Creative Technologies

1. Rolls-Royce Smart Board 8070i
This smart board series is equipped with four cameras in each corner that designate where the board is being touched. An awesome feature on the smart board is the multi-touch aspect. In the classroom, tow or more students will be able to work on the smart board at a time. Not only will this increase work time, but it will serve as a teamwork activity as students complete achievements together. Grouping, shading, and swapping are possible techniques that students will be able to perform and enjoy with one another.

iPad's are already commonly used in the classroom, but now they can connect to an educator's classroom computer via Bluetooth. This can be used as a resource when working on group activities presented on the smart board.  Teachers will be able to walk around the classroom during instruction and help students individually. This will ensure that one-on-one time they deserve while still maintaining large classroom discussion. No matter where the teacher is in the classroom, students will be able to see and hear what is happening on the smart board at all times. In addition, students who are at home can connect and partake in the lesson just as if they are sitting in the classroom.  

2. Augmented Reality Visualization Tool
Zco.com is a source of custom apps, one of which is called Augment. This app consists of different models of 3-D images that students can see through their device's camera to make it appear on something physical. Students can manipulate these images to make them small or can make them large to see what's inside of them. Augment can be used in fun ways. For example, it can be hung on the wall and students can effectively be put inside of a historical building or object. When teaching history, students can get a close to real life experience about a particular place they are studying. In math, students can learn about volume as they squeeze into a cup. These virtual experiences will create fun and exciting schema for students.

3. Active Table
The Active Table is a multi-layer function compiled with great activities and lessons for students. This technology would be of great use in elementary schools, especially great for students with disabilities as it can serve for ELL activities. The Active Table is about collaboration where students work together to achieve a shared goal. It is a fun way to create settings, plots, and characters for stories. Each student gets their own avatar and has their own set of tools. When working on an activity, students can share their work with other students at the table. When they are finished, there is a copy tool that will make copies for each student partaking in the activity so that they can add individuality. The activity can be exported back to the teacher so that the final product can be examined. A really cool feature is the heat map. It shows all finger strokes and all amounts of touches that was done by each student at the table. This would be very useful for me as a teacher to see which students were participating well and which students were struggling with the activity so that I could supply additional help. Overall, I think that students would thoroughly enjoy working on the Active Table with their peers.