Will the iPad be a game changer?

With Apple's release of the iPad today, I have a feeling this could really revolutionize not only the tech gadget world, but also our classrooms. For the cost of a decent iPod touch, you can now surf the web, read a book, download apps, all on a device the size of a laptop screen, and not much thicker either.

How could this benefit our schools? First of all, these things hardly take up any space at all. With our movement into Web 3.0, or "Sky Computing" everything can be done online without software as it is. Even files are stored safely online now with Google Docs.

With the option to purchase a dock and keyboard, I can certainly foresee these devices replacing the laptop carts or mobile labs.

What's your opinion?

Making Online Magazines

Do any of you have a use for making online magazines? I know I do with my Desktop Publishing class. Maybe you'd just like to take a PDF and turn it into magazine format just for the sake of being cool. Well, if that's the case, you'd like this site I just came across: http://www.youblisher.com/ You simply upload your PDF and they turn it into a magazine style web page, in which they host. Best of all, it's free.

Educational Viral Video of the Week

My wife showed me a very well done video by the HOPE Christian Schools in Milwaukee, WI. Living not too far from Milwaukee, I like to promote anything good going on in their schools due to the fact that MPS is getting such bad press right now; they are also going through a mayoral take-over. Even though this is a private school in Milwaukee, it's worth showing some of the good that is going on over there.

A full writeup of the story can be found by WISN news here.

Blogging in the Classroom

Blogging in the classroom has many uses. First and foremost, it enhances students' writing ability. Teachers should take any opportunity they get to have students writing, especially if it is something they see as new and fun. Blogs also get students to use crititcal thinking skills due to the interactive nature of blogs. They must read a post and think about it before responding.

Blogs in my classroom:
I am a business teacher in a small school, which means I must wear many hats. I teach 4th thru 12th grade with subjects ranging from basic keyboarding to computer applications to accounting. My favorite classes to use blogging are my more creative classes called Desktop Publishing and Digital Photography, which are high school courses. Primarily, I use blogging to post assignments and have student create online portfolios. This gives them an opportunity to showcase their work and makes it easier for me to grade their assignments.

What I really like about the blog is that students can see examples of the work they are expected to complete. Having a blog also came in handy while I was out for paternity leave so the students were able to keep up on their work since I continued posting assignments from home.

Overall I feel that blogs enhance student learning because it exposes them to additional technology while providing a medium for them to showcase their work. Students are also able to collaborate with each other to improve the final quality of their assignments.

Examples:
Below are examples of my blogs if you would like to see examples of blogs in the classroom:
-Desktop Publishing
-Desktop Publsihing Student Blog
-Digital Photography (This blog is a work in progress)

Unexpected Find

Have you ever had one of those moments when you are looking for one thing and find something else that you can really use? This happens to me all the time, whether it be while I am out shopping, looking for something in the basement, etc. But just recently I had a good find on the Internet. We all know the Internet is loaded with information, so much so that it is impossible to know everything that is out there. It seems the best way to really get to the good stuff, is from word of mouth (or fingers) from other people.

Just yesterday I was checking out the site ShareTabs. I really liked the layout of the site and how the students could visually go to your bookmarks. What I didn't like about it was that you cannot go back and edit your links once you've created them. Don't get me wrong, this is a great site, I just wanted something more. So in my quest to find the site that had a similar setup, but allowed users to create accounts so they could modify their links, I came across a site called Simply Box. This site is completely different from what I was looking for, but seems to have awesome classroom potential. Students would be able to easily do online collaborative projects using this program. But instead of my trying to explain it to you, you should just check out their excellent video tutorial on the site.

I never did end up finding a replacement for ShareTabs, but in the end I ended up with another great teaching resource.

Welcome

Welcome to my educational technology blog. Hopefully you will find information here to be interesting and useful.