TECHNOLOGY TOOLBOX

Now through July 2010, Lego Education is searching for 10,000 new contestants for its 2010 LEGO^® Smart™ Creativity Contest, challenging classrooms across the United States to become LEGO^® Smart™!

The 2010 contest, including prize information and contest rules, will be emailed to all pre-registered contestants on Monday, August 2, 2010, starting at 8 am CST.

The 2010 LEGO® Smart™ Creativity Contest requires the use of a LEGO® Smart™ kit. Kits are available, free of charge, to the first 10,000 new, registered, and qualified contestants.

Encourage your students to think outside the box in new and creative ways while working together to demonstrate their understanding of technology, engineering, science and math. Browse activities from last year for project ideas.

http://www.virginiatrekkers.com/Recycling/Recycling.html

Ever wonder what happens to recycled materials once they are dropped off or collected?  Check out this podcast by the Virginia Trekkers to see how sorting is an important part of the recycling process.

http://www.tagxedo.com

Word clouds just keep getting better and better!  Tagxedo is similar to Wordle with additional features such as changing the shape.  You can also magnify words when you mouseover them.  If your students enjoyed Wordle, be sure to check out Tagxedo!

http://artpad.art.com/artpad/painter/

I just discovered the Art Pad Painter from Ms. Ricca at Ross Elementary, who helped her second graders create CD covers when learning about 2D and 3D figures.  Each student had to illustrate at least four figures they were learning about.

The easy to use site allows students to playback their strokes making it not only a fun tool, but useful!  For example, students can playback paintings that include diagram illustrations or math problem solutions.

http://www.befunky.com

Be Funky is one of the many sites available to add effects to photos.  Upload a picture and have fun! Make sure you check out the Goodies section to add frames, speech bubbles, hats, masks and more!

Be Funky is free, however you can purchase a membership (starting at $4.00 per month) to access the “plus” features.  In addition, without a membership a Be Funky logo will appear on the bottom right side of your picture.

Mr. Shillingburg’s Website:
http://mail.bryanisd.org/~jshillingburg/

This week’s spotlight is on Brian Shillingburg, 4th grade teacher at Neal Elementary School.

If you are looking for ideas to motivate your students while creating a fun, positive and caring environment in your classroom, then Mr. Shillingburg’s room is a place worth checking out!

Music is a daily source of inspiration for Mr. Shillingburg’s students. Each morning, his students are welcomed and motivated by participating in a dance-off using music from Myspace, YouTube and iTunes. With music being an integral part of his personal teaching philosophy, he utilizes his musical talents in many ways, from writing and recording songs to help his students learn the writing process to creating podcasts for radio stations. Click here to listen to Mr. Shillingburg and his class perform their original rendition of the Writing TAKS song.

Mr. Shillingburg also uses his iPhone to integrate technology with music. Using a voice app, he can plug his iPhone into his classroom radio and use it as a microphone from which his students can make announcements in front of the class. He also uses a special 4 track app to generate beats; coupled with instrumental versions of popular raps, he uses these beats to create new songs which can then be incorporated into lessons. Mr. Shillingburg obtains a lot of his base material from Youtube, which has everything from math fact songs to musical stories about the Alamo.

In addition to musical inspirations, Mr. Shillingburg uses Flickr to research pictures that go along with stories his students are reading and also sets up Comic Life centers for his students. He uses a SMARTboard to add an interactive twist to a number of more traditional topics, such as reviewing grammar and practicing word structure. He also uses other programs such as Google Earth to assist with geography lessons as well as helping new students immediately feel connected to his class. For example, Mr. Shilliburg once used Google Earth to map out the hometowns or areas of his students, with one student being from as far away as Bogota, Columbia.

Thank you Mr. Shillingburg for the positive environment you create for students while preparing them for the future with technology!

Below are just a few examples of the YouTube movies used in Mr. Shillingburg’s classroom:
Multiplication Rap
Chinese New Year Lion Dance
Dragon Dance
Whale Sharks

Join me and over 900 educators around the world in committing to go paperless on Earth Day, April 22!  Whether you are an administrator, teacher, staff member, student or parent consider making this pledge and encouraging others to do so, too!

