Thursday, February 10, 2011

ABC - Week 3 FETC!

On Wednesday I had the opportunity to attend FETC (Florida Educators Technology Conference).  What an exciting day.  I was able to attend two sessions that I felt would benefit the work that I have been doing for my Graduate classes.  The first session I attended was about a school that has integrated Ipods/Iphones into every classroom.  Giving a ratio of 1:1.  According to their research, they have found that students are not as connected to the technology unless they have it in their hands.  I was also able to follow discussions and questions addressed in this session via a "social network" called Edmodo.  After the morning sessions I was able to go to the Edmodo booth and ask a lot of questions about how this site works.  I think it is a great idea, but it needs to expand to meet the needs of the students and teachers.  I suggested that they talk with the textbook companies to get interactive homework where students can turn in their work paperless and online.  The second session that I attended was on vodcasts.  I attended this session because I am thinking about writing a grant where I can integrate vodcasts into my classroom for absent students to view via the internet or for students that need a little refresher on the material covered before the test from home.


My favorite booth that I attended at FETC was Promethean’s.  Promethean has created a Interactive whiteboard that uses pens and also touch to use as a teaching tool in the classroom.  They have also teamed up with Cyper Science to create 3D models of things in the different sciences including: Anatomy, Zoology, Botany, Biology, Chemistry, Earth, Paleontology and Engineering.  While I was at the booth, I was able to take apart a frog layer by layer and also click on different parts of the frog and a label would show up and identify the part I was clicking on.  To be able to integrate this into a classroom, a teacher would need to have a DLS projector that can show 3D images and also a set of 3D glasses.  Although the projector is about the same expense as a regular projector, the glasses run about $75 each.

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