Pub. 4 2014-2015 Issue 1

14 students walk the room, scanning the codes with their devices to hear the presentation. For students who do not like getting up in front of their peers to present, this is an excellent tool to use. This is also exciting for parents at parent-teacher conferences or back to school nights. They can find an AV note from their student to watch when they get to the student’s desk. How else can you imagine this tool being used in your classroom? One educational trend that is catching like wildfire today is the “flipped classroom,” in which the instruc- tional portion is presented to students at home in the form of short videos, leaving the practice and applicational time to the classroom, thus increasing the amount of time that students actually get to work with the material (Flipped Learning Network, 2014). Have you wanted to try flipping your classroom? If so, the Utah Education Network (UEN) has recently purchased licenses to Adobe Connect, an online meeting program, for all teachers in the state. To access Adobe Connect, one need only be a registered, public K-12 teacher through UEN ( my.uen.org ). With Adobe Connect, you can record yourself running through a topic using a PowerPoint presentation, with the digital whiteboard, or by sharing your computer screen. This tool is perfect for creating short tutorials, videos to students and parents, or even presenting your lesson to students in a flipped model. Once recorded, a URL is gen- erated of the recording, which can be sent to your students or posted on a class website. As both a traditional and a virtual teacher, I have used this tool many times to create welcome presentations to my students and their families at the start of the year, science lab procedure tutorials, math- ematics practice, and flipped classroom videos. With the video being saved online, students can watch it over and over again, ensuring that they have access to the content whenever they need it. For more information on Adobe Connect, and samples of a recorded video, visit the “See For Yourself” section below. Speaking of presentations, are you and your students tired of PowerPoint presentations? Even if you are the master of custom animations, you and your students may still be bored with this tool. If that is the case, try Prezi (www.prezi.com) , a web-based presentation tool that takes presentations to a new level with a story-like exhibition format. Instead of running through slides one by one, Prezi flies from topic to topic, keeping the interest of the observer (see examples in “See For Yourself”). Teachers with a school email address can register for a free account with a little more bulk than the standard free account, and teachers can even register students for free student ac- counts. Prezi can be shared online or through the unique URL for each presentation, thus providing each student a copy to review and study later. Give it a try! The last thing to mention is that teachers no lon- ger need to be the sole purveyors of knowledge. With so much information at the touch of a finger, students have the ability to learn for themselves, and all it takes is an Internet connection. YouTube and Khan Academy are excellent sources of information for student special interests, especially if you do not have enough knowledge and understanding of the topic to help them out. Another tool that is coming into greater demand are Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). These courses, many of them free, are asynchronous college course on various topics taught by professors from around the world. Some topics presented include Introduction to Computer Science; Inter- mediate Chinese Grammar; Science, Society and Survival: Lessons from AMCs “The Walking Dead;” and many more. Two excellent sites for MOOCs include edX (www. edx.org ) and Canvas ( www.canvas.net ). I have completed a number of MOOCs on various topics and have assisted students in finding MOOCs on areas that interest them, that are either not taught at my school or are not taught at the advanced level for which they are looking. If you know you have a student interested in a specific topic, maybe a MOOC is what they need. Incorporating digital technology into the classroom does not need to be time-consuming, and does not need to be difficult. It starts with trying out one tool to see how it works. Once you have it fully implemented, add another. In no time at all, you will develop a technology-rich class- room that engages your students at a level you may never have seen before. Have fun with this! Your students will thank you for it. See For Yourself: • Padlet Bell-Ringer Sample: http://goo.gl/rxXyvS • Padlet KWL Chart: http://goo.gl/eTu1aG • Padlet Activity Sample: http://goo.gl/x2ervv • Adobe Connect information from UEN: http://goo. gl/FohfdS • Sample Science Adobe Connect Video: http://goo. gl/GXhw1k • Sample High School Science Prezi: http://goo.gl/ vw8ucR • Sample Elementary Math Prezi: http://goo. gl/2UJ15O References: Dodge, B. (2007). What is a WebQuest? Retrieved from WebQuest.org: http://webquest.org/ Edutopia. (2008, March 16). Why integrating technology into the curriculum? The reasons are many. Retrieved from Edutopia: http://www.edutopia.org/ technology-integration-introduction Flipped Learning Network. (2014). Definition of flipped learning. Retrieved from http:// flippedlearning.org/domain/46 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13