Lessons from TIES

I was lucky to attend the TIES Education Technology Conference in Minneapolis from December 9-11.  The awesome speakers there highlighted best practices in educational technology and reminded us all of how 21st century teaching uses technology to engage students in meaningful experiences.  Among these lessons were the following other reminders with which I walked away:

1.  Using a technology tool does not equal innovation.  Innovation does not equate to throwing in a project or tool to say that you use technology in your classroom.  Innovation is using a technology tool as an extension of meaningful learning.  Innovation is using a technology tool to take students deeper into the learning and connect them with real-world experiences that lead to a better grasp of how the concepts are used outside of the classroom.

2.  Stuff is not what is important.  So many use the excuse that there are not enough computers, SMARTboards, iPads, etc. for the reasons that they do not regularly integrate technology.  My argument is that so much can be done with one computer and a multimedia projector.  Through these you can engage your class with online interactives, videos, virtual tours, ebooks, Google Earth, or podcasts.

3.  Kids need license to be creative.  A 21st century student needs to be an innovator, thinker, and creator of new knowledge.  Our assignments and projects need to give kids the opportunity to do this.

4.  The 21st century classroom is collaborative and connected.  Workers of today have no walls.  They can freely communicate and work with someone on the opposite end of the world through Skype, Google Docs, Today's Meet, and many other tools.  Classrooms of today need to model these same practices.  Why not have students create something with a student from another part of the world?  Or even with another student from another school in our district? It is important that we not limit learning to the confines of our classroom to allow students to explore collaboration and communication in a 21st century work environment.  There are so many resources that will give you opportunities to connect your class to another.  My favorite: Skype in the Classroom.

5.  You do not need to be an expert on all things technology to integrate it into your classroom.  The great thing about technology is often it is easy to learn through experimentation.  If you give kids a class to try out a tool, I guarantee that the majority of them will figure it out.  Use your school technology specialist to help you brainstorm ideas and teach lessons to ease the burden of having to feel like the expert in all areas. Most of all, don't be afraid to fail.  Things are not always going to go as planned.  The risk is definitely worth the chance of a flop.

6.  Technology should be integrated into every class as a natural extension of the learning, not as an add-on course or unit.  To repeat what is stated above, technology should be used to enhance the learning and not as a tool to simply state that you are using technology.  It should not be an "extra" or a "bonus", but rather something that is just a part of our everyday life and the way we learn.

7.  Don't assume that kids know how to use technology properly.  Kids must be taught effective use, safety, ethics, and copyright.  There are many important rules to consider as creators of new information.  We MUST teach our students how to properly give credit, what is legal to use, and what information is safe to reveal online.  As educators, this is our responsibility to teach as well as model in our own use of technology.

To access resources and handouts from the conference, visit the TIES wiki.

Beeclip EDU- Create Online Scrapbooks and More

While searching for an alternative to the no-longer free Glogster EDU, I discovered Beeclip EDU.  Beeclip EDU is a simple platform that gives users the option to create an online scrapbook, collage, photo album, portfolio, or poster by adding photos and videos.  The EDU version is free to teachers, but it only allows for the addition of up to 30 student accounts and one project.  (Teachers can upgrade to the paid version for more features or to purchase additional accounts).  Once work is complete, students have a private environment to view other student projects and insert their comments.  Multiple students can work on the same project simultaneously by adding additional editors.  Work can be embedded, downloaded, and printed once completed.

While this is a nice, free alternative to Glogster, Beeclip's interactive features are limited.  For example, students cannot draw directly onto their scrapbook, search for clip art, add music, or even change the size of the text.  They can, however, add YouTube videos, borders to photos, and text bubbles.  If you are looking for a very simple way to create digital scrapbooks or posters, Beeclip EDU is worth a look.

ifaketext: Create your own fake text messages

ifaketext is a fun website.  Users enter the text from an imaginary conversation happening via text messages.  Once completed, ifaketext creates a screenshot which can be shared through a link or by embedding it in a website. (See my example below).  I imagine how much fun students would have creating conversations between book characters, historical figures, or practicing vocabulary. What other creative uses for this can you imagine?   

