Jul 18, 2014

QR Codes and Back to School

It's a little soon to be talking about the first day of school, I guess, but a class I taught today got my mind going about back to school.  In a class on QR Codes, we were discussing the different ways that QR codes can be used in the classroom.  When you take into consideration that mobile devices can open up so many options for learning, QR codes seem an obvious pathway to providing tips, hints, or answers to frequently asked questions.  But as we talked it became evident that one clear cut solution for back to school is to provide a QR code for new students and parents.  That QR code could be a link to:
  • your syllabus
  • a supply list
  • an introductory video
  • a guided tour of the school/classroom
In order to create your own code and provide access to these and other pieces of information, you need to keep a few things in mind.  

First, where will you store your information?
  • Google Drive - Store documents and slideshows in your cloud based account.  Just make sure that in your sharing options you have set your document so that it can be viewed by anyone with the link.  Click Share and change "who has access" to "anyone with the link".
  • YouTube - Any video that you create for tours or introductions to your parents and students can be stored on your YouTube channel.  Just copy the link to share.  
Second, how can you create your QR Code?  Make sure you copy your link from the item you want to link back to from your code, then go create a code on one of these sites.  
Third, before you post your QR code on your website or print it off and post on your classroom door, make sure you use a QR Code scanner to test your code:

Finally, make sure when you print off  your code or post it, you do the following:
  • Let users know what information is being shared (i.e., Syllabus, supply list, Meet the Teacher Video)
  • Provide users with a link to a QR Scanner if they don't have one.
  • Print or post it large enough that it is easily seen and easy to scan.
Here's an example of a QR Code linked to a Back to School Doc:


QR Code
When you create your code, post it on your door so that parents and students can scan it during schedule pick up or meet the teacher day prior to the start of school.  If you do this, you have the satisfaction of knowing that your students will have easy access to a supply list prior to the first day of school.  Plus, your parents will love you for getting this out of the way early!

Jul 12, 2014

Trouble finding resources? Look no further than Social Media!

While looking through twitter today I ran across this resource: Technology Resources For Teachers - http://t.co/Bxk7DMJnkh. This link provides a list of resource guides for several great current topics in educational technology. But while looking through it, the thought ran across my mind how social media has made gathering resources so much easier than just a few years ago.

Prior to Twitter and Facebook, the search on the Internet for resources was tough if you didn't know where to look- even tougher before the advent of the Internet. But in the few short years since social media has taken hold (Facebook was born in 2004, Twitter was born in 2006) there have been several apps created to help in gathering resources.

Here is a short list of places to make your research easier:

Twitter - create an account and follow your favorite educational organizations. Search for others to follow by looking under educational hashtags - Hashtags from Cybraryman

Facebook- create an account on FB and do the same as above.

Hootsuite - download this app for your mobile device and access all your social media news feeds from one place.

Flipboard- follow your favorite topics from RSS feeds to social media. Create a magazine to archive your favorite articles and share it with others.

ScoopIt- similar to Flipboard, follow your favorite topics and sources. Create your own archive and share it.

Evernote - another app/service to gather your thoughts all in one place.

The great thing about all of these links is that their services are accessible from your mobile device. If you haven't jumped into social media yet, then what better reason than to make your search for ideas and resources a little easier. Start today!




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Jul 7, 2014

The Best iPad Apps for Teachers


Link to Updated Version of this Article

Looking for a few good apps to use in your classroom?  Here is a short list of apps for iOS devices and some for Android.  Thanks to the ladies at SimpleK12 at #ISTE2014 for sharing these:

Spelling city - https://www.spellingcity.com/app-redirect.html?ReturnURL=%2F  - vocabulary, spelling lists, free activities

Science 360- http://science360.gov/ipad/ - this app offers streaming video on a wide array of science topics.
History pin-http://www.historypin.com/map/#!/geo:51.6,0.05/zoom:7/  - Teachers can use this site/app to pin pictures and information related to historical topics.

Wunderlist - https://www.wunderlist.com/en/  - manage your to-do list.

Project Noah- https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/project-noah/id417339475?mt=8&ls=1  or http://www.projectnoah.org/ - tool to document and explore wildlife.

Virtual tour - Library of Congress -https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/library-congress-virtual-tour/id380309745?mt=8 - Take a virtual tour of the Library of Congress.

iTunesU - http://www.apple.com/education/ipad/itunes-u/ Download the app or visit the link for more information on virtual courses from a wide range of K-12, Colleges, or Universities.

