iPad Video Tutorials: Build Your PLN

Source: http://goo.gl/OHznj

Getting ready for a brief meeting on using Twitter, Evernote, etc. to build your PLN, I crafted an Explain Everything (iPad app) video. Then, while sharing it with a colleague, she started asking questions and I ended up throwing some other videos together.

I hope these easy-going videos are helpful to you; I had fun sharing how I use the iPad at the intersection of social media, content curation, document sharing, etc.

In no particular order, please find some video tutorials below....

1. Document Management
1. Using Readdle Documents to Put/Get Files via File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
2. Using Readdle Documents to Put/Get/Manage Files (such as Photos/Videos in Your Camera Roll) on Dropbox.com (or Drive, or whatever)
2. Social Media and Content Curation
1. Creating a Twitter List - Use this to create a list of everyone at your campus/dept/group so you can easily see what they are sharing via Twitter.
2. Content Curation with Evernote, IFTTT.com, and RSS (made this one with Explain Everything, which is absolutely awesome! (the app, not the video ;-) 
3. Sharing Evernote to iPad plus more stuff having to do with RSS
4. GoogleReader and the iPad
5. Twitter on iPad

BYOT HS Feature - Lauren Hickey

Image: Students engaged in learning using BYOT

The following story comes from Lauren Hickey at the East Central High School:

In my sophomore classroom we are working on a persuasion unit. Instead of asking students to look at a prompt and write an essay we have embarked on developing arguments for a Town Hall Debate. Students picked their own topics using a collaborative brainstorming organizer online. They then have been working in groups gathering articles in order to prepare for the opening argument, points, counterpoints, rebuttal, and closing statement. 

I have been amazed at how engaged my students have been with this assignment. I have several classes that are high Spec. Ed and even my lowest students, who I struggle to engage on most days, have been working hard and are engaged in the project. We introduced Google Docs, which presented some initial confusion, but they quickly got the hang of it. Students have been collaborating daily and have produced some powerful writing that they are passionate about. They are all excited to come back from Spring Break to start the digital ad component.

Thanks to Lauren for sharing what is going on in her classroom!

Note: All students pictured have had their guardian(s)/parent(s) sign the Responsible Use Agreement which authorizes the use of group pictures to be displayed online.

Scholastic Server Upgrade

As shared earlier this month (March 7th), the Scholastic Server which provides ECISD students and staff with access to valuable resources was to be upgraded. Thanks to the hard work of Calvin Orsak (Technology Systems Integration Manager), the Scholastic server has been upgraded. And, with the hard work of district technicians (under the leadership of Mike Shedrock) and campus technology coordinators, the "old" software installed on district computers has been uninstalled or removed. To access the new web-based version of Scholastic programs (e.g. FastMath, Read180), campus web sites (thanks to Marguerite Lowak) were updated on 03/18/2013 ; 10:24AM to reflect the new links, which appear below: Educator access - SAM http://spedserver:55880/slms/educatoraccess Student access to all Scholastic Programs http://spedserver:55880/slms/studentaccess Thanks to all--especially Meredith Rokas, Jonathan Hulbert, other ECTO team members--for working hard to make this transition! More information was shared via the Scholastic email group to individual classroom teachers--as well as Campus Webmasters, Campus Tech Coordinators--on Monday, 03/18/2013.

