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!
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