No Time! No Time!

No time. This is the number one reason I hear from teachers regarding the reluctance to try a new tech tool in the classroom.


"I'd love to try Google Docs, but I don't have time to learn it first."



"That's really cool. My students would love that....maybe next semester."


"Twitter? I'm sure the students will know more than me!"


One of the big challenges I face each day as an educator and a digital literacy teacher is the lack of time. We are all busy, busy people with no time to investigate new digital tools that could be used to engage and support student learning in the classroom.

So make time.  So reallocate time! Pick one new  digital tool that you would like to investigate and dedicate 15 minutes to it.


15 min. before you go to bed at night.

15 min. while waiting for the bus (oh, wait. The buses are still on strike. You can dedicate 45 min now!)

15 min. while waiting for your son/daughter's 5th skating/dance/hockey/swimming lesson of the week to end.

Now's the time. Start here.


Commoncraft videos make complex concepts easier to understand. Everything from Google Docs to Twitter to Zombies. The videos are all approximately 2 1/2 min. long.


Wow. That would leave you 12 1/2 min. to peruse the Internet for ways to use your newly discovered digital tool in the classroom!!


Once you are hooked, head over to CoolTech4Teachers and look into hundreds of ways to use the digital tool in the classroom.

Getting Ready for Summatives

At the end of the semester draws near, students across the province will be getting ready to create their Summative projects in a variety of courses. 

In some cases, the summative project gives the student some flexibility in the way they submit their final project. There are a whole host of web 2.0 tools to support this….check here!

But if the summative assignment for your class involves the  planning, researching and writing of an essay of sorts, then take a minute to check out EasyBib.

EasyBib takes the time to demystify the essay writing process with a number of writing guides including a topics guide; research guide; writing guide and a citation guide. From start to finish, EasyBib has the tools to support your student as they foray into the wild world of essay writing. The language is very student friendly and will be a great starting point for everyone in your class.

For you, the educator, there is also a dedicated section to help you with lesson plans for your class. Having trouble explaining how to complete a credibility analysis? No worries….check out this lesson plan.

Are you interested in the latest ideas surrounding literacy and essay writing? Take a minute to check out the EasyBib blog and follow it for the most up-to-date postings!

Essential or Extraneous?

This week, the Globe and Mail has been running a 5-part series on Technology in the Classroom. They have looked at everything from the evolution of technology in the classroom to the concept of the 'flipped' classroom.




But what caught my eye today was a survey which asked the question: "Is technology a boon or a burden in the classroom?".


Check out the results here.


What do you think?


When I think about the early years of my teaching career, I had considerably less technology available to me: a chalkboard, a piece of chalk, an overhead projector, transparencies, a photocopier and my 24lb Dell Inspiron laptop. And I used every piece of technology I could find. And then I started looking. And searching--searching through Webcrawler and Yahoo to find cool things to do in my classroom.


Google wasn't even a verb back then.


And then the Internet exploded. And technology became available at a faster pace and at lower costs.


But has it changed your teaching? Do you feel empowered to use the latest and greatest tool to provide authentic and relevant learning experiences for you students?


Or is it a burden...something that slows down your teaching and hinders the learning process?

I'd like to know what you think

Presentation Tools for the Classroom

It's that time of year. No, not American Thanksgiving or Christmas or even Winter.


It's the beginning of the end.


Many teachers have started to hand out Summative Assignments to their students. These assignments can be worth anything from 5-30% of the final mark and should be a reflection of what the student has learned and proof that they can apply the knowledge they have acquired.


In the 'olden days', all students were required to submit their final projects in the same way. Whether it was an essay or a poster, you would ultimately end up marking 30 final assignments that looked exactly the same.


Not any more.


To support student achievement in all our classes, we should be differentiating instruction as much as we can. And it's all about choice.


This year, when you hand out the final project, give your students a choice. Let them choose what platform/tool they are going to use to demonstrate their knowledge.


