School Technology I Use: Atomic Learning Report 1

Being 42 years-old and a digital immigrant, I need every trick I can find to keep up with the digital natives that surround me.

My secret? I cheat.

Now before you get all judgmental about a teacher cheating, let me explain...

The other day I got an email asking me about how I podcast. As you already know, my students podcast every day at my school. 

My answer -- I use Atomic Learning.

I have been a subscriber to Atomic Learning for the past four years, and it has saved my bacon so many times I have lost count. You see, Atomic Learning has what they call "Just in Time Learning" which allows me to look up almost any subject and watch a short tutorial and voila! I now know how to do it.

Just in time learning is great.

I remember a few years ago when I was teaching web design in high school and I had to do something that I had never done before in Dreamweaver, I just logged on to my Atomic Learning account, looked through the library of training, found what I needed and then taught it to my students the next day.

I think it was Einstein who once said that you didn't need to know everything, you just needed to know who to ask. When I don't know something, I ask Atomic Learning. I bet use it three to four times a week.

I have used Atomic Learning for all of the new school technology that I use and integrate into my classrooms. Everything from how to make graphs in Excel to how to make this blog. So there, you now know my secret to my great wisdom and knowledge. Don't tell me principal, she still thinks that I am really that smart. But I guess she will know soon enough because we getting a subscription to Atomic Learning for the entire school for next year.

I'll keep you posted on how that goes, I know that the students and teachers are going to love it.

The Mighty Flip Video Camera

For years I have been doing video work with my students. Something that has brought me much joy and a lot of pain. Please remember I work with elementary-aged students.

In the past, working with conventional video cameras, I have had the following problems. See if you can relate:

Wires:
Cables, cables, cables, it seems that each camera comes with a different cable. Students love to lose those special cables, and better yet -- try to force the wrong cables into a camcorder.

Power Chargers:
Same basic problem of the cables above. They get lost, they get confused, and video cameras get wrecked.

Video Tape:
Ahh, the "record-over" problems, student are notorious for recording over each other's work. Then there is the weeping and wailing. Or it is the "Easter egg hunt" problem where the student knows that they recorded their Grammy-Award-Winning piece somewhere, I repeat, somewhere on the video tape. Start looking!

Buttons:
So many buttons! Let's see what this one does... oops.

With the above reasons keeping me awake at night, I was glad to see the Flip video camera when it came on the market. An answer to all my problems...

Wires:
It has none, just a flip our USB connector, nothing to get lost or confused.

Power Chargers:
Again, it has none, it charges through the USB connector.

Video Tape:
Yup, you guessed it -- none. Students just press the red button and record, no tape to rewind. No lost footage.

Buttons:
Just click the red button!

I found the Flip video camera to be one of the best pieces of school technology that I have bought in the past few years. Talk about a headache reducer. Now I can focus on making great student videos.

The Flip video camera is not perfect; no zoom, no manual controls, etc. but for the work I do with students I'll take those few limitations over the great advantages that I have listed above.

If you want to see samples of my student's work, visit our website: http://www.hightechelementaryschool.com

Happy filming!

Websites I use - Wikipedia.org

Many teachers in my school district have banned the use of Wikipedia, they believe that the information is unreliable, written by "just anyone" and downright false. Where do people get this information about Wikipedia? I can't believe that information sources are banned from our schools in 2010, it is like we are back in Hitler's Germany.

I am sorry to be so sensational, but this is really starting to bother me. As a contributor to Wikipedia I want to set the record straight on a few things.

Unreliable:
Every time I have ever posted information on to Wikipedia, that information is verified and reviewed by an editor. I cannot edit or add anything to an article without a resource that can be verified. Because of this very reason I have had some of my contributions rejected.

"Just Anyone" can contribute to Wikipedia:
Wikipedia is the "World's Encyclopedia" which is what makes it so great. All of us as a society can add something to the knowledge of the world, we all have something to give. If I was to pick up a paper-type encyclopedia, let's say the 2006 edition because it is way too expensive to buy one each year and look up a subject like "cell therapy" I would get some expert's opinion on the matter, that information would be verified by the editors of the encyclopedia. Not only would it be out of date, but it would also be just one person's opinion. What if there is a "non-expert" who has some radical ideas that is changing how the world will think about cell therapy? This person would be rejected by traditional encyclopedia editors but he or she could have a voice on Wikipedia as long as their information could be verified. (Being verified is different on Wikipedia and is a lot different than you think -- the idea of community consensus plays into a lot of it -- don't get freaked out.)

False information:
I can't believe that people still think this. Please use the contact link on this page if you know of any article on Wikipedia that has false information on it (remember your claim must be verifiable) and email me your findings. Some teachers I work with think that Wikipedia says things like the moon is made of cheese or some nonsense. This is just an old rumor about Wikipedia that teachers perpetuate.

My conclusion:
Wikipedia is not the end all, or the final word on anything. What it is is a great jumping off point to gain new insights and ideas. Teach students to verify and validate information. Teach them to contribute. Teach them to open their minds.

Are we not beyond banning information from our students?

Wikipedia Policies and Procedures

The iPad in Schools - Week 3

Today I want to talk about the educational apps that I like for my iPad. A few weeks ago I wrote about how I hated that there were so many pre-school educational apps and not a lot for older students. Luckily, a lot has changed in only a few weeks.

Here is a list of apps I like for schools and students:
Drawing Pad - a great little app that allows students to draw anything their little imaginations can think of.
Magic Piano - a fun piano app that have different types of keyboards for students to tinker with music notes.
Math Magic - an app for the younger students who want to practice their general math skills.
PianoMan - a guitarhero-esk type app that allows for dueling piano keyboards, it is loaded with a lot of classical music.
The Elements - if this is the future of textbooks, then count me in. When I want to amaze people with my iPad this is what I show them.
Star Walk - another beautiful app that shows what is possible.
SoundPaper - this app allows student to record lectures and classes while they take notes.
PaperDesk - better than SoundPaper because you can sketch on it as well as make different notebooks.
iBooks - reading books on the iPad is incredible, the screen is crystal clear and easy to follow.

I still believe that the iPad is a game-changer when it comes to school technology. I imagine a day when the only thing that students will need to bring with them to school is a tablet PC. I don't know if it will be the iPad but it is going to be a fun competition to watch.

School Technology I Use: IXL.com Report 1

A few months ago my principal approached me with a challenge; she wanted me to find a math solution that could help both our struggling and advanced students. 

Before starting my search we came up with with a few parameters:

- it had to be easy to manage, my teachers have enough to deal with and they didn't need anything more put on their plates.

- it had to be proven effective, in other words -- it had to work.

- it had to be fun for the students to use.

- it had to be available for students at home and at school, PC or Mac.

- it had to be standards-based.

I looked at many different math programs and websites, everything from free to very expensive. After looking at and trying six different systems we went with www.IXL.com a math practice website that is subscription-based.

So we got a subscription for each student and set up our school in their system.

We have just started to use it but here is what I can report so far:

- the set-up was super easy, I had all the students and teachers in the system in about a day.

- I spent about an hour training the teachers on how to initially use it, I'll cover more advanced features like reporting in another week or two.

- the feedback from the students has been really good. We'll see how they still like it and if it is working in a month.

I'll try and do a report each month so you can see  how this new school technology works for us.