Create Infographics to Visually Share Research

Infograpics are trendy on the web.  Who doesn't love a good visual representation of statistics and research information?  Your students can become part of the trend by easily creating their own infographics using these great websites:

1.  Piktochart- With the free account, choose from one of five themes.  Add your images, text, and create charts.  A professional looking poster is instantly created!  Download and save the finished product.  Here's an example of one of their templates.

2.  Easelly- Similar to Piktochart, you can choose from one of their pre-made themes (called vhemes) or start with a blank canvas.  Add pictures, text, and modify as desired.  Easelly also supplies a variety of clip art from which to choose.  Here's an example of an Easelly template:

Infographics are ultimately a fantastic and creative way for students to present information on a topic.  It requires that students synthesize their information in a meaningful way while creating new knowledge.  This is only one of the many 21st century skills that will ensure success in the future.

Google Research Tool: New in Google Docs

Here's another reason why you want to be using Google Docs with your students: Google just added a new tool that gives students the power to conduct an instant Google search right in Google Docs.  Once information or a picture is used, Google will even create a citation or a link for the source.

Here's how to use the Google Research tool:

1.  Open a Google Doc, and go to Tools-Research.

2.  On the right a search box appears.  Type in the search topic.

3.  Underneath each result is the option to add a hyperlink or create a citation with a simple click!  Please note that citations are added to the bottom of each document as footnotes.  These can be moved to a Works Cited or Bibliography page, if desired.

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4.  Students can also choose to limit their searches to images, Google Scholar links, or quotes.

Research has suddenly become easier!

While I love the Google Research tool for its ease of use and quick formatting of citations, we must remember the importance of directing students to APPROPRIATE, RELEVANT, and RELIABLE sources of information.  I tend to caution teachers against using Google as a primary research tool.  We must teach students effective search strategies, website evaluation, and the difference between academic and non-academic sources when using search engines.  Students need to consider authority, bias, publisher, currency, and depth of information before using any website as a source of information.  While we may believe that students are savvy web searchers, the opposite is in fact true.  Although today's students have grown-up with the Internet, they need direct instruction on how to appropriately and effectively find information while navigating a vast variety of information on any topic.  They also need to learn how to effectively evaluate a website before accepting the information presented as truth.  I find it mildly entertaining and slightly disturbing at how easily students will believe the information found on fake websites such as All About Explorers or   Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide.  Your Instructional Resource Coach can provide lessons on Internet searching and website evaluation to help you better prepare your students to use the web effectively.  These are 21st century skills that are essential to success in a digital world.

Remember that we have many excellent subscription databases and library print materials that will lead students to appropriate, relevant, and reliable information.  We need to be guiding students to these resources before sending students off on an Internet hunt without proper guidance.

You Are Your Words: Visually Represent Writing

I love it when students take a piece of writing and use technology to share it in unique ways.  You Are Your Words is a fun way for students to express their ideas by combining their words with a visual representation.  Created by the American Heritage Dictionary, You Are Your Words invites users to upload a self-portrait and add descriptive text.  With the click of a button, students have a beautiful self-portrait with a picture and word overlay.   Not only is this a great tool for self-expression, but imagine they other ways that students could use this to visually represent their writing.

Lesson Plan Search Engine

Are you searching for a new lesson but are lost sifting through the irrelevant and poorly written websites acquired through a Google search?  If so, you will want to bookmark the Teaching Ideas & Lesson Search Engine.  This tool will give you the power to search through 50 verified lesson plan websites for a great and relevant lesson.

