With the posting of this last blog for this series I must
say I have a feeling of true accomplishment. When I first set out two months
ago to find one answer to a teacher’s question for an interactive whiteboard
solution, I never imagined I would be where I am now. It is because of that
journey starting with one question that I reached the point I am at now where I
have found answers to a host of questions. And the funny thing is I never
intended to answer more than that one question.
In the coming weeks I plan on looking at more apps and
websites on the market for teacher interaction. I fully intend to continue this
journey as far as it takes me. So without further ado, my final blog is here.
This is the most comprehensive and detailed display (In the form of Youtube
videos, including the comments section of each video which has additional
information and links for help so check that area out as well while
watching.)of supplemental resources I have created thus far. I am excited to be
at the point where I am now. The main support structure of what I want to
accomplish will be completed with this last blog on Technology in the Classroom
with Dynamic Web Environments. Good times, good times indeed!
The first video I have below shows anyone how to quickly set
up your Google Chrome browser as an Interactive learning environment. You do
this using the FVD Speed Dial Extension that you would download in the Chrome
Webstore.
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/fvd-speed-dial-3d-wall-sy/llaficoajjainaijghjlofdfmbjpebpa
Once this Extension is installed you can add specific
websites and apps as you see fit. Then using the website tabs (Found in the
middle of the browser) or the apps found on the left side of the page in a
column, you can set up a highly dynamic web environment that essentially could
have ALL of your lesson resources in one interface.
This allows the teacher full interaction and mobility
depending on their available technology. With an interactive whiteboard of any
type the teacher can remain in the front of the room and engage their students
on a level they may not have been able to before using this configuration.
Or a teacher could use an IPad/IPhone or Android device to
take over the desktop of their computer and interact with the Chrome browser in
real time while moving through the room and collaborating with their students
on the fly.
Using these solutions, and the power of the Chrome Webstore
(Keep in mind that Google Play is ALSO available on the Chrome Browser so
essentially ANY app you have already purchased for your phone or touchpad for
an android device can be accessed in this way as well. This is just another way
of MANY to engage your students in ways that were never available until now.
The next video below shows how easy it is to set up an
Edmodo account and use all of the basic features available for student and
teacher collaboration. There are five main modes of communication; Note, Alert,
Assignment, Quiz, and Poll. Using these communication tools a teacher can
collaborate not only with their students on anything from assignments to
quizzes, but they can also collaborate with other teachers in their
network (This could be as close as grade
level, then school, then district, then state, so on and so forth.) and share
such resources with one another in real time.
Finally, the best part of this is the fact that the teachers
have all sorts of resources available to them to use to help enhance their
learning management system. They have the calendar, alerts to send text messages
to parents or students, and a grade book to monitor and keep a tally of their students’
progress through assignments, quizzes, and polls.
There are other Learning Management Systems out there that
are similar to this one but Edmodo has seemed very intuitive and user-friendly
to me. Not to mention it is free.
Other available LMS solutions are below for you to consider.
Any of these will work. And the ones I have listed are free.
www.pearsonlearningsolutions.com/openclass/ (Open Class is
an LMS that requires your entire district to embrace it. While the above links
such as mybigcampus, moodle; and even Edmodo you do not have to have your
entire school district sign up to experience the magic of the LMS. While this
is one disadvantage to using Open Class, the big factor here is that several
districts across the US are embracing this new LMS option because it is
absolutely free, and it is backed by both Pearson AND Google, two massive
powerhouses for the education field.
Either way you look at this, all of these options can only
mean one thing for our teachers, innovation and revolution in the classroom. By
breaking down the barriers that the four walls of a school create, we can reach
students in ways we never could before.
My final video below shows how to create a very basic,
streamlined website using Google Sites. With just a few minutes of your time,
and your online resources available, you can link them all in one easy to
access website interface that you can tailor to your own taste and style. You
can make it as basic OR complex as you like depending on the time you have
available. I show how easy it is to create a quick intuitive/ interactive
website that can be up and running in minutes thus optimizing the power of your
technology and taking one step closer to answering the question of how to
implement common core into your current lesson plans.
I wanted to add the links to the template page that shows
where I found my simple template.
And this final link is directly to the website template I
used in this video.
I want to thank everyone for your time put into reading all
of my blogs and videos during the course of this series. Please stay tuned and
I will let you know when I begin the next sequence I partake in. I welcome any
feedback or suggestions you may have as well.
Aaron
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