We've made it to the end of the summer and the end of TECHsplorations! Congratulations to everyone who has participated. I'm proud of all that you've learned and shared!
And, as I say every week, if this is the first TECHsploration post you have read all summer, there is still time (just a tiny bit!) for you to be a part of the program! Scroll back through the blog and explore anything that is of interest to you. Don't forget to join Twitter and our 80-member-strong list of BMS "tweeters." TECHsplorations is all about working at your own pace and learning new things--don't be afraid to give it a try!
If you only have time to do one thing, make that thing Edmodo. Go back to the first week's post and read about joining and participating in your summer reading book discussions online. The discussion groups are growing every day, and this is a good way to reflect on your chosen summer reading book with colleagues before the school year gets underway.
And, not that you need a reminder, but, one week from today, on Monday, August 27th from 12:30 to 1:00pm in the North Building Lobby, the Technology Department will host its TECHsploration Cupcake Reception! You can indulge in home-made treats, chat with colleagues, and enter a drawing for one of three fabulous tech-themed prizes! All participants of any level are welcome and encouraged to attend!
This week, I'd like us simply to reflect on everything we've learned, explored, shared, read, watched, and discussed this summer. What was your biggest accomplishment? What surprised you? What frustrated you? Who have you gotten to know better as a result of the program? How has your PLN (Personal Learning Network) grown? How can you keep this going all year? And finally, what is the one thing that you will do differently this school year as a result of having participated in TECHsplorations? Tweet us some of your thoughts and take-aways.
In all fairness, if I'm asking you to take time to reflect, I should do the same. Here are my thoughts:
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved Google Chrome--I can't imagine why I didn't download it sooner! My biggest accomplishment (and also one of my most frustrating moments) was creating the TECHsplorations Chrome Web App. I got such a thrill out of making it work! My PLN has grown in quality connections with all of you; I feel like we're all really getting the hang of this "connected educator" thing! Sometimes, I only have a moment to check Twitter, and I know that my time will be best spent by reading the latest posts from all of you on the BMS Buddies list. I plan on keeping this going all year through encouraging faculty sharing and by strengthening ties with teachers from across the globe. And finally, the one thing that I plan to do differently as a result of having participated in TECHsplorations is that I want to make my Emerging Technologies class just a little bit more like a video game (that TED talk really stuck with me!).
Please take a moment to complete the survey below (Google Forms at work!) to share your thoughts with us. The Technology Team puts a considerable amount of energy into developing the TECHsplorations program each year, and your feedback is always appreciated. You can choose to include your name or remain anonymous. Thanks for another fantastic summer! See you on Monday for cupcakes!!
Monday, August 20, 2012
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
New! TECHsplorations Chrome App!
Since this week's TECHsploration was Chrome and its apps, I thought that I would do some TECHsploring of my own and figure out how to make us a Chrome app shortcut for the TECHsplorations blog. After So, if you try Week 9's TECHsploration and start using Chrome and Chrome apps, be sure to click here to add our BMS TECHsplorations app to your Chrome account. It's nothing amazing, but a handy shortcut with a cute TECHsplorations icon. Nice to have!
Let me know what you think!
Week 9: Google Chrome & Apps
We've made it to the penultimate week of TECHsplorations! Are you getting that back-to-school feeling yet? I have had so much fun TECHsploring and just keeping up with all of you over the summer. We have 80 BMS tweeters as of this posting--that's fantastic! Thank you for sharing interesting articles, videos, and resources all summer long. Additionally, we've explored many new tools and discovered ways to use them in our classes AND we are having great online discussions about our summer reading selections on Edmodo! Check in with yours if you haven't done so recently!
Even if this is the very first TECHsploration post you're reading, welcome! It is never too late to get started! I would recommend scrolling to the beginning of the blog and reading your way up/skim for tools that catch your eye. You can learn all about joining Twitter by reading the links on the right side of the blog.
And remember, all participants, great and small, are invited to a special cupcake reception on Monday, August 27th from 12:30 to 1:00pm in the North Building Lobby. We will also have drawings for three fabulous tech prizes for participants (as if you needed more incentive to join in the fun!).
On to this week's tool: Google Chrome Apps! This is not a tool for students to use, but it is something that I think you will find useful for your personal and professional life. Now that we are a Google Apps for Education school, we'll undoubtedly be using a lot of Google Apps. Google Chrome is a web browser made by Google that offers a great user experience for those apps. In fact, you can "sign in" with your BMS account (don't forget to add @brynmawrschool.org when it asks you to sign in) to Google Chrome and add apps from the Chrome Apps Store that will show up when you open a new window or tab in Chrome. These apps provide quick and easy access to all the things you use most, as well as offering other fun games, organizational tools...you name it, there's an app for it! Most of the apps are simply shortcuts to the sites you visit most frequently; others are unique to Chrome, like the virtual Lego builder app.
