IdeaPaint- Turning Any Surface into a Dry Erase Whiteboard

Giving students and teachers the opportunity to visualize ideas and concepts is one proven way to improve achievement in the classroom. While many classrooms now have whiteboards as well as interactive whiteboards there are still a large number of schools that still have traditional blackboards that long for the opportunity to have a whiteboard that they can put colored markers to. Replacing blackboards with whiteboards can be extremely expensive for schools when you take into account the labor and the price of good quality whiteboards. But what if there was a cost effective way for classrooms to transform their blackboards into whiteboards? In fact, there is a cost effective way to accomplish this using IdeaPaint- an easy to use dry erase paint that can be applied to almost any surface. In fact some teachers have used IdeaPaint to paint the walls as well as the top of student's desks. I had learned about IdeaPaint several years ago but was excited to see how educators in New Jersey were using this product in the classroom. IdeaPaint has a number of great videos on their website demonstrating how teachers across the US are using IdeaPaint in the classroom to make learning more interactive and more visually appealing. 

I had a chance to chat with Annika Levitt, First Grade Teacher at the Kiel School in Kinnelon, NJ who has been using IdeaPaint in the classroom to get her perspective on the product.

BSF: What's your overall view of IdeaPaint? It looks like a great product for the classroom!

AL: I can see as to why IdeaPaint would strike you as a great tool for the classroom...because it is!! Visually it is a wonderful outlet for kids to express their ideas and keep them motivated. For example, the difference of having them solve math problems on their desks vs. paper did wonders! As for the application, although I did not cover the desks and walls firsthand, I was there to watch the painters and it seemed like a pretty simple task. The desks were very easy to prep. As for the walls, like any paint job it took some prep work of sanding, but once the paint was ready to roll on it was an easy process. I did have the experience of using some touch up paint in a difficult area and that also very simple.



BSF: What difference do you see having access to the Ideapaint surfaces in your first grade classroom?

AL: Having access to IdeaPaint surfaces in the classroom opens up endless opportunities for learning. The ability to write on these surfaces caters to the needs of all different types of students, who exhibit multiple learning styles. For example, the child who learns through visual means, the child who needs kinesthetic learning can get up and write on his/her locker as opposed to being  trapped at their seat. My classroom is the smallest room in the school and IdeaPaint allowed for us to utilize the most space. We can even write on an area of the floor! I also find children are not afraid, or shall I say less reluctant to get their ideas out. We use Teacher's College Writing Workshop and IdeaPaint is a fabulous tool for brainstorming, editing, and partner sharing. I found students in my classroom collaborated at a different level too through means of a dry erase marker! In an age where we reinforce "going green," IdeaPaint allowed for me to take pictures of students work, e-mail them or post them on my website for parent communication, giving them access to the fun classroom learning. Also, as a teacher I was able to post charts up for students to look back on past learning serving as reference tools. I also took pictures of kids' drawings, science conclusions, writing charts and saved them to my Smart Board to have on file. 
BSF: You seem very excited by the potential of IdeaPaint-please share some final thoughts

AL: All in all, I cannot express enough how IdeaPaint has helped me as a teacher to not only make learning more fun, but to watch children interact and grow incorporating the tool. I am excited to kick off a new school year having students walk into the classroom with their names written in dry erase, allowing them to personalize their locker area, and having their parents write a letter to their child on Back-to-School Night right on their desks! I strongly recommend this product to educators at all different levels!

Watch Annika describe how she is using IdeaPaint in her classroom



IdeaPaint is a great product that opens up all kinds of learning opportunities for the classroom. If you have any questions about the product, please feel free to email me or leave a comment.

Using Goalscape in the Classroom

I had a chance just this week to reconnect with Richard Parslow, the developer of Goalscape, a unique and innovative goal setting and planning tool for the Mac and Windows computers-who shared with me some of the new development that are taking place. Richard talked about Goalscape Connect their new online tool to create goalscapes when collaborating and working with teams. To access Goalscape Connect all you need is a browser and a connection to the internet and a Goalscape account. With an account you can begin to create a new goalscape to help you visualize your goals and subgoals. Goalscape lets you set up a central goal in the center of circle with your subgoals fanning out around the central point. With Goalscape, it is very easy to see your progress and add notes and resources to each goal and subgoal. One of the key points of using Goalscape is that you can rate the level of importance of each goal and subgoal and begin to realize that if you spend more time on one goal you have less time to address another. Once your goalscape is set up you can quickly get an overview of your progress and see what needs to be done.

As humans we are all goal driven and being able to concisely articulate our goals helps us to know how and where we are going. I just started back teaching an advanced graduate course in assistive technology and asked my students to use Goalscape Connect to chart their own goals for the course. Last week I introduced them to Goalscape Connect and we did some hands on work with it. For their assignment, I asked them to use Goalscape to develop their goals for the course to help guide their learning. Understanding the principles of Universal Design for Learning (multiple means of engagement) it is important even for adult learners to have them to identity their own learning goals and objectives to help drive their learning. This week I will get a chance to see what they have accomplished with Goalscape Connect and give them the opportunity to drive their own learning. What can be more motivating that that?

