Please help me spend some money :-)

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by nlowell on January 17, 2008 at 8:09am

25 HUNDRED .. duh ... i added a mental decimal point there.

But still, in bulk, this might get you 100 usb drives. Not enough for everybody in the school, but enough for a really interesting application proof of concept that might lead to later grant based funding for a major rollout.

Bypass the $100 laptop and go straight for the $25 portable environment.

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Permalink Reply by Arlene Anderson on January 18, 2008 at 9:32am

When you really think about it, $2500 doesn't go a long way. I try to think of technology that can be shared with multiple teachers and that way the $$ go further. How about an Interwrite Pad ($500). More portable than a Smartboard , has the same tools, and can be shared. Some things require LCD Projectors. That's another $700.
Utilizing Open Source software for podcasting and blogging cuts a lot of cost and Audacity can be edited easily by students. Even the addition of an iPen ($100) can make a difference.
And by the way the eInstruction (Student Response System) is having a special at the moment (at least in my area for new customers). It's $1500 for a set of 32 RF clickers, an iPen slate, and their Exam View Suite of assessments. Again this can be shared by multiple classes.
Digital cameras are great if your teachers will use them, same for DV cameras. It all depends on where your teachers are in terms of integrating the tools into the classroom.
See how easy it is to spend other peoples money?
Arlene

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Permalink Reply by Mike F. on January 18, 2008 at 7:57pm

You don't sound like a broken record at all Wade. I have a set of the Senteo Interactive Response System and love it. I think anyone who has used them will agree they are engaging tools. One thing that is tough with the clickers when they have to be shared with a large group is getting the student data base built up by individual teachers. Do you have any suggestions on how we could use a set school wide?

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Permalink Reply by Marilyn Williams on January 18, 2008 at 4:02pm

Hi Mike,
If you have projectors, I'd buy document cameras. They're relatively inexpensive ($350) and they really expand your teaching. Teachers who use them ditch their overhead projectors and find they can engage so many more students in lots of different ways with a doc camera.
I might also invest in iPod shuffles to help students with fluency practice, pre and post reading/teaching previews and reviews.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin H. on January 18, 2008 at 5:07pm

What is a doc camera?
Can you point us to some websites?
Thanks
Kevin

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Permalink Reply by Nancy Bosch on January 18, 2008 at 5:21pm

I think there is a discussion around here somewhere on document cameras. Search and see, N.

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Permalink Reply by JoNelle on January 20, 2008 at 11:29am

Our classrooms have document cameras, easy to use and multiple uses:document camera uses discussion:

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Permalink Reply by Mike F. on January 18, 2008 at 5:23pm

Hey Kevin,

Here's a link: http://www.elmousa.com/presentation/

I've used them when I led a workshop in Seattle. They are very handy. They work like a DV camera, but with a display feature rather than a record feature. Imagine setting up a DV camera on a tripod and connecting it to one of our projectors. You then aim it down at a piece of student work and it displays it on the large screen for all to see. This is essentially how these work, but with far less effort. It is ten times better than an overhead and I was hooked after using it for one session. Then the cost factor hit me. But now...

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Permalink Reply by Kathy Epps on January 18, 2008 at 10:18pm

If there isn't enough mooney for "real" document cameras, good web cams with a goose neck wil work, too. Good enough to display a palm screen, or a page of text, or an insect - clear, but no great detail capability.

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Permalink Reply by Marilyn Williams on January 19, 2008 at 5:00pm

There is a model put out by AverVision for around $350 that allows you to capture images as well as video in either the doc camera itself or in your computer.

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Permalink Reply by Sylvia Martinez on January 20, 2008 at 12:07pm

I'd vote for spending the money on things that give more students the ability to create more, and more varied things - cameras for them, microphones, voice recorders, stuff like that. Even though you may think you have "enough" (as if that ever happens) - many students will not compete for resources. This is especially true of girls.

Although cool - document cameras and clickers support teaching, not student experiential learning.

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Permalink Reply by Sylvia Martinez on January 21, 2008 at 11:21am

Thanks Wade, that's a great example, as opposed to just having Jeopardy type quizzes with multiple choice answers.

I should have said -- in general - document cameras and clickers support teaching, not student experiential learning.

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