In the ever evolving world of education we teachers rally behind new technology as it aids us in reaching just one more individual in need of our instruction. Long gone are the days of single slide projectors, say hello to the new and improved digital Whiteboard, E-Learning with an iPad, Web 2.0, and the kind of gadgets you only saw on the magic school bus. This blog will be a review of tools for teachers in 2015 where we’ll discuss who might benefit from these tools, the benefits of these tools, when we might use these tools, and how these tools will enhance our instruction to make it easier and more effective.
Teachers Tools 2015 Tech Review
White Board The lord of the flies brought to you by Nobel Prize, the official website of the Nobel Prize is a great way of testing to see if students have read the book. If they haven't it'll serve as a tedious guessing game almost unplayable without knowledge of the story and characters. There are three sections to the game that eventually result in a grading process where you're rewarded with the history of the author. Understand the writers perspective can help students better relate to the story its self. The level of depth within this game is designed for middle to high school students. As a potential English teacher I appreciate resources like this as efforts to hold students accountable while rewarding the students who've held themselves accountable. There are a plethora of benefits for this type of testing and instruction. http://www.nobelprize.org/educational/literature/golding/lof.html |
ABC presents Winged Scandals - Greek Mythology an entertaining and interactive way to experiment with history. This is another interactive device designed for secondary education teachers to aid in their imparting of traditional Greek wisdom. This game has a lot of potential to inform students in a way more natural than forced. This app would be well suited to be used during either the teaching of ancient Greek Mythology, or during a segment in which a classroom were exploring fiction. This is another great example of content that can be consumed as a class, in groups, or at home in lieu of traditional homework. When a student is given the opportunity to learn in an interesting and comfortable environment through humorous interactive materials the likelihood that they'll participate, learn, and retain knowledge increases. http://www.abc.net.au/arts/wingedsandals/ |
| iPad The iPad is a great example of a disruptive technology that really revolutionized what the eraser industry started several hundred years ago. It's a platform now so seamlessly integrated into our lives that we can download learning tools and accidentally increase our intelligence just by consulting an application like Twitter for instance. Twitter isn't your typical educational program, however when teachthought.com listed it on their list of the best iPad apps for education, I started to consider how I or others may use it in the classroom. There's a rule in social media marketing, that rule is to be where your audience is. If grade school is anything like college, then the students are on social media. Twitter is a great resource for learning about whats going on nationally, socially, and in the world. One of my 97 tweets over the past year was about Germany landing a satellite on a comet. That's an accomplishment and I may not have gotten to interact with that topic without twitter. I can imagine this helping out my instruction when it comes to asking students to bring in research on current events. |
Kindle is such an amazing tool for teachers and students alike. When I was in grade an high school I grew up carrying home 30 or more pounds of books and paper just go get confused, loose, and probably develop scoliosis. While not all books are going to be on kindle, and not all students will have an iPad to read them on, the ones who do will benefit. On my phone I have a copy of Kahlil Gibran's the prophet in kindle format, I also have a copy of the constitution, some Shakespeare, and Edgar Allan Poe. If you can put learning material son the same platform that is used to access video games, visual entertainment, and social correspondences, then the opportunity to get a neophyte to read or interact with their own education is a great benefit to student and teacher alike.
Web 2.0 The Web 2.0 tools afforded by allmyfaves.com/ list of the top educational web 2.0 websites gives great insight into replacing entertainment with education in the digital age. I was able to teach myself to program in HTML, CSS, Java Script, and a bit of pearl just by taking the lessons provided by w3school.com. That's the great thing about the information age, anyone with an input method to the internet can begin tutoring themselves outside of class in any subject their struggling or succeeding at. |
Another Web 2.0 tool I use daily and see as more of entertainment than education is Ted. Ted talks cover everything from quantum physics to history lessons. This is a phenomenal resource for finding ways to integrate expert opinions with other medium into a classroom. As a student I recognize that I need to be told things twice, while writing them down, highlighting them, and later typing them and eventually singing them, so in an effort to help students who also would love to learn if only they had the attention span and interaction I'll prove that with resources like ted talks.
3D printing is obviously one of the most disruptive technologies to ever exist. 3d printing literally has the potential of putting Chinese manufacturing out of business, so it should serve as no surprise that as the cost decreases they'll be as common in schools as actual printers. These could be a great resource for art teachers and computer teachers to interact. Giving students the ability to use creativity and technology to solve an issue or interact with reality. The video to the right is a 3d printed solution to a dog with only 2 legs. There are 3d printers that can print with electric ink, so this could even make learning about transistors and the creation of electronics a plausibility in science. Teachers will be able to create the materials as easily as they've printed out handouts in the past. Students will have a great ability to interact with learning materials in a variety of ways. | Gadgets The HoloLens, is one of the gadgets that will be changing the way we school. For those students that need to make paper airplanes and eat playto to learn, the hololens has your back. This technology can be particularly useful for exploring maps, the globe, and other materials in an almost tactile 3d environment with visual feedback for physical interaction. This could be a great way for teachers to do a presentation that allows students to interact with a volcano or other scientific observations. |