Student Showcase: Best Practices in Ed Tech

Finding good examples of best practices in educational technology is not always easy. But the California Department of Education is out to improve the situation with a state-wide technology showcase for curriculum-based student technology projects. Check out the student gallery here. Each selection includes learning objectives and teacher reflection.

For those who are looking for ways to use podcasting in education, why not try VocabuCasting? Teacher, Randy Kolset, from De Portola Elementary describes his experience at the CDE Showcase site. Follow the trail to the classroom web site and you'll see how students are using vocabu-casting across the curriculum in science, language arts, social studies and math.

If you want to experience podcasting on a global level, check out the work of Carol Anne McGuire's students in Anaheim, CA through Rock Our World. Now in its fifth year, the current Rock-n-Sol collaboration involves NASA educators and students from 15 countries who share lessons and cultural knowledge about the sun. Musical composition is an annual component of the project. It is done as a collaborative process using Garage Band. Teams each create a 30-second sound track, then pass it on to students in the next country. Each team of students adds their own 30-second track until the music has come a complete circle. Then, new instruments are added and the process is repeated. The final symphony represents collaboration from every continent.