Class 2- Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. (abs. as I am attending FETC conference)

     This week I am attending the FETC (Florida Educational Technology Conference) at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. Some co-workers and peers from this Inclusive Education Cohort decided to attend this conference because we wanted the opportunity to learn the latest/variety of technologies and how they are being integrated into the classroom.

Session 1 iPad A to Z by Leslie Fisher (www.lesliefisher.com):
       Leslie is an enthusiastic and energetic speaker who presents at a variety of conferences and on a plethora of topics. She covers learning tutorials on the basics of how to use your iPad to Digital Photography and is even a consultant for Sony and presents on Software development.
       In the short three hour workshop she showered us with a lot of programs and apps that we can use in our classroom as well as some that are just fun or useful for for work/personal. I wont be listing all of the software/apps she mentioned, but encourage you to go to her website, click on "Presenting" and then "Presentation Handouts" and scroll down until you see the pdf of her presentation entitled "The iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch Application Support Group". Here you will find a comprehensive list and explanation of the programs/apps (and more) that she covered. I am going to highlight my top three favourite programs/apps that Leslie showed us:

CloudOn is a cloud based drop box that enables you to link and edit all your Office and Google documents on your phone, iPad, and PC. I have never had a drop box before, and honestly was not sure why I would need one- now I do not know how I managed without one for so long. Countless times I have worked on and printed a document at home... and forgot it in the printer tray, or wanted to print /edit a document at school and could not because I hadn't to emailed it to myself, or I am working away on a document at school and something comes up that I can't finish it in that moment, but before I can leave I have to email it myself. This app will impact my teaching in a positive way because it will allow me the freedom to produce, edit and share my documents anywhere I am. If I make a lesson plan and need to adapt/edit/change it while the students and I are exploring and discussing in class I will now have the ability to change it right there on the spot. This will enable me to meet the needs of me and all of my the students on the fly.


Infuse Learning is an online educational content delivery system. It facilitates student teacher interactions in an online format. It is supportive of a BYOD (Bring Yours Own Device) setting, as it is not specific to one operating type. Some of the great features of this program are that the teacher can make T/F, multiple choice, open ended questions, as well as provide a canvas for students to draw their answers. The teacher can save all images as well as test results. The assessment questions are marked and the results of each question is tallied, providing a visual representation of the results so the teacher can easily see if a particular question scored low/high. What I believe to be one of the most compelling features of this program is that the tests/quizzes/assessments can all be read/translated into multiple languages such as Spanish and French. This supports the universal design for learning, allowing all students to participate in the language that they feel most comfortable in. It also has a text to speech component so that a student with a reading/visual disability can still participate. In a classroom where it is our job to meet the needs of a variety of students, this program enables a teacher to collect data/assess their students in a variety of ways.

The Sky (TM) wifi Smart Pen and variety of note pads are one of my favourite tools Leslie introduced us to. The Sky Pen is available in 2/4/8GB with a recording time of 200/400/800 hours respectfully. The user writes in the notepad while the Smart Pen records audio. Whenever the user wants to retrieve the audio from a particular moment, they just tap the pen to the spot in the notepad where the word was written and it retrieves the corresponding audio. This device may be useful for students who may only be able to write the date for a class, a word or two, or even just draw an image that will spark their memory as to what the topic covered in class was about. Whenever they need/want to, they can easily jump back to that moment of audio in an instant. For students who have difficulty writing or who may need directions/conversations repeated a few times, this device would be most useful. It also allows students to concentrate on listening and taking in what is being said instead of frantically trying to write down notes and being in danger of missing the message.

       This was by far my favourite session because I am walking away with a lot of apps I can try in my classroom, at a variety of age levels, plus some cool apps for my own personal use. I was shown how they work and now just have to download them for myself. I came to the conference looking for tangable things I can use right away in my classroom and this session provide that for me.


