Studyplans

Technology

Computers in the Classroom

March 28

In the News
FETC theme: Schools must change: http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showstoryts.cfm?Articleid=6220
"At the 26th annual Florida Educational Technology Conference in Orlando, conference speakers sounded a wake-up call to national policy makers, warning them that educational priorities must change if U.S. students are to succeed in an increasingly global economy."

In Google we trust: Information integrity in the digital age
http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue11_4/shaker/

Mich. first to mandate online learning: http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showstoryts.cfm?Articleid=6223
"Michigan became the first state in the nation to have students experience some form of online instruction before receiving a diploma when the state legislature on March 30 approved a bill to ratchet up the state's graduation requirements."

The new mobile scholar and the effective use of information and communication technology: http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue11_4/bills/

Pumpkin Computer: http://www3.uark.edu/bkst/pumpkin/
This site gives directions for making a pumpkin computer!

Thornburg: Ed tech stalled by 'fear': http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showstoryts.cfm?Articleid=6225
"The main thing that's holding technology back is ... a fear--a well-placed fear, I might add--that if technology becomes ubiquitous, it will totally transform the practice of education. There are a lot of people who don't want the practice of education transformed, because they're very comfortable with it."

Youths use cell phones as mini-PCs: http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showstoryts.cfm?Articleid=6228
"A new survey suggests that today's youth--and minorities in particular--are using cell phones more and more as mini personal computers, sparking a revolution in ubiquitous computing. The survey could have important implications for school leaders looking to design programs that appeal to their students and younger stakeholders."

Graphic Organizers
Concept Mapping: http://www.graphic.org/concept.html
Mind mapping techniques will surely build useful foundations for student work and research in the upper grades. This site offers demonstrations and guidelines to help them understand and master these skills.

FreeMind: http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
This is an open source graphic organizer.

Graphic Organizer Makers: http://teachers.teach-nology.com/web_tools/graphic_org/

Graphic Organizers: http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/actbank/torganiz.htm
Here is a whole selection of various graphic organizers. Find an Interaction Outline, and Anticipation/Reaction Guide, Chain of Events, Compare and Contrast, and the usual Venn diagrams, amongst other choices.

Graphic Organizers: http://www.educ.state.ak.us/tls/frameworks/mathsci/MS5_2AS1.HTM#graphicorganizers
Alaska's Department of Education & Early Development offers organizers for Webbing, Content/Concept Maps, What We Know/Want to Know/Learned (KWL) Charts, Hypercard, Outlines, Timelines, Flow Charts, and Venn Diagrams.

Graphic Organizers that Support Specific Thinking Skills: http://www.somers.k12.ny.us/intranet/skills/thinkmaps.html
This site offers simple descriptions of graphic organizers like bubble maps, Venn diagrams, and flow charts.

Graphic Organizers for Content Instruction: http://www.everythingesl.net/inservices/graphic_organizers.php
Visit this site for associated .pdf activities to graphic organizers.

Grids to Organize Thinking: http://www.fno.org/oct97/grids.html
Critical thinking skills rely upon organization to help them develop. These grid selections will help students to classify their thinking processes along several topics. If they are not familiar with the material, have them do a brief online search for information first.

IHMC CmapTools: http://cmap.ihmc.us/Index.html
This is a graphic tool that's not Inspiration based, and it's free courtesy of the University of West Florida.

Index of Graphic Organizers: http://www.graphic.org/goindex.html

A Taxonomy of Information Patterns:
http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/staffdev/tpss98/patterns-taxonomy.html

The Textmapping Project: http://www.textmapping.org/index.html
"Textmapping is a graphic organizer technique that can be used to teach reading comprehension and writing skills, study skills, and course content."

Kidspiration/Inspiration
Inspiration/Kidspiration: http://www.inspiration.com/home.cfm
There is a free 30 day download available at this site.

You can create checklists with Inspiration. Create a map on how to solve a problem or steps to completing a rubric and then go to Tools and choose "Show Checklist" It will add checkboxes. You can have students sign off that they completed each step. In that way they are held accountable up front for the work.

50 Uses for Inspiration® and KidspirationTM: http://www.uwstout.edu/soe/profdev/conceptmap/50uses.html

Examples and Templates - Kidspired Tales: http://www.northcanton.sparcc.org/~ptk1nc/kidspired2002/samples.html

Flashes Newsletter: http://www.inspiration.com/newsletter/index.cfm
This is a link on the Inspiration web site to subscribe to Flashes, a newsletter. It is available in electronic version and has curriculum ideas.

Inspiration and Kidspiration Software: Tools to Increase Reading Comprehension: http://www.uwstout.edu/soe/profdev/conceptmap/

Learning to use Inspiration in your classroom: http://www.internet4classrooms.com/inspiration_use.htm

Our Nations Symbols: http://www.msad54.k12.me.us/MSAD54Pages/Mercer/Winship/index.htm

Rubric for Graphic Organizers - Inspiration Diagrams: http://www.uwstout.edu/soe/profdev/inspirationrubric.html

Teacher-Created Inspiration® and KidspirationTM Projects: http://www.uwstout.edu/soe/profdev/inspirationprojects.shtml