What did you learn this year?

This has been my first whole school year working as a District Instructional Technologist for the Winston-Salem, Forsyth County school district. I enjoy learning about and sharing instructional resources with teachers on a regular basis. There are times when my excitement about learning something new can be a bit overwhelming for those around me. I write blog posts for several blogs sharing what I learn and when I figure out how to do different things with the tools/sites I learned about previously. I like to share tidbits of information in tweets on Twitter (I like to retweet great ideas and opportunities for learning as well). Talking to teachers in groups and even one-on-one conversations (using Skype or face-to-face) are also ways that I enjoy sharing the things I have learned.

Steven W. Anderson (@web20classroom on twitter) and I have been recording a weekly podcast (WSFCS DIT Unplugged) this school year sharing things we have learned about instructional technology, sites we like, things we have found on twitter, and having special guests speak about their individual projects. Since the schools in our school system get out for the summer this week, we are going to move to a summer schedule for our podcasts (maybe every other week instead of each week).

In Episode 20 of our Instructional Technology Podcast, all the members of the WSFCS Instructional Technology Department shared the best thing we learned this year.(We post the podcasts on a podcast page from our SchoolWires Website that all WSFCS teachers could do too) Now several of us had a difficult time picking just one. I challenge you to listen to what we have learned and think about what you have learned. If you hear something you would like to know more about, we would be glad to help you learn more about it. You could even go check it out yourself.

Please leave a comment about what you think is the best thing you have learned about this year ... I will even let you choose more than one thing!

Just remember, you don't have to stop learning just because it is summer. If you have heard about something that you would like to know more about, use some time this summer to go out and learn more about it!

image created using Wordle.net with words from this blog post

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Storytelling and Writing

How do you get students to write? If you settle for paper and pencil, it might be a bit of a struggle. Why not try using some storytelling tools that you can find online? I follow a blog by Ozge Karaoglue (she is @ozge on Twitter) and her June 13th blog was about "Telling Your Stories Through Writing". Her blog had some web sites listed that I had not heard of before and I wanted to share them with you here. Be sure to visit Ozge's blog to find more web tools to use for writing.

The first web site that I would like to share with you is Myths and Legends Story Creator. This web site looks really interesting. First, teachers would need to register their school (which is free), and then students can create their own login information and find their school to join. Teachers can leave messages for students to view about their stories. There is a wide variety of backgrounds for students to select from, a lot of different pictures, text bubbles, etc. to choose from. Students can upload their own images and record sound effects for a particular frame of the story. As the web site name indicates, there are images with castles, knights, dragons, and other mythical items to choose from. This was quick and easy to get started with. I would suggest giving students time to view the images before actually starting their stories. When students are finished, they can submit their story to their teacher. 

Another web site that I liked from Ozge's blog was "What-if questions for stories". A lot of time students don't know what to write about. By going to this web site, students can click on the Genie to find a story starter that might get the ideas flowing for students. If the student doesn't like one story starter, they just click for another. I was clicking through and saw this one: "What if a bandit captured a vampire?". I believe that students would really have a lot to write about with this story starter.

Here is my Diigo list of other websites for digital storytelling: http://www.diigo.com/user/dorenebates/digitalstorytelling.

Another great site for student interactives that have to do with digital stories is ReadWriteThink (a partner site of Thinkfinity): http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/student-interactives/.

Come on, let's write!

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Yes, You Can Do The Same Thing Twice

Have you ever heard the phrase... "you can't do the same thing twice, or ..I bet that will never happen twice?" Well I have to admit that I HAD that problem when it came to making duplicate shapes in ActivInspire. It would just seem to take forever to try to get the second shape the exact size as the first one that I drew. It was really bad when I was trying to create a Ven Diagram. Come on folks I know that there is someone out there that is shaking there head in agreement with me on this. So what do you do?

Well here are two quick ways that will allow you to create multiple shapes. Shapes that will always be the same size so that you do not have to sit there pulling your hair out because the mouse won't move in less than 5 pixels increments. At least that is what I think happened to my hair.

The first thing one is the hardest one to do you just click on the shape and in the object editing tools(the little boxes above or to the side of the shape) there is an icon with what looks like two pieces of paper, one on top of the other. This is the Duplicate button just click on that and there you go. Now I did say that one was more difficult didn't I? So the next way to accomplish this is to simply Left click(PC) or Click(Mac) and drag the shape to the top Right corner of the Main Toolbox and release. This will put an Icon of the shape just above the Edit User Defined Button Icon. All you have to do now is just click on the new shape icon that is in the Toolbox.

