Edtechkit Weekend Report - 2/17/13 "We don't glue pencils onto our students' hands, right?"

Links of the week

I love student created content especially when I learn from it too. Check out the Tech Sherpas blog (students from Central Maine at Nokomis Regional High) for informative student created video webcasts covering all number of education technology topics. The kids are Smart with a capital "S". This week they covered the sharing features in Google Drive. This could be a great jumping off point for having your own students creating meaningful content for the world to see.

I'm a big fan of graphic organizers to help students visualize their learning and organize their thinking. I like this article by Ryan Knoblauch that unpacks how he is using graphic organizers to support his students. He has tons of resources for templates you can use plus a great glimpse into the methods he is using in his classroom.

And here is one from my "Bartleby" collection. Patrick Larkin is an Assisting Superintendent in Massachusetts that is bravely writing against the continued push for increased testing in our schools.

News and Upcoming Events in Michigan

MASSP iPad Summit March 26 (MSU Henry Center) - Only 50 seats left for the Michigan Association of Secondary Schools Prinicipals iPad Summit conference. If your district is implementing or planning to implement iPads at the Secondary level then you won't want to miss this opportunity to learn how schools  in Michigan are transforming student learning using iPads. I'm honored to have been asked to keynote this exciting event and look forward to setting the stage for the day with what I think will be a very fun theme: "iPad Magic - How to Wrangle the Unicorns"

Save the date. April 20, 2013 Jackson ISD will be hosting an innovative conference that plans to be half edcamp half brain trust (bringing in the REMC Connected Educators from around the state). It's sure to be a can't miss. Details to follow.

Another date worth saving will be Thursday August 22, 2013. That's the tentative date for this year's 21st Century Learning Symposium hosted by St. Clair County RESA. This annual event has been host to some of  education's leading thinkers including Yong Zhao, Will Richardson, Mark Prensky, and Stephen Heppell. This year we are excited to have Kevin Honeycutt join this impressive list along with 600+ of Michigan's best.

Last call for MACUL - Michigan's premier education technology conference is just around the corner March 20-22. This statewide event is an awesome opportunity to learn and network with some of the most innovative educators in our state. This year's MACUL conference is hosted in Detroit at the Cobo center. I'm facilitating two sessions this year - The Appcessible iPad (UDL strategies for the iPad) and co-presenting with Laura Chambless - Cooperative Learning and the iPad.

New Apps to check out

Wow! This was a good week for apps.

First. Michigan's very own Brad Wilson has released his first iPad app called "Write about this". The app uses high quality and thought provoking imagery combined with writing prompts that are tied to different levels of Bloom's taxonomy to inspire students to write more. The app is very intuitive, includes a writer's notepad area, and voice narration of the writing prompts to assist emerging and struggling readers. The app is really an embodiment of the Universal Design for Learning principals because it clearly provides "multiple means of  Representation, Expression, and Engagement." Read more about Brad's journey creating this app here.

Science teachers - Take a look at Color Uncovered and Sound Uncovered to provide inquiry based resources that are sure to pique your students' curiosity. The interactive, hands-on manipulatives and informative accompanying articles are incredibly well done and very interesting. I'd keep my eye out for more apps from the Exploritorium Museum in San Francisco that developed these apps to accompany their brick and mortar exhibits.

I'm taking a second look at the Davinci Note app after coming across another interesting web app called tackk.com. Both iPad friendly programs provide a beautiful templates for mashing up pictures and text to create high impact informative writing. I'm drawn to the simple user interface of the Davinci Note app for the potential to create attractive research reports, quick writes, and other blog like reflections with students. Tackk is similar but is web based, giving it the advantage of working on multiple devices and has the distinct advantage of not requiring a student login for creating and sharing. One key piece is that e-mail sharing feature does NOT use the iPad's native e-mail to send and therefor let's students e-mail their work to the teacher without needing their own e-mail. 

Roll your own professional development

First, here's a great resource for teachers using Google Apps with iPads in the classroom Google Drive for iPad by richardbyrne

I also have a couple of new screencasts to help those wanting to get more organized using their iPads.

