International Society for Technology in Education - Blog Submit Your Ed Tech Horror Story for the Halloween Edition of ISTE Connects

International Society for Technology in Education - Blog Submit Your Ed Tech Horror Story for the Halloween Edition of ISTE Connects

Posted by: Katie Stansberry

Monday, October 25, 2010

I love this time of year. Great decorations, spiced hot apple cider, and an excuse to buy mini-candy bars; what’s not to love? I also relish a good scary story and spent many a summer night in front of a campfire listening to my older and more sophisticated cousins spin tales of ghosts, goblins, monsters and the occasional escaped mental patient.

Now that I’m a bit older, the stories that scare me have taken a slightly different tact. I have a reoccurring nightmare where Flickr, Gmail, YouTube and Google Docs all simultaneously disappear from the Web, taking all my content with them.

Some of my scariest technology horror stories are all the more frightening because they are true. Memories of projectors that refuse to connect to my laptop during big presentations, viruses decimating networked computers, and visits from the boogieman of the computer world – the blue screen of death – all have the potential to keep me up at night.

In honor of Halloween week, we’re looking for your scariest ed tech horror story. Did a power surge fry your computer? Did a student accidentally download a virus that took down your entire school district’s network? Did a presentation on new media tools go horribly awry? We want to hear about it.

Please send your ed tech horror story (250 words or less please) to katie@isteconnects.org by Saturday, October 30. I’ll compile them into a special Halloween post for ISTE Connects. The prize for the worst of the worst ed tech nightmare will receive a free copy of your choice of one of ISTE’s popular new books; either Web 2.0 How-To for Educators by Gwen Solomon and Lynne Schrum or From Fear to Facebook: One School’s Journey by Matt Levinson with a foreword by Erin Reilly.

Fantastic Fridays: October 22

Fantastic Fridays: October 22

1. Classroom Spotlight Project: School Newspaper

Our SOAR students have been working hard on the new IHM School Newspaper! Using the Mac computers, students create their individual stories. Since the "Newspaper" folder is shared on the network, each person can edit the same file, allowing students to collaborate. Connie C. is doing an awesome job working on this collaborative, project-based strategy.

Having a network here at IHM is a great way for students to share files. We can also use it to send internet links to each Mac computer! If you have a few links you would like to add to your students' docks (at the bottom of the screen), just send them to me. You'll be amazed at how much time it saves in trying to type in those loooooonnnngggggg web addresses.

2. Student Websites: (K-5) Planning for Thanksgiving and (6-8) Primary Sources in Social Studies

The internet is such a powerful tool for pulling together resources from the entire globe, across eons of history. I hope your students will benefit from these authentic resources:

• (K-5)Scholastic.com : The First Thanksgiving http://www.scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving/letters_signup.asp . This site provides a wide variety of resources, from narrative accounts of Native American and Pilgrim life, to a LIVE WEBCAST! You must sign up in advance to participate in the webcast (I can help set up the projector, etc!), but the other resources are also extremely valuable
• (K-5): The Official Website for Plimoth Plantation: http://www.plimoth.org/ Well-designed website with realistic images and information. Also includes appropriate games.
• (6-8): American Memory from the Library of Congress http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html . This website is the "go-to" source for primary documents and images from American History. Consider using the images for writing prompts!
• (6-8): PBS Teaching Resources http://www.pbs.org/teachers/classroom/6-8/ . Pbs is is not technically a primary resource, but it provides many online videos for free to classroom teachers. Specifically, many video resources appropriate for both science and social studies are at http://video.pbs.org/

3. Teacher Productivity Tools: Social Networking

We all know that teachers can't be "friends" with their students-- no Facebook, MySpace, or personal emails. However, what if online social networking tools could be used as a teaching, learning, and information tool? It's possible to set up social networking resources such as Facebook and Twitter to provide school information. Edline is an awesome way to begin this journey. Many schools, churches, and youth programs have set up Facebook accounts (with extremely tight security restrictions) strictly for the purpose of providing information to their members. Check out this fun new "child-centered" social networking site, which focuses on teaching safe and appropriate online skills: http://www.scuttlepad.com/ !

Please visit the blog at http://ihmtech.blogspot.com/2010/10/fantastic-fridays-october-22.html to view the fun "extra" message!

Get a Voki now!



Press the triangle "Play" button to hear my message!

Fantastic Fridays: October 15

Fantastic Fridays: October 15

1. Classroom Spotlight Project: Gathering Data Using Apple's "Numbers" or Excel

4th graders will begin a new project next week integrating science and technology! Students will gather daily data about evaporation of water in their classroom, and record the data in "Numbers" to create tables and graphs. Patty K. and I are excited to facilitate these SCIENTISTS in their professional research!

2. Student Websites: Reading and Literacy Online
For this week's topic, I'd like to list an online source for digital publications for each grade level. Enjoy!

• K-2: http://www.starfall.com (Starfall is an invaluable resource for early literacy!) and http://www.storylineonline.net/ (celebrity actors read some very high-quality books aloud, with images from the books!)
• 3-5: Scholastic News and Time For Kids are great ways to add current events in an age-appropriate format, and include video segments. I especially like the quizzes and extra resources on TFK.
• 6-8: http://www.bartleby.com/ Bartleby is a collection of all copyright-free publications. It's amazing that we can read so many classics for free! You will want to pre-select resources for your students from this site, since it also includes works that may not apply to your classroom standards.  http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/ Online poems for students (high quality).

