Voca... What? Tech Tools You May Not Know

This week, I watched a webinar on SimpleK12 in which Steven Anderson outlined several tech tools that are available for teachers. The kicker? All of the tools are FREE!

Steven provided a list of tools in 7 categories:

• Images
• Audio/Video
• Collaboration 
• Chat and Backchannel (FYI, if you don't know what Backchannels are, as I didn't, click here.)
• Presentation
• Mindmapping
• Essentials (This part covered the most useful tools, in Steve's opinion.)

Throughout the webinar, I found myself frantically scribbling notes about how I could use these tools in my future classroom, so I hope you find them useful as well. Here is a subset of the tools Steven described, with some of my ideas for classroom application.

Big Huge Labs

Big Huge Labs is a photo editing site that allows you to create fun products like motivational posters, photo collages, and trading cards. I'm envisioning seating charts with photos for those of us who need a good visual to remember student names, classroom messages illustrated by your students, and perhaps a class yearbook for parents.

Vocaroo

Use Vocaroo to create voice recordings. Steven suggested using it for paperless grading, which sounds great. I would also use it to record instructions that a substitute teacher can simply play back for kids. Where consistency in terminology is important, sometimes only you can say the magic words. Vocaroo would also be helpful while you're doing running records with the kids. That way, you can take your time to listen to your students as they read, diagnosing and taking notes at your leisure.

Screenr or Jing

Both Screenr and Jing are screen recording applications. You can record yourself completing tasks on your computer. I wish I had this tool in the third grade when I had mono and missed the first lessons on long division and needed someone to walk me through it, step by step!

Skype

Skype is a great tool for video chatting. Its main benefit is that it eliminates the need for travel. So, if your students are reading books by an author who lives across the country, use Skype to talk to him or her. Another great use for Skype is parent-teacher conferences. The last thing you want is to miss out on meeting your students' parents because they can't get to school during business hours.

Using Skype in schools is so popular that there's an entire site dedicated to its uses. Click here to check it out. And also check out this video, which features teachers who have used Skype with their students, and testimonials about its effectiveness.

Livebinders

What a fabulous mechanism for sharing your students' work with their parents, other teachers, etc. Create a Livebinder for each student, and voila - an online portfolio! For newbie teachers (or even.. erm... oldbie teachers who want to learn some new tricks), use Livebinders to check out some nifty binders created by other teachers. Check out this blog post for some more info.

Learning outcomes addressed in this activity

• Demonstrate the understanding of how technologies can effectively promote student learning.
• Evaluate and use a variety of current technologies to enhance content instruction and to advance students' technological literacy.
• Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of safe, ethical, legal and moral practices related to digital information and technology.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the use of adaptive technologies and other digital resources to personalize and differentiate learning activities for every student.
• Evaluate, adapt and reflect upon emerging tools and trends by participating in local and global learning communities and by reviewing current research and professional literature.

Classroom impact

When I (finally!) get my own classroom, I can see myself using many of these tools to create an interactive, engaging, technologically-advanced environment for my students and for myself and my colleagues. I can absolutely envision Skype converstations with far-away authors, posting to a blog to update parents on the weekly classroom activities, and decorating the classroom with motivational posters featuring my students. I think the greatest benefit my class will reap will come from the use of technology to enhance communication.

Reflection

I don't know about you, but I learned a lot from watching this webinar and writing this post. The internet is a huge place, and who can tell where to start to find helpful classroom tools? Steve gave me a glimpse into some of the available applications that are out there, and has encouraged me to find more. I hope you and your students find these tools useful, either today, or sometime in the future!

Call me Miss Frizzle

When I was a little girl, I wanted to be in Miss Frizzle's class from The Magic School Bus. Those kids did the coolest things! They went back in time to see dinosaurs, swam with the sea creatures in the ocean, and even floated through the human body; all from within the confines of Miss Frizzle's magic school bus.

Ok, so I know the magic school bus is fictional, and I can't buy one at my local car dealership. But the next best thing to having a magic school bus is having a classroom computer.

Want to study dinosaurs? Watch a documentary on YouTube!
Want to learn about stingrays? Google it!
Want to research the respiratory system? There's an app for that!

Unbelievably, with all of the resources available to those of us who are open to using technology, there are some poo-pooers who say, "I didn't have technology in my classroom when I was growing up, and I turned out just fine."

To which I of course respond, "Well, I didn't have pumpkin spice lattes when I was growing up, but I do now, and my life is better for it!" *Walks away in a huff.*

There are also the nay-sayers who worry about what kids are really doing online when they should be learning. I actually think this is a valid concern. However, I would argue that teachers are often meant to be classroom police. Teachers have eyes in the back of their heads, ears in every room in the school, and a nose that can smell B.S. a mile away. If anybody can keep kids on task while online, a teacher can.

The point is, using technology in the classroom allows students to go mentally where only those with a magical form of transport could take them bodily. Who are we as teachers to hold them back because of our own fears or shortcomings?