Textbook Rentals

http://allthingsd.com/20110718/amazon-tries-taking-the-kindle-to-school-again-with-textbook-rentals/

Amazon Tries Taking the Kindle to School, Again, With Textbook Rentals

This is a very short article on renting textbooks through the Kindle.  The textbooks are much cheaper this way but only available for a certain time period.  An interesting aspect is that you can see the highlights and notes after you have returned the book.

I really like that your notes will still be there after the rental expires.  This is something I had worried about especially for novels.  If a class has to read a piece of literature but the test is not for a few weeks than they will need to have their notes.  I think this program is mainly meant for college students but I am sure they could be used in all the grades.  Having the textbooks and the apps all in one device also would be a benefit.  I really like the idea of renting books for students and for myself.

Nook Tablet for an Elementary

http://www.maxextent.com/blog/evaluating-the-nook-tablet-for-an-elementary-school

Evaluating the Nook Tablet for an Elementary School

This is a review of the Nook e-reader for an Elementary school.  The school was contemplating whether it would be a good decision to buy a class set of 30 Nooks.  The school was trying to save money by not buying 30 copies of a regular book.  This author claims that digital versions of books are just as expensive as regular books so it they are not cost efficient.  This article goes on to explain that e-books are not as useful as presented.  Some books will read aloud but that is pretty much the extent of it.  This author was not impressed by Barnes and Noble’s presentation.  They apparently stated that these would be useful for the school because they introduce technology.  This author says that it is not good enough to have technology just because.  Although this article started off very negative, it does show some positive points.  Nooks and other e-readers are durable, some Nooks have internet access, Nook books can be used on other devises, and Nook has its own apps.  At the end of the article it eludes to the fact that the Kindle Fire is the better investment.

I do not have access to a Nook e-reader.  I understand that the Nook is mainly just for books and it is probable good for that but for a school I think the Kindle Fire would be the better choice.  I find it very interesting that this article states the exact opposite from the last article I read about the Nook as far as pricing is concerned.  I would find it interesting to compare the prices for e-books along with other e-reader’s books and regular books.  This article says that the Nook has apps for children but I wonder how many are available.  I personally prefer the android market and would be interested to see how the Nook apps compare.  If these were the schools only choice for an e-reader than I think they would be a great asset but compared with the alternatives they would not be my first choice.

E-reader Technology with Nook Club

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2011/03/27/20110327gilbert-school-e-reader-nook-club.html

Gilbert school embracing e-reader technology with Nook Club

This article is about a principal and librarian who created a book club in an elementary school.  They gave several students a Nook for two weeks.  The students were able to take their Nook home and read electronic books bought by the school. The six grade students rotated with the goal that they each would read at least one electronic book by the end of the year.  When the first set of students was done with the Nooks, they trained the next group of students.  They hoped that by giving students this technology they would become interesting in reading.  The Librarian stated that the e-reader is not a substitute for books but just a way to motivate students to read.  According to this article e-books are cheaper than paperback books.  Also, because all the Nooks are on the school account the librarian only has to buy the book once for all the Nooks.

I like this Librarian’s view on e-readers.  I like that it is a motivational tool and not taking the place of actual books.  I see a huge problem with children staring at any screen for long amounts of time.  I feel that actual books are better for the children’s visual health.  I like the idea of the Nook club but would not like my child staring at any e-reader screen all day.  This librarian has the right idea I think.  Get the children interested in reading and then maybe they will enjoy all types of books.  I think this type of e-reader club would be a great asset to a school.  I also like that the e-books are cheaper.  I did not know that you only had the buy the book once per account.  This would make a class set very efficient.  I see that these are useful but still do not think they are better for children than actual books.

Earth

 I had heard of Google Earth but have never used it.  From what I have seen it is really interesting.  You can look at the oceans from the waters surface, under the waters surface or even explore the ocean floor.  Another feature Google Earth contains is the ability to look at maps from the past.  It shows what a location looked like decades ago.  The most interesting aspect I have seen is the feature to look at Mars.  You can see the surface of Mars and even see where scientist have explored using rovers and landers.  All the features that you can use on Earth you can also use on Mars including historic maps.  This program is full of surprising things you can do.  You can see the sun rise and set in certain locations even.

Google Earth can be a useful resource in the classroom.  The idea sheets give a lot of ideas for integrating it into your class.  One idea is to have students practice identifying states and countries.  Another interesting idea is to have students identify where they live and then write about their home life.  The students can then look at the map and see where there classmates live and how their home is like or different than theirs.  For older students, they can create an overlay for migration.  They can show how different people groups have moved and what the migration pattern is currently.  This idea is from the middle school idea sheet but I think it could also be adjusted for other grades.  This program can be used in so many ways and in all content areas.

One of the links I looked at was the Google Earth for Educators website.  This website has a lot of information for teachers to integrate this program into the curriculum.  It has many ideas for the various features such as having the students use the 3-D Building feature to look at famous architecture and even public landmarks.  It also gives ideas by content area and even lesson plans.  This website also shows some samples of student work and has a discussion forum.  Using Google Earth in the classroom is it a great way for the students to create experiences with the content area and to learn collaboratively.

Maps

I have used Google Maps quite a bit especially when travelling.  There are still several features that I have never used.  I have never used the traffic overlay feature where it tells you where the highest concentration of traffic is on on your route.  Another feature that I find very interesting is the ability to make your own maps.  You can create a route and even put in stops noted with icons or pictures.

In one of the lesson plans that I looked at,  the class used it for a math lesson.  They made a route and put in stops using pictures and captions.  At each location they noted how they encountered math and how they solved it.  This is only one of many ways that Google Maps can be used in the classroom.  This can be a very useful resource for a teacher and learning oppurtunity for students.

Images

I used Picasa to crop this picture.  I used the cropping feature and added a border to enhance the picture.  I also added a watermark to my picture sense it is a picture that belongs to me.  In my opinion the watermark is one of the most important features because you can say not to copy.  I take a lot of pictures and the watermark insures that it is accredited to me.  Between the watermark and changing the resolution so it is less desirable, it lessons the chance of somebody using your picture when uploaded to the internet.  Another feature that I found very useful is the image processing features.  You can change the colors and effects of your pictures such as negative, black and white, and soft focus.  It changes the entire look of your picture and makes it look more professional. 

I like using flikr to search for photography ideas but would rather use snapfish for my online photo gallery.  For my personal photography, I use Windows live gallery.  It is very similar to Picasa but I feel it is easier to use. I like that on my windows computer it was already downloaded and all my pictures automatically open in the windows live gallery.  I can then crop and customize before sending them to be printed at a store using the same program.  It works very well for what I need personally.

Sites

https://sites.google.com/site/mrsatchleys2ndgradeclassroom/

This is a class website for my fictional 2nd grade class.

Revised