Smart Board vs Mimio vs Wiimote July 23, 2008

I decided that this week I would post about what seems to be the three most popular options for incorporating an interactive whiteboard into your classroom.

My school has recently purchased a Smart Board and after a few discussions with my classmates regarding the uses of SBs in the classroom, I would have to say they are way more versatile than I had originally thought. The drawbacks seem to be the portability and cost. Smart boards run anywhere from $1,400 - $10,000 depending on your needs and desires. It seems as though the type of projection (front / rear), can really effect the efficiency of this product. When using the SB in class, we were noticing that the projector and lighting in the classroom were affecting the touch sensitivity and calibration to of the SB. Our school has debated on wether or not to mount the SB in our conference room, or, place the SB on wheels and make it portable. After playing with the SB, I can say I think it would be more beneficial to have the SB on wheels so that teachers can check it out and use it with their students. The software that accompanies the SB has some awesome interactive lessons, if this is mounted in the conference room, I cannot see the benefit to students. The drawback I see to making the SB portable is having to hook up, unhook, and calibrate the SB into every room it is moved to. This could be a nuisance.

Next, I looked at the Mimio. The main differences between the SB and the Mimio are size, portability and price. A Mimio will work on almost any surface, you can use the whiteboard you already have in order to create an interactive whiteboard, and you do not necessarily need a projector to use a Mimio. Mimio’s only cost around $500-and up, again, depending on your needs. The calibration does not seem as difficult and these seem much more portable and affordable to place in additional classrooms without having to replace all of the whiteboards which already exist. I did not find the same amount of resources / galleries of lesson plans for educators with the Mimio as I did with the SB, but I just might need to do some additional research.

The new kid on the block seems to be the Wiimote. I found a lot of information and various ways to create a Wiimote. The gentleman in the video below is quite handy and makes the Wiimote look extremely user friendly and easy to use. The portability and versatility of the Wiimote seemed to match that of the Mimio. Although the Wiimote seems to be less hardware to purchase, but I can see that my school would need to purchase a lot of hardware to create an interactive whiteboard using the Wii. We would have to purchase the Wii - $300+, plus the additional items to create the Wiimote which I am guessing would cost $100-$300. So, I might, or might not be saving money for hardware when compared to the Mimio. Again, I did not find a bank of resources / lesson plans to use with the Wiimote, which could be a setback when compared to the SB.

I have decided to start using the SMART Board and its software, and see how my staff responds to incorporating an interactive whiteboard into their curriculum, and then decide if we need any additional interactive whiteboards in our building.

First attempt at Podomatic July 13, 2008

Hi everyone, I posted an episode to my podcast, katiemanzanaress Podcast.

Click this link to check it out:
Episode 1

- Katie

Upgrades July 7, 2008

My dad would like to upgrade the memory on his Dell Inspirion computer which is approximately 4 years old. Once probing him a little further, he also wanted to upgrade his CD burner to a DVD burner. Well, then I set out on a quest to find out the cost benefits of upgrading these specific components of this unit vs. purchasing a new computer that would have not only what he wanted in a upgrade, but much, much more. Then I had an “ah-ha” moment. This is why the technology industry has lifelong customers. Computers and other electronics will always be upgraded, offering customers something bigger and better.
So when researching how much each component was to upgrade, I found that I am really comparing apples to oranges. Yes, it might be beneficial to upgrade the former PC to contain the specs that you want, but then again, you could purchase a new machine that has a multitude of upgrades. One major upgrade would be that of a internal wireless internet connection. Technology has changed so drastically in the last 4 years, that it is hard to recommend upgrading these specific components when comparing what is available now on a PC.
Furthermore, I might even recommend that my father purchase a Mac. Since Windows has upgraded to Vista, I have heard of nothing but problems from the consumers regarding the Vista system. Although a Mac would cause my 60 year old father to learn how to navigate on a new platform, he has a wonderful daughter who will soon have her masters degree in ILT to teach him about the benefits of using a Mac computer After our coursework regarding software and hardware, I think I would be able to help my father to build a system that would be current with the capability of being upgraded further in the future, when something bigger and better comes along.

Tech Gadgets Etc. June 22, 2008

Since I was unable to be in class for the last session, I have decided to write about experiences I have had using emerging technologies in the classroom and for instructional purposes. I have tried many new emerging technologies this pst year in my classroom and some were more successful than others. The first technology I tried using was Garageband.

Last year when I had gone to T.I.E., one of our UCD colleagues had hosted a session on using Garageband to record kids reading various books to monitor their fluency. This particular teacher presented an example of an ESL student whose English fluency was very low. This teacher recorded the student reading various literature aloud, recorded with a small device plugged into the bottom of an iPod. The progression of the students fluency from the beginning of the year, to the end of the year was pretty remarkable. I thought to myself, what a great tool to use for conferences to show progression of fluency with students. Then I asked myself, how could I use this with 5th Grade students?

