The last couple of weeks we have been using the Computers On Wheels (COW for short). SMS recently received 20 laptop computers on a cart. More precisely, they are "netbooks", small wifi enabled machines with no disc drives. The students have been loving the chance to have these at their deks. When they finish the day's assignment they get to use the laptops to work on their Excel Map poject. The tricky part is that I have some large classes of 35 students. Luckily, I also have 8 desktops so most of the time, everyone's needs are met.
In addition, I just acquired 40 headsets with microphones that we will be using to listen to and record audio. Just today in the lab I had the students listen to a video that I had made explaining how to get their map into excel and make comments. With the headphones, students were able to control the volume and it didn't have to bother their neighbors. We also tried out the microphones by responding to a voicethread. This was a chance for students to experiment with recording their voice. You can check it out by clicking here.
I would love to hear your thoughts. You can comment by clicking here.
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2 comments:
Hey Mr. T. - sounds like your students are getting hi-tech-hi touch instruction woven, almost incidentally by appearance, into your curriculum. A great way to teach the subject while allowing for individual need and interest. Students can take this farther on their own or just stay with what is provided in class.
Yes, they are getting that type of instruction, but it's definitely not incidental. I have to intentionally plan for every bit of technology that is applied in the classroom...
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