Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts Chapter 7

Flickr is something that I find has potential for great educational learning. I like the idea of being able to take photos and tag separate parts of the photo to annotate whatever you want. This seems like a very useful learning tool because either I or my students can upload annotated photos to explain what the pictures are about. For instance, I could have my student’s take a photo of their diagrams and then label the different parts of the diagram to tell me what it is and why it is important to the diagram. An example for me is that I could take my own photos such as a wild life photo and then label some of the different things that are in the photo such as plants or animals. I could put together a slide show of perhaps scenes from around the school and then annotate them with what each thing is. This would help connect my students with learning, their immediate environment, and technology. I could then have my student leave comments on my photos or their classmate’s photos and carry out discussions on them, kind of like a question/ answer session for each photo. The possibilities are endless with Flickr and it is constantly changing.

Interactive White Board Lesson

This project was a really good way to start getting acclimated to using SMART Notebook and making my own lesson plan with this new technology. There are so many different things that not only I can do with the lesson based on its use with a SMART Board, but also just within the software. There are so many templates, pictures, games and other useful activities/ tools that are available. Also, I like that I can go onto SMART Exchange and look at others work or even use them in the future when I’m teaching.

I learned a lot just through playing around with this new software and I feel comfortable making a very basic Notebook file. There is so much more I can do with this program that I’m sure I don’t even know about yet but it is something that I look forward to learning via workshops, online resources and my peers.

In my particular lesson I chose to do a lesson on the U.S. States because I remembered learning about the states in 5^th grade myself and remembered how boring it was. I believe through a fun interactive technology, like through the use of an Interactive white board, students will become more engaged and not only learn a lot faster but also retain what they are learning. I chose to go over some basic states things such as postal labeling, location of each state, their capital, which ones were part of the original 13 colonies, and some basic facts like which one is the largest and the smallest. These are all basic trivia that I remember having to learn while going over the states.

Social Bookmarking with Delicious

I believe that using a bookmarking site is much more beneficial because not only can you look up sites that you have saved on any computer via the internet but it also allows you to see what others are bookmarking that might be relevant to your interests. I also like how Delicious categorizes and organizes all my bookmarks based on what I tagged them as. The tagging feature is nice because it allows me to save a site based on key words that I will use and remember. In addition to that I can also add some notes as a shore description to further describe what the site is. This I valuable for later, when I want to go back and find a site, I don’t have to look at each site again. All I need to do is just read my short summary or note of what each site is. This is a much more efficient and effective way to save sites that I might want to recall later versus booking marking them on only my computer.

Exiting Post (Week 14, 12/13/10)

Today we spent some time wrapping up everything we learned and was instructed to find 3 ways to incorporate some of the new technology ideas into our classroom. It was interesting to see what my peers said they would use in their classroom and compare it to what I myself plan on using. The other thing I liked is it really got me thinking about how much of this class I’m going to take away, will use in my class and how much I actually learned/ feel comfortable using. The previous post is my list of how I will use technology in my classroom.

Overall, even though this class was hard and I felt that the workload was on the heavy side, looking back now I feel like I learned a lot and I’m taking away valuable information. I feel comfortable using at least half of the things I’ve learned during this semester in my classroom and I feel like having a head start or a look into the other half will be good for the future for if I choose to use that idea in my classroom. This was a real eye opener into how influential technology can be and what is out there.

How I Will Use Technology In My Classroom

My class is in an upper elementary level somewhere between 4-6 grades. These are a few ideas that I have to use in my classroom to help promote learning in my classroom:

1)      Class wiki/ blog

-My goal as a teacher is to provide a resource for my students and their parents/ guardians that they can go to see what is going on in my classroom. This will primarily be used to post our class rules/ expectations, due dates, assignments, notes, learning resources and act as an additional place to find school newsletters and other important school news.

2)      The use of interactive whiteboards

-In my class I have a SMART Board. This has enhanced my classroom tenfold because it bring the best of both worlds together, whiteboards and projectors. This teaching tool allows me to allow my students to become more interactive in their learning in a variety of ways such as the programs that are available with the SMART Board software, SMART exchange, lesson plan resources provided by book publishers, etc.

3)      Digital projects (PowerPoint, video, collaborative wiki, etc.)

