Although I am passionate about integrating technology in my work you may be surprised how much I personally have access to in my classroom. Funding priorities in my school and district have not expanded as quickly as my desire to be more tech-savy. So it’s a surprisingly simple setup…that relies a lot on UYOD (Use Your Own Device)….
Computer/Phone: My interest in expanding my ‘tech footprint’ didn’t coincide with any funding from my school/district. Along with 10 other teachers in my school we decided to forge ahead anyway and use our personal laptops. Curiously we are all Mac users and I am happy to say that I finally upgraded to a Macbook Pro this summer. Along with my phone its the only tech setup in my room. My phone records them, records my boards and is my own dictionary when I need it.
Wacom Tablet etc.: When you can’t afford a tablet computer you make one yourself. Investing in a medium Wacom tablet, and using Photoshop and .pdf’s of documents, I can review work, make videos of my lessons, create class notes for my website etc. Of course the tablet connects to my LCD and stereo speakers – both bought initially with funds from casino revenue.
Their phones/iPod touches but…: I have blogged a lot about this before – but they use them for dictionaries, to read QR codes and record quick conversations. But I don’t overuse them. In my Semester 2 signup it was interesting to see that, despite what we think, 10% of my students don’t have one. Good to note!
Their web access: I do a lot online with Quizlet and YouTube for resources as well as Google docs and other websites. So far the only programs I ask them to access are ones that do not require signing up. My district is moving to require permission by website, teacher and class for anyone doing this so using them is not my priority. They can access any sites from school or home.
I dream of a class set of iPads and enough enough bandwidth to allow kids to access their computer wirelessly in my room. But I don’t let that hold me back…
Doing more with less,
Colleen
