Group items tagged

"Today, the iPad and Android apps for Google Slides and Google Documents received an update that you're sure to like. The iOS and Android apps for Docs and Slides now let you insert images directly from your device's camera roll. You can insert images even when your device is not online. You can crop images in your documents and slides too. To crop an image simply double-tap on it to crop it and or apply a mask to "

"arlier, I wrote about four activities teachers and school leaders can use to jump-start creative problem-solving in teams. Given the increased pressure on educators to innovate, the goals for each activity were to build or deepen skills associated with that work. Readers expressed particular interest in one of these activities, so I wanted to do a deep dive and provide additional information. This activity grew out of my work with teachers and school leaders to identify effective solutions to school problems. Over time, I became curious about how schools might make pain points visible, in order to tap into educators' collective wisdom to solve them. I wondered, too, if we could structure this problem-solving in such a way that everyone's voice would be heard. Finally, I wondered if there might be a way to make it a fun and creative game. That's where a set of index cards comes in."

"In this wonderful video Google engineers Liu and Merrified share some interesting tips and insights on how to effectively search your Gmail and  Drive.The purpose is to enable you to tap into some hidden gems that will allow you to search for what you need in Gmail or Drive quickly and accurately. All of the search tips Liu and Merrified talked about in this tutorial include search and Boolean operators. This document from Gmail Help features some of the most useful operators to use when conducting internal searches in your Gmail. You should definitely bookmark and keep it for reference."

"In the Social Studies and English Language Arts classroom students can benefit from visuals and interactive text to help making meaning of the past.  The Berlin Wall HD is a free iPad app that presents informational text, primary source documents and interactive maps on the screen.  Students can tap, zoom and explore this period in history."

"For nearly a decade, Maker Faires have been a way to bring together a community of people who've tapped into their creative and innovative sensibilities to build a wonderful array of original works: flashy robots and drones, tools programmed for novel applications, to weird fashion accessories and jewelry, stuff you can't even name, and on and on."

"Recently, I presented an online webinar with education colleagues from different parts of the U.S. The webinar, Social Media Savvy for Educators, was well received. Our purpose in sharing was to: Support educators who were new to using social media Support them to seek out a few resources Support them to launch into those spaces In this webinar, we shared ways to tap into the power of social media to increase professional effectiveness, student engagement and parent participation. K-12 educators and leaders attended and participated to learn about integrating Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, blogs, Google Hangout and more into their everyday work. An interesting issue emerged as we stepped through the webinar -- we observed that many participants did not know how to "get started" using social media tools. "

"I have a confession to make: I'm addicted to online quizzing games regardless of the topic or content. I get enthralled trying to outwit my Facebook friends and move up the leaderboards, spending more hours than I'll admit here trying to do so. I'm not the only one either. Millions of people share this same addiction, which got me to wondering: is there a way that teachers could tap into the quizzing craze, ideally using questions related to course content, to teach material and greater life lessons all at once?"

""Have you seen this video?" The Twitter message from my good friend and fellow thought-instigator Daniel Scibienski pointed me toward If You Build It, a recent PBS documentary about designer/educator/activists Emily Pilloton and Matthew Miller persuading an underfunded school board to create a new kind of design-based program for the students at Windsor High School in Bertie County, North Carolina. What I saw affected me profoundly: students, confused and reluctant at first, gradually developing skills and abilities with tools they'd never used before, designing and building increasingly complex things; failing, trying again, improving, collaborating, and ultimately succeeding and celebrating. I, too, have a vision for a new kind of classroom. I, too, am building something radical, exciting, and even revolutionary. I want to tap the power of design thinking to transform learning in my classroom. We're bringing shop class back to my middle school -- but this time, it's digital."

DialMyCalls lets everyone tap into the power of sending voice messages out to entire phone lists in seconds. No messing around with expensive equipment or calling servers - now you can send your own voice messages from 2 to 20,000 phone numbers all within a few minutes

Wyoming science teacher London Jenks not only allows mobile technologies in his classroom, but he's also learned how to maximize them as educational tools, tapping the devices for assessments, research, and even student scavenger hunts using QR codes.

"When asked, "What is the most challenging part of writing an essay?" Most of my students agree, "It's just getting started that's hard." I remember feeling this same way as a student. The blank page was daunting. So, I decided to try a new strategy. The first stage of our formal essay on Shakespeare's play, Othello, was a prewriting activity designed to tap into the collective potential of the class. I wanted students working together to generate ideas and collect textual evidence."

"Imagine you could create a single button on your iPhone that does whatever you want. Want to order an Uber for your next Calendar event? Easy. Want a button designated for calling mom? Done. Wish you could tap a button and get directions to the nearest coffee shop? Who wouldn't? Want to tweet the last photo you took or song you're listening to? Just drag and drop each step of the process inside of Workflow and it turns into its own app. That's the concept behind Workflow, a new app designed to save you time by allowing you to string together various tasks and combine them into one action. You can then turn that action into an app on your homescreen or add it to your iPhone's share screen so you always have quick access."

"As teachers and educators, we are constantly required to review, evaluate and renew our teaching strategies to align them with  the cultural, technological and pedagogical ethos of the era we are living in. In today's era, the digital component is at the foreground which obviously calls for a new mindset, a novel conceptual framework that views technology not as an end itself but solely a mean to an educational end. It is a truism that digitally has opened a new horizon of unprecedented learning opportunities and experiences  but we can only tap into its full educational potential when we equip ourselves with the proper mindset: a growth and open mindset that as much as it adapts it also disrupts the century-old orthodoxies underlying teaching and learning practice. Teaching is a dynamic concept which is constantly evolving and expanding and that is why teachers and educators are forever learners. Engaging in such a life-long learning journey entails that teachers develop a set of robust thinking habits that allow them to fit in the rapidly evolving educational landscape.These habits are, according to Reid Wilson, what make the profile of a modern educator. Below is an awesome visual created by Wilson featuring some of the characteristics of a modern teacher which I want to bring to your attention. Have a look and share with us what you think of it. Enjoy"

"The iPhone and iPad make great email companions, thanks to the built-in Mail app. Unfortunately, large attachments can eat lots of data, or worse, not send at all. Luckily services like Dropbox are making it easier than ever to share files via email, no matter how big they are. Once you've got the file in Dropbox, you can send it via the Mail app in just a few taps!"

"Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck's work on growth mindsets has dominated much of the attention around how students can influence their own learning. But there are other ways to help students tap into their own motivation, too. Here are a few other important mindsets to consider."

"The Photos app for iPhone and iPad not only lets you edit and organize your pictures, but also lets you show them off to friends and family with just a few taps. That's thanks to the built-in slideshow feature, which ads movement and sound and special transition. If you'd like, you can even AirPlay them to an Apple TV for a family or group viewing experience. Just tell it what photo you want to start with!"