Canastota Central School’s Technology Newsletter
VOLUME 3 ISSUE 2
WELL CONNECTED!
NOVEMBER 2012
Inside this issue:
Tips for Tech-Cautious Teachers (From www.edweek.org) Incorporating new technology tools in our classrooms can be a frustrating experience. After choosing to experiment with Google Forms, for example, a colleague spent hours creating the questions and learning the tool only to be stymied by problems using it in the classroom. Irritated, he asked, “So why did I do all this work when I could have just asked my students to raise their hands to get the same data?” Great question. Why should we bother to learn a technology tool that could potentially depersonalize the classroom? Why spend time setting up and using the tool, when he could quickly gather the information without technology and move on to more discussion? Some of you techie teachers may be itching to answer, but from one tech-tool junkie to another, let’s hold off on judging. Many teachers are overloaded with learning whatever tool is the "flavor of the month." As soon as they build their classroom in Moodle, Edmodo swoops in. As soon as they learn those darn voting eggs, Socrative shows up. "New and improved" tools get my blood pumping—but I can see why the path to technology integration feels like a hamster wheel to some. So here are some tips and examples to help you better understand and negotiate the digital push in schools.
Put on Some Blinders In the world of a million apps, the trick to staying sane may just be to "put on some blinders." Technology PD can involve an overwhelming buffet of options. Many teachers leave overwhelmed, not understanding that they can say "no" to many of the options as long as they say "yes" to trying one or two. After asking good questions and researching tools and apps, choose a few. Let yourself dabble. Become comfortable with them, and give yourself time to understand their purpose and fit (or lack thereof) for your classroom. At the same time, allow yourself time to say "no" to other flashy new gadgets and tools while you are exploring.
Put Away Your Preconceptions Learn what the tool can do before being definitive about how you will use it. You will have effectively integrated technology when you’ve used it to provide an opportunity for learning that your students (or yourself) would not have had otherwise. It isn’t just a matter of replacing "old' tools with new - it’s about teaching differently.
Evaluate Potential Usefulness Ask these questions as you evaluate the usefulness of a tool: • Has this tool been recommended by colleagues or students I respect, or is someone else willing to try this tool with me? • Does this tool allow me to expand my classroom beyond its physical space or time constraints? • Does it save time for me or my students so that we can focus on more valuable tasks? • Does this tool encourage my students to use higher-order thinking skills: evaluating, analyzing, or creating something to demonstrate their learning? • Does this tool solve a persistent problem for me or my students?
1
Misc. Tips
2
SMART Ideas
3
Web 2.0 sites
4
Check Out These Apps
4
Digital Photography Corner
5
Videos in the Classroom
6
Create Online Presentations
7
Be a Mac Power User
8
“We need technology in every classroom and in every student and teacher’s hand, because it is the pen and paper of our time, and it is the lens through which we experience much of our world.”
Give Yourself the Time to Learn Recently, a tech-cautious colleague was trying to use Edmodo to convert a paper calendar to a digital one, and she was frustrated when she couldn’t color-code easily and when her students didn’t bother to check in with the cool new format. Sometimes, to understand the potential of a tool to enhance your classroom, you have to dive in and experiment, giving yourself time to learn and play before you fully commit. Occasionally, we need to let ourselves experience discomfort and uncertainty, just as we expect our students to do.
Tips for Tech-Cautious Teachers
~ David Warlick, Educator, Consultant
• •
Do I have a way of accomplishing my purpose without this tool? Does the tool save or waste time? Frustrate or engage my students?
In the end, you may have to make a tough call, Perhaps this tool just isn't the best choice for you and your students. We cannot ask our students to be lifelong learners if we are not willing to be continuous learners ourselves. Just as we want to make our classrooms more dynamic and global learning environments for students, we should be seeking to use technology to expand our own learning horizons. That said, teachers cannot just jump at every new tool that has some potential. At the often-overwhelming intersection of technology and education, we ought to use the same tried-and-true learning methods we teach our students. We must take risks, ask good questions, know our limitations, stretch ourselves, and embrace failure as an opportunity to learn. Read the article in its entirety here: http://www.edweek.org/tm/ articles/2012/10/24/tln_crowley_tech.html
WELL CONNECTED!
