Visitors Since 11.11.2009
CC License
EdTechIdeas by Keith Ferrell is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Ed Tech Ideas
Tech Integration for Busy Teachers
Category Archives: Technology in the Classroom
QR Codes, Voice Recording, and Google Docs
Posted by on February 7, 2013
This is a great project for elementary and beyond. Report/bio/non-fiction writing in a Google Doc with an embedded QR code that links to the student reading excepts from their research. You may print out book style when complete, or create on online flip book using sites such as Issuu, Youblisher or Flipsnack.
Learn how to easily record your voice, generate a corresponding QR code and make your Google Doc come alive!
10 Facts (You Probably Didn’t Know) About Dr. Seuss Books
Posted by on February 6, 2013
With Dr. Seuss’ birthday coming up in less than a month (March 2), I thought I share these 10 facts about some of the late, great Theodor Seuss Geisel’s books. 
Google Sites in the Classroom
Posted by on January 9, 2013
Thinking of creating a classroom website, or having your students create sites for themselves? Watch 9 year olds Grace and Sophie explain how easy it is to do with Google Sites.
EdTechIdeas 2012 Year in Review
Posted by on January 3, 2013
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
About 55,000 tourists visit Liechtenstein every year. This blog was viewed about 200,000 times in 2012. If it were Liechtenstein, it would take about 4 years for that many people to see it. Your blog had more visits than a small country in Europe!
Never Stop Searching
Posted by on December 14, 2012
Another great year in review by the Google Zeitgeist project:
This is a nice video to use to generate writing prompts or ideas for students to reflect on and research current events.
2012 Presidential Election Recap – Prezi Style
Posted by on November 9, 2012
Fantastic Prezi recapping the 2012 US Presidential election by K.D. Delany.
Interactive Scope and Sequence for Integrating Digital Citizenship
Posted by on November 8, 2012
Common Sense Media has just released a fantastic new tool for integrating digital citizenship into your curriculum. The Interactive Scope and Sequence lays out simple lessons organized by grade level and divided into topics such as Digital Footprint and Reputation, Creative Credit and Copyright, Cyberbullying, and more.
Twitter for Teachers
Posted by on September 12, 2012
Are you a teacher thinking about expanding your PLN? Have you tried Twitter in the past and just “didn’t get it?” Are you looking for quick and easy ideas for integrating technology into your classroom? If so, here’s a Prezi just for you.
Mouse Practice
Posted by on August 29, 2012
Never used a trackpad? Got a new mouse? Use these sites to practice moving and clicking in a fun way!
The Three Monkeys
It’s raining fruit today! Oh Joy! Help the monkeys eat every single one.
Starry Night
Use your mouse to bounce the stars back up into the sky!
Catch the Apples
Apples are falling at an alarming rate! Move the bucket to save the orchard!
Get Arthur Ready for School
Can you help Arthur get ready for school? He needs to find a lot of items hidden in his house!
Build a House
Add a roof, move the window, build a fence, plant a tree to make a place you can call home!
Rock Out Your Projects With Royalty-Free Music
Posted by on August 2, 2012
Cross-posted at ISTE’s Learning and Leading with Technology – Issue forthcoming
Using music in projects is an important skill for students to develop. Music and sound effects can make or break a presentation, and can take a good project to a whole new level. Sir Alan Parker, director of the films Birdy, Evita, Fame, Pink Floyd the Wall, and many others) states:
“When music and images gel they can take the audience’s brains to another plane emotionally and dramatically. Bad film music intrudes without complementing the action. A great score gets under your skin, triggers your subconscious, enhances the drama and helps drive the emotional power train of the movie.”
For students to use music in their projects, they need to be able to find royalty-free music. If they simply import a song from their iTunes library, chances are, it is not permissible to use under Creative Commons licensing. If students post videos on YouTube or Vimeo which contain copyrighted songs, the audio will likely be stripped and their accounts may be suspended.
There are hundreds of sites that offer music to download, but the majority of these sites are pay-based, and/or not very user-friendly. Below are 3 great, easy to use sites for students to find free, royalty-free music and sound effects to use in their projects.
