Integrating+Technology

= Integrating Technology within the Classroom =

Below you will find a list of resources utilized by students of Walden University. This page is designed to specifically focus on how teachers can integrate technology within their classroom. Each site has been reviewed by a member of the Walden Community using a rating scale 1 - 5.

1 Apple - (Website falls far below average) to 5 Apples - (Website is excellent resource)

Each resource will be reviewed using the following criteria: 1. ORIGIN -What is the website's origin? 2. DESIGN -Is the website well designed? 3. CONTENT -Is the website's content meaningful in terms of its educational value? 4. ACCESSIBILITY -Is the website accessible 5. CURRENCY - Is the website current?

__Elementary Resources__
===[|Raz-kids] === This is an amazing site for the primary grade levels to motivate and enhance reading performance. This is a classroom resource that requires payment to have full access. Access includes a full leveled library for online reading. In each level students can listen to a story, read it on their own, read and record their voices, and take a comprehension quiz. They earn points to spend in the Raz Rocket Store to buy online treats. There is an amazing Teachers Corner where you can enhance your reading assessments through digital running records, monitor student usage and success, award points, and much more. Raz Kids is an amazing interactive site that is fun for students and informative for teachers.

~ Koreen

__Middle School Resources__
=== [|Superteachertools]   === Using a SMART board and this website is great in so many ways. Have you ever had the problem of selecting students to answer questions in your class? Well, wait no more because Random Name Generator is a program that will help you choose the students for you. The only thing you do is type your class list in and save it and the program will help you choose a student to call on, only by the touch of your hand. Random Name Generator is only one of the programs on this website. I also use this site to make groups for math labs. This website has been a big help in my classroom and the students love it!!

~ Demetria

Kids in Mind Movie Ratings[[image:MedApple.jpg width="33" height="33"]]
This is not really a website for true education per se, but it has helped me a great deal during those times when showing a movie to reinforce a classroom lesson is appropriate. This website contains very detailed descriptions about movies, specifically nudity levels, swearing, and violence. It can be somewhat ridiculous at times - for instance, they talk about men without shirts on, but that is for us to decide the appropriteness. This site has saved me and my principal on a couple of occasions from showing movies that would have resulted in several parent phone calls.

~ Todd Deschaine

=== [|TI Classroom Activities]   === I am going to post this website under "Middle School Resources" and "High School Resources: Mathematics" because it may apply to grades 6-12 math. If you have access to TI graphing calculators, this website may come in handy for downloading activities designed specifically for integrating the graphing calculator into your lesson plan. There is a webpage directed toward TI Middle Grades. In fact, this site also contains TI activities for science as well.

~ Malissa Sauciunas

Mathematics
=== [|TI Classroom Activities]   === I am going to post this website under "Middle School Resources" and "High School Resources: Mathematics" because it may apply to grades 6-12 math. If you have access to TI graphing calculators, this website may come in handy for downloading activities designed specifically for integrating the graphing calculator into your lesson plan. There is a webpage directed toward TI Middle Grades. In fact, this site also contains TI activities for science as well.

~ Malissa Sauciunas

Social Studies
[|Museum Box] "Museum Box is a website based on the work of Thomas Clarkson who collected items in a box to help him in his argument for the abolition of slavery. Students can use the Museum Box website to collect information and arguments in a virtual box of their own. They can collect items to provide a description or add to an argument of a historical event, place, or time period. Students can add images, text, sounds, videos, and external links to help them form their own virtual museum. The finished box can be shared with other students, saved, or printed. Students can view and comment on boxes created by other students. This is a fun medium for students to learn and collect information about a historical event, person, or time period." (taken from Kelly Tenkely's Blog) This site is an excellent site to getting the students engaged and excited about History. I gave it "4 Apples" and it was fun and easy to use. So give it a try!!

~Crystal Moyer

Science
[|Integrating Technology into Secondary Science Instruction] Science classrooms typically have great opportunities for hands-on activities. This website provides some great ideas for labs and activities and uses technology for many of them. Integrating Technology breaks down the activities into groups according to scientific practice. The site is clearly setup and easily navigable. It is created by the Los Angeles Education Partnership that includes teachers and professionals in the world of science. The content is appropriate for many areas of secondary science. You can find activities for Earth Science classrooms to Biology classrooms. The site was last updated in 2003, so the content is not incredibly up to date. Many experiments are sill quite relevant, but an update could incorporate more technology since so many changes have been made with what is avialable to educators since 2003. Overall, I give this site 4 apples, but the only downside is its slight lack in currency.

~ Curt Gerbers

Fine Arts & Music
===[|Langwitches]=== The creator of this site is Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano. This site is geared toward educating teachers for integration of technology in the classroom. There are blog entries and opportunities for the readers to post their own entries as well. There are also many tutorials that could be read to familiarize your self with various computer programs. There are applications that can be downloaded that are ‘How to” guides and even fliers to promote this new program that you learned. Some of the particular resources that are available on this site include tutorials on hot to make a movie with the program Windows MovieMaker or using Digital Storytelling, Google Maps and Photo Story Guide, among many others. There are articles that focus on the newest IPad apps, and how to use them in the classroom.

