Cost+Effective+Technology+for+the+Classroom

=** Definition: **= Educational technology that is free or inexpensive for use in schools and classrooms

=** Ov﻿erview: **= Budget, budget, budget. It has become a six letter word that educators hear often. In spite of budgets, there are many ways to still bring educational technology into the classroom. This wiki is designed with these limitations in mind. There are books, videos, websites and many other resources available at little or no cost.

=** Resources: **=

**__ Professional Development __**
http://www.teacherscount.org/teacher/conferences.shtml

//For many teachers getting their degree, it is required to take a course on writing grants, however this may not be the case for teachers. If you are an educator and you would like to learn how to write a grant, there are conferences available. I have attached only one, but I am sure if I continue to look I will find many more that are probably closer to home. Not to mention, your school district may have a couple that they can recommend. There are many grants available, it is just a matter of finding them and getting the grant written.//

**__ Interactive Whiteboard Solutions __**
The Smart Board is a well known, widely implemented interactive whiteboard solution well suited for the needs of classroom teachers. Smart Board leads the way in interactive whiteboarding in the United States with 61% of the market share. While most teachers would love to have one, the price is a barrier for some. Other solutions exist which provide similar capability at a lower price. The main difference between the Smart Board and these other solutions is the technology used. The Smart Board uses DViT (digital vision touch) and resistive or capacitive touch technology to detect touch and motion on the surface of the whiteboard device, which can be thought of as a large tablet surface similar to an iPad or other tablet computer device. More cost effective solutions utilize infrared light sensors and an infrared light source to provide motion input to a computer. No touch sensitive tablet device is involved, resulting in significant cost savings.

**__ Wiimote Whiteboard __**
One of the most cost effective solutions is known as the Wiimote Whiteboard. This solution initially took root as a do-it-yourself project but can now be purchased from several providers. This solution leverages the infrared technology within a Nintendo Wiimote (remote controller) to sense the motion of infrared light produced by infrared light pens as they used by teachers and students to write, draw, and perform computer functions upon a projected computer screen image. Bluetooth technology communicates the motion data to a computer and software translates the data into actions which the computer performs such as opening the internet, clicking a link, and annotating a website. There are a few different ways to go about implementing a Wiimote Whiteboard. Free and paid software is available and a variety of hardware to support the setup may be used.

The basic necessities include a Nintendo Wiimote, projector, computer, bluetooth adapter, software, infrared light pen, and equipment to power and mount a wiimote. These items may be purchased individually or as packages from a variety of vendors such as teachwithtech.com.

The most difficult aspect of implementing a Wiimote Whiteboard successfully is finding a high quality infrared light pen with a pressure sensitive tip, enabling it to be used in the same fashion as a whiteboard marker. Many pens require the user to press a button to click or press and hold to ink, which is not very natural.

Johnny Chung Lee is responsible for creating the first software application capable of interfacing with a Nintendo Wiimote to support interactive whiteboarding.

//** Cost of Wiimote Whiteboard Solution: ~$75 - $200 **// //** Cost of Smart Board Solution: ~$2,000 **//


 * cost of projector not included

//Video of Wiimote whiteboard used with pressure sensitive pen:// media type="youtube" key="y8h9iCtmf5U?fs=1" height="390" width="480"

//4th Grader Installs & Demo's Wiimote Whiteboard// media type="youtube" key="fjnN6rion3I?fs=1" height="390" width="640"

**__ Traditional Dry Erase Whiteboard Solutions __**
Some teachers have yet to have their chalk boards replaced with traditional dry erase whiteboards due to their cost. Dry erase whiteboards can be found in local retail stores such as Staples for somewhere in the neighborhood of $229. A nice inexpensive alternative to these whiteboards is known as "Whitey Board."

__** Whitey Board **__
Whitey Board is a durable, washable material which may be cut to size and stuck, then re-stuck to a number of different surfaces. It's white surface provides a means for teachers to utlize any dry erase marker with. The material is known to last for around 5 years before requiring a replacement.

//** Cost: $10 - $30 **//

View more information about Whitey Board

//Whitey Board Commercial 1// media type="youtube" key="JUi2bLcryfc?fs=1" height="390" width="640"

//Whitey Board Commercial 2// media type="youtube" key="Gr1jhit2hzQ?fs=1" height="390" width="640"

White Board This blog discusses how to make a white board in just a few steps and for a one low cost..

