March 2013

Here are some tools which may help you in your roll as an ICT inquirer…..

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With Google Chrome you often end up with lots of tabs open. manage these tabs (and keep your computer running quickly) by using One Tab.

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Good advice for your eLearning publications

http://www.atrixware.com/blog/wp/tips-for-adding-the-right-images-to-your-e-learning-content/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

 

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22 essential skills for the 21st Century teacher. Some links here which might be useful. Various categories.

 

http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/02/the-22-digital-skills-every-21st.html?m=1

 

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One of the tools mentioned above is Audioboo. A great little podcasting tool which is also available as an app for Apple and Android.

http://audioboo.fm/about/audioboo

 

Here’s some examples of a teacher making use of Audioboo.

http://blog.audioboo.fm/2012/12/21/michael-faraday-schools-use-of-audioboo-in-learning-is-electrifying/

 

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Google Earth street view takes you to the top of Everest and other tall peaks.

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/03/google-summit-maps/?cid=co6617154

 

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Paris doesn’t change…….

http://www.rue89.com/rue89-culture/2013/03/24/paris-1914-2013-en-photos-grimpez-dans-notre-fabuleuse-machine-remonter-le

 

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Google Drive

After a long hiatus, the Blog is back.

A lot has happened over the past 18 months and we are now making much more use of Google Drive. This post is a primer on Google Drive. All the things you need to know about using it and leveraging it's strengths. 

Google Drive is principally a cloud based document storage and sharing system. Users are each allowed to store and share 5GB of documents, image, music and other media files. Users are able to access their files from anywhere and from any computer or device. The sharing and collaboration functions allow have great potential for class group work.

 There are also productivity Tools built into Google Drive. The desktop browser version includes: documents(word processor, spreadsheet, presentation tool, Forms (survey tool) and a drawing tool. Documents can be shared by highlighting the document and using one of the two buttons arrowed.

 

Choose whether to make your document public or choose people you want to share it with:

Printing can be set up via Google Cloud print. At school we have shared class printers with the closest class so that students will generally only have one printer option - their class printer.

Tablets complicate the issue. Both Android  and Apple devices have a Drive app available, which our students use. However the apps do differ slightly. To the best of my knowledge here's what each can do. (At this moment in time!)

Desktop Computer	Android App	Apple App
Full web editing	Basic web editing	Basic web editing
Move docs between folders	Move docs between folders	Move docs between folders
Make a copy of a file	-	-
Print	Print	Print
Insert Images	-	-
Insert Tables	-	-
Copy and Paste	Copy and Paste	Copy and Paste
Share	Share	Share
Collaborate	Collaborate	Collaborate

Any functions which Google Drive can't do, can be completed using either Pages (Apple) or Kingsoft Office (Android) or Cloudon for both.. Documents can then be saved back to Google Drive. If you are using the Drive App or Cloudon, documents will be automatically saved in your Drive

Kingsoft Office:

Cloudon:

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Worth a look:

Google Life Project; A Resource of Great Images to Use in Classroom~Educational Technology and Mobile Learning http://t.co/9RyJRLI09J

Elearning Stuff

As we move into the second half of 2011 there are a couple of themes on the ICT Landscape: Elearning and 1 to 1 computing. You may have read about Orewa College’s plans for next year.

iPads in schools - are we missing the point?

Partly pushing all this is the proliferation of elearning apps and opps (opportunities) which have meant that so much learning can be undertaken with just a web browser whether that’s on an ipod, ipad, tablet, phone or computer.  So here are a range of elearning  apps that I have seen in the past couple of months:

First up a dictionary of e-learning Jargon

Brainstorming? Gathering ideas? Try Popplet

 

Writing Re-Launched: Teaching with Digital Tools:

Scribblar – Online collaboration – shared whiteboard.

Online painting:

Create animations online:

 

Students as curators of Information.

