Blog: September 2011

The biggest buzz that a majority of teachers would say they hear in professional circles today is the idea of technology in the classroom. How is it being used? Should it be used? How to incorporate social media, smartboards, mobile devices, and the like? Technology has brought about amazing opportunities and opened doors like never before. But at the same time, what is behind those opened doors educationally can be very unknown, dangerous, or even destructive to learning. So how do we walk the tightrope of best practices when technology is concerned?

I think there are three ways to help create a more effective and less daunting look at technology. Remember there are always some growing pains when learning new tricks, but it is worth it when you get to show it off in the end.

1. Educate Yourself: As professional educators we need to make sure we are educating ourselves as well as our students. Think of it as a field trip, only this time instead of a museum, it is a technological contraption or website that you are going to peruse.  Connect the dots of what students find as important to them and start there. Remember like in a museum you are there to learn, not have it all figured out.


2. Take it slow: Instead of focusing on all the technology that is out there, become an expert… in one field. A lot of times we get stung because we become a mile wide and an inch deep. Pick one technology piece this school year and get a mile deep. Who knows you may become the school expert on just that technology. At the same time, maybe you will find other colleagues that are also working with that technology, team up and create new networks while learning new things!


3. Ask for help: One thing I have found is that students love to know something that the teacher doesn’t. So use it to your advantage! Students can be a great resource to gain knowledge about technology. Use their insight to get through the trouble shooting that may come from any technology difficulties you might have. And in the process, you will engage your students!

These are just three ways to take some of the sting out of using new technology.  The more you stick to them and understand that technology is supposed to make our lives easier, the less likely you will get stung by it. And who knows, your students might just end be singing your praises, which would be as sweet as honey!

Post submitted by Jamey McIntosh, Product Manager of Realityworks, Inc

The Realityworks 2010 Educator of the Year, Mary Smith from Tomahawk, WI, cordially invited me to visit her school earlier this summer to see how their RealCare Program works. During the course of a beautiful June day, we toured through the middle school and high school where Mary teaches a wide variety of students about a multitude of subjects. She uses RealCare Baby, Shaken Baby, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Baby, and Drug-Affected Baby with many of those students.

At one point on our tour, Mary showed me the storage space she shares with other FACS and Health teachers. Guess what we found?

Mary had six – count ‘em – six old model infant simulators sitting in that storage space, completely unused and collecting dust!

Now, you may be thinking, “What’s so exciting about that?” To be honest, at the time there was not much that was exciting about those old Babies. However, now that the Trade-Up Program is in full swing, those six infant simulators could be worth up to $150 each (up to $900 total!) toward the purchase of brand-new, beautiful, state-of-the-art RealCare Baby infant simulators!

The reasons for this excitement are many. The newest model of RealCare Baby is rechargeable! No more using batteries – just plug them into the wall like your cell phone. The cost savings on batteries alone is reason to investigate trading up.

You also get easy-to-use software to pick and choose simulation options, like the schedule Baby follows, start and stop times, and quiet times. RealCare Baby also communicates wirelessly with participants and with your software. It collects all the data about how well the participant cared for Baby, and then automatically imports all that information into the software for a one-page report showing percentages for grading, and down-to-the-minute details about the entire simulation.

When I teased Mary about the possibility of her old Babies being worth so much money toward the purchase of new ones, she was excited about updating that old technology to the new-and-improved RealCare Baby. She has several RealCare Babies already, and was hoping to update her program with a few more – and now is a great time to do just that.

For more information on the Trade-Up Program visit http://www.realityworks.com/realcare/tradeup.asp 

 Post submitted by Jen Widholm, Marketing Communications Specialist of Realityworks, Inc.

Charitable giving is part of the Realityworks philosophy on social responsibility.  Part of the mission of our company is to make a difference in the communities in which our employees live and work.  To fulfill our mission we have developed a Charitable Giving Committee made up of employees to provide guidance for corporate charitable contributions.  Contributions include volunteer hours, donations to organizations that fit the company mission and quarterly employee drives for materials to give to community organizations.

This fall employees band together for a school supply drive.   All donated supplies were distributed to five area school districts that employees live in.  To make the drive a little more exciting, we added a competition factor.  All employees were broken up into teams and given a list of the most needed supplies.  After a week of compiling dozens of pounds of supplies, the Manufacturing, IT and Finance team won!  Supplies are being delivered to the school districts and employees are eager to get another drive competition rolling!

If you have suggestions on future drives our company could do, please share them with us!