Sam's cool tool review...Everyslide

I found this cool tool thanks to my Diigo connections it is http://everyslide.com/presentations. This website allows you to present your powerpoint presentations or PDFs with embedded assessments! These assessments can be accessed through a mobile device, laptop, or phone just by going to the code you provide your students. One of the best features is that it is FREE for educators!

First thing is first, sign up for a free educator account. By going to http://everyslide.com/pricing and selecting pricing for educator. Then select "Get Started" under educator account. Complete the requested information.

Once you login you can attend or create a presentation by simply dragging and dropping the PPT or PDF into the window. Once your document or PPT is loaded you can add in embedded assessment

• Multiple choice 
• True/False
• Word cloud - shows answers in a word cloud like Wordle 

While students are answering questions you can track how many have answered the questions. You will also receive a spreadsheet of the data provided by users!

How do you plan to use this tool in your classroom?

5 fun back to school interactives

Looking for some fun back to school activities for your students to play online? Well look no further below are five fun back to school interactives to use in your classroom!

Emily Elizabeth goes to school - Interact with Emily Elizabeth and Clifford about her day at school. 

Back to school printables - Several back to school printables including mini soduko

Back to school interactive pages - Interactive back to school coloring pages

Back to school wordsearch - Interactive back to school word search, words go across and down only; uses basic vocabulary.

Back to school crossword - back to school crossword puzzle. 

To find more back to school activities click here! 

New to the special education process?

This one is for you parents, caregivers, or students who are new to the special education referral process. Here are some great links and resources for those of you who are brand new to the whole world of special education:

• CEC's tool of the week - Here are some free downloads available from the Council of Exceptional Children (CEC). These are all great downloads for any stage of special education. Some downloads include: driver's ed, understanding special education, and more.
• Special education news - Here is a great resource that has history of special education, and trending topics regarding special education.
• FAPE - Here is a great resource all about FAPE - Free and Appropriate Public Education 
• IDEA - Click here to learn about the IDEA  - Individual's with Disabilities Education Act.
• IEP - Here is a great site about the IEP process.
• NCLB - No child left behind - learn all about it here.

Have Twitter? Here are some special education related hash-tags:

• #sped
• #spedchat
• #specialneeds
• #spedtech
• #autism
• #adhd
• #asd

Web 2.0 Technologies for Classroom Use.

   

This morning I attended a webinar through PSU entitled Topics for Teaching: Web 2.0 Technologies for Classroom Use. This webinar was about how how various Web 2.0 tools and can be used to deliver instructional content. Web 2.0 tools are efficient and effective tools for sharing information in a collaborative and fun way! 

This presentation was given by Mark Thomas Meckel of Penn State. The notes taken below were written in  a collaboration doc by  a colleague, Monique MacAllan and I.Welcome in to the wonderful world of Web 2.0 . 

There are several groups of Web 2.0 tools - communication, storage, productivity, management, socialization, and aggregation. Each group has an array of tools and resources to use within each group. There are several levels of cloud applications. to keep in mind when utilizing web 2.0 tools:

• Level 0 app: Doesn’t work in the cloud at all
• Level 1 app: Limited functionality
• Level 2 app: Moderately functional
• Level 3 app: Fully functional in the cloud
• Skydrive-MS tool that stores things in the cloud.

Communication

• Advantages/Disadvantages
• Formative Evaluation-where we make changes along the way
• Diminish amount of face-to-face contact
• Customizable
• Easy to set up and utilize in and out of a classroom

1. Instant Messenger Clients - AOL, Yahoo messenger, MSN, Meebo (aggregator of IM clients)

Advantages/Disadvantages

Can be more direct and relevant

Interactive

Feedback which is immediate

Examples of use

    Monitor discussions

    Ask and answer questions

    Post additional information

2. Back channel such as Todaysmeet  for synchronous (same time) and asynchronous (later time)  discussions

3. Start pages - page flakes, igoogle, yahoo, netvibes

Advantages/Disadvantages

Easy to set up

Focus on what you find interesting

Dynamic

4. Blogs  - Blogger, Word Press, Live Journal

Advantages/Disadvantages

interactive

multiple media imports (video, audio, links, ...not just text!)

longitudinal

easy to make

Examples of use:

    Live journals of daily life or class

    Classroom discussion

    Read/review/discuss topics

    Group journals-let teams develop their own journal

    Feedback on assignments

    Document research articles or summarize articles in a blog

5. Other communication tools

• Micro-blogs such as Twitter

• hybrid tools - mash up of blog and IM feaures (Yammer)
• Audio  - podcasts
• Video - Jing, Captivate, Camstudio, Presenter, Skype, Youtube
• Photo Editing- Picnkik, Flickr, Picassa

Examples of use:

Skype for use in Student Teaching

Searching for images in Flickr for classes

Share images with class that are relevant

Storage

• On-line Storage
• Wiki’s
• Project Management Tools: Basecamp, Google docs
• Zoho, BPWorks, box.net
• Hybrid Web Tool: Drop Box
• On-line office suites

Productivity

• Presentation
• Collaboration
• Informatin
• Question
• Survey

Examples - 280 slides(create slides of upload a ppt), prezi,slide rocket (access to presentations off the web), wolfram alpha (computational aggregate), Harvard question tool, doodle

Management

• Project management
• file storage
• calendars

Examples - basecamp, box.net, 30 boxes

Socialization

• Blogs
• instant messenger clients
• communities of practice

Examples: facebook, Ning, blogs, Twitter, Link’dn, Twitter, Yammer

Aggregation

• RSS Feeds and readers
• Information Collectors
• IM/Chat Aggregation

Examples: Diigo, Delicous, RSS Feeds, Livebinders

Recommended Resources for more info about Web 2.0 tools:

• http://livebinders.com/play/present?id=25123
• http://mach2k.net/web20/
• Go2web20.net - find what you are looking for great web 2.0 tools for many, many different categories!