Save Time with Google Templates

Like most of  you, I do not have time to create a lot of my own materials.  Lucky for us, the web is full of materials created by other innovative individuals who freely share.  Did you know that you have access to thousands of awesome teaching resources just through Google Docs?  Google has an amazing template gallery with docs, forms, and presentations created by individuals who have made their work public.  Here's how to find free templates that you can save in your own Google space:

1.  Go to Google Drive.  Click "Create" in the left corner and then choose "From template" at the bottom of the list.

2.  Choose the "Public templates" option.  Now search for your topic of interest.

3.  Be amazed at what you find!

My search for "book reports" resulted in 30 different forms and docs that students could instantly save and use.  The best part: it only took me minutes to access.

Below is an example of one of my favorite Docs templates created by Derrick Waddell.  It's a fake Facebook profile page students complete after researching a historical figure.  This is just a small sampling of the great ideas available instantly to you.

Vialogues: Videos and conversation in one space

I can't wait to try Vialogues with my students.  We all have those moments during the viewing of a video when we need to hit the pause button to add additional thoughts or clarification.  Often there are moments when it would be great to just stop the video all together and begin a meaningful discussion.  Or, a student may have a great comment during a specific segment, but once the opportunity for discussion is available, that thought has long been forgotten.  Vialogues is one solution to these dilemmas. 

The purpose of Vialogues is to create "meaningful conversations" around videos.  These conversations can occur not only in the classroom during the playing of the video, but also at home, the library, or through another web-enabled device.  Here's how it works: after signing up for your free account, upload your own video, choose one from Vialogues' collection, or add a YouTube URL.  You can then invite people to view your video and add to the conversation.  Invitations can be sent through email or by providing a link.  You can also create surveys and embed the vialogue into your own website. 

In addition, after students have access to the vialogue, they can watch videos and carry on the discussion outside of the classroom.  You could even invite other classrooms or parents to join in the conversation.  There is so much potential to create meaningful learning experiences!

Here is a link to my vialogue to get an idea of how it works.

Staying Up-to-Date this Summer

Ahh...summer! What a time to relax and refresh. Summer is also my time to read all of my back professional journal copies that I never had a chance to read, play around with that list of websites that I never got around to, and browse for some fresh teaching ideas. You don't have to take a college course to learn something new and stay current. Below is my list of easy, free, and painless ideas for gaining some quick summer professional development.

1. Subscribe to and browse other educator blogs. There are some amazing bloggers out there who are willing to share a wealth of ideas! Here are my favorites:

• Free Technology for Teachers
• iLearn Technology
• Tech Transformation
• Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day

It doesn't take a lot of time to browse a blog.  When I have fifteen minutes here or there, I read a post or two.  I often bookmark interesting links into my Delicious account and then go back when I have more time to test those.

2.  Join an educator group on a social networking site.  Pinterest has many interesting educators and educational organizations who share their links and clever ideas.  I'm also a member of the Classroom 2.0 Ning, which offers a great social network to connect with other educators.  I encourage everyone to also become members of Skype in the Classroom and browse through the many different connections and project ideas available there.  While I find Twitter overwhelming at times, it is just an incredible source of ideas!  There are so many amazing educators out there to follow, willing to share all of their knowledge at any given moment.

3.  Check out a conference website.  The K-12 Online Conference is an annual online only event, but the past conference videos and presentations are archived on their website. 

4.  Visit iTunes.  iTunes has "iTunes U" which allows users to create and upload educational content.  Searching iTunes will give you access to great professional growth opportunities that you can listen to at your leisure.

5.  Listen to TED Talks.  TED Talks are a collection of interesting videos on a variety of different topics.  

6.  Steal ideas from your colleagues.  I publish on another blog called What's Up in Your LMC.  I have used this blog not only to share information about the library, but also as a portfolio of student technology-related projects that I have worked with this year.  Take some time to browse through my blog and see what others have done.  Maybe it will give you a fresh idea to try next school  year.

Thanks for another great year!  Happy summer vacation!

