InTec InSights: Technology Integration Ideas for the Classroom

Socrative: Instant Assessment with Any Device

2012-02-15T09:55:00.000-05:00

Socrative is a powerful internet based tool that allows any device to act as a student response system- providing instant feedback to the teacher. The Socrative interface is easy to use. Here is a basic overview from the Socrative site:

Teachers and students can use Socrative on any device with a web browser (tablets, smartphones, laptops, iPod Touches, etc.).
Teachers login at t.socrative.com by entering their email and password.
Students login at m.socrative.com by entering the "virtual room number" provided by the teacher. NO EMAIL ACCOUNTS ARE REQUIRED! Students will then see "Waiting for teacher to start an activity...".
Teachers initiate an activity by selecting it on their main screen (e.g. Multiple Choice, T/F, Short Answer, Quick Quiz, Exit Ticket, or Space Race).
Students respond on their devices.
Students' results are visible on the Teacher's screen or sent in an email.

Socrative is also easily accessible from free iPad or Android apps. If you allow mobile devices in your classroom or if you have iPads or tablets available for your students to use, Socrative is an excellent way to get your students engaged in your lesson while allowing you to instantly assess their understanding.

Socrative device images above from Sue Franz.

Fun and Educational Widgets for Your Classroom Web Site or Blog

2012-02-15T07:45:00.000-05:00

What is a widget?
Widgets are small applications that can be placed on your web site or blog to add interactivity and interest for your students, parents, and peers. Widgets are usually added in the sidebar. Here are examples of some widgets that you could add to your educational web page or blog:

Education.com Activities widget:
You choose your grade level and subject and the widget publishes changing activities that your students can do at home. Check out the other Education.com widgets including the Worksheet Widget, Just Ask Q and A Generator, and the Science Fair Ideas Widget.

Education.com Activities

5th Grade Science Activities

Get your own widget

Math Whiz Scientific Calculator:

This Day in History:

Shelfari: Publish your Booklists:

Shelfari: Book reviews on your book blog

Clustr Maps for Visitor Statistics:
Get a dot on the map when visitors come to your site.

Voki.com: Talking Avatar:

Accuweather:

ReadWeather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar

Reading Rockets: Reading Tip of the Day:

There are so many more great widgets available for your site. Try checking out Widgetbox.com or try searching the web for specific widgets! Remember not to choose too many widgets for your site, you don't want to clutter it up- make sure your site content is still prominent.

Alphabetimals- The Animal Shaped Alphabet

2012-02-14T19:51:00.000-05:00

Alphabetimals is a flipbook that features letter shaped animal pictures to help young students learn the alphabet, letters, and letter sounds.

What I also love about Alphabetimals is the feature below the interactive book that allows you to write your own words using the animal letters. I can easily see primary teachers using this fun font to label items, to create titles for their newsletters, and to create learning resources.

Thanks to Free Technology for Teachers for sharing!

Picture Books on Video

2012-02-09T12:20:00.000-05:00

You may know that Discovery Education has a great selection of educational videos for your classroom. But, did you know that they also have an impressive collection (over 200 titles) of children's picture books on video? Audiovisual adaptations of these classic books has been provided by Weston Woods. This site has a full list of titles that you can find on Discovery Education.

Here is a sample of some of the titles that you can find:

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
Danny and the Dinosaur
The Emperor's New Clothes
Harry the Dirty Dog
Make Way for Ducklings
Miss Nelson Is Back
Officer Buckle and Gloria
Stone Soup
Strega Nona
Where The Wild Things Are
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears

Try searching for "Reading Rainbow" to find over 100 more titles. Look for chapter books and audio books, too.

Play the video on your SMARTboard so that all of your students can follow along. Most have closed captioning, so your students can read along, too!