Start Now - Learning Happens 24/7

Image Source: http://goo.gl/VxptF It's too hard to wait for official professional development days, special conferences to learn what you need to know NOW. Instead, take the easy way out...build a professional learning network (PLN) that lets you tap into a world of learners, people just like you who can't wait to share what they've learned about transforming how they approach teaching, learning and leading. Here's a list of "Hangouts," which are presentations you can join in and view. Notice that there is a wealth of presentations and sharing happening. Why not join in and learn with others who are teaching and sharing what they are learning? The complete schedule is online here. Google Apps for Education- for Teachers  Date and Time (Eastern)  Session Title  TBC  Connect with Your Students - Google Voice  TBC  Self Grading Quizzes with Flubaroo  Tues, March 12th, 7pm  Google Apps on iOS  Tues, March 26th, 5pm  Google Docs and Common Core Literacy  Tues, March 26th, 3pm  Paperless Classroom or School: Organize your GAFE Workflow with gClassFolders (version 2)  Sat, April 4th, 7pm  RSS Feeds: A Powerful Tool for Tech Savvy Educators  Wed, April 10th, 1pm  STEM in a Google+ World: How to use Google+ as a STEMmer  Tues, April 16th, 5pm  Google Sites Tips and Tricks  Tues, April 16th, 5pm  Call phone and Google Voice for Parent Contact  Wed, April 17th, 5pm  Automate Your Classroom with Google Apps Script  Wed, April 10th, 4.30pm  Create a Community of Collaboration with Google Sites  Wed, April 10th, 2pm  Google Apps Script for Beginners  Tues, April 23rd, 3pm  Google+ for Personal Learning and Collaborative Education  Tues, May 14th, 5pm  Organize your Drive  Thurs, May 16th, 5pm  Can You Hear Me Now? Google Voice for the Classroom  Tues, April 23rd, 5pm  Google Apps Meets Common Core  Tues, May 7th, 4:30pm  Auditing Google Drive for Educators  Tues, March 26th, 7pm   Nature Imitates Algebra with Google Drive Apps TBC   Getting Content Online with Google Sites and Google Drive  Fri, June 7th, 10pm  Designing for Google Earth  Sat, June 8th, 9pm  Summertime Fun with Hangouts: How to Use Hangouts to Connect Your Classroom With the World  Thurs, June 20th, 7pm  Using Google Plus Communities for Engaging Class Discussions Google Apps for Education- for Administrators  Date and Time (Eastern)  Session Title  Fri, March 22nd, 10:00am  Gone Google - 18 months down the line  Tues, April 9th, 3pm  GAFE Integrated Content Filter: Securly.com  Fri, April 19th, 8:00am   Switching to Google Apps for Education  Mon, April 22nd, 9:30am  Gone Google - developing student digital leaders  Mon, May 20th, 9:30am  Gone Google - 18 months of Curriculum Change  Mon, June 10th, 9:30am  Gone Google - 20 months of student collaboration  Mon, July 1st, 9:30am  Gone Google - 2 years and counting  Wed, July 3rd, 9pm   Admin Mania: Getting Started with the Google Apps Dashboard Google Tools for Art, Science, Geography and More  Date and Time (Eastern)  Session Title  Sat, March 16th, 2pm   Google App Engine  Thurs, March 21st, 11am  Virtual Field Trip: The Giant Pacific Octopus, Ambassador of the Pacific Northwest  Mon, April 15th, 9.00pm  Creating Awesome Placemarks in Google Earth  Mon, May 6, 3pm  Incorporating Google Earth into the School Curriculum Web apps for Education  Date and Time (Eastern)  Session Title  Fri, April 12th, 4pm  Introduction to GeoGebra Chrome App  Thurs, April 18th, 4pm  Using GeoGebra's Geometry View  Wed, April 24th, 4pm  Using GeoGebra's Algebra View  Fri, April 26th, 4pm  Using GeoGebra's Spreadsheet View  Sun, April 28th, 4pm  Fun with GeoGebra  Mon, April 1st, 8pm  Teaching and Learning Visually with Lucid Chart  Thurs, April 4th, 8am  Allow Your Students to Express Their Creativity Through Animated Videos for Free: GoAnimate!  Tues, April 9th, 11:00am  Mind Mapping in the Classroom  Wed, April 10th, 11:00am  Mind Mapping Pilot - Introduction and Evaluation  Thurs, April 11th, 11:00am  Mind Mapping for Leaders  Thurs, April 18th, 7.00pm  Blended Learning with Hapara's Teacher Dashboard on GAFE  Wed, May 8th, 9pm  Vocabulary Spelling City  Thurs, May 23rd, 7.00pm  Monitoring Student Activity in Chrome with Hapara's Remote Control  Thurs, May 16th, 5pm  Personalized Learning with Free Resources with CK-12  Wed, June 12th, 7pm   Diigo--Networking for Newbies  Mon, August 5th, 6.00pm  Make Learning Spelling and Vocabulary Fun  Mon, July 8th, 12:00pm  Authentic Learning YouTube Education  Date and Time (Eastern)  Session Title  To be confirmed  YouTube in Science and Higher Education- Using Screencasts  Tues, March 19th, 7pm  Flip Your Classroom with YouTube  Fri, April 19th, 11am  Creating Stories with YouTube

