technology – Page 7 – iLearn Technology

Studio4Learning

September 12, 2008Kelly Tenkely1 Comment10124 views

What it is: Studio4Learning is a great site for students in fifth through twelfth grades. It provides students and teachers with free, high-quality videos that can be watched online. There are ten categories of videos to choose from Math, Sciences, English, Languages, Social Sciences, Business, Arts, Test Prep, Find a Job, and Tutor Corps. Each category is broken down into several sub categories. Videos are engaging and teach key skills and concepts in a fun way. Students can also use the sites search feature to search for a specific topic.

How to integrate Studio4Learning into the classroom: Students can use Studio4Learning as a place to stop for homework help and to learn or review concepts learned in class. Teachers can use Studio4Learning as a center, with a projector, or on individual student computers to illustrate new teaching or as a place where students can review information. Studio4Learning is free to use, if students register (also free) they can bookmark videos. Teachers can upload class topic videos to Studio4Learning, again free. (Are you seeing a theme here? It is all free!) As an added bonus, if you have a class website or blog, you can embed videos directly into your site for students to watch on any subject you are studying in class.

Tips: Browse through a couple of videos on the site, I know you will be hooked!

Leave a comment and share how you are using Studio4Learning in your classroom.

iKeep Safe

September 2, 2008Kelly Tenkely3 Comments6090 views

What it is: iKeep Safe is a website and program I have used every year since I started teaching technology. As I was writing up lesson plans for the upcoming week, I realized that I haven’t ever posted about this outstanding resource. iKeep Safe is a kid friendly Internet safety program. It features a cat named Faux Paw who has adventures on the Internet. There are videos, downloadable and printable books, and games for kids. All are centered on teaching kids to be safe online. There are free guided discussion sheets for you to go through with your students, quizzes, coloring pages, etc. This program is the perfect way to introduce Internet safety in your elementary classroom without worrying that the content is too mature for your audience. The online books and videos teach kids Internet safety basics, how to handle cyber bullying, balancing real life with screen time, and the risks and dangers of downloading. Students learn about these concepts with fun cartoon characters and engaging stories.

How to integrate iKeep Safe into the classroom: iKeep Safe is a great place to start Internet safety. I would recommend making Internet safety a top priority the first month of school before kids are online for class. In my classroom, students are introduced to Faux Paw at the beginning of the school year. We watch and discuss the Faux Paw cartoon, read and discuss the books, and finish by taking the free downloadable quiz. Students must pass this quiz with an eighty percent or better in order to get their “Internet Drivers Licenses”. I talk a lot about how using the Internet is a privilege, not a right. This is just like driving a car. So in order to be online for other subjects, students have to demonstrate that they know the rules of the Internet by passing the quiz. They can lose their Internet drivers licenses at any time by mis-using the Internet or not following the rules. I also have the kids create a rules poster for them to hang next to their home computers. Students also get an assignment to go home and tell their parents the Internet rules. This has to be signed off on in order to use the Internet. I find that we can do a pretty good job of keeping kids safe at school, but at home parents aren’t doing enough to make sure that their kids are safe. Whether or not you are the computer teacher, make sure that your kids know how to keep themselves safe online. Be an adult they trust who they can come to with any cyberbullying problems, if they see inappropriate content, or if someone is trying to contact them inappropriately.

Tips: Never been trained in Internet safety? Be sure to visit the educator page of iKeepSafe, the training materials are wonderful!

Please leave a comment and share how you are using iKeep Safe in your classroom.

Animoto for Education

August 7, 2008August 7, 2008Kelly Tenkely1 Comment5252 views

What it is: There are some really neat online tools that I find that live in my Google Notebook for a long time (I have upward of 800 links for educational websites yet to post to iLearn Technology…and growing daily!) Some get pushed aside for my newest cool find, and some move to the bottom of the list because, while they may have educational value, they are not intended JUST for education and may have some questionable user created content that I wouldn’t want my students to stumble on. Animoto was one of these sites for me. It is an amazing and COOL tool but wasn’t necessarily geared just toward education. I got a fun email today that Animoto now has an education only site! Animoto for education is a site where students can create compelling and impressive digital content quickly and easily. It is the perfect addition to your classroom’s digital storytelling kit. It is very intuative and easy to use, in no time students have digital videos that they created! This is also an amazing place for you, the teacher, to create a video that will bring your lessons to life. You can post or embed videos on your class site or even, are you ready for this?, download for in class presentations. Animoto for Education makes it simple to mix audio and visual for a dynamic, unique presentation in no time. It is so easy to use that students could create a complete animoto presentation in one computer class.

How to integrate Animoto for Education into the classroom: Animoto for education is a great place for you to teach from. Make any lesson come to life with audio and visual, use at the beginning of the day as a ‘teaser’ for what your students can look forward to learning each day or use to teach complex concepts in history, math, science, or character education. Students will respond to new media in the classroom. Allow your students to display knowledge of a concept using Animoto. Use Animoto for Education for a beginning of the year get to know you activity. Students can each create an Animoto showcasing who they are through pictures and music. Animoto presentations are quicker to create than traditional PowerPoint type presentations making them ideal for digital storytelling in the classroom setting. Because Animoto is completely web-based, students can create videos from school and continue working on them at home. The ability to download videos is outstanding…students could save their work for offline viewing too!

