Spring EDET637

https://www.spiderscribe.net The idea of the site is that it is an easier way to make mind maps and brainstorm. It helps organize and visual ideas by connecting notes, images, documents, calendar dates and geographic locations into free-form maps. Maps can be shared online and collaborated on my many people in real time. Teachers can use this to create lesson plans, compliment their presentations, and organize curriculum. It is also useful when collaborating with colleagues because it creates a one stop shop to view important documents and see how they are related. When students are given an assignment they can share their results with the teacher as well as classmates. Spider Scribe can also be used with multiple people, which would be useful when students are given an assignment as a group. Features Text, images, files, event,s and locations maps stencils quick search inside maps group selection  duplicate maps embed maps into website paste text from clipboard into...

https://info.flipgrid.com The mission of Flipgrid is to empower learners of all ages to define their voices, share their voices, and respect the diverse voices of others. Flipgrid is a computer, smart phone, or tablet app that allows students to share their ideas through videos. Students are tasked to create short video responses to a given question or topic. According to their website there are many uses for Flipgrid including classrooms, PLN + Staff, schools, events, and anyone. I looked at a few of their videos and this seems like a wonderful resource. I would love to try it out with an older group of kids. Again I think it would be a bit challenging because students need access to a computer or phone (which most do but some do not). In the videos it explained that some students who are typically shy and quiet in class are a lot more outgoing and confident when they record their video responses. Pros Allow students to respond them selves in similar way to Instagram ...

This week I explored Nearpod. This software is focused on making lessons more interactive and incorporating technology into lessons or powerpoint that may be less interesting to students. With this program you can create interactive lessons in minutes, search through customized ready-to-teach lessons, receive comprehensive student assessments, evaluate students responses live or with post-session reports, give every student a voice, and allow students to take ownership of their learning. It takes iPads that are already being used in the classroom and turns them into an interactive platform to explore and extend students learning. students can draw and write on the screen, it is saved and sent to the teacher iPad which allows to get more information on exactly what the students are taking away from the lesson. The teacher can create quizzes, polls, virtual field trips, 3d objects, and open ended questions that are embedded into the powerpoint. Students use a stylus to appropriately a...

For this week technology I focused on the smart phone application Remind. This app is a free parent and teacher communication tool. It is a free text messaging app that helps teachers, students, and parents communicate quickly and efficiently. According to Remind.com 8.8 Billion messages have been delivered. From my experience working in classrooms simple and effective communication is something important for teachers and students families. In the past the only means of communication was to print off a paper with the necessary information and send it home with students hoping it made it home and families actually saw it. With the use of smart phones new parent teacher communication applications were created. Remind is a free app that teachers create classrooms and add families to. This allows them to send direct messages, post information or links, and schedule appointments within the app. This creates a stream lined mode of communication with is made very available because almost ...

https://www.abcmouse.com This downloadable app has more than 7,000 fun and interactive learning activities for children ages 2-8 that teach reading, math, beginning science, art, music and more. It can be dowloaded on iPad, iPhone Kindle Fire, and most Android phones. The school I work in has these downloaded on every computer in the classroom and each iPad used by the after school program. The kids love them and really enjoy doing the activities. Each student definitely has certain categories they prefer and it can at times be a challenge to get them to do anything else. As I explored this app more I decided it is something I would like to download to play with my son who is almost 4. Because I would I would like to use this with my preschooler and with students I teach I focused on looking at the activities for preschool and Kindergarten (what I am teaching this year). Preschool Reading- Uppercase Alphabet A-Z Math- Numbers 1-5, Shapes World around us- Getting dressed, my...

This week I focused my research on a piece of technology I could use in a classroom of older students. Right now i am teaching kindergarten so I tend to think about technology based on their age and forget about what would work for older aged students. In my research I found cold turkey.com which is a website that allow teachers to temporarily block online distractions to help students stay focused and finish their work faster. Honestly this seems like something I could use while I am in school. To often we are distracted with many different websites and things to explore instead of staying focused on our work. I think this website would be very beneficial for middle school and high school students in a classroom to prevent them from visiting distracting websites. According to the website Cold Turkey can be set to block specific webpages to the entire internet. You can allow exceptions, block applications, or even lock yourself out of a computer. This technology is free to download (...