You can read all about Chrome here, as well as download and install it on your laptop. After installing it, sign in (click the wrench in the upper right corner of the browser window), and then go "shopping" for apps in the Chrome store. Once you've added some apps to Chrome, (I recommend Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, YouTube, Blogger, Google Maps, Twitter, and Edmodo), you can drag them around to place them where you'd like on the screen. It's a nice way to organize yourself as we prepare to embark upon the 2012-13 school year.
If you have a little extra time to play, I highly recommend adding the WebLab app. It allows users to do "web experiments" both online and in real life at the Science Museum in London in real time. It's hard to explain, but so neat! If you don't want to download and use Chrome, you can still try out WebLab by clicking here (keep in mind that these web experiments were designed for Chrome, so they will work best there).
The best part about Chrome is that, if you log in to Chrome and set things up, download apps, bookmark things, etc., Chrome will remember all of your settings, preferences, apps, and bookmarks and keep that information in the cloud. Now, you can log into Chrome on any computer and feel right at home--no more frustration over a bookmark being on another computer or browser!
So download Chrome and get started! Tweet us your favorite Chrome apps, and as always, have fun!
Even if this is the very first TECHsploration post you're reading, welcome! It is never too late to get started! I would recommend scrolling to the beginning of the blog and reading your way up/skim for tools that catch your eye. You can learn all about joining Twitter by reading the links on the right side of the blog.
And remember, all participants, great and small, are invited to a special cupcake reception on Monday, August 27th from 12:30 to 1:00pm in the North Building Lobby. We will also have drawings for three fabulous tech prizes for participants (as if you needed more incentive to join in the fun!).
On to this week's tool: Google Chrome Apps! This is not a tool for students to use, but it is something that I think you will find useful for your personal and professional life. Now that we are a Google Apps for Education school, we'll undoubtedly be using a lot of Google Apps. Google Chrome is a web browser made by Google that offers a great user experience for those apps. In fact, you can "sign in" with your BMS account (don't forget to add @brynmawrschool.org when it asks you to sign in) to Google Chrome and add apps from the Chrome Apps Store that will show up when you open a new window or tab in Chrome. These apps provide quick and easy access to all the things you use most, as well as offering other fun games, organizational tools...you name it, there's an app for it! Most of the apps are simply shortcuts to the sites you visit most frequently; others are unique to Chrome, like the virtual Lego builder app.
You can read all about Chrome here, as well as download and install it on your laptop. After installing it, sign in (click the wrench in the upper right corner of the browser window), and then go "shopping" for apps in the Chrome store. Once you've added some apps to Chrome, (I recommend Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, YouTube, Blogger, Google Maps, Twitter, and Edmodo), you can drag them around to place them where you'd like on the screen. It's a nice way to organize yourself as we prepare to embark upon the 2012-13 school year.
If you have a little extra time to play, I highly recommend adding the WebLab app. It allows users to do "web experiments" both online and in real life at the Science Museum in London in real time. It's hard to explain, but so neat! If you don't want to download and use Chrome, you can still try out WebLab by clicking here (keep in mind that these web experiments were designed for Chrome, so they will work best there).
The best part about Chrome is that, if you log in to Chrome and set things up, download apps, bookmark things, etc., Chrome will remember all of your settings, preferences, apps, and bookmarks and keep that information in the cloud. Now, you can log into Chrome on any computer and feel right at home--no more frustration over a bookmark being on another computer or browser!
So download Chrome and get started! Tweet us your favorite Chrome apps, and as always, have fun!
Monday, August 6, 2012
Week 8: Google Calendar
We're so close to the end that I can smell the cupcakes! [IMPORTANT SIDE NOTE: This year's TECHsploration Cupcake Reception for all participants, great and small, will be held on Monday, August 27th from 12:30 to 1pm in the North Building Lobby. For those of you who don't happen to have your "Opening Meetings 2012-2013" calendar handy, that is during the second half of lunch. We hope that you will all take the opportunity to join us in good cheer as we chat about our tech triumphs, share our setbacks, and, above all, celebrate all that we've learned this summer! More on this soon... I now return you to your regularly scheduled blog entry...]. At any rate, if you're just joining us and beginning your TECHsploration journey, I encourage you to scroll back to the beginning of the blog to peruse all the tools we've explored so far. Remember to work at your own pace and explore things that are of interest to you!
