Technology in Education: Notes from the Closet

image source Happy Halloween! This year Halloween falls on a school day.  Below are resources I have found or have had sent to me by other educators. Please note that these sites aren't compatible with our iPads so if you chose to show them to students in most instances it would have to be as a whole group projected from an LCD (unless you have a laptop cart).   Adjectives with Dracula A "drag and drop" site that reviews describing with adjectives.  Cute sound effects play in the background but can be turned off.  This site would be a nice review with 2nd or 3rd grade students. http://www.curriculumbits.com/prodimages/details/english/castle-dracula.html Halloween Math Facts Practice This site is flash-based so unfortunately it cannot be used on the iPads. Basic addition on the site would be good for 2nd grade with multiplication and division review available for 4th and 5th grade.  http://www.smartygames.com/igre/math/h...

This week I began rolling out iPads to our students in grades 3-8. Before students use these devices I go into each classroom and conduct an online safety presentation.  We talk about staying safe online and the students have a contract that needs to be signed by them, their parents and the administration of the school; all pledging to be safe online. The presentation for the younger students (found here ) is definitely applicable to the middle school students but they need something more; something that relates a little bit more to social media use online and deals with what students can and cannot do legally.  Recently in my classes at Dominican and National Louis Universities I spoke with my undergraduate students about “digital tattoos”. We completed an exercise on data-mining strangers (which I will post about soon).   Whether at the middle school level or pre-service teacher level all students need to be aware of their digital image!  J...