*THING 10: WORKING WITH VIDEO | 23 Things for Digital Knowledge There are many options for watching, downloading, and sharing video online. For Thing 10 we’re looking at video platforms to compare their usability, licensing options, and accessibility as well as ways to generate your own videos. YouTube YouTube was created in 2005 as a website for users to share original video content. Since then it has become a repository for video, film, animation, art, and advertising. Anyone can view content on YouTube, and can also choose to sign up and share their own content, or curate lists of other content on the website. YouTube provides its users with two licensing options for content uploaded to its site. The second is a Creative Commons CC BY Attribution licence allowing anyone to re-purpose and re-use the video so long as attribution is provided to the creator of the video. Vimeo Vimeo was founded in 2004, and in 2007 became the first video sharing site to support high-definition video. Screencasting Try this Screencasting Explore further
April 2018: Find your ed tech passion I feel technology should always support teaching and learning in a meaningful way. And I know you do, too. As educators, we try new ideas, hardware, and software as they become available. But how do you decide on your real passion in the area of educational technology? I challenge you to step back from your experimentation with the “cool new thing”, whatever that might be, and go deep into a topic you are interested in and passionate about. Once you do that, I want you to share that passion with others. Here’s an “Ignite-like” talk I gave on my passion for the origin of words. My favorite definition of passion comes from my Alexa device- “An irrational but irresistible motive for a belief or action”. Here are some questions, adapted from the online article, “Find your passion with these 8 thought-provoking questions“. What is something you believe that almost nobody agrees with you on? I have developed some very powerful ed tech passions over the years. What is your passion?
Apple TV In The Classroom – The New Smart Board An iPad and Apple TV can combine to provide an advantageous alternative to more expensive, traditional interactive white boards. Guest writer and High School Principal David Mahaley is using this approach and offers his insights, and observations from educators in his school. With the integration of the iPad into the instructional environment, teachers and students have discovered many new ways in which the device can expand and enhance the learning environment. With the iPad, the Apple TV can offer a flexible, complete, and cost efficient alternative to the traditional interactive boards populating our classrooms. As a school administrator and teacher, I have explored the Apple TV and its offerings as an alternative to one of the many types of interactive whiteboards currently available to instructors. We have committed our school to issuing every high school student and instructor an iPad. Image by K.Walsh, Apple TV logo source: www.apple.com/appletv Print This Post
Top Ten Screencastify Tips 1. Extension for Chrome This chrome extension lets you create screencasts directly from your browser on your laptop or desktop. Learn More > www.screencastify.com 2. > Go to goo.gl/myhWTh > Click on the blue button ‘Free’ > Accept the terms Install > goo.gl/myhWTh3. There are a few things your laptop/desktop will need in order to create a screencast: > a built in camera or a web cam > a built in or external microphone 4. > Click on the film icon located at the top right in the extensions section of your browser to start your recording. > Select screen preference > Click on ‘Share’ Learn How > goo.gl/esqeJd 5. You can activate your camera to capture yourself on the screen. >Click on the film icon > Select ’Webcam’ from ... Learn More > goo.gl/LHWUwb 6. Click on the film icon to start your recording > Select the ‘Tab’ option > Under video > Select three dots > Check ‘Show Tab Drawing Tools’ Learn More > goo.gl/EH8EpM 7. You can also upload directly to your YouTube.com account. Go to drive.google.com
Solve 50% of Tech Problems with 16 Simple Solutions The Number One reason–according to students–why their computer doesn’t work is… It’s broken. As a teacher, I hear this daily, often followed by the solution, I need a different computer. My students innately think computer problems are something they can’t solve. I asked them what happened in class when I wasn’t there to fix the problem, or at home. I usually got a shrug and one of these responses: My classroom teacher can’t fix them.My mom/dad can’t fix them.The school tech people couldn’t get there fast enough. Which got me thinking about how these problems that bring learning to a screeching halt really aren’t that complicated They don’t require a Ph.D in engineering or years of experience in IT. I started with a list. Here’s my list but yours may be different. The starting point for many problems Turn the computer off and then on; close down and reopen the internet; turn the modem or printer off and then on. The website doesn’t work I can’t exit a program. I can’t find a program Push F11
Spotlight: Engaging Students with Interactive Whiteboards Discuss “interactivity”, “engagement”, and the benefits of using an IWB Identify classroom activities that can be enriched through the use of an IWB, leading to increased student engagement Provide additional resources for professional development and extended learning Demonstrate how to use the technical tools available in IWB software 1Build Your Understanding I Have an Interactive Whiteboard, Now What? 2Put This Concept Into Practice - Classroom Projects Building Acrostic Poems (16 min) Hide & Reveal (33 min) Interactive Multiplication (33 min) Saturn Flip (26 min) What’s the Moral? 3Reflect & Apply Professional Development Workbook Adapting 21st Century Skills Projects to the Classroom Workshop ePortfolio ? ActivStudio® Courses ActivPrimary® Courses ActivInspire® Courses Easiteach® Courses Epson® TeamBoard Draw Courses Mimio® Courses SMART Board™ Notebook Courses SMART Board and Notebook are trademarks of SMART Technologies, Inc., in Canada and the U.S.
*UDL and The Flipped Classroom: The Full Picture In response to all of the attention given to the flipped classroom, I proposed The Flipped Classroom: The Full Picture and The Flipped Classroom: The Full Picture for Higher Education in which the viewing of videos (often discussed on the primary focus of the flipped classroom) becomes a part of a larger cycle of learning based on an experiential cycle of learning. Universal Design for Learning has also been in the news lately as a new report Universal Design for Learning (UDL): Initiatives on the Move was released by the National Center on UDL, May, 2012. This post describes the principles of Universal Design for Learning and how they naturally occur when a full cycle of learning, including ideas related to the flipped classroom, are used within the instructional process. Universal Design for Learning The UDL framework: Source: More about UDL can be found at: Some of the key findings of the Universal Design for Learning (UDL): Initiatives on the Move study:
Tips for Keeping Kids Safer on the Internet | Biblionasium Blog You’ve decided to use tech in your library, classroom or home environment. You’re excited about bringing the concepts your student(s) are learning in school to life. However, when you think about the people on the Internet whom kids might encounter, they look a little like this: Image Credit: Maximum Fire & Security If this is you, you’re not alone. Look for sites that comply with your country’s privacy regulations. If you are in charge of student usernames and passwords, and/or have access to sensitive information about students, and must store them outside of a personal computer or device, use a password-protected document or print them out and store them where others cannot access them. Strangers are not the only people you should worry about on the Internet. Many times, kids exploit Internet sites and features from inside the home. Like this: Like Loading...
*The Science Behind Stories and Anecdotes – The Principal of Change When I first started putting this blog/portfolio together in 2010, I wanted to think of a name for it. To some, the title of their blog is something that has actually held them back from starting it in the first place. They have great ideas but they can’t find that “perfect” title. It is kind of a big deal! Throwing around ideas with some friends on the title of the blog, I shared my focus on helping people embrace “meaningful change”, and hence since I was a principal at the time, “The Principal of Change” was born. #alwaysplaytheCanadiancard But what about the subtitle? That decision was actually easier. Yet, is this just a personal preference or is there something more here? According to the article, “Your Brain on Fiction” (I encourage you to read the entire article), stories can “stimulate the brain and even change how we act in life.” When we see ourselves in a story and make our own connections, ideas resonate and stick. Now all this is interesting.