How to use Videoconferencing in the Classroom

How to use Videoconferencing in the Classroom

 

What is video conferencing? It is a synchronous two way connection of two or more different locations via audio and video media.  

 Want to use video conferencing? What to do:

 1. Meet with technicians or IT professionals to be sure it can be done

 2. Be sure you are familiar with the location of your broadcast - what equipment is available and when 

3. Check out the lighting situation in the location

4. Also be sure to “check out” equipment if needed for the presentation

5. Develop a list of contact information for the participants

6. Understand how to use the video and audio equipment

7. Test it out

8. Discuss etiquette to participants - questions, audio, technical, etc.

9. Have a back up plan for equipment and technology - things happen! - have a backup plan

10. Be sure participants have access to any handouts, forms, or guidelines - include them in a pdf form so they can be read across platform (PC or MAC) 

Some great technologies to think about using when conducting a video conference:

- Document camera

 - Video examples

- Slides (be sure to number handouts or slides - participants can refer to them easily) made of PowerPoint, slide share, Google, Prezi (this is flash based and users who have MAC will not be able to access this format)

– Handouts

- Poll participants to encourage participation - can be done by ww.polleverywhere.com 

Ideas to keep in mind to have a successful video conference:

- Have name tents or tags available for the participants

- Have microphone at each site so participants can ask questions

 - Participants can have small group discussion regarding topics

- Involve student response clickers or other polling software/freeware to incorporate into your presentation to ensure participation

- Create a Google doc. Google form, or type with me doc for people to add ideas or best practices

 - Create a twitter hash-tag for back chatting purposes

- Develop a backchat site where people can post ideas/comments/questions, one great one is:Todaysmeet

- Record the session for participants who could not attend - Have a co-moderator dictate the closed captioning for students who need that requirement

 - Also have image description available for students who are blind or visually impaired

Research tools and mobile learning apps

I attended an hour long Simple K12 webinar, regarding Mobile learning and research. This webinar was created by Shelly Terrell, a great leader in the education technology field. Here are my notes from this great and educational webinar:

We need to be lifelong researchers an learners
Develop new theories - open your mind to different ideas
Students should be able to take notes, research, cite, evaluate resources, question, have curiosity to learn more
Research is now a huge project - twitter, ipads, networking, collaborate with other professionals
In order to be a success in school, students need to know how to research properly
Teachers need to be facilitators of "good" researcher when using technology skills and apps
Apps and mobile learnign can easily be integrated with other tools and materials

Apps for research

Kindle - highlight tool and have access to books and magazines automatically
Google docs - great for collaborative note taking
Mind mapping app
Sticky notes app
Diigo social bookmarking app
Video
Photos/Pics
Notepad or inkpad
Audio recording
Internet access
Text and SMS apps
Podcasts - cliffnotes or topics that may be abstract to learners
Dictionary apps - great for ESL or SPLED students
Easy bib - citation app, scan the book barcode and it will automatically cite the book
Linolt - post a sticky note like wallwisher
Posterous - automatically blog with video and audio
Evernote - gather notes together and syncs with computer, take pics, newspaper clippings, etc.
Mindblowing - mind mapping app (say that 10x fast!)
Showme - screen cast what is done on the whiteboard
Dropbox - file sharing to anyone, anywhere
Ibooks - read pdf's offline
Wikitude - augmented reality
newsy - transcripts of videos and sources
Diigo
Google
Wikipedia
Read it later - bookmark something on twitter and websites available offline
Flipboard - see information and data
Project Magazine - see and multimedia in a magazine format

How to create a research rich environment
How do you research at home?

Provide a space for research
Music - let students listen to their music while researching
Pillows/comfy pieces
Areas for different research materials (ipad, computer, books, qr codes)
Provide snacks and drinks
Create an app for school or library

9/11 10 year anniversary

The 9/11, 10 year anniversary is upon us. What do you talk about with your students to convey the importance of the day in US History? How do we talk about some of these abstract concepts with our students?

Well I hope that the resources below help in your planning of this significant day.

- Quilt square - create a class or school wide quilt to remember the day. What a great gift to present to a family member or administration to remember the day! *This will link you to a pdf to print and have students draw a quilt square to create a classroom paper quilt to remember 9/11*

- American Symbols game - Simply match the symbol to the correct description. You can read the descriptions to students and they can match the symbol to description.

- Interactive coloring pages - Simply click on a picture you would like to color and it will transform into an interactive activity.

- Patriot Day Printables


9/11 video - Great cartoon style video explaining 9/11 just for students.

- 9/11 Never forget - A site with great activities, videos, printables all around September 11.


9/11 Informational Resources:

- About Patriot Day - 9/11 Remembrance of September 11, 2001
- 9/11 on Wednesdays with Sam