Technology

=Technology=

 Website allows students to create digital portfolios of schoolwork A new website allows students to store and share photos of school projects online. The site, DIY.org, allows students -- who are identified only by an animal character and nickname -- to upload a digital portfolio, which can be viewed by friends and relatives, who can comment on the work by giving it one of four stickers: Awesome, Beautiful, Favorite and Genius. KQED.org/Mind/Shift blog (5/1)  

 **Changing Education Paradigms** RSAnimates creates a stunning and witty visual depiction of a thought-provoking speech by education and creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson. ** Watch the video **

Create a Digital Classroom
 * Learn it in 5** is a library of **how-to videos**, produced by technology teachers, for the purpose of helping teachers and students create classroom strategies for today’s 21st century’s digital classroom. In five minutes or less, the step-by-step how-to videos walk teachers through Web 2.0 technology, demonstrating how to use Web 2.0 applications such as blogs, social networks, podcasts, interactive videos, wikis, slide sharing and much more. Click Here to Access Free Videos

Technology should be part of the daily routine in schools, writes ASCD EDge user Celina Brennan. "Students should have frequent access in an authentic manner," says Brennan, adding that tools such as blogs and digital cameras can help students share their thoughts and foster collaboration. In her recent blog post, Brennan explains what digital literacy is, how to incorporate it into the classroom and professional development, and more. Read on.
 * Digital literacy in the classroom **

**Tech for Teachers: Using Twitter to Start Your Personal Learning Network**  In this new tech column, Jason Bedell, an instructional technology consultant and a library media specialist, explains how to use Twitter to share best practices and build a productive personal learning network.   ** More **

I have always wished that my computer would be as easy to use as my telephone. My wish has come true. I no longer know how to use my telephone."  ** --Bjarne Stroustrup, **

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan today released the U.S. Department of Education's plan for transforming American education through technology, a process that would create an engaging state-of-the-art, cradle-to-college school system nationwide. Administration Sets Target of 2015 to Reach Five Key Goals The plan, titled ‘Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology,’ presents a model with key goals in five areas: learning, assessment, teaching, infrastructure and productivity. Each core section outlines concepts for using technology to holistically transform education, with the aim to achieve each goal by 2015.

The full report is available at []

Web Resources
 * Need to get your video without commercials? Paste the url address into [|http://www.quietube.com]
 * Need a place to store your documents, have students send you documents go to [|http://www.dropbox.com]
 * ======[|Seven Technology Tips for Younger Elementary] Blog By [|Mary Beth Hertz] 2/14/11 ======
 *  NY Google Apps presentation on the left side of the screen - [|http://www.chadkafka.com]

**Q&A: How technology is changing today's classroom** School-technology specialist Kathy Schrock offers her thoughts in this interview about the technology making positive changes in today's classroom. The emergence of digital textbooks still is on the horizon, while Web 2.0 technology has made unexpected progress in improving the way students and teachers collaborate, Schrock says. She also predicts that within five years "students will have an age-appropriate personal information/creation/consumption device with them 24/7." T.H.E. Journal (1/5)

** Classroom Capture in One Easy Step ** A school district in Pennsylvania has begun implementing lecture capture in all of its classrooms. At first the technology was used just to deliver staff development materials, but teachers have picked up on it and have started using it in "hybrid" classrooms, capturing student activities and posting classes online.To read the complete article, please go to: []

**Which Web tools are educators using?** More educators are using online tools to improve classroom management, enhance and reinforce lessons and provide students with multiple ways to express what they are learning. Web-based tools such as Weebly, Edmodo and Wikispaces allow teachers to create classroom websites for posting announcements, assignments and student work. Other tools such as Chatzy allow students to communicate in real time, while applications such as Vocaroo allow students to record voice messages and post them online. Harvard Education Letter (March/April 2011)

Technology allows students to take on global storytelling project Fourth- and fifth-graders at a New Jersey elementary school participated in a worldwide technology project in which they collaborated on numerous stories with students from 200 schools in 21 states and eight countries. For the "Global Progressive Story" project, each class wrote one paragraph at a time of a five-paragraph story with the final stories posted online. The project was aimed at honing students' 21st-century skills, such as technology use, digital literacy, critical thinking, problem solving and social skills. NorthJersey.com (Hackensack, N.J.)/Ramsey Suburban News (free registration) (2/24)