Integrating+Technology



= Integrating Technology Resources =
 * ~ Resource Title ||~ Site Details ||~ Resource Descriptions ||~ Evaluation ||~ Rating ||~ Contributor ||
 * < [|"Integrating Technology in the Primary Classroom"] ||< Author: Kathleen McGeady.

An excellent website provides fantastic ideas for ways of integrating technology with younger children. As well as tools and tips [|Kathleen] shares her questions so that the author and reader feel as though they are on their learning journey together. ||< This website offers ideas of technology tools which have worked well for Kathleen. However, her site is so much more than a [|Pageflakes] homepage. There are also articles asking for advice and sharing trying and tested techniques and strategies for a seamless transition from traditional teaching to Web 2.0 education ||< What I enjoy most about this website is the living, breathing nature of the narrative. It is almost as though we are following the author through the ups and downs of integrating technology into her Elementary classroom. Her site is visually attractive, well organized and easy-to-navigate. Her comments are well-written and based in first-hand experience. Kathleen is a role-model for how 21 Century Teachers should be modeling the most important disposition: Life-Long Learning. Her posting are inspiring especially for those of us who were not born Digitally Native!

Another excellent feature is the fact that Kathleen always responds to comments from outside contributors. Her attitude is positive, polite and resourceful. She encourages thoughtful reflection from her readers and often poses pertinent questions which call out to be answered. ||= ||= Susan ||
 * < [|Creating Life-Long Learners] ||< Author: Matthew Neddleman.

About the Author: Aside from being the author of the blog Matthew is a K-5 Teacher, literacy coach, Apple Distinguished Educator. He has been using digital film making is his elementary school classrooms for over twelve years.

Details: This site provides many ideas for incorporating technology in the elementary classroom. Aside from technology Matthew also provides practical tips to everyday questions and concerns. ||< This site was designed to give practical tips to elementary school teachers and ways to integrate technology in the classroom. Matthew focuses the technology aspect of his blog on podcasting and video production in the elementary school. There are also other interesting tips and tools along the way. ||< I feel that Matthew's site includes a lot of useful information. I like how it does not solely focus on integrating technology. It also provides many tips and ideas for every day activities. There is one interesting post about children who cry in the classroom. I found the information very useful.

Matthews also responds to the comments posted on his blog personally. He has a wonderful outlook on education and integrating technology in the classroom. ||= ||= Lyndsay J. ||
 * < [|Technology Integration in the Elementary School] ||< Author: Mary Beth Hertz is an elementary computer teacher. She has her blog as part of the Edutopia site. Mary Beth was also one of the organizers for Edcamp Philly. This blog provides excellent insight into the world on incorporating technology in the elementary classroom. Even though this blog is fairly new, it still provides useful information for the elementary educator. ||< The purpose of this blog is to provide ideas, advice, and tips for elementary teachers to incorporate technology in the classroom. Since Mary Beth is an educator herself she discusses upcoming ideas she plans to use in her classroom as well as what to do if your technological resources are limited.

Her ideas are unique and insightful. She is very knowledgeable on this topic, so her ideas are thoughtful and detailed. ||< Mary Beth's blog is very detailed, yet easy to follow. Her ideas are easy to understand and the way she delivers the information is intriguing. The information she includes relates to my teaching practices since I am beginning to use more technology in my classroom. Additionally, Mary Beth discusses tools such as podcasts, which I would love to learn more about.

Mary Beth also consistently responds to the comments posted on her blog. She writes thoughtful comments and even thanks the outside contributors when they present ideas.

Since her sight is fairly new I am interested to see how it continues to evolve. ||= ||= Lyndsay J. ||
 * < [|The Edublogger] ||< Author: Sue Waters

This website offers a vast array of practical tips, resources, tried-and-tested tools and advice on everything to do with blogging in the classroom. [|Sue] takes a very personal approach and is quick at answering requests. Her personal touch mixed with useful, practical information makes her website extremely popular. ||< Aside from providing free blogs for teachers and their students, this website is the next best thing that [|Edublogs] has ever offered. It is like a "How to" guide for bloggers, especially Edubloggers. The information on the site is weighted towards the practical application of skills and less thought-provoking. There is little back and forth discourse. ||< The downside of this website for me is that it is unashamedly self-promoting. Whilst it shares a large number of emerging technologies, it is less likely to promote the use of blogs other than Edublogs. Both Edublogs and the Edublogger are also too concerned with awards and ratings. I suppose I'm just more intrinsically motivated! ||= ||= Susan ||
 * < [|Pair-a-dimes] ||< Author: David Truss

In this blog [|David] and his extensive learner network share their insights and reflections regarding a variety of topics effecting modern classrooms today.

