Welcome
Welcome to EDIT 3220, a class devoted to providing ideas and training on how to use technology in theK-12 classroom. You might want to bookmark this page, as it will be continuously updated with new information on assignments, as well as technology, throughout the semester. The course will be paperless so all content that you need to complete your projects will be posted on this page.
– You will use Livetext as well as your Google Drive account in this course. Make sure you have access to both and know your usernames/passwords
Professional Website
You can use this website as a model for your project
This might be the most useful project you do in the course. When you are finished, you will have created a website that showcases you as a teacher. You will be creating your website using the excellent free service Weebly.com
If you want a custom domain (for instance, www.drchrisgreer.com) then you can register one here and point it to your Weebly website.
Your website needs to be, at the very minimum, 7 pages and contain content related to:
1) what you teach
2) your philosophy
3) examples of your work (technology and other), embed your technology projects on a dedicated page for greater visibility
4) your overall experience
5) a link to your resume
6) lots of your own images
If you want to ensure a solid grade for this project, you should go above and beyond these minimum guidelines.
You can also showcase any research, presentations, work experience, or a variety of other topics.
This website will be due on our last day of class. It is important that you don’t wait until a few weeks before to finish it, as it will take a while to gather the needed materials to complete it.
Book Creator and OGM
Project requirements:
The use of still images, video, and text can be used to tell a story or relate content as a fun and engaging project for your class. Even more fun is when you can get out into the world to capture it and then educate the viewers about what you experience. You will be doing just that when we visit the Old Governor’s Mansion. Your final project will need to:
- Have a video that is 2-3 minutes long (includes background music, transitions, a title, multiple cuts, and narration)
- Include high quality images (at least 5)
- Include text related to the mansion
- Be a total of 10 pages in length or more (includes cover)
- Be nicely designed with a consistent theme from page to page
Before you visit, please research the mansion so that you will have some background knowledge, as it might help guide what you want to capture during your time.
Electronic Whiteboard
For this project you will use the whiteboard to teach a lesson to the class. You will need to form groups of 2 to 3 students and plan about 10 minutes of instruction to deliver to the class. The instruction should be on something related to your content area, and you need to take full advantage of the whiteboard’s functionality. This includes interactive exercises that get students up to the board and engage them in the lesson. You can have questions, writing exercises, integrated video, and links to external websites. The more functionality you utilize, the stronger your grade will be. Be creative with your layouts and make sure to utilize plenty of colors and images throughout the presentation. You will work on this today in class and present it soon (depending on how quickly we work through everything). There is a rubric available on Livetext that you can reference when creating your project.
Here is a video of how to use the software we covered in class
Here is the example I used in class:
Using a Promethean or SmartBoard at your school? Download the software to your personal computer so you can create lessons from home!
Hardware and Software
Download free software to prevent viruses
- Avast (there is a Mac version as well)
- Kapersky Antivirus
Do not fall for phishing scams. They can be very clever and many people cannot tell the difference. Multiple government agencies and businesses have been phished recently and it has cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Your iPads
Using Search Engines: Google
Google is a powerful search engine, but many people don’t know some of the advanced ways it can be used. Try to answer these questions:
- Find some PowerPoint presentations or PDF files that can help you teach the structure and function of cells in the human body.
- Name the many bands/artists that have covered the song “Wagon Wheel”
- How many times is my last name mentioned on the Georgia College website?
- Find some of the critics’ reviews of The Walking Dead during previous seasons, but without worrying about coming across a spoiler from the current season.
- Your cell phone has started dropping the Wifi connection on a daily basis. It happens at school and at home. How could you solve this problem?
Social Media
General rules to follow:
1. Do not Facebook “friend” your students
2. Consider changing your last name once you begin teaching
3. Consider creating a new account on Facebook if you must have online contact with students
4. Make sure your stuff is private. Make VERY sure. Go and view it as someone else and as the general public to make certain
5. Don’t post anything online that you wouldn’t want your principal to see. Even if you think it is to a private media feed. 6. Be aware of cyberbullying, its frequency, and ways you might spot it.
Locking down your presence on the web can be tough, but now is the time to do it. Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vine, Tumbler, etc need to all be examined.
Laws Teachers Should Know:
Classroom activity:
You all will be building a concept map and there can be no more than 4 individuals in each group. You will build your concept map on the laws that all teachers need to be aware of: CIPA, COPPA, FERPA, and Fair Use of Copyright. Each group member must work and develop the concept map. The finished map needs to be extensive and cover the laws sufficiently.
We will be using Google Drawings for this
BTW: Google Drawings is super useful in the classroom
- begin with a main title
- break it down into the subtopics that are all related to the main subject
- break those down further into detailed examples and media
- you must include images, video, and links
- Each law needs to include an example of something that could happen in a classroom to violate the law (this shows you understand how they can apply to you)
- overall there should be roughly 25 elements (or more) on the completed concept map
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Websites for Your Classroom
By far, one of THE best resources for discovering new websites and apps to use in your classroom is the annual AASL Best Websites/Apps for Teaching and Learning list.
TeacherTube – Just like Youtube, but contains educational content for K-12 curriculums.
SchoolTube – Similar to teacher tube, with videos that are edcuational in nature. Make your own and upload them!
UnitedStreaming – Massive resource for lesson plans and educational videos
Edmodo – A social network, for your class, that allows interaction and assignments
Google Educational Apps – Free apps for your school, quite powerful. Talk to your IT person about implementing them.
Google Docs – Excellent for collaborating on a word processor file
Google Scholar – Access journals, presentations, and other research on virtually any topic
Class Dojo – Free online classroom management software.
Linux for Education – Huge site of interactives and flash demos. Not the best navigation, but just check the link on the left that says “Resources by theme.”
National Geographic Education – Part of the excellent National Geographic site, but contains activities and interactives for students.
Nova – Excellent interactive exercises for science, history, contemporary culture
EduHound – Educational resources for teachers and students
The Jason Project – Excellent supplemental curriculum for science classrooms
Yahooligans – Kid-friendly search engine
Foreign Language Games – A site with games and exercises for all kinds of foreign languages
Howstuffworks.com – Amazing site with very thorough tutorials on how various things work
History.com – The popular cable channel has a website dedicated to K-12 education
HistoryTeacher.net – Great resources for history teachers
History Websites – A listing of some great instructional websites on various events in history. This website is a great example.
Merlot – Massive repository of interactive learning units
Geography games – Great site with interactive Flash geography games.
Ikeepbookmarks – Perfect way to keep track of all of the websites you use in your classroom
Visible Earth – Wonderful repository of images from NASA.
The Human Body – An interactive look at the human body
Economics – Some great online economics lessons for business classes
Virtual Stock Market – Learn about the stock market with this free online interactive
WebEnglishTeacher – An online website with resources for English Teachers
English resources – More resources for the English teacher
Websites for Teachers – Numerous websites for ideas and lesson planning
EPals – Virtual penpals for your classroom
Teach-Nology.com – Lesson plans for incorporating technology into your classroom
PEcentral.com – Large resource for health educators
PBS.com – Great resource for teachers of all disciplines