Teach Digital

Blogger in Draft

2010-04-22T12:48:00.000-07:00

I have recently been trying out a special version of Blogger titled, Blogger in Draft. This is somewhat of a beta testing site for Blogger, where you get to try out new features before they are released into mainstream.

Some of the new features being tested in Blogger in Draft include Blogger Template Designer, better photo uploads, improved text editor, Blogger Pages, dictionary in the WYSIWYG editor, and much more. To read more about the improvements through Blogger in Draft go to the official blog located at www.bloggerindraft.blogspot.com.

To begin using Blogger in Draft, go to http://draft.blogger.com/ and log in. If you decide you do not want to use the draft version, simply go to http://www.blogger.com/ and log in. You will then be using the regular version of Blogger once again.

Story Boarding for Digital Stories

2010-04-15T14:22:00.000-07:00

Storyboards, originally developed at the Walt Disney studio after the late 1920s (OPPapers, 2010), are graphic organizers used to visualize illustrations or images used in the creation of various forms of multi-media (Wikipedia, 2009). The process of storyboarding is defined as, "A highly interactive, visual process that combines both creative and analytical thinking, also known as displayed thinking" (McGartland, ND).

To learn more about the history of storyboarding, view the following video titled, "Finding Lady: The Art of Storyboarding".

There are many ways to create a storyboard. The following video identifies some steps on "How To Make a Storyboard" (Crosby, 2009).

How To Make a Storyboard on Howcast

I have included a storyboard template created by Jason Ohler. To download the PDF version of the storyboard template, click here.

Web-based Flash Cards

2010-03-19T10:13:00.000-07:00

A request came in from a teacher asking if I knew of any programs available to make review/study cards. This teacher wants to use the study cards as a review tool that could possibly be shared amongst the students. They thought of using PowerPoint but wanted to know if there was anything else out there other than the traditional pen and paper method.

First of all, for those of you out there using the traditional pen and paper method...there is nothing wrong with traditional :-). My first response to this request was to use the "Notebook" software for the SMARTBoard, although this specific teacher does not have a SMARTBoard. Not really knowing what was available, I did what most "not knowing" people do...Google. My search came up with some wonderful results which I discuss and provide links below.

Flashcard Machine - A free web application enabling users to create interactive web-based flash cards and share them with others.
Cramberry - A free web application allowing users to create simple flash cards in an easy to use, clean interface. Appears to have an app for the iPhone/iPod touch.
FlashcardExchange - A free web application where you can create, study, print and download flashcards. Some features include creating flashcards in different languages, sharing flashcards over the Internet, creating flashcards with images (jpeg), creating audio flashcards (mp3).

Popular Science and Google Team Up

2010-03-11T07:58:00.000-08:00

Image retrieved March 11, 2010 from: http://www.popsci.com/archives

Popular Science and Google have teamed up to offer the entire 137 year archive of the Popular Science magazine for free browsing. For more information on this or to search the archives go to http://www.popsci.com/archives

Bitstrips for Schools

2010-03-08T09:51:00.001-08:00

Bitstrips for schools may be a potential tool we begin to use at NESD for creating digital comic books. The following information was provided to us by Waynor Media Solutions (creator of Bitstrips).

Bitstrips for Schools
The fun way to improve literacy

Bitstrips for Schools is a revolutionary web-based service that empowers students to make and share great looking comics without drawing a line, and helps teachers unlock the educational power of comics.

Start a FREE TRIAL in your classroom today!

Why Use Bitstrips for Schools?

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT
The best reason to use comics in the classroom is that kids love comics! Your students become will become hooked on reading and writing without even knowing it!

LITERACY
Comics are a proven tool for building language skills, and are particularly powerful in developing boys' literacy.

DIGITAL MEDIA EXPERIENCE
Bitstrips for Schools helps develop media literacy by engaging students in a collaborative and social online experience.

INSTRUCTIONAL ENHANCEMENT
In any subject, at any grade, Bitstrips for Schools offers an entirely new medium to teach the curriculum.

SAFETY
Bitstrips for Schools features private and secure virtual classrooms, with automatic and manual content filtering.