Tips: Children under 13 can’t sign up for their own account. To use Animoto for Education with your students you can register your students with dummy accounts using dummy email addresses. Animoto is private to your school. This means that other people can’t come accross student videos or contact students through the site.

Leave a comment and share how you are using Animoto for Education in your classroom.

iLearn Ezine

August 5, 2008August 5, 2008Kelly Tenkely2 Comments3996 views

I have been working on a special project the last few months. Introducing iLearn ezine. This is an online education magazine for Mac users. The magazine is 26 pages, full color and includes articles about Mac OS Leopard in education, time saving tips, a lesson plan, iPods in education, and more. The ezine cost $1.00 and includes 3 templates to accompany the lesson plan. You can purchase the ezine at my new online store . But wait, there is more! If you are one of the first 10 to send me a request email, I will send you the iLearn ezine for free! Just send the request to ktenkely@chcc.org. Happy reading 🙂

Letter to the future president

August 5, 2008Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment2173 views

I learned about this petition last night on Twitter. If you don’t follow me yet I am at http://twitter.com/ktenkely

The Ed Tech Action Network has created a petition to the future president regarding educational technology. Obviously, this one is near and dear to my heart as I think that in the 21st century, an education void of technology, can’t really be called an education. Take 2 minutes to read the letter to the candidates and sign the petition.

Tech Chick Tips

July 31, 2008Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment1871 views

So, here I am listening to a podcast of Tech Chick Tips in iTunes while I update my blog with Mapness and what should I hear but a shout out for iLearn Technology!! So much fun to know that I have a hand in (sort of) creating episodes of Tech Chick Tips! If you haven’t subscribed to Tech Chicks yet, it is a great blog/podcasts all about technology in education. Episode 45 is the one that mentions iLearn Technology. Check it out 🙂

Wetpaint millionth site

June 23, 2008June 23, 2008Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment1978 views

WetPaint wiki creator is running a new promotion. If you, or someone you refer, or are the creator of the millionth site Wet Paint is going to award a package to enable you to be green for a year! So, if you haven’t created a wiki yet, now is the perfect time to head on over to WetPaint and give it a try. WetPaint makes it seriously simple to understand and create your own wikis. Think word document easy…really! Click on the link below to give it a try 🙂

Create your wiki now

Buzz Lightyear in Orbit

June 17, 2008Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment2777 views

What it is: Buzz Lightyear in Orbit is part of NASA’s website for kids. The site uses the popular Toy Story character, Buzz Lightyear, to teach kids about the next space mission with Atlantis. It also introduces kids to the Discovery team and the mission that has just been completed. Kids can go on 5 space “missions” of their own by playing some fun educational games on the site. Games are math and science based and separated into grade level. Grades k-2 can play games appropriate for that age group and grades 3-5 can play at a more difficult level.

How to integrate Buzz Lightyear in Orbit into the classroom:
Use Buzz Lightyear in Orbit as part of your space unit or even as a current events topic. Students can read and learn about the current space missions on the Buzz Lightyear home page. The games are great for reinforcing math and science skills that you are teaching in conjunction with or even separate from the space unit. Your students will love the fun look and feel of this site and especially the familiar Buzz Lightyear character.

Tips: At the bottom of the game screen, you can download worksheets that correspond perfectly with the games and information on the site!

Leave a comment and share how you are using Buzz Lightyear in Orbit in your classroom!

Phun

May 8, 2008Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment2118 views

What it is: As promised today I am reviewing the Mac version of Crayon Physics…it isn’t exactly the same, but has very similar principles and applications. Phun is a ‘playground’ where students can be creative while learning about physics principles such as resistance, friction, energy, gravity, force, etc. Phun isn’t a game with a goal like Crayon Physics, instead it is an area where students can create their own shapes and rules and see how they interact when different principles such as gravity and force are applied. Phun is a free program and available for both Mac and PC.

How to integrate Phun into the classroom: Like Crayon Physics, students can use Phun to learn about principles of gravity, energy, force, velocity, etc. Students will enjoy having an environment to test out physics concepts and conceptualize experiments. Phun may have even more application for the physics classroom because it isn’t a puzzle to figure out, but a creative environment to explore and test.

Tips: Because Phun is a free download, students can use this software at school and at home. Cool!

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Phun in your classroom.

Crayon Physics

May 7, 2008Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment2545 views

What it is: Crayon Physics is a freeware puzzle game. The object of the game is to guide a ball to a star. Students do not have direct control of the ball, but interact with it by drawing shapes with the mouse to get the ball to roll from one platform to another. Any object that students draw reacts as it would if it were subject to gravity. There are some great physics lessons to be taught with this game! Crayon Physics is a Windows only download right now…(I know, bummer for those of us who are Mac users! Not to worry, I have found a Mac version that I will be posting tomorrow.)

How to integrate Crayon Physics into the classroom: Allow students to interact with Crayon Physics to learn about principles of gravity, energy, force, velocity, etc. The game is very entertaining and even mildly addictive. Your students will love learning physics with Crayon Physics. It will bring your class and all those formulas to life for your students.

Tips: Take a look at the video above for a good look at Crayon Physics in action.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Crayon Physics in your classroom.