I decided that for spring conferences I would record students reading a picture book of their choice, below their attained reading level, to practice fluency, and demonstrate their ability to add intonation and fluctuation to their voice, to match the particular genre of text that they were reading. I found that this was an awesome tool for parents to listen to. They couldn’t deny any suggestions I had for improvement, and were surprised by what they had heard. The students also were able to sit with me and listen to their recording, and we could conference about suggestions for improvement, which were often caught by and pointed out by the student before I could point them out myself. I am thinking that next year, I will start this process at the beginning of the year, and then be able to show progress throughout the year at spring conferences. This tool proved to be useful, so I will try to incorporate it into next years curriculum.

I had a student form England visit my classroom last winter. He attends a semi-private all boys school in England, and while he was visiting, I kept asking him questions about how his schooling experience differed form that which he is experiencing in my classroom. This sparked a great idea! Pen-pals! Long lost are the days of old pencil and paper writing letters to be sent overseas. But what a cool experience that is to hold a conversation with someone from another country, and the anticipation of waiting for that next letter to arrive in the mail is priceless. So, I sent him back to jolly old England with a note for his english “tutor”, to ask if they wanted to participate.

Soon enough, we had new friends in another land to communicate with. I found out through talking with my new friend, the english tutor, that they are suing technology in many similar ways across the ocean for instructional purposes. So after several exchanges of letters, we decided to exchange videocasts. My students created a videocast telling our pen-pals about Frontier Valley Elementary in Parker, Colorado. They highlighted facts about our year-round calendar, how the school is set up, and various educational activities they participate in throughout the day. We are awaiting the arrival of the return videocast from our friends in England.

The videocast was a lot of work. Essentially, it was creating an iMovie. Students were responsible for writing a script, recording their script, and taking photos of the school to match the content of the script. Although this was a very cool experience, I sometime feel that these projects are more work on my part, than they are educational for the students. What I do know, is that it will be very rewarding to receive a return videocast from our pen-pals. I will let oyu know how it all turns out!

Hello Class June 17, 2008

Greetings fellow classmates. I am checking back in on my blog for this class. Unfortunately, I am still in school until Friday June 20th, so I am unable to participate in the first two class sessions. I am trying to complete everything via the syllabus and it is proving to be a tad difficult. That, paired with sitting in on interviews for our 5th Grade position after school until 7:00 or later this week is a bit much right now.

I was looking at the resources everyone explored for this weeks assignment, and I was surprised to say that I was able to find all new resources. With approaching the end of the program, I feel like there has been overlap in resources presented and researched, but this time was different. I really enjoyed looking at Yacpaca, Searchme, and screencast. Each served a very different purpose, but I could apply any or portions of all of the site into my classroom curriculum.

Through the threaded discussion I got some great ideas on how each source could be incorporated into my grade level curriculum. I am going to try to create student portfolios for kids this year, so that at Fall and Spring conferences we are able to assess progress made throughout the year. Saerchme was such a cool visual search tool. I loved how anything you types in, it could find a variety of topics that might be relevant to your search. I am looking at the screencast site to create tutorials for my math curriculum. Students often have questions when completing homework, and I think this would be an awesome tool to reference when they are working at home with parental support.

More on social networking October 24, 2007

So I think that in today’s society, you no longer have to do marketing research of your own, nor formulate any more new ideas of your own. Nowadays, you can just look at what is happening on the internet, and use people (their conversations, ideas, blogs) in order to find out just what consumers are saying they want, and need. I Googled “technology” to see what would pop up. I came across the New York Times online, and they have tons of people that work for them that are keeping tabs on technology trends.
This particular article talked about a new company called LifeAt.com, where apartments buildings can sign up under this company and create a site for their complex. Tenants can then advertise on the site, and grown their own businesses. This is an excerpt directly from the article article:

“More than 335 buildings have joined since LifeAt began in March. About 600 more buildings are scheduled to introduce LifeAt Web sites by year’s end. The company does not currently share ad revenues with the buildings, but Mr. Goldstein said that could change.

Among buildings with LifeAt Web sites, Mr. Goldstein said, residents of 64 percent of the units have created personal pages. Property managers, who give residents login and password information, also use the sites to post news about maintenance work and vacancies.

The profile pages created by residents are similar to those on other online social networks. Users post descriptions and pictures of themselves on personal pages, along with pictures of their friends in the building. In the Marketplace section, users can post free classified ads for old furniture, appliances and baby-sitting services, and rate local eateries and businesses.”

