Integrating Technology in the Classroom on a Small Budget

Modern classrooms differ greatly from those that students attended just 15 years ago. Although textbooks are still considered a chief source for learning, technology is now considered fundamental to preparing students for entrance into adult careers. Yet the benefits aren't only long-term ones. Studies show improved student achievement and self-concept, attitude and teacher-student interaction in classrooms when technology is employed as an alternative method of learning.

There is some good news and bad news when it comes to integrating technology in the classroom. The bad news is, classroom technology can be costly, which is especially challenging for educators in light of diminishing school budgets. Technology is often one of the first programs cut. However, the good news is there are ways to integrate technology in your classroom without breaking the bank. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Use what you have - Think outside the box when it comes to your computer. Most older students probably already know how to message or email on their home computers. But do they know how to access programs that will help them with homework or project presentations? Offer students the opportunity to give book reports or presentations using PowerPoint. Show younger students how to use Windows Paint or Kid Pix to draw illustrations for units they are studying. They could draw a map of a famous battle they are studying in history, show the correct number of something for math concepts, or illustrate a plant species and its anatomy for science. When technology is integrated in the classroom daily, learning will be enhanced as students become comfortable with using a variety of programs. And since work can be saved to a disk or a thumb drive, less paper and other supplies will be wasted with classroom projects.

Infinite library - The internet offers a virtually unlimited "library" of information, most of it offered free of charge. Yet sometimes it can be a challenge to find the information you need. Give students practice using your class computer's search feature by encouraging them to find information on the internet. Present an argument and challenge students to find information about the topic. Have them include supporting statements from credible advocates on both sides of the issue, adding their own opinion at the end. Students will learn how to search difficult topics, realize there is always more than one side to a story and teach them about finding credible sources for the information they need. Students can also create trivia questions about a unit topic by finding information on corporate or government websites. They can explore their own state by going to the state website or learn more about business by reading the "about us" tab of a corporation or organization they are interested in.

Wii remote whiteboard - If you have a computer with Bluetooth capabilities, a Wii remote control, a computer project screen (recommended), and a few inexpensive electronics, you can create a whiteboard for your classroom. Instructions for this project can be found at: http://www.techintheclassroom.com/7/cheap-whiteboard-using-a-wii-remote.

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Opinion of Teachers and Students on the Changing Classroom Technology

In the growing demand of educated youth it is the responsibility of the parents and teachers to give their students and children their space to explore things. Teachers in school should give the students the time to explore the new classroom technology as and when it is incorporated. Likewise parents should also refrain themselves from constantly indulging the child's privacy. At home a child is always pushed to study. Parents don't realise that even children need a break from routine studies.

At school children have no option but to study and study in the pattern that is been laid out by the teachers. They do not get their time to explore the classroom technology and the resources that would benefit them. But for the rescue of students there are teachers like Ross (Teacher in a Cambridge school) who believe students can explore new technology even better and positive on their own rather than explaining it to them. The teacher also believes that teaching with the help of innovative and meaningful games creates a ever lasting impact on students brains.

It is difficult to believe but Ross uses digital game based education in his classroom for educating the kids. He uses the content related games like Diplomacy in the classroom. He teams up people on different computers and plays the game using the interactive whiteboard. Ross says there are many benefits of playing this game because students get familiar with sills of negotiation, the importance of synergy, w to solve any problem collaboratively and last but not the least they also learn how to mind their actions as per situation. After the game it becomes very easy for Ross to explain the difficult terms like synergy, negotiation etc.

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The Field Of Communications Is Growing As Fast As Technology

It doesn't matter if business has a product to sell, a disaster to mitigate or anything else involving mass media; they call in a communications expert. These are people specially trained to deliver a message from a source to an audience. Whether that audience is one person or the general public at large, the message needs to be shaped and delivered. It's also one of the most creative, dynamic, and challenging of many of the current occupations.

At its core, all communications is about the delivery of a message from one point to another. It can be anything from a song to a political screed. A communications expert concentrates on targeting the most responsive market for that message, how to create, edit and deliver that message, and then ensures it "spins" the way it is supposed to.

A person can easily see how dynamic the field is just seeing the evolution of mass media. In the 20th Century alone, communications must stay abreast of the likes of radio, then television and now onto the web and what is now called social media. Anyone in advertising and public relations is now constantly shifting their methods to keep up with the latest form of mass media.

It doesn't take much for a high school student to realize those who want to enter this field need strong written and oral skills. A basic comprehension of statistics, information technology and some flair in the creative arts are a serious bonus. Communications specializes in crossing disciplines, so the initial goal is to get a fairly rounded education in the humanities and related business courses.

From this point, there are a number of excellent community, state and online schools offering courses in a great deal of communications subjects. A good way to approach a Bachelors of Arts or Sciences in communications is to first see if the school is properly accredited and how successful they are in placing graduates into real jobs. From there, a good idea is to use the first two years of college for a solid and overall general education in business and humanities courses. By a student's junior year, it's time to specialize in anything from journalism through mass media. Searching for an internship or work-study program is also highly recommended.

