Your school district needs to move into the “digital age,” but you don’t have the budget.

WebPics (1)Not to worry — you don’t need a classroom set of shiny iPads to motivate your students with technology.

Using basic, free web tools, you can enhance your lessons, provide alternative assessments, and get your students excited about learning.

We’ve used these tools in our own lessons, and can present them or design a workshop to train your teachers in their implementation.

Podcasting 101 - School Edition

With tools like Audacity and Audioboo, podcasting has never been easier or cheaper. These two great resources are free! The first portion of this workshop will teach you the basics of using Audacity to create an mp3 file. The second portion will show you how to turn your newly created mp3 file into a podcast that can be posted online for student, parent, and community subscribers. You will need to have access to an email account during this session.
*Hands-on

Picture This - Digital Storytelling/Reporting

Using Photostory 3 — a free, downloadable application — we’ll share ideas and student-created projects to give you inspiration for using this powerful tool with your own students. After a brief demonstration of what this software can do, we’ll walk you through the steps of creating a “digital story” of your own.
*Presentation or hands-on

Let's Make a Movie with Windows Movie Maker

Maybe you didn’t know it, but you have the power to bring your students’ work to life using free software that’s already on your computer (it comes standard with Windows). In this hands-on, step-by-step workshop, we’ll show you the best ways to use this program with your students. You’ll be amazed at how easy it is to create digital stories, alternative assessments, and audio/visual books. We’ll also share plenty of other integration ideas (including use with United/Discovery Streaming).
*Hands-on

Pump Up the Writing

If you’ve ever wondered how to integrate technology into your writing lessons, we can show you how. Motivate your students to write more and complain less using digital technology, including PhotoStory 3, Animoto, Movie Maker, and Blabberize. We’ll also demonstrate how to integrate audio and video to differentiate instruction and engage students with varied learning styles.
*Presentation

Ban the Book Report

Ditch the boring book reports — we’ll show you ways your students can make book trailers, book talks, and audio books to share with younger students or their own classmates. Free online resources will empower your students’ creativity and get them excited about reading and sharing their favorite books.
*Presentation