Last year, our school purchased two classroom sets of graphing calculators with these pod type things. The students are in groups of 4 and hook up to the pod which in turn hooks up to the teacher's computer. The teacher can have the students create a certain type of graph, have it go to the teachers computer when they are ready and the teacher can display the graph using a projector to the entire class. The class can then analyze the graph displayed and see if their results match! Amazing...and instant gratification (which we all know is exactly what kids are looking for).
Another piece of technology that I have come in contact with is video conferencing. We have a room in our school that is fully equipped with video conferencing materials all purchased through grants. In the past two years I have video conferenced with NASA scientists (for FREE..check it out at http://dln.nasa.gov/dln/) on four occasions! The kids were amazed that they could actually talk to a real NASA scientist. This not only got the kids involved but it showed the district how easy it was for us to do this.
I feel that as teachers it is important to expose the students to as many technology resources that we can get a hold of. If we don't do this then who will show them that their computer is more than AIM, Internet and E-mail? It is our professional responsibility to show them how much is out there and how to properly use it! So the next time you want them to do a project, don't have them make a poster, have them make a website or a blog about their topic. It gets the student's involved and it is a lot easier carrying around your laptop rather than a huge stack of posters!