Now, for this week's tool: Google Calendar. As we draw nearer to the inevitable start of the school year, I know that many of us are already in the throes of planning our lessons. Kudos to you! As you prepare for this school year, one of the most valuable tools, in my opinion, that you can have in your toolbox is a good calendar system. As a part of our Google Apps for Education suite, we have Google Calendar to fill this role.
So, this week, I challenge each of you to dig around in Google Calendar--there is much to discover! Some of the features of Google Calendar are:
Now, for this week's tool: Google Calendar. As we draw nearer to the inevitable start of the school year, I know that many of us are already in the throes of planning our lessons. Kudos to you! As you prepare for this school year, one of the most valuable tools, in my opinion, that you can have in your toolbox is a good calendar system. As a part of our Google Apps for Education suite, we have Google Calendar to fill this role.
So, this week, I challenge each of you to dig around in Google Calendar--there is much to discover! Some of the features of Google Calendar are:
- it syncs with your smart phone, slate device, etc. so you always have the most up to date information.
- the Quick Add feature allows you to add an event to your calendar in "plain English." I could type "Meet with Lynn at 10AM on Tuesday" into the Quick Add area, and Google will create an event on my calendar for in at the right time on the right date.
- you can invite people to events you create (much like Outlook) and the meeting will be added to their calendars if they choose to attend.
- you can create a calendar and share it with colleagues to either be able to view it or edit it with you.
- it integrates with Gmail so you can add events to Google Calendar from within your email.
- you can create Appointment Slots which allow others to sign up for meeting times with you...or in the case of 9th and 10th grade PE, sign up for classes :)
- you can subscribe to public calendars, such as the Days of the Cycle calendar, to view that information (without editing it). There are also other public calendars outside the BMS community that you might want to subscribe to, like a concert series calendar or the United States holidays calendar.
- just like with Gmail, there are a lot of great "Labs" features you can add to Google Calendar under the Settings area.
I could go on and on about Google Calendar (Shannon and I have become quite acquainted with it as we have worked through the process of creating online "planners" for the MS and US!), but I want you to explore it yourself. And for MS and US teachers, I highly recommend that you use this with your students! Get them in the habit of putting all of their events in one place.
You can always visit Google's Calendar Support page for further guidance here.
Tweet us your most creative ideas for using Google Calendar this year and any ideas that you'd like to try but aren't sure how to start--the whole Twitter community is here to help! We've got 79 members on our BMS list!! Will you be #80?
As always, have fun!
Monday, July 30, 2012
Week 7: Twitter Chats
We're turning the corner into August and I know that this will be the last "quiet" week around BMS. Looking back over the past six weeks of TECHsploring, I have to say that I'm proud of us! I've seen lots of insightful tweets, read a variety of educational articles from links you've found, and enjoyed the comaraderie we've shared over the summer months. A special kudos to the Lower School teachers: you all have been doing an especially great job with your iPad explorations led by Lanette--well done!!
This week, we'd like you to explore Twitter chats. A Twitter chat is when a group of people get together at a specific date/time online and have a conversation around a pre-selected topic. For example, one of the most popular Twitter chats is #edchat--a chat for educators. #Edchat occurs every Tuesday at 7pm EST (participants could come from anywhere in the world, so noting the time zone is important!). On Tuesday at 7pm, you can search Twitter for #edchat and see the discussion unfold. Participating is easy--just add #edchat anywhere in your tweet and everyone who is following that hashtag search will see your tweets--even people you don't follow/don't follow you! It might seem a little overwhelming as the tweets just pour in from hundreds of educators, but stick with it. You don't have to read every tweet, and you can reply to anyone at any time. You could also just throw your ideas into the ring and see who replies. You can also save the hashtag search to access it more easily for future chats. It is fast-paced fun!
#Edchat is only one example. Educators make up a huge piece of the Twitter population and they have made chats for just about every group, like #apbio, #artsed, #scichat, #titletalk (for librarians), #engchat, #1stchat (1st grade), #2ndchat (2nd grade), (There is a grade level chat for every grade from Kindergarten-6th), #mathchat, #historychat, #isedchat (Independent School Educators Chat), #midleved (for MS teachers), and even #iPadchat...just to name a few!
One of the educators I follow on Twitter: @cybraryman has two wonderful Twitter chat resources:
click here to learn more about participating in a Twitter chat and click here to see the list of educational Twitter chats and when they "meet."
Twitter chats are a terrific way to connect with other educators and have meaningful discussions/share ideas. You'll notice that long after a chat, people will still tweet links or ideas using the chat hashtag so that everyone who participates in the chat can see it! So, let's try to branch out from our BMS community this week and jump into a Twitter chat.
*Disclaimer: Twitter chats are far more active during the school year, as you would imagine, so I'm not sure which ones are "meeting" this week. Also, some chat groups got started and then lost steam, so they may not be as active as they once were--but you could be the one to get them going again!
