Park ED 491 Spring 2008

Week 8 Blog Post Writing Prompt

2008-05-08T17:04:00.003-05:00

Please take a couple of minutes to give a brief summary of your experiences in this class. Was this class what you expected? Did this class provide you practical applications for your classroom? What would you change about this class? You can include any opinion that you want to express. Your post should include at least 100 words.

Please complete by Saturday, May 11th. Thanks.

Week 7 - Educational Technology Grants

2008-04-28T20:53:00.004-05:00

Finding room in the budget to make your classroom technology dreams come true can sometimes be difficult but if you look hard enough there may be a grant out there waiting for you and your project.

Your assignment for Week 7 is to explore the sites below with information on grants. Once you have checked on sites your assignment is to write a blog post with the following comments:

1) Describe a grant that you could apply for that would apply to your subject area and grade level. (If not currently in the classroom then imagine you are in your ideal classroom situation for this activity.)

2) Imagine your principal has just informed you that a wealthy patron has donated a large sum of money to the school and each classroom teacher will be given $2500 to integrate technology into their curriculum. What would you buy? How would you use it? Please describe your plan on how you would use your $2500.

Writing Technology Grants Links:

tech Learning Grant Site - this is my first stop is searching for grants, excellent resource

Educational Grants Blog - a blog devoted to information on educational grants

The Grant Wrangler - a listing of over 100 links to educational grants

10 Tips to Successful Grant Writing - a short but effective look at what makes a grant a winning grant

Best Buy Te@ch Grant - a great opportunity for schools within 50 miles of a Best Buy store

Sprint Achievement Program - great opportunity for Kansas City area educators

Week 6 - Citation Machine

2008-04-24T20:23:00.000-05:00

Citation Machine

Week 6 - Blog Writing Prompt

2008-04-24T20:18:00.002-05:00

This week for your blog entry please write about one of the topics discussed tonight in class.

- copyright and teachers

- online assessment

- links

These blog entires should be post by next Thursday.

Week 6 - Class Wiki

2008-04-24T17:09:00.000-05:00

Class Wiki of useful links for Teachers

Week 6 - Online Assessment

2008-04-23T12:23:00.000-05:00

Quia - online assessment tool

QuizStar - online assessment tool

Week 6 - PowerPoint Game Templates

2008-04-23T11:21:00.001-05:00

Link for PowerPoint game templates

Week 6 - Multimedia Presentations

2008-04-23T11:20:00.003-05:00

Multimedia can be a powerful tool in the classroom setting. However, if done incorrectly it can also be more damaging than helpful to the person you are attempting to reach.

PowerPoint - History and Research:

Wiikipedia's PowerPoint Page - contains the history of PowerPoint and basic information about the application (did you know that is originally an Apple product?)

Research Article on PowerPoint in Education - great presentation with facts that describe effective use of PowerPoint in the classroom

Microsoft PowerPoint Sites:

Microsoft's PowerPoint in Education Page - official site on using PowerPoint as an instruction tool, includes tutorials, tips, and information on different versions

Link for free download version of PowerPoint - software good for a limited amount of time

Learn to Use PowerPoint:

PowerPoint Tutorial - a good PowerPoint 2007 tutorial created by Florida Gulf Coast University

PowerPoint in the Classroom Tutorial - professional site with cartoon figures to teach PowerPoint basics

PowerPoint Resources:

PowerPoint FAQ Page - a very detailed page with links to help answer almost any question on PowerPoint

PowerPoint Blog - a blog devoted entirely to, that's right - PowerPoint

Tip for Finding PowerPoint Presentations on the Web - a great tip to help you find only PowerPoint presentations

Animation Factory - a good source for graphics, many are free and others on the site you need to have a subscription to use

PowerPoint Templates - some templates offered for free, others are to buy

Extras4PowerPoint - a site with many resouces and links on using PowerPoint

Just for Fun

Week 6 - Online Games and Simulations

2008-04-23T10:00:00.001-05:00

eLections - an online election simulation from Cable in the Classroom

Windward - science and geography simulation game from Cable in the Classroom

Shakespeare, Subject to Change - online simulation game from Cable in the Classroom

Jamestown - online history simulation about first English settlement in America

An Ohio Teacher Using History Games in the Classroom

Diseccting a Virtual Frog

Week 6 - Teachers and Copyright Law

2008-04-23T09:19:00.003-05:00

Take this short 20 question quiz on education and copyright. No fair cheating....Teacher and Copyright Quiz - grab a pencil and take this 20 question quiz to find out what you know about copyright law

This week we are discussing copyright law and fair use for teachers. The use of material with a copyright in class is a very fine line. Here are some sources to help us understand the fine print.

