Tag Archives: free

What’s New With Smart: Free Webinar

A note from our SMART Educational Consultant:

SMART Technologies would like to invite you to  join us for a webinar to learn about the new and innovative ways in which SMART Technologies aligns with your goals to improve your teacher and student achievement in 21st Century Classrooms.

If you are unable to view the webinar live – please register to receive access to a recorded version to be viewed at a later time.

What’s New With SMART
Join us for a Webinar on November 17
Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar Seat Now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/761436466
Learn the new and innovative ways in which SMART Technologies aligns with your goals to improve your teacher and student achievement in 21st Century Classrooms.
Title:   What’s New With SMART
Date: Thursday, November 17, 2011
Time: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM EST

 

System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server
Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.5 or newer

 

 

 

SMART Technologies

Kali Parker

Education Consulting- Georgia

Phone: +1.404.295.0790

kaliparker@smarttech.com

www.smarttech.com

SMART Stuff Tab-Updated and New Links Added

The new year has begun and it is time to dust off our SMART boards and bring interactivity into our lessons.  I have updated my blog tab called SMART Stuff with new websites and checked to make certain all the oldies but goodies were still active.  Please go there and find some great sites, lessons, activities, that you can integrate into your curriculum.  The Smithsonian Virtual Museum is one of my favorites (my son and I went here before we took our trip to DC).

I am working on updating the rest of the tabs so please feel free to email me any great sites you have come across and I will add those too.  Finally, all great technology and curriculum websites that I come across can be found at http://www.delicious.com/sbuckalew.

Have a great and SMART day!

NETs for Students-The Right Technology for our Students

One of the areas in which educators are trying to level the playing field is in the area of technology.  Students that have access at home are jumping leaps and bounds ahead of those who do not.  However, what is the correct technology that our students need to learn?

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) has created technology standards called NETS for students, teachers, and administrators for technology.  Georgia has recently adopted their version of the NETS for students. Below are some sites to assist you and your students in learning those important 21st century skills that are necessary to prepare them to become lifelong learners of technology.  You will be hearing the word NETS more and more so please make sure you take a look.

Georgia NETS-a wiki dedicated to assisting educators understand what NETS-s are and how to implement them into the classroom.

NETS-S Performance Tasks–the GaDOE has created this instructional technology frameworks page for teachers K-8 that align with the standards.  The creation of these tasks represents foundational work in providing teachers access to standards aligned, technology integrated, teaching and learning resources. The GaDOE plans to continue this work including the addition of more tasks in these and other curriculum areas for K-12.

NETS-S Implementation Wiki – The International Society for Technology in Education has created a wiki to assist educators to implement the NETS-S into their classrooms.

Technology Integration Examples

The Florida Vitural School has created an amazing website that I would like to share with you called Technology Integration Matrix (TIM).  Tim is a site that provides a foundation for professional development for technology integration.  It illustrates how teachers can us technology to enhance learning for K-12 students and incorporates the five interdependent characteristics of meaningful learninging environments active, constructive, goal directed, authentic, and collaborative).

In layman’s terms, it is a place to find great examples of real ways to actually use technology in your classroom not just vague suggestions.  For example, in the Grade Level Index under K-2 there are 4 entry level lessons for integrating technology in Language Arts (Practicing Literacy Skills and Using StarFall) and Science (Life Cycle of a Tree and Simple Machines).  There are hundreds more to look at and use in your classroom.  This was just the beginning section. 

In addition, the site has professional development resources, a digital tools index, and the actual matrix for teachers and students for levels of Technology Integration.  Thank you to Laura Gary-Michel at Marietta High School for passing on the great tip. 

Check it out today :  http://fcit.usf.edu/matrix/index.php

Free Video Editor-Jaycut

Thanks to a tip from Dean Yoder, I have found my new favorite FREE online video editor.  The site is called Jaycut and it is fantastic.  I do have to put in a disclaimer that the site is not intended for students to use but is more for the teacher to edit video for teaching or personal use.  The age limitations are 18 and over.

Why am I sharing a site that students cannot use?  I have always promised to share new great technology with you no matter what the age is because we all need easier was to teacher our students.  More and more teachers are creating and utilizing visuals for class and this is a free, simple, way for teachers to edit their movies and create slideshows.

I have to admit, Dean you were correct.  This is super easy and so much better than movie maker can ever be for the user.  I was able to upload, edit, and create my movie in under 10 minutes and that included saving it to my computer.  I love this site and hopefully you will too.

Check it out today:  http://jaycut.com/

As a P.S.  Free Technology for Teachers also published today a great “how to” use Jaycut.

Check that our as well:  How to Create a Movie Using Jaycut

Discovery Education-Turf Mutt: Win a $5000 Grant and great Science Lesson Plans

Discovery Education-Turf Mutt: Win a $5000 Grant!

Discovery Education has a great site called Turf Mutt. TurfMutt offers standards-aligned science lesson plans for grades 3-5, educational videos, activities, puzzles and more to promote your students’ appreciation of the green space that surrounds them every day.

In addition, the Landscapes Across America contest challenges classrooms to submit a digital photo slideshow of their ecosystem for a chance to win a $5,000 grant toward implementing eco-friendly programs.  They have even included tips on how to do the slideshow in each of TurfMutt’s lesson plans found in the educator section.