So give it a try and reduce your stress level when it comes to creating duplicate shapes in ActivInspire. Oh, I almost forgot. I did make a quick video that outlines what I just talked about so I hope that it helps you out.

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Dragging Hidden Text in ActivInspire

I was creating a flipchart for Camp Inspire (July 19 & 20), and I was hiding words behind an image. The reason for this is to have students come to the board and pull out the words from behind the image. One of the things I was wondering about was how do I know where the words are behind an image? Maybe some of you have created a flipchart using this same technique and had the same question. Well, I am so glad you asked!

The first thing you would do is place the image on your flipchart. I happened to find an image of a treasure chest, so I put this on my background. Then I started typing my words; I decided to go with vocabulary words that would go with a treasure chest and a story of pirates. The treasure chest is located on the Middle Layer, and I locked it in place (so that students wouldn't accidentally move it and reveal the words). I moved all the words to behind the treasure chest. 

That is all well and good, but how do I know where the words are? When I move my mouse (or pen) over top of the treasure chest, I look for the mouse "tail" to change from a straight arrow to a cross-hair (looks like a cross with arrows on each end). Below is a video that shows you what I mean. (You may need to turn the sound up on your computer to hear).

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The Wonders of Integrating Technology

I have been talking with some teachers over the year about their new ActivClassroom and what they have been doing to integrate the new technology into their instructional day. Most of the responses I have gotten are that the students are interacting with the ActivBoard and the software for their daily lessons and activities designed around the SCOS for NC. They have told me that they are also using the voting devices and ActivSlates with the students.


So.. I have a couple of co-workers in my office that told me about a new website they discovered a few months ago called Wonderopolis that offers, each day, a brand new Wonder of the Day for you to ponder about. I think it is a great site and there are a lot of "Wonders" that I find myself saying, "...wow I really did not know that" or ".. I never even thought about that in that way."


Now in passing I have been mentioning, to those same teachers, about the Wonderopolis site and how great it is. I have talked about how engaging the site could be for students. How, as teachers, they could use the site as a connecting activity for the subjects they are covering in class. Now I am not saying that this could take the place of teachers Essential Questions, but it could be a great morning activity to help the students focus and get ready for the day.


Well today things changed a little bit. I was contacted by one of the teachers whom I have been discussing technology integration throughout the year. She told me that she had been to the Wonderopolis site and really liked it. In the conversation she told me about how she went into the archive to see some of the past Wonders and found a few that she liked. This led to her creating an ActivInspire flipchart around four wonders, which she liked, to share with her students.


When I heard this and saw the flipchart I went to Melissa Edwards, in our office, and let her know about what was going on and to show her flipchart. Well she thought that it was great and wanted to share the information with the people at Wonderopolis. So she, Melissa, contacted Shannon Kohn, the Wonderopolis Community Manager, and gave her the quick story on what was going on. Her response:


"How AWESOME! Thank you so much for sharing this, Melissa! It is so great to see the Wonderopolis connections being made and passed on from educator-to-educator and then educator-to-student!"


The flipchart demos the following Wonders: if you would like to download the flipchart click on this link
How long would it take to travel to Mars? #215
Can you really cook an Egg on the Sidewalk? #243
How does 3D work? #242
Why are School Buses Yellow? #129


All I can say is that I am very happy that our teachers are "Getting It" and "Getting Inspired" to create their own materials that showcase the features of the technology that they have access to in their classrooms. From what the teacher has shared with me, her students really enjoyed the site. Note: in the wonder information there were some words that they were not familiar with that then led to another discussion on vocabulary. This just shows that it only takes something simple to start a great conversation with your students.