David's blog shares a pretty global pedagogy since he is an American administrating in an English language school in China. As a parent with a teaching spouse, I believe that he is finds it quite easy to keep his finger on the pulse and relate to us teachers. ||< David's blog raises many issues concerning education, technology and learning. In the archived comments you can find almost anything related to these fields being discussed and mulled over by a variety of educators and other people interested in the field. David speaks from an administrator's point of view and his articles refer to whole school issues. I feel that most teachers, regardless of grade or subject expertise, would find these articles useful. ||< It was the fact that this site had such a variety of contributors that draw me to it. Blogs can often become one person's point of view with very few new perspectives or alternative opinions. This is not the case with this blog. Indeed the posting are so frequent that it can be hard to keep up. The blog is well organized and easy to navigate. It has a wealth of information on it but this can be both a good and bad thing: as in "information overload"! ||= ||= Susan || In this blog, McLeod offers many posts on multiple subjects pertaining to education, many of them about tech tools for the classroom.
 * < =====Resource Title ===== ||< Site Details ||< Resource Descriptions ||< Evaluation ||= Rating ||= Contributor ||
 * Dangerously Irrelevant || Author: Scott McLeod

He also shares a number of blog posts about social media and society, policy and law. He is one of the creators of the "Did You Know?" video series and all versions can be found on his blog.

He is a well known professor at Iowa State and the Director of CASTLE (Center for the Advanced Study for Tech Leadership in Education).

He is on Twitter and his handle is McLeod. || In this blog, McLeod will offer readers interesting tools for classroom use, offer observations about potential issues or conflicts that then spark long discussion threads, and share bits of other people's blogs and respond to them in his own. || I have loved this blog and have followed it since we began class. I also follow him on Twitter, where he will provide quick links to interesting posts or online articles. I also recommend that you watch the Did You Know? Videos on his page. They are enlightening as well as, well, visually really cool. || || Rachel T. || She has been in secondary education for 15 years.
 * < Techsavvyed ||< <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">This is posted by Ben Rimes, also on Twitter at techsavvyed. The blog is called "The Tech Savvy Educator" and I have thoroughly enjoyed reading his posts and the comments of others. He has posted different ways of using tech in the classroom and is a teacher himself. ||< The main toolbar for this site provides links to information for various disciplines. Rimes presents creative ways to use tech in solve math problems, or creating a digital story through video. He also offers links to other sites that he feels are worthwhile for educator. ||< I really like this site for a variety of reasons. Rimes is a teacher and a parent, which I always appreciate in a blogger, for some reason. I like that his site is a good tool for a SCHOOL, not just for one teacher. It is easy to navigate and I like to check it each day. I have also looked at past blog posts because I found it so interesting. ||= [[image:3checks.png width="128" height="43"]] ||= Rachel T. ||
 * < **Resource Title** || **Site Details** || **Resource Descriptions** || **Evaluation** || **Rating** || **Contributor** ||
 * < [|712educators] || Author: Melissa Kelly

She has had experience with all levels for students. She has taught primarily social studies courses and advanced placement courses. She has also been an online educator for the past seven years. || On this site, Melissa addresses the use of the Internet in the classroom. She discusses how the Internet can and should be used as a research tool because most libraries lack the current information that can easily be found online. She also cautions teachers about allowing students to use the Internet because of the incorrect and inappropriate material found.

The quality of information should be considered, and parents should give approval prior to posting any student work to a website.

She also talks about using websites in the classroom and how the students can use them to retain material that they have been taught. || I like the site, however, there is a lack of projects. On the second page, I found two links that take you to suggested projects to use in the classroom.

