Tool 9

I think it is important to tie technology to the objective so students have a clear understanding of what is expected of them.  I want my student's time in the classroom to be meaningful, therefore if I ask them to use technology as a workstation they need to understand why and what they are learning/practicing.  If students are held accountable there is less time for goofing off!  I think Mangahigh would be great to use, as it's a gaming environment and it competitive.  Students would be driven to participate and since they receive badges for completion of assigned work it is easy to hold students accountable. I also liked the Learning Games for kids site and I think kids would, too.  I could have students write an open ended reflection after their time on the site.  Alien Kids Math HD and the BrainPop apps are both things I would like to use in my classroom.  They could use both during workshop time and write about what they learned/practiced, possibly using some type of feedback form, when they finished.  I found the itouch useful to use with a new ESL student last year to practice learning English.  Equipped with headphones, she could hear the letter sounds and practice putting them together to make words, complete with pictures to learn new vocabulary.