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Technology Tools | Tools you can use

Technology Tools | Tools you can use

Education World offers new technology content every day. Some of our pieces related to technology tools can be found in this archive. We do update these articles regularly, but given the changing nature of technology, we cannot promise that every piece will be on the cutting edge. Please visit our technology front page for the latest, most up-to-date tech stories.

Social Media in the Classroom?
In this information age, we can now talk to each other in ways we never imagined. Teachers and administrators face a new challenge, however, as they try to find a way to safely incorporate this technology in the classroom.

Five for Fun
Lots of image generators are available on the Web. Most are free and easy to use -- so easy even a technology director can manage them. Here are five of my favorites.

Hardware and Software Essentials
We asked members of the Education World Tech Team to tell us what hardware and software they consider essential -- or invaluable -- for todays educator? Discover what they told us.

Podcast for Free on a PC
Don't let Mac users have all the fun. Teachers and students can record, upload, and share online recordings called podcasts using just a classroom computer or even a phone.

Tech Tools for Teachers
Members of the Education World Tech Team talk about the technology tools they find most useful in their professional lives, and the technology they use most successfully with students.

Integrating Technology and Science
Discover how technology enhances the science program in the Greece Central School District, Rochester, New York.

Tech Conferences: For Geeks Only?
Afraid you're not techie enough for a tech conference? Think again! Four classroom teachers share how attending a national tech conference impacted their teaching and networking.

What Every Teacher Should Know About Technology
Ed-tech professor Bernie Poole identifies six essential technology-related skills every good teacher should possess -- or acquire.

Technology an Educator Can Love
We asked members of the Education World Tech Team to tell us about the best hardware and software introduced to their schools or districts this year - and to explain how the new technology has improved teacher productivity or student learning.

Tech Solutions for Special Kids
Members of the Education World Tech Team discuss the technology they use to help students with special needs keep up with their classmates, and to help students with special abilities extend their learning beyond the standard curriculum.

Using the Internet
When it's educational material you want, searching with an educational engine will save you time and point you in the right direction. Discover some of the best.

The Best Search Engines
If you're frustrated by search engines that give you unrelated responses... if you're spending too much time looking for online resources if you're worried students might access the wrong kind of information... these search engines can help you find pertinent, accurate, and safe information.

Accessibility Tools
The NEA reports that, as of 2004, nearly every U.S. classroom includes students with physical and/or learning disabilities. Learn about the new technologies that make it possible for those students to work alongside their classmates.

Blogging? It's Elementary, My Dear Watson!
Blogging -- or Web logging -- most often is thought of as an activity for high school students. Did you know, however, that students as young as kindergarten now blog on a daily basis? Read on to learn more! Included: More than two-dozen links to blogging software and to elementary blogs across the United States.

Tech Tips for Tots
How and when should toddlers use technology? Learn what early childhood experts say is appropriate technology use for children ages 2-4, and discover six ways to use technology wisely with young children.

Show is Better than Tell
Helping all students learn from computer textbooks means changing how those textbooks are written. At least that's what one Department of Education study discovered. Learn what computer teachers who work with students with special needs had to say about illustration-based classroom materials. Included: Information about how you can participate in a follow-up study.

Three Keys to Implementing a Laptop Program
With administrators, tech support, parent volunteers, classroom teachers, and even student tech leaders pitching in, Connecticut's Thomas Edison Middle School recently issued every one of the school's 6th graders a laptop computer. How did they do it?

The Best K-12 Freeware 
Are you anxious to teach with technology, but find yourself short of computer resources? Did all your district's technology funds go to hardware -- leaving little money left over for educational software? Discover the variety of quality freeware available online -- and learn which ones the Education World Tech Team voted as their favorite finds!

Videoconferencing Deserves a Second Look!
Better and cheaper technology, combined with the rapidly growing availability of videoconferencing sites, have made this learning tool affordable and accessible to most K-12 classrooms. In this Education World interview, videoconferencing expert Jan Zanetis shares tips and cautions for making your first video conference a real success.

Speaking of Electronic Whiteboards
Combine the touch screen capability of a video game with the drawing flexibility of whiteboard markers and what do you get? Electronic whiteboards! Discover how K-12 teachers are using these devices in almost every subject area, and learn what you should consider before purchasing one yourself.

Online Teacher Tools
Stumped for ideas, templates, or other classroom management tools? We've compiled some of our favorite online teacher tools --Web sites with interactive templates and other resources for K-12 educators -- to help you when time is short.

Laptops, Handhelds, or Tablet PCs?
Which mobile computing device is best for data collection? For Web searches? For grade books? For collaborative activities? Which is most practical; most usable; most economical? The Education World Tech Team shares its thoughts about how each mobile computing device might help teachers teach and students learn. Included: The plusses and minuses of laptops, handhelds, and Tablet PCs.

One-To-One Computing: Lessons Learned and Pitfalls to Avoid
Just because a technology is available for students doesn't mean it has to be used all the time. Find out what the research says about the benefits of one-to-one computing, and read about educator concerns about the overuse of technology.