Join the 12,000+ teachers already using
Bitstrips for Schools in their classrooms.
Start your free trial right now!

Set up your class in less than 5 minutes.

Or take a quick tour to learn more!

Distributed by

1 800 865 7617 waynor@marlineducation.com

14 Technologies Educators Should Watch in 2010

2010-03-04T12:20:00.000-08:00

Chris Riedel reports on technology tools that can improve instruction, boost productivity, and improve organization. Technology Tools that made the list are:

To read the entire article, "14 Technologies Educators Should Watch in 2010 (Chris Riedel, 2010)...click here

Division Policy on Privacy for Blogging

2010-02-09T09:43:00.000-08:00

In a discussion with one of our NESD Superintendents and Technology Coordinator, I found out some of the division policy relating to how we should handle student privacy within our professional blogs.

First of all, the division supports and encourages teachers to use blogs. However, when teachers create professional blogs we must remember that, depending how they are shared, they are open to students, parents, administrators, and anyone else who may come across it. We must therefore be literate in understanding the digital footprint we are leaving for ourselves and everyone identified in our blog.

The NESD privacy policy states that we are not to use student names in anything that is accessible over the Internet. This means that when you are blogging about experiences in your classrooms be sure not to use names of students (first or last). One way of dealing with this is to be creative and possibly have your students make up a sudo name (alias or fake name) that can be used if needed. Photos and videos can be placed or linked to your blog as long as names of students are not used. Write your blog in a professional manner, cognizant of divisional policy, and you should be fine. Happy blogging!

Take care,
Kirk

Why Blog?

2010-02-06T18:34:00.000-08:00

Recently, I met with a teacher to discuss a project involving a web 3.0 application. I asked the teacher if they would blog about their experience? The immediate reaction to my question was that the teacher was not a fan of social networking tools like Facebook and feels somewhat the same about blogging. We continued our discussion focusing on blogging and a comment that eventually came out identified that the teacher was self-conscious and thought colleagues would see blogging as arrogant and boastful. This somewhat set me back, as I never really thought that others would look at blogging in this manner.

So, what is the purpose of blogging? For me blogging allows me to organize my thoughts into a single location accessible from anywhere on the Internet. These posts can include many forms of media including text, images, videos and sounds. Going back and reading posts allows me to reflect and potentially gain a greater understanding of the topic.

Now, the previous reasons for blogging were mainly for me. What can it do for others? Blogging can provide insight into your experiences, allowing others to learn from your experiences. When you share your experiences with others it helps to build capacity allowing others to build on your experience and knowledge. It is because of this reason I would never consider blogging to be arrogant or boastful. In fact I see it as informative, helpful and supportive. So, I ended my discussion with the teacher by saying, if they won't blog for themselves please blog for the rest of us so we can learn from their experiences.

Why do you blog?

Resources:

Resources for Blogging in the Classroom ( Jamie Tubbs)

What's New In Office 2007

2010-01-06T13:53:00.000-08:00

Overall the roll-out to this point, of Microsoft Office 2007, has gone quite well. We are hearing some questions relating to the new look and different features in MS Office 2007, which will be the focus of this post.

Fluent User Interface

MS Office 2007 does include a number of new features, the most notable being the new look known as the Fluent user interface (Microsoft Corporation, 2010). To provide an uncluttered workspace and allow users to find application features, menus, toolbars, taskpanes and dialogue boxes, previously used within the MS Office applications, have been replaced with the Fluent user interface. Microsoft made changes to the interface in an attempt to, "make it easier for people to get more out of Microsoft Office applications so they can deliver better results faster" (Microsoft Corporation, 2010).

One of the changes you will notice in the new interface is the Office 2007 button (figure 1), located in the top-left corner of the window. This button replaces the file menu and provides access to common functions including opening, closing, saving, printing and sharing a file.

