Digital Blog Post #F

Information Alerts

Information alerts are a wonderful way to stay informed on topics of your choice.  Google Alerts is a great service to use.  Until this assignment, I was not aware of the free alert service offered by Google.  I decided to give it a test run.  So far I think it is wonderful!  This is going to be a fantastic resource to have in the classroom.  Using an alert system like this allows you to filter out all of the news that is not of interest to you or your class.  It allows you to stay up to date with the most current information available.  After adding the topics of your choice, an email is sent when there are new Google search results.  While I was researching Google alerts I stumbled across another alert system.  This one is called IFTTT which stands for "If This Then That".  It takes the idea of Google Alert and expands it greatly.  It brings two programs together.  For example, if I want an update every time a new planet is discovered I would connect Space with my email.  You can also request things like the daily picture from NASA to be saved, daily, in your virtual pocket.  There are many amazing sources that can be combined using IFTTT not just for your classroom but also your daily life.  

One to One Laptop Computing

One to One Laptop Computing is a term used to mean that every student has a type of computer or tablet.  This may not necessarily mean an entire school, it might be that only one class in each grade level has a device.  I have not yet been to a school that has individual computing devices for every student.  I have been in an elementary classroom that raised money for ipads and the principal matched her donation but she was the only classroom at their grade level with tablets. One to One Computing is very expensive.  Our textbook states that Maine's Learning Technology Initiative has placed laptops in the fingertips of a majority of their secondary students.  This has a yearly cost of $18 million per year! (Maloy 306)  The fees are certainly hefty but the outcome can be outstanding.  More and more schools, districts and teachers are working together to build a bridge between low income students and the latest technologies.

Digital Pens and Notepads

Digital pens have the ability to record what someone has written and turn it into a file that can be saved and opened on a computer.  A digital notepad can also take what is written and convert it but it can also take drawings and convert them to images.  Originally, I felt that digital pens were not a very useful tool for the classroom.  I can write my notes and then I can scan them into my computer if I needed to make a file.  I guess the digital pen could make notes easier to read.  However, I wonder how many mistakes the pens make in translation.  I did read about one pen in particular called a LiveScribe Pulse.  I do see a very beneficial use in this type of digital pen because it not only records your writing but it also records any audio while you are writing.  There have been many times in my note-taking past that I would have loved to have had something like that.  The best part about the digital notepad, in my opinion, is that it converts your drawings.  My son does not typically bring home any of his artwork from class until the end of the year.  This could be such a great way to allow parents to see what their children are drawing, the same day they draw it.  The teacher can convert the drawing and then email the file to the parents.  I would love to have that!  Boogie Boards are also a popular notepad that is inexpensive and although it does not have wonderful saving and converting features it would still be great to have for handwriting or math practice.  

Resources

Maloy, R., O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.

Wood, Brittany. "Wordle - Beautiful Word Clouds." Wordle - Beautiful Word Clouds. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.