A word about ethics

Today we learnt about ethics and about what we can and cannot do with the internet in the classroom. We are not aloud to put photos of any children onto the internet unless we have the permission from the school and from the childs parents or caregivers. Also if we use any information off the internet then it has to be referenced properly.
We also learnt about all different pieces of technology that we can use in the classroom.
Firstly there was all different pieces of hardware that are available for the teachers use. These included cameras to take photos of childrens work to put into a portfolio. These photos can also be upload into a folder on the computer. We can also use a voice recorder which could be used to add sound files of the children speaking into their portfolio along with the photos off the camera. A webcam can also be used for children to see into places where they wouldn't normally be able to see. For example looking at what is growing in a drain pipe. They would be able to point the webcam up the drain pipe to get a closer look.
We also learnt of some low tech sloutions which work just as well. Some of these low tech solutions include an indexed A5 folder with a tab for each child to store their work. This would be helpful when it comes to parent teacher interviews as all of the childs work will be in one place. This is also really easy to carry around as it isn't too big. Other low tech solutions include software such as word, powerpoint, excel, publisher, outlook, frontpage, expression, movie maker and photo story. With movie maker it is possible to start with a still image to make your movie.
iTunes is also good to use for free music and videos to use in the classroom.
Paper based resources are sometimes just as good as computer based resources. Templates can be formed for letters, posters, class lists, check sheets, reading logs and stickers. Once a template has been made for these things there shouldn't be any reason to need to make another one.
There is some specialist software available for teachers use which assists in learning reading skills. The specialist software includes: Text helps read and write gold which scans and turns texts into mp3. Lexia Learning systems is a god programme for the starting point of reading. Dragon Naturally Speaking v10 enables us to speak into the computer and it will turn it into text. Finally Text Aloud turns text into speech (www.nextup.com)
There are some fun programs on the internet available for our use in the classroom. These include, rastorbator which turns photos into posters and blows them up to life size.