Inside the #ptchat — Top 10 websites schools would bookmark on students’ home computers
On December 7th at 9EST, #ptchat (Parent-Teacher) returned to the schedule of much anticipated weekly education chats. Teachers, principals, parents, directors and others around the Twitterverse came together to discuss websites or mobile applications parents can offer at home to support classroom instruction. Questions were posed to teachers in elementary and secondary settings such as…If you had to bookmark 10 websites on your student’s home computer, which ten would you choose and why?
A great deal of resources were shared during the hour long chat to lend a helping hand to parents looking to maximize online time for their children. Aparna Vashisht (@Parentella) and I moderated the chat, and we plan to gauge the feedback of all who contributed during #ptchat with a poll to identify a topic for next week’s chat.
Opportunities to engage families and communities using technology (eFACE) are growing on a daily basis as educators around the world share what works in their respective settings. With more and more families gaining access to today’s technologies, the percentage of families in schools without access to technologies continues to decline. Using social media and other technologies are just another way schools are using to “differentiate for their families” in order to partner with as many as possible.
The takeaways from the actual #ptchat were many. The full conversation has been archived here, but below I highlight any links shared and some thought-provoking discussions raised.
The Question: If you could post the top 10 academic bookmarks/tabs on your students’ home computers, what would they be? Some resources you may have experience with- some may be new to you. (In no particular order)
- Khan Academy
- Mangahigh
- Kidzmet
- Bloom’in iPad by Kathy Schrock
- Study Island
- Cyberchase (Math)
- Brainpop
- PBS Kids
- Discovery Education
- Starfall
- Kerpoof- Learning through creativity
- TVO Parents
- Weebly- Create a website/blog
- Kidblogs- Create a blog
- Homeworkhelp (Math)
- American Mathematic Society
- Singapore Math
- High School Math Homework Help
Apps shared for parents supporting instruction at home
In a little under an hour, we were able to dialogue on issues such as home access, gamification and badges, intrinsic vs. extrinsic reward and gaming and our quest to provide students opportunities online to serve as “producers” in their own learning.
More on gamification at Gabe Zichermann’s blog
If you’re new to #ptchat, go ahead and check out the full conversation so you can jump right in on Wednesday night. We encourage you to become a weekly member and look forward to your ideas. Visit and bookmark the #ptchat page here. You will also find a #finnedchat that we completed a couple weeks ago on how schools in Finland schools are engaging families.
There are no magic bullets, but it is up to each of us to identify and implement those available and cost-effective web resources that support classroom instruction. Kids will be on computers and mobile devices. Let’s provide them the best opportunities out there while role-modeling a high level of digital citizenship.
Looking forward to more dialogue on Wednesday night at 9EST for #ptchat!
Other websites or apps worked for your setting? Describe them below and be sure to include the link.