-I believe it is essential to make learning fun and also include technology into the classroom. By doing “digital projects” with my students it allows me to take these two ideas and put them into on great way of learning. There are many ways to do this which with some guidance, creativity and ample time, I believe that this is a great way to learn because it makes the content more personal.

Exiting Post (12/6/10, Week 13)

While watching a video I saw how useful a SMART Board can be in increasing participation and cooperative collaboration/ learning). The particular teacher in the video used a lot of technology in her classroom with a lot of computer use in it. She did things like Blogging, not only for herself but she also had her students have their own blogs. The teacher had a blog that gave assignment dates, and was informing what was happening in the classroom. Another thing that she had her students do was online collaboration with both their classmates and peers in other parts of the world in a variety of different ways such as using their blogs. In short, everything that is being done today was done in the past, the only thing that has changed is HOW we do it, we have moved to a new and more modern medium. What we need to ask ourselves is; does technology allow me to do things I haven’t been able to do before? And can I improve what I’ve done in the past but make them better by using technology?

PSA Project

This project was interesting to make. Part of the battle for this project was finding something that was relevent to PK-12 students. We finally decided on hitting on Facebook a little because it is one of those sites that if not used properly and appropriatly, it can get users in some very serious trouble. Most younger users do not realize that what they upload onto their Facebook page can be potentially be seen by anyone and once they post something online it stays on their forever. We had two primary concerns with this PSA. One, was to inform them that posting things online is very serious and perminant,  and two, was to make users aware that there are privacy settings that they can control to adjust who can see what.

Aside from all the content we learned related to the video, this project was very insightful on how to make and produce our own video. This might be a skill we coud use later down the road in the future, and something that we could share with our students.

Week 12 (11/29/10)

We looked at some virtual gaming sites. I looked at Viva Piñata and it wasn’t very interactive but I did check out a site called James town, which was very engaging, let you make the decisions and learn how your decision would have affected the pilgrims when they landed where ever you selected to land your ship. It was very interactive and very personal. I liked this because it allowed me to learn about history in a fun “hands on” way.

I felt that the group facilitators did a good job of showing us a new aspect that we could bring into the classroom. One thing they did well was engaging the class and dividing us up evenly. There was a lot of uhms and the speaking volume was a little softer than it should be. Overall, it was pretty good chapter review and I was exposed to Jamestown which is something I hope I can someday use in my own classroom.

What is the difference between games and simulation? In short, games are simulations that give immediate feedback.  In some aspects this is more useful in comparison to traditional schooling because in the classroom, we often do not get immediate feedback. The best advice is to start to build knowledge of “gaming” so that you can connect with your students and it can be a good way to connect with them.

Technology is our friend, we need to learn how to use it!

Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts Chapter 6

In this chapter I learned some of the useful aspects of using the web in a social aspect. Things like Twitter, Diigo, and Delicious were the key social web tools that they hit on. Some of the ideas of using Twitter were to use it in order to communicate between teachers and students or even students to students. It can be used to collaborate about homework or share project ideas, etc. Another useful website was Diigo or Delicious, both of which are an online bookmarking site that connects to other users. The other cool aspect is that it can be accessed from any computer via the internet. This would be useful to save useful things or web pages you would like to share with the class or for your own personal reference.

As cool as a resource that these are and even though I have a Delicious account, I don’t think that it is something that I would use in my classroom. I plan on teaching upper elementary school and I’m not sure that this is something that I would use in my classroom because I think that it is something that is a little to challenging for them. As far as using Twitter in my classroom, I think that there is too much potential to get off task or it to be used inappropriately. While these maybe useful tools for some teachers I don’t feel that it would be affective

Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts chapter 5

The use of RSS feed could potential be very useful in the future for many reasons. I like the idea of having information coming to you instead of you looking around for relevant information. This has the potential to cut down greatly on wasted time looking for resources. I think an RSS feed could really benefit both teachers and students because of this easy access to info. This can be used to help find research topics, stay up to date on current events, or even for teachers to keep tabs on their students with their blogs.

This whole concept of RSS feeds is something new to me and I’m glad I learned about it. This is something that I will defiantly use for at least myself and maybe encourage my students use as well. Since I already have a Google account, it would be easy for me to setup an RSS aggregator or mailbox to receive my feeds in. An idea that I got while reading this chapter was to have students set up an RSS on something that they like and then once a week have them pick an article and have them write a review on it and possible present it or post it to their blog (if they have one). There is so much potential for the use of RSS and what it can do in the classroom.

