Education Discovery Video Streaming

Within the classroom, teacher try to provide a molti-modal environment for learning. Because of this, teachers are constantly looking for safe ways to incorporate educational materials into lessons. With Discover Education Video Streaming, teachers can search for videos pertaining to any criteria and are able to view the video in segments pertinent to the lesson. Understanding that Discovery Education is a reliable source, Teacher Tube cannot provide the same educational implementations nor can it be guaranteed correct as the videos are personal creations. With DVES, the video segments allow for teachers to show the educational portions of the video separate from the story portions. Saving time and efforts within the classroom, this allows for multiple videos to be implemented providing multiple perspectives to the same material. Enhancing the learning through multiple technologies, DVES is an extremely easy to navigate and incorporate teaching tool.

SmartBoard Editing Tools

Along with the easy to follow templates provided within the SmartBoard software, SmartBoard also enhances instruction through the many different uses of the editing tools. With magic pens that disappear after a few seconds of highlighting and a screen that allows the teacher to reveal information slowly or in portions, the SmartBoard application has many different editing tools that will help engage the students in the lesson as they become active in the lesson. Simultaneously, any combination of the tools and incorporation of pictures or videos, then the teacher's creativity can help express core concepts and critical skills. SmartBoard, with appropriate planning, can truly enhance any lesson through its interactive nature, engaging the students through hands-on learning.

Teacher Tube

YouTube, with it's massive source of videos, can actually be a useful resource tube. However, as public domain, many schools prohibit the use of YouTube because of the advertisements and their inappropriate nature. Consequently, TeacherTube was created. Here, teachers can search for videos that have been approved to play within the general education classroom. While these videos have been approved by someone to play in the classrooms, not all school systems allow certain concepts to be shown, so its important to check with a supervisor for any questionable uses of TeacherTube.

After creating a free account, teachers are able to search for videos, in the same way that you would search for anything on Google or YouTube. However, in TeacherTube, you can select for only the videos to show up in the results, as TeacherTube normally reveals blogs, google docs, audio files, video files, and members and groups relevant to the search. While many of the results are most useful to the teacher to incorporate elsewhere, the videos are best used for instructional purposes. Here are some videos that were personal favorites:

The Safety Song-
Good for any grade level prior to the implementation of a lab into the unit. Good for review and a comical transition within the classroom.

Dr. Loopy experiments with the states of water-
Working with the properties of matter, these comical "professors" explain the three properties of matter then conduct a short oral quiz, complete with answers and explanations. (VA SOL 2.3)

podcast 4.1 - intro to waves and sound-
More of a book on tape, this video explains sound waves, frequency, and amplitude through many audio examples and explicit explanation. (VA SOL 5.2)

Smart Board Applications

While technology has become an increasingly prevalent part of education, it is the job of the teachers to best fit the technology to the lesson in a manor that will enhance the learning, rather then distract from the core principles. SmartBoard has been implemented in many classrooms already, and comes equipped with the templates to create games and educational outlines of information. Vocabulary match-up, analogy correlations, picture references, and a multitude of activities can be found in a range of template available with Smartboard. Simply put, teachers will have the ability to pick a template, fill it with the information key to the lesson at hand, and allow the students to utilize the smartboard as a center for independent study.

Google Custom Search Engine

Google Custom Search Engines are meaningful for all research purposes within the classroom. in today's technology-based classroom, it is impossible to have complete control over what the students will and will not see. With GCSE, the teacher, or whomever is the creator of the site, is in complete control of the actual sites that are searched. For example, in my Presidential Engine, students can only search for information regarding the presidents from the cites I have chosen. This provides the creator the opportunity to "weed-out" all the sites with invalid information or misleading information. With appropriate research, the GCSE allows students to do independent research with minimal guidance. This will help students acknowledge what a credible source is and how to decipher information as valid or false. In just a few short moments, anyone can limit a search engine to produce only the desired results. From an educational aspect, this allows for effective teaching to build lifelong learners through their experiences.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Flickr is a new and improved photo sharing website. although there are many different photosharing sites on the internet, Flickr is by far the simplest and easiest to learn. By uploading picutres and sorting them into categories and subgroups, maintaining pictures online for friends and family to view just got a lot simpler!

Flickr is a site in which people can post their pictures and sort them into groups, or tag them for easy retrieval later on. Groups simply group the pictures in one big category, while tags seperate the pictures into smaller portions based on the tag. For example, tagging a friends name then searching for that very friend will pull up all photos on Flickr in which the friend has been tagged. Simply put, tagging a picture is almost like "nicknaming" a picture for future reference.

Flickr also allows for small photo editing and visualizations. For example, studnets and teachers alike can use Flickr to present a slideshow of pictures all at once. With everything from the actual pictures to the tags, the visitor to Flickr is always in control of what is to come of their photos. Privacy settings, alerts, and notifications all ensure a safe encounter through Flickr. Flickr, being on the internet, provides everyone with the opportunity to access their memories and share random moments at any point internet is accessable.

According to Derrick E. Baird, Flickr, alongside numerous other social networking sites, "are important tools because of their ability to foster interaction and communication between students." Although this is an increasing reality due to the implementation of technology into everyday life, Baird assumes that this technology will always improve the classroom. However, without propper training, sufficient supplies and time provided, any new interjection MAY hinder the students learning and serve more as a distraction then an aid.

Social Bookmarking

In today's society, technology has become an increasing reality into the everyday world. Today, it seems almost as if everything is influenced or affected by some form of new technology to "improve" living standards. From cell phones that have the same capabilities as a computer to keyless start-up on engines, technology certainly has changed how the world operates. Growing parrallel to technological advances, the internet has come to be one of the easier ways to access information, as the internet is virtually limitless.


With so much going on and so much available at the click of a button, the internet has become this vast entity with little organization. However, there are quick and easy ways to access and sort routine sites from the internet. Del.i.cious and Net Vibes are two social bookmarking websites. This means that any user can create an account and sort websites under titles, keywords, and categories. This new and improved filing system way of organizing websites is accessed from any computer or capable devise. Simultaneously, peers can browse other "favored" websites based on the key words or categories in which they have been placed, incoporating the social part of social bookmarking.

Engage Me of Enrage Me*

Students will be entering classrooms with a wide range of knowledge on technology; unfortunately, it will not coincide with the same knowledge we as teachers will have. In today's world, it is almost impossible to get by without the use of technology. From e-mails being a central form of communication, to the wide range of information available on the internet, the world depends on technology. Because of this, teachers are flooded with new technologies to incorporate into the classroom. personally, I feel that technology allows for the teacher to connect and incorporate different mediums within the classroom to engage the student further in the lesson. Ultimately, technology could enhance the lesson on many levels and most certainly engage the students in the lesson.