blogger at First in Education, researching various online programs and blogging about student life issues. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop.

Using video to evaluate student teachers in the classroom

I have just been reading about this 'new' idea - using video to evaluate the student teacher in the classroom situation. This article is from the States.

Here in NZ this is something we used to do and also something we used to get students to do for their own personal critique. Students found that they learnt a lot watching themselves teaching although many couldn't believe it was 'really them' they were watching. The advent of the Flip video, ipod touch with camera and the like make access to videoing and editing assessible. Now many NZ schools do not like our students using videos in the classrooms due to the New Zealand privacy laws.

In some states in USA the students will have:

"more demanding requirements to receive their teacher license: Under a new
teacher evaluation system being tested in 19 states, evaluators will watch video
clips of student teachers delivering lessons in their classroom, and candidates
must show that they can prepare a lesson, tailor it to students of different
abilities, and present it effectively."

These assessments are made by independent evaluators rather than the Teaching Colleges. It will be very interesting to see how this goes. As one professor said:

“It’s a big shift that the whole country is going through,” said Misty Sato, a University of Minnesota education professor who is helping to adapt the assessments for Minnesota. “It’s going from ‘What has your candidate experienced? to what your candidate can do.”

I am very strongly of the view point that our graduates need to know both about and how to teach. I wonder, if in the present environment, some feel that the theory (about) is more important than the practical (how) i.e. the 'about' rather than the 'how'. We are in the middle of changing our courses and are now lecturing in mass lectures rather than smaller classes (where people are able to model behaviours that can be used in a classroom).

Seems that those in the states have now gone through most of this circle and are bringing more 'how' back into their courses. I saw a newsclip in Sydney two years ago on the same thing - 'we think it would be beneficial for our students to have time in classrooms rather than lecture theatres' was the the person being interviewed said. We are not up to that realisation yet, I wonder how long it will take us?

Virtual field trips in the classroom

A great overview describing the use of virtual field trips in the classroom is found on this web site.

Taking your pupils on a virtual field trip is a really good way to spark their interest or motivate their learning in a particular topic. It is often not possible to take a field trip particularly if there is distance involved but by using virtual field trips the world can be available to all children at any time.

Taking children to art galleries such as The Louvre while living in New Zealand is very appealing and now so possible.

LEARNZ is a New Zealand site which I have discussed earlier where New Zealand teachers and their classes can register (free) to be part of a variety of field trips. Coming up on their web site are two virtual field trips; Takahe and Wetland Treasures.

It is an interactive site with a lot of interesting and relevant information.