Avoid Search Engines
Yes, that's right. If you want your students to learn about topic XXX, then you need to find the GOOD web sites before hand and make them readily available via your web page on bbs.nobles.edu or perhaps via a noblesnet e-mail. But to ask them in class to search for a topic on the web demeans the productivity of your class. To write the web sites on the board makes little sense, since typing in long URLs can get frustrating. Post the web sites on your HW page!
Baseball Metaphor: First Base before Second Base
During the first week of my geometry class, I am repeating this mantra in my head over and over again ... I have NOT asked them to do anything on Sketchpad yet, but am showing them samples on the big screen and then asking them to walk me through the steps ... only after repeated efforts on their part in projector mode will I then give them the ibooks and in GROUPS OF TWO ask them to try a problem .. similarly with noblesnet and their electronic portfolios, I have made them for 3 straight days in GROUPS OF TWO do something small in scope on their ibooks .. it is a pedagogical mistake to try to get to second base with software before they have gotten to first base
Early Better Than Late
I experienced this the hard way when I showed up at Geometry class right when the bell rang and not before. The stress of getting my ibook plugged in, connecting to the sketchpad sample I wanted to show while starting class has convinced me that from now on, I will be totally OCD neurotic about getting set up BEFORE the students walk in the door.
Flexibility
Having taught the students how to take notes on their ibooks and send to their portfolios, I tell them each day they can either take notes on paper or ibooks, each having an advantage over the other
Gender Equity
Without making a big deal of it, when working two at a computer on a task, have them switch operators every 10 minutes, so that both people take turns at the control
NoblesNet Ketchup (a "disease")
When overseeing your students with IBooks or in the DLC or in the East and West Labs, do not as a teacher use this time to catch up ("ketchup") with noblesnet on your own machine ... instead, circulate and help your students with the task at hand and see how they are doing ... interact with them ... help them ... make observations about what they are doing ... noblesnet is a disease (perhaps a "social disease" aka officer krupkee in West Side Story) and to hop onto NoblesNet as a teacher while your students are working on something else in your classroom makes NO sense ... there will be time to ketchup with your love letters from Larry Bird later!
One on one or Two on one
If you have 18 people in a class, it is absolutely ridiculous to have 18 students look at a web page on 18 machines ... you are begging for a network headache as you try to solve the tech issues that a few of the 18 will have ... instead, have them look at the web page in groups of two ... now you are using 9 machines and have a few spare ones if/when tech problems occur ... communication between two people sitting at a computer is such a wonderful thing ("four eyes are better than two") and gives everyone a partner in doing the task before students holler for your help
Projector in a Classroom
Close the blinds THROUGHLY and keep that light out ... also, make it big ... make it big ... make it big ... ask a student in the far back to read a random word on the screen and you will know whether or not the text is readable ... move the projector back so that the white board or screen is as full as possible; change font size of desktop (control panel, appearance on mac) and/or web size (command + on a mac) ... at times, make a student operate so that you can establish eye contact with everyone and so that someone else can be navigating for you (at your direction)
PPPPP (prior planning prevents poor performance)
If they are going to a web site or webquest, do YOUR homework and learn how it works BEFOREHAND ... computers consume time and do not save time ... knowing as much as possible about what they are exploring before class begins ... if you are using a dedicated piece of software, put your time in BEFOREHAND ... ppppp
Plan B mentality ("contingency thinking")
I will apologize over and over again for the fact that our computer technology on campus is not like a bank. Noblesnet, bbs.nobles.edu, file servers, nobilis.nobles.edu, airports, wireless hookups and on on. You need to approach EVERY use of technology with plan B mentality. Will the projector be working? Will the bulb blow out in the middle of class? Will the web be working that day? Will the airport technology allows the ibooks to connect? Will all my students know their NoblesNet ids or passwords? And on and on. It is not a question of IF you need a plan B when using technology but WHEN. Computers force us to become plan B people and frequently plan B is better than plan A. Lynne Schalman just conducted a workshop on the web at a Connecticut school and the web was down; all of her instruction was on the blackboard with hand-drawn pictures of googol and webquests. Who knows? This might have been more useful for those teachers than looking at the real web!
Printing
Asking students to do something hands on and print it out makes little sense during class ... 10-20 students printing something out at the same time wastes time and makes them stand in line at the printer .. instead, if they are finding info, have them NoblesNet it to themselves (or you) and print it later
Saving
If doing a project, make them save and save often ... walk around the lab and see if the document is UNTITLED ... make everyone stand up and not sit down until they have saved ... save with a descriptive name, proper folder and onto the hard drive (rule of three)
Talking to Students while On Line
When getting their attention for a public announcement, make them stop by showing you their hands; if using laptops, the RULE OF FIST was passed on to me by Joe Hofmeister from Cincinnati Country Day School. People out West and down South use the phrase "bring it on down" ... either way, it means close the ibooks while the teacher is talking and/or show her/him your hands!
Visit Other Classes
There are now about 6 teachers using IBooks and projectors on a daily basis .. there are many more teachers using projectors on a daily basis ... we learn so much by visiting each other and seeing pedagogical techniques that work