This practical, useful, and user friendly book is intended to help teachers integrate technology into their curriculum. With all the buzz words about 21st Century learning, teachers need to reconsider how they are teaching. There are so many creative ways that teachers could be using technology to improve the learning for all students. Students need to be engaged and excited about learning. The activities are rich with content, creativity and visual literacy.


Design

Design will be consistently reinforced in lessons because in addition to content, design is a critical attribute to being able to communicate in our visual world. If students are to create a product that provides an audience with content, they also need to be aware that fewer people will want to read their information if they don’t pay attention to aesthetics.


Audio

Audio has revolutionized my classroom. By incorporating audio in class, students tend to be more motivated to write stories prior to recording. Students write interviews, ads and creative stories for their website unit. This could be used in so many lessons for class. Students can write a hypothetical interview with a Civil war soldier, they can interview a classmate, pretend to be news reporters and more. It is endless what students can do. In the book example, students set up an interview with three people. They only record their voice throughout the interview. Afterwards, they change the three different voices to sound like three different people using the tools in Audacity, a wonderful free sound editing program. They can incorporate the ending and beginning of songs to give it radio effects.


Visual Literacy

There is a school of thought that people learn more from visual information. "Visual literacy is the ability to see, to understand, and ultimately to think, create, and communicate graphically." (learnnc.org) Many of my lessons require students to enrich their vocabulary, improve their writing and critically interpret concepts through the use of images. These lessons are innately more interesting for students, leading to a greater desire to learn and create. A favorite of my students has been putting images and video to the lyrics of one of their favorite songs or documentary. Another favorite is students provide images to compliment powerful quotes.


Web 2.0

The Internet is packed with great tools for education. Web 2.0 often refers to new technology that involves mass publishing to audiences that can participate and contribute. This can be an empowering experience for students. Along with the educational value comes ethical and moral responsibilities. We not only should be encouraging our students to take part in this wonderful opportunity, but we also need to be educating them about being appropriate. This will be apparent in all lessons demonstrated.


Open Source

Open Source Software refers to programs whose source code is available to the public. The public can use that code or modify it from its original design without having to pay. The purpose is to improve the code for the benefit of the community. Some of the open source software mentioned in this book include Audacity, a sound editing program and Gimp, an image editing program.


Internet Hoaxes

The Internet is an overwhelming place to get information. A certain percent of the information that is circulated via e-mail or posted on websites is false. We must be more critical of the information that we access on the Internet. It would be a shame to cite sources from the Internet without thoroughly investigating whether the information is true or a downright hoax. You will get a brief introduction about the seriousness of online fallacies. The activities in this section of the book provide scenarios whereby students must determine if the information is fake or real based on information found from performing efficient key word searches. They must be able to determine if the site they are using to validate their information is credible or not. This skill is critical in a time when information is plentiful. Students need to be critical of information in order to positively contribute to a global society.


Fun with Language

This section will give students a unique way of appreciating language. Activities involve a heavy emphasis on visual literacy. Through photos, students can make enhanced connections with words, leading to greater achievement, especially for those visual learners. This section involves idioms, quotes, adjectives, definitions, metaphors, similes, synonyms and antonyms, analogies, verbs and adverbs. Students pick up a variety of these templates and provide their own images and content to reinforce literacy and visual skills.


Fun with Images

An entire section is dedicated to using images to enhance literacy skills. There are a variety of creative templates that are made available on the CD for students to design products based on whatever theme the teacher chooses. One project requires students to design their own book covers based on a book's summary. Another activity requires students to decorate products and then write descriptive sentences for each item. An additional exciting endeavor requires students to create their own menu for a restaurant. They get to add their own food items with descriptions and prices. The design section also includes a quilt, T-shirts, billboards, and puzzle designs. All lessons can be customized for the content of the classroom.


Google Tools

Google Applications provide teachers a variety of useful and effective tools to use with their peers and their students. It offers many opportunities to collaborate, create and communicate. There are many handouts to walk teachers and students through user friendly step by step instructions. There are very descriptive handouts on e-mail, Google Sites, Google Docs, Calendar, Forms and more.


Multimedia

This book has several projects that require students to incorporate content, images, video, sound and more to communicate what they are learning. They can make multimedia presentations about historical events, poetry, documentaries, famous quotes and more.


Game Production

This section demonstrates how to create games for any subject using Microsoft PowerPoint. Once students understand how to use PowerPoint for more versatile purposes, they can appreciate the tools flexibility.


Microsoft Templates

Students can learn how to create brochures, newsletters, books and more to visually demonstrate what they are learning in their classes.


Microsoft Excel

This activity allows students to create interactive projects using Microsoft Excel. Excel is usually used for calculating data, but this project requires students to create an interactive game so to speak where they provide problems to be solved. Users of their final product will type in the answer or solution and immediately receive feedback if they are correct.