Upon getting that bachelor's, the number of employment options for a communications grad is fairly endless. Just about every kind of business employs them, from major health institutions to media concerns onto political groups. It should also be noted that competition for these jobs is high. There are a lot of people out there looking to work in this arena.

Still, with enough creativity and perseverance, a graduate can rise up the media ladder. Entry level salaries tend to be in the low-to-mid 20s, depending on who hired you. At the same time, prove you're good at the game and salaries can go into the millions.

If you have that right mix of savvy, creativity and toughness, a career in the world of communications is a perfect fit. Add these classes to a business program online and you're combining two powerful mediums. Those new to online learning will enjoy the free courses offered by several organizations. Get familiar, then get learning, and soon - a degree!

Cold Fusion Technology - A Third Choice In Nuclear Energy

In communicating about new energy, I often use the moniker cold fusion. Its direct relation to the fusion process, and the implication of coldness, may only loosely describe the energy effect that Professors' Pons and Fleischmann saw 21 years ago, and symbolic poetry the koan "cold fusion" may be. But the fact is, the use of the term cold fusion does, at least initially, avoid the word "nuclear".

Upon hearing the word nuclear to describe this powerful energy producing effect, many listeners are instantly wary, knowing what that word can mean. But there are several different types of energy-producing nuclear effects, many of which have the possibility of use as an energy source. If you are new to the new energy movement, or trying to make informed decisions about your energy use, knowing the distinction between different types of nuclear-generated power is crucial.

The reason nuclear power is important is because there is no amount of renewable energy that will provide all the energy we need. Put solar panels over all the land in the US. Put wind turbines up and down the coasts. The power generated won't match the energy we're getting from oil, gas, and coal. If humanity wants a peaceful existence on a healthy planet, we will have to use nuclear power to do it.

But don't fear the word! The nuclear power that created Three Mile Island and Chernobyl is not the only kind of nuclear power! Even hot fusion does not appear to complete the nuclear energy-producing classification. 21 years ago a different kind of nuclear energy-generating effect was announced, one that is capable of providing a safe, clean, and green nuclear-sized power using a fuel derived from seawater.

Traditional scientific theories have postulated two kinds of nuclear power, fission and fusion, each with a theory filled out confidently. So what is the difference?

Fission nuclear energy refers to the energy released when atoms split apart. For instance, bombarding a uranium atom with a neutron will split apart the uranium, releasing energy. A lot of energy.

Nuclear fission is a powerful energy source, way more powerful than the chemical burning of hydrocarbons such as oil and gas. This makes nuclear power very attractive to a world with growing needs. Fission nuclear reactions power the conventional nuclear power plants that exist today.

But fission requires a radioactive fuel, such as uranium, which must be mined, processed, and transported. There is a high risk of contaminating the environment, water, and people, possibly making areas uninhabitable for thousands of years. This makes conventional nuclear power plants very dangerous.

Fission reactions also produce a highly radioactive waste materials for which there is no good solution to dealing with. Since the waste can last for thousands of years, it just about impossible to dispose of securely.

Like oil and gas, fission power relies on a finite source of fuel which must be mined from the geography where it exists, engendering all the geo-political issues that currently plague the extraction of hydrocarbons.

Nuclear power plants as they exist today require a decade plus in planning and permits and a large infrastructure of complex engineering. Weighing the huge carbon input and amount of resources expended against the operational lifetime of the plant and the all the inherent risk make unwise further building of conventional fission nuclear reactors. They are dirty, dangerous, and unprofitable.

But, conventional physics has modeled another kind of nuclear reaction, fusion. A fusion nuclear reaction occurs when two atoms fuse together becoming one, and creating a new atom. For instance, two deuterium atoms could fusion together into a helium atom. (Deuterium is a form of hydrogen found in seawater.)

In a fusion reaction, the mass of the resulting Helium atom is slightly less than the masses of the initial two Deuterium atoms combined. This "missing" mass was actually converted into energy according to Albert Einstein's famous equation E=mc2. A lot of energy. It turns out that fusion is even more powerful than fission.

So why aren't we using it now?

Fusion is hard to produce. Nuclear fusion is what occurs deep inside the interiors of stars like our Sun. As understood by scientists, nuclear fusion is a process that requires extremely high pressures and temperatures. These conditions are so physically extreme, that hot fusion scientists have yet to succeed in sustaining the reaction.

Yet should this research succeed, the power of nuclear fusion could provide all of humanity's energy needs for millions of years. Deuterium fuel is easily harvested from the oceans and other elements for fuel can be created. Plus, there is no carbon dioxide emission from nuclear fusion.

