not a completely new technology but it is one more thing that i have never heard of….and it is a technology where newer and better modles are always being put out. This technology can be used by anyone and is for anyone, but it is specifically targeted at students with learning disabilities and or speech and hearing problems. Tech/touch is a communication device that uses windows XP as an operating system, this is a great advantage because then any program that is compatible with windows XP is also compatible with the tech/touch. the obvious use in the class room would be to make comunication easier with those students who are hearing a speech impaired.
this is a pic of the tech/touch, very similar to a computer screen but more rugged and able to withstand much more. as well as a link to the site where i first learned about this technology…..http://www.amdi.net/TechTouch.htm
podcasts are a very simple form of audio recording that is available through the internet…..the term podcast comes from a cross between iPod and broadcast…in order to listen to or create an podcast you first have to download a software program from somewhere such as Apple, and its free! then after you have the software downloaded all you have to do is record yourself upload it and share it. great way for teachers to record lessons, and students can record research and reports as well…link to a more informative site…..http://www.education-world.com/a_tech/tech/tech238.shtml
yep…..your computer is all you really need for this one!!!!
the system consists of 2 parts….an infrared transmitter or response cards, this is the part that could be given to students and a classroom reciever ( you would also need some type of presentation software) the teacher would present a question to the students via the presentation software and the students would then resond using their transmitter…the responses of students would be instantly converted into some type of graphic and be viewable by the other students…..to me this technology seems amazing, however i can see where it might be much more useful for higher learninng such as college level rather than highschool…the website has alot of good information as far as pros and cons…but one way that i can see it being beneficial is if a student is sick or there is a snowday…..you can still participate in class!!
http://campus.umr.edu/certi/technology.htm#responsesystem
Interactive websites are a great addition to class room activities….students like to work with computers, they are fun…many of the sites that are interactive are game like so it does not seem as much like the typical class. These website could be visited on certain days or even used as rewards. Its a great way to get kids interested without them even realizing it….here is a link to a really great interactive site. Again, since I am primarily interested in science it the site is an interactive sci
ence site. http://www.sciencetechnologies.com/home.html
There isnt really a picture of this technology that i can paste….here is a pic instead of what one of the lessons of this web site looks like. (there is also animated movies and quizes etc.etc.) here is a shot of what one of the screens from this website look like…gives you a small idea what it is like but not really….just a picture for pictures sake.
Dasl seems to be a great and easy way to keep track of students attendance records. You can keep track of when they were and wernt there, why they were not there…this is all done electronically; mcuh easier and more efficient than keeping paper records. http://www.marionlocal.k12.oh.us/tech/DASL/Attendance_Methods. this site actually shows what the pages of dasl looks like….the same teacher friend that told me about white board also uses this, and she told me it is real helpful and real easy to use……
If you dont have time to check the site out this is what it would look like.
i have a good friend who is a teacher and after talking to her about what technologies she used on a regular basis she told me about this one. it is called an interactive white board….used in similar ways and even in place of chalk boards. the screen connects to your computer and lets you display everything that is on your computer onto the screen, then you can control you computer from the screen…there are 3 types of dislays…here is an example of what each looks like….
|
|
Rear projection
|
 |
| Includes an integrated projector. Can be a mobile unit or permanent installation. |
|
|
the white board actually lets you write notes and images on the screen and then save anything that you have created on the board to your computer….heres a link where you can learn more and order one if ya want!!
http://www2.smarttech.com/st/en-US/Products/SMART+Boards/
These disks serve a purpose similar to older video tapes or DVD’s, the quality and the amount of space on these discs is much better. the disks can contain anything from video/visual to audio to actual interactive software programs….allowing the students to “drive the bus” themselves. These disks are a great way to get students involved and interacting. it seems like these disks are still relativly new, and also still pretty expensive, the website i have listed gives more than enough info to get ya up to date…..http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-924/discs.htm….
this is the best pic that i could find..basically the disk itself is simialar to an old record…maybe some day the technology will improve more and they will be more the size of todays dvd’s.
Matlab is another great technology that i was exposed to while i was in school…it is primarily science/physics/math oriented. It allows you to computer ridiculously hard equations without thinking…all you have to do is learn the language of the program. It could be very helpful in the classroom, it would have to be advance classrooms though because its not simple program. After you learn the “language” like i said you can solve equations, predict future happenings from the equations etc. the easiest way to describe it is as a very advance calculator, almost a thinking calculator. The software also allows you to produce in depth and acurate graphs/charts etc.etc. If your interested in science/physics its pretty impressive!! http://www.mathworks.com/products/matlab/mathworks.com/products/matlab/ there is the link to the best page that i have found…it offers some free trial subscriptions, and some free student software…..again i dont really have a picture of “Matlab” since it is just a software program but here is a picture of what the program looks like when you are in the middle of a run…..its ugly. and the next shot is of a typical graph made with matlab….much more appealing..
>> eps
eps =
2.2204e-16
>> pi
ans =
3.1416
>> help pi
PI 3.1415926535897….
PI = 4*atan(1) = imag(log(-1)) = 3.1415926535897….
Yes, thats really what the program looks like……i said it was ugly, but brilliant!!
MATLAB World Generation Screenshot
New: The visualisation has been updated, now it looks like this:
MATLAB World Generation Screenshot 2
this is the type of visuals that you can create with the program though,,,,i think its worth is!!
this is a really great technology that i was using in grad school to convert text files that i authored at home into files that were compatible with the more “advance” (nicer) software programs that were available at school. You can convert pretty much any type of file into any different type of file. you can give it a try…its free!!! www.zamzar.com For lack of having a picture of this technology here is a screen shot of what the home page for zamzar looks like……
thoughts on one on one laptop situations in schools….http://www.trustyetc.com/trustyblog/2007/05/10/one-to-one/
there are a ton of possible pros to this situation, but with every pro there is usually con…laptops for every student would put tons of information at every students finger tips, not to mention the ease at which students could do things such as take notes and do research. while computer technology is expensive, the computers would cut back on the money spent on books every several years. One of the main problems i could see coming from it is one of the most obvious…it would be nearly impossible to monitor what every student is doing all the time, are they playing games and talking to one another or are they actually typing up notes on what you are saying. It would be the teachers responsibility to make sure that the laptop did not take the place of a person; still demading interaction.