Figure 1: Office 20007 button (Image retrieved January 6, 2010 from: http://wings.buffalo.edu/computing/Documentation/Vista/office2007.html)

The second change, you will notice, in the core MS Office applications including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access and Outlook is the Ribbon panel (figure 2). The Ribbon is a non customizable panel that consists of tabs which display command buttons for the tasks applicable to functions of the specific application (Wikipedia, 2010). The purpose of the tabs are to organize commands into common themes in order to simplify accessing application features. To view a video provided through MS Office Online titled "The Office Ribbon Overview, click here.

Figure 2: Office 2007 Ribbon (Image retrieved January 6, 2010 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Office_2007).

Contextual Tabs

Contextual tabs allow for commands related to certain objects to appear when specific objects are selected. For example, selecting a chart in MS Excel brings up a contextual tab with commands used for chart editing (figure 3). Contextual tabs remain hidden until they are needed for a specific operation.

Figure 3: Contextual Tab (Image retrieved January 6, 2010 from: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/products/HA101679411033.aspx)

Live Preview

A new feature called "Live Preview" temporarily shows formatting and editing changes when the user moves the mouse pointer over any formatting button. Permanent changes are not made to the document until the user selects the change. View the following video to see a demo of Live Preview being used in Word 2007.

New File Format
MS Office 2007 uses a new file format called Office Open XML as the default file format. The new XML format places an "x" in the file extension (.docx/.xlsx/.pptx) and is not compatible with older versions of MS Office applications (.doc/.xls/.ppt). To try and simplify and better understand...all of this means that older versions of MS Office (2003 and older) will not be able to open the default file format (XML) from MS Office 2007. However, MS Office 2007 will be able to open file formats from MS Office applications including 2003 and older.

MS Office 2007 does allow you to save your document in the older file format (without XML). To do this simply click the Office 2007 button and select "save as". In the right column you will have an option to save as a 97-2003 document which will save a copy of the document that is fully compatible with 97-2003 versions of the MS Office application you are using.

What's New In Office 2007 Videos
View the following videos to learn more about the new features available in each application. Videos include audio and video and may take a moment to load.

Free Training Resources:

To participate in a short course to help get up to speed with MS Office 2007 through MS Office Online titled, "Get an introduction to the new look in familiar programs" click here.
Outlook 2007 free hands-on training
Word 2007 free hands-on training
Excel 2007 free hands-on training
PowerPoint 2007 free hands-on training
Access 2007 free hands-on training

Teaching Students to be Digital Citizens

2009-12-16T20:15:00.000-08:00

There seems to be a great deal of discussion around the term "digital citizenship." The main idea of digital citizenship has to do with an individual understanding and conducting oneself appropriately with regard to technology. To better understand digital citizenship we must look at the elements included in digital citizenship. Curriculum resouces have been developed to assist teachers in preparing their students to use the Internet as responsible digital citizens.

Some of the discussions around digital citizenship talk about how students require leadership to understand the power they hold at their fingertips in the form of technology (Ohler, 2009). The idea of empowering students through teaching them to be socially responsible instead of policing is mentioned as something that should be included in education (Truss, 2007). Teaching both ourselves and our students about digital citizenship could be a way to prepare them for a society full of technology (Couros, 2007). "Our children are watching us, they put their trust in us, they're gonna be like us..."(Maines, 2007).

After researching digital citizenship, in order to try and better understand it, there seems to be conflicting views as to what it should include.

Dr. Mike Ribble and Dr. Gerald Bayley provide a definition at their site titled, "Digital Citizenship" which includes:

Digital Citizenship is a concept which helps teachers, technology leaders and parents to understand what students/children/technology users should know to use technology appropriately. Digital Citizenship is more than just a teaching tool; it is a way to prepare students/technology users for a society full of technology. Too often we are seeing students as well as adults misusing and abusing technology but not sure what to do. The issue is more than what the users do not know but what is considered appropriate technology usage.

Dr. Alec Couros (2007) in his blog post, "Understanding Digital Citizenship", believes Ribble and Bayley's definition should also include:

1) A responsibility to critical interpret our place in the collective, especially in terms of power, authority, influence and position, and
2) An obligation toward bettering our (digital) communities through critical, ethical and moral decision-making.