I'll be tweeting info about any chats I come across and I hope that you'll take an hour to participate in one yourself. You'll be glad you did!
This week, we'd like you to explore Twitter chats. A Twitter chat is when a group of people get together at a specific date/time online and have a conversation around a pre-selected topic. For example, one of the most popular Twitter chats is #edchat--a chat for educators. #Edchat occurs every Tuesday at 7pm EST (participants could come from anywhere in the world, so noting the time zone is important!). On Tuesday at 7pm, you can search Twitter for #edchat and see the discussion unfold. Participating is easy--just add #edchat anywhere in your tweet and everyone who is following that hashtag search will see your tweets--even people you don't follow/don't follow you! It might seem a little overwhelming as the tweets just pour in from hundreds of educators, but stick with it. You don't have to read every tweet, and you can reply to anyone at any time. You could also just throw your ideas into the ring and see who replies. You can also save the hashtag search to access it more easily for future chats. It is fast-paced fun!
#Edchat is only one example. Educators make up a huge piece of the Twitter population and they have made chats for just about every group, like #apbio, #artsed, #scichat, #titletalk (for librarians), #engchat, #1stchat (1st grade), #2ndchat (2nd grade), (There is a grade level chat for every grade from Kindergarten-6th), #mathchat, #historychat, #isedchat (Independent School Educators Chat), #midleved (for MS teachers), and even #iPadchat...just to name a few!
One of the educators I follow on Twitter: @cybraryman has two wonderful Twitter chat resources:
click here to learn more about participating in a Twitter chat and click here to see the list of educational Twitter chats and when they "meet."
Twitter chats are a terrific way to connect with other educators and have meaningful discussions/share ideas. You'll notice that long after a chat, people will still tweet links or ideas using the chat hashtag so that everyone who participates in the chat can see it! So, let's try to branch out from our BMS community this week and jump into a Twitter chat.
*Disclaimer: Twitter chats are far more active during the school year, as you would imagine, so I'm not sure which ones are "meeting" this week. Also, some chat groups got started and then lost steam, so they may not be as active as they once were--but you could be the one to get them going again!
I'll be tweeting info about any chats I come across and I hope that you'll take an hour to participate in one yourself. You'll be glad you did!
Monday, July 23, 2012
Week 6: TED Ed
I hope this post finds you sitting someplace cool!
This week's tool to explore is TED Ed. Many of us are familiar with (and fans of!) of the popular TED talks online, and now, TED has expanded upon that thinking to bring us the TED Ed platform! This is a really exciting tool for two reasons: 1. TED is now pairing master teachers with master animators to bring their lessons to life as animated TED talks (great for showing to students or for learning something new!) and 2. TED has developed a tool by which you can make any video on YouTube into an interactive "flipped" lesson.
A "flipped" lesson is one in which the traditional "teaching" or introducing new skills/ideas is done outside the classroom, usually with the help of a teacher-created or recommended video and the "problem-solving" or working through concepts is done during class time. Many of us tried flipping our lessons last year with great success. Even if you have never "flipped," I'm sure that you can imagine the way that this method can change the way that students learn and reinvent class time.
With TED Ed's platform, you can take an existing YouTube video, either one that you've recorded and uploaded on your own or one that already exists on YouTube, and add interactivity to it to better engage your students. The tool is very user-friendly for both students and teachers and ensures that students are engaging with the video you have asked them to watch.
I've made a practice flipped lesson using the TED Ed platform for you to try. So, pretend that you are all my students in TECHsploration 101 and I've asked you to watch this video for homework. Then, you should answer the questions and explore the resources provided with the video. To try the lesson, click here. The video is a TED talk given by an AP Biology teacher who turns his class into a video game. Inspiring!
One note: you will need to create an account on TED Ed in order to complete my lesson and/or make one of your own.
After you complete my lesson, try making one of your own. Then, tweet us the link so we can try it! If you aren't feeling that adventurous, you can try your hand at some of the existing TED Ed lessons--I'm sure you'll learn something new.
As always, have fun and keep TECHsploring!
Don't forget to check in on Edmodo to see what's new with your summer reading group. There's an #isedchat on Twitter this Thursday at 9pm on Now You See It. You should stop in if you can!
Keep this in mind as you use Google Forms
It was recently brought to my attention that it is a violation of Google's Terms of Service to collect any personal information using Google Forms. This includes usernames, passwords and email addresses. Basically, Google prohibits you from asking people to provide you with a username, password or email address on a Google Form. If a Google bot finds that you are in violation of the terms, your form will be locked and all your data frozen. The only way to get it back is to post to a public Google forum to ask for assistance.
