Learn Technologies

Does Social Networking Have A place in Modern Classrooms

admin — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Social networking is big these days and it doesn’t look like its going to get any smaller in the near future. For parents and teachers, it presents a challenge and a question: Does social networking have a place in modern classrooms? To answer fairly, we need to look more closely at what social networking is and how kids use it.

Social networking is, at heart, a marketing tool. It uses software technology from both the military, designed for surveillance, and from industry, designed to sell products. But the reasons that kids (and adults) use this cyber tool has to do with connecting to others, sharing and learning. These are things that have a place in the educational process and classroom experience. Is there a way for social networking to enhance the educational experience and not distract students from learning or expose them to increased danger?

One way to connect the dots in a positive way between the objectives of social marketing sites, the social needs of kids and the goals of parents and educators, is to use the social networking experience to probe ethical issues with young people. By engaging the disturbing questions that social networking brings up head on, kids can develop judgment and common sense without loosing out on a favorite activity while they are at school.

Texting, the New Means for Sending Homework To Students

admin — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Homework is an important activity in learning and one of the most trying things for any parent of a school age child is keeping tabs on the homework they’ve been assigned to do. Kids can be unorganized and often forget to write down their assignments in their notebook, leaving the parent with no recourse but to assume there’s been none assigned.

Schools across the country have tried many different means to get students to keep up with their homework assignments. From simple agenda/organizer-type journals to more advanced methods such as classroom websites and emails, nothing seems to accomplish the task. With the ever-growing use of cell phones these days, there may now finally be a way for kids to remember their homework assignments once and for all.

Nearly everyone who’s got a cell phone employs the texting feature, especially the young ones. Anyone who’s ever spent any time in a school lately can attest to the fact that texting is everywhere. So why not have teachers text their homework assignments to their students? Texting is simple enough to do and students can never say they didn’t know what their homework assignment was! Parents can also be included in this innovative, yet simple idea that’s sure to end those homework assignments that always seem to go missing..

Why Projectors Are A Need In Today’s Classrooms

admin — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000

While technology is certainly making it easier to catch up on the latest news or gossip, it is also crucial in today’s educational setting. Much of learning is done with memorization, reading, quizzes and tests. How exciting for students to be able to actually see and understand their answers! Teachers can interact with students on projectors with educational games or show the process to how the students can formulate the answers to their questions.During an educational game on a projector, students are learning crucial skills, like communication and creative thinking, all while having fun. A projector in today’s classroom helps teachers break down information in a way that is personalized to each class. Most educational books in the classroom are the same ones students have been taught from for years. Teaching via a projector is a fresh and exciting way to get the students involved.Many school systems are concerned about budgets and the economy, making a projector a feasible alternative to pricey new materials year after year. A projector is a durable, efficient resource that can be used in a variety of ways to teach just about any subject to today’s students. Every classroom and student can benefit from having a projector at their disposal.

Must-Haves Devices for College Survival

www.learn-technologies.net — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Ah, college, a time in which studying is on the backburner for all too many aspiring grads. Fortunately, technological advancements have helped to make even studying less painful, fitting nicely inside the parameters of the ever busy social schedule. How can you make for a more balanced educational experience as you or your child heads off to school? These must-have purchases make great graduation presents, sure to ease the time crunch freshman year.Laptop w/ wireless Nearly all college campuses offer wireless internet service while physically on the grounds. If not, or if the place of residence in question is off campus, wireless internet is a necessity for students no matter the major. Relying on desktop computers or even worse, computer labs, subjects a student to an inflexible environment that’s simply out of his or her control. Considering the surrounding temptations not to get work done, it’s best to enable an internet connection whenever possible. Not to mention, many classes will regularly update syllabi or post assignments online, things a student will need to be aware of and have access to at any given moment.Smartphone Yes, this does present the danger of a lot of time wasted, however, setting your school email account to send messages directly to your mobile device mitigates the danger of forgotten deadlines, overall a worthy trade off. Due to a large number of seemingly erroneous listserves school mailboxes tend to get cluttered when left unchecked, a much more manageable problem when your inbox is just one touch away.Breathalyzer The reality is college students are exposed to a lot of alcohol. It is important to use any mind-altering substance responsibly. A breathalyzer, though not a study tool per say, can help to make informed decisions and avoid the troubles that come with extreme levels of intoxication, particularly for young men and women who have had little to no experience with alcohol in the years leading up to college. In lieu of a breathalyzer, as in the wrong hands it may turn into a competition, a handy drinks-to-BAC cheat-sheet will also suffice.