Session 2 Attended: Transforming Technology Integration for the new Learner by Nancy Blair:(www.EngagingEducation.net)
       Nancy has many degrees and certificates in Education, she has won awards such as the McKeel's teacher of the year and spoken all over the country on educational issues. This workshop was very different from the previous one. It was more like a lecture on the importance of integrating technology into the classroom for students to use and explore.
      Nancy did not give us programs or apps to explore/suggest we use in our classrooms, but rather discussed the ways in which technology has evolved and the importance of classroom teachers keeping up with the changes. From her three hour speech, these are the three highlights I found beneficial to share:

1. When I was in school, if anyone had a computer it was the teacher's and students did not touch it. There was only one class that I took that had a handful of computers for students to use and that teacher got them because he applied and received a grant. Even then, these handful of computers were only to be used when directed by the teacher. When students enter school now, many of them have been Skyping (online video and audio chat from device to device) with family and friends for years. She shared that there have been studies conducted that show students have better tech skills than life skills; they are able to use a mouse proficiently, but could not tie their shoes and the can navigate the Internet, but cannot ride a bike. This struck a cord with me about the importance of knowing what is in my students "virtual backpack". When they enter my classroom, I need to find out what tech skills they already have so I am not wasting time teaching lessons they already know and also not assume they have the same life skills entering school that I had. My friends and I are regularly referring back to the days when we would play out in the neighbourhood until the street lights come on- gone are those days for most. I did some searching on the Internet and found many YouTube videos, online tutorials and some apps for learning how to tie laces.
My favourite was Ian's Laces- How to Tie and Lace Shoes. For $1.99, this app provides over 50 ways to lace and tie shoes. Isn't this a more diverse and expansive way to teach a child than learning "bunny ears go around a tree"...?!





2. Nancy spoke about the importance of allowing students to explore with technology and to come up with their own answers instead of there being right/wrong answers as deemed by the teacher. Students find surfing the web is fun and there is a great deal of dynamic and educational content available. The internet can be a great educational tool but the reality is that there is a lot of inappropriate content as well. Nancy shared a link- called GoGooligans.com that can help ensure students are finding appropriate material.

 

GoGooligans uses filtering technology to catch inappropriate words before they are searched. Google keyword technology can also target child geared content. In addition to the Google SafeSearch Filter which is always on and protecting the search engine, 28 sexual and racial keywords that are not included in the Google SafeSearch Filter are filtered out. GoGooligans includes other safety features such as recording IP addresses so that children will not look for inappropriate material because they know they are being watched. I will add this search engine to my class website and have my students search for content through here. Making myself feel a bit more at ease when there is a class of 25+ students all searching for information at that same time, that even though I can't peer over everyone shoulder at the same time I will feel more confident that they are searching safely.

 3. Nancy closed the workshop by inviting us to follow her on Twitter. I did not have a Twitter account and honestly was not interested in Tweeting my thoughts. However in under 5 min. Nancy convinced me that signing up for Twitter was a good idea and I now have my own Twitter account (@Tarah_Henderson)! She spoke to the plethora of knowledge, resources and ideas that people share on Twitter. It is available for a variety of devices such as Andriod, IPad, Backberry, etc. As an educator who wants to stay up on the latest technologies and best practises and who does not want to reinvent the wheel all the time, Twitter is one method of staying "in the loop". I would suggest all educators get a Twitter account and follow others in the education field.

The third session I attended was called a "Shoot Out" by some and "Snack Down" by others. In essence, it was a panel of four people knowledgeable in the technology field, who shared their favourite technology with us fast and furiously. Here are some of the technologies they shared:

Leap for iMac- $70
This device allows you to control your computer by only using your hand. It is a little hardware box as small as a stack of playing cards that sits in front of the computer monitor and tracks your hands’ motions. It is similar to Microsoft’s popular Kinect platform, which allows Xbox 360 and Windows PC owners to get active with their entertainment.








Photon Flash app for iPad- $4.99: Lets you watch Flash Media on your IPad device using Safari.








Go Animate- free for basic program: Lets you create animated educational videos for clasroom. You can contol the voices, the content and the characters. We all know how engaging kids find cartoons!