1. The name of the tool you used (i.e. Plickers, FrontRow, etc)

I used Plickers

2. What content area did you use it with

I used it during ELA during a lesson on rhyming. I had a 4 question exit ticket. Some might say, why not just a worksheet? In a kinder class with a high ELL population (62%) when I do a rhyming worksheet, I have to read all of the picture options anyway. So, I put a series of cards with the ABCD choices and then I had them hold up their cards.

3. How many students did you involve (Try your tool with just one kid to get started) I started the tool with a small group.

4. What went well? The first time I used Plickers, I was ready to hang it up. 4 students had the correct answer displayed on their card, but according to Plickers, they were incorrect. The 2 who were incorrect were showing up as correct.

5. What went wrong?

There is an option on Plickers to rotate the answers. The second time I tried it on one card and it needed rotated again. The third time was correct and I went on. So I will definitely calibrate the cards the next time I use them. 

6. What surprised you? (Student engagement Data collection, ease of use). It took me a little to get the distance correct, but then it was easy.

7. Will you make this tool a part of your practice? Definitely. The kids liked seeing their answers on the screen, they enjoyed the cards. It was as quick as a worksheet  and there was no copying. I had no papers to correct! 

I went on to do this whole class. I spent about 3 minutes calibrating the kids' use of the cards to make sure they were holding them up correctly (the small group was my high group and they got it instantly). I can see this being a great formative assessment tool In my old school I had used a clicker system, but there was one set in the school and it was hard to count on them. this is an excellent, practically free alternative.

What device do you need in your classroom? Are you an iPad person or a Chromebooker? First, make a list of what activities you would like to accomplish using digital tools. Would you want to make movies? Do you want your students to utilize producivity tools? Do you want eReaders? Next read the attached article Are iPads or Chromebooks better for schools? Last, tell me what device would meet your needs? Is there any one device a school or school district should choose? Why or why not.

The answer to the question are iPads or Chromebooks better for schools seems to be a difficult one as shown in the article. I lived through the debate in my previous home. My husband was a school board chair and the HS wanted to do one to one iPads to replace netbooks that they were using at the time. There was a lot of educational software that Apple was throwing in to sweeten the deal and my husband insisted in the negotiations that keyboards be included (despite Apple's assurance that they were superflulous). Students later reported that they were glad they had these. I asked my husband why they did not do Chromebooks and he said that, if he had to do it again, he would have.

However,  I teach kindergarten. I think that the iPad format is a lot easier for children who barely know the alphabet, let alone understand a keyboard. When I used the iPad cart with my first graders at my old school, I found they were more able to access them then when I used the netbook cart. Little fingers are just not good with keyboarding. There are a lot of apps for the iPad that I would use if I had them to use in my classroom, including a letter formation app and several math apps. I could also see using them as an e reader with perhaps raz kids. I like making videos on the iPad. I like Educreations and Skitch. I have also used Socrative. I see the value of iPads for early ed for sure.

Personally I am not an Apple person. I own one so that I can Facetime with my grandson in Japan, but I have never really joined the cult of Apple. I would be more inclined to like Apple if they were not so proprietary in their apps and their chargers.

So I guess the short answer is there is no one size fits all tablet for schools. What works for smaller children, just learning their letters and numbers is very different than what older kids may need. Schools would probably be best served having different options available for different uses and ages.

What have you done recently to showcase your  digital immigrant accent? I am not sure that I have done any of the things Prensky calls a digital accent. These are things my mother in law does. I also find the article a tad condescending. Just because we were not born in the 80's or later does not mean we are digital immigrants. I would submit some of us are digital pioneers. We are the ones who used TRS 80s and card readers. We acquired our knowledge of technology before Steve Jobs and Bill Gates made it so idiot proof.

Does Prensky realize that Sesame Street is 45 years old and also predates the PC? Does he know that Schoolhouse Rock debuted in 1973?

Prensky states “Digital Immigrant instructors, who speak an outdated language (that of the pre-digital age), are struggling to teach a population that speaks an entirely new language.” Is this argument still valid?

I think that Mr. Prensky lives in a world where resources are a tad more plentiful than in Beaverton OR. I would love to use digital resources and have used them quite a bit when I taught in a state and town that understood the importance of 21 Century instruction. I used Smartboard games and lessons I created, I had children using Google Maps to study their town, we abandoned textbooks in favor of digital resources.I had computers as centers while I was doing small group instruction. I used iClickers for formative assessments. Now I use a computer projected onto a canvas screen! It is hard to teach technology to children who have none at their fingertips. The other issue is what do the poor students in our district have at home? Even in my Title I school in Vermont, 80% of my kids reported that they could use mom or dad's computer or had one of their own. That is not the case here in Oregon.

I think that the author is confused as to who the biggest digital immigrants are...HINT they control ed funding. We have a Senate Majority Leader who proudly claims he has never written an email. YIKES!

As educators, are we now facing new problems that Prensky did not anticipate?
I think Mr. Prensky did not anticipate in 2001 that there would be schools in 2015 who did not provide adequate technology to teach a class of 21 (!) kindergarteners. I am sure his children do not go to such a school. School funding and school priorities vary from region to region, but I do not see technology increasing in schools when budgets to keep class sizes to a reasonable level are hard to pass. I know when my old school went to the 1:1 in the middle and high school there was a lot of community push back, but we had a curriculum coordinator who could speak eloquently about 21st century skills, and a school board that included engineers from IBM who could sell it to our town. Of course there was ARRA (stimulus) money for some of those ventures and that money has dried up.

1. Do you see yourself blogging? Why not? Maybe. I am not sure that my parents will read it.
2. What are the advantages of blogging? Puts information out to a large audience. Saves paper.
3. What are the possible hang ups of blogging? Parents won't read it
4. How is a blog different from a website? Two way communication.
5.What could a blog replace in your classroom for you or your students? Newsletter. Assignments/reminders. Pictures to let parents feel part of your day.