For more information on TurfMutt and the Landscapes Across America contest, visit http://turfmutt.discoveryeducation.com and http://turfmutt.discoveryeducation.com/contest.cfm

The deadline for grant applications has been extended to May 19, 2011 so you still have time 🙂

Flat Classroom-Elementary Applications Now Open, Middle and High School Date Extended

Viki Davis has heard our elementary voices and has created a Flat Classroom Project for the 3rd-5th grade environment.  Today on her blog she announced her First Ever Elementary Flat Classroom Project.  If you are not aware of what a Flat Classroom Project is please click here to learn more.  This is an amazing opportunity to collaborate and communicate with students all over the world through education and technology.

The first ever Elementary Flat Classroom Project is called “A Week In The Life of…” Elementary age students are asked to do research on the life of children in their school and create a digital project to demonstrate the information to other schools across the world.  Currently elementary schools from Beijing, China; Prague, Czech Republic; West London, England;  Mumbai, India; and various United States schools are enrolled in the project.

The deadline for applications is March 15th and you can apply on line at http://tinyurl.com/fcpesapplication

The Middle School and High School Flat Classroom Projects deadline of March 1st has been extended to include more classrooms.  To learn more about their projects see below:

Are you interested in joining the Digiteen Project (Middle School Age)?    See more details and an online form at http://digiteenproject.org. The NetGenEd Project http://netgened.org or the Eracism Project http://eracismproject.org

Are you interested in the Original Flat Classroom for High School Students?  See more details at http://www.flatclassroomproject.net/about.html and click here for the March-June project application.

Free Event: The Inventure (watch live or attend)

the-inventure-prize_georgia-tech_copy

Join GPB, GA Tech and the teams as they participate in this remarkable live event where Georgia Tech Whiz Kids create the next best inventions!

Educators, this event is ideal for demonstrating real-life applications of Georgia Standards for math and science!

Encourage your students to participate by texting their vote for the People’s Choice Award.

http://www.gpb.org/inventure

March 9, 2011 at 7 PM

Live from the Ferst Center at Georgia Tech

Winners will receive…..

  • A cash prize of $15,000 for first place or $10,000 for second place
  • A free US patent filing by Georgia Tech’s Office of Technology Licensing (each valued at approximately $20,000 for both the first and second place winners)
  • A People’s Choice Award of $5,000 selected by text voting during the event

Watch The InVenture Prize Finals on GPB Wednesday, March 9th at 7 PM!

Tune in on-air or online at www.gpb.org for information on how to text your vote at the end of the show.  Educators and students can live-chat online with GPB’s Chrissy Warrilow during the event.

Over 2 Million FREE Images for school use (Until April 30th)

Free access through April 30th to Image Quest from Britannica. (Use your GALILEO password)

http://quest.eb.com

IMAGE QUEST
Simplify and improve your search for images with Image Quest. Now you can access more than a million rights-cleared images from over 40 of the best collections in the world. Dorling Kindersley Images, Getty Images, the National Portrait Gallery of London, the National Geographic Society, Oxford Scientific, and other leading names have joined with Britannica to provide the best and broadest collection of proprietary educational imagery. Teachers can use the images in their lesson plans and classroom activities while students will turn to the site as they work on homework assignments and school or course projects. Free of advertising and from trustworthy sources, Image Quest provides safe and fast access to high quality images on all topics and for all ages.

LOCATE RIGHTS-CLEARED IMAGES SELECTED FOR EDUCATIONAL RELEVANCE

All images in Image Quest are rights-cleared for non-commercial, educational useяя” great for teacher lessons plans, assignments, activities, and whiteboards; student reports and projects; or school Web sites, newsletters, newspapers, flyers, and bulletins.

SAVE TIME

Organized by subject matter and fully searchable, Image Quest provides a unique collection from trustworthy sources. With images of every topic in one convenient site, you don’t have to spend time combing through multiple Web sites looking for reliable images.

BE CONFIDENT IN THE IMAGES YOU USE

Each photo or illustration comes with complete metadata, including the source, the copyright holder, caption, and keywords. Because Britannica has done the work of finding the best photoяяЂ”most of which are not freely available on the Wяявя”you can trust the source and be certain that you’re using an accurate photo.

ENJOY QUICK AND EASY ACCESS

Images can be downloaded, printed, saved in a “Lightbox” or virtual folder, or e-mailed as jpegs.

FEEDBACK AND QUESTIONS

K12 Schools and Public Libraries
Melissa Fanaro (800) 621-3900 x7199 mfanaro@eb.com
OR
Vicki Brock (new local representative) (770) 324-7243 vbrock@eb.com

(reprinted from Judy Seritella)

Complete List of FREE Online Math Resources

A big thank you to Edgalaxy for posting about a newly found site for Math Resources.  The site has created a list of Free Online Math Resources for students, teachers, and parents to use at school or home.  Whether you are struggling or just want some additional practice this is a great site to find a comprehensive list of websites.  The site includes math subjects from the basics to calculus so it is a K-12 website. 

Check it out today:  http://www.guidetoonlineschools.com/library/math-resources