The site is useful with what looks like a Q and A area setup as "Objection" and "Possible Solution." Being a web design teacher, I thought it was a useful site, especially for those who might start teaching it for the first time. || || Jeremy || [|http://www.4teachers.org] || Author: ALTEC (Advanced Learning Technologies) through University of Kansas
 * 4Teachers

This website offers a variety of tools and resources to incorporate technology into the classroom. || There are links to website features and also links regarding the integration of technology. Visitors can read about teacher success stories in using technology and various ways to implement tools within lessons. There is a link for teachers and parents to find more information about safety tips and policies of the Internet. There is a family of tools box on the right side of the home page that has a variety of ready-to-use online tools and games that teachers can use in a lesson. This site features a site of the week and also offers a blog that highlights topics of the week. || I enjoyed browsing through this site and all it had to offer. I think this is a very useful site that helps teachers when planning by offering lessons, games, rubrics, and even planning. One feature that I thought would be extremely helpful is the links involving integrating technology and English Language Learners. || || Rachel S. || [] || Authors: Larry Johnson & Annette Lamb
 * Teacher Tap

This is a teacher resource site that involves using technology according to a student's intelligences. This website also offers a variety of sites to learn about the intelligences and how to plan lessons and activities based on intelligences. || On this site, authors Johnson & Lamb have gathered tons of information, articles, and other sites that visitors can access, tying together technology and Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences.

At the top of this site, the multiple intelligences are listed and hyperlinked. In clicking each intelligence, a visitor can see what techology tools that particular "intelligence" would enjoy using the most. Along with the technology tools, Johnson & Lamb have given visitors an idea of what roles each intelligence would fit best when working with a group.

There are also links involving multiple intelligences, technology and multiple intelligences, and student projects based on their intelligence. || This was a great site that offered a wealth of information. Teachers can go to this site and find endless articles and activities to meet the needs of a variety of learners.

Although a visitor to this site will never lack for tools and resources regarding multiple intelligences, I feel that they could also possibly get lost with the mass of information available. || || Rachel S. ||
 * < [] || Author: Shelly Cashman

This site is a teacher and student resource site for those who use the Shelly Cashman Series textbooks.

Datafiles, and online companion links are available for this site. || This site has a multitude of student resources. Student data files, downloads, projects, etc. are abundant throughout the site. Students can use this site from home should they forget their textbook and can also get online support if needed. || I use this series of textbooks in my classes and have found this site to be very useful and supportive for the students. It's easy to get downloads and order new edition of textbooks. Because I use it so much, I must give it my highest rating! || || Jeremy ||
 * < [|The Web 2.0 classroom] || Web 2.0 in the Classroom || Steven Anderson, M.Ed. blogs about various Web 2.0 tools and development. I was especially interested in his blog regarding LiveBinders. LiveBinders are essentially a web based 3-ring binder you can create to house links, video, audio, documents or anything else you want your students to have access to. You won't have to worry about dogs eathing assignments anymore if you use LiveBinders! Check out this short video on YouTube or visit the LiveBinder site for more details. || The content is great on this blog, but I am not a fan of the way it is laid out. I found myself searching for info. I do value the content, however. || [[image:image1.jpg height="40"]][[image:image1.jpg height="40"]] || Deanna ||
 * < [|Classroomteacher.ca] ||  || <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">It was written by Mr. Kuroneko about 101 ways you can implement technology into the classroom. I personally found that some of his suggestions were things that I would have never considered. One example is asking companies to donate their old technology to the school when they update their own. Some of the things mentioned are what some schools are already doing, what some plan to start soon and lastly, just wishful thinking. Lots of ideas to help enhance the technology use in your classrooms. ||   || [[image:3checks.png height="43"]] || Jeremy ||
 * [|whiteboardblog] ||  || <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">This blog site is a bit more unique from the UK. Here, you will find project ideas, photographs, videos, guidance, presentations, etc., Although some of the material might not be suitable for all ages and/or classroom environments, it offers many different things you can do in your classrooms to utilize technology. There is whiteboard training and additional teacher resources in the archived section. ||   || [[image:3checks.png height="43"]] || Jeremy ||