Page 2
Not for education only… http://www.printmosaic.com/ - create your own mosaic http://www.newsola.com/#/us/w - view world and national news as a colorful mosaic http://overlapmaps.com/ - Instantly compare any two places on earth! http://www.booksshouldbefree.com/ - Download free books for iPhone, Android, Kindle & mp3 players http://www.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/ - Have you seen a font in use and want to know what it is? Upload an image and this site will identify the font used. (Another good site for this is http://www.identifont.com/)
Music can provide a great soundtrack for your classroom, and helps students concentrate. Use these sites to listen to and download free classical music: http://www.classiccat.net/ Search by composer, performer, instrument, genre, etc. http://www.1classical.com/ The simple navigation makes it easy to find songs whether you're browsing by composer or instrument. You can even organize downloads by key to find the perfect pitch to suit your mood. http://www.musopen.org/ In addition to offering songs, the site has resources to help you play classical music. You can find hundreds of public domain musical textbooks and sheet music for free.
GroupWise 8 Quick tips:
•
• •
When reading an email message, you can select a paragraph (or however much of the message you like) right click on the selected text, and choose “Reply to Sender (include selected text). Only the selected text will be included in the reply. Email tagged with a Category now has both a background and foreground color; gives it a visual tag. New Simplified Vacation Message Tool - With the new Vacation message tool, it has made it easier thnn ever when you’re running out the door to leave. Now all you need to do is the following: Go to “Tools” in your top Menu Select “Vacation Rule.” In the “Vacation Rule Window” enter a quick subject, such as “out of the office.” Enter the universal message that will be sent to all that receive it. Leave the “Reply to external Users” checked. Enter the Start and End date, and click Save.
Stixy allows users to collaborate, create, organize and share content on Stixyboards, which are a flexible, Web-based bulletin boards. http://www.stixy.com/
The
VOLUME 3 ISSUE 2
Page 3
Page
Tips for a SMARTer classroom!
http://www.stickfigurehamlet.com/
http://www.teachingtime.co.uk/draggames/sthec2.html
Looking for SMARTBoard games? Try these sites! http://jthornsberry.pbworks.com/w/page/5612052/SMARTBoard%20Games http://pbskids.org/whiteboard/ http://exchange.smarttech.com/search.html? q=games&subject=All+subjects&grade=All+grades&lang=en http://teacherslovesmartboards.com/games_for_smart_boards/ http://www.ismartboard.com/
Two Apps to Secure Your Smartphone Lookout offers protection against for your phone or tablet from viruses, loss, and theft. Lookout’s security features are free, but there is an upgrade to Lookout Premium for $2.99/month. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lookout If you misplace your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac, the Find My iPhone app will let you use another iOS device to find it and protect your data. Install this free app on another iOS device, open it, and sign in with your Apple ID. Find My iPhone will help you locate your missing device on a map, play a sound, display a message, remotely lock your device, or erase all the data on it. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/find-my-iphone/id376101648
A Universal Media Player! It’s happened to everyone - you try to play a video on your computer only to find out your computer’s media player doesn’t know how to play it! VLC Media Player will play just about every type of video for PC and Mac. Best of all, it’s free! Download it here: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
VOLUME 3 ISSUE 2
Page 4
20 Web 2.0 Sites Not Requiring Student Email CIPA/COPPA regulations are meant to ensure student safety as well as monitor and filter online behavior. As Web 2.0 becomes more popular and educational technology sites replace desktop software, this issue has grown. Many subscription-based or edtech sites require a student email address, but not all students have access to email. Here are some sites that do not require a student email address to create an account. In most cases, teachers can create student or class ID’s. (Not all are free) 19 Pencils - A site for finding resources, creating quizzes, and bookmarking sites for students Aviary Education - A suite of tools such as image and audio editors,. BeeClip - A site for creating digital scrapbooks. Diigo Educator - A tool for social bookmarking and annotating sites. Flocabulary - Students learn through educational hip-hop videos. GlogsterEDU - Create interactive digital posters; teachers create student accounts. GoAnimate for Schools - A great site for making animated videos. Little Bird Tales - A wonderful site for digital storytelling. MentorMob University - An innovative site for creating learning playlists ideal for guided learning. MusicShake Edu - A great way for students to create digital music online. PhotoPeach Class Premium - A nice site for creating slideshows/presentations. Pixton for Schools - A site for creating online comics for digital storytelling. SideVibe - Turn web content into online lessons. SpellingCity - A great site for teaching/learning vocabulary & spelling; teachers can create student
accounts with a premium membership. Storybird - A site for digital storytelling. StoryJumper - A fantastic site for digital storytelling. ToonDooSpaces - Create comics for digital storytelling. VoiceThread - One of the most popular web 2.0 sites for interactive digital storytelling;. Yacapaca - Create online quizzes and lessons. Zimmer Twins - Create animated movies for digital storytelling.