Exiting Post (11/22/10, Week 11)

Today in class we went over some articles related to technology and students learning and how video games/ media is having an effect on their “lack” of learning. Many schools reaction to this problem is to use more technology in the classroom. We also discussed an article where the teacher used an online forum in the beginning of her class and they had iPods in the classroom to respond to the daily question. This was an interesting aspect to see how contemporary technology teaching methods are making their ways into the classroom.

The most valuable thing I learned was form our discussion leaders who did a brief recap of the book and got our input on how we felt our opinion changed. Personally, I have taken away from this class and the book that there are a lot of cool tools to use in the classroom but I only need to use the ones that I find easy and useful to use. Most of these cool tools I will use more for myself probably than for my students in the classroom. A few of the tools I may use in the future would be blogs, wikis and RSS feeds. I feel like those are the most effective resources that will stay the most consistent that would be applicable in my class.

Exiting Post (11/15/10, week 10)

We had some good discussions based on the book guides activity. They had us go on line for 3 min and research something related to science and then for another 3 min we had to research on photosynthesis.

During class, we ended up looking at a charter school in Minnesota at newcountryschool.com. This got me really excited about the charter school systems and possible looking at getting a job at a charter school after graduation. This is something I want to look farther into and do some more research on.

We went over some other tips and tricks for the IRLO project and using scratch. After this demonstration I still don’t feel that this is something that I would use in the future and in my classroom.

Dweeber Screen Cast

The easiest part of this project was probably going through and discovering the website and writing the script. For me I had troubles trying to match up my script and what I wanted to do on the screen because I had a hard time trying to do both at the same time. It also took multiple tries to get down the timing for my screen cast with the script I had prepared. I would say the most difficult part of this project was not the writing of the script or even the recording, but the uploading to the class wiki and my blog was the biggest headache for me and making sure that the link worked.

I feel that this could be useful knowledge to have so that if a situation came up where you needed to make a screen cast showing your students how to do something you could do it. Personally, I would demonstrate anything I expect my students to do with a computer for them that way there could be immediate feedback. However, some options could be to do a screen cast while demonstrating to the class the expected task on the computer so that they can reference it later or anyone that was out for the day can find it online and watch the screen cast.

dweeber_screen_cast

Exiting post week 9 (11-8-10)

I felt that the discussions group had a good activity that represented how different the outcomes of using technology in a learning situation can be. I felt that it lead to a good group discussion. I’m still fairly neutral about technology vs. memory because it depends on the situation. The questions that were given in the activity, I knew all of them with one exception. I feel that if I needed to look up all the answers it would have slowed me down, however,  I feel that there are instances were using the internet to look up information is a good resource to have at our disposal to not only double check our selves but to also use when we don’t know something. It depends on if it is going to be used for fact finding or for learning.

We also went over some more details for the podcast and talked briefly about the screen cast that is due. These are some of the podcast tidbits that we went over:

-Give overview of issue, what is the big idea

-Summarize the resource, what are the main arguments; what are they trying to share, what is the message

-*My reaction to the issue. My personal commentary.

Write a script related to these three areas. The audio needs to be clearly audio speech, and must last 2-3 minutes. Also need up to 15 sec lead in and 15 seconds of lead out music. There must also be at least one sound effect. This must be published in mp3 format. This can be submitted to the d2l drop box. This will be due in two weeks.

Exiting Post (Week 8, 11/1/10)

I felt that we had a very interesting class discussion, which was different from the norm and the activities that we did. However I didn’t feel that it quite represented the chapter in the greatest way. After the lesson we finally went through some more useful aspects of the SMART board technology, some of which I knew already and some I did not.  The infinite cloner was pretty cool. That one I did not know about. We also went over the “6x6” rule; no more than six lines with no more than six words per line. We need to pay attention to the color, size (no smaller than 36pt.), position, and contrast of the text and slides. Also, the height of our students should also be taken into consideration. You can also add sounds to a object by linking a sound using the sound tab linking it to prerecorded files.