Mayer Johnson
Mayer Johnson is well known within the special education community for their Boardmaker software and Dynavox portable communication devices. In addition to these products, Mayer Johnson offers a wide variety of products which may be implemented to support students with communicative needs. Following are a few examples.

Go Talk 32+
The Go Talk is an affordable assistive communication device that is light weight, rugged, and offers 5 levels of 32 keys supporting communication. Each button may be programmed to speak a recording of up to 10 seconds. The device supports a total of 27 minutes of recording time.

//** Cost: $299 **// **//Compare with: Dynavox V - over $8,000//**

Inexpensive Assistive Technology for Struggling Readers This article discusses different types of assitive technology that can help struggling readers comprehend the material.

**__ Books __**
http://www.phschool.com/ //This website address will take you to www.pearsonschool.com or www.pearsonsuccessnet.com. This isn't exactly a book resource but you need to have the book to access the resource. Many schools and classrooms already have books by Pearson and probably don't realize that they can access the many online resources that come with it. Or school districts have funds set aside for textbooks, therefore the books can be ordered, both student and teacher edition which will then give you the access codes to do more online and differentiated lessons inside and outside of the classroom.//

//Technology Books// This site sells low cost books that contains ideas and resources to create low cost projects for lessons. The projects are technology based.

**__ Websites __**


http://dsc.discovery.com/ //This internet website is from the Discovery Channel. There are video clips or full length episodes of the shows that appear on the Discovery Channel. There are also many news articles, games (some are educational, some are just for fun), photos, and quizzes. Classrooms may not have a computer for all students, however there is usually a TV and at least a computer for the teachers use. Most often this TV is connected to the computer. If this is the case, these videos or video clips may be useful for a lesson. The news articles can be printed and copied. It is worth spending some time browsing this website, not just for science related material. Math teachers can check out the information about astronauts, social studies will find interesting articles of lost societies and English teachers can find plenty of resources that students would enjoy reading and/or blogging about.//

[|Technology in the Classroom] This is a website that lists six inexpensive ways to integrate technology into the classroom on a daily basis.

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/ //This internet website is from the National Geographic Channel. There are full length episodes, video clips, and a tab geared towards kids. The games on this website appear to be educational using examples of migration, crime stories and the pyramids. If the teacher is unable to connect to the episodes or video clips, often times, school districts have a media person that can record them and the teacher can use them on a DVD player. There are also interesting news articles that can be read on the computer screen or printed for the entire class to work on together.//

//Maps// This website has k-12 grade lesson plans for teachers and helps teach students how to use maps. This site gives students practice at using maps and map games for students to play.

[] //Teachers and students of all ages or grade levels will find educational help with all subjects. Teachers can find links to websites for ideas for lessons and other materials, including links to websites for autism and ADD/ADHD. Students// //will find websites that can help them with their homework or answer questions that would help with understanding a subject further. Students will find these websites organized by subject area including languages other than English.//

[|Read to Me] This website contains videos of children books that are read by celebrities and storytellers. This site also contains lesson plans for teachers on different books.



http://www.toondoo.com/ //This is a free website to make cartoons about anything. You can create the background, the characters,add your own pictures or images from the internet. You can make a short cartoon or an entire book. If you don't want to create something you can view cartoons that were already published.//

[|YouTube EDU] YouTube allows billions of people to watch and share videos that were originally created. YouTube provides a forum for people to connect, inform, and inspire others across the globe. YouTube EDU is similar to YouTube except YouTube EDU contains only educational vi deos that teachers can use in their classroom. Another great feature of this site is that the service is free to sign up for.

[|Language Bar] This article explains how to use pre-existing software in Windows XP to take your class to the next level. This article discussed a program called the Language Bar which is similar to Smart Board software and you do not need any additional software.

[|Learning Science] This is a great resource for science teachers. This site was developed for teachers and students and has the best interactive activities and resources in the world.

Collaborize Classroom Collaborize Classroom is a free online learning website that allows teachers to engage students in an online collaborative learning environment. Collaborize Classroom offers a variety of structures for online discussion that are designed to support innovative teaching and promote higher level thinking skills to produce more powerful learning opportunities.This website allows students to engage in online conversations related to the curriculum, ask and answer questions, work together on projects, and vote on issues and ideas. Teachers can continue discussions, create online learning groups, have students share resources, and provide students with a safe space to engage in collaborative learning.