President's Day Resources

2012-02-03T14:23:00.000-05:00

In honor of President's Day, I am providing you with some interactive sites that you can use on your Smartboard to teach about US Presidents and the presidency:

Our Nations Leaders:

Dynamite Presidents:

The American Presidents:

Find the Data: US Presidents:

Presidential Portraits:

The Many Jobs of the American President:

The Presidential Seal:

If You Were President:

The Presidents Seven Hat Challenge:

PhotoPeach Creates Interactive Assessments

2012-02-02T08:31:00.000-05:00

Last week at the FETC (Florida Educational Technology Conference) I attended a session about online tools that can be used for assessment by Kyle Schutt of Discovery Education. Although I have used PhotoPeach before, I had forgotten that the program had the ability to create a quiz from your images. This makes PhotoPeach a great assessment tool.

Simply upload your photos to PhotoPeach.com, choose a title and music, and then edit your finished slideshow to add captions. One of the captions options is to add a quiz. You type a question and provide three possible answers, marking the one that is correct. A question can be added to each image in your slideshow if you wish. Your finished slideshow can be embedded on your website so that students can review independently in class or at home. Or, you can play the video on your SmartBoard or interactive whiteboard as a whole group assessment. Have students take turns going up to the board and choosing the correct answer. Assessment can be fun!

Martin Luther King Jr Resources

2012-01-12T09:01:00.004-05:00

Here are a few interactive resources that you can use on your Smartboard to teach about Martin Luther King, Jr:

Martin Luther King Jr Book from MightyBooks.com:

MightyBooks Matching Game- Read the story above then match the vocabulary:

Martin Luther King Jr's Life Events Sequencer:

QR Codes and Ideas for Using them in the Classroom

2012-01-11T11:11:00.001-05:00

I recently created this presentation for the Reading Council of SC to show educators how to use QR codes in the media center and with literacy. I have updated this presentation to include examples of using QR with all curriculum areas. Do you have an idea on how to use QR codes in the classroom? Please share by adding a comment.

Electricity and Circuits

2012-01-02T13:17:00.000-05:00

Here are some interactive sites that you can use on your SMARTboard to teach and learn about electricity and circuits:

BBC: Using Electricity:

BBC: Changing Circuits:

BBC: Circuits and Conductors:

BBC: Annie's Circuit Builder:

Circuit World:

What Makes Circuits Work:

How Do We Make Electricity:

Hanukkah Interactive Sites

2011-12-15T10:48:00.001-05:00

Here are some Hanukkah themed games to use in the classroom for learning and for fun:

Hanukkah from Scholastic:

The Dreidel Game:

Elijah Rocks: Spin the Dreidel:

Connect the Dots:

Tic Tac Dreidel:

The Jewish Museum: Menorah:

Latke Stacker Game:

Learning About the Continents

2011-12-13T16:44:00.000-05:00

Here are some interactive games to teach your students about the world's continents:

GeoSpy:

EduPlace: Continents and Oceans:

SoftSchool's Continents Map:

Maps.com Quiz:

Sheppard Software World Explorer:

Geography Explorer:

Christmas Brainteasers

2011-12-08T10:51:00.001-05:00

Here are some fun Christmas themed brainteasers from Hoodamath.com that are perfect for the holidays:

Factory Balls: Christmas Edition:
See if you can create the patterns and colors for each of the holiday balls needed on the tree.

Sugar, Sugar: Holiday Edition:
Draw a line with your mouse to get the sugar crystals into the cup.

MORE Christmas and Winter Holiday Games

2011-12-05T08:19:00.001-05:00

ABCya.com has some cute holiday games that would fun to use on your SMARTboard for indoor recess or for a story starter activity. Be sure to check out my posts from last year for more holiday fun: Christmas Interactive Games, Build a Virtual Snowman, and Online Gingerbread Houses.

Make a Snowman:

100 Snowballs:

Make a Christmas Tree:

Have You Discovered Pinterest Yet?

2011-11-22T15:53:00.001-05:00

What is Pinterest? It is a collaboration of user-created virtual pinboards. Users create pinboards based on topics of interest. You browse Pinterest for a visual search of images, links, recipes, lessons, printables, and fun!