You can read CoolCatTeacher's blog post about it here.
The good news is that, as Google Apps for Education users, we don't really have any need to collect personal information from anyone at BMS using a form we have created. Google Apps for Education users have the option, when they create a form, of automatically collecting the person's username and email address, thereby restricting the form to only BMS users. This will work well in nearly all scenarios with students, faculty and staff, as they all have BMS accounts and can sign in to complete your form. Any other questions that you may ask people to answer, such as: voting on a topic, taking a quiz, or signing up for an activity are perfectly acceptable ways of using Google Forms.
The only time that you should be mindful of this rule is if you are collecting information from people outside of BMS using a Google Form, as you will not be able to automatically capture their email addresses. Just be sure not to ask them for their email address in the form and you should be in the clear.
If you have any questions, just ask...you can post a comment below.
You can read CoolCatTeacher's blog post about it here.
The good news is that, as Google Apps for Education users, we don't really have any need to collect personal information from anyone at BMS using a form we have created. Google Apps for Education users have the option, when they create a form, of automatically collecting the person's username and email address, thereby restricting the form to only BMS users. This will work well in nearly all scenarios with students, faculty and staff, as they all have BMS accounts and can sign in to complete your form. Any other questions that you may ask people to answer, such as: voting on a topic, taking a quiz, or signing up for an activity are perfectly acceptable ways of using Google Forms.
The only time that you should be mindful of this rule is if you are collecting information from people outside of BMS using a Google Form, as you will not be able to automatically capture their email addresses. Just be sure not to ask them for their email address in the form and you should be in the clear.
If you have any questions, just ask...you can post a comment below.
Unfortunate news about the Aviary suite
We all seemed to be having so much fun with Aviary this past week, so I am saddened to report that Aviary will cease support for its suite of tools on September 15, 2012. Aviary has decided to shift its focus to its most popular tool: the photo editor. In this shift, Aviary will now offer its photo editor to developers to include or embed in their apps and/or web pages.
You can continue to play with the whole Aviary suite for the rest of the summer, but don't forget to export/download anything you'd like to keep before September 15th!
It looks like, for the time being, we will have to continue to use Garageband (Mac) or Audacity (PC) for our sound editing. Though they are not "cloud" applications, they are still good tools.
For video editing, again, we have non-cloud tools: iMovie (Mac) or Windows Movie Maker (PC). For simple editing, you might also try out YouTube's editing tools. We each have a YouTube account as part of our Google Apps for Education accounts; you can post videos there make them available only to your students with the privacy settings. You can use YouTube's basic video editor to edit the videos as you post them.
Though I'm disappointed that Aviary has decided to cease support of most of its media editing tools, there are alternatives that offer much of the same (if not more) functionality. We have to remember that the web and the tools/apps/sites available on it are always in a state of flux. Things can change and disappear and we don't have control over them. The silver lining is that, in this constant state of flux, new tools/apps/sites are cropping up every minute. The next great one could happen at any moment--keep your eyes open!
You can continue to play with the whole Aviary suite for the rest of the summer, but don't forget to export/download anything you'd like to keep before September 15th!
It looks like, for the time being, we will have to continue to use Garageband (Mac) or Audacity (PC) for our sound editing. Though they are not "cloud" applications, they are still good tools.
For video editing, again, we have non-cloud tools: iMovie (Mac) or Windows Movie Maker (PC). For simple editing, you might also try out YouTube's editing tools. We each have a YouTube account as part of our Google Apps for Education accounts; you can post videos there make them available only to your students with the privacy settings. You can use YouTube's basic video editor to edit the videos as you post them.
Though I'm disappointed that Aviary has decided to cease support of most of its media editing tools, there are alternatives that offer much of the same (if not more) functionality. We have to remember that the web and the tools/apps/sites available on it are always in a state of flux. Things can change and disappear and we don't have control over them. The silver lining is that, in this constant state of flux, new tools/apps/sites are cropping up every minute. The next great one could happen at any moment--keep your eyes open!
Monday, July 16, 2012
Week 5: Aviary Suite
It's hard to believe that we are already halfway through our summer TECHsplorations, and that means, halfway through our summer! Hope you are making the most of yours!
This week's tool is actually a whole suite of applications called the advanced Aviary Suite. Aviary integrates with, you guessed it, our Google Apps for Education accounts, making it easy to get started. Either go to Aviary's website and click "log in with a Google account" or just click "More" in the black bar at the top of your email inbox and choose "Aviary."
Aviary has tools to edit all sorts of multimedia directly in your web browser and store it all in the cloud. You can enhance photos, compose sound tracks, make movies and more!