[|Facebook] Facebook is an online social networking site that is free to sign up for and a page can be created for classroom use. Students can create and post new discussion topics and other students will be able to post a comment to the discussion page. Students can create notes which can act as blog posts. Students will be able to share resources, ask and answer questions on the Facebook page, and have online conversations with their peers about the class. There is a link below that shows an example of using facebook for the classroom. [|Example of Classroom on Facebook]

Thesis Builder This site is an online tool that helps students write thesis statements, create a paper outline, and even help students get ideas for an essay. This tool is especially useful for students that have trouble writing excellent essays.

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//This website is free for teachers and students. These articles are short, interesting, usually about a current event, many topics from art to news from around the world. At the end of the article the reader can leave comments or read what other students have said.//

//Technology Grants// This website discusses different websites that gives teachers grants. This website is great for teachers that want to integrate more technology into the classroom but the school budget does not provide funding for it.

__** Applications **__
http://freemind-download.com/ // This is a free application that can be downloaded to create outlines and concept maps. // //This application is JAVA based. Depending on the ages of your students and how you want to incorporate something like this into a classroom environment, this may require parental permission.//

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[|Skype in the Classroom] Skype in the classroom is a free directory for teachers who want to use Skype to bring education to life in their classrooms. Teachers can use Skype to share resources, chat with teachers and even pair classes. Teachers can share inspiring links, videos and tips with other teachers. Skype is particularly useful to have professionals that work in a particular field that the class is currently studying to skype into the classroom and talk about their work.



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//This is a free website that helps you turn your notes into flashcards. This website is in BETA and it works with Firefox and Safari//. I have attached a brief video describing how it works. media type="youtube" key="hGpyPI2qdIg?fs=1" height="349" width="560"

**__Hardware__**



Flip Camera //This camera is small enough to go just about anywhere. The pricing starts at $129.00 for a 4GB Flip camera.// //Students or teachers can take these short videos and create mini lessons, reflections to look back on over the school year, projects for all curriculum areas. These pictures and videos, add music, run on the computer or internet to be viewed endlessly and many other ways to use this resource in the classroom. These cameras come with software called Flipshare, that pops up when the camera is plugged into the computer and it is user friendly. Given how simple and low cost these cameras are they can bring many opportunities to the classroom without having to spend much money or time to learn about how to use them.//

__** Blogs **__

//[|Purchasing Inexpensive Computers for the Classroom]// This is a great blog to read if a school district is looking for inexpensive computers. This blog discusses a number of organizations that teachers can contact to receive refurbished and recycled computers for a low-cost. Each computer comes with a mouse, keyboard, and monitor. Sometimes there are offers that allows a school to purchase a printer with the package.



New Technology This blog discusses that a high school language arts teacher is considering using the flip camera in her classes because this new technology is relatively inexpensive and the students are already familiar with the features of this technology to update blogs and create online clips.

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//This blog is more of a power point video presentation done by a college profressor//. //Even though she is a college math professor her ideas carry over to all teaching and all content areas. She discusses the process of making a course website. The video is 44 minutes, but if you don't have time to watch it, she has the power point that goes with her presentation [|http://bit/ly/maamich2010].// //And if you don't have time for either, you can browse her blog/website. []//

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//This blog has several links for additional websites, depending on what you area looking for. The blogs range from how to let students use cell phones in the classroom to some of the latest technology, how to teach using social networking in the classroom or websites that can be useful in an educational setting. It has a simple lay out and some of the more interesting blogs are listed in an archive alongside the more current ones, so it is easy to find what you are looking for.//

//[|Online Video Interviews]// This blog discusses the best and easiest ways to record online video interviews. The blog mentions that one can record skype calls but it turns out that you need to download a separate piece of software and this can be problematic for schools. The blog then lists a number of other applications that might be valuable to use to record online video interviews that may not be as problematic for school districts.

[|IPad Resources] This blog lists a number of IPad resources for teachers that are thinking about starting to use IPads in the classroom.

Donors Choose Blog This is a blog that discusses a website called Donors Choose. Donors Choose is a nonprofit organization is an online charity connecting you to classrooms in need. At the site you can choose to be a donor or submit a proposal for your classroom project to be listed on their website. Donors can log in, search, and donate to the projects that they find most in need and interesting. Below is a link to the Donors Choose website. Donors Choose Website

__** Wiki **__

Educational Wiki This wiki has a number of resources that educators can read from information on cyber bullying, using cell phone in the classroom in order to learn, to effective and inexpensive technology that can be used in the class room.