The 411 on One-to-One Computing
In classrooms across the United States, laptops, handhelds, and tablet PCs are replacing pens and pencils as the accepted "tools of the trade" for students. Discover the advantages and disadvantages of each of those one-to-one computing devices.

Voice of Experience: Log On to a Blog
Emerging online communication tools have the potential to unleash a new level of creative thought in the classroom. Educator Brenda Dyck shares her recent experiences with an online journaling tool called a blog. Included: Blogging resources.

Sites to See: Software
Selecting the right software for yourself, your students, or your curriculum can be a daunting task. These sites offer articles, downloads, publishers' specials, and product news, reviews, and ratings to help make easier the job of selecting just the right software. Twenty sites to help ease the frustration of choosing software.

Using Satellites to Track Wandering Students
Losing a child, especially in a crowded, unfamiliar place, is every parent and teacher's nightmare -- and a real concern during fieldtrips. Now, a wristwatch-size Global Positioning System receiver can allow students to be tracked and located within minutes.

Wire Side Chat: Technology Innovation and K-12 Education
Hewlett-Packard education technology expert George W. Warren reveals the latest technology tools and trends and discusses their possible applications in K-12 classrooms.

Voice of Experience: Make Time to Teach -- Ten Tools for Reducing Paperwork
What happens when paperwork starts to crowd out time with students? Is there a way to streamline the forms that can take over a teacher's life? Educator Brenda Dyck has found ten online tools that help her reduce paperwork and give her more time to teach.

Voice of Experience: Seeing is Believing -- Harnessing Online Video Clips to Enhance Learning
Educator Brenda Dyck reflects on the Net as a valuable source of video that brings history to life for her students. For students of the video- and technology-age, seeing is believing! Included: Dyck recommends great sources of online video!

Keep Your Computer Healthy
As winter flu season approaches, many of us head to doctors offices to be inoculated against the insidious viruses that threaten our physical health. How many of us, however, remember to visit a tech specialist to inoculate our computers against the insidious pests that threaten to infect them year round. Too busy for an office visit? Education World makes house calls!

Quick! Get the (Digital) Camera!
Discover two dozen digital camera activities guaranteed to make life easier for you and more interesting for your students.

Smile! Digital Cameras Can Make Your Day
Teachers across the country and around the world are discovering the many valuable uses for digital cameras; uses that both engage students and make their own professional lives easier. If you can use a camera, you can use a digital camera so, what are you waiting for?

Technology Integration Made Easy
Nineteen activities and nearly 50 Web sites to help you integrate technology into your daily routines.

Motivate While You Integrate Technology: Online Assessment
Integrating technology can seem like a formidable task to the K-12 educator. But what if there was a way to bring computers into the curriculum while saving time and engaging the learner? Online assessment can provide the regular classroom teacher with a painless and productive tool for testing with technology. Education World shows you how!

Load 'Em Up: Reference Software Picks
The Education World Tech Team shares its picks of the best software programs for classroom use. In this article, our experts reveal their choices for reference software. Don't miss the rest of this multi-part Ed World series: Load 'Em Up: The Best Software in the Education World!

Load 'Em Up: Classroom-Management Software Picks
The Education World Tech Team shares its picks of the best software programs for classroom use. In this article, our experts reveal their choices for classroom-management software. Don't miss the rest of this multi-part Ed World series: Load 'Em Up: The Best Software in the Education World!

Load 'Em Up: Concept-Mapping Software Picks
The Education World Tech Team shares its picks of the best software programs for classroom use. In this article, our experts reveal their choices for concept-mapping software. Don't miss the rest of this multi-part Ed World series: Load 'Em Up: The Best Software in the Education World!

Load 'Em Up: Web Authoring Software Picks
The Education World Tech Team shares its picks of the best software programs for classroom use. In this article, our experts reveal their choices for Web authoring software. Don't miss the rest of this multi-part Ed World series: Load 'Em Up: The Best Software in the Education World!

Load 'Em Up: Keyboarding Software Picks
The Education World Tech Team shares its picks of the best software programs for classroom use. In this article, our experts reveal their choices for keyboarding software. Don't miss the rest of this multi-part Ed World series: Load 'Em Up: The Best Software in the Education World!

Load 'Em Up: Curriculum Software Picks
The Education World Tech Team shares its picks of the best software programs for classroom use. In this article, our experts reveal their choices for curriculum software. Don't miss the rest of this multi-part Ed World series: Load 'Em Up: The Best Software in the Education World!

Load 'Em Up: Presentation Software Picks
The Education World Tech Team shares its picks of the best software programs for classroom use. In this article, our experts reveal their choices for presentation software. Don't miss the rest of this multi-part Ed World series: Load 'Em Up: The Best Software in the Education World!

Load 'Em Up: Productivity Software Picks
The Education World Tech Team shares its picks of the best software programs for classroom use. In this article, our experts reveal their choices for productivity software. Don't miss the rest of this multi-part Ed World series: Load 'Em Up: The Best Software in the Education World!

