Tech for All Teachers
If you use more than one computer—like one at school and one at home—you need to use Dropbox. In fact, if you're not already using Dropbox, you must live under a rock.
I have a separate calendar for each class, each its own color, to help me plan ahead and organize my class. All my events are "all day" and I title them with the title of the lesson plan for the day. It's all online, so I can see it from anywhere, I can drag any event to another date to quickly rearrange plans, and I can use it with almost any calendar app on a tablet or smartphone.
I can also integrate it into my website for students to also see upcoming events. If the student has a Google/Gmail account, he/she can add my class calendar to his/her own. My school also uses Google for its administrative calendar, so I throw it into my calendar as well.
And my final tip for using this calendar is to take advantage of the "Description" feature within an event. When students click on an event, a little window will pop up with this description, so you can use it to post reminders or assignment descriptions for that day. So if a student is absent, they can merely direct their attention to the calendar, click on what happened that day, and quickly see what the assignment was and how to access and complete it.
Hidden somewhere among the myriad of apps Google offers is Sites. (From Gmail or any other Google account, click "More" at the top of the screen, then click "Even more" to find it.) There is a slight learning curve, but once you get the hang of it, you can use it to create a teacher website for students to access all sorts of help. I bought a URL to make it as easy as possible for students to find my website, and it just forwards to my Google Site. I use it to share the following and more:
- links to other sites pertinent to my class
- class policies and procedures
- Google Calendars
- assignment and project information
- disclosure form (see the next tech)
- a random cool stuff blog (so when students go to my site, there's something new to pique their curiosity and spark their creativity, I hope)
- announcements and reminders
There are probably more powerful website creation tools out there, but Google Sites offers flawless integration of other Google products. It also allows for quick and easy changes and additions without having to do any coding or uploading to an ftp site.
Google Forms (One of the Google Docs)
A lot of people use a variety of Google Docs. The only Doc I use is the Form. I use it in two ways:
- to create an online disclosure form that gives me a spreadsheet of all student/parent information
- to create surveys that students can fill out to give me feedback on my teaching
Some Sort of YouTube Downloader
I admit, I haven't found the perfect downloader yet. I'll probably end up paying for one that works really well. One free one I've used limits video downloads to three minutes. Anyway, YouTube is blocked at my school, as I imagine it is at many schools. There's a teacher version I can access, but it's pretty clunky, and my internet doesn't always work as well as I'd like. Basically, it's just good to download the good videos to be able to use from your computer. You can even put them in your presentations easier.
Tech for Tech Teachers
I haven't used this extensively, but so far it seems to be the best solution for quick software tutorials. (There should never be anything but 'quick' software tutorials.) Max record time is 15 minutes for the free version, which, as the parentheses suggest, is way beyond anything you should ever record anyway. It's easy to use, quick to upload, and I like the little highlight circle around the mouse so that viewers never lose track. The one issue I might face, however, is the fact that you have to enable Java to use/watch. A lot of students freak out when any window pops up asking for an OK or Cancel.
I have a lot of digitally-created files that I want my students to turn in to me. At one point I was having them send emails, but that was obviously an inferior practice. DROPitTOme integrates with your Dropbox, creates a DROPitTOme folder, and students can simply upload files directly to that folder. See my DROPitTOme blog post to see the tricks I use to maximize its usefulness.
Edublogs is an educational version of WordPress. You can set up a Pro account to manage a bunch of student accounts. Blogs (which can easily be converted into more traditionally-designed websites) are good for students to reflect on their learning, show off their work, and learn web design, and Edublogs is a good option.
If Edublogs isn't your cup of tea, try Weebly. It has a much simpler interface but with simplicity comes limitations. The first 40 student accounts are free, and after that it basically comes down to about $1 per student. If you invite other teachers to join, you get more free student accounts.
Yes, another Google application. (Wait, I just went to the site and now it has Trimble as the brand?) I've blogged about this program before because I find it to be so versatile. I've created simple 2D to 3D challenges, a simple move/copy/create assignment, and this random bunch of tips. I'll be sure to post more assignment and project ideas, as well as non-3D uses for SketchUp. Your class might not cover 3D modeling, but you can still find ways to use SketchUp. Your students can create flying 3D movie titles, they can brainstorm a retail store space, or compare the scale of different things. As a teacher you can download objects to rotate and show students, or give them something to draw if that's what they're practicing. I have yet to try too many plugins, but someday I might splurge for some that allow for animated objects and advanced rendering options.
Oh, and one more reason to use SketchUp: its limited 3D capabilities also means it works on older machines quite smoothly.
This is more specifically geared toward classes that cover architecture, but as their salespeople will tell you, you can use it for so much more. Investigators might use similar architecture programs to recreate a crime scene. It has an extensive landscaping feature that you could use to study agriculture. Either way, while the private version is a little pricey, the academic version is incredibly affordable. I'm not an architect by any means, but the software is also incredibly powerful, yet pretty easy to start using. Students love it.
Once you start learning it in order to teach it, you'll find yourself addicted in no time. Software addiction is a good thing. It motivates you to practice and learn more. The same will happen to your students. Basically, if you can find an excuse to use it, use it.
It just doesn't work on Macs.
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