Group items matching

in title, tags, annotations or url

I'm testing cel.ly right now. Here's the instructions about how to use cel.ly for creating quizzes. Of course, all of your students will need access to a phone to test this, but it does have basic information on how to do this. This is cool.

Google now is worth installing on iPad and iPHones and you can get it even if you don't have a Droid phone. This instruction at PC mag tells you how, but it is part of the Google Search app. Download that and follow these instructions to set it up. There are privacy concerns so I wouldn't do this with students. Educate yourself but you might just get a handy personal assistant.

Dawn Casey-Rowe hits a tough topic that is the number one complaint that teachers have. I had her on my show not too long a go and she speaks from a tough situation with lots of blocks and bans but gets it done anyway. If your complaint is blocks and bans, then take time to read this post to focus on what you CAN do. Dawn is offering a set of PD blog posts that you'll want to dig into. "This week, we're going to discuss the white elephant in the room. Tech frustration. Many teachers struggle to bring students the type of tech experience they would like because of systemic blocks and bans, or worse, feel embarrassed as students have more access to tech than teachers do. This is the issue that brought me to the tech world myself. Students continually asked the hard questions about why they couldn't utilize technology such as smartphones, laptops, and tablets, and why phones were confiscated when students were using them for educational purposes. I wanted to improve my classroom experience and give my students more, but budget was a concern. Tech access is a problem in many schools. There are legitimate reasons-the desire of administrators to protect students from the darker side of the internet, fear of the unknown, lack of wireless capacity and budget difficulties which cause insufficient numbers of computers or the inability to upgrade existing tech. Some educational leaders have overcome these hurdles, but others are still working to get to that space."

This NPR article on the school situation in Philadelphia is heart wrenching. Poverty impacts everyone, especially children. For those who have never seen it, it is hard to understand. I remember in Mumbai, seeing kids with a tiny notebook and pencil down to the nub that had been used the whole school year - kids were erasing unimportant things (if they still had an eraser) to add more to their notebooks. Yes, there are many places that desperately need school supplies and help and Philadelphia is one of the many cities who are really struggling. Take time to read/listen and understand and set up this holiday season to help. ""Clothing, books, all of the school supplies, backpacks," Kantor says. "And you see some kids that are really suffering. Some kids don't ever have a dime. They have one pencil, they have a spiral book, and they don't have any of the supplies." Other teachers say they've had to bring in cleaning supplies - even toilet paper. But lots of nonmaterial things gnaw at Kantor: She says some parents, many of them single moms, seem overwhelmed and disengaged. Kantor says she knows they're stressed out and tries to reach out by phone, but is too often left discouraged."

Here comes Windows 8 with a lot of new settings. These are talking about the Windows phone updates but other updates are on the way. "While Windows 8.1 adds a lot of features and improvements across the OS, the built-in apps include some of the biggest changes. Microsoft is detailing a few of the more creative ones ahead of the Windows 8.1 release tomorrow. The photos app in Windows 8 included Facebook and Flickr integration, but the Windows 8.1 version drops that in lieu of some improvements to editing. You can now select auto fix for a selection of different corrections, and there's also manual cropping, red-eye removal, retouch, and other basic contrast and brightness settings. One of the more interesting features is color enhance that lets you pick an area of a photo to brighten up or darken areas of photos."

Interesting Digital Concept map from Amal Abouldhosn and her class as they discuss media. She says "my students were born in 1998, so they've never really lived on a planet without cell phones or internet." This is a great way to brainstorm and discuss such topics- especially ones where the students have a lot of personal knowledge.