Purple Planet
Purple Planet Royalty Free Music is a nice source for fun, easy to use, royalty-free music for projects. All the music on the site is free to download and is composed and performed by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn. A link back to the site is all that is required to use any of the many songs within the site. Three things I really like about this site are: 1. There is a nice mouse-over audio preview feature that allows kids to get an idea of what the song sounds like. 2. The site is organized in 14 different geners for easy searching. 3. It is completely free!
SoundJay
SoundJay has a nice selection of .mp3 and .wav files that are organized into 10 different genres. All of the sounds and songs at SoundJay are free to use under the condition that the user links back to and cites http://www.soundjay.com and does not post the sounds for others to download.
Royalty Free Music Room
All the free downloadable mp3s at Royalty Free Music Room are public domain music. Students are free to use the music for any project (book trailers, movies, presentations, etc.) and even upload to Youtube, without worrying about copyright infringement.
As educators, one very important role, succinctly stated in the NETS-T is to: “Advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources.” Music is such an under-stated importance in student projects and it is vital that children know how to find and use royalty-free audio.
A Sure-Fire Way to Improve Reading Fluency
Posted by on June 22, 2012
Telling your students that they need to become fluent readers is an abstract concept that will help neither you nor your students. You can give them examples of what fluent readers do, model reading in a fluent way; but they will not truly understand the idea until they experience it themselves.
Learn by Doing
To get this first-hand experience, I had a fifth grade class bring in a book they were currently reading.
Free Printable Certificates
Posted by on June 9, 2012
Who doesn’t like certificates? Certificate Street allows teachers to choose from hundreds of education-based certificate templates that can be downloaded for free as editable pdfs.
7 Earth Day Sites You Didn’t Know About
Posted by on April 18, 2012
April 22 is Earth Day and in recognition of this, I’m highlighting several of the greatest Earth Day sites for kids and teachers. According to the United States Census Bureau, Earth’s population recently surpassed 7 billion. Teaching awareness of our environment to children has never been more important. Here are 6 great sites to assist.
Eco Kids
Eco Kids has a lot of eco-awareness games and activities to help kids gain a better understanding of environmental issues in fun way. There is a homework help section with information on a variety of earth science related fields, a contest section, and a place where kids can become EcoReporters. The Teacher Section (free registration) has lesson plans, activities, class kits, ESOL Lessons, and many other environmental-related resources.
Eeko World
Aside from an annoying Gilbert Gottfried sounding monkey as a mascot (kids love it), Eeko World is a fun site for kids to learn more about things they can do to take care of our world. Eeko (which stands for Environmental Education for Kids Online) features an engaging interactive environment which invites kids to explore, experiment, and collaborate as they learn about conservation and the environment. There is a parent and teacher section that explains how to use the site, as well as how to integrate Eeko World into literacy activities.
Earth Matters
The aim of Earth Matters is to, “Assist classroom educators and schools in teaching a sustainable foods and earth systems curriculum for 4th and 5th graders and inspiring students of all ages to live more aware and sustainable lives.” To do this, Earth Matters presents in-depth, standards-based curriculum, news feeds, some informational videos, along with a few games, and ideas to become environmentally active. There are a couple of sections that are still under construction and I’m wondering if the site is currently being maintained, as the copyright date is 2006. However, the information and activities that are available, make the site a worthwhile visit.
Recycle City
Recycle City is a site made by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Things I really like about this site are that it has Things to Do, a Teacher Information Center, a free, downloadable activity book, and many other additional resources for kids and teachers.
National Audubon Society
The National Audubon Society’s education section has fun activities for kids where they can play games, watch videos of wildlife and see live webcams of nesting birds. There is also an adoption center where classes can learn about endangered animals, and how they can help. In the educator section, there are links to activities, lesson plans, and tips on how to bring nature into your classroom.
Environmental Education for Kids (EEK)
From the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, EEK is a very kid-friendly site with links to information on all kinds of animals (would be a great resource for animal research), environmental issues, and a section devoted to cool things to do and read about. The Teacher Page has activities, resources, event calendar, and a news section that will help teachers keep their students informed about environmental issues.
EdTechIdeas by Keith Ferrell is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Blog Comment and Posting Guide
Here are 10 things you should be thinking about whenever you add a comment to someone else’s blog, and also when you are posting to your own blog.
Comment Guide via Kim Cofino http://kimcofino.com/blog/2009/09/06/student-blogging-guidelines
Share this:
Like this: