TeachThought: What Can It Do For You?

Today's tech tip is a place.  Not a real place but a virtual place.  It "lives" on a blog called Te@chThought.  Often times, I am so lucky to indulge in thought-provoking conversations with many of you about technology usage in the classroom and what it can look like in an ideal world.  It's tricky because one thing that I struggle with is when you (the teacher) feel that technology usage is replacing something else, like math or reading.  It is at this moment that I realize I am not doing what I have set out to do, which is send a clear message of technology integration as opposed to technology usage.  Technology should not replace the learning but can reframe the learning so that it is relevant to our students, efficient (once we get the hang of the technology), and of course fun.  Learning should be fun.  In fact, I tell my students that if they aren't having fun, then they are doing it wrong.  Now not everything is going to be fun to everyone all of the time.  However, we hope that students are having fun the majority of the time that they are here in school enriching their minds. 

Having shared these sentiments, I'd also like to share with you a blog that I mention above called Te@chThought.  This particular blog stretches our thinking and is an honest look at technology integration including the good, the bad, and the ugly.  A recent post caught my attention in that it shares a chart from another blog called TeachBytes highlighting the differences between technology usage (in which a teacher probably would feel that their curriculum is suffering from having to replace core learning with a tech tool) vs. technology integration (in which tech usage enhances the learning making it more relevant and efficient). 

You can see the TeachBytes chart here: 

The larger blog post, can be found at this link.  For those of you who struggle with the idea that technology is out to replace the important teaching that you do, I urge you to subscribe to the Te@chThought blog.  It provides such thought-provoking insight into technology integration and will encourage you to rethink the approach to technology.  

One of the nine core components of digital citizenship is digital literacy.  How can we teach our students to be digital citizens if we ourselves are not digitally literate?  If we could not read, could we teach someone else to read?  I bring this up because when I hear educators ask, "What is the point?", if nothing else, I think the point is to be able to speak the same language as our students.  Without a doubt, most kids today are getting a hold of technology one way or another throughout their day.  The question is, will we learn to navigate these tools and coach them through their usage or will we be left behind while they are literate in a language that we do not speak?  

Technology integration is not about replacing one thing for another but it is about teaching our students how to respectfully and proudly navigate in a brave new world.   Although this post is not meant to be about me, I do feel so proud to work with a group of teachers that challenge themselves everyday to discover what tech integration vs. tech usage can and should look like in their classrooms.  Next time you are struggling with the idea of technology, please indulge me in sharing your thoughts. Hopefully, together we can make it make sense (with a little help from outside sources, like Te@chThought).

Genius Scan

Genius Scan is an app that could be extremely useful to you.  It is a scanner app that allows you to digitize anything.  SO, for example, if you have a worksheet that you would like to send home electronically, you simply take a picture of the worksheet with your iPad and it turns it into a PDF that you can share any which way you would like.  You can email it, print it, upload it to Dropbox, upload your document to Evernote OR if you download the free GeniusFax app, you can fax it from your device!   For a super quick demonstration about how it works, click here.

Best of all, it's free!

Something for Everyone

Amazingly, today's Tuesday Tech Tip includes something for every age.  The website that I am going to share was first brought to my attention by Richard Byrne of Free Technology for Teachers. ARKive.org is a website that includes free lesson plans, videos of wildlife, and games, all of which are broken down by age level:

ARKive.org is an amazing website for learning about animals, habitats, plants, and climate.  Here's a quick view of some sample activities for Mechina through 2nd grade, for example:

Not only is this a great all-class activity in the computer lab, but it is great for independent work within your classroom on either class computers or laptops (for the older grades). The activities incorporate not just science, math, writing, and reading, but also involve design thinking, presentation skills, creativity, and whatever else you may decide to throw into the mix:

SO, the next time you feel like starting a movie on a rainy day like today, remember this website.  Consider heading down to the computer lab for a fun and engaging adventure in which you may find yourself on safari, in the jungle, or frigid in the Arctic region and please invite me!

MathChat

Like you, I feel over-saturated with the influx of so many tech tools.  In fact, so much so that I've been thinking I will start sharing "old" tech tools but include the smart ways that you all are using them.  I have a few ideas about this but more on that later.  

For now, I'm going to share a new app that I do think is worth knowing about because it is really very different.  The app is called MathChat.  As a parent who often does not know how to help with her child's math homework (yes, I did just admit that on the Internet), this app appeals to me.  

MathChat allows students to collaborate on solving a math problem using a "special" math keyboard. Each step of solving the math problem can be reviewed and guidance can be given along the way.  Teachers can set up a class so that students can enter a code and collaborate among classmates.  I love that this can be done at home or at school.  What a fun, collaborative center activity!