This has got to be the funkiest instant poll, quiz, response site around. Create questions, quizzes and polls with optional uploaded images for participants to complete in real time from a computer or mobile device. The users access the quiz by using a pin code. The 'question master' gets the data back instantly and it is stored on the site or can be downloaded. This is superb for checking the knowledge of children in your class or that your audience is still awake. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/ICT+%26+Web+Tools

Got this email from a teacher Hi Vicki- I love your blog, tweets and contributions to flipboard! I am a teacher at a local school district charter high school and appreciate your zeal for teaching and learning. I am not sure if you have heard about Kahoot! but wanted to ask you to check it out by following it on Twitter or watching a few youtube videos of Kahoot in action. I have no financial investment in it or any reason for recommending it other than how much we are enjoying using it at our school and how valuable a tool I believe it to be. Questions can be entered by students or teachers and pictures can be uploaded to each question to add visual appeal. The students can use computers, smart phones, tablets and don't have to have an account- they just log in to kahoot.it and then join the interactive quiz. Everyone gets so involved and passionate and it is great for reviews before tests or for supplemental instruction. The results can be viewed on a spreadsheet and provide formative assessments. It can be used for any ages and any subjects. I am so jazzed about this great new tool and hope you will be too. https://getkahoot.com Kathryn Lewallen Payson, AZ Payson Center for Success High School

A simple multiplication practise site where learners can choose from 6 difficulty levels and answer all the questions as quickly as they can. Players answer the questions using changing buttons, which means no typing is needed, making it idea to use on interactive whiteboards. Because it is designed using html the site also works on most tablets and smart phones. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Maths

"Put the tools in kids' hands. * Interactive whiteboards: They don't call 'em interactive for nothing. When these large-display screens that connect to a computer and a projector arrived at Forest Lake, Williams gave teachers six months to wean themselves from their interaction-less overhead projectors. Students can touch the interactive boards to solve math problems, play games, or write and edit text. When one student is running the board, Williams suggests keeping others engaged using remote clickers, personal dry-erase slates, or manipulatives. (Download this idea guide for interactive whiteboards.) "

Create micro-courses or find them and learn from them. This is the web app for Coursmos but there are also apps for your phone, etc. This might be an interesting thing to do with students to have them create demos, etc. about how to do tasks. Very interesting.

"The topic of Mobile and Ubiquitous is seen today as personal devices that are used for communication purposes and can be taken anywhere. Common examples of these devices are computers and cell phones. "

Coordinate parents and volunteers the fast, easy way with free online sign up forms and volunteer scheduling. At VolunteerSpot, we believe that volunteers should be rewarded for stepping forward and sharing their time and talents with those in need. All too often, volunteering means putting up with a certain amount of hassle or frustration - whether that is late night emails, reply-all messages, reminder phone calls, or searching for a parking space. Our sponsors enable us to provide FREE tools that simplify volunteering powering your good work in schools and clubs, in your congregation and neighborhoods. We can't find you a parking place, but with VolunteerSpot, DOING GOOD just got easier!

The global film on the fly challenge. There was a challenge on March 14th - it is a mobile phone filmmaking contest.

Say you're a middle school principal who has just confiscated a cell phone from a 14-year-old boy, only to discover it contains a nude photo of his 13-year-old girlfriend. Do you: a) call the boy's parents in despair, b) call the girl's parents in despair, or c) call the police? More and more, the answer is d) all of the above. Which could result in criminal charges for both of your students and their eventual designation as sex offenders.

Mobile Apps to replace Jott's functionality.

A reader named Liesl send in this great article from LifeHacker about the alternatives to Jott. Actually, after reading this, there really isn't an alternative to Jott without a lot of elbow grease. I may be coughing up the $3.95 a month. I just really use it. However, I'm going to email them. I NEED A FAMILY PLAN! I have my children using Jott on their cell phones but they use it very infrequently. I should be able to have some sort of family plan for our situation.

The new essentials: Top 10 School Supplies for today's students. These free tools enable students to take advantage of the new learning possibilities the Web has to offer, such as making research easier, or finding better, cheaper ways of doing what they're already doing.

Cell phones and exams-debate over digital devices!

Slideshare pointing out that we need to rethink cellphones in the classroom