I plan to use Purpose Games and Quiz star to start. I am talking to my school about using Google Aps and working on Collaborize Classroom topics for my students to discuss. To answer the successful part of your question, I have yet to use any of these ideas in my current class. I think they will work well but it is just my opinion.
Merrill,
Fantastic! Please come back and share your experience with the group.
Wishing you continued success int he classroom.
Theresa Schmitt
I am a technology instructor so I have to incorporate as much as possible. Since we might be limited in not having a PC to work on. We have the students install Operating Systems in a Virtual Machine where they will have complete access to do what they want. We have some physical equipment for demonstration and I also bring in my own hardware including old ones so they may see how quick technology has progress. We use Engrade.com site that is free for tracking grades and attendance but it also provides an area for posting on your own site. I use it to post additional class information including videos links that I found in other sites related to the subject matter. Each student is different and I have a mixed group of varying ages. Some that are older then me. So, we need to accommodate all types, from visual, audio to hands on learners.
Technology has made our society global and we are more connected than ever before with other people. Using technology such as interactive whiteboards or interactive tablet computers exposes the students to technology that will address the expected outcomes such as communication and collaboration, digital citizenship, technology operations and concepts, as well as research and information fluency.
I use power points and embed YouTube videos in my presentation to better engage the class. Also we have a portal where student can access their grades, attendance, class assignments, emails, etc.
Carlos,
Engrade is a fantastic, relatively new tool available to educators- I am so glad you brought it up with the group! Engrade is well worth checking out when adopting a new platform for managing the modern classroom and I have faith it will be around for some time given the pace the company has grown and the strong financial backers behind the company.
Best,
Theresa Schmitt
We use an online gradebook called engrade which I have found extremely helpful. The students get a log-in code and can view their grades at any time anywhere they have internet access. It also has a messaging feature and a calendar where I post classroom documents and PowerPoints. This is helpful for those who missed class. There is also an app for it which encourages students to actually use it.
Students at our college seem to use their phone for everything. I certainly encourage the use of a phone in class when students begin looking up information for use in class. What I find interesting is that I am now finding students who cannot use computers as well as they can use their phones. With Google Docs, papers come in not in Word formats.
I've also had students unable to send an email with an attachment on their phone.
At this point I am not sure all classwork can be done by phone, but it will be interesting to see where the technology takes us.
Prezi and Google apps. It is impossible to print out any google docs, however.
You tube, twitter and Scoology
