Top Technologies for Teachers Right Now

Technology and education is an extremely hot topic right now. There's no doubt about it. But get a room full of ten different educators, administrators, and policymakers and you will find ten different opinions on the use of technology in the classroom.

Less Hardware and Gadgets, More Networking and Collaboration

Technological teaching aids such as whiteboards are always nice to have around, but would it be better that students have some form of compatible technology that allows sharing and collaboration between classmates and teachers? It's a tough call, but honestly I think more technology should be getting to the hands of students. If students have access to computers or some mobile device (tablet, netbook, laptop) in their classrooms, there are huge amounts of potential for collaboration between students, educators, and even the rest of the world.

So really, when it comes to the topic of best technologies for teachers, there should be less emphasis on teaching/classroom gadgets like whiteboards and more attention paid to the hundreds of online services that allow group communication, brainstorming, and project management. The technologies are already out there; it's up to teachers and administrators to find them and make compelling uses of them that teach our current generation of students how to responsibly and intelligently use the technology at their fingertips every day.

Best Services Available

The value of a private (or public) network in which students and educators can exchange ideas and questions easily is huge. These networks allow teachers to communicate with students outside of the classroom, enabling them to answer quick questions or point students to other resources to help them understand classroom material.

Networks are also great for students working on group projects. Having their group on a visible network that a teacher can see allows them to discuss their roles in the project, help manage the project, and schedule meetings for the project outside of class.

While the go-to network for educators (Ning) has recently moved away from its free services, a great private network you can use alternatively is Yammer. While it is primarily used by business, it also accepts those with .edu email addresses, and many schools have started to use Yammer as their primary private network for communication. Best of all, you can create groups in Yammer for different classes or group projects.

Another alternative is to use Twitter. While this web service is primarily public, there are plenty of third party apps that allow you to communicate privately or publically between select Twitter users. Getting students to understand services like Twitter is incredibly important as students will learn the value and practice of online marketing.

For creative projects or presentations, Voicethread is an amazing service that is incredibly easy to learn and use. In addition to this option, Slideshare is another great service used by educators and professionals. You can also upload your own lessons to these media outlets, making your course material available to your students at all times.

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This guest post is contributed by Barbara Jolie, who writes for online classes. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: barbara.jolie876@gmail.com.

eBooks Could Spur Kids' Interest in Reading

Innovative educators who want to incorporate eBooks into their instruction when they are teaching the literary classics have a number of free online resources at their disposal. A few websites specialize in providing free downloads of eBooks, and classic literature is particularly prevalent because the copyright on such books has long ago expired. Students can be given the option of reading the books at home online, and forgetful students will never again have the excuse that they forgot their book in their lockers. Numerous classic titles are available online and students have access to them wherever they have an Internet connection, even on handheld devices and e-readers like the Nook and Kindle.

One site dedicated to providing free eBooks is Planet eBook, which provides numerous titles in classic literature online as free downloads. Titles include many that are commonly taught in the classroom and assigned as reading outside the classroom, such as A Tale of Two Cities, Gulliver's Travels, Les Miserables, and The Great Gatsby. The site allows you to sign up for a newsletter that lets you know when new titles are available. If anything else, you can use the site as a creative way of coming up with extra credit assignments for students.

Another great site is Project Gutenberg, which has more than 33,000 free eBooks available to teachers or anyone else for that matter. The site allows teachers to search by title or author. Among the most popular titles are: The Picture of Dorian Gray, Paradise Lost and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Project Gutenberg allows users to download in six different formats, such as HTML, Kindle or plain text. A limited number of audio books are also available through this site.

Finally, another site you can use to look for eBooks not only in classic literature, but also in a number of other topics is E-Books Directory. If you look under the children's category, you will see numerous titles available for free download, including Uncle Tom's Cabin, The Call of the Wild and Jungle Book. Under literature & fiction category are more titles for older readers, such as War and Peace and Anna Karenina. There are also descriptions of each book posted under each title listed on this site.

This guest post is contributed by Angelita Williams, who writes on the topics of online courses. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: angelita.williams7 @gmail.com.

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Tech Ed: Keep Kids Learning Through the Summer

Parents and educators are well aware that children have a hard time retaining knowledge over the long summer months. And nobody wants to see students return to school in the fall unprepared to pick up where they left off the previous term. That can cause undue frustration for everyone involved. But getting kids to do “homework” during their summer vacation can be like pulling teeth. So how do you make summer learning fun? Use technology to your advantage.

Kids today are in tune with technology. It seems like even young children can use computers and cell phones to play games, which is why these gadgets can make such great teaching tools. Students who moan over summer reading may have more fun if they can track their progress, so check out the Scholastic Summer Challenge, which asks kids to log their reading minutes to try to break the world record (it also offers book lists to help them start or keep going), and the program offered by Barnes and Noble that allows kids to earn a free book for every eight they read (they turn in a tear sheet reporting their favorite part of each book to show progress). There are also websites that offer games and activities for different age groups and subjects, like Funbrain, Play Kids Games, and PBS Kids. And the best thing about utilizing the internet is that all of these websites are free.

