A use for LiveBinder that I found very interesting was the idea of using it as a note-taking tool.  Although this is not the intended purpose of livebinder, it is a tool that allows you to organize your thoughts very well, and would be great for a student who types their notes.  In addition, you can add links to websites that could be possible study tools or extra resources to add in your notes.  Although this note-taking format would not work for everyone, I think it could be a great option for some students.

Vocabulary is something that most students do not think of as fun or exciting.  Instead, it is something that you memorize, and get tested on.  Technology is allowing learning vocabulary to be much more fun and engaging for students, which will help students retain vocabulary better and learn more vocabulary on their own time.  Students can use programs like Wordle to focus on the most important vocabulary words, and even play vocabulary games on computers.  Technology also allows students to express the vocabulary they have learned in a creative way and teach their peers about what they have learned.  

When I was in elementary school teachers were not using blogs, so it was surprising to me how many benefits blogs can have for students.  I particularly liked the idea that students have a real audience for their writing when they are writing on a blog, rather than only writing for their teacher.  I also thought that it was a really neat way for teachers to get information out to students and to encourage students to actually read the information.  Having it in this format encourages students to participate more so than just sending them home with a sheet of paper.  Lastly, I think it is really neat that students can become more proficient in typing through blog-use.  This is a skill that many students struggle with, and extra practice is always good!

One blog in particular that stood out to me can be found here: http://birdsofsalem.wordpress.com/ This blog stood out to me because of how reader-friendly it was.  It included a lot of pictures and the information was organized in a way that made it easy to understand, and was the same for any bird.  I thought the addition of the “Bird-sighting Submission Form” is a neat idea to make the blog more fun.

Technology is something that I have often had negative feelings about, but something that I am realizing can be a wonderful resource in the classroom.  The technology I am talking about is electronic resources on computers, iPads, etc.  My issue with technology is that sometimes it can get in the way of meaningful interactions between students.  However, one of the best ways I have heard of technology being used in a classroom, was a classroom set up that allowed students to gain even more hands-on and face-to-face interaction.  In this classroom set-up students did online work at home through videos and online programs that taught new material to them.  Students could get help through the program, and also through parents who could also watch the videos, rather than trying to help the student but being confused about what is being taught. Once students came to school, they had learned new material and the teachers could focus on engaging the students with the new ideas, rather than spending time learning them.  Bigger projects, and more hands-on activities could be done with this new time. Meaningful activities are able to replace lectures. Another very positive way I have seen technology used in a classroom is through assistive technology for students who are physically disabled and can use technology to express themselves, and also to complete homework.  Technology is a great resource that allows people to do more, and to understand more. 

There are some circumstances in which I have seen technology being used poorly, however.  Sometimes in classrooms students who are ahead or behind are sent to a computer to either catch up, or work on something new.  The problem here is that the teacher does not know what the students are working on, and oftentimes students are working on something unrelated to what the teacher is working on.  Not all programs are created equally.  Technology should only be used when it is purposeful and the teacher is very aware of what students are working on, and has a goal in mind for the students.  Undirected technology use does not have the same strong benefits, and can very easily become wasted classroom time.