EduTech’s West Central Region Blog

Last Friday, I attended the North Dakota Association of Technology Leaders Spring Face to Face Conference in Fargo.  While there, I learned about these fun classroom games and activities that are easy to use with an interactive whiteboard from Nancy Conkins.

Jeopardy Labs

Purpose Games

Class Tools

I hope you and your students will enjoy using these in your classrooms!

Using videostreaming in the classroom is a great way to extend learning!

Here are a few websites to explore:

• Apple Learning Exchange http://newali.apple.com/ali_sites/ali/exhibits/1000355/
• Explore Learning http://www.explorelearning.com/
• The Futures Channel http://www.thefutureschannel.com/index.php
• History.com http://www.history.com/media.do
• NASA Virtual Scanning Electron Microscope http://learn.arc.nasa.gov/vlab/index.html
• Teacher Tube http://www.teachertube.com/

I have been teaching a lot of workshops on interactive whiteboards lately. At one of my workshops, a teacher recommended this website http://www.oswego.org/staff/cchamber/techno/games.htm

There are a lot of games there that can be used with any interactive whiteboard. Check it out and let me know what you think!

Hope you all have a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

Today, I am teaching a workshop in Bismarck on Google Earth. In the workshop, we create some pretty cool placemarks and paths. I found these websites that have more information on creating placemarks, and thought I would share them with you…

Spreadsheet Mapper 2.0
KML Reference Code
Using Spreadsheet Mapper with Google Earth and Google Maps

Happy Traveling!

Tuesday, I presented Creative Ways to Use Electronic Portfolios in the Classroom and What in the World? Google Earth, GPS and Geocaching in the Classroom for the 2008 TNT Conference here in Bismarck. I have attached my presentations as well as my resource links. Please let me know if you have questions. I’d especially like to know about your experiences with these technology tools.

Electronic Portfolios Presentation.ppt

Electronic Portfolios R&R.doc

What in the World.ppt

What in the World R&R.doc

On Tuesday March 11 elementary and high school students from Northwood, ND will interact in a live videoconference with students in Greensburg Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri and Oklahoma when they discuss the impact of a major natural disaster on their small Midwestern towns. The purpose of the event is to bring students together to discuss their experiences and share similarities and differences in the recovery efforts in each town. Classes from participating states will communicate in real time through interactive videoconferencing available at their school. In addition, the live videoconference will be streamed live and also recorded for later viewing. Both will be available on the Internet by visiting the website http://www.more.net/services/videostreaming/events.html

Northwood students were invited to participate in this event because of the similarities in their experience with the tornado that hit their town in August to those of the students in Greensburg, Kansas whose town was also devastated by tornadoes in May of 2007. Both towns are similar in size and characteristics; both are located in rural areas in the Midwest. In addition to the interactive sessions between both elementary and high school classes, students and teachers will have the opportunity to learn about project-based curriculum resources on topics related to emergency preparedness and natural disasters.

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Last week I had the opportunity of attending a Read Across North Dakota Event with Myhre Elementary School in Bismarck and DeMores School in Medora. The students had a wonderful time discussing their favorite books. They enjoyed the session so much that they’re planning to meet together in person sometime this spring!

Ideas For Using The ActivBoard in the Classroom

Get the most out of your lessons by using the ActivBoard in your classroom. Here are just a few ideas that I found on the Promethean Planet website:

• Annotate over an image or text (pen or highlighter) to make corrections or add punctuation
• Draw lines to match concepts
• Use images from the resource library to tell a story
• Link to a short video and ask students for the main idea and supporting details
• Create templates for completing story elements such as background, character, and plot
• Use spotlight to illustrate location or identity of an object
• Use the paint bucket to color certain words or objects.
• Travel to different continents and explore foreign countries using “Google Earth”
• Drag objects into Venn diagram to establish similarities and differences