Click here for more information and to add your name and pledge.  Bryan ISD family if you will be participating, please  comment below.  Together we can make a difference!

http://etherpad.com/

Jennifer Bergland, Chief Technology Officer for Bryan ISD, demonstrated the use of EtherPad during our last department meeting.  Our staff of over 45 people was divided into groups and provided topics for discussion.  We chose one person in our group to “drive” and connect to the public EtherPad that Jennifer created.  As our driver typed our ideas, we were also able to see ideas from the other groups.

This was a time efficient activity because there was no need to repeat ideas that were already typed, go on a gallery walk of chart paper to read ideas or spend time after collaborating to listen to each group present their ideas.  We were able to see the ideas as groups were brainstorming in realtime and comment on those ideas.

The EtherPad setup time takes about 30 seconds, making it one of the most user friendly collaboration tools I have blogged about!

To get started go to http://etherpad.com/ and click on Create Public Pad. Then click on the blue share this pad button toward the right side of the EtherPad screen.

Once you click share this pad, you will be given a unique url address.  This is the address you will share with students so they can join your EtherPad space.

The web address that is provided for you is case sensitive, so as students type it into their browser make sure they type it exactly as it is shown, making capital letters capital, lower case letters lower case.

As students join the EtherPad they type their name (or group name) and are assigned a default color, with the option to change colors.  Currently there are eight available colors so if you have more than eight students or groups joining the space, they may need to type their initials or group name after their comments so you can identify them.

There is also an option to clear authorship colors so that all students would be using the default color, therefore making the comments anonymous.

A few things to keep in mind when using this site:

• Students can erase and edit other students’ work.  You may want to occasionally save the draft version so you can revert back to it if needed.
• You can export the workspace in multiple formats such as plain text, PDF and a Microsoft Word Document.
• The timeslider view allows you to see the order in which the content was added or modified.

The chat is a wonderful feature for teachers to bring students back on task and encourage more ideas.  It also provides an opportunity for students to ask for clarification or assistance.

Teachers, I encourage you to try EtherPad with your students and if you do, please comment and share your activity and tips or suggestions so we can motivate and learn from each other.

EtherPad has been acquired by Google but is still currently available.  In the event that it becomes unavailable, Primary Pad is a good alternative and looks identical to EtherPad.

http://www.dabbleboard.com/

Dabbleboard is a free online whiteboard collaboration and mindmapping tool.

Dabbleboard allows you to easily add shapes, text, images and other objects to a blank work area.  You can even upload your own documents or images.  Then you can share the work area with anyone, anywhere in real-time!

Click here to see example of how you can use Dabbleboard in the classroom.

Skype is a free software program that uses voice over IP (Internet Protocol) technology.  Skype allows users to make free “phone calls” and instant message other users all over the world using the Internet.

Atomic Learning offers step-by-step tutorials for learning how to use Skype.  Bryan ISD teachers, please send me an email if you need login information.

Ms. Ward, author of the Teacher Et Cetera Blog has provided the following ideas for using Skype in the classroom:

• Connect your class to virtual penpals
• Help students hear native speakers when learning a foreign language
• Collaborate with another class on a joint research project
• Bring authors into your classroom via Skype, Skype an Author
• Learn about another culture by connecting students to a classroom from that culture
• Learn about geography from students living in an area you are studying
• Bring professionals from your content area to “speak” in your classroom
• Conduct interviews
• Study the same book with another class and hold web book talks

More ideas can be found on the following sites:
Around the World with 80 Schools Skype Project
50 Awesome Ways to Use Skype in the Classroom

The Skype in Schools Directory is a good place to start to find other teachers to connect with.  Make sure to add your Skype username and location so teachers can connect with you, too!

Tips:
SkypeMe mode allows all Skype users to see that you are available and interested in talking or chatting.  This includes people who you do not know that can find you by searching the Skype Directory.  SkypeMe mode disables your privacy settings and allows anyone to contact you, whether you have authorized them or not.  I recommend that you not be in SkypeMe mode when using Skype in the classroom.

More Tips for Using Skype in the Classroom