A wiki is a way people can work together to build knowledge, collaborate on ideas, and create a community that uses the collected knowledge. Wikis allow online collaboration by adding and editing content on documents and projects. Wikis are a great way to collaborate in grade level meetings.
Scott Holcomb did a great job teaching us about podcasting. Podcasting is recording your voice and sending it out to the world for free. It is a recorded audio on demand. You need a mac, with OSX.xx, garage band, a microphone either a XLR, USB, or 1/4 or 1/8 input. At least two microphones will be needed. Optional items would be a microphone stand and a mixer. Two types of mics that work well is the snowball mic and the snowflake mic. There are several types of podcasting such as informational, educational, motivational and community involvement. Video podcasting (Vodcastiing ) is another way to podcast via video. Using podcasting and vodcasting in your classroom is an exciting way to motivate and interact with your class.
RSS means really simple syndication. Really simple syndication is a tool that can help web surfers avoid information overload in the information age. You are in the center of your own personal network. You can get news site, blogs, Wikis, and social media. All of this is done with XML files that can be read on your computer. There are three ways to read. They are web based, personal start page, and desktop programs. Education professionals can use RSS for blog assignments, calendar events, social bookmarking, current events, and other educational reasources.
Teacher Tube is a great way for teachers to connect. Teacher Tube allows teachers can upload, tag and share videos worldwide. Teachers can attach educational actvities, assessments, lesson plans, notes, and files to your video. Teachers are able to browse hundreds of videos uploaded by professionals. Teachers can join and create video groups to connect with people who have similar interests.
IPhoto allows you to store, share photos by email, create amazing web pages, cards and calendars. iPhoto automatically organizes your photo library and makes editing as easy as clicking your mouse — so you can get the most out of even the biggest collection. With iPhoto, your home printer can do a lot more than just print plain photos one at a time. Use iPhoto themes to bring photos to life in colorful layouts, with borders, textured mattes, and text , and get instant gratification by printing on the spot.
Picasa is a way to import, organize, and show photos. It’s free, easy, and graphically looks great. You can decrease or increase the size of the thumbnails. It will also organize by date. You can edit photos using effects, or undo crops at any time. You can always have the original picture. You can make a slide show with your picture or send it by email. It allows you to make a gift CD to send to family and friends.
VCASMO is a multimedia presentation solution for personal photo, video slide show, training, academic teaching, and, live event. You can upload individual powerpoint, and music. You can synchronize video and slides.
Cindy did an excellent job teaching us all about the smartboard. The smartboard allows you to interactively energize lessons, and motivate students. It will allow enhanced project based learning. Best of all, the smartboard is incredibly easy to use.
Digital photography is an exciting way to add to the technology in your classroom. Think about what you want to use the camera for. Also, think about how good of a photography you are. If you are looking for a good camera, look for a optical zoom camera not a digital zoom camera. The best camera to get now is a hybrid camara with over 10 power zoom. The more mega pixel you have, the larger and sharper the print size of the picture can be. The higher your mega pixel, the easier it is to crop. You can use the camara in the classroom to capture time, capture the moments of learning, projects, classroom blogs, teachable moments, and writing prompts by students.
Wikis are a great way to build knowledge and share. Groups can coordinate better aan allow members to edit, write, and save information.