And to get you started, here is a list of Web 2.0 Tools that students can use for free!

·         You Suck At Power Point: http://www.slideshare.net/jessedee/you-suck-at-powerpoint

 

·         www.prezi.com

·         A VoiceThread is a collaborative, multimedia slide show that holds images, documents, and videos and allows people to navigate slides and leave comments in 5 ways - using voice (with a mic or telephone), text, audio file, or video (via a webcam). Share a VoiceThread with friends, students, and colleagues for them to record comments too.

·         www.voicethread.com

·         Create stunning video slideshows with music.

·         http://animoto.com/



www.flixtime.com

• A competitor to animoto with greater voice over functionality

 

·         Digital poster boards

·         http://www.glogster.com/

·         http://plasq.com/products/comiclife/win

·         http://www.bitstripsforschools.com/

Xtranormal

·         Create comic videos

·         www.xtranormal.com

 Photostory

·         Bring your digital photos to life.

·         Use photos, narration and music to demonstrate your learning

·         http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=11132

 Scratch

·         Scratch is a programming language that makes it easy to create your own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art -- and share your creations on the web. As young people create and share Scratch projects, they learn important mathematical and computational ideas, while also learning to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively.

·         http://scratch.mit.edu/

 Create a Digital Portfolio

·         www.blogger.com

·         www.wordpress.com

·         www.edublogs.com

·         www.kidblog.com

Create a Website--   Google Sites and Wikis.

www.sites.google.com

How Safe Are Your Passwords?

As we are introducing our students to all these new Web 2.0 tools to support their learning, many of these tools require the user to create a free account. You are required to enter your name, your email address and a password.


We all do it. You can't avoid it.


But what password do you use? Do you use the same password for your email account, your online banking and eBay?


Well, you shouldn't. We have all heard about networks being hacked and personal information being compromised. If one of your passwords were compromised, how many accounts would be vulnerable?


I recently read an article about creating effective passwords and was shocked to discover what the most common password was.


Can you guess?


It is 'password'. Followed closely by '12345678',  'qwerty', and 'abc123'. (see the full list here).


Was your password on this list?



C'mon people. Let's make it a bit more challenging for the hackers.


Here are a few tips you should think about when creating secure passwords. And I implore you to have a 10 min discussion with your students about creating more secure passwords.


1. Have a tiered system of passwords.
A Level 1 password should only be used for you online banking and and any sites that hold personal financial data about you i.e. social insurance number and employee information. It should contain letters (uppercase and lowercase), numbers and symbols.


A Level 2 password can be used for things such as your email accounts, eBay, the library, or Google.


A Level 3 password can be used for all the random sites that require you to set up an account.


2. Don't use passwords that can easily be linked to you such as your birthday, your phone number or your pet's name. Need help creating new passwords? Check out this site:





3. Change your Level 1 and Level 2 passwords on a regular basis. The new passwords don't have to be completely different. Just rotate through a series of numbers at the end of the password. For example: September's password is CupCake167; October's password is CupCake462


4. Use a combination of different character classes. For example: textbook25 can easily be changed to TexTBook25.


5. Use more than one word. Passwords like timbercalculator  are more effective than one word passwords.


6. Separate your words with numbers and symbols. For example: Kitty!Dog~ is a good combination of upper case, lower case, symbols and words.


Now I will ask you one last question. 


When is the last time your changed your password on the school computers? for the BWW?






Yeah, I thought so.


To Change Your Password on a School Computer:
1. Login
2. Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE all at the same time.
3. Select CHANGE PASSWORD.


To Change Your Password for the BWW and your Board Email:
1. Go to bww.yrdsb.ca
2. Enter your current username and password. Before you hit enter, click CHANGE PASSWORD and then follow the prompts.


Your password for the school network and the BWW do not have to be the same.


Good luck my friends!

Google Bookmarks

Have you ever come across an amazing website that would be great for your class when you are aimlessly surfing the Internet at home? What do you do?