Two Great Apps to Try! http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id470693788 - Every day hundreds of apps reduce their price to free for a limited time to try to stimulate excitement! AppsGoneFree will provide with you with 5-10 apps each day that are free. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/doc-scan-pdf-document-scanner/id453312964?mt=8 DocScan lets you instantly scan multi-pages documents. You can scan not only documents, but also whiteboards, receipts, business cards, posters, coupons, books,.etc.
Page 5
VOLUME 3 ISSUE 2
Online Storage and Sharing http://picasa.google.com/ - Picasa helps you instantly find, edit and share all the pictures on your computer. Every time you open this program, it quickly and automatically locates all your pictures and sorts them into albums organized by date. http://www.zoner.com - Zoner Photo Studio is a simple photo editor and viewer with a clean, attractive interface. It allows you to fix red eye and blurring. You'll even be able to add effects and smooth wrinkles. This program will also help you download and organize your pictures. You can also Geotag where the photo was taken. http://www.sunlitgreen.com/photo-manager.html - easily organize and manage your digital pictures in folders and albums, and name them with tags and collections. You can create as many albums and folders as you need, and share your photos online.
Which Media Card Do You Need? Memory cards come in all shapes and sizes, but they’re all used to store photos. The card you need will depend primarily on the camera you’re using. The main types of memory cards: Secure Digital (SD) - The majority of cameras record images and movies to one or more varieties of SD memory card. Although standard SD cards suffice for everyday use, by today’s standards they are fairly slow in terms of transfer rates, and have been largely superseded by the SDHC format (HC denoting ‘high capacity’). SDXC cards - SDXC cards represents the latest generation of SD media. Although the format is still in its infancy, cards have already been released with 32GB and 64GB capacities, which is set to rise to an amazing 2TB in the next few years. Micro and Mini SD cards, Micro SDHC and Mini SDHC - Micro and Mini SD cards, as well as Micro SDHC and Mini SDHC varieties, also exist. These are designed for smaller devices such as mobile phones, portable media players and satellite navigation systems. CompactFlash (CF) - CF cards are larger and stronger than SD cards, and more suitable for use in adverse conditions (some professional cards offer shock protection and usability in temperatures as low as -25°C and up to 85°C). Ultra Direct Memory Access (UDMA) cards - Many high-performance CompactFlash cards are also based on Ultra Direct Memory Access (UDMA) technology, whose main benefit is higher transfer rates. CFast - Like SD memory cards, CompactFlash cards now also have a new high-performance sibling dubbed CFast. Based on Serial ATA technology (SATA), these cards are capable of both increasing storage capacity and offering far faster transfer speeds (almost three times faster than current CompactFlash cards can manage). XD memory card - Olympus and Fujifilm cameras have long used the xD format for image storage, with capacities of up to 2GB currently available. Memory stick - The Memory Stick is Sony’s own media format, used across their range of electronic devices.
VOLUME 3 ISSUE 2
Page 6
Nearpod App - Bring the classroom to life with interactive mobile presentations that teachers create and customize themselves.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/nearpodteacher/id523540409?ls=1&mt=8
Two Options for Videos in the Classroom Vimeo - Here’s What’s New!
Animoto
Vimeo is a free online service where you can create, share, watch, discover, and be inspired. Create conversations around your videos, and explore a vast array of content uploaded by others.
Unlimited Videos For Educators. Enhance your digital classroom with Animoto, an ideal tool for creating videos and presentations. It takes just minutes to create a video which can bring your lessons to life.
There’s even lessons and tutorials about how to create better videos.
