Technology and Science

Use these classroom management ideas to calm your class down and get them ready...

Use this time-tested template to guide students through the research...

Teaching strategies to help you redirect off-task students.

Teaching strategies to get your students to talk more.

10 teacher-tested classroom activities that will help your students let out...

Document Camera
It's amazing to me that this simple technology in the classroom (a camera on a flexible neck that connects to a projector) has taken so long to become more common in classrooms across America. By allowing a teacher to display almost anything (images, lab demonstrations, objects, student work, etc.) on the "big screen" in front of everyone, my document camera has become something I use nearly every minute of every day. Better yet, students get excited about showing off their work or reporting out their team's data to the class with this device.

Livescribe SmartPen
These pens are incredible! With no extra instruction, a child can use one to write or draw something on special paper and record whatever audio its microphone hears. After a 10-second sync to my laptop, I can post and share the video replay of whatever the student wrote on the paper with the audio as voice-over. My students use them to explain tough concepts, record team brainstorming sessions, and even capture classroom notes for students who are absent.

Student Response System ("Clickers")

Formative assessment that leads to differentiation and remediation is the cornerstone of effective teaching. You can't really teach students if you don't know what they know-at the start, middle, and end of the lesson. Clicker systems take much of the pressure off of teachers to design, administer, and score these short formative assessments. Along with my Professional Learning Team, I create a simple set of questions at the start of every unit. Then, I use them as a pre-test, progress check, and review for the final test. Once the questions are entered into the software, it takes only a few seconds for students to complete the assessment and for you to see the results. Newer models even allow open-ended responses.

Pocket Camcorders ("Flip-style Cameras")

There is hardly a teacher I know who isn't familiar with these by now. Combining affordability, ruggedness, and ease of use, these devices have become the best way to capture video at school. In the Science classroom, they can be used to create instructional videos (by students or the teacher), demonstrate lab activities, and even have students narrate nature walks. My students use one on field trips to record the exciting moments for those who could not join us.

Probeware

While this may sound like alien gadgetry, probeware is just a tool for collecting data during class experiments. Usually you get an interface with ports for connecting probes that measure temperature, light, pressure, electric current, and others. Start with one or two types of probes and add on later as your budget allows.