Thought for the week

This week someone tweeted out something along the lines of "we don't send kids to the pencil lab". On Wednesday I was challenged to model some lessons across a K-5 building that put technology into the students' hands the entire time. To be honest it felt a bit forced, and had I not felt the pressure to model in this manner I might have dropped the tech from certain parts of some of the lessons. At the heart of my lessons was a very non-techy modified think, pair, share strategy for keeping all students accountable and engaged. Had I left this out I think my lessons would have been a disaster. What if I had left out the technology? The answer is that the delivery of content to each child's device via Nearpod personalized the information and helped hold their attention. The formative classroom response tools helped me gauge mastery of the concepts, increased accountability, and made the lesson fun. But these tools could have been less front and center and been just as effective. It didn't need to be a tech lesson. It merely needed to be an opportunity for everyone to learn. The technology went a long way in supporting this goal of reaching "everyone". Until it didn't. Until the technology became the focus. We don't glue pencils onto our students' hands, right?

Write About This - A writing app designed by a teacher with a Universal Design for Learning focus #scc21c

I'd like to share with you a brand new app that was developed by a fellow Michigan educator, Brad Wilson. Brad was a 4th grade teacher before taking a position with Jackson ISD as an Education Technology Consultant.

His app, called Write About This, uses high quality and thought provoking imagery combined with writing prompts that are tied to different levels of Bloom's taxonomy to inspire students to write more. The app is very intuitive, includes a writer's notepad area, and voice narration of the writing prompts to assist emerging and struggling readers. The app is really an embodiment of the Universal Design for Learning principles because it clearly provides "multiple means of  Representation, Expression, and Engagement."

The app costs $2.99 and is primarily targeting grades 2-5 but could easily be used in other grades, both younger and older as well. I could see this being used whole class as a quick write activity by displaying the app from the teacher's iPad or having students rotate through a single or small set of iPads. It could also be purchased for an entire cart using the Volume Purchase Program.

Finally, as a matter of full disclosure, Brad is a friend of mine, and he consulted me for feedback and suggestions during the development of this app. That being said, I'm confident that this app is worth purchasing for your classroom if you want to help students become more active and engaged writers. If you decide to download and use this app with your students please share your impressions with me or with Brad on how it is working and how it might improve.

You can also read about Brad's journey and vision for developing his app here.

The fist whisperer and other tales of iPad integration

Yesterday I was challenged by one of the elementary schools that I work with to help model iPad integration by using iPads 1:1 with students during direct instruction and then transition into a 1:1 iPad independent activity. I developed four different lessons targeted at K-1, 2-3, 4th and 5th grade. The lessons ranged from reading comprehension and academic vocabulary to comparative adjectives and research skills (at the teachers' request). Needless to say I was pretty pooped by the end :-)

Interestingly enough, one of the most popular strategies I used to facilitate my lessons was not tech related at all. I'm sure this strategy has a real name, but let's call it a modified think, pair, share. Whenever I asked questions, I asked students to whisper their answer into their closed fist first, then whisper share with a partner and then alternated between choral response or picking a random student depending on the nature of the question. The students seemed to really enjoy this and I had nearly 100% participation through out the lesson.

For my mini-lesson I wanted to minimize the number of apps we would use and ensure a high level of engagement during my presentation, so I selected Nearpod as my platform. I was pleased with the way that the app helped hold the student's attention while I moved through the slides and interspersed my presentation with interactive formative tools. The problem is setting up my Nearpod presentations took a bit of tech ninja skills to get the results I wanted. And after talking with several teachers I learned that many were most attracted to the whiteboard feature in Nearpod after seeing my demonstrations.

As luck would have it, later that night I learned about Infuse Learning from the #miched chat that occurs every Wednesday at 8pm. It has many similar features to the classroom response app Socrative, but with the additional feature of a whiteboard responder and (drum roll please!) text-to-speech. I have only had a brief time to test Infuse Learning but my feeling is that it this web app has great potential and a lower learning curve than Nearpod.

I'm still really pleased with what I was able to do with Nearpod especially because I was seeking a way to move seemlessly between the slides I created in Haiku Deck and the formative classroom response tools I wanted.

I loved the challenge of creating these lessons and wish I would have had even more time to develop the underlying lessons. The best part though was working with so many great students. What Fun!

Edtechkit Weekend Report - 2/10/13 "Punchin' the time clock" #scc21c

Links of the week

I come across all kinds of great articles and resources every week. These are a few that I've bookmarked or shared on Twitter that warrant a second look for myself and perhaps a first look for you.

