Tablet notebooks

Last night in my Emerging Technology class we learned about using tablet notebooks in the classroom. I thought the tablets were great! It's so convenient to take notes on the tablet and convert it to text. The tablet was even able to convert my cursive handwriting.

Using the tablet to project class notes seems to be much better than writing on a white board, chalk board or an overhead projector. All the older ways to share information in the classroom require the teacher to either have their back to the class or look down. Since I'm left handed it is especially difficult for me to use overhead projectors, chalkboards, and whiteboards because I always seem to erase what I just wrote.

I could see myself using a tablet to save notes in class, email notes home to absent students, and send notes home to parents so they know how to help their children with math homework. The tablet would also allow for me to keep notes I used in the lesson so I could reflect on the lesson, make changes, and then save these notes so part of the lesson will be ready to use for following year.

What are some other ways to use tablet notebooks in the classroom?

photo from flickr.com/diluvi

Skype

In my Emerging Technologies class we learned how to use Skype. It is quite easy and fun to use. I wish more of my family members and friends had Skype accounts. The class brainstormed some ways Skype could be used in the classroom: interviews, communicating with parents or sick students, and video pals. Any other ideas on how Skype can be used to help students learn?






Photo by re-ality
http://www.flickr.com/photos/re-ality/41676755/

Webspiration

Webspiration is the on-line version of Inspiration. Unlike Inspiration, more than one person can add to the graphic organizer. Another student and I worked on a graphic organizer using Webspiration containing information about ourselves. I enjoyed using this program and can see myself using this program in the future. It would be a good tool to use to collorate with other teachers or have students use them to brainstorm ideas or orgainze what they have learned.

RSS review

Following blogs about technology and voice conferencing on my RSS reader was an interesting process. Although RSS readers are suppose to make it easier to catch up on your favorite blogs, I found myself spending more time on my computer because started reading more blogs than I had before I used an RSS reader. I must admit, using the RSS reader was much quicker than finding all the information on separate websites.

What worked the best was that it was a great way to start to learn about something without having to a bunch of research. I will soon be co-teaching on voice conferencing and it was nice to start do learn what people are saying about it and what is currently happening in the field. When I start to research more about voice conferencing I feel as though I have an idea where to start.

I also used the RSS feeder in my itunes to download podcasts about Voice Conferencing. Unfortunately, there were not many podcasts on the topic and the podcasts I listened too were far to advanced and technical for me to understand. Maybe after a couple of months of learning about Voice Conferencing I will understand what the podcasters are talking about.

If done differently, I would have tried to find blogs that posted more often. Some blogs only had a few postings or none at all over the two weeks. This made it difficult to learn how blogs interact with each other. Before picking blogs, it would be worth checking to see how often the blogger posts and only follow blogs that do post on a regular basis.

I could use RSS readers in my classroom by having students follow their classmates' blogs. Students could post their writings on their blogs and make suggestions about the writings by commenting about the postings. Having students use a reader would make it easier for them to follow their classmates blogs without having to search all over the web.

RSS blog III

In Skype Journal blog there is an overview of IPEVO speakerphones for VoIP. There is a detailed review of the phone and advice on how to get the phone. What was most interesting was that at the bottom of the blog was a link to another review of the phone on Engadget, another blog I am following in my googlereader. Engadget, gives a brief description of what the phone can be used for and gives additional information that Skype Journal did not provide.

It appears as though the voice conferencing blogosphere is pretty small since it was difficult to locate blogs. It makes sense that I found a link between two of the blogs I'm following since the bloggers are most likely following other blogs about voice conferencing.

I wonder if any blogs have linked to my blog to send readers to get more information...

RSS blog II- Skype users increasing

Reading through all of my RSS information on Voice Conferencing has been interesting. Two of the blogs I have subscribed to have posted similar information. Both Skype Journal and VoIP Watch have mentioned Skype's increase in users. VoIP Watch links to an article on another blog called TMCnet. The article mentions that based on a report by Pike and Fischer "approximately 8.5 million U.S. households will start using VoIP for their home phone service by 2010, which would bring the total number of VoIP connected households to about 30 million". That's alot of users. Skype Journal also mentioned an increase in Skype accounts and an increase in Skype minutes.

Both these blogs mention an overall increase in users of Skype. Beings more and more people are using Skype, chances are more students are going to start to use Skype. How have our schools increased their use of Skype for educational purposes? Since Skype is fairly new, it may take some time for teachers to figure out how to use Skype to help student learn. Teachers should start to ask their students their ideas about using Skype since chances are, many of the students may already be using Skype in their homes.

Using RSS

For my Emerging Instructional Technologies class I have set up an RSS feed to learn more about Voice Conferencing. I am using googlereader for my RSS account and am impressed at how easy it is to use. Instead of having to search for blogs everyday and to see if something new was posted, new blog posts will show up in my googlereader. It makes everything so much simpler and saves time. The first screen shot is of my googlereader. The second screen shot is a closer view of how I have organized my information. I have different folders for the various sites and blogs I have subscribed to. Two of the folders are for blogs of my classmates for two of my classes this semester. Other folders are News, Money, and Technology. The blogs I have subscribed to for learning more about Voice Conferencing are delivered to my technology folder. The blogs I chose to subscribe to are ones that are up to date on Voice Conferencing and post often. When there is a new blog to read, the folder will be a darker, bolder blue and have a number behind it. This is so easy to use!

I am also using igoogle as a center to get information that I usually search for everyday. Igoogle is nice because most everything I usually go to separate websites to find is at one location. By to subscribing to different applications that display all my information I usually go out to find in one location. Some of the applications I have chosen show the latest headlines in education and the world. I have created tabs to organize my information. My tabs include home, fun stuff, news, education, books, and Scrabble.

RSS feeds can also be used on Itunes. By subscribing to a podcast, Itunes will automatically check to see if there are any new podcasts. If there are, the podcast will download by itself. I have been subscribed to many podcasts for awhile. It is so convenient and I don't have to worry about missing my favorite radio programs. To learn more about Voice Conferencing, I have subscribed to some podcasts that are about Voice Conferencing and VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol). The names of the podcasts I subscribed to are called Blue Box: The VoIP Security Podcast, The VoIP Exerience, VoIP Users Community Conference, and Ted Talks.

It seems like an overwhelming amount of information, but RSS will help to make it easier to learn about Voice Conferencing since all the information is going to my googlereader.