Many teachers are discovering Pinterest. Just look at the Education section and you will find a ton of great ideas for the classroom. Just browse, search, or start creating your own pinboard to share your best resources with others. Be warned: this site is addictive!

Area and Perimeter

2011-11-10T20:48:00.001-05:00

Here are some interactive sites to learn about area and perimeter:

Measuring the Playground:

Finding the Area and Perimeter of Rectangles:

Party Designer:

Area Grid:

Shape Area and Perimeter:

Shape Detectives:

Finding Area:

Exploring Area:

Voicethread in the Classroom

2011-11-09T09:41:00.001-05:00

Voicethread is a site that will allow you to create a multimedia conversation around a picture or series of pictures, an example is above. Please add your comments to the above example. Just click the comment button, log in or register, and choose to record your voice, type a comment, phone in a comment, or to use your webcam. Voicethreads are great for collaborative project based learning in the classroom. A Voicethread project can be created on any topic. Use it for students to comment on units of study, book reviews, to discuss what they learned on a field trip, or to share classroom projects with parents and community. Once your Voicethread is created, you can publish (embed) it in your classroom website, blog, or wiki and invite others to comment. Of course, you could allow just your students to comment, but why not open it up to the world and make that global connection?

Here are some links to learn more about using Voicethread in the classroom:
Voicethread 4 Education Wiki- examples of student Voicethreads
100 Ways to Use Voicethread in Edu- Voicethread submitted ideas.
Voicethread Examples in Education
26 Interesting Ways to Use Voicethread in the Classroom

The free Voicethread account will allow you to create 3 projects. There is also an educator version which will provide you with more options and the ability to create more projects.

Discovery Atlas: Interactive Map with Videos

2011-11-08T17:10:00.000-05:00

Discovery's new interactive atlas is a great resource for teaching about geography, countries, and cultures. Select a country by clicking on it or selecting it from the drop down box. The atlas has the feel of Google Earth as you fly to the location and zoom in. Once the country is located, the user can choose to learn about that country's culture, government, history, and natural world. Clicking on these categories will open various streaming videos that explain or show facts about the country.

Thanks to Suzanne Whitlow-ITRT for sharing this site on her blog.

Web 2.0 Tools for the Classroom

2011-11-06T21:55:00.000-05:00

I am currently teaching a college course for educators about Web 2.0 tools and I wanted a way to easily share the course resources and links. I created this Glog so that the teachers can easily access a variety of Web 2.0 tools that we cover in class. To view the Glog online click here: http://karenogen.edu.glogster.com/web-20-tools/.

Did I include your favorite classroom tools? Add your favorites in the comments below!

Evaluating Student Multimedia Projects

2011-11-06T13:19:00.002-05:00

Have you just stared using Web 2.0 tools in your classroom? It is important to assess multimedia projects to ensure that students are using the tools to show mastery of curricular concepts. I think that rubrics are the best form of assessment for online or multimedia projects.

Here are some sites that you can use to create a rubric for your student projects.
Rubistar
Teachnology Rubric Generator
4 Teachers Project Based Learning Checklists
Rubric Machine

Here are some rubrics that are already created for you. Get some ideas and then create your own.
Multimedia and Web 2.0 Tools Rubrics:
Animoto Rubric
Blogging Rubric
Multimedia Project Rubric
Glogster Rubric

Skype Rubric

Voicethread Rubric

Wiki Rubric

Some of these links and many more links about rubrics and assessment can be found on Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators: Assessment and Rubric Information.

Google Earth in the Classroom

2011-11-04T09:44:00.000-04:00

This week I will providing Google Earth training for middle and high teachers. This slideshow includes rationale for using Google Earth in the classroom, resources for learning how to use Google Earth, links to pre-made lessons for social studies, math, language arts, science, and word language, and info on how to create your own Google Earth tour/lesson for your classroom.

Vocabulary Games for Your Smartboard

2011-11-01T13:46:00.000-04:00

Increase or review vocabulary with these team-based game activities from BarryFUNEnglish. Choose from games like The Wheel (based on Wheel of Fortune), Battleship, Word Scramble, Card Match, Englishopoly and more! The games are already pre-loaded with words in many categories such as: adjectives, American holidays, animals, colors, countries, food, months and seasons, musical instruments, prepositions, sports, and weather.

