Technology Gems, Ideas, and Facts

Friday, January 8, 2010

Happy New Year!

Gem ~ a website or application that might work well for you or your students

In reviewing my Delicious network this week I came across Interactive Websites for Grades Pre-K-12 and thought it might have something to offer each of you. The links are categorized by subject across the top of the homepage. While each entry indicates the appropriate grade level, secondary teachers will want to be sure to scroll all the way down the list as there is a link to additional resources for grades 6-12 at the bottom of each page. The Assessment category contains links to a variety of test practice resources. (http://jc-schools.net/tutorials/interactive.htm)

Idea ~ a way to enhance your LFS lessons with technology

Videos and more videos…can we ever have too many choices? Teaching Videos comes from the UK with a mission of providing a “place where teachers can view and share educational videos that can be used in the classroom.” This site seems to be new and some of the categories aren’t too well populated yet, but there are still many great resources here that could be used as activators or other lesson elements. If you’ve got a few minutes and want something to make you smile, check out this one from the category of Geography. It’s about 4 minutes long, but you don’t have to watch the whole thing to get the idea. (http://www.teachingvideos.co.uk/index.php/home)

Fact ~ Just a bit of information

There’s much discussion in the ed tech world these days about exactly which “technology skills” students should be taught. With both software and hardware changing so rapidly, teaching minute skills in specific applications seems a waste of time, as a month from now there will be a “new way to do it”. Instead, some feel that we need to teach general skills that are used across platforms and applications and then give students many opportunities to use those skills in their daily work. Click here to see just one list of such skills. This is by no means an exhaustive or definitive list…just ideas that have been put out for consideration. It’s a wiki, so feel free to offer additional ideas. Do your students have the skills listed? Do you? (Don’t feel badly if you don’t…I learned a thing or two reading this list!) (http://schoolcomputing.wikia.com/wiki/Implicit_Computing_Skills)

Have a great weekend!

Anne