Online checklist / PDF of Fair Use Policy

Lesson Plan for Students about Copyright - a great lesson plan designed for 8th graders to teach about copyright issues - in PDF format for easy printing

Printable Chart on Copyright - a two page chart for quick reference about copyright, great to print and post near computers, is in PDF format

List of links about Copyright - an extensive list of links about copyright law from Stanford

CyberBee Interactive Game on Copyright - a flash animation page to help teach students about copyright issues

Copyright comic book - read about a new concept in teaching copyright and print a copy for yourself

Week 5 - What Homework Must Be Completed Before the Next Class?

2008-04-17T13:57:00.004-05:00

1. Post your blog entry reflection on your blog. Topic - Is Google Good or Evil?

2. Be working on your 3 minute video - due to be shown at Week 8 Class, May 8.

3. Be working on your 3 minute podcast - due to be shown at Week 8 Class, May 8.

4. Find and add your educational web sites to our class wiki - this is due next week - April 24th. You will stand up and show the class three of your top picks.

Week 5 - Articles of Note : Google Don't Be Evil

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Article entitled "Google - Don't Be Evil"

Week 5 - Google For Teachers

2008-04-16T00:00:00.011-05:00

Google for Educators Page

Calendar

Docs

Groups

Page Creator

Picasa

Sketch Up

Book

Earth

Google Earth Community

Google Earth Lessons

Google Earth Flight Tracker

Creating a Google Tour

Juicy Geography Blog

Lit Trips

Maps

Google Sightseeing Blog

News

iGoogle

Cusstom Search

Notebook

Posters

Activities

Sign up for Teacher Newsletter

Teacher Discussion Group

Images

Alerts

Blog Search

Patent Search

Scholar Search

Translate

Labs

Mars

Trends

Week 5 - Screen Capture

2008-04-15T23:52:00.002-05:00

Jing - free online application which allows you to capture video of what you are showing on your screen

Week 5 - Sites of the Night

2008-04-15T21:00:00.005-05:00

One Red Paperclip

Create your own Photo Mosaic

Here is the link to the video of the MIT lecture given by Thomas Friedman, author of The World Is Flat

Roller Coaster and Home Market Values

eLections - an online election simulation from Cable in the Classroom

Shakespeare, Subject to Change - online simulation game from Cable in the Classroom

Rasterbator - make large posters of one image

Week 4 - What Do I Have for Homework as I Leave Week #4 Class?

2008-04-10T20:48:00.005-05:00

1. Post your blog entry reflection on your blog. Topic - You Tube and education.

2. Be working on your 3 minute video.

3. Be working on your 3 minute podcast.

4. Find and add your educational web sites to our class wiki.

Have a great week and we'll see you on April 17th when we have Google Week!

Example of a Spanish Teacher Blog

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Example of a blog from a Spanish teacher for Jacqueline!

Week 4 - Writing Prompt for Blog

2008-04-10T10:00:00.004-05:00

This week we have discussed using digital video in the classroom, including You Tube. What are your thoughts and feelings about both using video from You Tube in the classroom and the ability for students to post their own content on You Tube - a confrontation with a teacher in a classroom captured by a cell phone for example.

Please include a reaction with a minimum of at least 100 words on your blog under the title "Week 4 Writing Prompt". This assignment is due by the next class - April 17th.

Week 4 - Video in the Classroom

2008-04-09T09:10:00.013-05:00

Grandpa video movie

United Streaming - online video for use in the classroom

You Tube

You Tube 101 - article on teaching with You Tube from PBS Blog

Teachers Using You Tube - article from Arizonia newspaper

You Tube in the Classroom - article from Geek Dad blog

Teacher Tube

Google Video

Voice Thread

UStream - live and archived video for free

DigiTales - collection of resources for creating video in the classroom

We Didn't Start the Fire video

Common Craft Videos

What Does A Teacher Make Video

Zamzar - online video converter

Flip - cheap video camera

Week 4 - Sites of the Night

2008-04-09T08:00:00.003-05:00

The Way Back Machine - what you post to the Internet is never really gone, check out old web pages using this site

How Much Was Worth Then - ever wonder how much $5 in 1865 is worth today, this site will answer that question

Premium Lesson Plans for Teachers - a collection of the best of the best lesson plans available on the Internet, divided into subject and grade level

Brain Pop - short videos on almost any subject, free for a limited amount of downloads per day

Week 4 - Keeping Track of Your Blogs

2008-04-09T07:00:00.003-05:00

You can keep track of the blogs you read in an organized way by using an aggregator. There are a variety of different aggregators available. Aggregators collect RSS feeds to bring the content of your blog to one central location on the Internet for you to read, organize and edit.