Blogs Wikis, Podcasts Chapter 4

I believe Wikis are a good resource to use in the future classroom because they are so versatile and can be used in many different contexts. Before I read this chapter the only thing I knew about Wikis was that Wikipedia was a Wiki. However, I didn’t really know what a Wiki was and how useful they can be in not only society, but also the classroom. This chapter opened up my eyes to some of the possibilities that I could use a Wiki for, while I felt some of the examples were not applicable to my intended age/ grade level I want to teach, I do feel that the basic concepts can be applied.

I personally, if I decided to use a Wiki in my classroom, will use it as a class organizational tool. I believe it is important to have one central place that is easily accessible to look up information. This may include my class syllabus, homework assignments, rubrics, project descriptions and other useful web resources. I also feel that a class Wiki is a great place for students to post their project ideas and projects too and possible final reports. There are many possibilities and as times change I’m sure there will be more and new ideas that I could have my students post to the class Wiki. In addition to major projects and reports/ papers, I feel that the Wiki would also be a good place for students to add notes, resources, and helpful tools so that not only their peers could use them but also future classes. The possibilities are endless on what I could do with my class and Wikis but I do feel it is a useful resource and it is something that, like technology, is always going to be changing.

Exiting Post (Week 7, 10/25/10)

Probably the most useful thing that I gained from class today came from the discussion guides. I really enjoyed the virtual tour website. I know I will definitely use that in my future classroom because it allows visual learning in the classroom. A virtual experience is better than no experience. It’s not always an option to take a class on a field trip to everywhere you want to. For just the brief time that I spent looking at the website, I can tell that there are almost virtual tours from everywhere in the world and for many different things.

After the discussion guides, we took a more in depth look at Scratch. I felt like I learned some more content on how to actually use the program but I still don’t feel that I would use this in my classroom. I did find it interesting how many different things that you could do with the program. I also liked how the instructor took time to give an example in class of many of the basic concepts of the program and demonstrated it. I wish that he would have done more of this for the SMART notebook program and show us different aspects of that as well.

Exiting Post (week 6, 11/18/10)

In class today we talked about some key parts that were in the chapter and how they have affected us. Some of the interesting point that was made was the progression from apprenticeship to universal schooling. We also looked at some of technologies progressions over the course of history. It funny to look back and think how something as simple as the printing press or mass production of paper was considered revolutionary back then. The chapter review presentation was over all pretty good. They hit on a few main key points and acted professional. However, I would have found a way to get the class more interacted in the lesson, and specified that they wanted us to get in our own groups and how to do so. I also feel like they could have found some more outside resourced to use in their presentation. I did like how they used the smart notebook software and exercised their use of it. During the presentation Erin mentioned that during her practicum, 4^th graders were not only learning from the use of SMART boards but they were also creating their own SMART board presentations and sharing them with the class. This really put into perspective just how ahead our students will always be ahead of us as teachers.

After the presentation we began to talk about another program called scratch. I personally did not care for the program and even though the concepts were made simple, I felt that it was very complicated and not worth the time and effort to put into it based on the basic knowledge that will most likely be found. I really do not look forward to working on that assignment for this class.

Exiting Post (10/11/10, Week 5)

The discussion today was on the skeptic’s view of technology. In the discussion we talked about what we considered to be “new technology”. Most of these suggestions were computer, software, or internet related. We then watched a video that gave more of a timeline of what has been considered new technologies over the years. Other points were made that stressed the issues of why it is difficult to incorporate technology in the classroom such as cost, old school vs. new school, and staying updated with the latest and greatest.

For my technology inquiry question, I need to change my interactive “SMART board” to “whiteboard” because SMART board is a brand name.

Rethinking Technology Chapter 3

The Technology Skeptics’ Argument

Technology is constantly changing and will continue to find its way into schools no matter what, especially since it can be such a useful tool the main thing that is holding it back from being in the classroom is how expensive it is and getting older teachers to change their teaching styles. In the beginning of the chapter it gave quotes from over time that now, in today’s world, seem completely bogus. It’s just proof that technology will eventually find its way into the schools and become a main stay for teachers.

 In the eyes of the skeptic, technology is something that will not find its place in the classroom and they believe it to be a distraction. They also have concerns with the increase use of computers in schools because they are afraid of it taking away from the respect and authority of teachers, their credibility and how the classroom is manage. They also argue that technology can not teach some of the basic everyday skills and values that we learn especially in the younger grades. However, technology is already finding its way into schools and will continue to become a large part of how children learn.