Quizlet - http://quizlet.com or https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/quizlet/id546473125 - create and deploy quizzes on the app or online.

Kindle - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kindle-read-books-ebooks-magazines/id302584613?mt=8 - You don’t need a kindle to take advantage of the Amazon service.  Download the app for your iPad.  

Evernote - This note taking app allows you to curate topics from anywhere. - https://evernote.com/evernote/ or https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/evernote/id281796108?mt=8

Zite - This curation tool lets you gather articles from your favorite web news sources - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/zite/id419752338?mt=8

Sockpuppets - This app lets you create your own sock puppet videos with backgrounds, scenery, and yes, sock puppets- https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sock-puppets/id394504903?mt=8
Dictionary.com - Look up any word, root word, synonym, antonym...you name it. http://dictionary.com or https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dictionary.com-dictionary/id364740856?mt=8

Space images - images and videos of stars, planets, and space.  From NASA - http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/apps/spaceimages/



Sphere 360 -  Explore or create 360∘ moments with this app using panoramic photos. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sphere-360o-photography/id335671384?mt=8

Bloomberg app - Math and Finance app by Bloomberg - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bloomberg-for-ipad/id364304764?mt=8

Khan academy - video tutorials on educational topics - https://www.khanacademy.org/ or https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/khan-academy/id469863705?mt=8

History maps - Interactive Maps of the world for iPad.  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/history-maps-of-world/id303282377?mt=8

Stack the states - Learn the 50 states and their place on the map - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/stack-the-states/id381342267?mt=8


Simple K12 app - Stay in Touch with SimpleK12 PD on your iPad -https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/teacher-resource-day-simplek12/id630772183?mt=8



Jul 1, 2014

Gamification and Learning

In the past several weeks, I have been working with a team of teachers to discuss the concept of gamification. Basically, the idea is that rather than stick to the traditional design of a classroom, you 'gamify' your classroom by creating challenges, choice, and rewards. This may sound like a monumental undertaking, but it really isn't. Some people hear the term and assume that they would need to create an app or computer software and turn their entire course into a game. Don't think that teachers/software companies/designers have not already done this. Its a concept that has been around for a while. But there are subtle ways that your syllabus and classroom can be tweaked to instill motivation in your student by turning your lessons into quests or challenges.

As I have already said, gamification can be simple...if you start small. Douglas Kiang, a teacher from the Punahou School in Honolulu Hawaii (http://kiang.net) points out that you first need to know your learners. He suggests using the Bartle Test App to determine what kind of gamers your students are. Once you know this, it will help tremendously in understanding where their strengths lie as workers/learners/gamers. (See my notes from his session at #iste2014). From here you can better understand how to group your students for class projects. But I am getting ahead of myself, as you wouldn't really want to call them projects.

The next thing you would want to do is to create a climate shift in your classroom. No longer will you think of your class as one of assignments, quizzes, tests, and projects. Change the mentality to one in which there is a path of quests students need to achieve in order to reach the outcome or goal of your class. The ultimate outcome is learning, but we will call it their reward. Some assignments (quests) will be required paths to the desired outcome (winning the game), but others will be challenges that can be rewarded through extra credit or badges. Grades can still be awarded, but once this shift in mentality occurs, and you realign their thinking about the class, motivation changes - achievement becomes a competition.

Beyond this though, there are several other aspects to gamification that were mentioned throughout the conference that are worth bringing up. One is that while you can create required quests, and additional extra credit challenges, your kids should be able to choose their own path to learning. This was a concept mentioned by Kiang, as well as another attendee I met named Alice Keeler, a Professor of Teacher Education at Fresno State. Both mention the 'choose your own path' concept, but in different ways. For instance, Kiang mentions setting up different career major paths that students could follow through the learning process. Each student may have a different focus due to their career pathway, but each would learn the same basic concepts required to achieve the goal of the game (class). Keeler states that her syllabus for her course is structured in the sense that students must achieve a specific set of outcomes, but open ended in the sense that each student may take a different path to reach that desired outcome.

Think of the above paragraph this way - in games like Skyrim and World of Warcraft, gamers take on different roles with different strengths. Each role requires that the gamer approach the game in a different way.

While all this may seem like a lot to swallow, it is definitely an approach to learning that is worth looking at. While listening to each of these educators talk, I could tell that each is passionate about what they do, and their students are motivated to succeed. How do I digest all this? I see it this way. The next move for any educator in gamifying the classroom is to do as Keeler says, which is to start small. Pick one aspect of gamification and implement it in your classroom. Here are a few tips to start:

1. Choice - give your students more choice in how they achieve outcomes. Give them the ability to create through different modalities - videos, game simulations, posters, plays, speeches, comic strips - but dont limit them. Just grade them on a rubric, lying out specific objectives with badges or rewards for achieving those objectives.

