Common Sense Media Toolkits for Educators

Common Sense Media is a valuable resource site for parents and educators. It’s a place where you can get the help you need to evaluate media and its impact on children. If you appreciate the resources and guidelines offered by Common Sense Media, you may want to order hard copies of the Common Sense Tool Kit for Schools and the Early Childhood Toolkits.  The school toolkit ($50) features grade-by-grade guides, tip sheets, a presentation with talking points, parent communication materials, a DVD with 22 videos, a CD with electronic versions of all parent education materials and more. The Early Childhood Toolkit ($50) provides ideas and templates for helping educators work with parents of children five-years-old and younger. It includes suggestions for a parent workshop, PowerPoint slides, an educational DVD, and handouts. The school DVD can be purchased separately for $20.

Have You Explored iTunes U?

iTunes U, which is available for computers, iPod Touch, and iPhones, features over 150,000 free education media files. Although many of these resources are posted by universities, you’ll also find Classics for Kids from Cincinnati Public Radio, music lessons for young people, sessions from Edutopia, and courses for teachers and parents. iTunes U, with its outstanding courses from some of the world’s top universities, is a valuable resource for students and teachers interested in pursuing educational topics beyond what’s available in their school or region. On the Apple site, there are video guidelines to lead you through directions for using iTunes U on mobile devices and on your computer.

What Do Parents Want When It Comes to Tech in Schools?

Blackboard K-12 provides the download of a pdf booklet, Speak Up 2008 Selected National Findings, which discusses findings related to parent responses collected for Project Tomorrow’s Speak Up 2008.  The report says that only a third of the parents who took part in the survey thought “schools were doing a good job of preparing students for the 21^st century.” Parents were “dissatisfied with the availability of “quality technology in schools and teachers’ skills in using technology.” While both parents and students taking part in the survey wanted better technology use in schools, there were differences of opinion on what types of technologies should be used for learning. Parents tended to want tools that could be related to traditional learning such as eBooks, interactive whiteboards, and systems that let them know how their children were doing.  Students were more interested in mobile devices, media tools, games, online classes, and unlimited Internet use. Sounds right on target, doesn’t it? The survey included over 21,000 parents, almost 300,000 students, and over 30,000 teachers and administrators from 50 states.

Fun Kids' Activities for iPhone & iPod Touch

For $2.99, you can download to iPhones and iPod Touch interactive "children's books" packed with activities young children will enjoy. They can "rub" the screen to uncover pictures, listen to stories, color pictures, read aloud, and create paintings—right on an iPhone or iPod Touch. The first book is available at the Apple APPs Store, and new ones should be coming out about once a month. The reviews look very positive for this new type of book for preschool and primary level students. You can link to the Apple Apps Store from ikidsplay.com or from your iPhone or iPod Touch. Print versions of the books are available online and at bookstores according to CoolestGadgets.com. Does this announcement get your brain whirling about possibilities of handheld technologies to support school curricula?