This website is kept up to date and however at first, can be very overwhelming as there is a lot offered on this site. This site has high educational value as it gives many ideas for technology incorporation into education, and gives great tutorials on various computer programs. Based upon these observations I would give a rating for this site a 4.

~ Lisa Gonzalez

General Education Resources - Resource could be uses across grade level and/or content
===[|Castle Learning Online]=== Castle Learning Online adds classroom instruction through content-related review assignments, practice sessions and benchmark testing. Castle Learning provides about 70,000 field-tested questions supported by defined vocabulary, reference tables, hints and reasons for correct answers in math, science, social studies, English and foreign languages. Main courses for grades 3-12 are linked to standard curriculum. Teachers and administrators can review reports and teachers can personalize assignments. A log on and a password are needed for the teacher and the class. The one bad thing is that Castle Learning must be purchased either for the home or school. When purchased, this is a great tool for instruction and assessment and it can be used across grade levels.

~ Jason Gunderman

===[|SimpleK12]=== This site contains many blog entries submitted by fellow teachers and education professionals. There is a plethora of information regarding technology and useful tips for the classroom. There are many resources for teachers to access regarding the latest trainings for technology tools to enhance student’s education in the classroom. This site is powered by Info Source, Inc. Within this site there are many applications and postings regarding technology in the classroom and how to go about incorporating these tools during instruction. These resources include webinars, blogs, professional development opportunities and many archived articles regarding technology tips and uses for education.

Based on our 1-5 rating scale I would give SimpleK12 a rating of 5. This site is accessible, well designed, holds high educational value and very current.

~ Lisa Gonzalez ===[|Supporting Technology in the Classroom]=== The author of this site is Danny Nicholson. This site is mostly centered around the use of the Smartboard however offers the most up to date information for various computer programs that would not only benefit education but also most businesses. This site is broken down into separate pages that are focused on either actual technological hardware or the programs themselves.

The resources that are on this site include specific educational geared ideas and videos. For example, there is a comic maker program tutorial as well as animational software links. The author of this site discusses the latest hardware and where to purchase these materials. There is a list of teacher’s blogs that can be accessed and people have found helpful. There is also numerous ways to contact the author. Each page on this site is broken down by a specific heading, “Games, Hardware, Digital Media, Conferences, etc…”

The site is offered in many languages and is quite well organized and accessible. The origin and creator of this site is clearly defined and the information is up to date. This site seems geared towards education but also has many applications that would be helpful to numerous other professions. Therefore I would rate this site a 5.

~ Lisa Gonzalez

===**[|Challenge Based Learning]**=== This is a site sponsored by Apple that provides lesson plans and activities for various content and grade levels. Apple partnered with educators across the country to develop a variety of “Challenges” that focus on team building, diversity, environmental issues and many more. These activities are rich in technology integration and encourage critical thinking and problem solving. Each activity is set up with essential questions, a challenge, guiding questions, a list of guiding questions and activities as well as ways in which students can present a solution. There is also a link that educators can share their experiences and discuss how they incorporated these activities within their classroom. I have used this site to help me design my own challenge and found the resources and lesson ideas extremely helpful.

This site is well designed and easy to navigate. The home page provides an extensive overview of the development and purpose of Challenge Based Learning. While this site is developed by Apple they partnered with educators across the country to design lessons/activities that can realistically be incorporated into the classroom. I would rate this site a 5.

~ Katie Dorr

I have also included reviews for ASCD Website and EduTopia on the Instructional Resources page. Both of these site contain information that relates to Integrating Technology, but they also contain a lot of other information on curriculum, professional development, and current educational policy.

~ Katie Dorr ===[|Teachers Love SMART Boards]=== This site was designed by a secondary mathematics teacher to help primary and secondary math students become actively engaged in daily lessons. It includes assessment and analytical tools intended to monitor individual student progress. The site also hosts an online Notebook training college for beginner and advanced users. I have personally been able to use some of the free online games in my class, but have not tried to utilize the training since my district provides it to teachers. Based on the tools I have been able to gain from this site, I would give it four apples.

~ Joe Pluskota

===Youtube Downloader=== I find lots of appropriate and well-done video clips on YouTube, but my district blocks it. YouTube Downloader is a free utility that can download almost every file up on YouTube, and then __convert__ it to an MP4 format, which is then playable at school if you bring it in with a flashdrive.

~ Todd Deschaine

Vanished[[image:MedApple.jpg width="33" height="33"]][[image:MedApple.jpg width="33" height="33"]]
The online game sponsored by MIT and The Smithsonian, the premise is that An environmental disaster has taken place on Planet Earth and we need your help.The Smithsonian Institution and the MIT Education Arcade invite all scientists-in-training ages 10 ½ to 14 to log onto VANISHED and help decipher clues that unravel one of the world’s biggest mysteries. An online/offline interactive event, VANISHED is an eight-week episodic quest that will transform you into principal scientific investigators who must collaborate to find the answers. You will race against time as you solve games, puzzles, and other online challenges; visit real museums; collect samples from in and around your homes; and even partner with some of the Smithsonian’s world renowned scientists and investigators, to help unlock the true secrets of this catastrophe—before it’s too late. Participating in Vanished is free, and you can spend as much or as little time as you want.

