Screen Recorders: An Awesome Tool in any Technology Classroom

For the Plate Tectonic Unit in my science classroom, we use a variety of technological resourses and students create a variety of products/projects using technology. Teaching students to use the technology is usually my most frustrating job! Normally, I teach the technology by showing the students its uses and then give them a handout of instructions (step-by-step) on how to complete the assignment using the technology. However, it is rarely successful (meaning I usually get TONS of questions). With the Plate Tectonics unit, I could use the screen recorder to do the following things:
1) Teach students how to use PowerPoint (for their final projects in the unit)--both the basics and the additional features. This file could be accessed at school and at home so that whenever a student has questions, they do not have to immediately find me.
2) Teach students how to access Flickr (where I will be posting pictures). Their parents can also use the file to access Flickr!
3) Part of our plate tectonics unit also includes a few laboratories. Students will need to construct graphs for the analysis portion of their lab reports. I can show them how to use Microsoft Excel for making graphs, imputing data, and constructing reports. This usually take me DAYS to explain, so a screen recorder will be great. Plus, students work at such different paces and they can access this file right before they begin that portion (it will be fresh in their minds then).
4) Our school has a grading program where students can see their current grades online. I can use the screen recorder to explain to students how to access this important information. Plus, parents will love the fact that they can see their child's grades at any time.

Flickr in my Classroom

Flickr will be a great tool in my classroom for the unit I mentioned in the earlier post--Plate Tectonics.
Here are the ways that I will use Flickr for that science unit:
1) Taking pictures of students performing in-class labs and working on daily projects about earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes.
2) Uploading pictures of all of the volcanoes that I have climbed (I received a Lilly grant 3 years ago to climb volcanoes and always talk to the students about seeing REAL volcanoes.). I usually show these in a slide show, but Flickr will be perfect so that students can access it from home and see the pictures numerous times. Plus, parents can see what their kids are talking about!
3) We have gone on field trips that relate to this topic. I can take pictures of these trips and add them to Flickr for students, parents, and the community to access.
4) We usually do a large project at the end of this unit (PowerPoint presentation). I will take pictures of students presenting their projects and post them on here. Therefore, they, their parents, and administrators can see what they have learned about Plate Tectonics.

YouTube usefulness!!

With each of these assignments, I think, "OH! I like this one the best! I'll use this one in my classroom FIRST!" YouTube is definitely my favorite so far. I've watched or looked up things on YouTube before (for myself and for my classroom), so I complete understand how engaging and useful these videos can be! How did I ever survive middle school classes without these??? : )

Here are the ones that I will be using in my Plate Tectonics science unit:

Plate Tectonics:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYVS_Yh6dTk
Very science-y video! It is easy to understand and uses the correct terminology. This video fits our science standard that address the Physical World (Science 8.3).

Volcanoes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZp1dNybgfc&feature=fvw
National Geographic--great images!! It doesn't get much better than National Geographic. Awesome graphics, amazing video footage, and great volcano information are what make this video perfect. This video fits our science standard that address the Physical World (Science 8.3).

Earthquakes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xe7mfz8dnjw
This song is soooooooo funny! Plus, it is very scientifically relevant! It even fits the science standard of the Physical World (Science 8.3) too.

Tsunamis:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-hMedWQjUg
This video is great because it presents scientific information--not just video footage of a tsunami. Of course, this video also fits our science standard that address the Physical World (Science 8.3).

Using Podcasting in my Classroom

There are just so many uses for podcasting in my science classrooom. I feel like science is the perfect subject for podcasts--it is interesting, hands-on, and involves lots of technology!
Podcasts would be perfect for a distance learning science class (obviously). I would then be able to serve students better if they are absent, and they could use it as a review. Podcasting would be an excellent tool for explaining or demonstrating science labs or other hands-on activites for students. They would understand a lab much more by watching and listening to a podcast than by assigning them to read a lab manual.
I could also assign podcasting as an assignment. Students can create them to share learning experiences and this gives students a world audience, so learning is meaningful and important to them. Plus, middle school kids LOVE hearing and/or seeing themselves on the web. In fact, other students would probably learn more from their peers than from me!
Podcasting could also be used for teacher, staff, and corporation collaboration. Parent-teacher communication and education would also be a benefit of podcasting.

Here are some podcasts that I thought were wonderful for my science classroom:

Long, but a great biology one:
http://biologyoracle.podomatic.com/entry/eg/2009-06-16T19_00_35-07_00

Animal Planet has great podcasts (I discovered these when my one-year-old woke up crying one night and was only comforted by Animal Planet.):
http://www.learnoutloud.com/Podcast-Directory/Science/Biology/Animal-Planet-Podcast/23091#plink

Very interesting science one from NPR:
http://www.learnoutloud.com/Podcast-Directory/Science/Biology/NPR-On-Science-Podcast/30398#plink

Awesome video podcast from Cousteau about oceans:
http://www.pbs.org/kqed/oceanadventures/

It doesn’t get much better than National Geographic when looking for great science podcasts:
http://podcast.nationalgeographic.com/wild-chronicles

School Blogs

I know that Huntington University does not block sites social networking sites such as www.facebook.com. I have never tried to access a blog while online there though.
I definitely think that I could make a case for using blogs in the classroom--at least more so than www.facebook.com!!! Judging from the examples you have given already, they seem very useful and students love using the computer any chance they get. Obviously, we are using them here, so classroom use would be both beneficial and standards-based.

Views on Internet Safety

My views on internet safety are pretty simple. I think most privacy violations occur because content is not password protected. For example, when starting a blog about a private subject (such as your children), it seems logical to me to have all users access the blog with a password, account set-up, or by invitation only. That said, I have seen many students and adults who possess incrediable computer skills and can "hack" into accounts and get whatever information they need or want. It is both amazing and scary.

Internet safety, as far as children viewing inappropriate material at school and at home, is another whole issue. The availablility of information and pictures online is just mind-boggling. Just monitoring all students that are online (pretty much ALL OF THE TIME) seems to be the only way to help with this safety issue.

I have never personally been affected by internet safety or privacy issues, but I have known others that have struggled with this.