Bookmark it, of course!


Great. Then you walk into your class, boot up the school computer and open your bookmarks to load the website.


And then the sad realization sets in.





Your home computer and the school computer don't talk. They don't share. They don't collaborate. Your bookmarks at home are not available at school.


You look up.





There are 30 pairs of eyes patiently waiting for you to show them this "amazing, totally fantastic website".


The teachable moment is lost.


Thankfully, Google has the answer! (Google always seems to have the answer.)


Google Bookmarks allows you to bookmark websites and then access them from any computer. All you need is a Google account.

On your personal computer, you can drag the Add to List button into your toolbar and use it to easily remember websites in Google Bookmarks.



And when you get to class, you will have complete access to all the websites you found last night....while avoiding dishes, and marking, and laundry, and marking.....

Be Funky...

As more and more teachers are booking Technology Sessions with me for their students, I have come to notice a common theme to the tools they are asking me to teach them about. All the tools are using pictures--Photostory, Comic Life, and Glogster just to name a few.

In each case, students are being asked to use their creative skills to marry the contextual ideas with images--to produce a photo essay, a comic book or an interactive poster.

Once presented with the assignment and the instructions on how to use the technology, most students head straight to Google Images and start downloading images off the Internet.

But what if they could make the photo's their 'own'.

Could they Be Funky? 

I think so!

Last night, while avoiding the dishes, I became lost on the Internet. I'm not sure how I ended up at the Be Funky site, but I was so intrigued by the possibilities that I felt the urge to blog about it. 

So here it is.

The Be Funky site allows you to add artistic effects to your photos--ones you have taken yourself with a real camera or images you have saved off the Internet--all for free. No login or account required.

Here's the result of 10 minutes of 'lost time':

The original photo..

Effect #1...

 Effect #2...

 A little pop art....

Old school comic life....

Just imagine the possibilities! 

'Tis the Season

Yesterday, my sister called and asked me what my daughters wanted for Christmas. I laughed and said "It's only November 6th!!!"



She didn't laugh. (silence)


If you have taken a look at the school calendar, you will see that we are in class until December 23rd this year. If you  celebrate Christmas, this does not leave a lot of time to take care of all the things you need to do before  everything closes for three days at 6pm.


I'm a busy person. You are a busy person. Life is busy. There has to be a way to manage this daunting task with technology......


...but of course.....





Google has a solution for everything! This year, I have created a Google Docs document entitled "The Dubi-Grande-Man Christmas Wish List". I have shared it with my husband, my parents and my sister. Each person adds their 'wish list' and when you have purchased something for someone else, you can go in and delete it from the document.


It's so simple.


It's so easy.


It's so perfectly perfect. 


For nerds like me.

World Population

What number where you? 

You can see how you impacted the world population on you were on the day you were born and some relevant statistics....just click here.

Google Art Project

Sometimes it can be very hard to convince the Administration and The Parents to support a field trip to France to visit the Palace de Versailles. 
"It's too much money!" 


"The students will miss too much instructional time!"


How much do you think it would cost to take your class to The Museum of Modern Art in New York City?

$1500 per student?

Guess again.

It's free. 

While you won't actually be going to New York City and walking the halls of MOMA, you can take a virtual field trip.

For free!

Google Art Project allows you to take a virtual trip to  17 of the world's finest museums of art and history. All you need is an LCD and an imagination!

If I Had a Million Dollars...

Everyone has the list. The list of things you would do if you won the lottery....a list of things you would buy; charities to donate to; bills you would pay off.


If you need help coming up with your list, just ask The Barenaked Ladies.....







This week, a group of staff and students are actively preparing our application for the Future Shop Tech Lab grant--a $10K, $15K and $50K start-up grant to build the tech lab of our dreams.


What would this cross-curricular technology lab look like to you?





Would it be full of iMacs? laptops? a SmartBoard?





