Technology Top Ten

Technology Top 10 at Lakeview School

Here is my “Tech Top Ten” at Lakeview! I have really enjoyed putting together this list and I hope it offers some tips/tricks that you can use in your own classroom!

1. Smartboards

• Nearly every classroom at Lakeview has a Smartboard
• Used for teaching every subject and can assist in cross-curricular teaching
• TONS of neat functions
  • Magic Pen
  • Smart Exchange
  • Screen Capture
  • Games
• Easy to upload notebooks and post to a class website
• Students are able to interact with their learning (manipulate, analyze, create etc) which promotes the acquisition of higher order thinking skills
• Cons – teachers must be careful not to use a Smartboard as a “chalkboard,” expensive

2. Netbooks

• There are 2 netbooks carts (1 for primary/junior and 1 for intermediate)
• Typing and printing allows for a more polished product (easy to edit and re-work assignments)
• Helps teach essential typing skills
• Students are able to conduct research and multitask
• Highly engaging and enjoyable for student use
• Cons – expensive, break easily if students do not properly care for them

3. iPads

• A huge variety of educational apps is available
• Easy to create high end products without the complexity of difficult programs
• Allows for voice recording which can greatly benefit students with exceptionalities
• Engaging and safe for students to use
• Cons – very expensive, students can alter settings if not locked

4. Class websites – Here is my current website!

• Critical for keeping parents in the loop about classroom and school activities
• Homework can be posted as a reminder for students
• Students who were absent can check in and see what they missed (Smartboard lessons can be easily uploaded)
• Cons – teacher must make sure it is constantly updated

5. Student blogs

• Engaging and fun for students (7FT uses Kidblog)
• Allows them to practice writing and revision skills (writing for a specific purpose, considering a target audience, editing their work, commenting on the blogs of their classmates etc)
• Feeling of professionalism for the students – they enjoy having their work online
• Cons – none that I have found so far!
  

6. Audacity

• Great for creating cross-curricular assignments
• Easy to use yet students are able to create a professional project
• Cons – glitches sometimes occur, can be too difficult for younger students to use without assistance, school must also have headsets with microphones for recording

7. Educreations

• Allows for voice recording at the same time as teacher/student creates their work
• Easy to use for assessment purposes (teacher can have students record themselves and assess the work at a later time)
• Provides good opportunities for peer feedback (critical discussion between students – what were some of the strengths/areas for improvement in the educreation piece etc.)
• Cons – must have iPads to use the app, can be expensive to put on many iPads

8. Document cameras

• 
  Allows for the projection of different items onto the Smartboard
• Lets students sitting in the back row have a view that is equal to a student in the front row
• Helpful for conducting a science experiment with small parts (eg. Seeing bubbles on the side of a test tube) or a history lesson when analyzing an artifact
• Cons – sometimes difficult to focus, can be 'shaky'
   

9. Audiobooks

• Helpful for students who struggle with reading and can be used to
• Can be used to engage reluctant readers
• Allows students to listen to a story that would be higher than their independent reading level
• Wide variety of books to choose from – check out LibriVox
• Cons – some student prefer to hold a physical copy of the book in their hands (can be solved by having students read along while listening to a book)

10. Photocopier “scan and send” option

• Allows for a teacher to scan and email a copy of a note/worksheet to the Smartboard (teacher can then save it and upload it to his/her class website)
• Environmentally friendly!
• The teacher is able to use a resource in class without copying a page for each student if they do not need it for their notebooks
• Resources can be easily shared between teachers via email
• The Scan and Send option can be used at the same time as another teacher is photocopying material (no wait time)
• Cons – cannot use if the photocopier is broken :(