EdTech for SD Teachers Podcast - Episode 24: Improve Your Teaching Voice

This week, I talk about the importance of making your voice sound engaging when teaching. This post comes mainly from a section of my book, Educational Technology for Teachers. I also share the four main elements of voice and tell how to practice varying them. The four main elements of voice are:

Pitch

Tone

Volume

Rate

6 Ways Teachers can Use QR Codes for Learning

What are those funny looking bar code things anyway? Quick response (QR) codes are codes that can be scanned with a QR reader to provide instant access to a variety of materials and information. These codes are most often provided on print-based materials such as magazine advertisements, flyers and books. Perhaps the most common use of QR codes is to provide access to websites about a particular subject, but QR codes can link to any kind of information that can be placed online. This page is an excerpt from my recently published book, Educational Technology for Teachers.

QR codes take advantage of internet-connected handheld computing devices such as smart phones. These devices must have a QR reader app installed in order to access the information linked with a QR code. A few recommended free QR reader apps include Scan and Neo Reader. To scan a QR code, simply open the QR reader app on your device and then scan the code, you will automatically be taken to the linked website.

Here are 6 ways teachers can use QR codes for learning:

1. QR codes can be placed on worksheets to link to audio recordings of spelling or vocabulary words, or to video reenactments of historical events that have been studied in class. 
2. Teachers can provide access to class presentation recordings by placing QR codes on a posted calendar in the day the class presentation was given. 
3. Teachers can place QR codes on trees or other outside foliage that link to more information about genus and species. 
4. Sheet music could be printed with QR codes that link to audio recordings of individual student parts featured on music websites like Noteflight. 
5. QR codes can be placed around the school to link to further information about each room or about various objects. 
6. Students can place a QR code in a paper or poster that links to their own work in an online portfolio.

To create a QR code, the website or material to which the QR code will link must be online. You can copy the web address to the website or document (or anything else online) and then paste the web address into an online QR code maker, which generates a QR code that will link to the web address. Two recommended free QR code maker websites are QRstuff and The QR Code Generator. To learn how to make a QR code at qrstuff.com, Watch the free video lesson in chapter 3 of my textbook.

Make Your own Class Website for Free: Video Tutorials and Recommended Websites

In the past, creating a website was an activity limited to only those who had specialized hypertext markup language (HTML) and cascading style sheets (CSS) programming skills. Now, a variety of easy-to-use applications are provided free to help those without specialized knowledge to create websites. This page is an excerpt from my recently published book, Educational Technology for Teachers.


Perhaps the most common type of website in education is the class website. Teachers use class websites to serve a variety of educational functions, from keeping in touch with parents and students about class activities, to chronicling activities completed in the classroom. Class websites might feature many different items including the following:

• Assignments and homework 
• Class news and announcements 
• Pictures and text describing recent classroom activities 
• Links to supplemental learning resources 
• Personal information about the teacher, including a resume 
• Class rules 
• Supply lists 
• Class calendars and schedules 

A variety of online tools allow users to easily create a website for free. Some recommended tools include Weebly, Wix and Google Sites. Google Sites and Wix are featured in my book because both are popular, free and simple. To see how to use Google Sites and Wix to setup a free class website, go to chapter 3 of my book and watch the instructional videos. Chapter 3 is free to access. You'll learn how to setup, create content and add pages to your own free website.

Educational Technology Textbooks Must Be Different

I have taught undergraduate educational technology classes for teacher candidates for over three years now, and I have reviewed many different textbooks to see if they are worthy to be used in my classes. Most of these textbooks cost a fortune and none provided the level of interaction that I want to see in my classes. So I went on teaching without a textbook and just pulled in readings from different sources for the class. 

In my searching, I knew that a textbook on educational technology cannot be just like any other textbook. We teach about the future of teaching and learning in the Information Age. We talk about classrooms in which every student has a tablet computer. We share about the possibility of futuristic interactive digital textbooks that include videos, activities, slideshows, quizzes and more. But we do this all without using an interactive digital textbook as an example! Instead, paper-based textbooks do their best to tell students about the more advanced technologies out there, or worse, they hide their obsolescence by avoiding the topic of interactive digital textbooks altogether. 

So over a year ago, I decided to author my own educational technology textbook for undergraduate classes. Now it is out! Educational Technology for Teachers is the first ever multiplatform interactive digital textbook on educational technology and yes, there are videos, slideshows, visual stories, image tutorials, sample projects and quizzes built in to this interactive digital textbook. As mentioned in a previous post, I used Inkling Habitat to author the book. This book will not just tell, but show my students how to use technologies for teaching. Check it out and let me know what you think!