If your kids prefer the Xbox or PS3, you may be out of luck. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of educational options for video game consoles. But a good bet is to check on Xbox Live Marketplace. If your kids like handheld devices, like the Nintendo DS, you can pick up a copy of one of several games in the Brain Age series (just make sure they are suitable for your child’s age group). You can also explore a wealth of options on your cell phone (Scrabble, The Oregon Trail), especially if you have an Apple device like the iPod, iPhone, or the new iPad. Simply log onto the iTunes store and download one of the hundreds of options listed under educational games (they range in price from free to $4.99, with the majority costing $0.99 or $1.99). This could be a great option for long car trips.

Whatever relationship your kids have with technology, they’re sure to be more amenable to summer learning if they perceive it as a game (and therefore a bit more fun than memorizing times tables, for example). So take an interest in their technology and see if you can find something that meets both your criteria for educational value and their qualifications for fun.

Alexis Montgomery is a content writer for Online Degree Programs, where you can browse through various online degree programs to find a college that suits your needs.

Stellarium: A Realistic Sky in 3D

If you have been looking for an easy way to teach astronomy to your students, Stellarium is the answer. This open source software turns your classroom into a planetarium by displaying a realistic 3D sky on your interactive whiteboard. Stellarium can also be used with a computer and projector.

The Stellarium program was created by Fabien Chereau, a French research engineer and computer programmer. It can be downloaded for free by anyone and allows users to input their individual coordinates so the displayed sky is as realistic as possible.

Planets, major moons, and more than 600,000 stars can be viewed with Stellarium. The program also displays constellations from ten cultures and realistic images of the atmosphere, sunrise, and sunset. In short, you can see everything that you can and can't see with your naked eye or telescope.

Stellarium is such a good program that there are several planetariums around the country that use it on their projectors. The best part about it, other than the fact that it is free, is that it is simple to use. Stellarium works on virtually any platform (Windows, Mac, and Linux) and provides an easy-to-use interface that allows you to zoom, choose projection options, and control what your students see. The program also has a record feature that allows you to play back shows at a later date.

If you do have any problems with Stellarium, you can consult the extensive user guide or get answers to your questions on a special forum set up specifically for this purpose. You can also make suggestions on the Stellarium site to help improve the program and influence future updates.

Guest post from education writer Karen Schweitzer. Karen is the About.com Guide to Business School. She also writes about online school for OnlineSchool.net.

Technorati Tags: Stellarium | stars | astronomy

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Mangahigh: A New Way to Study Math

Math is arguably one of the most essential subjects to study in school. Unfortunately, it's also the subject that tends to cause the most anxiety for students. After recognizing this problem, a group of mathematicians and game designers created Mangahigh.

Mangahigh, one of the world's first games-based learning sites, provides casual games that make learning math fun and easy. The games are curriculum-compliant and adapted to the individual student so that they are challenging but not overwhelming.

While playing games, students are introduced to mathematical concepts in a logical order based on their age and skill level. Mangahigh provides individualized lesson sets and to-do lists to keep each user on track. Students also have the option of adjusting their own syllabus to get extra practice with problem areas.

The safety factor is another nice feature of the site. Mangahigh does not have advertising of any kind. They also avoid chat, messaging, and user-generated content so that there is no chance of a third party contacting a Mangahigh user.

The site is designed for kids between the ages of 10 and 16, but would undoubtedly benefit both younger and older children. Students and parents can try the site by registering for a free user account. This account offers access to a limited number of games and learning activities as well as the ability to save status, points, scores, levels, and achievements.

Users who would like full access to the site must pay a membership fee. This fee can vary depending on subscription length and the number of students who will be using Mangahigh. With the site's current special launch discount, fees average somewhere around $15 per student. Memberships are designed primarily for schools. However, a one-student or family subscription can be purchased if you contact the site directly.

Guest post from education writer Karen Schweitzer. Karen is the About.com Guide to Business School. She also writes about online college classes for OnlineClasses.org.

Technorati Tags: video games | learning | math

Bugscope: Exploring the Microscopic World of Insects

Imaging Technology Group, an association of imaging specialists and microscopists at the University of Illinois' Beckman Institute, has found a way to make collecting bugs for a school project more interesting than ever before. The group created a special project known asBugscope for K-12 students. Bugscope provides classrooms with free access to a scanning electron microscope (SEM) that can be used to study insect specimens at high-magnification.

What's cool about the Bugscope project is that it is available to everyone in the world. The SEM isn't brought into the classroom. Instead, the classroom is brought to the SEM through a live one-hour web session. During the session, students have full control over the interactive microscope. They can magnify, adjust contrast and brightness, control the focus, and explore preset views setup by the Bugscope team.

Bugscope sessions can be displayed on multiple computers, projectors, and interactive whiteboards. Only one user can operate the microscope at a time, but students can login and view the session on up to 20 different computers at once.

The Bugscope team, which includes several microscopists and an entomology student, are available online via instant messaging so that students can ask questions throughout the session. When the session ends, images and chats are saved and can be viewed later by both students and teachers.