• • •
Dropbox - You can now connect your Vimeo account to your Dropbox account for easier (and even automatic) video upload. Vimeo Goes Social - Connect all your social networks to Vimeo for easy sharing Thumbnail choose and profile portrait editor Choose your favorite frame for the preview image that viewers will see first.
http://vimeo.com/join
Educators can apply for a free Animoto Plus account for use in the classroom. Its powerful features can be used to create stunning presentations incorporating images, video clips, music and text.
http://animoto.com/
VOLUME 3 ISSUE 2
Page 7
Record Your PowerPoint or Create a New Online Presentation.
http://presentationtube.net/index_record.php PresentationTube Recorder is a simple tool designed to help record your PowerPoint presentations without the need to have Internet connection while recording. The recorder synchronizes the presenter's audio and video, PowerPoint slides, drawings, handwritten words and generate videos ready for uploading to PresentationTube. With visual aids, like the drawing board, presenters can draw lines, curves, graphs, and shapes on the screen to emphasize or clarify their ideas. The whiteboard helps presenters type text while presenting using the keyboard making it an ideal tool to add more details, or explain processes using words, numbers, and symbols.
SlideRocket With a full set of design tools, SlideRocket helps you create impressive presentations quite easily. Combine themes and layouts, shapes, charts, tables, pictures, audio, HD video, and Flash to present your ideas. Easily integrate content from web resources like Flickr or YouTube and utilize plug-ins from Yahoo and Twitter to extend functionality and quickly add pre-formatted content to your slides.
Work Together Collaborate with your co-workers using SlideRocket's library. Easily share presentations, slides and assets across the organization to facilitate consistency with automatic version management and content inheritance for always up to date slides. Share Presentations Easily No more supersized email attachments, or platform or version compatibility issues. Just publish a presentation URL and share it, embed your presentation in a web page or blog, or send an invite, all with a few simple clicks.
VOLUME 3 ISSUE 2
Page 8
iPhone Camera Tips
•
Open your camera app and tap the lightning bolt at the top-left of the display to view flash options. Select "On," "Off" or "Auto" to apply a flash setting.
•
Tap the "HDR" button at the top-center of the display to turn on the HDR (High Dynamic Range) feature. Tap the button again to turn it off. With HDR on, the phone will snap three photos in rapid succession. Each image uses a different exposure level - one tuned for dark areas, one captures the bright spots, and the third captures the mid-tones. After it snaps all three photos, the phone tries to identify the best aspects of each shot and stitch them into a single image. If you're unhappy with the results, the iPhone saves two images: the HDR version and the shot without the feature.
•
Tap the center of the screen to bring up the onscreen zoom control slider. Drag the slider to the right to zoom in. Drag the slider left to zoom out.
•
Tap the small camera icon at the top-right of the display to switch to the front-facing camera.
http://www.macxdvd.com/free-youtube-video-downloader-mac/ - MacX YouTube Downloader is specially designed for Mac users to download videos from YouTube. It supports free downloading YouTube videos of different resolution and format.
iPad Apostrophe - The apostrophe is a commonly typed character that you’d think would be included on the main keyboard without needing to go to the special characters keyboard. Well, it turns out it is. It is hidden with the exclamation point. Just tap and hold the ! key and you'll be able to choose an apostrophe. Of course if you are typing common words like don't, can't, won't, etc. then no need to type the apostrophe at all. Auto-correct will take care of it for you. The Finder menu includes the command Go, Go to Folder with the keyboard shortcut Command+Shift+G. You can use this to quickly go to folders that are otherwise hard to get to. For instance, hit Command+Shift+G and type "/library" and you will go to the system Library folder. "~/library" will take you to your user Library folder. Using just "~" will take you to your user folder and "~/" followed by the folder name will take you to any of your user subfolders. You can use this command to go anywhere if you know the folder path. Is there an equivalent to Crtl-Z (undo feature) on the iPad keyboard? Some iPad apps, like Apple’s iWork suite include an Undo button that you can tap to reverse your last action. However, the availability of an Undo button depends on the app. For standard iPad apps like Mail and Notes, there is a quick way to undo your last action. When you make a mistake, like accidentally deleting text in a Mail message for example, hold the iPad firmly with both hands and carefully give it a quick shake. A dialog box will appear on the screen with the option to undo your last typing action. This shake-to-undo technique also works on the iPhone and iPod Touch.