Wired Educator

I enjoy my SMART Board and I am continuously finding new ways to put it use in my classroom.  I know first hand how it is transforming classrooms and educators, but it is always nice to see some statistics to back us up.

Rowan-Salisbury School District in North Carolina announced their findings of  17 point increase in student achievement for students using interactive whiteboards compared to those students that are not. Additional benefits cited by their Superintendent included an increase in student involvement, fewer discipline problems, an enthusiasm for learning, and an increase in attendance.

Here is an excerpt from the Superintendent’s article:

The results of the Marzano Research Study indicated that the average percentile increase in academic achievement between the class that used the interactive board and the class that did not use the board was 17. The 17-percentile point increase is representative of a true change in student achievement and student learning. This is a phenomenal gain in achievement. Furthermore, if the teacher had been using the technology for at least two years, had 10 or more years of teaching experience, had received sufficient training to feel confident in the use of the board and used it as much as 75 percent of the instructional time, the gain in academic achievement between the class with the board and the class without the board was an average 29-percentile gain in scores. What an impact on student learning from just one technology tool!

Source: http://www.salisburypost.com/Opinion/060709-insight-grissom-colmn

If you know of any other studies completed on interactive white boards in education, please send them our way.  Thanks!

apple 15" and 13" gain a SD card Slot

Apple Notebooks get a kind of unexpected boost at Monday’s Keynote at the WWDC in San Francisco.  The previous 13″ unibody macbook now is called a macbook pro and gains an SD card slot along with the 15″.  This could not be any nicer if you ask me.  I have two cameras and one camcorder that take SD cards.  I can’t wait to no longer have to lug or find the correct cable to hook up my camera to my laptop.

The prices also got lowered.  The 13 inch model now starts out at 1,099 while the 15 inch starts out at 1,599.  I like these prices very much now.  I think the 13 inch model now is perfect for education.  I love its portability, durability, and aesthetics of the machine.  I only hope the price of the 24″ display goes down so I can pair the 13 inch model up with the beautiful display apple makes.

Anyways, I think these prices are very competitive and think any of these new laptops would make a great addition to any classroom.

I often tout the great advantages of the Flip Video in the classroom. (Seriously, every teacher needs one.)

Well, 9 to 5 Mac is reporting that Amazon.com has the Flip for $49 and FREE shipping.

Go get’em!   http://9to5mac.com/flip-camera

The following is from www.9to5mac.com :

  Amazon.com offers the Pure Digital Flip Video Ultra F230w Camcorder in White for $49.99. With free shipping, that’s $10 under our last mention and the lowest total price we’ve seen. (Our last mention included a free $20 Shutterfly reward card.) This VGA-quality camcorder holds up to 30 minutes of video on its 1GB of onboard memory. It offers USB connectivity and direct uploading to YouTube and AOL via the included software.

I received an email from TeacherTube announcing a special “MySite” for teachers and schools.  I’m going to try it out and I would love to read your comments as well.  The new features of MySite include: Letting staff or students upload media, customizing the look and feel of the site with school name, pictures, and a personalized url, and the ability to easily add and remove features as well as control the privacy of the site.  MySite is advertisment-free, and TeacherTube promises to allow you the ability to moderate every aspect of the site.

Here is the email I received: 

Imagine, your very own CO-BRANDED version of TeacherTube filled with just your K-12 school, college/university or organization’s media content. Post your class videos, your school district documents, or audio recording from one of your organizational meetings. You decide how your educational site works. Remove, approve, add, upload — literally at the click of a button. Whether you want to make a site for your School or just a showcase for your media of your class or organization in a SAFE setting, there are many options to choose from. Click Here for MySite Example Pages.