Try using some of your best summer footage or photos to play around with these tools, and tweet us your best results. Also, tweet us ideas for how you can use this in the classroom or personally. You can also tweet your triumphs and pitfalls to share with others. Additionally, you can share your creations with your colleagues or students directly through Google Drive.
We can't wait to see what you'll create! Have fun!
Monday, July 9, 2012
Week 4: Blogger
So this week's tool is none other than...Blogger (which is the tool that was used to create the very site you are reading!). Though there are many wonderful blogging applications on the web, Blogger is one of the most feature-rich and straightforward, and even better, it's a part of our Google Apps for Education suite (do you see a TECHsploration theme here?), so there is no need to sign up for anything new. The other nice thing about Blogger is that it integrates with the other Google Apps for Education, so you can add "editors" or "posters" to my blog from your BMS address list, and you can make blogs that are totally private to everyone except the people you designate (again, drawing from the address list). You could even make blogs that are viewable only to users with a BMS email address.
This tool could have many applications in the classroom, such as an on-going dialogue with students, a way to share ideas with a group or a way to connect with another school. You might make a blog with all the teachers in your grade or department or committee. If you were with us back in our first year with TECHsplorations, you may have even made a Blogger blog to document your TECHsploring efforts!
At any rate, this week, take a closer look at all that Blogger can do and tweet us some ideas that you have for using this tool. I know that several of you are already using a blog in some way--tweet that out to us! To get to your Blogger account area, just click the "More" button on the black bar across the top of your email inbox, and choose "Blogger" or go to Blogger's website and sign in with your full BMS email address and password. If you get stuck, try reading Blogger's support site.
As always, have fun!
This tool could have many applications in the classroom, such as an on-going dialogue with students, a way to share ideas with a group or a way to connect with another school. You might make a blog with all the teachers in your grade or department or committee. If you were with us back in our first year with TECHsplorations, you may have even made a Blogger blog to document your TECHsploring efforts!
At any rate, this week, take a closer look at all that Blogger can do and tweet us some ideas that you have for using this tool. I know that several of you are already using a blog in some way--tweet that out to us! To get to your Blogger account area, just click the "More" button on the black bar across the top of your email inbox, and choose "Blogger" or go to Blogger's website and sign in with your full BMS email address and password. If you get stuck, try reading Blogger's support site.
As always, have fun!
Monday, July 2, 2012
Week 3: Google Forms
I hope that you are reading this post from the comfort of your air-conditioned, fully-powered home! As many of you know, BMS is still without power. What a storm that was!
The tool to explore this week is one of my favorites: Google Forms. You may have seen Google Forms as you explored last week's tool, Google Drive. Google Forms are a quick and easy (and fun!) way to collect information from people in an organized manner. It functions much like SurveyMonkey.
First, you create a form for people to complete. You can do this by going to Google Drive, clicking the red "Create" button, and then choosing "Form." You can add different types of questions to solicit different types of information, such as multiple choice, select multiple options from a list, or even longer paragraph spaces for longer answers. You can also choose the "theme" for your form to make it match the content you are collecting. Then, you can share your form with others by emailing them the "live" link (don't email them the link to the editing area--they won't be able to complete the form that way). You can also embed the form within a website, as I've done below, or tweet the link to the form! The best part about Google Forms is that when you make a form, Google automatically creates a corresponding spreadsheet that is automatically populated with people's answers as they complete your form. So you can see everyone's responses in an organized grid!
So, give it a try! Tweet your forms and see who responds. You can also set them up to automatically capture the responders BMS email/username so that you know who is completing the form.
If you get stuck, try reading Google's Form Help Site. Tweet or email us your forms, and also tweet ideas you have about how to use this tool in your classroom. There are so many possible applications!
Have fun, stay cool, and complete my form!
The tool to explore this week is one of my favorites: Google Forms. You may have seen Google Forms as you explored last week's tool, Google Drive. Google Forms are a quick and easy (and fun!) way to collect information from people in an organized manner. It functions much like SurveyMonkey.
First, you create a form for people to complete. You can do this by going to Google Drive, clicking the red "Create" button, and then choosing "Form." You can add different types of questions to solicit different types of information, such as multiple choice, select multiple options from a list, or even longer paragraph spaces for longer answers. You can also choose the "theme" for your form to make it match the content you are collecting. Then, you can share your form with others by emailing them the "live" link (don't email them the link to the editing area--they won't be able to complete the form that way). You can also embed the form within a website, as I've done below, or tweet the link to the form! The best part about Google Forms is that when you make a form, Google automatically creates a corresponding spreadsheet that is automatically populated with people's answers as they complete your form. So you can see everyone's responses in an organized grid!
