Technology and Education Box of Tricks is an educational blog written by Jose Picardo. Mr. Picardo is a Modern Foreign Language teacher at a secondary school in England. He started his blog in 2007, and won an Education Blog Award sponsored by Scholastic in 2011.
After reviewing his blog and the various links, I believe that the purpose of his blog is to provide technology-related information that can be used to enhance teaching.
On the main page of his blog, Mr. Picardo discusses some programs that can be useful to teachers. Triptico is a resource for the interactive whiteboard. I have not heard of this application before, but after reading about it, I can see that it would be a useful tool. Best of all, it is free. This application has different activities and interactive activities that you can customize to your lesson.
Mr. Picardo discusses the benefits of the iPad, which is noteworthy because I have learned through EDM 310 of the many benefits this device has in the educational field. Mr. Picardo highlights an application named Comic Life. I have not used this app before, but it allows students to create their own comic strip. It could be based on an objective, but it also allows students to put a creative twist on the subject area.
Mr. Picardo gives directions on his blog for creating a video quiz. He suggests using Word Press, a flip camera and a plug-in named Quizzin. The video quiz can be posted to a blog for students to take. I am not very familiar with this type of assessment and would need to research it more before making a decision on whether or not I will use it in my classroom.
Voki Classroom is another program that Mr. Picardo discusses on his blog. This program would be beneficial in a foreign language classroom. Although the program appears interesting, it is not something that I would use. My degree is in elementary education, so I think this program would be more beneficial in a high school foreign language classroom.
Mr. Picardo highlights Macmillan Teacher's Day. This is a seminar where he was invited to deliver the keynote speech. His speech was titled, "The Case for Social Networking in Education."
In addition to the five programs he highlights on his blog, Mr. Picardo gives links to different categories that contain useful information and resources for teachers. The categories include: interactive whiteboards, Internet resources, modern languages, podcasts and tutorials, social media, and views and opinions.
Mr. Picardo gives 10 tips for using technology in the classroom. These tips are all very useful. In fact, some of his suggestions have been included in the requirements for EDM 310. As such, I have first-hand experience in discovering the value of his tips. His top 10 tips include: "use streaming video, use music video more often, use teleconferencing tools, create your own interactive exercises, use your interactive whiteboard more effectively, create your own podcasts, start a blog or a Wiki, use social networks, use Internet tools, and make the most of your pupils' gadgets."
One of my favorite links that Mr. Picardo has is his A-Z Internet Resources for Education. This is a useful list of programs available to enhance learning in your classroom. It is all technology-based. Mr. Picardo continually updates this site with new programs. I believe this list to be extremely useful. Therefore, I am adding it to my PLN, and I will recommend it to other teachers as well.
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