The 2011 Education Challenge

As I mentioned in my introductory post, I have issued myself a challenge for the upcoming new year: to use a minimum of one new technology per week and write a review about the new sites I use. To date, I’ve reviewed websites that I’ve been using, and if you’ve been following along you know how limited that is… because as of my last post I’m out of technology that I currently use in the classroom. Good thing it’s December.

I’ve decided it’s time to come up with a plan. I teach in a high school, and next semester doesn’t start until January 31st, and the month of January will mostly be spent on review. I have quite a few ideas for various tools that I can use for review:

• I intend on introducing Headmagnet to my students. Headmagnet creates virtual flash cards for your students that will help them to predict what they will forget. I haven’t used them yet, so I can’t provide a full review…. but if it works the way it’s supposed to the implications for students could be amazing.
• I’m also currently brainstorming ways that I can use Google Docs as a tool for review.
• Once the exams are marked I will be using Markbook (for the first time, though it is far from a new program) to compile my students marks. Other teachers at my school seem to either love or hate this program, so I’m curious to see how easily it works.

Once my new classes begin at the end of January, I have a lot of ideas of new ways to integrate web 2.0 into my classroom.

• I will be setting up and using Edmodo for each of my classes. I think Edmodo has exciting implications for students and teachers and I know that my students will enjoy using it.
• One of my upcoming courses is very conversation-based. To that end I plan on using kidblog to have them post blog entries and discuss each other’s thoughts and ideas. I’m still thinking about how exactly this will work, if anyone has any thoughts on how to introduce blogs to my students I’m excited to hear them.
• I will be having my senior students create e-portfolios using powerpoint. Again, I’m currently working on the logistics of this and researching articles and blogs on how to do it effectively. My thoughts right now are that I might use this as a culminating task at the end of the year.
• I’m working on finding another teacher who is willing to collaborate with my class on group projects using Titanpad, Scribblar, or Google Docs.

That’s where my ideas stand for now. None of them are brand new or revolutionary, but they are all new to me and I’m excited to see the results of this challenge.

I’m looking for suggestions of new tools to use with my class, feel free to leave me a comment! I will be reviewing all sites that I use with my class and updating this blog every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Blog format- how is this going to work?

In the interests of trying to keep this as user-friendly as possible (and as easy for me as possible, I’ve got lessons to plan and papers to grade!), I’m going to try and keep posts in a similar format each time. To begin with this is the format that I’m going to use, but I’m happy to make changes if another category is needed.

The technology: Name of the technology being used

My impression: Here I’ll explain how I used it and what I/my students thought about the whole experience.

Possible uses in the classroom/ Lesson ideas: My scope of teaching is relatively limited, but I do have a good imagination. I’ll try and think of as many applications for the classroom as I possibly can.

Pictures: Not sure if I’ll be able to offer this every time, but I’ll try and offer some screenshots/ pictures of the technology in use as much as possible.

Where can I learn more? Here you’ll find some links to company websites or other reviews I’ve found.

Rating: Out of 5 stars. 1 star meaning “I would rather teach using an abacus than use this!” or 5 meaning “this basically taught my class for me!”. I’ll use the tags to sort these so the really awesome and really horrible reviews can easily be found.