I'm a fan of Yong Zhao and value his insights regarding the big picture of our educational system in the U.S. It's no secret that he is not a fan of high stakes testing or the nationwide push toward standardization. Whether or not you agree with his opinions, I recommend reading this recent interview.

I was privileged to meet two extraordinary teachers, Shawn Wheeler and Ken Kozzar from Cleveland, Ohio a few weeks back at Educon 2.5. They blog under the moniker Teaching Humans about their journey creating a "school within a school" founded on cross-curricular, mastery based, project based learning (PHEW!). A current project they are running is called the Wikiseat Project that incorporates design thinking principals, Emersonian philosophy and a whole lot more. Check out one student's blog reflection about this project to see an example of the type of reflection and engagement schools should really try to achieve.

And a just few more for the fun of it:

1. age will appear as a link
2. 15hStephanie Dulmage ‏@stephe1234

   What would you do as the Director of Blended Learning? - My learning network is invisible. At least it is to everyon... http://ow.ly/2uMCyI 

   Expand
3. 16hSue Gorman  ‏@sjgorman

   iPads in Primary Education: Enhancing Topic Work (World War 2) Across the Curr... http://mrandrewsonline.blogspot.com/2013/02/enhancing-topic-work-using-ipods-ipads.html?spref=tw …#edtech #mlearning

   Expand
4. 16hSue Gorman  ‏@sjgorman

   iPad Collaboration TimelineJS http://edtechteacher.org/blog/2013/02/ipad-collaboration/ …#edtech #mlearning

   Expand

News and Upcoming Events in Michigan

Save the date. April 20, 2013 Jackson ISD will be hosting an innovative conference that plans to be half edcamp half brain trust (bringing in the REMC Connected Educators from around the state). It's sure to be a can't miss. Details to follow.

Another interesting conference you may want to check out is the Visual Thinking and Literacy conference April, 13, 2013 at Seaholm High School in Birmingham, MI. This won't necessarily be your typical education conference since it is open to business leaders, community leaders and educators. Design thinking and effective communication across all fields will be explored.

And don't forget! MACUL - Michigan's premier education technology conference is just around the corner March 20-22. This statewide event is an awesome opportunity to learn and network with some of the most innovative educators in our state. This year's MACUL conference is hosted in Detroit at the Cobo center. I'm facilitating two sessions this year - The Appcessible iPad (UDL strategies for the iPad) and co-presenting with Laura Chambless - Cooperative Learning and the iPad.

New Apps to check out

File this one under the category of "Makes math teachers cringe". MyScript Calculator is a handwriting recognition calculator that can perform most basic math functions by interpreting handwritten numbers and symbols. It's amazingly accurate and really quite fascinating. I also feel that a tool like this has the potential to benefit students who struggle using traditional keypad based calculators. I've worked with many students who make simple input mistakes that effect the accuracy of their answers. Drawing the number 3 is less prone to mistakes than accidentally pressing the key next to the three. It might also benefit students who have difficulty with fine motor skills.

And here's a fun one. Lego Super Heroes Movie Maker is a Free stop motion movie creator. You can easily substitute Lego figures out for any objects you choose. Possible ideas for the classroom are student generated "In Plain English" style explanations of concepts and ideas, storytelling, and classroom news (ok that one might be a stretch but I have some thoughts on how I'd do it)

Roll your own Professional Development

I had a very productive Friday. More about that below. I've made three more Google Drive tutorials for my Google Apps for Education series. You can view all of these resources and the accompanying written instructions on my website. Or take a look at these three latest screencasts.

Thought for the week

As I mentioned above I had a very productive Friday. Without going into all the details lest someone enamored with time clocks and seat time become upset, I will share that I was not at my desk during any of this burst of output. Blended learning is generating big buzz these days but I firmly believe that blended work environments that honor adult autonomy, comfort and schedules needs a closer look especially in education. I know. I know. - "We can't just have everyone running around making their own schedules and working in coffee houses whenever they like!" Not to mention that fact that teachers cannot "watch" our children if they are not in their classrooms. But I do believe that there are ways in which flexing our schedules and work spaces can work to the benefit of all. It involves partnerships and collaboration, utilizing technology to bridge space and time, and a commitment to innovation. And yes, integrity too but if that's not a given then we have a larger problem. Don't we?

