Poster with Glogster

A generic glog. Image from personal collection.

We, as teachers and future teachers, are teaching in the 21st century. As an education student, I have heard this repeated time and time again until it has become engraved in my head, and I think Glogster EDU does an excellent job of bringing the 21st century into the classroom using a hybrid of an old idea and current technology. After stumbling upon Gloster online, I decided to explore it and discovered that it is an online poster making tool in which users are able to embed videos, sound, images, text, and much more. Students are able to bring the creativity of making posters into this safe and virtual world. By using an educational Glogster account, teachers can view and control the accounts of their students, while students can share and collaborate with fellow classmates and display their creations. I played around with Glogster and created my own "Glog." It's so easy to use, that even first and second graders could easily be taught how to use Glogster. Students can even create their own podcasts to upload on to their Glog, or teachers can use this instead of a PowerPoint presentation to present information in a fun and exciting new way.

Here are some websites that have more information and ideas on how to use Glogster in the classroom:

Classroom Benefits - a list of benefits from the Glogster EDU website.
Using Glogster in the Classroom- this page includes instructions on how to get started, examples of classroom Glogs from various subject areas, and pros vs. cons of using Glogster.
And finally, here's a short PowerPoint which gives some information:

Using Glogster in the Classroom

View more presentations from catherinelambert

Forget PowerPoint. Use Prezi Instead!

While presenting about astronomers in an Inquiry to Earth and Space Science class, two girls deviated from the norm and used a tool called Prezi instead of PowerPoint. This was the first time I had seen it, and I was impressed. Prezi has great potential for use in the classroom from kindergarten through college. By signing up for an educational account, students and teachers can create innovative Prezi presentations (or should I say Prezi-tations). Prezi is more than just presentations, though; you can do all sorts of cool things with it. You can embed YouTube videos, create graphic organizers, zoom into pictures and words, and create frames to show related ideas. There are lots of things that students and teachers can use Prezi for besides the obvious presentation. I personally am not a Prezi expert yet and have only created one Prezi presentation that you can see below. It takes time and practice to become an expert at making your Prezi look "cool" and professional, but the possibilities are endless and students in the classroom should be encouraged to be creative and explore this tool.

Image from my personal collection.

iPads in the Classroom

Image used with permission from smemon87

As a digital native, I've grown up using all sorts of technology. From a computer, to a cell phone, to an iPod, it's hard to imagine life without these items. Still, at the same time, I'm old enough to remember a time when cell phones were large and rare and Internet time was limited because of dial-up connection. As for iPods, well, I think I have an old Walkman lying around somewhere! Technology has evolved so much in the past two decades, and, like I touched upon in the previous post, schools are beginning to evolve too. Several schools across the United States are even providing their students with one of the newest pieces of technology: iPads. I first read about this in a New York Times article, but, as a future teacher, I felt skeptical about accepting it. Though it seemed like an excellent device, I couldn't help but wonder if students really benefit from having there textbooks on a screen. Would the applications available truly enhance learning? Or, would the device steal from a child's learning experience? These questions are similar to the fears of many educators across the nation. Nonetheless, after doing some research, and being able to try out an iPad in one of my classes on campus, I personally wouldn't mind having iPads in the classroom for my students. These devices are interactive and engaging for students and teachers alike. If used correctly, I believe learning can be greatly enhanced. The Apple website gives a great overview of the applications that students can used, but schools need to conduct their own in depth studies before adopting the iPads completely. It's not just about textbooks and handwriting. Many applications exist to enhance subjects such as science and math. For example, in one of my UNI courses, I was able to try out an application in which students are able to explore the constellations in the sky by moving around with the iPad. Schools across the nation have found benefits to adopting 1:1 student to iPad. Even Price Lab in Cedar Falls is going to try to test this out during the next school year.  Instead of having just 1:1 iPads though, they plan on having 50% iPads and 50% laptops in order to see if one is more beneficial than the other. I know I'll be watching to see what happens as technology continues to evolve and even more schools bring iPads into the classroom.

The Magical ActivBoard

Used with permission from iclipart.com

 I distinctly remember a time when overheads and chalkboards were two of the only, and best, ways to place material in front of the entire class. This was how I was taught, and though I found it fun to write on the overhead, after a while it became boring. Now the world of technology in the classroom is evolving rapidly and even projectors are becoming old school. During my field experience in the Waterloo School District, I discovered that nearly every classroom in the district has an innovative piece of technology called a Promethean ActivBoard. These interactive, durable whiteboards are mounted on the wall and connected to the computer. Not only does the ActivBoard act like a white board and display webpages like a projector, many interactive programs exist for both students and teachers to you, and you are even able to write on the the pages or highlight the text on the screen! For example, during my field experience in the second grade classroom, the teacher placed an eBook, of the social studies textbook, on the screen. While the students followed along in their own textbooks, she highlighted the important information and had students come up to the ActivBoard to circle important words. Another program that was used in this classroom allowed students to "pop" virtual balloons on the screen. Behind the balloons were numbers and students were able to make their own addition and subtraction sentences to solve. The students not only found this resembling a fun game, but they were also encouraged to learn.  Many more programs are available to download here.

Here’s a short video that demonstrates one way to use the ActivBoard: