BP5_2010052_Web2.0T2-kidthing

Since I have been employed as a special education teacher, I have grown more and more interested in incorporating technology-based tools inside my class. Over the years, I have continuously searched for educational websites that are interactive and engaging for my students. In researching, I have stumbled upon a very educational yet fun web 2.0 tool called Kidthing (http://www.kidthing.com/). What really grabbed my attention was the fact that this site allows students to communicate with others. To me that’s very important in establishing communication skills. By being able to chat with other users, it enables kids to practice their writing skills. This site is user friendly and safe. My students have a tendency to click on any ad that pops up causing them to see some inappropriate images and becoming distracted every two minutes. With Kidthing, there are no pop-up ads. Instead, they can spend an entire period focused on the site itself. “It really harnesses the ability of a computer to translate into a learning tool for young children” (Jane, 2008, para.1). Kidthing states that it’s, “The only app of its kind that lets kids play, read, learn, create, personalize, mix, share, and chat all in one place” (2005). They provide its users with a variety of educational games, books, and endless possibilities to learning. “Kids are in control. It’s all about empowering children and unleashing their creativity in a safe environment” (Jarrett, 2008, para. 3). I have only tried this application twice with some of my students, but they seemed to be engaged and enjoyed it. I’m planning to utilize the Kidthing books with the SMART Board so I can teach all my students at once. This way we can read together as a class and learn together as well. One of the games that I had my students try was for math and the theme was basketball. They were given an addition problem and had to solve it by choosing the player with the correct answer on their jersey. The player they chose would then shoot the basketball; if they made it in, they were correct; if not, then they had to try the problem again. To me, it’s a great way to learning math while having fun.

I would highly recommend any primary or elementary teacher and special educators to use this tool in their class. Teachers can create a classroom account with up to 25 student accounts. By doing this, it will allow you to keep tabs on what your students are doing and help create an educational account that’s personal to the student, but also in coherence with your lessons. You can even find teacher guides for different topics. It’s absolutely free to sign up as well as some of the games, books, and videos. Just search the word free in their store, which is part of the program. Unfortunately, some of the activities you have to purchase if you want them. Prices tend to range from $.99-$5.99. However, after partnering with the National Education Association (NEA), Kidthing offers NEA learning materials free to teachers. The only downside to Kidthing is that it’s only available for Window users right now. They are however, working on making it available for Mac users. If you are a Windows user though, you basically download Kidthing and after you do that, you have it available to you even without an Internet connection.

The following video shows two of my students interacting with the site and a glimpse to how the site works.

References:

Jane. (2008). Review: Kidthing.com. Dear Arthur. Retrieved May 12, 2010, from http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2008/04/27/review-kidthingcom/#comments_accesskey

Jarrett, K. (2008). Kidthing.com beta: Jump on! Retrieved May 12, 2010, from http://www.ncs-tech.org/?p=1158

Kidthing. (n.d.). Our Story. Retrieved May 12, 2010, from http://www.kidthing.com/aboutus/

The image is a screenshot I took of the website (http://www.kidthing.com/) and the video is my recording of two of my students interacting with the site.