The University of Sussex has scanned Isaac Newton’s notebooks and put them online for others to search. Check out the notebooks from the 1700′s by clicking here.
Archive for the ‘Technology’ category
The Newton Project
December 13th, 2011An amazing interactive map of the Pearl Harbor attack
December 7th, 2011National Geographic always has great resources, but this one really grabbed my attention. Check out this map that commemorates the anniversary of Pearl Harbor. Just like how the JFK Library incorporated real audio and visuals in We Choose the Moon, National Geographic has included a ton of primary sources (click on the We Were There links) from the attack.
Put this one up on the LCD and let the students explore.
Poligraft – Tracking financial influence in politics
December 2nd, 2011I recommend the Congress app for Android, iPhone, and Windows phones. It’s a very handy tool to stay informed about what your elected officials are doing.
While on Sunlight’s website, I found Poligraft, a site that helps you track financial influence in politics. You find an article online and paste in the URL or the selected text. The site then searches the article for political names and organizations. On the side of the screen it highlights those names and shows either how much money that politician has received from which organization or how much the organization has donated to politicians.
It can help you track influence when sifting out bias (which helps students meet standard 1.2.4 from the AASL’s Standards for 21st Century Learners).
Click here to learn where Sunlight gets its data.
Watch Know Learn
December 1st, 2011Another great alternative to YouTube is WatchKnowLearn.org, a collection of videos with an educational focus. Within a few clicks I was able to find a well-made video introducing JavaScript programming.
PBS’s collection of research on educational technology
November 10th, 2011There is definitely a push to use technology in education, which makes sense since much of life in the United States involves some form of technology. Throwing technology at students for technology’s sake, though, is not best practice.
That’s where PBS comes in as a great resource with their collection of articles about using technology in education, complete with research as evidence and essays on effective use. If you’re an educator, it’s something you will want to check out by clicking here.
One of my favorite features is a database of technology lessons that you can search by content area. With just a few clicks, I found 78 pages (as of the time of this post) worth of lessons for using technology in Reading and Language Arts classes.
Six pre-made HTML 5 lessons
November 9th, 2011This one’s for the teachers of technology. If you are doing any instruction on what HTML 5 is, check out Microsoft’s faculty page here for pre-made PowerPoints for six lessons. The page also includes all of the project files, which gives you a lot to pick and choose from when modifying it for your own classes.
“If you believe S. E. Hinton is engaging in abusive behavior on Twitter, you may report S. E. Hinton for spam.”
October 31st, 2011Oh, technology.
First, the autocorrect on my phone changed “S.E. Hinton” to “S.E. Hilton”, making me look like I was clueless about one of my students’ favorite authors as I posted about her on Twitter. Then, I get an email from Twitter giving me an option to report the queen of YA for SPAM abuse.
But then I think about a benefit of instant access through technology: I was able to go back and forth with one of Young Adult literature’s finest. She was friendly and had guessed that it was an autocorrect error.
She’s at se4realhinton on Twitter. Give her a message.
FlashNotes – A game to speed up note recognition
October 19th, 2011If you’re looking to practice note identification, a great resource for that is FlashNotes. It’s sorted by clef and skill level.
Treble – Beginner
Treble – Advanced
Bass – Beginner
Bass – Advanced
I especially like the frantic music in the background and the countdown timer. Nice find, Mr. Durham.
Class Parrot
October 7th, 2011I am really intrigued by Class Parrot, a service that lets you set up a text message subscriber list for your classroom.
As a teacher, you create classes on the main site and Class Parrot creates an opt-in code that parents and students can text to Class Parrot to sign up for messages.
The thing that really grabs my attention is that you use the site, not your phone, to send out messages. Your cell number is not used. Also, you don’t know student and parent cell numbers. The only numbers people need are the opt-in code and Class Parrot.
I’m going to look more into the service and see if it’s something that we can do to better communicate with our community.
TenMarks
September 26th, 2011
At TenMarks, teachers can create online classes for students to practice Math lessons aligned to the common core standards.
Teachers and students can track academic progress, honing in on which Math concepts need more practice. There’s also a game unlock system, which adds a little bit of motivation.
Once you understand that sending a message in TenMarks is the equivalent of assigning homework, the interface is clear and useful. This is perfect for teachers wanting a way for students to practice Math at home for reinforcement.