More educational Apps can be found here:

http://mindshift.kqed.org/2011/06/new-educational-apps-of-the-month-3/

http://theelearningcoach.com/elearning_design/elearning-freebies/

http://classroom.4teachers.org/

http://bigthink.com/ideas/30689

http://dakinane.com/blog/resources/

http://spedapps2.wikispaces.com/

http://playingwithmedia.com/tepsa11-ipad-workshop

Ipad apps: http://appsineducation.blogspot.com/2011/06/apps-for-getting-students-really.html

Take your smartphone when you’re out walking? Tree identification App

Khan Academy + http://www.khanacademy.org/#browse ……….. http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/07/ff_khan/all/1

Scott McLeod : http://bigthink.com/ideas/38698 Why use Twitter??

Older, but excellent example of in depth learning using digital tools:

http://www.thinkinginmind.com/cigar-box-project/ 

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Matrix – Technology Integration:

http://fcit.usf.edu/matrix/matrix.php

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http://interactioneducation.com/ipadsineducation.html#.ThNRJ4Iod5Y.twitter

Adding Content::

Titled because once we have a learning management system up and running, we need to be able to add content which helps us enhance it as a learning tool.

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What a great writing idea for older children. Uses a Facebook model (Fakewall) to get students to create a Facebook wall of a famous person. For example Cinderella

or John Lennon:

http://www.myfakewall.com

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Video is very easy to embed as is any other interactive media. Embedding video means you can get rid of all the distractions of other videos and ugly comments on Youtube.

This is a great NZ resource on NZ films and videos. There are some classic music videos too

http://www.nzonscreen.com/

And teacher tube has a range of educational videos….

And from an inspiration point of view, try Edtalks – a NZ site with a range of addresses from NZ educators

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Info-graphics make great class talking points too. Have a look at the ones below.

 

Info-graphic:  Radiation chart:

Fun fact: eating one single banana gives you a higher dose of radiation than living 50 miles from a (functional) nuclear power plant for a year.

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An InfoGraphic of Number Ones – Every country is number one at something – Guess what we are! Or better still what do you thing Australians are number on at??

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/because-every-country-is-the-best-at-something/#

This one provides a visual representation of how much longer out resources will last.

http://www.trec-uk.org.uk/articles/NS_2007-05-23/26051202.jpg

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Inspiration has always been a popular brainstorming / mindmapping application. We have a limited number of licences so Inspiration is not on our computer image by default. There are some alternative web based applications which have the advantage of being free and also being available from home and school.

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What’s you reaction to ebooks for children used on a touch pad such as an Ipad?

The future of print: 21 interesting e-books for kids

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Why Laptops? The reasoning provided by the ICT Director at Diocesan School for Girls in Auckland for their laptop programme. Compelling information:

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August 2010

This month, a mixture of videos and links to ICT related information. I’m very keen for us to keep pushing the boundaries with ICT in the classroom – if there is something you want to try,

• skyping an overseas school
• editing digital images and video and music
• online presentations
• blogging for children
• using knowledgenet
• e-reflections
• e-portfolios

let me know and I will give you a hand. In the meantime, let me know what you think of some of the links below:

TKI

Have you tried the new TKI website?

 

John Hattie

Professor John Hattie asks if teachers in their critical role as change agents, are too focused on the short term horizon - national standards, literacy and numeracy - when they should be focused on using literacy and numeracy to engage more students in the pursuit of learning.

David Warlick

is always worth reading – This post called Technology for 21st Century talsk about the importance of providing children with ready access to computers as opposed to dumping technology on them. Worth considering as we think about 1 to 1 laptop programmes in schools.

http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/?p=2712

and part 2 ……. What ICT is going to help my children learn by helping them to become literate, resourceful, and habitual learners — engaged in a learning lifestyle?

http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/?p=2706

Game Playing

Ewan McIntosh describes how in a “flexible curriculum” games can be used as a basis for creative writing and speaking, across curriculum areas, and for cross-curricular studies.

Handheld Computers

If you think inputting text into handheld devices is slow, take a look at this. Found through Derek Wenmoth’s blog:

http://blog.core-ed.net/derek/2010/08/prepare-to-change-the-way-we-write.html 

50 words a minute! This has some fairly major implications about the way we view and think about handheld devices – at school?

