Activexpressions Make an Impression

Today I visited Forest Park Elementary to assist in setting up their Activexpressions. Activexpressions are learner response systems for the Promethean Activboards. And although they are similar to the Activotes, which preceded them and Senteos, which is the Smarttech version, expressions are awesome because these devices allow the user to text answers in the same way a cell phone is used.

So along with the kinds of "True or False" and multiple choice quizzes you're used to with activotes, with CPS units or senteos you can set up questions that allow for short answer texting with the expression. Although the expressions currently require an additional software install, I was impressed with how easy it was to set them up and get started. I'm anxious to see how the teachers and students at Forest Park will respond to this technology.

Although these are currently being updated on our district technology price list, the price tag might be a deterrent. However, Promethean is currently running a contest where they are giving sets away to lucky classrooms. Check out the contest.

Additional thanks to April, who is now exploring a "hand modeling" career.

The Technology-Rich Classroom for Free

There are an amazing number of technology tools available for teachers to support their classroom, and even more services purchased by our district for teachers. This tools aren't just websites to visit, but tools for instruction. And workshops in all of these are currently offered by our department. So although we hope all classrooms will eventually have interactive whiteboards, projectors, document cameras, newer computers, etc...these are some tools you can use now. And if your classroom is outfitted with good tech equipment these tools will enhance what you can do in class.

Blogs provide a great way to engage students using technology. Whether posting assignments or showcasing class events, blogs using Blogger are free and relatively easy to set up and get going.Photostory is a great program that can be installed on all computers, but if it preferable to use a service that allows you to communicate with a much broader audience and house digital stories, take a look at Voicethread. Accounts are free, and we have several teachers and schools in our district using this with students. If you need a kid-safe search engine, we have a district license for netTrekker. You can also use DEStreaming for finding digital media that we also have a site license for. If you want a way to organize bookmarks try delicious; for organizing RSS try out Google reader. If you'd like to videoconference but don't have a big budget, see if you have a projector and webcam in your school, and use Skype (part of the Creating Global Connections workshop). If you need to collaborate with a group in a website set up a wiki.

The great thing about using these tools is that most are web-based and don't require installation. So start working on that technology-rich classroom, on a budget, with some of these free and worthwhile options.

Gigapan.org.......wow

There is no shortage of sites with great digital pictures on the web, but gigapan seems to offer something a little different. The images offers a panoramic view composed of many picutures allowing the viewer to move around the picture as well as zoom in to areas. The photo resolution is amazing. The only drawback I found was because the resolution is so impressive and the image is huge, it may take some time for it to load in your browser. But the payoff may well be worth the wait. 

One of the recently featured panoramas is David Bergman's President Obama's Inaugural Address. This panorama was created from over 200 images with a final size of 1,474 megapixels. I was able to zoom in on the President as well as the snipers positioned on rooftops on buildings in the distance. The panoramas can even be downloaded and viewed in GoogleEarth (version 4.2 or higher). Check out the image from the Mount Rushmore panorama in Google Earth below.

This site can allow you bring images into the classroom in stunning detail. 

Free Audio and Podcast Directory

As America waits for the inauguration of our 44th president how about reviewing some other great speeches in history or audio files that might peek your students' interest or supplement your class instruction? The site learnoutloud.com offers a wide array of podcasts and audio files for free download. The podcast directory offers everything from Great Speeches in History to Learning Japanese to Aerobics. The site also links to other providers of media where you could find both the video or audio of Barack Obama's speech from the 2004 Democractic National Convention (complete with the transcript) on americanrhetoric.com. 

Learnoutloud.com boasts "the Internet's largest directory of free audio & video learning resources." And you might be surprised at the variety and selection, which is the one drawback of the site. I found it time consuming to locate some of my files of interest. I didn't find an easy way to find my files, but once I did it was very simple to stream. So take a few minutes check out some of the audio offerings on Learnoutloud. 

photo from http://www.learnoutloud.com/

Tales from Tech Workshops

Last Tuesday afternoon I journeyed out to Moore Elementary for a technology workshop. And besides my frustrating (and self-imposed) exile to the stationary car-rider line prior to the workshop, I had a very good time. I was impressed at the turn out for this workshop. Twenty-three teachers converged on the "cozy" setting of the computer lab, some sitting on the floor in order to watch me give an overview of the interactive whiteboard and software for an hour after school. Most of the these teachers don't even have the boards in their rooms, but they hoped to get a head start on next year, as Moore Elementary will move into a new building outfitted with many interactive whiteboards in classrooms. I don't think these teachers were required to attend but rather wanted to get some early instruction or a refresher on using this technology in their future classrooms. I was pleased at their desire and willingness to learn about technology that for many of them won't be in their classroom until next year.

Sometimes installing new tech equipment is much easier than getting people to learn to use the technology to impact their classrooms and instruction. In this case, early indicators show this may not be a problem at Moore Elementary.

picture from www.wsfcsmagnets.net/moore-home.asp

WSFCS Wiki

The wsfcs.pbwiki.com was setup by the Instructional Technology Department to provide educators with easily accessible online resources. I've used it during workshops and recommended it to teachers who were seeking more information on a workshop topic. It includes some helpful teaching resources, as well as district examples of technology being used in the classroom. I hope that as the wiki grows we will be able to include more collaborators and take advantage of some of the great ideas in our district. See something you could add to it? Check it out and let us know.

Doodle: Easy Scheduling

Need to set up a meeting? If you're tired of sending out "reply to all" e-mails, calling or trying to meet with each member to see when they can meet, then Doodle might be for you. Within minutes you can send a "poll" to gather responses from the group on when to schedule a meeting (see below) or where to eat dinner. This site is very easy to use and e-mails you when group members respond to your poll. Each member can reach the poll and see the responses of the other members. You can even try it out without setting up an account.