tech_talk_feb09

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Technology in our schools...educating each student for lifelong learning!  5th grade students work cooperatively to complete a project. 

TJES Technology Club members work together to create a PhotoStory project.  Download PhotoStory software FREE and follow step-by-step screencast tutorials here: http://www.jakesonline.org/photostory.htm  Fourth graders use Kidspiration  organize research for an upcoming research project.

Kidspiration software uses the philosophies of visual learning to support students as they think creatively and organize ideas to write, comprehend and communicate successfully.



February Featured Article JoAnn Marshall ~ Trevilians Elementary ITRT // Internet Takes Cooperative Learning to a New Level // The Internet was created to allow scientists to collaborate across the barriers of time and space. It continues to be a high speed information highway that affords users the opportunity to communicate with others on an endless array of topics. Cooperative learning is a teaching technique that encourages students to work together to solve problems as they learn. When the Internet and Cooperative learning are combined, the collaboration possibilities are endless.  It is important that we prepare our students to live in the 21 <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; language: EN; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-default-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-latin-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-greek-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-cyrillic-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-latinext-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-ascii-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">st <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; language: EN; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-default-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-latin-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-greek-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-cyrillic-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-latinext-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-ascii-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"> century. Using the Internet, students can reach out to other classes, interact with subject matter experts, exchange information and data, express opinions, and access current information almost instantly. Entering the “online” collaborative environment will allow students to build knowledge with information taken from many sources that reflect differing perspectives. Now, for example, instead of researching how climate affects agriculture, students can learn first-hand by having “conversations” with peers around the world and sharing data. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; language: EN; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-default-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-latin-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-greek-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-cyrillic-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-latinext-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-ascii-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; language: EN; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-default-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-latin-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-greek-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-cyrillic-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-latinext-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-ascii-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">As safety concerns increase, it is important to teach our students how to communicate using the Internet in a safe manner. Many safe Internet learning environments have been created with students of all ages in mind. Look for sites that require accounts. allow monitoring by an administrator and are password protected. You may want to create your own project or join someone else’s. Existing projects are a good way to start. It requires some time on the teacher’s part to investigate and make the most appropriate choice. Examples of sites are provided below. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; language: EN; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-default-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-latin-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-greek-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-cyrillic-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-latinext-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-ascii-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; language: EN; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-default-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-latin-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-greek-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-cyrillic-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-latinext-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-ascii-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">Engaged students are happy students. Take a leap of faith! Your ITRT will help get you started and develop meaningful projects. It is time to move our students from classroom cooperative learning groups to online collaborative learning communities.

Sites for Internet Collaboration <span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: underline; language: EN; mso-ansi-language: EN; text-underline: single;">Find a Project [|www.gsn.org/project/index.html] http://eduscapes.com/tap/topic1a.htm [|www.kidlink.org/KIDPROJ/projects.html] <span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: underline; language: EN; mso-ansi-language: EN; text-underline: single;">Ask an Expert [|www.yahooligans.com/content/tg/expert] [|www.telementor.org/] [|www.askascientist.org] <span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: underline; language: EN; mso-ansi-language: EN; text-underline: single;">Find KeyPals [|www.epals.com] [|www.kidlink.org/English/index] [|www.iecc.org] <span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: underline; language: EN; mso-ansi-language: EN; text-underline: single;">Create a Project (advanced) These require accounts and administers [|www.google.com/apps/] LCPS has an account with: [|www.thinkquest.com] (see your ITRT for assistance)

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