New technologies can benefit students because the can be adapted easily to teach on a more personalized level that can focus on each students needs. It also gives immediate feedback to children while learning which is essential to learning. Probably one of the most effective uses of technology is that is supports the more hands on learning style and can be highly interactive. Computers and new technologies can be a very useful tool if used correctly in the classroom and as long as we monitor how it is being used in the classroom I think that it can improve the quality of student’s education. As a teacher such simple things as just walking around the classroom can ensure that students are using computers for instance in an appropriate manor. An interesting quote that I found in the chapter is, “Schools fosters just-in-case learning while technology fosters just-in-time learning. In today’s world where we expect our students to learn so much more and new information in comparison to previous generations, technology is essential to know how to use as a learning tool because we as teachers can not possibly teach our students everything.

Exiting Post (10/4/10, week 4)

In class we played some games that were found online as a part of the group presentation. I felt that these games are good examples of what we can do in a classroom with our students as a fun way to learn and use technology. I added the website to my delicious account because I felt that it was a useful resource for the future. Overall, I felt that it was a very good presentation related to chapter two. I would have maybe talked about the chapter a little more. Also, it would have been nice to have access to the presentation online in some way. We also talked about how Google archives everything that is put online, so be careful of what is put on places like Facebook. This was a good reminder to watch and keep an eye on my electronic footprint. Also, you can use Google advanced search tool to help with credibility by filling in the bottom box labeled “find pages that link to the page”. We also went over how to find SMART board lessons that are already done on SMART board exchange. It was also mentioned that scholastic has lessons for download as well. These could serve as good resources to either use in the classroom or as an example for what to do for future lessons.

Rethinking Technology Chapter 2 Review

I agree with the book, technology is taking over and we as teachers are not “keeping up with joneses”. We are still teaching things in a very, what might be considered ancient, way. Our students are bored because of this technology gap, becoming less engaged in what they are suppose to be learning, thus in return not doing as well in school. I think part of this problem with the lacking technology in the schools is due to funding. Many school districts do not have the money to invest in the latest and greatest technology so that their students can have room for growth in technology. Weather this is right or wrong doesn’t matter, it’s just the facts. I believe that if the schools are having problems with money and can not afford for updates and more or new equipment there are things that can be done. For instance, my school district back home just got all new SMART boards for all the classrooms, but the money came not from the school budget but rather it was raised by the PTS. If parents , teachers and students want and need new technology in their schools then they should take the initiative to get it there. 

I believe that the issue of kids becoming bored in classrooms has always been a problem and always will be. However, with today’s technology there are things that we can do as teachers and resources we can offer so that not only are our students not bored but they are also getting more engaged in learning. One solution for this is investing in computer learning software that teach math, reading, and typing in the form of a fun game that give immediate response. Giving immediate response is crucial to young students and is something we as teacher can not always do. Depending on what style learner a student’s is, you might want to try different types of computer software. For instance, someone who is more of a hands on learner might learn better from a simulation game where they get to control the outcomes of different scenario’s  but not always suffer the consequences if they are negative.

Today’s technology also allows students to discover new experiences, which may allow them to grow as an individual. An example of this is students being given the opportunity to publish their work to the internet were they can real feedback from more than just their student peers and their teacher. This may spark a kids interest to continue to write because they like the way it feels when other people respond and react to their work. It may give motivation to a student who otherwise may have not liked to write but now have their own blog for instance and are constantly writing. For this reason, I believe exposing my students to online publishing could be beneficial for some of my students. I understand that it may not be for everyone and some parents might not approve but in the future, having students publish to the internet via blog or similar publishing means may be a possibility. Learning should be fun and a good way to have learning be fun is through technology. There are many different ways to get students engaged in learning by using technology, and in some cases, more is being learned by doing so.

Exiting Post (9/27/10, Week 3)

The main idea that I took away from lab today was to keep my presentations simple and to not clutter them up with a lot of words, poor color schemes, distracting animations, etc. It is better to use less text and instead try to use more pictures and/or diagrams to use in a presentation. A visual and verbal presentation is more effective than a text heavy power point in addition to verbal lecture. Another key aspect to a presentation/ discussion is using professional speech and the use of wait time. It is recommended that you take a short pause instead of using words like umhm, like, you knows, etc and also implement wait time, giving 7-10 seconds for others to respond.