If you got into the game at the start of it or early on, it was great. But if you registered too late, you were way lost and it was difficult to get caught up. I understand that a new game is starting up in the fall. I would give it 5 apples if you could start it anytime.

~ Todd Deschaine

===[|ILearn Technology] ===

This is an Edublog about integrating technology into the classroom.The Founder Kelly Tenkely set this website up to give teachers a resource where they could find easy-to-implement ideas for using technology in their own classrooms. ILearn Technology has Featured Posts and you can search for ideas based on Bloom's Taxonomy, Grade Level, or Subject. You can also follow ILearn Technology on Twitter. One of the things I really liked is the numerous different websites that are featured with great ideas on how to incorporate technology into the classroom. I gave it "4 Apples" because besides offering awesome websites to use, I really liked the fact that you could search for lessons based on Bloom's Taxonomy, Grade Level, Subject, and more!

~ Crystal Moyer

**[|Free Technology For Teachers] ** This award winning site has something for every teacher who is looking for free technology resources to improve their craft. Currently there are over 3,000 members and more than 13,000 have "liked" this site on Facebook. Besides free downloads, this site offers the following support: constructing a Professional Learning Network (PLN), Google tutorials, creating blogs and websites, and creating video resources.

This site is the creation of Richard Byrne who is a high school Social Studies teacher and technology instructor for teachers. This site was awarded the "Best Resource Sharing Blog" Award by Edublogs in 2008.

An archive list running down the right side of the home page allows easy access to over 4,500 educational resources. Take a moment and check out this site!

~ Fred Aspan-Martin [|Defined STEM] STEM focuses on student's engagement and skills from the beginning in the area of science, math and technology to help develop a life long love of these subjects and promote future careers in these areas. The ultimate goal is to grow the proficiency level of students in the sciences and mathematics by
 * Utilizing career based video
 * Providing guiding questions for the teacher and or student
 * Supplying additional resources, lesson plans, student activities, etc.
 * Structuring the service as a springboard to Project Based Learning

Defined STEM offers video-based learning connections and has instant access to subject recommendations, lesson plans, related websites, teacher guides, state standards and a cross-curricular search tool.

~ Jennifer Schreiner

[|Education World] This website from Education World has many ideas and tips in integrating technology into the classroom. From ideas, lesson plans, Web 2.0 resources, etc., educators can find the many tools to successfully integrate technology in the classroom. The left hand sidebar on this site has many links to other resources based on subject and topic. There all also many educational articles on this site. This link directly links to an article about integrating technology into the classroom. One can also search this site of other topics and interests. There are a lot of ads that are a bit distracting on this site, but overall it is a good resource on integrating technology into the classrom

~ Jill Morris

=== [|TILT - Teachers Improving Learning with Technology]  === This site created by Danny Maas has numerous YouTube videos that offer step-by-step, "how-to-use" technologies that support education. At this site I learned how to embed a YouTube video into a PowerPoint presentation. This site has archived resources that date back as far as June 2005. Unfortunately, the latest post from this site was in November 2010 and it appears that this site may have been abandoned, thus the three apple rating only.

~ Fred Aspan-Martin

This site is the creation of Donna DesRoches, a former teacher-librarian at a comprehensive high school in Saskatchewan, Canada. This site was set up as a blog to support technology in her school's division. The site has little use for anyone outside of her own circle of influence. However, anyone interested in One-to-One Project information may find this site useful. This site has not been updated since November 2010,
 * [|Beyond Classroom Tech Tips...] ** [[image:MedApple.jpg width="33" height="33"]]

~ Fred Aspan-Martin

=== [|Technology Tips for Classroom Teachers] === This site was designed by Marilyn Western. She covers a wide range of technologies from basic PC skills to classroom Wikis and Smartboards. I found it very easy to navigate around the pages and to find what I was searching for. The site seems to be geared towards teaching lessons to younger students (elementary) but there are a lot of interactive games listed that seem to be good ideas for the use of smart boards and other basic technologies. She does have some links designated to the use of wikis. The site does say that it was updated in June, but It does not appear to be current. Not a bad little website.

~Mike McLaren

[|Apple In Eduction] Apple in Education is primarily an advertisement for Apple technology, but also provides some great information about technology integration in the classroom. The page shows examples of schools that are using Apple technology and how the iPad can be used in a classroom. The most beneficial part of this site, in my opinion, is the Apps for Learning page. This page lists a number of apps that can help students learn in and out of the classroom. It provides a description of the app, its capabilities, and shows a few screen shots of the app. This page, as with most of Apple's pages, is well laid out and easy to navigate. It is easily accessible, but is most beneficial for students and teachers with an iPad. The Apple in Education page is always updating due to the growing number of apps avialable, so the content is always current. With the page set up by Apple, the information and apps found on this page are credible and reliable. The only downside is that is only truly applicable for those with the Apple technology. That is why I gave this page a four apples.

~ Curt Gerbers