So, give it a try! Tweet your forms and see who responds. You can also set them up to automatically capture the responders BMS email/username so that you know who is completing the form.
If you get stuck, try reading Google's Form Help Site. Tweet or email us your forms, and also tweet ideas you have about how to use this tool in your classroom. There are so many possible applications!
Have fun, stay cool, and complete my form!
Monday, June 25, 2012
Week 2: Google Drive
Hope you all had a glorious first official week of summer!
This week, we are going to spend a little more time getting to know Google Drive (formerly known as Google Docs). Google Drive is part of our Google Apps for Education suite of tools. You can access it by logging in to your BMS email and clicking "Docs" in the black bar across the top. If you have already switched over to Drive, then your bar will say "Drive" instead of "Docs." If you simply click my link above, you'll be asked to log in; be sure to use your full BMS email address for the userrname!
Google Drive is an online file creation and storage tool. You can create most documents that you are used to making with Microsoft Office, including docs, spreadsheets, and presentations. Why not just use Microsoft Office? you make be asking. Well, there are two main reasons:
You can also download a desktop "client" for Google Drive that allows you to easily add files to your Google Drive storage area from your computer. You can upload any file types to Google Drive, including photos and videos! Give it a try!
If you have even more time to play, try this: collaborate in a Google Doc with Friedrich Nietzsche, William Shakespeare, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Emily Dickinson, Charles Dickens, and Edgar Allen Poe! Click here to give it a try.
Also, here's a funny video spoof of Hall & Oates using a Google Doc to collaborate on the lyrics to a song. It gives you a good visual of how the real-time collaboration can work.
If you get stuck, try to find the answers to your problem on Google's support page for Google Drive.
Have fun and be sure to share your successes and struggles with us on Twitter! You can see what all of your BMS colleagues are up to by clicking on the link on the right hand side of this blog called "List of BMS Twitter Users." Just subscribe to the list!
Next week, we'll keep exploring Google Drive, but will shift our focus to Google Forms. If you like using Survey Monkey, you'll love Google Forms! Tweet with you soon!
This week, we are going to spend a little more time getting to know Google Drive (formerly known as Google Docs). Google Drive is part of our Google Apps for Education suite of tools. You can access it by logging in to your BMS email and clicking "Docs" in the black bar across the top. If you have already switched over to Drive, then your bar will say "Drive" instead of "Docs." If you simply click my link above, you'll be asked to log in; be sure to use your full BMS email address for the userrname!
Google Drive is an online file creation and storage tool. You can create most documents that you are used to making with Microsoft Office, including docs, spreadsheets, and presentations. Why not just use Microsoft Office? you make be asking. Well, there are two main reasons:
1. Google Drive stores your files online so that you can access them from any computer with internet access (Each person has 5GB of non-Google file storage and an unlimited amount of Google file storage).
2. Google Drive allows you to share your files with others and work on them collaboratively!For this week, your goal is to learn all that you can by exploring Google Drive. Make a doc or a presentation or even a spreadsheet, and share it with someone else or a few people--you could ask your colleagues on Twitter! (Sharing with a BMS colleague is very easy, as their email addresses are already in your address book). Then, practice using the collaboration features, like highlighting and making comments on a certain section and chatting about the document within the creation area (on the right side). Though you don't have to view the document at the same time as your collaborators in order for these features to work, it's fun to see someone typing in the document while you're looking at it! In your document, you and your collaborators can discuss ways that you could use this tool in the classroom, with students or with colleagues.
You can also download a desktop "client" for Google Drive that allows you to easily add files to your Google Drive storage area from your computer. You can upload any file types to Google Drive, including photos and videos! Give it a try!
If you have even more time to play, try this: collaborate in a Google Doc with Friedrich Nietzsche, William Shakespeare, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Emily Dickinson, Charles Dickens, and Edgar Allen Poe! Click here to give it a try.
Also, here's a funny video spoof of Hall & Oates using a Google Doc to collaborate on the lyrics to a song. It gives you a good visual of how the real-time collaboration can work.
If you get stuck, try to find the answers to your problem on Google's support page for Google Drive.
Have fun and be sure to share your successes and struggles with us on Twitter! You can see what all of your BMS colleagues are up to by clicking on the link on the right hand side of this blog called "List of BMS Twitter Users." Just subscribe to the list!
Next week, we'll keep exploring Google Drive, but will shift our focus to Google Forms. If you like using Survey Monkey, you'll love Google Forms! Tweet with you soon!
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Week 1: Edmodo
Summer has officially arrived, and one hallmark of every Bryn Mawr teacher's summer experience is, of course, summer reading! This year, we have joined forces with the summer reading team to bring you online discussion groups for each of the books using a tool many of you know and use already: Edmodo.