WPHM Digital Learning Day radio interview #scc21c #dlday

cc licensed ( BY NC ) flickr photo shared by Foist

Although my nerves probably got the best of me I wanted to share a link to the radio interview I had this morning promoting Digital Learning Day. How are you participating or supporting DLD activities in your school(s)? How can we build on that momentum to encourage year round participation?

Edtechkit Weekend Report - 2/1/13 #scc21c

Latest News

This week Google announced a big update to its Forms tool in Google Drive. The biggest change is the look of the Forms editor which now more closely aligns with the editing tools in documents and spreadsheets by adding a tool bar to the top that organizes all of the editing features. Some of the other important changes are the ability to collaborate on editing a form with others, the ability to open the chat side bar when others are viewing simultaneously, and the ability to copy and paste lists into the answer key area to quickly generate choices. I'm looking forward to trying out the new editor and hope these changes bode well for future updates like adding images!

Upcoming Events in Michigan

Digital Learning Day is Wednesday, February 6 nationwide, and many educators across Michigan are planning to participate. St. Clair County RESA is hosting a Town Hall viewing and collecting examples of Digital Learning Day projects from across St. Clair County. How are you planning to participate?

MACUL - Michigan's premier education technology conference is just around the corner March 20-22. This statewide event is an awesome opportunity learn and network with some of the most innovative educators in our state. This year's MACUL conference is hosted in Detroit at the Cobo center. I'm facilitating two sessions this year - The Appcessible iPad (UDL strategies for the iPad) and co-presenting with Laura Chambless Cooperative Learning and the iPad.

New Apps to check out

This week my colleague, Kristin Day, did a great job demonstrating the app Videolicious to a group of teachers currently working on developing Project Based Learning (PBL) units for their classroom. This simple 3 step movie making app lets you quickly stitch together images and video with simple transitions, voice narration and a music soundtrack to create a polished multimedia project perfect for PBL presentation trailers. 

Roll your own Professional Development

As part of my efforts to support a local 1:1 iPad initiative I've been creating a series of resources for using Google Drive with the iPad. My latest screencast focuses on how to use the Google Drive app and Chrome app to access as many features as possible on this device. It is directed toward students new to this process but should be useful for teachers getting started with Google Drive as well.

Thought for the week

Process vs. Product - This dichotomy came up a lot this week in conversations with colleagues and in my online networks. What do we value most in education? Is it the habits of mind and the actions of learning, the critical thinking and collaboration that is necessary to solve real world problems? Or is it the result of that work - the final, finished product we create and the proof that we what we have learned was mastered? It seems much easier to quantify products, especially products rooted in factual recall or in the performance of distilled skills. But process, especially a process rooted in inquiry and contextual application, is where real learning seems to reside. I think I agree most with Dr. William R. Hite, Superintendent of Philadelphia public schools, who said during his opening keynote at Educon last week, "It is not enough for our students to master content. They must master context." 

Edtechkit Weekly Report - The #Educon edition #scc21c

In the news

This week/weekend I’ll be attending the Educon conference in Philadelphia. This annual conference hosted at the Science and Leadership Academy and spearheaded by Chris Lehman is unique because of it’s conversation driven format. Make sure to look at the Conversation descriptions and pay close attention to the Conversational Practice descriptions that outline the strategies each facilitator intends to use in their session.

iPads vs. Chromebooks - Are you evaluating which tools you’ll need to support student learning in your school and are at the stage of picking a device. This article by Beth Holland articulates how she is evaluating both iPad and Chromebook in the search for that elusive perfect machine.

Apps for publishing ebooks from the iPad - Here’s a nice infographic and app matrix breaking down the features available across several ebook creation apps for the iPad. Creating your own ebooks or having students create ebooks can be a great way to make engaging and accessible learning resources. This article will help you to pick the right app for you.

Technology enhanced, not technology driven - Need some integration inspiration? Take a look at this semester review strategy written by Carolyn Durley. Notice that the technology plays a background role and that the driving force behind this activity is to have students conversing about and categorizing terms. Yes, there is some implied technology expertise running in the background but technology doesn’t trump the learning strategy, one that is decidedly rooted in live interactions and physical manipulatives.