Bloglines

Google Reader

Week 3 - Online Articles to Read and Reflect On for Week 3 Blog Post

2008-04-01T08:43:00.002-05:00

Hello. This week we won't be physically meeting for class but I wanted you to read a couple of online articles discussing the issues of education and technology. Please note that many times these articles are more than one page long, you need to look at the bottom of the article to see if there are additional pages.

Please read the following 4 articles and then create a blog post on your class blog sharing your thoughts or opinions about the articles. Please type a reflection for each article that is at least 100 words in length. You can include all your reflections on one blog post.

There are no right or wrong answers - just your thoughts and feeling about the articles. If you don't agree with something in the article please don't be shy about addressing it. Likewise, if you agree with the points made in the articles, please explain why you agree.

I have been receiving your web addresses for your personal class blogs and hope to have them all as links on the class blog. If you have not yet sent me your blog web address please do so as soon as possible. Thanks and see you next week on April 10th.

Article #1 - Students Leave Technology At Home from Education Week

Article #2 - Teachers Use You Tube in the Classroom

Article #3 - $50 Computer Being Tested in Schools

Article #4 - Online Speech Pits Students Against Teachers

What homework do I have as I leave the week 2 class?

2008-03-27T22:56:00.002-05:00

The next time we will physically meet is Week 4 - April 10th.

1. Send me - via my park e-mail - your URL address for your class blog (for example: http://www.gradteacher.blogspot.com/)

2. A blog post reflecting on the Week #1 writing prompt - see blog post below

3. A blog post reflecting on the Week #2 writing prompt - see blog post below

Be thinking about a 3 minute video project you would like to create for your content area using PhotoStory 3 - due May 8

Be thinking about a 3 minute audio file for your content area using Audacity - due May 8

Be looking for educational web site you would like to share with fellow class members and add to the class wiki - due April 24

Next week we will not meet - April 3rd - but I will post 4 articles on the class blog that I want you to read and then comment about on your blog - 100 words for each article. There will be a writing prompt for each article on the blog.

Thanks.

Week 2 Blog Post Writing Prompt

2008-03-27T21:00:00.003-05:00

Your blog writing prompt for Week 2 is to discuss the potential for podcasting and editing audio in general for the classroom or video in the classroom.

You can discuss ways that you might use podcasting in your content or grade area. Is there anything about podcasting that worries you or should approach with caution?

Did you find any educational podcasts that you might be able to incorporate into your curriculum?

Do you have any ideas on how you could use student created video in your classroom?

Write at least 100 words on the topic and have it posted to your blog by midnight, April 10th

Week 2 - Book Blog Project

2008-03-26T23:13:00.002-05:00

Link to 2008 Guerrilla Season Book Blog Project

Week 2 - Digital Video in the Classroom

2008-03-26T23:11:00.002-05:00

This week we will be using PhotoStory 3 from Microsoft to create digital videos from digital still pictures.

Here is the link to download PhotoStory 3 - free download if you have a legal copy of Windows XP as your operating system.

Links to using digital photography in the classroom:

Ideas for Digital Photography in the Classroom

Adobe Digital Kids Club

Quick Get the Digital Camera - article from Educational World

Picasa - free tool for editing and organizing digital photography

Choosing a Digital Camera for the Classroom

Flickr Toys - add some pizazz to your digital photos

DigiTales - collection of resources for creating video in the classroom

Marco Torres - an incredible teacher from California that uses video in the classroom to the highest degree

Sweatshop Student video

iPod Video - a simple movie changes the way Apple does business

We Didn't Start the Fire video

Photo Story 3 - official site

Photo Story 3 - a site with expanded information about the program

Links on Digital Video in the Classroom

Week 2 - Sites of the Night

2008-03-26T23:08:00.002-05:00

Sites of the Night for Week 2:

Jeopardy Archive - list of every Jeopardy question

PowerPoint Review Game Templates - includes Jeopardy

Snopes - is that really true?