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Replacing The KWIK Mobi Battery & the Mobi Pen Battery

Some of you have had your Mobi now for a couple of years so at some point, if you haven’t already done so, the batteries will have to be replaced. There are two batteries that will eventually need to be replaced. The Mobi pen battery is $4.00 from eInstruction and the part number is IW-A-629-039-000. It's a GP (Gold Peak) 1.2 volt battery. To get to the battery, locate the square little button on the back of the pen just above the 2 silver rings. Use a key or something to press the button in a little. Slide the pen apart and you will see the battery. I have also found that if your pen is not working and you have definitely charged it, you might just need to take this battery out and use a pencil eraser to clean the contacts. When you are charging the Mobi and the pen, be sure you see the little pen charging icon. This is a little square with a line at an angle through the top. If you do not see the little square constantly filling and emptying, then the pen is not being charged. It is very possible to charge the Mobi and not charge the pen. You may just have to push the pen down all the way into the pen slot of the Mobi. You also may just have to turn the pen around a bit in the slot. In any case, be sure you see that the pen charging icon is displayed.

The KWIK Mobi also has a battery of course and eInstruction charges $35.00 for it. The part number is CB-A-629-038-000. eInstuction also charges $5.00 for shipping and handling. The KWIK Mobi battery is accessed from the back. Use a small Phillips head screwdriver to remove the screw and then you can remove the battery cover. It is a rectangular shaped lithium-ion 3.7 volt battery. Just be sure that the gold color contacts are facing towards the upper left corner when placing it back in the battery compartment. Again, be sure you see the Mobi battery icon constantly filling and emptying when you are charging it.

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What The Heck Are QR Codes?

Have you seen these around town where you are lately?

I was a little surprised when I saw them all over the Black Friday ads back in November. This is a QR or Quick Response Code. Simply, put it is a 3D barcode. It's a much more sophisticated version of the barcode on your bag of Lays Potato Chips. QR Codes are popping up everywhere and are gaining in popularity in education. So, I have been taking some time and doing a little digging about QR codes and trying to find some resources so you can get started using them.

First a video.

QR Codes from nicole mcgee on Vimeo.

In a nutshell, you need a device that has a camera so you can scan or take a picture of the code, a program to do the decoding and web access to see where the code takes you. This limits you to cell phones and the new iPod Touch. (But you can use a computer or a document camera or web cam as well.)

Apps:

You will need a reader installed on your phone. There are lots to choose from and most are free. For the iPhone NeoReader seems to be the most popular. On Android the Barcode Scanner from Zxing is very popular (it's the one I use). But NeoReader works on most Android phones as well. There are other apps too for non-smartphones. Just do a Google search for your phone and "qr code reader" and you should come up with something.

Why A QR Code:

Because QR Codes can contain up to 4000 characters of information you can put a ton of information in just one code. For example, it could be something as simple as a web address. So if you scan the code at the top of this post you will get the address for my blog. QR codes are also beginning to appear on business cards because, again, they can contain lots more information. But by far their most popular use is for web addresses. The ads I mentioned earlier all contained codes to sales information that didn't appear in the ad or on the regular website. Another place I have seen them is at our local zoo. You can walk up to the exhibit, scan the code and get more information about the animals and even video and audio. (Great for those times when the animals aren't active.)

One idea for use in the classroom (I will have more below) that comes to mind is books. When I was in the classroom kids would go to the library and literally judge a book by its cover. But think about if you threw in a QR code on the front cover. The students can scan and read a book review written by a student from last year or even watch a video trailer of the book that a student created as part of a project. All of that information  contained in a small black and white square on the cover of the book.

Pretty cool huh?

Creating QR Codes:

Easy as (insert something you think is easy here). There are lots of different websites that will allow you to make QR codes. One of my favorite is from Kaywa. Simply drop in the website you want the user to be directed to (or other information like general text, phone number, or SMS message) click Generate and BANG! A QR Code you can embed or print anywhere.

More Ideas For Education:

I have been saving several websites as they come across on Twitter. There is tons of great information out there on QR codes in Education. Here is just a sampling.

Interesting Ways To Use QR Codes In The Classroom-This presentation, started by the amazing Tom Barrett, has over 28 ways to use QR Codes in the classroom. Best thing here? If you come up with a different way in the presentation, you can add your idea.

Using QR Codes To Tell A Story- This post I saw just the other day has several ideas on how students can create and use QR Codes to tell stories. Lots of lesson ideas and more QR Code resources here.

Using QR Codes In Student Projects-The ladies over at Simple K12 recently wrote about post about using QR Codes in the classroom and give some quick examples. There are also some great ideas in the comments so be sure not to miss those.

Take some time and read up on some of this stuff. Even if you don't have the devices for students use it is still worth knowing about.

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