Upcoming events

One more plug for Educon January 25-27. You can attend virtually by following the #educon hashtag on twitter. Watch for links to the livestreamed events as well.

Digital Learning Day  February 6~ *Free*  Digital Learning Day is a national campaign that celebrates learning and shines a spotlight on successful instructional practice and effective use of technology in classrooms across the country. The inaugural Digital Learning Day boasted tens of thousands of teachers representing nearly 2 million students.

EdCampOAISD ~ *Free*   February 23 ~ A day of connecting, learning, collaborating, and networking for all educators! Follow @edcampoaisd on Twitter!

New apps to check out

Ask 3 - Ask 3 is the latest iPad screencasting app from Michigan based TechSmith with a collaborative twist. Now you can have threaded class discussions that encourage participants to remix or respond to any screencast posted to the Bulletin Board. The app is more or less a mashup of their Screenchomp app and a threaded forum discussion tool. For a good overview be sure to check out John Sowash’s post about Ask 3 here.

Last week I featured Trading Cards by read/write/think. They also offer a free magnetic poetry type app called Word Mover that has a few unique features. One important feature is the ability to set up individual student profiles. This is a much needed option for those who are using iPads in a shared setting. The app gives the option of letting students remix word banks that draw from famous historical writings like the Gettysburg Address or by adding their own words. This might be an engaging way to work with vocabulary lists, spelling lists, or brainstorming ideas. The ability to resize and reposition words on the board opens up interesting possibilities for doing word sorts and categorizing activities.

Roll your own PD

I’ll be working on a series of teacher and student focused tutorials centered on using Google Drive in the classroom over the next few weeks. This week I added a student tutorial for Google Drive on the iPad. Do you know of any comprehensive resources geared toward students using Google Drive? Feel free to share any links in the comments section below.

Thought for the week

I’m finishing this week’s update from my hotel room in Philadelphia after a morning of conversations and a tour of the Science and Leadership Academy. The big takeaway so far is that it can be done - whatever vision or dream we have of what learning truly is and should be - it can be done. Perhaps not perfectly but what is?. Will it be done? Are we bold enough to step out of our limitations? Stop seeking the universal solution that will fix everything for everyone and make your vision a reality to any extent that you’re able.

On the right - my guide today at SLA

#Educon Conversations: A first read - Wanna help a newbie figure out what to attend?

I am fortunate to have received a conference scholarship this fall from our Michigan RITS organization, a group that supports the efforts of instructional technology specialists in our state. It's a fantastic bunch of educators and I'm honored to be representing this group as I attend this year's Educon conference in Philadelphia January 25-27th.

Today I've done a first read of the conversations offered this year. All I can say is Whoa! While I've culled a few sessions from the nearly 80 being offered, I still have a substantial list ranging from design thinking and learning spaces to questioning standardization and building the schools of our dreams. I love this kind of stuff. I'd make this my Masters degree if I could. I'm definitely going to have a difficult time deciding which conversations to attend.

So I've thrown together a Google Doc, pasted the conversations from my first read in and hope to work through the pruning process this week. I'm linking to it here and leaving the commenting features open if anyone cares to chime in. I know y'all can't really make up my mind for me, but I'd love hear what sessions you would attend.

Philly here I come!

Edtechkit Weekend Report - 1/18/13 #scc21c

There's Nothing New Under the Sun

Without making any promises, I hope to begin sending out a weekly update of news, events, and reflection. Yup, a newsletter. But if you've made it here for the first time or been following my blog for a while then why not. Don't forget that you can subscribe to my blog via your favorite format by clicking on the subscribe button on the side bar.  

Upcoming Events in Michigan

Michigan Flip Teaching Conference - Saturday, January 19th

Even if you can't make this event in person, the conference website and hashtag #Miflip will be well worth checking out this weekend. Wish I could go!

Ottawa ISD Edcamp - Saturday, February 23

Another great participant driven professional development event happening on Michigan's west side.

New Apps to check out

Do you need a presentation app, but can't afford to put Keynote on all of your student devices. Take a look at Haiku Deck and ScrollShow for some free alternatives.

Graphic organizers are a proven method for helping students grasp and retain information. Trading Cards is a high quality FREE app from the folks at Read/Write/Think. Think of these as digital baseball cards for vocabulary, characters, and historical events. 

