Google Hangouts

I have just become enamoured with the collaborative possibilities of Google docs and Google Hangout.  I cannot rave more about the professional development possibilities that Google docs and hangout offers.  I am currently working collaboratively with two resource teachers in Winnipeg and one in Thompson to create a year/unit plan incorporating UDL principles using Google docs.  We are able to witness each other's revisions in real-time and are able to comment on things that need tweaking.  Just the other day, I participated in my first hangout with an administrator in the ISD to collaborate on a presentation that will be delivered to admin council tomorrow.  Google docs and hangout has allowed me to collaborate with professionals near and far to create amazing presentations and projects.  If you haven't heard of Google hangouts, please see this wonderful posting on the Edutopia blog. Or you can visit the hangout site for more information.

Update: I have created a Google doc that includes some links to further information about Google apps and a YouTube video that walks you through Google Hangout.  With this information, you can be well on your way to collaborating and communicating with your colleagues or teaching your students about some great tools for project work! Access the slides here.

Educreations

Educreations is one of my favourite iPad apps.  It is essentially a whiteboard that allows you to draw, annotate on photos from your iPad camera or library, record audio while you are working, and pull in material from your Dropbox account.  When I first came across this app, I imagined it being used by peer tutors to create mini-lessons for tutees that could be saved on an online Educreations account for access anywhere. I envision this app being used from K-12 as there are multiple uses and it really isn't grade-specific.  I just read this interesting post from a kindergarten teacher by the name of Carrie Both who is using this app to assess her students' ability to retell the major events from a story.  You can have a look at her application of Educreations here.

A UDL classroom in Oakland, California

I just finished watching a video as a part of a course I am taking.  I thought this video was worth sharing.  If you are familiar with Jennifer Katz's work, you will see her three-block model in action here.

Google Apps For Education (GAFE)

If using dropbox has become a part of your teaching day, then I would highly recommend that you give Google a second look.  When I created my google email account 3 years ago, I had no idea how much I would come to rely on it for work purposes.  I use my Google drive to store spreadsheets and word processing documents, but because I am no longer a front line teacher, I haven't fully explored the potential uses of Google docs in the classroom.  Luckily, there are savvy sages of Google docs.  Jenny Magiera, blogger and tech officianado in the Chicago Public Schools System has written this very informative piece on the many uses of Google drive in the classroom.  Using this online tool will no longer permit senior students to make excuses about not being able to get together to work on their Science project.  Collaboration can take place in real time! Check out Ms. Magiera's blog post here.

A Little Inspiration

At the Closing the Gap conference in October 2012, presenter Paul Hamilton showed us a collaborative storytelling website that can be used for creative writing in the classroom. StoryBird allows you to select from artwork that has been offered up by artists to the site creators. Users can select a theme and browse through collections of illustrated pictures.  The average collection will have multiple illustrations to allow a user to create a story around the set of pictures.  It is easy to click and drag pictures onto the page board and then add the inspired text.  Students can collaborate on storybooks together and then have it published in a private account.  Teachers also have the option of creating a class account, adding student accounts to the class account, and then assigning projects for the students to work on.  As an added bonus, books can be purchased for Android and iOS devices at a mere $1.99.  This, I assume, is how the artists are paid for their contributed work.  Published digital works can also be shared with others through email.  As there is such a great selection of artwork collections, it offers inspiration for students to work through the creative writing process. This could be a great option for a reluctant writer!

Please read Camelia Cat's Birthday Puddle Party-  a story I created one evening while exploring how this site works.

Extrinsic Motivation

In my usual perusal of educational blogs, I came across a new and interesting way for teachers to motivate students in their daily academics.  Class Badges is a means of giving your students feedback for their achievements through the awarding of badges. Historically, electronic gaming systems and online games have awarded badges for gaming prowess.  Class Badges works similarly in that you, as an educator, can create badges based on curricular topics you are teaching for your students to work towards. You can award badges to students once they've completed particular parts of a large assignment or project.  Students can track their progress through the assignment by seeing which badges they've earned in correspondence to each part of the assignment that they've submitted.  To sign up, simply 'request an invite' and you'll receive an email with the details for accessing your account. Once you've set up your class account, you can have students register using your classroom code.  Class Badges could very well end the need to purchase new stamps and stickers.

Creating Your Own Personal Learning Network 2nd Ed.

Since my last post about PLNs in October, I've thought a lot about the metaphor that David Warlick used at the SAGE conference I attended.  He compared the development of one's own personal learning network (PLN) to tending a garden.  You need to try new 'crops' out and 'weed' out sources of information as you go.  I've worked hard this year to develop my own personal learning network and I'd like to share some tips for you to create your own learning 'garden'.

Because I've dealt so much this year with iPad deployment in our division, much of the searching for resources I've done has been surrounding applications that can be downloaded onto the iPad.  There are a couple of different methods of searching for apps that I've used.  I've downloaded apps like Apps Gone Free, App Start, App Shopper, and Autism Apps, all free apps that help you search for applications to use on your iPad.  This hasn't been my sole source of information about apps, but it has been very useful.  I've subscribed to blogs and bookmarked websites, after Google searching 'technology blogs'. I've also viewed webinars through the Closing the Gap archives.  A combined print and online subscription is just over a $100 and gives you access to some leading assistive technology experts.  These are just some of ways that I've gathered information about the world of apps.

Another great resource I've used this year has been Pinterest.  It is an online pinning board that allows you to browse 'pins' that others have flagged while perusing the internet.  You create boards to organize your pins and a quick search of 'technology' or 'applications' brings up a vast selection of pins for you to 'repin' to your boards.  I've pinned so many websites and blogs, I haven't actually had enough time to read through them all.  It is a quick way to search for information if you've got a mere few minutes in your hectic day.  All from your iPad or iPhone as there is an app available in the app store for free.

Another effective way of gathering information about technology I've used this year as TILT is Twitter.  Recognized as a social networking tool, it is a widely used resource for educators and frequented by those who are technologically inclined. Now, that being said, I've never tweeted and probably won't, it's just not something I'm interested in at this point. I simply browse the tweets of people I am following to learn about new tech resources.  Most posts of the people I follow tweet about great sites that contain information about online or web 2.0 resources.

I've offered just a few ways to get started on creating your own PLN.  Because my job deals with technology, that is what I tend in my garden.  You can tailor your PLN to meet your own professional learning needs.  Simply follow people that are like-minded and specialize in your same educational specialty. Subscribing to blogs and creating accounts with Twitter and Pinterest are easy ways for you to link yourself to great human resources.  The information is available instantly and how much you contribute to the online community is completely up to you.

Here is another option to tweak your own school PD days or staff meetings.  I just read through an interesting article written by Sylvia Rosenthal-Tolisano, who has a great educational blog with some incredible insights.  You can read about her perspective on 21st century professional development here.