Core Ed’s Top Ten Trends for 2010:

Go to the web page and scroll to the bottom of the page…….

Interesting Fact:  Amazon has been selling hardback books for 15 years; it began selling its Kindle reader and the e-books to go with it less than three years ago.

Yet this past spring and early summer, Amazon sold 143 e-books for every 100 hardcover books, a gap that is widening quickly.

Food for Thought:

Reading, Libraries and Mathematics

Booktalks – Connect your class to a NZ author. Have a look at this new resource – Classes can use Skype to set up video interviews.

http://www.booktalks.org.nz/

This is a brief presentation on Libraries as the are and as they should be by an American Library expert. Provides food for thought>

 

And finally, an excellent TED talk on maths which, while it is aimed at Secondary level, discusses the importance of critical problemsolving – ie not providing answer choices. Again worth listening to.

The importance of Social Media

Why we need to take social networking seriously. An update on the statistics:

April - May 2010

Following on from Mark Treadwell’s talk on Monday, I like the post below from Doug Johnson which reaaly illustrates the point about memory…….

When a good memory works against you

Friday, April 30, 2010 at 06:51AM

I was visiting with a local Verizon telephone support person yesterday (we were both chaperones on a middle school field trip - great fun). She made an interesting comment about her job.

When someone calls with a question about his/her cell phone operations, the person providing support is expected to use a database to get the correct answer. If the support person does not go to the database but relies on memory instead, it will result in a negative performance evaluation. Things change so quickly in the field that not checking for the most recent "fix" is irresponsible.

A system that rewards good interpersonal skills and the ability to find and use information? A system in which a good memory is not only unecessary but possibly a liability?

The ability to memorize has always been a critical skill for success in traditional education. (Memorize the capitols of all the countries in Central America, the quadratic equation, today's Spanish vocabulary words, the three branches of government, the dates of World War II ... )

Are we rewarding an obsolete skill set when we give top grades to those with good memories? After all, wouldn't you want your physician, car mechanic, airline pilot, etc. checking for updates rather than relying on a good memory?

Standardised Testing – Sir Ken Robinson

Really worth a listen.

Karen:

Being part of the Schools Loop means we can access the KAREN network for resources such as these:

http://wiki.karen.net.nz/index.php/KAREN_Content

Online magazines:

Online magazines which have content relating to teaching and leaning. Perhaps this is why I need an IPad??

http://thejournal.com/home.aspx

http://www.bbcfocusmagazine.com/

Interface magazine. As you know, the print version of this magazine is well written – aimed at teachers. There is also the website which is worth visiting for links.

Water

A Short video on the reality of bottled water:

ICT March 2010

Beyond Google

This pdf has some ideas which will help you and your children move beyond the first 2 pages of Google search results. Help children make sense of the answers they are getting for their questions.

I also try to encourage children to use the tools on our search page. If they are prepared to do some thinking about where the best place is to search for information before they actually go to Google the results will be much better:

Michelle C sent me this site which I have been using with younger classes for Internet Safety.

 

Called Think U Know it also includes links to the very good New Zealand based internet safety site called Hector’s World. There are links to this site on our main page.

Did You Know 4.0. This is an update (Sept 2009) on the earlier versions. Worth looking at and thinking about the ramifications for us and the children we teach.

Now some websites for you.

For the Smartboard:

TES has a whole heap of free resources:

http://www.tes.iboard.co.uk/

And a couple of videos that are relevant to what is happening in schools today. The first one is Mark Treadwell who Steve and I heard last year. Mark describes the renaissance of the 14th-16th centuries and makes comparisons with the changing learning landscape of the 21st century.

Other videos relating to education and learning with a New Zealand focus are at EdTalks:

Finally, Don’t forget ICT PD Day on Wednesday (24th). I’ll be working extensively on Knowledgenet today but if there are other things you want to deal with there should be time for that as well.