Posted on December 30, 2008 by admin in Uncategorized
Just noticed that Gayla over at EdTechLady picked up on this interesting product. Nintendo is really making waves all over the tech world with the Wii. It’s getting hard to imagine where this kind of technology WON’T be a decade from now.
I found the following notice on Scholastic’s blog: Dedicated eBook readers, like Amazon’s Kindle, and printed material may be on the way out with Nintendo saying that in early 2009 it will add a digital book reader software to its DS portable game machine. It’s a sure bet that most kids in just about any class has played with a DS in the previous week, so adding books to its repertoire is a big deal for education. On top of adding new volumes via WiFi, the DS eBook reader will come with a bunch of classic works. The software will be able to search for words or phrases, add bookmarks and zoom in and out of the text. Now, what’s really needed is software to turn the hundreds of standard documents, like worksheets, into eBook files so that a curriculum can be built around the DS and other eBooks.
Posted on November 25, 2008 by derekgordon in Uncategorized
Ms. Campbell has been receiving a lot of press lately, mainly due to her unique classroom and teaching style. Here is a short video highlighting her use of the Promethean ACTIVboard.
Posted on October 28, 2008 by derekgordon in Uncategorized
If you Activboard users are looking for some help check out this blog. The Wired Classroom had a great post had a great post this week. This is great, because not everyone adapts to new technology as well as others. So in order to get the full benefit from IWBs like Promethean and Smart, educators need to be educated on how to use the devices correctly.
Posted on September 6, 2008 by derekgordon in Uncategorized
I was spending some time at the Education I.C.T and Learning Blog today and they had an interesting predicament. Though I would call it a blessing rather than a burden, they have both Smart boards and Promethean Activboards to choose from at their school. Click here to see how they are incorporating this technology in their classrooms.
Posted on August 8, 2008 by derekgordon in Uncategorized
"Follow me kids to a place where you wouldn't get beat up for dressing like this."
Wasn’t this the vision of the Internet about 10 years ago? Kids seeing distant places from the comfort and cost effectiveness of their classrooms? Well hey it’s here and what do you know it is actually working. Check out this article about the schools in Niagara, NY and their distance learning experience. Imagine following a revolutionary war soldier into battle and seeing through his eyes in real time at the real scenery. Technology in the classroom is all about improving the level of engagement and until we invent time machines that work without leaving people stuck in alternate dimensions this will have to be the alternative.
Posted on June 7, 2008 by derekgordon in Uncategorized
We’re well aware of Promethean Activboards and how much I like the way they engage children in the classroom. Well it seems Promethean isn’t alone in the journey to alter the classroom. Well June brings the end to most public school terms and this is when schools start to figure out budgets and the purchases of new equipment. This is where the world of ICT plays a huge part. Not only is there a great space for improvement when it comes to education technology, but everyone involved can actually feel good about what they are doing. SMART Technologies is the producer of interactive whiteboards much like the ones brought to schools by Promethean. Since competition breeds innovation I’m happy to report on this brand and their efforts.
Posted on May 28, 2008 by derekgordon in Uncategorized
Touch UI is coming to the common man…in PC form. Or at least that’s what Window’s is planning for 2009 for the operating system Windows 7. This article focuses on the business aspects of the advances in touch interface and mentions some pretty nifty ideas. MS Paint with touch is kind of an old idea that has already taken form on interactive whiteboards but still a fun notion. Imagine, someday we may have an office completely devoid of mice and mouse pads.
You know what this means right? We aren’t very far from holograms in the workplace.
Youngsters are attracted to technology as much as anyone. They practically drive the cell phone market in the states. It should be the duty of teachers, principals and super intendents to investigate these advances thoroughly and educate themselves on how to effectively use them as tools to engage students more deeply.
Scholastic’s Tech Tools blog brings us this product announcement from FETC.
The new Tag School Reader from Leapfrog debuted at FETC, and it is a very cool little device. Kids log into this pen-like device and simply scan the tip over text in a series of Tag Readers to hear the words read aloud. The Tag Reader library will include popular storybooks, kids’ classics, and transition readers, including high-interest titles like Miss Spider’s Tea Party, Cars, Spongebob, and I Spy. Thanks to a high-tech pattern printing using Composer software, the pen automatically recognizes each new Tag title simply by scanning the pages. Another perk: all reading activity is automatically logged into a management system that evaluates things like time on task and which words students scanned repeatedly. Pricing is expected to be about $500 for a center pack (includes 8 readers and software); $1300 for classroom kit (includes 24 readers and software). A consumer version will release this spring; the education version of Tag starts shipping in August.
I found the following notice on Scholastic’s blog: Dedicated eBook readers, like Amazon’s Kindle, and printed material may be on the way out with Nintendo saying that in early 2009 it will add a digital book reader software to its DS portable game machine. It’s a sure bet that most kids in just about any class has played with a DS in the previous week, so adding books to its repertoire is a big deal for education. On top of adding new volumes via WiFi, the DS eBook reader will come with a bunch of classic works. The software will be able to search for words or phrases, add bookmarks and zoom in and out of the text. Now, what’s really needed is software to turn the hundreds of standard documents, like worksheets, into eBook files so that a curriculum can be built around the DS and other eBooks.
