Mobile Learning

Have you ever used a cell phone for educational purposes?

Create interactive meetings at Poll Everywhere

The English Companion Ning Site

In doing some digging for a new class I am teaching (insert shameless plug here-- Social Networking Tools for Educators - Nov 11th at 4:30) . . . back to the conversation . . . in doing some digging for a new class, I have run across some great resources. The English Companion Ning is one in particular. I really wish this sort of resource had been around when I first started teaching. What a great place to bounce ideas off of others testing the same waters you are. I have seen ning sites for just about every subject.

One of the things that I like about ning sites is that they allow the greater lump of members to self-select into smaller, focused groups. For example, I can belong to a group within the larger group that focuses on teaching English with technology. What's not to love about that?

Of course, we have started a ning site of our own at the Eighth Floor, and we have started to create a few groups that are gaining momentum, slowly but surely. We have a group for our advisory committee and we have a group for anyone interested in SMART tools in the classroom. If you have an idea for a group, get in there and make it happen!

If you want to know more about ning sites or social networking tools in general, check out some of the sites I've been rolling around in - http://delicious.com/lamorris/socialnetworking . And if you are interested in more conversation, come join the class next week.

Just sharin'
Lee Anne

VizZle for Special Education

Often Special Education teachers are left out in the cold when it comes to new technologies and classroom resources.  While reading through a few tech journals this morning, I found VizZle, a web resource for Special Education teachers.  This resource allows teachers to create and share visual resources for special education and autistic students.  Resources are also available on the VizZle website.  If you follow the link to their parent website, there is a video you can watch to see the benefits of this product.  You can also sign up for a free trial.  The coolest thing about this resource is that it is compatible with Interactive Whiteboards like the Smartboard.  You can also check out a tutorial on their website, here. 

Smart Notebook Express

Have you ever been at home and you wanted to view or edit your SmartBoard files, but you didn't have Notebook loaded on your computer? Or say you were using a public computer and you were browsing through lessons on the web, but you couldn't view them without Notebook? Smart has a solution for you. Still in the beta stage, Smart has introduced Smart Notebook Express. This site allows you to open and edit files on your computer, as well as view files on the internet. functionality is a bit limited at this time, but you have the ability to type, write and draw on pages using Smart tools. Check it out today and give them a little feedback. Your comments may be used to make this resource better.

What are you using your LCD projector for?

Looking for ways to use your projector besides  the same old powerpoint?  Take these tips from Tech and Learning:  http://techlearning.com/article/17198  If you have tips of your own, comment on this article.  Tell us what you do that's outside of the box.  We'd love to hear from you.

The Smart Table

Recently Smart (maker of the Airliner and the SmartBoard) released the Smart Table.  This tool allows elementary educators to create themed lessons that can be pushed out to a stand alone table.   Because the table has a multi-touch feature, several students can interact and work through the lesson at the same time.  Smart has produced a video to introduce the product here:  


If you're interested in how the table works, call the 8th Floor and sign up for our Smart Table class.  Classes are available on October 22nd and November 5th.  This is a new offering, so classes will fill up fast!

National Board Certification

Are you working on your National Board Certification? If so, you will probably be interested in a class we are offering on the Eighth Floor this Thursday after school.

Technology Tips & Tools for National Board Certification

Being organized is never easy. Whether you are a first-time candidate or renewing your certification for the National Boards, you need this class. We will discuss tips and technology that will help you get and stay organized throughout the certification process. Innovative uses of technology for entries will be shared. Bring a flash drive to class.

Oct 3rd, Thursday, 4:30 - 7:30 pm

If you are a member of the Eighth Floor consortium, contact your Advisory Committee member for enrollment procedures or contact Phyllis Lawson on the Eighth Floor, phyllis.lawson@tulsatech.org.

Just Sharin'
Lee Anne

Upside Down and Inside Out

This comes under the category of COOL TOOLS. I'm not sure what purpose a tool like this has other than to just be fun, and when is that ever wrong. It has the added bonus of reminding me of a Diana Ross song . . . upside down, boy you turn me inside out and round and round.

http://www.sevenwires.com/play/UpsideDownLetters.html

Go check it out and send someone and upside down and backwards message.

It occurs to me that much of my communication is tumbled just like that, with no help from JavaScript!

Just Sharin'
Lee Anne

Text Texted Texed Tuxted

I am enjoying my Writing II class on Monday nights. They are a rare weave of adult students. They keep me on my toes, and I’m trying to keep them on theirs. Last night we got into a discussion about nouns that have become verbs as of late. The discussion started as a question about the past tense of the verb form of “text.” Is it “text” or “texted” or “texed” or even “tuxted”? Good question! I went with texted – I assumed it was texted. The truth was, I didn’t really know for sure. That was what felt natural and what I had probably heard the most. Many of the students felt that texted was unnatural and that just plain text was correct. Okay. Gee, I suppose it is possible I could be wrong. They wanted me to go right for the computer to find the answer. Honestly, that was my first impulse, too. But, the computer wasn’t going to tell me why I assumed that text would be a regular as opposed to an irregular verb as it made the transition from noun to verb. We came up with other examples of similar noun to verb words: Google, Twitter, and email. We played with those in past tense. There is Googled, Twittered, emailed. So, there is a pattern. Wouldn’t it follow that we would say texted? We came up with all kinds of noun to verb examples that were “regular.” For the life of me, I couldn’t come up with an irregular example. There have to be instances out there. We did eventually go to Dictionary.com to see what that resource had to say. They defined it as a transitive verb: texting, texted, texts.

Does it surprise anyone that in my search for the correct form of “text” in the past tense that I emailed a friend, Googled information, Twittered for others’ thoughts, posted on Facebook, and now I am blogging about it? In the end, all I had to do was trust my instincts.

Just thinkin’
Lee Anne

Are you Ready for some Eighth Floor Classes?

It is incredibly hard to believe that we are almost into September, but in fact, we are. With September comes the start of our classes here on the Eighth Floor.

We are pretty proud of our schedule this coming semester.

• We have packed in more classes than ever.


• We have quadrupled our Smart technology offerings.


• We continue to offer our most popular courses.


• We have added six new classes: Using the Smart Table, Social Networking Tools for Educators, Cell Phones in the Classroom, Easy Internet Search Techniques, Skype - Bringing the Outside In, and Technology Tips and Tools for National Board Certification.

Enrollment will start tomorrow, Friday, August 28th, 2009. Check out our list of classes: http://www.eighthfloor.org/class.html

Just Sharin'

Lee Anne