mojoRTK-Felicia Quaintance

The mojoRTK is the latest technology for tractor systems. It has 6-8 inch accuracy and can even be used with sprayers which many have not discovered that capacity yet. mojoRTK is easy to install as it fits right into where a radio would normally be wired. Helps make your farming more efficient which is always important and saves money. :) For more information on the mojoRTK click here.

Lolaloo Baby Rocker-Felicia Quaintance

Okay, so this has nothing to do with teaching or agriculture. However, many of us will one day try to balance being a teacher and having kids so here's an interesting new technology. Parents often have their hands full and so it becomes complicated to try to rock your kid to sleep along with the million other things you have to do. Hopefully you still find the time to rock your child to sleep; but in case you don't or you break an arm here's a gadget called The Lolaloo Baby Rocker that will do it for you!

Just a good Source- Meagan Laird

"Tools for the TEKS"
This is a good source of how to incorporate different technologies into the classroom. I found it very useful. It gives examples of what other teachers have done, and what not.
http://www.wtvi.com/teks/

Clicker polling thingy! -Meagan Laird

The technology used on the television show “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” to poll the audience is coming.
The technology consists of “clickers,” remote control-like devices that transmit an individual’s response via radio frequency to a reader. The reader plugs into the USB port of any computer, and collects and displays the responses.

http://news.plu.edu/node/1065

This is like the ones we use, but provide more opportunities for learning and it sounds like it will be easier to use. This can be used with any unit to quiz students! And "Who Wants to be a Millionare" game is pretty fun to play.

Classpad- Meagan Laird

· Freedom to teach from anywhere in the classroom, Wireless operation of applications.· Ergonomic design and high performance with 30-foot range for unhindered movement and 20-hour battery life, One year Warranty. RM Classpad gives you the mobility you want, allowing you to move around the classroom and engage with your students. The stylus features a built-in laser pointer to help students follow the lesson. Use it as a wireless mouse to operate RM Easiteach, and other programs including Microsoft® PowerPoint®, Microsoft® Word®, and your Internet browser.

http://www.electronicwhiteboardswarehouse.com/rm_easiteach.htm

This could be used in the shop! Pretty cool stuff!

Field Trip Flags- Meagan Laird

Tangible Flags are designed to support and encourage children to concurrently explore, collaborate and construct digital artifacts while they are immersed within mobile, hands-on environments, such as field trips. Children can use Tangible Flags to mark interesting points as they explore in an open environment. They can then create notes or drawings on a mobile computer and attach the digital information to the Tangible Flag with a physical action, by placing the computer over the flag. When they discover a Tangible Flag placed by another child, they can access the digital information with the same action and annotate that information in a shared space.

http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/tangibleflags/TangibleFlags.shtml

This would be really cool to use at farm science review! The only problem is that they would be easy to lose. Or you could get the different companies to help you and have students stop by the booths and the rep. there would have to give them the flag. It would be really awesome, but would require lots of planning!

Fun Pen Tablet-Meagan Laird

Wacom’s Bamboo Fun Pen Tablets let you use your computer to draw, create digital paintings and artwork, edit photos and even write in your own handwriting. With easy controls on both the drawing tablet and wireless, pressure-sensitive pen, it’s simple to learn how to use this powerful tool with your home, classroom or office computer. Just hook the tablet up to your Mac or PC with the provided USB cable – all the software you’ll need to harness your creativity is included with the pen tablet. The tablet’s writing surface is textured to simulate a natural pen-on-paper feel, and its high resolution lets you write and draw with extreme accuracy. Wacom’s Bamboo Fun Pen Tablets come with Adobe Photoshop Elements 6.0, Corel Painter Essentials 4.0 and Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0 software for editing, retouching and enhancing your digital photos. Choose a small or medium tablet in your choice of four colors.

This would be usefull in the classroom for you and students to use during presentations. Instead of wrting on the board, which gets messy and a pain...you can edit and make your power points interactive where students have to come up and edit what is wrong in a statement and fix it or whatever! This is kind of like what is in 205 now, but cooler!

https://www.schooloutfitters.com/catalog/product_family_info/cPath/CAT1_CAT514/pfam_id/PFAM5921

Virtual Farm Game-Meagan Laird

A cheap version of the sims farm game. It teaches time management, how to grow crops, money management, etc. You can test it for free for an hour and then its only 6.99 to download. So, you can have students try out the game and analyze it!

http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/3445/virtual-farm-game/index.html?afcode=af3189dbeebd&src=bfg12y09engsvirtf&sem=usgooglsvirtf&kw=virtual%20farm&adid=2430546952&gclid=CIrk2_WYy5oCFRK1FQodsEsY2w

A Really Small Computer - Fit-PC2---Bennett

If you decide to purchase the Fit-PC2 you will get a personal computer that features a 1.6 GHz processor and 1 GB of RAM memory. The hard disk used is SATA and you will also get LAN and WLAN included. Combine this with 6 useful USB ports and you have a great computer for its size. The best part of this whole computer is that it only weighs 370 grams, and is so little that taking anywhere will no longer be a problem. You can take this mini computer anywhere and everywhere whether it be to contests, such as ag sales, or even taking on your officer retreat would work well also.