Da Font - fonts of every type, free

Week 2 - Wikis in Education

2008-03-26T23:06:00.002-05:00

Wikipedia

Wikipedia vs Encyclopedia article

Examples of Wikis in Education

Week 2 - Wikis

2008-03-26T23:04:00.001-05:00

During this course you will be asked to find and share a minimum of 10 web sites that you believe would be either helpful to you in a specific content area or help educators in general.

These links will be added to our classroom wiki, thus building a collection of links that we can all share. We will all be able to access the wiki to edit and add information over the next several weeks. I will share the password with you in class so that you may edit the wiki.

Park Ed Tech Wiki

You will need to have all your links posted to the wiki by the start of class on May 8th. You are required to have 10 links - each worth 20 points.

Week 2 - Podcasting

2008-03-26T22:43:00.003-05:00

#1 - What is a Podcast? What is a Blog?

What is a "podcast"?This question can be answered in several ways. When I am asked that question I usually explain that is sort of like a radio show that can be heard thorugh the Internet or downloaded to your MP3 player and you can listen to a podcast when you select to listen to it.The wikipedia describes Podcasting as: the method of distributing multimedia files, such as audio programs or music videos, over the Internet using either the RSS or Atom syndication formats, for playback on mobile devices and personal computers.

A person that produces a podcast is usually called a "podcaster".The word itself is a combination of "i-Pod" and "broadcasting" but you do not need an i-Pod to listen to a podcast or record a podcast.A "blog" is a web site which typically places new content at the top of the page and can contain pictures, links and audio content.Many blogs are very easy to create and there is no need to have knowledge of HTML code or complicated web design.Blogs and podcasts are often work together as a podcast can be placed inside a blog.

#2 - Examples of Educational Podcasts

In the past year, many teachers have found a variey of ways to use podcasts for educationa purposes - student created, collaborative, instructional and content based. Here are some examples of educational podcasts available:

Speaking of History - by Eric Langhorst, 8th grade American History teacher discussing education, technology and history

Room 208 - by Bob Sprankle, a 3rd/4th grade teacher in Maine that has a student created podcast

Connect Learning - by David Warlick, an educational technology presenter from North Carolina who speaks at workshops and conferences around the world

Teach 42 - by Steve Dembo, an educational specialist for the Discovery Educator Network

Bud the Teacher - by Bud Hunt, a language arts teacher in Colorado

Adventures in Podcasting - by Shawn Wheeler, a technology specialist for the Peoria, Arizona school district

Educational Podcast Network - a collection of links to educational podcasts maintained by David Warlick, contains all grade levels and subject areas.

#3 - Creating Your Podcast

The application we will be using today to capture and edit sound is a software application named "Audacity".Audacity is a free program that can be used with both a Mac or a PC. Using Audacity you can record directly to the computer using an inexpensive microphone and you can then edit and layer your sound tracks.

The free download for Audacity can be found here

If you have questions later on using Audacity you can check out these online tutorials for additional help and tips: Audacity Tutorials

Your finished product using Audacity will be a WAV sound file. A WAV sound file takes up much more memory than an MP3 file so we want to convert the file to MP3. The program we will use to convert the file from a WAV to an MP3 is a free program from River Past. This program is free and very simple to use.

Download for River Past MP3 Convert - allows you to convert a WAV to a MP3 file

#4 - Distributing Your Podcast and Blogging

Once your audio file is in MP3 format you can upload it to a school server or a site that allows free hosting for audio files like Our Media. This will allow anyone to listen to your audio file through the Internet.To officially make your audio file a podcast you will need to add something called RSS.

RSS is web language which allows people to subscribe to your podcast so that everytime you upload a new audio file it will automatically be sent to them. The easiest way to do this is to create a blog using a free service like "Blogger" and then registering your podcast with an RSS creater like "Feedburner". These programs will work together to easily create an RSS feed for your blog. Both of these services are free.Once you have your RSS feed created then someone can subscribe it it using a program like "Bloglines". This is also a free.

#5 - Finding and Listening to Podcasts

There are several places you can go to find educational podcasts. One of the best is the above mentioned Educational Podcast Network with a pre-reviewed list of podcasts in various educational categories.You can also do to a podcast directory such as Podcast Alley, Podcast Pickle, Podcast.net.
These have hundreds of podcasts listed under the "education" category but please preview any podcasts before playing for students as some definitions of "education" may differ from what is acceptable in the classroom setting.When you find some podcasts you enjoy listening to you may want to subscribe so that you will be notified each time a new episode is published. To do this you will set up a registration with an aggregator.

A popular aggregator is Bloglines - which is free. The advantage of an aggregator is that the content is delivered to you - you do not have to check each day for new content.