3. Teacher Productivity Tools: Digital Storytelling and Literacy

You mention the word "vacation", and 20 hands shoot into the air... do students like to tell their stories? YES! Listed below are a few resources for digital storytelling in the classroom. A digital story can be made with PowerPoint, Keynote, Windows Movie Maker, iMovie, or even KidPix! All of the elements of quality writing still apply, but with an added multimedia feature.

• http://teachingteachers.com/ Awesome digital storytelling resources
  
• http://www.techteachers.com/digitalstorytelling.htm A general page for links and resources about digital storytelling.
  
• http://www.kidblog.org This classroom-oriented blogging tool allows students of all ages to share their work. Only users you add to the "list" will be able to see the students' work. Comments can be turned off or on. I used this as an incentive for excellent work, and it was awesome!

I have two videos for you this week, and they are more instructional than usual. The first is how to add narration in Keynote, and the second is how to add narration in PowerPoint. Now you'll be able to teach all of those students how to create a digital story with sound!

  

Fantastic Fridays: Oct. 8

Fantastic Fridays: October 8

1. Classroom Spotlight Project: 2nd and 3rd Grade

Peggy H wrote the following about her extra Friday Technology time: "Third Grade is enjoying computer time on Fridays. We have concentrated on Brain Pop subjects that enhance the content in our basal reading stories and on Math Facts."

2. Student Websites: Geography
Technology allows us to cross borders without passports, and to span the continents without plane tickets. The following websites are targeted at all ages of students learning about our planet:

• GeoSpy: http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/Games/GeographyGames/Geospy 
• Continents Game: http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/World_Continents.htm 
• Mr. Nussbaum: Too many resources to list! http://www.mrnussbaum.com/circumcode.htm 
• States, Capitals, and Landforms: http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/web_games.htm 
• KidsGeo: http://www.kidsgeo.com/geography-games/

3. Teacher Productivity Tools: Student Response Systems and Internet4Classrooms

How many of us love to watch "Jeopardy"? Student response systems are a tool which allows students to instantly send a response to your central computer. These useful "tools" are manufactured by several different companies, but the link below goes to the "SMART Technologies" version. 

http://smarttech.com/us/Solutions/Education+Solutions/Products+for+education/Complementary+hardware+products/SMART+Response/SMART+Response+PE

I am often asked to find a specific website or game to accompany a skill. I am now going to give away my secret! I always go to http://www.internet4classrooms.com to look for standards-based resources. It's an awesome, well-designed site. Please take a minute to check it out.

Here's my video of the week, an "inspirational" student video about reading. I hope they had copyright licensing issues all worked out before using this song!

  

Fantastic Fridays: Friday, Oct. 1 "Thinking Outside the Box"

Fantastic Fridays: Friday, Oct. 1-- "Thinking Outside the Box". 

Standards, benchmarks, grades, and testing are all key components of the education system here in America and at IHM School. In all of the details and complexity of education, it's helpful to occasionally reflect on the "big picture". Our IHM Philosophy states, "We strive to develop lifelong disciples and learners intellectually, spiritually, physically, and socially recognizing varied learning styles in a faith-based environment". This week's posting focuses on the development of the lifelong learners here in our building.

1. Classroom Spotlight Project: Letters to the Homebound. 

Marli H. encourages students to use our Word Processing software (Pages on the Macs, or Word on the Dells) to compose letters to homebound parishioners and their friend. Students who may struggle with handwriting appreciate the chance to communicate without embarrassment of their writing challenges, and the recipients appreciate the clear text! It would also be possible to create audio or video messages using the Macs, which could be emailed by a teacher, posted anonymously to a website, or burned to a CD.

2. Student Websites:  Thinking Skills and Saints
Students often ask "Can we have free time?" It's nice to take a break from the standard curriculum, but there are some awesome game-based websites which cultivate thinking skills. Try a few-- even 5 minutes can promote math and reasoning skills!

• http://www.schooltimegames.com/logic.html 
• http://playwithyourmind.com/brain-games/online-brain-games/word-games/

November is traditionally the month of the fabulous "Saint Projects"! Many students will be researching a saint online. Try the following websites!

• http://saints.sqpn.com/ 
• http://www.catholic.org/saints/ "Saints and Angels"
• http://www.loyolapress.com/saints-for-kids.htm Loyola Press "Saints for Kids"

3. Teacher Productivity Tools:Education Nation and Pocket Projectors

• "Education Nation": This week, Rockefeller Plaza was the site for an enormous, publicized "Interactive Summit" about the state of education in the US. Sterling Elementary, in NC, was one of the "spotlighted schools". You may access the copious materials available at http://www.educationnation.com/ . On the opening day of this summit, President Obama was interviewed, and made the touching observation, "Well, first of all, there is nothing more important than teaching. I genuinely believe this. And I don't know a teacher who can't look back and say, 'You know what? Here are so many lives that I've touched, so many people who I've had influence over,' and each of us have memories of some great teacher who steered us in the right direction" (http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/39378576/ns/today-parenting/ ).
• "Pocket Projectors": I have to admit, as a techie, that I am fascinated by these! Starting at under $200 (less than an LCD tv, and it will project an image up to 72" diagonal!), 3M is manufacturing small, portable projectors. Check them out! I can't wait to try these out in the classroom. http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/Pocket/Projector/

Finally, here's our video for the week. This Columbia, SC teacher discusses how technology has impacted learning in her classroom:

http://www.educationnation.com/index.cfm?objectid=8EF952F6-CCDC-11DF-8853000C296BA163