The average American teen texts a lot: 3,339 messages per month, according to a recent Nielsen survey. That's more than 130 of them a day, everyday or a text every 10 minutes, almost around the clock. However one looks at it, cell phones have revolutionized the way kids communicate. How should teachers respond? Historian Niall Ferguson's opinion…

This article presents thirty simple ideas for interactive whiteboards and how IWB can make one's teaching life easier. These teaching ideas for the interactive whiteboard can be used by teachers every day. Tips for classroom management are also presented.

Skype, Edmodo, iApps, and Shutterfly may sound like fantasy characters or mythical creatures from some futuristic novel. But the students at Paine Primary School in Trussville, Alabama, will gladly explain that these odd-sounding names belong to the Web 2.0 applications in which they are fast becoming fluent. For these kids--and those at other…

There was a time when the chalkboard was revolutionary. Before it came along, teachers would walk from student to student, drawing problems on individual slates. Now interactive whiteboards promise to reinvent instruction again. Many teachers are now discovering the benefits of using whiteboards. This article presents several strategies on how…

Listening to podcasts or watching videocasts in the classroom couldn't be easier--or cheaper. But if one has a computer and an Internet connection, he or she already has all the equipment he or she needs. This article lists ten podcasts for teachers and students.

Introduces a section that focuses on educational technology, including classroom-friendly hardware, software, and peripherals that can help support teaching and enhance student learning. This section also offers information from teachers about technology products that they find indispensable. (SM)

The Internet's multimedia environment requires students to work as designers and artists. In this multimedia world, art is a basic literacy, and students need education in art literacy. This paper recommends that schools: rename and demystify art; hire more art teachers; increase fourth-literacy requirements in teacher education; and schedule one…

Presents a protocol to teach students research skills in the technology/information age developed by one Westchester County, New York, school district. The district determined that research skills must be modeled and taught, and research skills must be taught developmentally, beginning in the elementary grades. The paper breaks the district's…

Presents tips to help K-2 teachers get their students using technology, including: establish routines, pair students at the computer, make transitions to tie computer lab learning with classroom learning, time tasks, use peer-to-peer support, and use technology meaningfully in the classroom. Sidebars present hints for selecting computer resources…

Describes a powerful combination of technology and teaching in Orange County, Florida, that has raised the reading scores of struggling students by as much as two grade levels each year. The project features an interactive software system and a literacy workshop model. It strives to help students overcome two common problems: lack of reading…

Two resources to help students conduct research are the new CD-ROM versions of the Encarta Encyclopedia Deluxe 2000 (for strong readers, grades 5-8) and the Year 2000 Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia (for strong readers, grades 3 and up). By supplementing traditional text-based information with specialized features (e.g., virtual tours and video…

Describes standards-based social studies activities for elementary school students that uses computer technology to support curriculum. The first has students use HyperStudio to create postcards when they study regions of the United States. The second has students participate in ongoing correspondence with e-mail pals from around their state. (SM)

Computerized word processing can be a valuable tool for writing instruction because the machines make it easier for students to properly revise and correct their work. Ways that teachers and students can use the machines are described, and problems, such as limited access to computer terminals and the necessity for students to type, are noted. (PP)

Describes how one fourth-grade teacher developed a Web site to build online research skills. The Day I Was Born helps students find interesting details about what was occurring in the world on their birth day. Suitable for grades 4 and up, it provides links to such sources as the New York Times Learning Network and History Channel On-Line. (SM)

Internet-based courses are rapidly expanding professional development opportunities for teachers. Today, a small but growing number of organizations offer hundreds of classes enabling teachers to fulfill state requirements, accumulate continuing education units or professional development points, and earn graduate credit. Internet-based courses…