Whiteboard Interactive Links

These links are not just for whiteboard use, but work well with them because of the interactive factors each contains.
1. EdHeads is a science site containing interactiveness with simple machines, virtual knee surgery, and weather. http://www.edheads.org
2. K-3 math sites http://www.juliethompson.com/SMART.html
3. K-12 math sites http://www.d131.kane.k12.il.us/Bardwell/smartboard.html
4. Learning Planet http://www.learningplanet.com
5. Set Game http://www.setgame.com/index.html
6. eFieldTrips http://www.efieldtrips.org
7. National Library of Virtual Manipulatives http://matti.usu.edu/nlvm/nav/vlibrary.html
8. Various Science Sites for High School Students http://jc-schools.net/tutorials/tools/science-hs.html
9. Various tools to enhance Math education for Elementary and Middle School students http://www.arcytech.org/java
10. Various engaging math games for students grades preK-7 http://www.learningplanet.com
11. Interactive lessons to boost a child’s success in school. http://www.dositey.com
12. A multitude of web sites aimed at assisting foreign language teachers. http://www.internet4classrooms.com/flang.htm
13. Another site that contains foreign language resources. http://www.csun.edu/~hcedu013/eslsp.html
14. Comprehension and phonics site for pre-school to 2nd graders. http://starfall.com

Interactive Research Sites

1. The National Student Research Center recommends these science sites for high school students. http://www.youth.net/nsrc/webs.html
2. Locate historical pictures, maps, music and more at The National Geographic site. http://www.nationalgeographic.com

Streaming Video Sites
1. Brainpop contains K-8 math, science, social studies, technology, math, English, and health video clips and quizzes that are tied to standards. http://www.brainpop.com Many videos are targeted toward 3rd Grade and up, but Brainpop junior is found at http://www.brainpopjr.com and is targeted for the lower grades.

2. United Streaming is a digital video-based web site featuring more than 5,000 full-length videos divided into 50,000 content-specific segments. This site contains lesson plans tied to standards, quiz builders, writing prompts and more. http://www.unitedstreaming.com

3. KidsHealth contains an abundance of health information pertaining to kids, parents, and teens. Phy-ed and health teachers will find this site useful as it has streaming videos, an interactive treasure hunt, healthy recipes and more. http://www.kidshealth.org

4. Google Video contains free and for pay videos for educators. http://video.google.com

Smartboard and Activboard Resources

1. K-12 whiteboard templates http://www.center.k12.mo.us/edtech/SB/templates.htm#K2
2. SMART Technologies web site http://www.smarttech.com
3. SMART Technologies education site http://www.smarttech.com/education/
4. EdCompass http://edcompass.smarttech.com/ec/en-us/
5. Promethean Planet site http://prometheanplanet.com

On Monday, I attended two videoconference sessions with writers Larry Woiwode and Rick Watson hosted by EduTech and the partners of Read North Dakota. Over 300 students from Mandan, Bismarck, Fargo and LaMoure participated in the interactive events.

Watson began each session by performing his song Beyond the Bedroom Wall, which is based on Larry Woiwode’s novel of the same name.

Woiwode was raised in Mott, North Dakota and discussed his return from New York City in his memoir, What I Think I Did. Woiwode explained the importance of establishing a sense of place in every story. Students were encouraged to ask questions throughout the two one-hour sessions. Their understanding of Woiwode’s book and writing in general was quite impressive! I left with an excitement to write myself!

I have attached pictures of both sessions at Mandan and Century High Schools.

To read and listen to more about Woiwode and Watson, see the followling link: http://www.readnd.org/webresources.aspx

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Last Monday, I participated in the Integrating Games Into the Classroom Workshop at University of North Dakota. Margaret Meijers and Richard Van Eck were the main speakers.

Margaret is doing amazing things with games in her classroom in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia! Check out her website at http://www.mindtools.tased.edu.au/default.htm

Richard Van Eck is the graduate director of the Instructional Design and Technology program at UND. He’s written numerous articles on integrating games into the classroom. Check out his article on digital game-based learning at http://www.educause.edu/apps/er/erm06/erm0620.asp

I have also attached my overview and lesson plan of Zoo Tycoon 2. I’d love to hear your thoughts about using this in your classroom!

Zoo Tycoon 2 Overview

Zoo Tycoon 2 Lesson Plan