What would you do with this lab to enhance your lessons and make them more engaging and relevant?


What would you do??


Be creative and shoot for the stars. Leave a comment and tell me what you would love to have in the technology lab of your dreams.

Do You Really Know What Your Students Are Thinking?

When you stand at the front of the room and look out at the sea of eager faces, do you really know what they are thinking? Are you confident that each and every student understood the lesson you just presented?

Sure, there will always be those students who are quite eager to tell you everything they know and are willing to put their hand up and participate in a class discussion.

But what about the one over there? Where? In the back row--your student who is quite happy to talk to you in a one-on-one situation, but will never put their hand up and ask a question or volunteer an opinion.

What are they thinking? Did they understand the lesson?

How do you know?

In the pre-technological era, we simply asked students to put their hand up. Sometimes we asked for a thumbs-up or thumbs-down gesture to indicate their level of comfort with the concepts.

And then the Digital Age arrived!

The next greatest discovery? Clickers!!! A Student Response System that used little hand-held devices that students could use to indicate their responses in a safe environment.

But I always had issues with the clickers—the software wasn’t loaded on my computer; the batteries were dead; the little red light was flashing….okay, who didn’t return their clicker!?!?!

Now, we have alternatives. Better alternatives!!

When you get a minute, take some time to check out and use one of the following Student Response Systems—they are all free, web based and use computers or hand-held devices to allow students to submit their responses.

It’s cool. It’s easy. And my students loved it…even the quiet kid in the back corner who hasn’t said much all semester.

Polleverywhere.com

• Instant Audience Feedback via text message, web page or Twitter
• Multiple Choice Questions or Free Response
• Can be downloaded into your PPT presentation
• Free account for educators

Socrative

• Instant Audience Feedback via webpage and personal ‘class’ code.
• Ask MC questions; T/F questions; Short Answer questions with audience feedback.
• Create online quizzes that students complete online. Results are then marked and emailed to you in an .xls spreadsheet.
• Digital Exit Cards!!!
• Free for educators.

Soap Box

• Social Q & A—students can post questions and vote for questions to increase their importance.
• Confusion Barometer—students can cleanly indicate if they get it, or don’t.
• Classroom Polling—instant audience feedback using smart phones or the web!

Thanks to Richard Byrne at FreeTech4Teachers for opening my eyes to these new gadgets!

Powerpoint is Not Another Word for Overhead

So, you have finally decided to ditch the overhead projector and jump with both feet into the cold waters of Powerpoint® presentations. Congratulations! While it might take your breath away at first, the water will feel warmer if you just keep swimming!

When used in a creative manner, PPT presentations can be engaging, exciting and effective for a wide variety of learners in your classes.


But, when used improperly….things can go badly. Very badly.

So, as a newbie to the world of PPT, what things should you keep in mind when creating a new presentation??

1.   Choose a simple Slide Design with clean lines and contrasting colours. There are a variety of pre-made slide designs already embedded in PPT and hundreds more to choose from in Microsoft’s Office.com

2. Use Smart Art to simplify text and make it appealing to visual learners

     

      

3.  Insert videos/animations directly into your presentation to avoid switching between programs.

4. Use hyperlinks to take you a specific web page, or another slide in your presentation. Here’s how.

5. Less is more. Please don’t crowd your slide with everything you are going to say. Use the notes section to insert speaker notes.

6.  Less is more again. Limit the number of slides to the audience. 75 slides in 75 minutes is tough. It’s tough to present and tough to watch.  

7. Watch the custom animations. Some students (and adults) are easily distracted by  or paragraphs that fly in from the left and then rotate 5 times before being able to be read. Custom animations can be effective if used sparingly and in the right context.

Interested? Intrigued?

Let me provide the wetsuit and diving board to help you get your feet wet using PPT in your classes. Book a Tech Session for next week.

Already a PPT user? I can help you make your slides MORE engaging and exciting for your students!

Okay, it’s time. Jump in!

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