Some say they are skeptical that this type of company will only survive in big cities. I was recently visiting a friend of mine in Chicago, and I can see how it would be great for big cities, you could almost remain completely anonymous in a big city if you wanted to, but with LifeAt.com meeting poeple will now be even easier than meeting people on a site like MySpace, or Match.com because you already have something in common with these people. You practically live with them already!

Check out the full article at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/22/technology/22ecom.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Professional Network October 11, 2007

Wow…. two entries in one day? Okay, so more social networking site I have found.
Linked In (LinkedIn) allows professionals to network free of charge from their site.

This site claims that;

148,000 executives sign in everyday
23 professionals join every minute
More people have joined LinkedIn than live in Sweden

It allows you to network with similar professionals, market yourself for a new an improved career, and hook up with long lost friends. So, it sounds like Classmates.com, Monster.com, and MySpace.com all rolled into one!

I own a company myself so I decided to give this a try. My company Pic-Pockets specializes in making handbags, custom or retail. I decided that this might help to hook me up with some other entrepreneurs that are either interested in purchasing a product, or, at worst this is free advertising!

I plan to keep a “log” regarding my experience with LinkedIn. Wish me luck, or, check me out and link on! No pun intended!

http://www.LinkedIn.com

My space - kiddie style? October 11, 2007

Have you ever been in a situation where you had never heard of a concept or topic before, and then once you learn about it its everywhere? Enter the hot topic of social networking. We all know about sites such as My Space and Facebook, but now there is a new site for the younger kiddos.
Panwapa is a site that will be the new social networking site for kids. From the creators of Sesame Street, children are able to meet some new monster friends, which live on Panwapa Island.
This site is going to be available in five different languages, and available for free via iTunes in January, possibly via podcast? I was trying to find more information regarding this, but the load time on this site seemed rather slow.
Kids are able to create profiles that reflect interests in their lives, for example they might post pictures of their favorite foods and hobbies. Then children around the world are able to search for children with similar interests as them. Sound familiar?
Is this the new virtual pen pal or a match.com for preschoolers?
Teachers are able to access lesson plans, and support materials from the site. This site has a vocabulary word of the day, which you can hear in multiple languages. You can also watch videos and access other multicultural activities, which I did not do due to loading times on the site!
Check it out and let me know what you think: http://www.panwapa.com

Revolution of a pencil October 1, 2007

Pencil Revolution
I was given this article to read, and I thought it made an interesting point. The article talks about the comparison between the introduction of the pencil into society as compared to the revolution of technology in our society. This article is from 1984, yet it relates to the debate in education today as to if technology is really helping children learn more efficiently / effectively.
The first uses of the pencil, was in the world of commerce to create price tags. Then, attorney’s found they could quadruple business with a “written contract.”
The article then talks about how the “tool” (the pencil) was in high demand at the university level, and this sparked a debate about the pencil’s importance in the classroom. A common feeling toward the pencil was, “just because they have the pencils does not mean that a lot of education is going on.” This comment struck me as a similar argument that the naysayer have with the importance of technology in the classroom. I had never thought about the “pencil”, a tool, and its introduction to society, just as some of my fifth grade students can probably not imagine how the world survived without computers, cell phones, and video cameras.
The article then goes on to discuss how the most “privileged” students were provided with personal pencils. They conducted a study, which compared personal pencil using students with their non-pencil using peers, and they saw a big difference. Those personal pencil users were able to compute math problems far more quickly than their peers. What a concept!
So, I guess my point in comparing these two articles was that all innovations and advancements in technology are questioned regarding their importance, even something as “innovative” as the pencil!

Naysayers September 13, 2007

So I was exposed to the “flip side of the coin” last weekend. I came across an article that discusses the “Unfulfilled Expectations of Educational Technology”. It discussed how Thomas Edison, in 1922, predicted that the “Motion picture is destined to revolutionize our educational system, and in a few years it will supplant largely, if not entirely, the use of textbooks”. William Alexander in 1945 said, “The time may come when the portable radio receiver will be as common in the classroom as the blackboard”. B.F. skinner stated, “Because education will be more efficient, it will probably cost less than it does now”.
This article states that because none of these predictions have been proven to be true, yet, that none of the technologies listed above have fulfilled their expectations. The article also states that only a “small band of teachers used these technologies willingly, consistently, and with enthusiasm.”
I can see their point, yet I also think that the data they are using to oppose technologies presence in today’s classrooms is skewed. First of all, the article is from 1996. If I can think of all of the technological advances since 1996, the list would be hundreds of pages long. Second, I think educators surveyed were not of the “Y” or “Net Generation”. I think it would be interesting to see this study recreated with classroom teachers today, and see how the use of technology and the predictions of its use have changed.

Article excerpt:
Technology and the Future of Schooling
The Ninety-Fifth Yearbook of the NSSE
1996