Rosetta Stone, Also for Students

www.learn-technologies.net — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000

As the global marketplace becomes increasingly smaller, more and more graduates are likely to find that speaking alternative languages in extremely advantageous in their line of work and actually securing a job. Though colleges and high schools nationwide certainly offer language programs, many expanding these offerings, more and more students are turning to Rosetta Stone for assistance or as their primary learning source. Rosetta Stone is a software learning tool commonly associated with adults who choose to learn foreign languages later in life, though as a student resource its potential is also potent. Taking a new approach to the common language learning method, the objective of the computer based program is to teach languages in the organic way they are naturally learned by first hand speakers. The end goal is an intuitive understanding that circumvents the need for drills and translation. The procedure is referred to as the “Dynamic Immersion Method,” a blend of images, text and sounds presented at an increasing level of difficulty following an individual’s progression. The software is divided into levels 1, 2 and 3, with English (American), Spanish (Latin American), Spanish (Spain), Italian, German and French also offering a more advanced levels 4 and 5. The software can be purchased on an individual level basis or bundled together at a discount price. The complete language offering is as follows:Arabic (Modern Standard)Chinese (Mandarin) Danish level 1 onlyDutch English (American) English (British) Filipino (Tagalog) French (Parisian) German Greek Hebrew Hindi Indonesian level 1 onlyIrish Italian Japanese Korean Latin Pashto level 1 onlyPersian (Iran) Polish Portuguese (Brazilian) Russian Spanish (Latin America) Spanish (Spain) Swahili level 1 onlySwedish Thai level 1 onlyTurkish Vietnamese Welsh level 1 only

Turn Your Teens Smart Phone into a Tutorial

www.learn-technologies.net — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 21:19:14 +0000

SAT vocabulary words? There’s an app for that. The smart phone market is capable of doing far more than distracting students in the back of class rooms. With the right strategic direction, such tools can provide a valuable assist to learning endeavors, serving as far more than a mere social data base. Renkara Media Group released the Vocabulary Power Plus application yesterday, now available for download, helping high school juniors and seniors to prepare on the go during the stressful time of college preparatory test taking. Download of the application itself is free of charge, while books available to purchased within the application will costs 3.99, a bargain next to standard paper-filled study guides.Vocabulary Power Plus combines materials taught in 35,000 classrooms nationwide, helping to create a current, all inclusive database of the most likely SAT words, definitions and concepts to appear on the upcoming SAT examination. The free portion of the application includes four full lessons, while the for-purchase section is comprised of 6 books worth of content. With over 6,600 individual quiz questions covering more than 1,4000 vocabulary words, a new wealth of information is suddenly placed at the very fingertips of test takers.The application is currently available for Apple devices, including iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches, though pending success further development could be forthcoming. Interested students and parents with other phone-types may want to contact their local service store or company customer service line to see if any similar compatible applications are available.

Smart Board Systems Enhance the Classroom Experience

admin — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 21:09:28 +0000

You may have grown up using dusty chalk boards or traditional dry erase boards, but those days are fading fast. The new sensation in tech-friendly schools around the United States is the Smart Board. At first glance, this device has the appearance of a regular white board, but it is hardly the same. Touch screen technology allows students to interact with the material with the touch of a finger. A projector is connected to a computer and the output is displayed on the Smart Board. Another major difference between a Smart Board and a white board is the writing utensil that is used. Unlike the squeaky dry erase markers used in the latter, Smart Boards come with digital pens, which can be used to write or draw images on the screen using digital ink that can be erased with the touch of an eraser. One of the disadvantages of this system has been that the board could only recognize the markings of one pen at a time. However, new improvements are changing this and facilitating dual-pen use.One of the appeals of this board is the way in which it combines multiple functions. Power point presentations, videos, or websites can all be cast onto the screen. Allowing students to come to the board and actually add to the material displayed there, rather than simply watch, increases interaction and participation.Many different software programs are available for use with a smart board system such as SMART Sync , which allows a teacher to monitor work being done by students on student computers in the classroom. SMART Response is another interactive program that allows a teacher to create a quiz and have students answer questions using a remote control.

