Technology Boot Camp

The Oconomowoc Area School District Technology Boot Camp begins tomorrow and I am spending my evening reviewing notes for the workshops that I am facilitating. The camp runs for three days, and participants are required to attend the first day; days two and three are optional and dependent on individual interest in workshops.  Mike O'Connor will provide an orientation Monday morning, and then staff will attend workshops of their choice.  Workshops include: mobiles in the classroom, advanced Google Apps, social bookmarks, iTouch to support literacy, and using Blogger with 9-12 students. Staff will also have afternoons to work on projects related to technology with the support of coaches. 

Student Blogs

The final project for students in the eighth grade "Techno Savvy" class is to create a personal blog on a topic of their choice.  I encourage students to select a topic that they would likely continue to blog about.  Here are a few of the blogs they created:

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words:  http://8-8-5apictureworthathousandwordsoasd.blogspot.com/

Trevor's Tech Tips:  http://8-8-5trevorstechtipsoasd.blogspot.com/?zx=c136fbfba1b87bb5

Unicycle Stuff:  http://8-3-3unicyclestuffoasd.blogspot.com/?zx=90d097b0af8658d3

Sweet Paradise:  http://8-8-5sweetparadise-oasd.blogspot.com/

Digital Storytelling using Mobiles

A social studies teacher was inspired by Tony Vincent's blog on project based learning and encouraged her students to show their learning on the Executive Branch using personal mobiles if they had access to them. I put together a few examples to share with the students.  Here is a quick recap of my experience working with three digital storytelling applications.

Storyrobe:  
Things I liked:

• easy to use
• can include photos and voice recordings
• recordings can extend over multiple images by pausing/moving to next image
• reasonably priced at 99 cents
• can be shared with others via e-mail or YouTube (click to view the example I shared with students.)

Things I did not like:

• images need to be rotated landscape
• recordings are limited to three minutes

StoryKit:
Positives:

• easy to use
• can include photos, text, simplistic drawings and recordings
• free
• can be shared with others via StoryKit server

Negatives:

• recordings are on each individual page 

SonicPics:
Good:

• fairly easy to use
• can include photos and recording can extend over multiple images by pausing/moving to next image

Needs Work:

• cost is high at $2.99

Student Blogs

Students in the eighth grade Techno Savvy classes created blogs that address global issues.  Students worked hard on their projects and are excited to share their learning.

What can you do?

1. Visit a few of the blogs:

http://arecellphonestocoolforschooloasd.blogspot.com/

http://anewwayofschooloasd.blogspot.com/

http://cloninganothereweoasd.blogspot.com/

http://deathorriseofthedeathpenaltyoasd.blogspot.com/

http://anewlearningstyleoasd.blogspot.com/

http://animalsliveordieoasd.blogspot.com/

2. Respond to the poll.

3. If you have a Gmail account you can add a comment. If you choose to leave a comment, please (a) read the information, (b) use the links to learn more about the topic, (c) look for the critical question, and (d) post your comment to the critical question. Please be sure to comment on the blog content, not the blog itself.

Thank you for supporting the work of these students.

Flip It! To Show Learning

Students can show their learning using Flip It! by Fat Fish Apps Inc.  The application is easy to use, even for students at the primary level.

Our second graders created individual books to show the life cycle of a plant.  Their first page was the ground; they copied the page and added a seed, the next page the roots, and continued to add elements to pages to show the entire plant cycle from seed to reseeding.  The application can be used to show sequential or cyclical processes or just for creativity.

You can create five books with Flip It! Lite.  The full version is $1.99.

Videos for Learning

This week fourth grade students used the iTouches to view videos on immigration to America.  The students are learning about immigration and creating podcasts that present the experience from an immigrant’s point of view.  As I read through drafts of scripts it became apparent that in general students did not understand the everyday life of immigrants once they arrived in the United States.  

Knowing that many students are visual learners, I went searching for videos to help them grasp a deeper understanding of what life was like for an immigrant to America.  I found short, one to three minute, documentaries on YouTube on Irish, Italian, German, and Polish immigrants.  Most of the documentaries were done by WGTEPreviews and included images with first-hand accounts of immigrants sharing their experience.  The iTouches helped me individualize instruction and make effective use of class time since students only watched the videos for the country they were studying.

 

Students quickly grasped a deeper understanding of communities, clothing, homes, businesses, and personal relationships.  I knew the videos were effective when one student said, “Oh, now I get it!,” and immediately started added details to their script.

No Perfect App For Learning Multiplication Facts

I am still looking for the perfect app for students to learn multiplication facts. The app should:

1. require the user to enter the product (rather than multiple choice)
2. allow the user to set the tables he/she is working on
3. provide feedback and require the user the enter the correct product before going to the next problem
4. track correct and incorrect responses
5. visually show the facts he/she needs to work on.

Yesterday I tried ArithmeTick by Pomegranate Software.  The app allows students to practice their facts before beginning a timed game and users can set the difficulty level from easy to einstein.  It does not allow users to enter a maximum number as a factor.  Third grade students quickly became frustrated with ArithmeTick when they were presented with double-digit problems and were expected to solve them in their heads.  Unfortunately the app does not have settings for specific facts or maximum numbers.

Brain Thaw by Groovy Squared LLC looks like a very good application for students to work on multiples which would transfer to learning their multiplication facts.  However, I found that after I complete the first level the numbers are blurry and cannot be read clearly enough to complete the next level.  I have contacted Groovy Squared to see if this is a problem with 4G iTouches and have not yet had a response.

After weeding through apps, I downloaded Flashcards To Go:  Multiplication by To Go Box Mobile Apps.  Users can set the maximum factors, it requires users to enter the product, and does not allow a user to progress until they have entered the correct answer.  The downside of the app is that it does not show progress and correct and incorrect responses.  Personally I was a bit bored with the app after just a few minutes of use.  I am presenting it to students today and am hoping they feel challenged.