Edmodo is a secure place to connect and collaborate with others within a closed network. You can share links, videos, notes, and even Google Docs with fellow group members. Teachers can create new groups to use for class discussion or group work. The Upper School faculty should be quite familiar with this appication after using it for the Pirate Mapping game during this past school year. Edmodo was truly created with teachers and students in mind, and I think that you'll find many neat uses for this tool if you take the time to explore all that it offers. One example of this is that you can use Edmodo to connect with other educators far and wide to discuss particular subjects of interest to you by joining groups and communities that have already been established.
The first step to getting started in Edmodo, as with most online tools, is to create an account. To do this, go to http://edmodo.com and click the "I'm a Teacher" button to sign up. Answer all the questions there and then sign in.
The next step is to join the summer reading discussion group or groups of your choosing. When you're logged in to Edmodo, look on the left hand sign of the page for the "Groups" area and click on the link that says "Join." A box will pop up asking you for a Group Code. This is where you will enter the code for the group you'd like to join. If you'd like to be a part of more than one summer reading book discussion, you can join multiple groups--just enter one group code at a time and then click the "Join" link again to join the next group.
Here are the group codes for each discussion group:
Imagine: v7kawt
Now You See It: 3p34ha
The Cellist of Sarajevo: 19wfhz
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks: c6jxwj
The Other Wes Moore: 29wt8q
Each group has a discussion leader who will guide your group through a discussion over the summer. You can post notes to your group, as well as links to related articles or videos; you can also reply to other people's posts or questions. Check in with your group from time-to-time to see what new ideas and information people are discussing! You can also tweet your thoughts about Edmodo as a discussion tool and tweet links to any interesting articles your group finds.
***LOWER SCHOOL TEACHERS: Just for you, we have created a Lower School iPad Exploration group on Edmodo for you to collect and share ideas, articles, and apps that you like. Please be sure to join this group in addition to the summer reading group of your choice. The code for you to join this group is: 2ytgt8. Thanks!***
Edmodo is a secure place to connect and collaborate with others within a closed network. You can share links, videos, notes, and even Google Docs with fellow group members. Teachers can create new groups to use for class discussion or group work. The Upper School faculty should be quite familiar with this appication after using it for the Pirate Mapping game during this past school year. Edmodo was truly created with teachers and students in mind, and I think that you'll find many neat uses for this tool if you take the time to explore all that it offers. One example of this is that you can use Edmodo to connect with other educators far and wide to discuss particular subjects of interest to you by joining groups and communities that have already been established.
The first step to getting started in Edmodo, as with most online tools, is to create an account. To do this, go to http://edmodo.com and click the "I'm a Teacher" button to sign up. Answer all the questions there and then sign in.
The next step is to join the summer reading discussion group or groups of your choosing. When you're logged in to Edmodo, look on the left hand sign of the page for the "Groups" area and click on the link that says "Join." A box will pop up asking you for a Group Code. This is where you will enter the code for the group you'd like to join. If you'd like to be a part of more than one summer reading book discussion, you can join multiple groups--just enter one group code at a time and then click the "Join" link again to join the next group.
Here are the group codes for each discussion group:
Imagine: v7kawt
Now You See It: 3p34ha
The Cellist of Sarajevo: 19wfhz
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks: c6jxwj
The Other Wes Moore: 29wt8q
Each group has a discussion leader who will guide your group through a discussion over the summer. You can post notes to your group, as well as links to related articles or videos; you can also reply to other people's posts or questions. Check in with your group from time-to-time to see what new ideas and information people are discussing! You can also tweet your thoughts about Edmodo as a discussion tool and tweet links to any interesting articles your group finds.
***LOWER SCHOOL TEACHERS: Just for you, we have created a Lower School iPad Exploration group on Edmodo for you to collect and share ideas, articles, and apps that you like. Please be sure to join this group in addition to the summer reading group of your choice. The code for you to join this group is: 2ytgt8. Thanks!***
Welcome!
Welcome to Summer TECHsplorations 2012! We'll be using Twitter again this year as a way to collect all of your TECHsplorations, and we will also house each week’s app/link/article here on this blog. (So, even if you don't want to "tweet," you can still see what's going on in TECHsplorations by reading about it here).
There are a number of links to the right that will help you to get started and explain more about this year's program.
Most importantly, when you set up your twitter account (if you didn't do this last year), start following @emilyletras so that I can maintain an accurate list of all participants that everyone can use!
Have fun!
There are a number of links to the right that will help you to get started and explain more about this year's program.
Most importantly, when you set up your twitter account (if you didn't do this last year), start following @emilyletras so that I can maintain an accurate list of all participants that everyone can use!
Have fun!
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