Scheduling a Bugscope Session

There is no cost to participate in a Bugscope session. However, you must schedule a session prior to participation. You can do this by filling out the application form on the Bugscope site. If you are interested in seeing how a Bugscope session works before you apply, you can login as a guest and view an upcoming Bugscope session.

Once your application has been accepted, you can setup a Bugscope session and mail in the specimens you want your class to examine (That's right--it's up to you to send in the bugs!) The Bugscope team will then schedule a demo that allows you to get a feel for the microscope controls before the actual session begins.

Guest post from education writer Karen Schweitzer. Karen is the About.com Guide to Business School. She also writes about online degrees for OnlineDegreePrograms.org.

Guest Post: Top 10 Ways for New Teachers to Connect With Your Students

I love my job, but if anyone were to ask me what I would have wanted to do if I could not make it as a writer, my answer would have been teaching. It’s a profession that is both noble and fulfilling. It enables you to retain your youth even as the years pass you by because of your constant exposure to young minds; it keeps your brain sharp because you have to continuously update your knowledge; and it gives you a sense of purpose because you’re able to make a positive difference in the lives of so many young people.

I remember a handful of teachers from high school that made a great impact on me with the way they approached life and their job. It was because of them and the rapport they shared with all the students that I aspired to become a teacher myself. Teaching is one of the best jobs there is, and if you’re a teacher, here are the best ways to connect with your students.

1. Treat your work as more than just a job and interact with your students like you would with your kids.
2. Be more than just a teacher who teaches them the subject and more of a mentor who teaches them how to approach life.
3. Always make it a point to praise in public and reprimand in private.
4. Never play favorites, no matter how special some children may seem to you.
5. Make your classes more interesting and fun by going off the beaten track. One of my favorite Math teachers used her son as a tool to teach us the basics of algebra. To get us to understand that the positive and negative signs changed on crossing the equal sign, she would tell us how her son would become the daughter she always wanted by crossing the magic bridge, and how he would turn back to her son once he crossed back to the original side. Believe me, I loved algebra more than any other subject that year.
6. Allow them to broaden their general knowledge through extra-curricular pursuits instead of keeping their noses to the grindstone all day. A favorite teacher would allow us to read magazines that had some educational value for 10 minutes of her class. She would then ask us to share this knowledge with the class in the days that followed. This exercise not only broadened our knowledge but also improved our communication and public-speaking skills considerably.
7. Never read from the textbook in class. Be prepared with your lesson so that you explain it to your class instead of reciting from memory.
8. Make eye contact with all your students instead of staring at the far wall. It makes them feel you are talking personally to them.
9. Encourage your students to ask relevant questions and answer them to the best of your ability.
10. And finally, be magnanimous and humble enough to admit when you’ve made a mistake and are wrong. Students value teachers who are smart and who are not full of themselves.

This guest post is contributed by Nancy Simmons, who writes on the topic of online science degree . She welcomes your comments at her email address: nancy.simmons83@radiffmail.com

Interested in guest posting? Drop me an email with your ideas for a topic. I'm always looking to publish guest posts with excellent tips for teachers!

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Guest Post: Teachers of Tweens: Top Tips for Grabbing Your Students’ Attention

If you’re a teacher who works with kids around the “tween” stage – 9-13 years old – you’re probably exhausted by the end of the school day. This age group can be a lot of fun, because they’ve yet to become cynical or snobby and are still young enough to enjoy playing games, going out to recess and doing projects with friends. On the other hand, tweens are just entering adolescence, which means that they’re self-conscious, experimenting with romantic feelings, joining cliques, and starting to get the appeal of sarcasm, eye rolling and rebelling. Teachers, not just parents, may find it tough to catch, and then keep, the attention of teens as they try to educate them day after day, but there are a few tricks you can use yourself to outwit your tween students.

• Reference current pop culture: Kids get sucked into the pop culture and celebrity world at an even younger age than the generation before them. If you want to keep up with what they think is cool, educate yourself on the names of a few pop stars or teen actors that your students respect. Use these references when appropriate to help your kids relate to the lesson.
• Work with technology. An old-fashioned projector or even PowerPoint presentation isn’t going to impress your kids, so learn how to use tools like Twitter, wikis, iTunes, or Flickr to keep up .
• Invite guest lecturers. Show your kids ho relevant the skills they’re learning in class are to the real world by inviting guest lecturers to talk about their jobs and experience. Students are always interested in anyone new who shows up in the classroom, and you’ll get a break, too.
• Start with a media clip. Before introducing a new lesson – or as a way of reinforcing an old one – start your presentation with a clip from a popular song, a movie or a TV show that illustrates your point. Your students will be more likely to analyze the situation and discover the lesson’s real-life impact that way.
• Host mock or mini events. Get your kids to participate in an important lesson by setting up experiments, mock debates, classroom polls or elections and other projects that allow them to take on an active role. Their experience will help them understand the lesson on a deeper level.

This post was contributed by Emily Thomas, who writes about the best online universities. She welcomes your feedback at Emily.Thomas31@ yahoo.com

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