Connecting with Comics

This semester I decided to try something new with my 5th grade Integrated Technology students.  Instead of producing a video about cyberbullying, I had them create comic strips using Bit Strips for Schools.  Their assignment was to depict a situation involving cyberbullying and share a positive way of dealing with the situation.  When searching for online comic creators, I had a difficult time finding the right fit.  I wanted to find a tool that was easy to use while at the same time allowing students control over the look and feel of their comic.  My exploration led me to Bit Strips for Schools.

Bit Strips for Schools has many advantages: teachers monitor and have control over student accounts, it allows for the creation of customizable characters, and gives students control over all elements of the comic.  Comics are vibrant and eye-catching, and they can be downloaded and saved to other spaces.  The downside of Bit Strips for Schools: it is not free.  I'm generally not one to advocate for purchasing online accounts with all of the free options out there, but this one may be worth it.  Bit Strips for Schools does offer a free 30-day trial, which may just be enough time to test its worth.  The other downside?  You have to purchase accounts for each class separately.  Each "class" only allows for the addition of 40 students.  That means that if you want multiple classes to work on the same project, you would need to pay for additional classes.

While I had great success with this project, you may find that the other free comic creators out there work for you.  Below lists some alternatives.  However, after showing students how to use Bit Strips for Schools, my students were beyond excited to create their own comics.  They were completely engaged in the process and loved playing around with some of the unique ways to add their own personalities.

Please enjoy my students' final projects in the slideshow posted below.



Alternative Comic Creators
Make Beliefs Comix
ToonDoo
Creaza
ReadWriteThink Comic Creator
Myths and Legends Story Creator
Garfield Comic Creator

Google: Going Beyond Searches and Docs

Every day I am amazed at the cool stuff created by Google. When time is taken to explore their vast resources, I could sit for hours just playing around with the new tools that I find. In March I was lucky to attend Wisconsin Educational Media and Technology Association's annual conference in Wisconsin Dells. Chad Kafka, Google Certified Teacher, presented a session entitled "Google-Palooza", highlighting fun ideas and tips using Google tools. While many new tricks were shared, below highlights some of my favorites:

1. It can be frustrating to find the right copyright-free image for students to use in multimedia projects.  This problem becomes easier using Google's Advanced Image Search.  At the bottom of the search screen, users can limit images to those "free to use or share."  The search results will limit students to images in the public domain.

  
2.  YouTube has a  YouTube for Teachers site that organizes educational YouTube videos by subject.  This is a nice way to search for YouTube's quality educational offerings.

3.  Google Maps has added new street views of some awesome world locations.  Browse Google's Street View Collections to visit the streets of Italy, Israel, the Amazon, and other amazing places.  Think instant virtual field trip!  You can also take a tour of the Swiss Alps and imagine yourself on the beaches of Hawaii.

4.  Finally, some Google fun.  Use Google's Font/Logo Generator to create headings in the Google style.  Visit DemoSlam to vote for your favorite video showing creative uses of Google tools.  Challenge your searching skills (and those of your kids) by going to A Google a Day to get a daily Google search assignment.

Great Guide for Learning to Use Google Apps

As we all know, next year the School District of New London will be moving to Google Apps for Education.  While Google Docs will look as familiar as Microsoft Word to most, Google Docs has the advantage of having its storage completely online and allowing for easy document sharing and collaboration.  You can even create quizzes using Google Forms and install a script called Flubaroo to automatically grade them. 

I know for some the whole idea of using Google Docs seems daunting and new.  Fortuantely Richard Byrne from Free Technology for Teachers has created an easy-to-follow guide for teachers new to Google Docs.  You'll learn not only how to create documents, but also how to design presentations and use forms to never grade another multiple choice quiz again!

Open publication - Free publishing - More google

You Can't Just Google It!

Those of you who know me well have heard how much I dislike when we teach students to research by sending them directly to Google.  Beginning with a Google search is not an effective research strategy nor does it always lead students to high quality academic resources.  Below is a fun video shared by a fellow educational blogger explaining why students should not be using Google as a primary research tool.

