Trying ClassPager

From Freetech4teachers, I discovered ClassPager. Check out Richard's description here. I've created a class and have made a paper invitation for all the ABE students. I want to see how they respond to this idea and if it will be used often.

Here are my initial thoughts on the technology.
Positives:
Allows individual and group messages.
Allows for polling to use in class.
Allows for texting without sharing phone numbers.
Very simple set up and use.

Negatives:
Only one class is free.
Doesn't have digest into email form.
Another place you have to look for student communication.

What are your thoughts on this?

Technology for the Teacher - Outside of the Classroom

Teachers use technology in the classroom to enhance student learning, but sometimes using technology is necessary before even stepping into the classroom. Four areas where I've found it helpful, efficient, and at times necessary are organization, planning, student contact, and professional development.

Organization
-calendar (I love all the features of outlook, and that I can take it with me on my phone.)
-doodle polls (doodle.com is a very user friendly site to get information about scheduling from a group of people.)
-bookmarking (I liked delicious, but don't use it much now. I have more of a tendancy to create a website to house my links for specific subjects.)

Planning
-lesson planning/research best practice (I am so thankful for all the resources on the web, whether it is a review game or a video, I can put them together without having to create from scratch.)
-can be done anywhere/from any computer (I house my lessons on a google site, so I can create the lesson anywhere and students have access to it from anywhere.)



Student Contact
-email (Great for mass mailings.)
-facebook (Love it for individual touch points and event invites.)
-google docs (Works well with sharing documents.)
-skype (Helps students participate from home.)

Professional Development
-videos (You can learn how to do anything from videos found on the web.)
-blog following: freetech4teachers, etc (I love having my favorite blogs come to me in my email inbox. It allows me to skim and get the good stuff!)
-national and state listserves (I also like to lurk on listserves to keep up with what is going on around the state and nationally.)
-web conferences (This is my least favorite mode for pd, but it does serve the purpose and meet the need. If travel is not possible, web conferencing is good. The facilitating needs to be more than reading slides, though :)

Beginning the Journey

For anyone who might be interested in following my journey, you need to know where I've been, so let me introduce myself. I am the daughter of a man who bought his first computer when it was just black with dos blips on the screen. He would update and play with any technology. I was introduced pretty young...considering the technology was just beginning to roll out to the public. It was exciting, I was witnessing the birth of the technology invasion. I took a typing class in high school, not keyboarding as they do today. But to show how quickly technology was changing, I got a word processor for graduation (not an archaic typewriter and yet not a modern laptop.) By the time a graduated college, you needed to be able to use a computer and several programs just for research, education, and entertainment. I then went overseas for a couple of years and taught math. I only mention this because the very year we came back to the states, 1998, email went very public and free. I was so disappointed to not have had email as a tool to keep in touch while overseas. From that point on, the internet, email, facebook, shopping online, and video chat have all become part of everyday life.

That is my personal history with technology. Now for how technology has evolved in my classroom...

My first teaching gig out of college was overseas in a small school. The most technology we used in the classroom was a calculator, tv and video player, and overhead projector. Coming back to the states, I was shocked to see many classrooms with not much more technology than my overseas classroom. That quickly changed as MLTI came into play. Suddenly all the middle schoolers had laptops and teachers needed to know how to use them! Even teaching tests (Praxis) were given on a computer! A job change gave me the opportunity to work in adult education. I taught College Prep math classes - technology free. Old school. Book, paper, pencil, chalk board. The program changed buildings and an upgrade! No more chalk boards... now we had white boards! Even though we didn't use computers in class, I did give out lists of helpful websites students could use for review and practice. Some were game sites, but mostly they were quiz type practice. I ended up as the Adult Basic Education Coordinator. This program has a great model for adult education program organization: as the ABE Coordinator, I was both an instructor and administrator. That allows me to be in the classroom, have direct contact with the learners, and know their needs (as well as the needs of the instructors), all the while being in a position to affect change. This advantage, along with the enthusiastic support of my director, allowed us to push forward with acquiring technology for the program. We started with 10 old MLTI referbs. We used them in the math lab and as loaners for classes who wanted them. We then upgraded to 25 pc laptops. It is so fun to get adult learners hooked on using computers, especially for education. Then we got the Hope Diamond of technology for education - a SMARTboard. Whoa...It changed my teaching completely. As did participating in MARTI (Maine Adult Rural Technology Integration) 2009/2010.

Today, in my math class (which is an open lab with very diverse ability levels ranging from 4th grade to college prep) I plan the lessons on a google site called WRAE Math Lab . We use the SMARTboard for nearly every lesson to play group games, introduce new skills, work on problems together, and review lessons. Each learner uses a laptop during class for online practice using games, individual video viewing for skill demonstrations, listening to songs of key terms, and taking online quizzes. Technology is not a stand alone activity - there are always paper and pencil practice, group work and discussions, and teacher led explicit instruction - but technology definitely gives much more concentrated practice and opportunity for differentiation.