2. Terminology - alter the climate of your class by changing the terminology associated with learning. Assignments become quests, extra credit becomes a challenge, and grades are now badges or rewards.

3. Flipped Back Chat - this is for all you flipped classroom people and it is a suggestion given by Kiang in his presentation. Games will often use a program or channel on the internet to chat with one another while gaming. If you are flipping your classroom, tell your students that they must watch the videos you post as homework, but challenge them to login at the same time and create a chat room of sorts using a website such as Today's Meet to create a backchannel where students can ask questions as they watch. It makes the learning process more interactive and extends learning beyond the walls of the school in a new way.

Like I said, I am just in the beginning stages of discussing this with our Gamification team, so I am as new to this as anyone. But if you're like me, you welcome any discussion or group of resources to help you find the answers. That being said, thanks for reading this, good luck, and don't forget to check out my notes from the ISTE session I attended with Kiang and the link to Keeler's website.

Google Docs - Notes from Kiang Session

Alice Keeler


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Are you a runner or a rider?

One of the most outstanding presentations I have been to so far at the ISTE 2014 conference was a vendor sponsored session featuring Ron Clark (The Essential 55, Ron Clark Academy). Not only is he a great motivational speaker, but he walks the walk. When he talks about being passionate as an educator, he puts into practice the very things he asks educators to do. This is evident when he talks, but it is also evident when you watch his students, which were there for the session as well. His students preached and practiced his rules.

But this post is not about his specific tips for educators so much as the start of his message, which pointed out that there are 4 kinds of teachers in a school.

Runners - those who show up early, stay late, and never stop going. Full of ideas and always ready to jump in.

Joggers - think they are runners, have a few great ideas that they do every year, and are always passionate about those things.

Walkers - feel as if they are dragged along and usually do so while complaining.

Riders - those who sit by and complain, usually about how the system affects them.

Now, I wouldn't want to guess which one of these I am, and wouldn't begin to label others as being one or the other, but what I took away from this session is that no matter where you fall, you can be a Runner. Yes, we all see these people in our buildings and we get a little tired of seeing them, hearing them, and if we really want to admit it, may be a little jealous of them, but we all can be a Runner. Part of the reason Runners bother some teachers is that on some level they are worried that Runners (and their administrators) will expect them to do the same things they are doing. Ron pointed out that it doesn't have to be that way. He doesn't expect teachers at his school to rap or stand on the desks and dance (although he did all of this in his presentation). He just wants them to be passionate and happy about what they do.

So what is the point of this article, and what is his point in his presentation. Ron points out that when students in his school are asked, they say they want teachers who are happy about what they do, genuine in really wanting to know about the students, and are pleasant to be around. Teachers who are willing to try new things, but be OK with making mistakes.

After hearing Ron talk today, there are three things that I would like all of our faculty members to take away:

1. I have always been one of those people that likes to try new things, but usually when there is limited room for risk. But as I have grown as an educator, I have found that the only way to get out of my comfort zone is to realize that there will be mistakes and there will be risk. So don't worry about failure - just get out and try. Even the most successful people are fearful of change, but they try.

2. Be happy about what you do - and if you're not, fake it until you make it! Kids can pick up on negativity and it creates a negative response. You will get more out of your kids if you show respect first and a firm hand in your expectations. If you put forth a pleasant atmosphere and respectful attitude, your kids will respond. Trust me!

3. Embrace change. This one may be the hardest for some people. But think of it this way. You know the old question, "You're on a desert island. If you could eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?" If you've ever answered this question, or posed it to someone else, you know that the catch is that no matter how much you love that food, it will quickly get old and you will get tired of it and welcome a little change. That is the important thing to remember. Students get tired of the same old thing. This analogy doesn't mean that you constantly have to change how you present your content. But what I am getting to is that we as a society have been teaching kids the same way for nearly 100 years. But all the while, society and technology have changed around us, while we have changed very little. It is time for us to embrace the tools that are around us. Students crave the ability to use in the classroom, the tools they use every day.

All that being said, I don't want anyone to read this and take it as a criticism, but more as a self assessment. Where do you fall on the scale? Are you a runner or rider? Do you embrace change, or fear change? Do you dread coming to work, or look forward to it? Think on that for a moment as you enjoy your summer and plan for next year. How will the next school year be different for you?


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