Current conventional fusion reactor designs are centralized and complex engineering structures all requiring enormous amounts of energy to run. After tens hundreds of billions of dollars, attempts to recreate hot fusion in conditions like that in the interior of our sun have met with little success.

But what has been exciting for the new energy movement is the discovery of a third kind of nuclear-effect, a newly discovered process that produces fusion-sized energy, but does not fit the traditional theory, an effect that 21 years ago was then, unkindly, dubbed cold fusion.

Cold fusion was the name given to a newly discovered heat-producing "nuclear" reaction, whose mechanism is still yet unknown. There are many names given to this energy effect: low-energy nuclear reactions, lattice-assisted nuclear reactions, chemically-assisted nuclear reactions, and even solid fusion.

Whatever it may be called, the cold fusion reaction produces nuclear fusion-sized power inside of a thin film of metal bathed in a glass of heavy water at a comfortable room temperature. Attaching a small battery for a little juice can produce megajoules of energy from 0.3 grams of palladium over days, with no radioactive waste and no CO2 emission.

The energy effect comes in the form of heat, but it does not produce the type or quantity of radiation that is seen in hot fusion. Scientists are currently struggling to understand what process is at work theoretically, but the big problem is reproducing the effect on demand. Most of the conditions needed to produce the effect are know, but not all of them. In particular, the palladium (or other material) must be prepared properly in just the right way. Just what will consistently produce the effect is only partially known.

Nevertheless, results from 21 years of experiments are clear: the production of energy from this process has been measured and confirmed. Current energy outputs are 25 times the energy input, with that number recently grown to a possible 400 times output to input energy!

Transitioning this newly discovered science into technology will take time. Increased reliability of energy produced must occur first.

The federal government, the servant of its people, and the ones who take our money for the common good, must fund this research now. After the basic science is developed, private capital will invest to engineer technology that we the people will buy. Inventors will create new ways to utilize a whole new form of energy and change our world. There will be nothing less than a revolution.

At the end of the oil age, there isn't enough oil left to bother drilling in the most deep and dangerous places. Oil is a precious resource, a chemical stock. We shouldn't be burning it in our poorly designed transports. Save it to manufacture medical devices and other comforts of humanity.

End acid rain from destroying Earth's forests. Stop the flood of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. End resource wars and scarcity. Think differently. Move on as a people. Live in peace with your neighbors. Treat the wildlife of our living world as equals to ourselves.

We can turn around right now by paying attention and expanding research on this new form of energy production, a third choice in nuclear power. All efforts should be to support this safe and peaceful power source.

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Technology and Home Schooling - 3 Ways to Use Computers in a Home Classroom

Technology and home schooling tend to go hand and hand. Like traditional school environments, your child should be learning to use the computer for research and writing papers. Discussed below are 3 ways to use computers in a home classroom.

The first way to use a computer in your home classroom benefits you, the teacher. The internet has a wide variety of curriculum ideas and study guides that you can tailor to suit your needs.

If your child is struggling in a particular subject and you cannot seem to break through to them, the internet has many items that can help you. There are virtual tutors, virtual schools, and online curriculum that can get you and your child through a difficult subject.

Sadly, your child may not spend the same amount of time that you did in the library, which will cut down on them learning how to research a specific topic. However, he or she can learn to research using the internet. You can give them a topic to research on the internet. Give them an hour to see what they can find, then discuss the different sites and the validity of information they found.

Having a computer in your home classroom can completely change the way your child learns and the way you teach. Using a computer will stimulate your child's desire to research and learn more about a topic that interests them. With the number of educational websites and CD-ROMS, your child can find even more information than ever before.

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Interactive Whiteboard Resources - New Technology Increasing Speed and Reliability

In the olden days people used coal and brick pieces to write. This is the time even before the chalks and boards were invented. Education and schools were still a part of society. Children used to attend the so called schools. Teachers made use of the walls as boards and brick pieces and charcoal as chalks. On the other hand students used their fingers to write in the dust and mud on the floor. Studies used to happen in a very poor environment. There was no specific infrastructure dedicated to studies.

But as days progressed inventions started happening. Blackboards and colourful chalks were invented by the head master of a school in Scotland. Most of the teachers then started using the teaching resource. Not all schools could afford the installation of the new boards. Few schools gathered money from various sources to get it done while others were helped by the government and social institutions. The era of blackboards had begun, and then came in the whiteboards. The whiteboards were invented with purpose of reducing dust and making the classroom a dust free room.

Many teachers and students had allergies to the chalk powder and so began a new research to eliminate this worry. The whiteboards used a marker to be written with and since it was ink there was no dust and hence it eliminated all the allergies happening from chalk dust. Lately the traditional whiteboards have been replaced by interactive whiteboards. The board work in conjunction with the interactive whiteboard resources and connects the classroom to the world with the help on internet. The interactive nature of the board and the resources helps the teachers to analyse the students understanding and in turn identify the area of concern.

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