Great title... great blog, videos, handouts, information, and resources! What is the Infinite Thinking Machine?
The Infinite Thinking Machine (ITM) is designed to help teachers and students thrive in the 21st century. Through an active blog, an Internet TV show, and other media resources, the ITM shares a "bazillion practical ideas" for turning the infinite universe of information into knowledge. We showcase examples of innovative instructional methods, talk with leading experts, and share real stories from the classroom to improve how we think, learn, teach, and live. And we try to have a little fun along the way.
If you are looking for new and cutting-edge ideas for your classroom, this is the place to visit.
The hot topic in education technology this school year has definitely been Web 2.0 ; a term used to describe how the Internet has shifted from a "consumable" resource to an interactive environment where global citizens "contribute" to a wealth of information. Examples of Web 2.0 include wikis, blogs, online collaborative editing sites, tagging/bookmarking, podcasting, Really Simple Syndication (RSS), and online video. The popularity and innovative uses of these Internet applications continue to grow exponentially.
Another indication that Web 2.0 is impacting education is the recent announcement by Intel®... They have redesigned their Essentials Course (formerly Teach to the Future) to align with the most current pedagogical approaches and promote 21st century skills such as wikis, blogs, online collaborative editing sites, and tagging/bookmarking (sound familiar?). The curriculum still includes the integration of Microsoft Office products, but now provides information for alternatives such as Open Office.
The changes emphasize the fact that we need to teach and learn with 21st century tools. I welcome the decision to update the curriculum and look forward to facilitating another cohort of New Prague teachers!
Course syllabus, school planners/handbooks, in-class reminders, TeacherWeb sites, Family Access, Student Access... the list of tools used to communicate classroom expectations demonstrates our commitment to the success of every student. Occasionally, we still hear a student say, "I didn't know." Try this tip suggested by a NPHS teacher...
When students are absent for an assignment, I use the Gradebook comment section to enter the "extended" due date according to our school policy. The comments appear on both Student and Family Access.
It doesn't guarantee the assignment will be turned-in on time, but it does clearly communicate the due date after an absence.
Do you have a technology tip that may be helpful to other teachers? Please submit your suggestions: sbrandt@np.k12.mn.us
Many teachers are beginning to use digital storytelling as a method to engage students with course content. Multimedia tools such as PhotoStory and MovieMaker are accessible to anyone using Windows XP... best of all, they are free! Students often enjoy using multimedia technology because it allows them to communicate their message beyond text; their stories incorporate pictures, video, narration, and music.
Students are also motivated by the number of people who will view their product. If it is only turned into the teacher, quality may suffer. Teachers use this to their advantage in a number of ways. The ideas below list ways teachers are displaying students' digital storytelling videos...
YouTube? For school? The AP History classes create digital stories on a variety of topics. They use each other's videos to create "video study guides" as a way to prepare for the AP exam. They have experimented with a variety of delivery methods... burning the stories to CDs... they have tried DVDs... most recently, YouTube. A teacher can easily create a YouTube account, upload all of the student created videos, and publish to the web. Videos can be viewed from any computer connected to the Internet by students and the rest of the world! That can be very motivating.
It is important to remember that a student's personal information should not be attached to any project posted on the Internet without specific parent permission. This includes names, pictures, addresses, telephone numbers, etc. Take a look at the AP History Channel; contact me if you have an idea for using YouTube with your class.
Important update... Well, about 48 hours after I wrote the above article, YouTube was added to our list of blocked websites. As I've mentioned in previous articles about YouTube, it does contain some inappropriate material. Fortunately, there is a more appropriate alternative... TeacherTube. I am still researching to see if a "channel" can be created by individual users, but all content is monitored by the education community. Tools are available to "flag" material that may be inappropriate (or no relevance to education). Click the link and check it out today.
