Technology I Have Seen in Action

Here is a list of technologies I have seen used in the classroom around my school and in my own classroom. All of them were used in classroom instruction as activites and forms of formative assessment. I believed the majority of the students enjoyed using the technology.

1. Student Response System--> Students used the website polleverywhere.com to text in their answers to various questions prompted on the screen. Their answer would be texted directly to the site which would show their answer pop on the screen. It was anonomous so the risk level was very low. The students loved it. I did this and my friend Jessica did this as well as warm-up activities reviewing the information we had taught the day before.

2. PowerPoint--> I use it to teach new vocabulary words with real-life pictures under the words. The ability for the kids to learn the new word and see a big picture of it to make the connection helps tremensouly with learning new vocabulary. I have seen it used in a History classroom where the teacher put up a slide that just had way too much information on it. This was very hard for the kids to use and very confusing. It was used to present new information as a direct teaching strategy.

3. TeacherTube--> I will show various clips that I enjoy from this. It keeps the kids engaged and there are some very great resources to grab from to enhance lessons!

4. ActiveVotes--> I have seen this used both as formative and summative assessments. Like Polleverwhere.com, the kids push the correct button for their answer and their answer can pop up on the screen. You can also keep the votes secret if taking an actual summative assessment.

5. VoiceThread--> A progam that involves kids viewing a particular "thread" and being able to comment through recording themselves, typing, or texting. The kids all have profiles and symbols for themselves. Very engaging, but it's A LOT of work on the teacher to create everything for them to view!

6. Word Processing --> Not much to say. It's extremely important in every aspect of ilfe nowadays!

7. For class organization for my kids I have a Blog and website for them. I also have AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) and they can IM me the night before a test between 9 and 9:30 for any additional help.

I REALLY want to use Podcasts. Anyone used them yet?