Roll your own Professional Development

Have you been thinking about getting started with Google Apps for Education and it's suite of online document creation tools (Drive), website builder (Sites), and calendar? I've created this overview page to help teachers new to Google Apps for Education understand what it is, why schools are using it, and how to sign in for the first time if their school has a Google Apps for Education account. The page includes a screencast and step-by-step notes to help you or your staff get started.

Thought for the week

I've been focussed on gratitude this week. As I sat in my parked car on the shore of Lake Huron last night I reflected on the magnificence of water and let the sounds of the waves remind me of the simple beauty of nature. Take time to be aware and present in the moment, calm your thoughts of past and future, and be grateful for whatever it is that you have to be grateful for.

Providing test reading accommodations using the Soundcloud app and QR codes #scc21c

There are several ways to record audio for test accommodations that can then be accessed by students during a test or in other settings where audio would support the learning needs of the student. The procedures described below were specifically designed to support a 1:1 iPad setting but could be modified to meet a variety of classroom settings.

One other note: Offering audio to all students and not just students who require accommodations is great Universal Design for Learning strategy. You may be surprised who chooses to listen to your narrated test when given the option!

Procedures for using Soundcloud app on the iPad for test reading accommodations

iPad steps

Step 1. Download the Soundcloud app from the iTunes app store.

Step 2. Open the Soundcloud app and register for a new account.

Step 3. Make a demo recording, name it, select “private”, and save.

Computer steps

Step 1. Download the Chrome Browser. (You can use Firefox and Internet Explorer, however the steps for adding a “bookmarklet” may differ).

Step 2. Go to the Active History QR Bookmarklet page.

Step 3. Click on the Chrome settings icon, hover over the “bookmarks” and select “show bookmarks bar”. You can also use the keyboard shortcut ctrl-shift-B to reveal and hide the bookmarks bar.

Step 4. Drag the red “QR Coder” bookmarklet into the bookmarks bar.

Step 5. Go to http://soundcloud.com and log in.

Step 6. Click on “You” and select “tracks” to locate the recording you made earlier on the iPad.

Step 7. Click on the “Share” icon for the track you wish to share.

Step 8. Copy the “secret link”, Open and new Chrome tab and paste the link

Step 9. Click on the “QR Coder” bookmarklet. This will generate a QR code link for the Soundcloud recording.

Step 10. Right click to save the QR code image or Right click and copy to paste the QR code into a document or click ctrl-P to print the QR code

Step 11. Attach, paste or post the QR code where students will be able to access using a QR code scanning app from their mobile device

Why I'm excited about ImageCodr.org for schools - #scc21c

Update: Check out this great Creative Commons Attribution Helper Chrome Extension

Copyright, Creative Commons, Fair Use? As educators we should be familiar with these terms as well as our obligations to use and properly cite the work of other individuals. But in the flury of getting lessons together or beating out another presentation it can be extremely difficult to credit others in this age of instant digital media, not to mention helping our students do the same.

  by  karindalziel 

Thankfully, a new tool has arrived that helps to streamline the proper citation of creative commons images - ImageCoder.org. What ImageCoder does is help you find images licensed under the various creative commons licenses on Flickr, presents you with a concise overview of what the license does and does not allow, and then provides you with an embeddable html code that properly cites the image for your blog or website.

Here's a screenshot of the license information and embed code for the image above.

Unfortunately, this won't work on Word documents or PowerPoint but would great for classroom and student websites or blogs. 

Thanks to Richard Byrne and his fantastic blog for pointing me to this great new resource!

App Review: Croak.it audio recorder

Croak.it is a super simple audio recorder that works on multiple devices including iOS (iPad, iTouch, iPhone), Android phones, or via your computer browser. It is similar in many ways to vocaroo.com with the added benefit of having a mobile app. The advantage of using a cross-platform program like croak.it is the ability to use every computing device available whether these be student or school owned.

Another advantage of the Croak.it recorder is that it does not require any account sign up. This means students can quickly create and share their recordings without the hassel of logging in. One suggestion that I have for saving recordings is to create a simple Google Form that students can use to submit their recording links. (see video below) This allows you to collect student recordings with out having to use an e-mail account.

