Opening video...and other Kurzweil related info :)

Hey guys,

Wow, your posts look amazing! It is really awesome to see what technology can do (and so easily!)

Here is the link to the opening activity, so that we can post it on the wiki. The clip is only 1:17



The following are the points that I am going to make during my presentation about Kurzweil. The link following is a print screen page from Kurzweil so that I can show the class what the program looks like. Can we put that link of the wiki? Also, where should we have our notes for the presentation...on the blog or I assume the wiki would make more sense? yes?

Kurzweil:
-Read any text while highlighting
-access to reading the internet
-both visual and auditory
-multisensory: sound, syllable, word, phrase, or sentence level
-control SPEED and VOICE
-translate to other languages
-Dictionary/thesaurus feature
-web capabilities
-outline extraction
-outline to writing a paper
-text, voice, and sticky notes in the text
-Aids self-correction (read back feature)
-online books
-students can work independently
-Terra Nova test

Okay, so here is a list of links to websites that can be added to the Tech Notes handout under a heading of SmartBoard resources.

http://exchange.smarttech.com/#tab=0
Lesson plan sharing site from Smart Technologies (the company who created the SmartBoard)

http://education.smarttech.com/ste/en-US/Ed+Resource/
Educator resources site from Smart Technologies

http://education.smarttech.com/ste/en-US/Ed+Resource/Lesson+resources/toolkit/tipsandtricks.htm
A how to site for the teachers tool kit that comes with the Smart Notebook software.

http://its.leesummit.k12.mo.us/smartboard.htm
This is a collection of premade lesson plans, some good and some bad, but worth a look!

http://smartboards.typepad.com/smartboard/smart_board_lesson_plans/
A blog containing links to SmartBoard info


I have the script for the begining done and will post that next! If there is anything I con do to help you all let me know :-)

Michelle

Wordle

Here is the wordle that I made using my previous post. It takes everything that was written and makes a word web with them. The most common/used words are in a bigger font. It is just a cool think to do with your students sometimes. The website is www.wordle.net
You should check it out!
D

Blog Design...and some rambling...

Hi guys! I was thinking that (over the next few days) I would spice up the blog a little...maybe add some images or something. Feel free to ad/subtract anything you want. Also, let me know that items that you want me to put on the handout. You know, I was thinking that we could somehow incorporate how digital media (i.e. Twitter/Facebook) has made communication with celebrities so much easier! For example, kids who dream of being an astronaut can communicate with astronauts actually ON the International Space Station. Or in a Literature class, kids can Skype with an author. It is so insane what technology can do! I have had my kids use EarthKam. It is a free program that allows students to have access to a camera on the International Space Station. Kids can request that camera to take pictures of the Earth (as seen from the ISS). We took pictures of volcanoes and some other images. It was so cool for the kids to see what it looked like from above. We have also been trying to collaborate with kids from other parts of the world. Without the use of technology, we would not be able to make it happen! It is just amazing when you think about.
Ok, enough for now! Haha, see you all later!
D
P.S. Has anyone used Wordle? I am going to do one using this blog entry and show you. It's pretty cool!

Technology in the Classroom without killing your Budget

Here aresome more resources:

Issues and Trends in Instructional Technology: Web 2.0, Second Life, and STEM Share the Spotlight
Book Series Educational Media and Technology Yearbook
ISSN 8755-2094
Volume Volume 34
Book Educational Media and Technology Yearbook
Edition 1
Publisher Springer US
Copyright 2009
ISBN 978-0-387-09674-2 (Print) 978-0-387-09675-9 (Online)
Part Part I
Pages 7-23
Subject Collection Humanities, Social Sciences and Law
SpringerLink Date Thursday, May 28, 2009

http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/libtech_conf/2010/concurrent_a/59/
on creating a library web site in 1 hour or less using a blog, principles can be transferred to other academic areas as well.

School Technology Leadership: An Empirical Investigation of Prevalence and Effect
The general question addressed is what technology leadership attributes make what kind of difference in the success of various technology-related programs. First, this article has integrated the prescriptive literature on technology leadership with the National Educational Technology Standards for Administrators (NETS-A) and then has operationalized technology leadership in terms of NETS-A. Data from the 1998 Teaching, Learning, and Computing nationwide survey of more than 800 schools were used to examine technology leadership characteristics and their effect on indicators of technology outcomes. The findings confirm that although technology infrastructure is important, technology leadership is even more necessary for effective utilization of technology in schooling.
Educational Administration Quarterly, Vol. 41, No. 1, 49-82 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/0013161X04269517

Technology and Teaching Reading

Here are some Google Scholar citations concerning reading and the use of technology:

Weaving the Literacy Web: Changes in Reading from Page to Screen
Wendy Sutherland-Smith
The Reading Teacher, Vol. 55, No. 7, Owning Technology (Apr., 2002), pp. 662-669
(article consists of 8 pages)
Published by: International Reading Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20205116

Science Activities: Classroom Projects and Curriculum Ideas
Issue: Volume 47, Number 3 / 2010
Pages: 89 - 102
Using Technology to Support Expository Reading and Writing in Science Classes
José A. Montelongo and Roberta J. Herter California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA
Abstract: Students struggle with the transition from learning to read narrative text in the early grades to reading expository text in the science classroom in the upper grades as they begin reading and writing to gain information. Science teachers can adapt their teaching materials to develop students’ reading comprehension and recall by writing summaries of scientific text. Using technology, teachers can scaffold text comprehension and improve students’ reading and writing skills. Technology encourages improved comprehension of reading and more elaborate writing in the science classroom by motivating students to act on their curiosity, access resources, and embellish their work.

The importance of elementary school students’ social chat online: Reconceptualising the curriculum
Damian Maher, University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), P.O. Box 222, Lindfield NSW 2070, Australia
Received 11 February 2009; revised 10 March 2009; accepted 17 March 2009. Available online 16 April 2009.
Abstract The Internet is increasingly being used as a tool for communicating and learning in primary schools across many developed and developing countries. The place of social chat as part of online interactions has as yet not been fully recognised as an important component of learning.
In this paper, the interactions of students in a Sydney primary school are examined focusing on the role that social chat plays as part of the online learning process. Here it is found that social chat allows for the development of related skills and knowledge and is an important precursor to more formal learning opportunities and as such, should be considered as an important part of the learning process. Such a consideration has implications for the way the curriculum is designed, implemented and assessed.

Posting videos on thw Wiki

Hey guys I was thinking that we could choose whatever videos we wanted to use during our presentation and post them in the videos section on the wiki page (which by the way looks great)