The Wheel:

More Games:

How Do You Save Your Bookmarks?

2011-10-24T17:16:00.000-04:00

Do you still use the favorites star to save your bookmarks (favorite websites) on your computer? If you do it is time to move to social bookmarking. Social bookmarking is a way to save your favorite websites- but instead of saving them locally on your computer, you save them on the web so they are accessible from any computer with Internet access. Social bookmarking isn't new, but I find that many educators do not realize that this even exists! If you're a newbie, watch this Common Craft video to learn more about social bookmarking:

What are the advantages of social bookmarking and how can you use social bookmarking as an educator?:

Save all of your bookmarks in one place. You will no longer have some of your websites saved on your home computer and some saved on your school computer. Many bookmarking sites also have apps that you can use on iPads and Android devices, so you can also access your bookmarks on iPads or mobile devices, too.
Social bookmarking is social because you are sharing your favorite websites with others. You can also view the bookmarks of people with similar interests. So, if you teach math you may find some great sites that are bookmarked by another math teacher.
Bookmarking sites allow you to add tags to the websites you save. So a math website could be tagged: math, 6th grade, and algebra. Tags allow you to categorize and organize your sites. So when you are looking for a particular site, it is easier to find.
Share your online bookmarks with teachers, students, or parents. You are creating a great resource!
Create a grade-level or classroom account and invite students to add websites. Encourage students to evaluate websites for educational merit before including them on your class bookmarking site.

Here are some sites that you can use for social bookmarking:

Diigo:

Delicious:

Digg:

Faves:

Or, try these sites to make a customizable, visual bookmark page to link to the sites you'd like to share with others:

Symbaloo:

Only2Clicks:

Livebinders:

Sitemark:

Sqworl:

Zootool:

Speedymarks:

Transferr:

Skloog:

Periodic Table of Text Messaging

2011-10-17T21:52:00.000-04:00

I came across this image on Google and I thought that this was an interesting way to display text message abbreviations. Teachers could share this image with students to teach them (and their parents) about net and texting lingo and it could be used in a lesson about Internet safety and netiquette.

As far as I can tell the image is from Lab Five. There is also a link available on the site to a .pdf printable version.

Digital Storytelling for Halloween

2011-10-13T14:03:00.002-04:00

There are so many great digital storytelling sites and applications to help your students to share their stories online. Here are some sites that have Halloween images and themes that can easily be used to publish your seasonal stories and poetry. Plus most of these sites provide you with an embed code that can be used to publish your stories directly on your class website, blog, or wiki:

Storybird:
Storybird provides the art work (many different themes) and you create the story!

A Halloween Story

Storyjumper:Storyjumper is simple to use with primary students. The program comes loaded with backgrounds and images for many themes. The only downfall is that there is no embed code available, but you can provide the link to share the stories.

ToonDoo:Make a comic strip of your story. ToonDoo has wonderful backgrounds and images to choose from!

DomoAnimate:Easily create videos with a great selection of backgrounds, images, characters (that you can control), sound effects, music, transitions, and text boxes.

Voki:
Vokis are so much fun to create- choose and edit a character, choose a background, add text or record your voice and you have a Voki to tell your story! Halloween characters include a pumpkin, skeleton, and vampire.

Newspaper Map

2011-10-10T15:02:00.002-04:00

Newspaper Map is a an online map that helps you to locate online newspapers from around the world. Students can look at the map to see the number of publications located in different parts of the world. The markers are color coded to show the original language in which the publication was written. But, don't let a foreign language stop you from reading the news from Paris or Istanbul- Newspaper Map uses Google Translate to quickly convert the news to the language of your choice. This site would be useful in Social Studies classes to learn about global news events or in Foreign Language class to read articles in their original languages. Check out the historical newspapers, too. These would be great for history class.