Load 'Em Up: The Best Software in the Education World!
Are you looking for the best software to use in your classroom? Are you stymied by the number of choices available? Are you having trouble distinguishing between great software and great marketing? Members of the Education World Tech Team reveal their picks for the best software programs for classroom use.

Templates for Teachers
Are you spending your evenings writing welcome letters to parents, carefully ruling seating charts, designing award certificates, and creating learning center signs? Why reinvent the wheel? All those printable documents are available online at the click of a mouse. This week, Education World tells you where to find them!

Assistive Devices Help Challenged Kids Get the Most from Learning
Thanks to technology, students with physical and mental challenges have access to thousands of devices to help make learning easier. In this Education World article, writer Sherril Steele-Carlin talks about assistive technology with parents and teachers who use the technology, and with those who provide it to schools.

Handhelds in the Classroom
Formerly only for busy executives, handheld computers -- also known as handheld devices or portable digital assistants (PDAs) -- are making a transition from briefcase to backpack. Education World looks at the experiences of four schools experimenting with integrating handhelds into the classroom.

Surplus Computers: Are They a Godsend -- or Trash?
Did you know there are programs -- both local and national -- that offer schools free surplus computer equipment? Today, Education World writer Glori Chaika asks teachers who have participated in some of those programs to discuss the advantages -- and disadvantages -- of using surplus computer equipment in their schools.

Cyber Study Hall: A Guide to Homework Help Online
Cyber-savvy students can have their own personal e-homework helper just a mouse click away -- if they just know where to look! Education World writer Glori Chaika hones in on online homework help resources that your students will find useful. Included: Links to dozens of homework resources plus an e-interview with 13-year-old B. J. Pinchbeck, creator of BJ Pinchbeck's Homework Helper.

Grading Software: Sorting Through the Choices
You've been toying with the idea of putting your students' grades online, but you haven't a clue which software to use. You're finally ready to keep your grade book on the computer, but the software choices have you stumped. This week, Education World writer Sherril Steele-Carlin weeds through the grading software choices so you don't have to! Included: Links to the best grading software online -- and tips for choosing the right software to meet your needs!

Meet Bernie Dodge -- the Frank Lloyd Wright of Learning Environments!
Why were WebQuests developed? Why should teachers use them? What does the future hold for educational technology? WebQuest creator Bernie Dodge answers those questions and more in this week's Education World e-interview.

Clip Art 101
Whether you're publishing on the Web, creating presentations or worksheets, composing a newsletter, or writing to a friend, nothing captures an audiences attention faster, or holds it longer, than an appealing image. Nothing helps people remember what you write more than just the right image does. Included: Tips for finding free clip art and incorporating it into your digital documents!

The MOO: A Virtual Reality Learning Environment
If you think a MOO is just a soft sound emanating from a barnyard, then you haven't visited the exciting virtual learning environment of an educational MOO - where teachers and students hold conferences, collaborate on projects, attend sessions hosted by experts, and build virtual learning environments. Isn't it time you dropped in? Included: Tips for successful MOOing.

Searching With Savvy: The Best Search Engines for Teachers and Students
Do you know Lycos and Yahoo? (But do you really know them?) Have you heard of Google? If you are frustrated by search engines that give you unrelated responses... if you are spending too much time looking for on-line resources if you are worried that students may access the wrong kind of information... read on! There are many search engines that can help you find pertinent, accurate, and safe information, but you need to find one that "thinks" the way you do! Included: All the common search engines plus some you probably haven't heard about!

Laptops Change Curriculum --- and Students
At one Bloomfield, Connecticut, middle school, all the students have laptops, and life is going smoothly, thanks in part due to a large dose of teacher preparation. Besides requiring special training, life with laptops also comes with special problems.

Learning on the Fly: On-Line Tutorials Teach It All!
Are you ready to get serious about Office or Hyperstudio? Do you need an overview of the practical aspects of the product? Perhaps you just need a quick refresher on FileMaker Pro for a database you want to create. You may be ready to learn HTML or employ more visuals on a school Web page. On-line tutorials allow you to train yourself or your staff --- no fees, no long-term commitment, no messy manuals! Included: Free on-line tutorials for Adobe Acrobat, Windows 95, Power Point, JAVA, Photoshop, and many, many more!

Quia: The Quintessential Teacher's Helper!
Want to motivate your students with reviews that are fun and interactive? Don't have the time you need to create such activities? Lack the technology background to create those activities on-line? Quia to the rescue! With this Web site, teachers can build on-line games and quizzes with their own content. Included: What can Quia do for you?

No HTML Required!
Education World takes you on a tour of a handful of great sites that provide simple forms for creating Web-based classroom pages, activities, quizzes, and much more. And, best of all, there's no HTML coding required!

Laptop Computers for Every Student!
Beside every eighth grader's seat at Kent Center School sits a padded backpack. And inside each backpack is a laptop computer -- provided and paid for by the school!