Khan Academy - Educational Videos

Khan Academy is a must-access resource for all parents, teachers and students. With the stated mission of providing a high quality education to anyone, anywhere, the Academy supplies a free online collection of more than 2,000 videos on mathematics, science, history, and economics.  There is an APP for Khan Academy from iTunes!  Students with SmartPhones can view these videos on their phone.

The Khan Academy has excellent resources for social studies, and hundreds of math and science videos, including full courses in Algebra I and Biology.

Join Khan Academy content-area groups and uncover thousands of video instructional resources in Social Studies, Math and Science.

Salman Khan is Bill Gates' favorite teacher.

FORTUNE Magazine, August 24, 2010:

http://www.khanacademy.org/press/fortune

Salman Khan is a Bangladeshi American born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana.   Khan holds three degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology: a BS in mathematics, a BS in electrical engineering and computer science, and an MS in electrical engineering and computer science. He also holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Each video runs for approximately ten minutes.  Khan eschewed a format that would involve a person standing by a whiteboard, desiring instead to present the content in a way akin to sitting next to someone and working out a problem on a sheet of paper: If you're watching a guy do a problem while thinking out loud, I think people find that more valuable and not as daunting

Great way for students to review or a teacher to introduce a lesson.

See all the sessions:      http://www.khanacademy.org/

Salman Khan, founder of the wildly popular Khan Academy, recently gave a talk at TED.  In his talk he gives examples of how teachers are using Khan Academy to use classroom time more effectively, provide more data to teachers about their students, and provide students with more individualized instruction. Khan concludes his talk with how technology can be used to humanize classrooms and learning worldwide. Watch the video below, I think you'll get some good ideas from it. http://www.ted.com/talks/salman_khan_let_s_use_video_to_reinvent_education.html

DROPBOX - "Cloud Storage for Your Files"

DROPBOX
Have you ever just wanted a place to store your files where you could access them from your school computer, your home computer, your iPhone, etc.?  DROPBOX is your answer!  It is one of those "Cloud Computing" sites.

Watch a short video here to understand how this works.    http://www.dropbox.com/tour

You register at this same site.  AND you will need to download the software.
There is an APP for iPhones -
 Basic Service is Free - You get 2GB of storage for free.
                         If you wish, you may pay for more storage.

I have been using Dropbox for a over a year and it has saved me from trying to find a certain file that I worked on last night at home, but did not save to a FlashDrive or to my school account!  It is "in the clouds!"  When you saving on your computer, Dropbox will be an option, just like any other drive.  I can also save to Dropbox on my iPhone! 

Check it out   ....      http://www.dropbox.com        

          

PREZI - Use INSTEAD of Powerpoint!

 Websites to Use for 21^st Century Skills

 in the Classroom: 

              http://prezi.com

Check the video on the first page,

“What is Prezi?”1 minute video

 

Prezi is a Flash-based app that lets you build amazing, non-linear presentations where you can zoom in and out of a visual map containing words, links, images, videos, etc.  Cost: free and paid plans

     Here is an example of how one student used Prezi:  “30 things about  

            Me”         http://prezi.com/gco-vb9vvvy2  

     Students could create their own “About ME” Prezi projects.

     Also, can be used in similar ways that a Powerpoint has been used.

Cool intro to what Prezi can do: 10 ways to say it with prezi - Prezi is simple: You Write, Zoom, Arrange.Using these simple means, you can express many things - with great impact.Here are some basic examples such as timelines,

http://prezi.com/rhmtbwld0cvy/academy-10-ways-to-say-it-with-prezi

Engaging Your Students with Prezi  

This is a SimpleK12′s 2 Minute EdTech Talk. This episode of 2 Minute EdTech Talk is with Steven Katz, author and Technology Integration Specialist in South Korea.

TWITTER - My Personal Learning Network!

Twitter has become my Personal Learning Network and I hope that it will become yours this year.
The internet has so much information today that we can not hope to know everything!  Can't go to a conference for the latest in education?  Then get the latest trends, classroom help, information on your favorite hobby, or any of your interests are probably Tagged on Twitter.  Just try this amazing PLN for a month and let me know what you think!
Here is a quick tutorial on How to Set Up Your Twitter Account:
http://youtu.be/RO2o7pCaw4o

Here is a Downloadable ebook on Twitter:
  http://manuals.makeuseof.com.s3.amazonaws.com/twitter-guide.pdf

Once you have set up your account, please follow me by typing into Find People:  jenniferjdavis
My Twitter is mainly about using technology in the classroom.  After one month, I will guarantee that you will find at least a dozen tweets you can use!