Integrating technology in the classroom presentation

I presented my project at the district Waiver Day on May 3rd. It went well. I had 33 participants (it filled up fast testifying to the fact that teachers want to learn ways to use and teach technology in their classrooms). My plan was to attach the presentation to the google docs but I had several technical issues when I was putting it together.

1st I have a MacBook and initially set up the presentation using Power Point. I knew I couldn't link to YouTube through the presentation because our district blocks the site so I downloaded and save them into a flash drive and embedded them into the Power Point. Polleverywhere.com polls do not work in any Mac products so I couldn't try that out. Everything else worked great. Then I took it into work and tried it there (Windows, Power Point 2003) Would not work. I had trouble with my avatars, the YouTube video, and with the embedded poll I finally figured out the poll but I had to reload several times. Even the night before when I was trying it once last time, I had to reload the poll. No problems during the actual presentation, thank goodness!

2nd My son-in-law has a Windows based laptop so he brought it over and we worked on the YouTube video. We got it to work and I thought everything was good. I took it into work and it didn't work. He has the newest version of PowerPoint and for whatever reason, it wouldn't work on the 2003 version. I went to the Microsoft website and found the instructions for embedding a video clip. Microsoft only supported the .avi version which is not great quality. The Mac used Quicktime which was another extension. I got it to work but again had to do it again the night before because it didn't work. No problems on the day of presentation!

So bottom line, I don't know if the version I put on Google docs will work. It is the Windows PowerPoint 2003 version.

Learnings - I am so glad that I tried it many times. There is still a lot of integration issues between operating systems and the different versions of software. I heard about another session given by someone who had technical issues because they didn't try it beforehand. It took a lot longer than I ever expected which can be very discouraging and many people would just give up. I took it as a challenge and wouldn't give up even though my husband banned any reference to this presentation ever!

Feb./Mar. articles

I read several of the articles.  Two of the articles really resonated with me, both had to do with using iTouches in the classroom.

Symbaloo

I have made my symbaloo public.  It's called Westerville Edu Sites.  I've published it in SymbalooEDU.  You can search for any webmix by typing in a keyword in the box on the right (says search for tiles).  It will look for tiles and will show you if there is any webmixes with that keyword.

See if you can get it up.  The link is below.

http://edu.symbaloo.com/

Vokis

Well I can publish the links but I still haven't been able to embed the vokis in the sidebar of my blog.  I've tried selecting the Blogger icon and it wouldn't let me into my blog (kept saying it couldn't log me in and I know it was the correct username and password).  Then I tried copying the embed code on the design template as a gadget.  It said it had broken links. Then I tried copying the URL for a standard Voki link and it said it wasn't valid.  So I give up.  Here are the links.

Digital Native
Digital Immigrant

Think I've got it now!

Ok, I think I now know how to embed my vokis and my website.

http://mrsirbyclass.weebly.com/

Voki's

These vokis I plan on using in my presentation "Integrating Technology in the Classroom".  One is a digital native and one is a digital immigrant.  The information that the vokis are sharing came from an article by Marc Perensky called "Digital Natives" in 2001.

links

Not sure my links in my last post will work.  Im going to try again.

Symbaloo
http://edu.symbaloo.com/shared/AAAAA2uYHQUAA41_V650yg==

Voki
I don't know if anyone else has had issues but I really have had a time with voki.com.  I finally got my avatars after many repeat efforts.  I am still having trouble sharing it.  I don't see myself using it much due to the time it takes.

Still having trouble.

TED video and more

I haven't blogged in a while but I have been busy! I spent the weekend exploring new apps and websites. I now have wireless in my classroom and my students and I are finding new ways to use the iTouches. It's like a whole new world. I used the app (gwhiz mla) mentioned in one of the articles in ISTE to make my own Force and Motion assessment. The kids took it and the results were posted in my google docs. Amazing!

I also worked on my symbaloo page which can be accessed below. I'm still working on it but I am getting close to finishing. I want to be able to share it during my presentation on May 3. I also put in your email address so you can access it.
http://www.symbaloo.com/shared/AAAAA2uYHQUAA41_V650yg

Speaking of my presentation, I made two avatars using voki.com, one a digital native and the other a digital immigrant. I will add those to the blog.

My website is www.mrsirbyclass.weebly.com

I watched a TED video called Ken Robinson: Changing education paradigms. It was very interesting. His arguement for change was built upon the fact that the education system was built to meet the societal needs of the industrial revolution. Our society is now in the middle of another revolution, a digital revolution and our education system must change. He used some statistics about ADHD to make the point that we are overmedicating our children to meet the needs of the school system and not the other way around. This struck a chord with me. I have wondered that myself. Very interesting and thought-provoking video.