Chapter 1 Response to Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology

We are living in a new technology revolution where the use of technology is becoming a social norm for learning and sharing. Learning is starting to shift from in the classroom to in the home because of the access to technology and the endless resources that are available to use because of it. Earlier in the chapter it is discussed how many people are becoming successful just by accessing knowledge that can be found on the internet or have landed jobs based on technologies that are constantly being added to the business world. As a teacher it is important to never stop learning and always offer opportunities to embrace new technologies because job titles and their duties are constantly being rewritten in almost every business area from secretaries to farmers. Since more learning can be done outside the classroom and access to things such as the internet is becoming more predominate, we as teachers need to learn how to embrace this and make it a part of our curriculums. This may include internet research projects, watching educational video’s online, or networking with classmates on homework.

In addition to incorporating learning outside the classroom via the internet it is also important to prepare our students for jobs that are technology based. We need to show students how and where to find useful, credible resources that create a gateway for learning about new enterprises for the future. In order to do this we as teachers must also “stay technologically fit” and constantly be looking for new ways to teach our students using technology in ways that prepare them for the real world and what might lie ahead. In essence we need to educate them on how to educate themselves to do well in their future.  We are teaching them to learn for ever.

Exiting Post (9/20/10, Week 2)

After going over the Delicouse.com account, I feel like that can and will become a powerful search engine for me to do my future research on.  Also, after seeing the usefulness of the Wiki and how to set up links within a Wiki, I can visualize that as an interactive way to have my future students involved outside the classroom with the possibilities of even posting homework assignments. I look forward to learning more about the use of Wiki and playing around with my new delicious account.

"Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts" Chapter 1-3 Response

I felt like these first few chapters were very descriptive in the many different things you can do with a blog and how you can make it apart of the classroom in a very useful way. However, I felt like a lot of what the author was saying was very redundant and I don’t feel like I would use blogs for anything more (at least at this point in time) than to just have like a class syllabus posted with due dates for assignments, and a list of notes and resources. It could also be a useful tool to use in order to communicate with students parents.  It all depends on what kind of environment that I end up teaching in. If the kids all have access to computers and the internet at home then I would be more apt to perhaps have my students have their own blog where they could post homework or have their own discussions.

Digital Autobiography

Attached is a link to my Animoto Video that is about my more recent adventures.

http://animoto.com/play/C8vJqmWpKz7Sr0Rd6xqw7g?autostart=true

Frontline Video "Growing Up Online" Response

This video basically confirmed my ideas of how influential technology is in today’s society, particular the younger generation. Young learners are so immersed in a digital society that it has become a way of life. This has created many learning opportunities such as excess to the internet where there is an unending amount of recourses of information. However, with great power comes great responsibility. This new found age of technology also raises great concern for such things as cheating and cyber bullying. When technology is used as a learning tool it can be very beneficial and students can take away a lot from it such as the use of interactive programs like SMART boards and podcasts. Students are more likely to retain information because it fits into their new found way of learning and social norm. We as teachers should learn how to incorporate this into the classroom but we also need to keep a watchful eye on the negative effects it can have as well. Technology needs to be used in the classroom in order for students to get the most out of their learning experience. The best way right now as a teacher is to learn how to incorporate the use of SMART boards into the classroom and take advantage of these new online recourses that we have at our fingertips. We need to create online assignments and possibly learn to create our own web pages where our students can access assignment lists, class notes/ materials, and credible links that are both informative and interactive that they can do on their own time. The best thing to do is to stay on our toes and to try and learn with the students about new technologies so that we can stay updated and so our teaching style does not become outdated and obsolete.

EDUC 331 Lab 1 Response

1) Technology means anything that is new and incorporates some kind of media or computer use. This can range from categories such as your Audio/ Visual like TV’s, projectors, document cameras, DVD players, CD’s, etc, to computers, SMART boards, and calculators, even cell phones.


2) In today’s world, technology integration is becoming easier and easier. This, in the past, mostly was seen as showing videos and using mirror projectors. Today, this has been expanded into so many different areas and can be done in so many more ways going past just the standard PowerPoint presentations. Today’s technology includes the use of SMART boards, and other online resources that are available to students.