WebAssign

admin — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 21:15:31 +0000

While accountability is not a word that quickly comes to mind concerning teenagers and the internet, in the realm of education it has certainly helped to provide just that. Looking beyond the well-documented downside of internet in the classroom (i.e. too much time social networking, Wikipedia-supported research papers and limitless distractions), when used correctly, the internet can enhance productivity, provide unbending deadlines and deliver instant feedback regarding a student’s educational efficiency and accuracy. One such example of this is the teacher friendly website WebAssign, providing a source of online homework, assessments and grading. Webassign is an instructional tool that allows teachers to pose students with challenging problems across a variety of subjects, with built in safeguards against cheating and unsanctioned collaboration. Each student’s log in information will pull up a truly individual assignment, each problem having numbers or other key information variably substituted to lower the risk of copying. While student might be able to work together to figure out how to approach the problem, each will inevitably have to work it out on his or her own to find the satisfactory answer. The site also provides teachers with instant grading and an easily manageable gradebook to track student performance. Individual assignments can be customized and randomized to cover a wide variety of subject matter and provide various levels of difficulty.The program has its benefit for students as well. Available for access 24 hours and 7 days a week, WebAssign allows for students willing to put in the work as much time as possible to achieve their desired results. Multiple attempts (with differing answers of course) allows for students to actively learn, even when turning in a graded assignment. WebAssign gives students the opportunity to figure out what they’re doing wrong and correct it during an assignment, not just after its completion. Instant grading is not only easier on the instructor, but allows for students to immediately know where they stand and what areas they need to improve, instead of waiting days for assignments to be returned. Conveniently, WebAssign is a fully-hosted web-based service, with no complicated or expensive software to install on home or classroom computers.

STARLAB

admin — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 21:14:11 +0000

Perhaps one of the most intriguing benefits of educational technology is the ability to bring information and experiences from the outside world back into the classroom with new levels of ease and accessibility. Never has this been more apparent with the Digital STARLAB, a portable on-site planetarium available for purchase by schools and science centers across the country. Instead of having to put together yearly field trips for various grades to travel across town or long distances to visit the planetarium, students need only walk down the hall to wherever the Digital STARLAB is housed. Whether students just pop in for a casual, quick visit or teachers opt to conduct entire class sessions from within the dome, STARLABS can provide a valuable, year round resource for science educators. Capacity within the dome can range from 15 to up to 100 students, depending on the size of dome the school chooses based on its available space. The dome itself comes in two starndard sizes, 16 feet and 22 feet (diameter), with respective heights of 12 feet and 16 feet. Other sizes and specifications are available upon request. Domes are not recommended for outside use, as their lightweight design, while convenient for portability, is susceptible to high winds.The Digital STARLAB offers a portable planetarium experience second to none, boasting 1200 pixel diameter image size across the dome interior, providing uninterrupted high resolution viewing. The lens projects at 190 degrees down to a 30 inch eye-level horizon, ensuring full dome coverage for an authentic planetarium experience. The Digital STARLAB system package is comprised of a projector with custom fisheye lens, remote control, case/portable stand, Mac Computer with 3 year protection plan, Starry Night Small Dome Software, JBL Duet Speakers, lesson plan for each grade level K-12, powerstrip, DVI cable, projector cords, computer cords, installation instructions and manuals, 1 year warranty on parts and support from parent company Science First.

SchoolTube

admin — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 21:10:12 +0000

With YouTube spring boarding into everyday mainstream consciousness, its educational equivalent, SchoolTube, is gaining popularity across the country. SchoolTube, although no business affiliation with its video sharing inspiration and namesake, offers essentially the same platform as YouTube, save for the original’s inherently public nature. While YouTube is for anybody and everybody, allowing almost all videos that don’t infringe upon people’s personal rights or copyright laws, SchoolTube is designed specifically for students, parents, teachers and administrators. First launched in 2006, the website is now the leader in moderated video sharing, proudly sticking to its three pronged appeal of being “safe, fun and free.”Students can upload teacher approved content whether its schoolwork, events or activities to show off to their friends and family from any computer. Academics, athletics or any other school related content is welcome on SchoolTube, providing a forum for students across the country to show their school spirit and pride in a safe and fun environment. SchoolTube is also a budding resource for teachers as they can have instant access to the classroom tips and techniques of fellow educators with just a click of the mouse. It allows for further integration of technology into the classroom, providing a resource for relevant and appropriate streaming video content without the common risks associated with purely public video sharing websites. Principals and headmasters also find plenty of use for SchoolTube content through school websites and welcome videos, in addition to enhancing communication between faculty and staff. It can also serve as a thinkspace or idea showcase between principles across the country, collaborating to share effective policies and winning strategies. Parents will also certainly enjoy being able to see their children in an active school environment without actually having to make additional trips to campus. SchoolTube allows for even busy parents to stay more involve with their kids’ school life and boast about a child’s achievements with the video to prove it.