Summer 2013 Professional Learning

Looking for professional learning opportunities this Summer? Look no further than ECTO's Instructional Technology sessions:

SCRATCH Nation - Summer Enrichment Opportunity

"When I use Scratch with students, I see them discover the excitement of “controlling” the computer. The great thing about Scratch is that it supports bottom up design and allows students to tinker and grow. You can find my presentation below." Source: Journey with Technology This summer, students in grades 5-8 will have the opportunity to participate in a Science, Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) Summer Enrichment opportunity. This initiative will be known as SCRATCH. SCRATCH Nation is a... ...one week, a 3-hour per day (12 hours total) course, students will learn how to apply grade level math and science in simulated real world projects. Each project utilizes a sample set of applications of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) concepts.  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. (Source: http://www.stemchallenge.org/resources/Scratch.aspx) Project based learning methods are used in a lab environment. Students will demonstrate their finished projects to an online global audience and video interviews made available via the STEM ScratchNation web site. SCRATCH Nation facilitators include Marguerite Lowak (ECTO Instructional Technology Specialist) and Calvin Orsak (ECTO's Programming Expert). Class Objectives To learn the basics of computer programming using two intuitive programming languages called Scratch®  To understand how computers work To introduce basic problem solving techniques using computers and computer algorithms To introduce the Open Source® software To help build soft skills to work in a team environment Participants will receive the following: SCRATCH Programmer T-shirt 1 USB flash drive with Scratch software Sample Projects Scratch Tours Daily Outline (click to enlarge) Curriculum "Let's Play!" Game Design with Scratch More Scratch Resources STEM info from U.T. Dana Center

