Interactive ICT resources for schools What2Learn provides a wealth of resources for teaching ICT as a separate subject. It will also help you to integrate ICT right across the curriculum. Designed by a winner of three national teaching awards and based on quality educational materials provided by the Pearson Publishing Group, What2Learn provides a resource that can be used in ICT lessons throughout the year and intensively at revision times. At Key Stage 4 we have many general resources to develop student understanding of ICT hardware, software, applications and theory.
Frankie Lemmon School Overview The school’s intense focus on development of communication skills is clearly evident in the portfolio of innovative techniques and technologies used which include: Custom Programmed Voice-Output Devices: Big Mack single switch device for short phrases; Compartmentalized Communicator for combination object/picture/voice relationships; TechTalk , TechSpeak, and Seven-Level Communicator devices using… Continue » Tech & Young Children In its position statement titled, “Technology and Interactive Media as Tools in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8,” The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) states, “For children with special needs, technology has proven to have many potential benefits.
Great Tech Expectations: What Should Elementary Students Be Able to Do and When? First off, let me clarify that I am not a proponent of expecting all children to learn at the same pace. Why all third graders are expected to be at x reading level by January is beyond me. That said, I think it's a fair assumption that there are certain skills that we hope our students have by a certain age in order to help them reach their full potential.
Best tools and practices for concept mapping Last summer my interest in concept mapping was renewed when I read How Learning Works by Susan Ambrose et al.. At several points in the book they encourage higher educators to use concept maps. It has taken me a while to follow up but, with a little help from the POD List, here we go. Apps for Professional Development Twitter App (free) Twitter is one of the most active and beneficial social networks on the web. All educators would be wise to join the conversation. If you haven’t used Twitter yet, I would recommend that you read these excellent blog posts:
Grade K-2 Apps There are a multitude of K-5 apps in the app store. Apps can range from ebooks, to writing to math review to sentence building. Ebooks for students are in a variety of quality. Some readers are basic reader all the way to animated story with activity elements. There have been some really nice mathematics apps. Early Childhood Education and the iPad I was fortunate enough last weekend to receive an invitation to the Sydney Catholic Schools Early Years Conference. I was interested because the conference was centred around creating a clear and coherent vision around Early Years pedagogy. I was also intrigued to see how the iPad fitted in with this vision. One of the sessions I attended was Technology in the Early Years - Apps and iPads by Kate Highfield a Lecturer in Early Childhood from Macquarie University Sydney. Kate was certainly an engaging and passionate speaker but what really impressed participants was a scaffold by which we could evaluate the apps that are used within the confines of our own classrooms. Kate and her research partner Kristy Goodwin have developed this scaffold from their research into educational apps.
Using iPads in Education: Resources for teachers using iPads in the classroom I found this great video over at iPads in Education, and I really love how well it shows the uses of iPads (or tablet computers) in the classroom. You can get some great tips about how to actually utilize the devices in your lessons. Watch how this teacher uses the iPads for so many different subject areas and classroom tasks. He uses the iPad for projects, class communication, collecting work, student exploration, and play. The kids are clearly engaged and empowered by their iPads, and it seems to make this classroom a fun and enriching place for these students.
iPads in the Preschool Classroom Today I’m hosting Chapter 8 of Teaching in the Digital Age for our Summer Book Study. I was glad to see that Puerling did not talk about game-style apps for kids because those are not my favorite for the classroom. I think children get enough of that at home. I like using the iPad as an additional listening center, where the children turn (or swipe) the pages of a book as it is read to them. Puerling gave many other ways to use an iPad with children, some that I had not really thought of. I’ve read on other blogs or forums where teachers say it’s wrong to use iPads in a preschool classroom.