(Use Google Forms to collect screenchomp, glogster and youtube links)

The recordings are limited to 30 seconds or less which could be both an advantage or disadvantage. I often warn teachers to be careful when assigning video or audio projects to students due to the time it takes to listen to each recording depending on the length. Because of the 30 second time limit you may want to encourage students to rehearse (never a bad idea) before they record.

Upcoming Conference Presentations

I am excited to share that I'll presenting at two great conferences this fall. Hope to see many of you there!

Michigan Google Educators Conference - October 19, 2012 (Southfield, MI)

Session Description: 


Amplify the agenda - Making meetings and PD more engaging with Google Docs.
This session will model the use of Google Docs to create and facilitate dynamic/interactive agendas and training resources. Learn how the online collaborative features of Google Docs have transformed the way St. Clair County RESA delivers information and facilitates participant driven meetings and professional development. Participants will walk away with a better understanding of the power behind creating resources that encourage participation, reflection, and extended communication. Highlights include: An experiential model of participant driven PD, examples of agendas for meetings and PD, and formatting tips to create auto-generated hyperlinked tables of content.  

Michigan Digital Learning Conference - November 15-16 (Clinton Township, MI)

Session Description: 

Learning is beautiful:Leveraging the iPad as a tool for expression and creativity

Learn how to make the most of your iPad’s cameras, microphone and multi-touch gestures with Free apps like Educreations, Popplet Lite and Splice. The principles of Universal Design for Learning will frame our conversation as we look at how to meet the needs of all learners. In this hands-on session we will explore how these dynamic multi-media tools help teachers and students create resources that address a variety of learning strengths and needs. And best of all, have Fun!

App Review: Make Dice Lite - Differentiating with cooperative learning structures and thinking cubes

Here is a brief video app tour of Make Dice Lite. This app allows you to create up to six custom six-sided dice. One or multiple dice can be thrown at a time. Creating custom dice is relatively simple and could be created quickly by having students open a document or website that contains pre-written questions or categories and then copying and pasting these onto your custom made dice. The one drawback to this Free app is the pop-up adds that occur between rolling events.

For more information on using Cooperative Learning to differentiate instruction with or without the iPad I highly recommend these resources put together by St. Clair County RESA Math and Science Assistant Director, Laura Chambless.

I've also included a few links to Cube and Thinking Dot activities and examples to help get you started.

Kagan Cooperative Learning - Learning Cubes
Cube and Thinking Dot Activities
Thinking Cube resources
Thinking Cube example

Edmodo overview video with embedded formative assessment using the new quiz feature in Camtasia 8

I wanted to share this 7 minute introduction to Edmodo that I recently created using trial copy of TechSmith's newest version of their screencasting software Camtasia 8. Previously, Camtasia provided the option to embed assessment questions into their videos, however, the results could not be collected by the video creator. In this newest version of Camtasia the results are e-mailed nightly to the creator or an e-mail recipient selected by the creator as a spreadsheet file. This could be a fantastic way to promote active viewing within the video and determine how well the information is being received.

Feel free to check out the video below to see how the embedded assessments function or to learn more about the basic features of Edmodo. You can select the option to skip the quiz if you like by clicking on the "watch video only" link. Enjoy!

14 elementary math apps for the iPad

elementary math apps

View more lists from Kit Hard

Make your mark on Google with Handwrite for Mobile and Tablet Search - Inside Search

Make your mark on Google with Handwrite for Mobile and Tablet Search - Inside Search:

Hat tip to my colleague, Kristin Day, for sharing this great new accessibility tip for mobile devices. Now you can skip the keyboard when you want to do Google searches and use handwriting instead. Enabling this feature is pretty straightforward.

1. Open your mobile device web browser and go to http://google.com.
2. Locate the gear icon on the top right hand corner.
3. Tap on the "search settings" link.
4. Select "enable" under the Handwrite section and then tap save at the bottom of the screen.
5. To begin using handwriting tap on the "g" at the bottom right hand of your Google search screen.

This could be a great feature for younger students who are unfamiliar with the QWERTY keyboard, practicing letter formation, and students who struggle with selecting individual keys on the virtual keyboard. This can also be a time saving tool when you are searching on the go.

For as a video demonstration and more information about this feature follow the link at the top.

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