Teaching Tasks Made Easy with Tech

Image Source: http://goo.gl/qRqXN The top 6 teacher tasks identified in an online article are included below. Next to each, you will find EC Technology Operations’ recommendation for how to best make your job in accomplishing those tasks easier. Solutions have been divided up into 3 levels of simplicity, with Level 1 being the easiest and Level 3 being the most complex. Is this approach perfect or the examples elaborated well enough? Probably not. But I hope it will serve as yet another introduction to ideas, a different way of imagining how to approach teaching and learning in a technology-rich classroom such as EC3 or BYOT. These are only suggestions, of course. Each of the following levels presupposes various technologies that are available to you. For example: Level 1 - GoogleApps for Education tools (such as Gmail, Calendar, Google Sites web pages) and Edmodo.com are at the heart of Level 1. However, for those just starting out with technology, Edmodo.com makes an excellent starting point. At this level, the focus is on what YOU do as a teacher. Level 2 - This level seeks to move beyond simply using technology to organize what you're doing to helping support student learning, empowering them to share and dialogue about student content. At this level, the focus is on what YOU do as a teacher. Level 3 - This level seeks to expand the level of interaction between the technologies you bring to bear on teaching and learning. At this level, the focus is on what you do as a teacher to increase the inter-dependence of technologies to provide a web of support for student creations. Task Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 1. Planning, Developing and Organizing Instruction Managing Instruction Working with Students Edmodo.com Setup a virtual classroom in Edmodo.com that enables you and your students to safely and easily share resources (video, documents, audio), assignments, quizzes with each other. An online gradebook makes it even easier. View Example Managing Instruction Use Eduphoria LessonPlan to facilitate lesson planning with your team. Working with Students Google Sites + Edmodo.com Organize your grading period by putting all your resources online in Google Sites. Share content once on Google Sites, but have students interact with that content through discussion, assessments via Edmodo groups for each period or content area. Have students summarize what they learn in class and share it as an announcement. Working with Students Google Sites + Edmodo.com + Google Calendar In addition to Level 2 activities, enhance your Google Sites by embedding Google Calendars for when assignments/projects are due. Updates that students make on Google Sites are automatically shared to Edmodo via RSS. 2. Attendance and Grade-recording/ reporting. Managing Instruction Use TxGradebook Working with Students Edmodo.com Setup a virtual classroom in Edmodo.com that enables you and your students to safely and easily share resources (video, documents, audio), assignments, quizzes with each other. An online gradebook makes it even easier. View Example Working with Students Google Sites + Edmodo.com Prepare video feedback on student assignments (e.g. modeling problem-solving) and share it with the student via Edmodo or Google Sites. 3. Managing Student Conduct Working with Students With Edmodo available to you, students with mobile devices can create content and share it directly with the you and the class via Edmodo. Keep them engaged by encouraging creativity and collaboration on projects. Students can create videos of what/how they are learning and post those directly to Edmodo. Working with Students Google Sites + Edmodo.com + ECTV Post classroom rules online in your Google Sites area, and point parents and students to that. Encourage students to share their reflections on what they have learned, and model your thinking process by sharing it via Edmodo. Make a short video of a student explaining their thinking, and post it on ECTV for easy access from anywhere on the Internet, then link to it on your Google Sites as an example of the thinking you want to encourage. 4. Presenting Subject Material Working with Students Post your “what will students know” at the end of the lesson on Edmodo, then give a short quiz asking students to evaluate which objective they felt strongest on. Weak items might signal a re-teach opportunity. Enhance subject material with Discovery Education videos. Working with Students Google Sites + Edmodo.com + ECTV Try the Flipped Classroom approach of recording your mini-lessons then making them available as modules on GoogleSites students can work through according to your class schedule. Students review the modules out of class, then share their questions about it in Edmodo. When you re-group for class, focus is on the questions rather than your mini-lesson. Working with Students Google Sites + Edmodo.com + ECTV You can extend learning by having students prepare mini-lessons for concepts and sharing those. You can also remix Discovery Education videos and re-post them in Edmodo. 5. Assessing Student Learning Working with Students Take advantage of Edmodo’s quiz function to quickly capture grades. Working with Students Google Sites + Edmodo.com + ECTV Create a way for students to offer feedback on each other’s work. Working with Students GoogleForms + Flubaroo Use GoogleForms+Flubaroo to create a self-grading, branching quiz that assesses student learning based on what they know or don’t know.

ECTV - ECISD Video-hosting for Students and Staff

Thinking about Flipping Your Classroom but not sure where to host the videos since YouTube is blocked? Look no further than ECTV. The EC Technology Operations Office is pleased to announce ECTV, a video/audio hosting service that is web-based and enables staff--and, students with teacher supervision--to share content from their computer, or mobile devices. Accessible from wherever there is an Internet-ready device, students and staff will have access to a service that works similar to YouTube. You can share links, or embed video content, in web pages, Google Sites pages, blog entries. Not only can you place video/audio content online in ECTV that is teacher/student-generated, you can also place content online.  Here's one example, Setting Up Your Teacher Class Account, of an embedded video: You can also view AND share videos via the iPad, of which there are over 700 in the district and more coming. This means that anyone with an iPad who has an account will be able to put content from their iPad online. Wow! Special thanks to Calvin Orsak and Michael Harber for doing the coding and setup to get this done, as well as Tom Grove for setting up the virtual server! Great teamwork!