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Cool Tech Tools for Lower Tech Teachers
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Cool Tech Tools for Lower Tech Teachers
20 Tactics for Every Classroom



November 2012 | 248 pages | Corwin
Make the painless transition from low tech to tech friendly!

Are you struggling to embrace technology that advances at lightning speed? Or are you just plain perplexed? With new developments announced almost on a daily basis, many teachers don't know where to start. If you're one of those teachers making the transition to tech—willingly or not—Cool Tech Tools for Lower Tech Teachers is the resource for you. In understandable language, it describes how exactly you can use tools like webquests, wikis, social networking apps, and podcasts to enhance your lessons and keep kids engaged.

William Bender and Laura Waller put technology within your reach by:

Framing each tool in the context of what you need to know

Defining the tool in easy-to-understand language; there's no tech-speak

Guiding you through implementation step by step

Providing sample lesson plans to get you started

Explaining how some tools can also be used for professional development

With Cool Tech Tools for Lower Tech Teachers, Bender and Waller prove that technology can be painless and productive. What's more, you'll even come to love it!

 
Acknowledgments
 
About the Authors
 
Introduction
 
Part I. Four Tools to Start With
 
Tech Tool 1: Web Access, Laptops, Mobile Devices
 
Tech Tool 2: Webquests
 
Tech Tool 3: Blogs
 
Tech Tool 4: Wikis
 
Part II. Tools for Student Engagement and Empowerment
 
Tech Tool 5: Cloud Computing
 
Tech Tool 6: The Flipped Classroom and Khan Academy
 
Tech Tool 7: Wiffiti
 
Tech Tool 8: Jing
 
Tech Tool 9: Gaming, ARGs, and Virtual World Instruction
 
Tech Tool 10: Diigo
 
Part III. Tech Tools for Student Creation and Collaboration
 
Tech Tool 11: Glogs
 
Tech Tool 12: Podcasts
 
Tech Tool 13: Scribd
 
Tech Tool 14: Comic Life
 
Tech Tool 15: Google Apps
 
Tech Tool 16: Vokis, Avatars, and Animation!
 
Tech Tool 17: Vlogs
 
Tech Tool 18: Animoto
 
Part IV. Tools for Social Learning and Networking
 
Tech Tool 19: Facebook
 
Tech Tool 20: Twitter
 
Part V. The Teaching Revolution and a Brave New World for the 21st Century
 
Index

"This book is an excellent resource for both new and experienced educators looking to make the most of Web 2.0 resources for teaching and learning. It can be used individually, but I think it would be most beneficial (and fun!) to use in small groups of educators as they support and surprise one another with their explorations and discoveries."

Chris Toy, Educational Consultant/Graduate School Instructor
Learning Capacity Unlimited/University of Southern Maine

"This is one of the most important tools that today’s teachers could have in their toolbox. There are great descriptions of the tools, and excellent ideas about how to easily put them to work."

David Callaway, 7th Grade Social Studies Teacher
Rocky Heights Middle School, Highlands Ranch, CO

"This book provides a wealth of ideas for teachers who would like to use technology but do not know where to begin. Each chapter provides a lens into specific categories of use and websites associated with the use. An encyclopedia of practical tools for the low-tech classroom!"

Bena Kallick, Educational Consultant

"Cool Tech Tools for the Lower-Tech Teacher is a great manual for all educators. Each of us can benefit from adding new technology tools in our classrooms, which speak to the instructional variety that our digital learners come to our classrooms with each day.
Our digital revolution is now, this book should be one of your tools as you set about designing a creative, collaborative, social and self-directed classroom! "

Cheryl Oakes, Resource Room Teacher
Wells High School, Wells, ME

"Every educator interested in bringing their classroom into the 21st century should get this book. It not only tells what the new technology is and how to use it, but it creates an invaluable vision for the future of education in which students are not only consumers of information but creators. This resource could help revolutionize education as we know it, if every teacher implemented the tech tools in this book!"

Jolene Dockstader, 7th Grade Language Arts Teacher
Jerome Joint School District, West, Jerome, ID

"This is a much needed, delightful, inviting, tech plain speak compendium of cool tech, Common Core tools, any teacher can infuse using the steps and differentiating strategies suggested by the authors. This demystifies cool tech tools for the non techie teacher."

Rose Cherie Reissman, Literacy Specialist/ Technology Integration Specialist
New York City Department of Education, IS 62, Brooklyn, NY

Sample Materials & Chapters

Introduction


William N. Bender

William N. Bender, PhD, has had a long and distinguished career in education, teaching in public school for several years and in higher education for some 26 years at Blue?eld State College in West Virginia, Rutgers University in New Jersey, and the University of Georgia. He has written 36 books in special and general education. With his retirement, he has stepped back from his rigorous workshop schedule, which as recently as 2016 included some 40 workshop days per year. While the COVID-19 pandemic impacted his work, he has written four historical ?ction novels and several educational books in recent years. He has delivered several... More About Author

Laura B. Waller

Laura Waller, MS/MA, is a former elementary school teacher, an author, a National Certified Counselor, and a Licensed Professional Counselor. She holds a master’s degree in elementary education from Johns Hopkins University and a second master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling from Capella University. Waller is also an ADHD-Certified Clinical Services Provider. She entered the counseling field after a number of years as a teacher in elementary classrooms in North Carolina and Washington, DC. This classroom background yields a unique developmental perspective when Waller is working therapeutically with children, teens, and their... More About Author

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ISBN: 9781452235530
$39.95

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