As an extra treat, I have invited Richard Parslow to speak to my class via Skype to share his insights for developing Goalscape- I for one am looking forward to that. If you would like to click here for a trial of Goalscape

AssistiveTek Introduces the HoverCam T3 Document Camera

It has been an exciting spring searching for new and innovative products for the classroom. In this blog post I will highlight the HoverCam T3 Document Camera one of the new products that is now available from AssistiveTek, LLC. Using your unspent ARRA dollars for the HoverCam T3 is a great way to ensure that teachers will have the tools they need to improve their teaching strategies. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via email. The HoverCam T3 is compatible with both Macs and Windows computers.

The HoverCam T3 is the ideal document camera for classrooms. It has a 3-megapixel camera and displays clear images of papers, worksheets, newspaper clippings and 3-D objects. Connect it to your computer and projector or drag-and-drop onto your interactive white board to enhance your lessons. Record your voice and HD video with one touch.

HoverCam T3 replaces bulky, lower resolution document cameras. It's ultra-portable with a tiny footprint. It is a simple but powerful device which requires only one USB cable. The HoverCam produces smooth, HD video images that are always in focus with onscreen annotation, making your visual presentation a "wow" experience.

In addition to being a presentation camera, use the T3's scanning ability to digitize your filing system, archive and manage classwork, assignments, artwork, exams and even bills and receipts. It even comes with built-in Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software which can turn notes on paper into text that can be edited on your computer. The included HoverCam Flex Software makes managing scanned files and full screen presentations easy.   

The HoverCam T3 is priced at only $219 dollars which makes it ideal for every classroom. If you look at competitor products you will be paying at least twice the amount for the features that are built into this product.  The HoverCam T3 is compatible with both Macs and Windows computers

Highlights

·         Real time video projection, perfect for interactive teaching, visual presentations, distance learning and online demonstrations.

·         Patent pending LiveZoom™ allows smooth 8X digital zoom.

·         3 megapixel, 200 dpi scanner, with large depth of field for documents and 3D objects, ideal for everyday scanning, copying, faxing, emailing/sharing needs.

·         Small footprint, with a 4" x 5" oval base, 21" height. Weighs just 1.8 lbs.

·         Built-in microphone with one-touch recording, USB-powered, energy efficient.

·         Integration with Cloud Services, such as Dropbox, Evernote and Picasa. Record your meetings, presentations and/or lessons to share with colleagues or students later.

Purchasing the HoverCam T3 High Resolution Document Camera is a great way to spend down your ARRA Funds. Imagine what teachers will be able to do having these tools in the classroom!
When you purchase the HoverCam T3 from AssistiveTek, LLC know that you have the support of a company dedicated to enhancing education and learning in the classroom. Look for Free webinars on how to get the most out of your investment in the HoverCam T3 in the Summer 2011. To keep up with changes in the field of educational technology please follow my blog 

Inspiration Launches Webspiration Pro

It was really exciting to learn about the launch of Webspiration Pro from Inspiration, which is geared for business professionals and college students. Launched as software as a service all you need is a browser an a account to get started to access this feature rich tool for visual thinking. Webspiration Pro is sold as a subscription and if you act now you can get some really great deals on the pricing. Webspiration is ideal for brainstorming and collaborating with colleagues when working on shared projects. Using Webspiration it is easy to invite, comment,  chat with collaborators as you are working on your ideas. You will find Webspiration to be easy and intuitive to use with the right mix of features. I have always enjoyed using Inspiration on the desktop and now with the release of Webspiration it affords the capability to share my ideas and collaborate across time zones. When I'm ready, I can publish my maps to my blog or web site with the provided URL and embed code. So if you have the chance take the time to look at the release of Webspiration Pro. There is a free 30 day Trial - so get started and let me know what you think? And by the way, Inspiration is working on an iPad App for Webspiration which should be pretty cool! More to come.

Kidspiration 3 Workshop

This past Friday I spent the entire day working with elementary school teachers in New Jersey showing them how to use Kidspiration 3 in the classroom. Within a two hour period all of the teachers were introduced to the Picture, Writing, and Math View. The teachers were quick to learn how to use the program and the intuitive interface found in Kidpsiration 3 which really helped them along. With the addition of the Word Guide and the Math manipulatives, Kidspiration 3 is clearly an essential piece of software for the elementary school classroom. Many of the teachers were excited to explore the Activities and Online Lessons to get more ideas on how this tool could be used in their classroom. With the text to speech support and the graphic representation of information Kidspiration 3 is an ideal tool for students whose learning preference is visual. Kidspiration 3 is also ideal for use with interactive whiteboards- and remember if you are working with young children you can move the tools to the bottom of the screen. Many of the teachers were really excited with the possibilities and thoroughly enjoyed using the Math tools that are now built into Kidspiration 3. If you have not taken a look at Kidspiration 3 in awhile, I would urge you to take a look at it and download the Trial version that is available from the Inspiration web site.