Timelapse Garden Video Camera---Bennett

Timelapse Video Camera that allows 6 preset times that allows the students to have footage of their plants growing. That is right, this video camera allows the students to visually see what is happening in their garden and even catches those pesky pests in action. Storage is offered through a card of 2 GB, which can store a maximum of 1,800 pictures. The gadget works with the help of AA batteries and costs $159.95.

The Turtle USB Hub Has Something to Hide-- Bennett

This USB drive is a unique spin that allows for the single USB to adapt to attach 4 more USB drives as well, Which are at his feet. In addition to this unique turtle USB drive, it also includes a small compartment to keep things in as well. And these can be used in the classroom to get kids involved and you could have them keep their SAE projects and recordbooks on the drive.

Cows and Robots? -Dave Green

Has the future come? I think so, Lely has introduced their new robotic milker, the Astronaut or A3 for short. Long gone are the days of being tied to the cows for milking. With the new freedom from milking, farmers are finding new ways to use their time. From herd health improvement, to better crop management, farmers can now put their time to areas that were often neglected.

No-Till Tips -Dave Green

With no-till proving to be a cost effective way to plant beans and corn it is more important now then ever to be planting properly. The Farm Journal put together several tips to make sure the 2009 planting season is the best yet.

1. Add Row Cleaners - provide a consistent soil surface
2. Use starter fertilizer - 25-40lbs per acre
3. Planter in shape - check your planter over for loose fittings and weak hydraulic hoses
4. Slow Done - Speed can cause inconsistent plantings and inadequate down pressure
5. Stick it - Don't get down on yourself after only 1 year of no-till.

With these practices 2009 can be a great year for No-Till planting

Insecticide Fly Tags for Cattle-Felicia Quaintance

RFID specializes in every imaginable type of ear tags for animals. One of the newest types of ear tags they have available is insecticide fly tags for cattle. They are using a new type of chemistry to inhibit possible harmful insects from investing an animal. This is an increasingly popular risk management practice as it can help prevent insects that possibly carry disease from inhabiting the animal.

Financial Games Megan Erf

Here is a like to some financial games that could be used in class when you are teaching anything money and savings related. You cold also have your students play these are a sponge activity when they finish an activity. There is also a game that was made in collaboration with the NFL which may interest many of your students. In this game you make two teams and have the teams take turns answering the questions.

Get Engaged With Educational Games!- Meredith Gilbert

Playing games isn't just for leisure any more! Your students can log on to classroom computers or at home and continue to learn. Free educational online games allow users to dive into problems facing our earth and work on fixing them. From learning about elections to climate change these games can engage students unlike a lecture could! These games could even serve as nice sponge activities when students get done early before others.

STEVE ANGEL-Hey Class! Noticed that this just hit the pre-order store today! Amazon is trying to save the newspaper industry with this DX version of kindle. However, many of the reviews are wondering why they would pay $14.00 a month to read the paper when they can look at it on the web for free. Valid point but I see where they are trying to go.

Top Notch GPS- Meredith Gilbert

One of the top notch products on the market today for GPS units is the hand held Garmin Colorado 400t. This sleek little number has an i-pod like control wheel, 3D and color screen, and is praised by reviewers as very easy to use. It is also reviewed as being on of the best hand held GPS units for the growing sport of geocaching which is like a GPS user's treasure hunt. A problem with the device is its large price tag. The product costs about $485. A very fun (but expensive) lesson could be had while learning to use a GPS and how they work!

See Through Birdhouse- Meredith Gilbert

Although not incredibly "hi-tech" this item would be useful for agricultural education classrooms to biology and natural sciences classrooms. The product is a window nest box for birds. The instructor would simply place it on the outside of his or her window and wait for a bird to find it and the learning to begin. The side that come in contact with the window is see through, allowing the students to watch as the bird makes it's nest, lays eggs, and hatches out some baby birds! It would be an awesome addition to a wildlife or nature unit.

HTS-2000 Brazing Rods-Felicia Quaintance

We all know welding aluminum can be extremely difficult but here's your solution:HTS-2000 Brazing Rod. It has more tinsel strength and elongation. It also does not require flux or mixes thus giving you a lot cleaner weld and reduces cost.

Epilog Laser Engraver-Felicia Quaintance

One of the coolest things about being an agricultural educator is letting kids work in the shop. The Epilog Laser Engraver takes shop projects to a whole new level. This machine utilizes CO2 laser technology to create extremely detailed engravings in an extreme variety of materials and very easy to use. Click here to check it out!