What should students use then?  They should begin with our high quality, reliable educational resources: academic databases, library print materials, and a search engine made especially for students, Sweet Search.  Using these resources will not only lead to the highest quality information, but it also teaches students how to conduct academic research in the appropriate manner.  This is a 21st century skill that students need for success in future jobs and education!

For a good laugh and a good lesson, here is a video created using the website xtranormal. 

You Can't Just Google It!
by: SweetSearch

Resources for Finding Web Tools

There are so many cool tools, but so little time!  How do we know which tools are the best out there to use in our classrooms?  There are many great sites out there that organize web tools by topic.   Here are a few of my favorites:

Teach Web 2.0-  http://teachweb2.wikispaces.com/

Cool Tools for Schools-  http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/

 ICT Magic- http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/ 

 

WebTools4u2use-http://webtools4u2use.wikispaces.com/home

Web Resources for Schoolwork- http://learningtechno.weebly.com/index.html

Great Tools for the 21st Century Classroom

Below is my presentation from the School District of New London's April 4 teacher inservice. There are so many great tools to share; it was difficult to limit it to 21!

Classconnect: Share and store lessons, websites, and more

Wouldn't it be great if there was a way to store all of your lessons, videos, SMART Notebook files, and favorite websites all in one space? Wouldn't it be better if this space was also accessible to students, parents, and colleagues? Classconnect does all of this for you. By creating a free account, you now have a space to store all of your teaching resources. The other perk is the ability to search for others' lessons and files by various topics. Check out the video below to see how it works.

Engage Teens in Writing with Figment

I am excited about the potential Figment has to really engage students in writing. By signing up for a free Figment educator account, you can give your students a space to connect to other teen writers and professional authors.  Students complete their writing in their own private space and publish it to the Figment database once completed.  What I love is the potential Figment has for online collaboration and instant feedback.  Let's say your student has a moment of writer's block.  Through Figment your student has a community of writers waiting to give him or her some ideas.  Want to connect your student writers to professionals?  They can also do that through Figment.  Are you looking for examples of different types of student writing?  You can search Figment for many different examples. 

I wish Figment was around when I was teen. Even though I loved to write, I would have been even more inspired by this site.  Figment provides a great tool to motivate students to write through instant feedback and connection with teen writers from around the world.  View the video below to learn more about Figment educator accounts.

Looking for an idea?

If you are interested in trying something new, here is a nice list of digital tools that may give you the inspiration that you need. It's a good list of tools that work across subjects and grades with a few subject-specific resources sprinkled in.

http://learningtechno.weebly.com/index.html

What Was There: Explore History Through Photographs

What Was There is a simple, but fascinating site.  Type in a location and find historical photos linked to Google Maps.  My search for Boston, MA yielded 362 photos from some important historical landmarks such as Paul Revere's House and the Old North Church.  Once I select a photo, it gives me the option to use Google street view or view the photograph's details.  What a great tool to bring history to life for students!

March 7: World Read Aloud Day

Wednesday, March 7 has been declared World Read Aloud Day.  Lit World, the sponsoring organization, works to end illiteracy through advocacy and education.  As stated on Lit World's website, "World Read Aloud Day is about taking action to show the world that the right to read and write belongs to all people."  Their website suggests several ideas and tools for participating in World Read Aloud Day with your students, including this link to suggested activities and teaching tools.  In addition, Lit World has offered to connect classrooms to several notable authors for the opportunity to participate in Skype video chats.  Pre-registration is required.

How will you share the love of reading on March 7?  I am eagerly waiting to hear with which author my fifth grade Integrated Technology students will be connected.  Visit Lit World's website to find out more about planned events and to share your pictures and activities.

Clever Photo Prompts for Writing

The Photo Prompts blog is a clever concept, containing a collection of photo prompts to inspire students' writing across a variety of subjects.  Prompts are organized by subject, including language arts, math, science, social studies, and technology.   Many of the prompts ask students to consider social issues or describe how their lives are affected by an issue.  The screenshot below provides an example.  What a great way to incorporate writing across the curriculum.