I have subscribed my RSS feeds for PC magazine, Macworld, as well as Android, and Ipad/phone apps. With this topic there is much to read every two days. I find the topics that are directly related to educational technology are my filters to look for. In doing so, I have found that google voice will now work on an Iphone. Tethering seems to be a short term fix for quick email looks, and the Galaxy Tab will cost you over the long haul with a dataplan. I also found that the next software update of Ipad will include midi capabilities.
Additional things I need to do to achieve my goals include using MS office for more of my assignments to have my students upload files to the class wikipage or dropbox. In this way my students can make the best use of the software the county has provided for personal productivity, as well as respect copyright and creative commons licenses.
In an assignment today, I requested a citation for references for their web searches. Three teams successfully integrated the citations to there work. When the students uploaded their turkey podcasts in Music Appreciation, one group had had their finished product altered by a student later in the day. I had the original saved on a thumb drive and quickly helped them to recover the work they had done, as well as help them import their music from www.freeplaymusic.com. Once there, the students finished their work , and uploaded their project to the class wikipage.
Things I have learned:
1. Create a seperate wiki or blog site for each of my classes.
2. Always have my students save their work to the thawspace drive and my flashdrive.
3. Purchase four flash drives for my classes
4. With only two rooms for recording, allow more time to complete the project, as well as
meet the needs of my IEP/504 students.
It sounds like you are making great progress in your GAME plan. When you are having your students create the wikis and the podcasts, do you permit them to work on these assignments at home, or are they to completed at school? I have always felt that one of the great benefits of wikis would be that students could be at their individual homes, but still working on the same project.
ReplyDeleteI encourage them to work on them outside the classroom. A few motivated students participate outside the class. A majority think it has to be done at school. I am trying to figure out how to get them to engage beyond the classroom setting. Any suggestions?
ReplyDeleteIt appears that you are coming along very well with your "GAME" Plan. I have also attempted to have my students work on technology related projects outside of class but I have had difficulties with this since a fairly large percentage (approximately 25%) of my students do not have Internet access at home. Is this a problem that you experience?
ReplyDeleteDefinitely, however most of my students are able to text with their cell phones or have internet access, so I have them use their phones, or open my room up early in the morning to allow them to post.
ReplyDelete