# 6 - Podcasting Resources

Here are some additional links that you may find helpful in exploring the world of podcasting:

Mr. Langhorst's Podcast and StudyCast Links - links to study reviews for 8th grade American History class

Making Your First Podcast - some tips from Podcasting News on starting a podcast

i-Tunes - the Apple site which allows you to subscribe to podcasts

Podcasting Tutorial - from Tony Vincent of Learning in Hand

Podcasting in Education - comprehensive site from Shaun Else, a 5th grade teacher in Canada

Week 1 - Online Survey

2008-03-20T16:00:00.000-05:00

Hello. Please use this link to take an online survey. Don't worry it's not graded - just so that I can get to know who you are and what you would like to gain from this class.

I will give you the "secret word" in class to allow you to enter the quiz.

The program used for survey is an online tool named "Quia" which we will discuss later in the course. I currently use it for testing in my classroom.

Week 1 - The Web 2.0 Classroom

2008-03-20T15:47:00.000-05:00

View Upload your own

Week 1 - Educational Blog Examples

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Teachers and educators are currently blogging on every subject and grade level. Please use the link below to explore an extensive list of educational bloggers.

Check out this extensive list of educational blogs listed on this wiki.

Week 1 - Creating Your Blog and Following Others

2008-03-20T13:05:00.001-05:00

Hello. Tonight we will be creating the blog we will use throughout the class to reflect on the ways technology can be incorporated into the curriculum. Blogging can be used in schools in many different ways. The links below will help you as we go through the process tonight.

Blogger - the most common blogging application in the world

Bloglines - an aggregator that allows us to keep track of the blogs you read

Twitter - "microblogging" where each post is under 140 characters

Week 1 - Blog Writing Prompt

2008-03-20T12:11:00.002-05:00

Each week you will be posting a minimum of one entry to your blog. In class we will give you a writing prompt that will be the focus of your entry for that week. Please feel free to write as many entries as you wish, add pictures and links, etc. but the graded entry will be the one entry from the writing prompt.

Week 1 Writing Prompt:

This week we are discussing the use of educational blogs - some from teachers, others by students, and still some from classes. Please explore various educational blogs through this educational blogger wiki. The list contains hundreds of educational blog divided into categories.

After you have visited some of the educational blogs I would like you to pick out three and write a short review (a paragraph for each one you choose) to be placed in your graded blog entry for the week. The review could include ideas about you could use a similar blog in your class, things that might have worried you about the blog or anything that comes to mind as you read it. Please include the link to blogs you are reviewing in the text of your entry.

The blog entry needs to be posted by midnight - March 26th.

Week 1 - Sites of the Night

2008-03-20T11:12:00.002-05:00

Front Pages - The first one is from the Newseum. It allows you to see the front page of over 500 newspapers from over 50 countries. Very cool.

Gas Buddy - This site allows you to check in on gas prices from various cities in the United States. Could be easily made into a lesson for math, social studies, science, etc.

Slideshare - This site is great for sharing PowerPoint presentations. You can upload your presentation for free and others can view, and if you wish, allow them to also download it.

Did You Know Video on YouTube

ED 491 "Technology for the Classroom" - Spring 2008 Syllabus

2008-03-20T10:50:00.000-05:00

A copy of the syllabus for this course is available online as a PDF file here.

Instructor Information

2008-03-20T09:18:00.000-05:00

Hello. My name is Eric Langhorst and I will be your instructor for ED 491 - Technology in the Classroom. I teach 8th grade American History at South Valley Jr. High in Liberty, Missouri and this year is my 15th in the classroom. This will be the 7th time I have taught the ED 491 class - 3 times as an online class and 4 times as a face to face class.

I attempt to use technology in my classroom as a way to enhance my curriculum. My students are engaged and active in the classroom. My favorite saying about class is that "History is so much more than just a bunch of boring, old, dead guys." I also produce a blog and podcast named "Speaking of History" in which I discuss history, technology and education. In the past three years the site has had visitors from 145 countries.

This year I am have the honor of representing teachers from across the state as the 2007/2008 Missouri Teacher of the Year.

If you would like to learn more about what we do in class you can check out the following resources:

Our 8th Grade American History online classroom

Speaking of History Blog / Podcast

Cable in the Classroom video

School Library Journal Article - "The Dixie Clicks"

School Library Journal Article - "Golden Oldies"

Edutopia Article - "Outlaw Educators"

USA Today Article - "Blogging Begins Young"