Salman Kahn of Khan Academy

As simple explanation of a great resource. See the site for yourself. 

Just so you know...

You might be interested to know that this blog has received hits from around the world. I really wonder how that works?

21st Century Education

I posted a couple of videos on my personal blog that I think are relevant to the discussion about tech in the classroom. They take a little time, but I think they may be worth a look.  Click the link in the first sentence to find them.

Back Flip

Back Flip

Jing all the way!!!

Here's a cool app that Ari and I learned about in Maryland. Its called Jing, and its a free download that lets you "film" whatever you are doing on your computer. It also records what you are saying.

Possible uses:

1) Make an instructional video for your students, teaching them how to use a program. In an earlier post I used it to show how to make an online quiz using Google Docs.

2) Record what you are teaching and projecting on the board. You can then post that part of the lesson, (the limit is about 6 minutes) and the kids can have it. Below is an example of me teaching the 10th grade girls, and using Google Earth to show them the layout of the Auschwitz concentration camp. See how the results look for yourself. (Click on the image to watch it. You may want to pause it and let it buffer for a bit. You may also want to make it full screen. The controls appear at the bottom of the image when scrolled over)



Any other ideas?

Using PollEverywhere in class

Poll Everywhere is a pretty cool free web app that allows students to text answers in class. Since we now have projectors, the results of the poll are instantly on the board. I have tried it in three ways:

1) Multiple choice poll: This allows the class discussion to be built around the percentage of students who made each choice, without identifying them. Cute trigger. I only allowed them one vote per phone, but that can be changed if you want to allow them multiple votes.

2) Tested answers: This allows students to list various answers on the board in real time. I chose here to allow them to submit as many answers as they liked, and after they explained what they meant we discussed them.

3) Question bar: I used the same setting to keep an open bar on the side of the board so that students could submit questions to the teacher during class. They hardly used it.

It isn't essentially different than a regular class discussion. But it has a coolness factor, and its much harder for kids to stay anonymous and opt out. All in all, good for an occasional lesson plan. You can also embed the poll into a powerpoint that you are using in a given class, which makes the flow easier to handle.

This is really worth playing with.

Below are the actual ones that I used in class, corresponding to the numbers above. If you would like to try it, fell free to submit the appropriate code answer in a text to 22333.

1)

Create your own sms poll at Poll Everywhere

2) Here are the results of my PollEverywhere question in class, "What are the differences in style between the Mishna and the Gemara?"

Make a live audience poll at Poll Everywhere

3)

Create your own sms poll at Poll Everywhere

Texting is easy!!!

It Worked!!!

My first forays into the world of modular smartboards have met with success! I can connect my laptop to the projector, then run it from my iPad! It works pretty smoothly from my "TeamViewer" app, and even better from "LogMeIn".

The bad news is that LogMeIn cost me $30. It is also useful for checking into my desktop at home when travelling.

Now I have to figure out how to use the smartboard software, and I've made my modular one complete!

Anybody wanna try?

Below is a screen shot of my laptop running on my iPad! (if you look closely you can see that it is me making this post!)

Actual screen shot from my iPad. Cool, no?