Will Richardson (2007), in his blog post titled, "The Kids are All Right", suggests that we have been conditioned, though media, to look for the worst behaviors at the expense of the good behaviors. Richardson believes that if we teach both ourselves and our kids to use the "five habits of using one's mind well, we'll get a long way down the citizenship road" (2007).

How do we know what’s true or not true? How credible is our evidence?
Is there an alternate story? Perspective? How might this look from another viewpoint?
Is there a connection between x and y? A pattern? Have I come across this before?
What if… supposing that…? Could it have been otherwise if x not y had intervened?
And finally, “who cares”? Does it matter? (And, perhaps, to whom?)

When we look at the overall idea of digital citizenship, we see it includes various elements. Dr. Mike Ribble and Dr. Gerald Bayley identify, Nine Elements or Themes of Digital Citizenship to include:

Digital Etiquette
Digital Communication
Digital Literacy
Digital Access
Digital Commerce
Digital Law
Digital Rights and Responsibilities
Digital Health and Wellness
Digital Security (self-protection)

Resources are available to assist teachers with preparing lessons for integrating digital citizenship into current curriculum. CyberSmart (2009) provides a free K-12 Student Curriculum that is organized in Lessons by Grade Level based on the following SMART topics:

Another resource available to educators is BrainPOP, an idea originally by Dr. Avraham Kadar, M.D.(immunologist and pediatrician). BrainPOP is animimated curriculum-based content that supports educators to explain difficult concepts. One of the many curriculum areas available through BrainPOP is Digital Citizenship. Although some resources through BrainPOP require a fee, you are provided with a free trail period. You will see most resources provided under Digital Citizenship are free including topics such as:

Blogs
Copyright
Digital Etiquette
Information Privacy
Online Safety
Plagiarism
Computer Viruses
Cyberbullying
Email and IM
Online Sources
Social Networking

Additional Resources for Digital Citizenship:

Digital Citizenship in Education - Digiteen (Qatar Academy, Westwood Schools, Vienna International School)
Cyber Safe Kids (Cybersafeworld, 2009))
Play it Cyber Safe ( The Business Software Alliance - BSA, 2009)
Digiteens: Digital Citizenship by Digital Teenagers (K12 Online Conference 2009)
Digital Literacy 09: Copyright and Fair Use (Technology in the Middle, 2009)
Online Safety 3.0 Calls for Teaching Media Literacy, Digital Citizenship (Sarah J., 2009)
Think Before You Upload! (Privacy Victoria, 2009)

Digital Literacy: New Kids, New Media and New Literacy – Transforming learning through digital creativity...

2009-12-10T12:27:00.000-08:00

We participated in an ISTE (International Society for Technology Educators) Webinar on December 8th and 9th on new media literacy presented by Dr. Jason Ohler (http://www.jasonohler.com/). The presentation focused on how "it is up to us to help digital kids “write the media they read” so they can be active media creators rather than just passive media consumers" (Ohler, 2009). Students must be able to write what they read and therefore migrate from literacy which is text centric to media collage. Dr. Ohler describes nine digital literacy action guidelines that are necessary for teachers to implement in order to teach new literacy. Digital Storytelling is one of Dr. Ohler's areas of expertise and through his presentation we see his passion for teaching students the literacies required to be successful in the digital age. He currently has a book available titled, "Digital Storytelling in the Classroom" and will soon be releasing his book, "Digital Citizenship and the ReImagination of Education.

The term "literacy", described by Ohler, is the consuming and producing of the media forms of the day, whatever they are (2009). He therefore believes we should help students develop a sense of wisdom and to get in touch with the power available to them.

On his webpage, Dr. Ohler provides a section titled, Beyond Words Literacy that discusses how the default media has shifted from the text based essay to the multimedia collage (fig.1). He believes it is necessary for us to teach students to be able to read, write and comprehend new literacy in formats provided today.

Figure 1 (Ohler, 2009)

There are nine digital literacy action guide lines presented by Dr. Ohler in order for teachers to focus on new media literacy. They are:

Shift from text-centricism to new media collage
Value writing more than ever
Adopt art as 4th, next R
Follow DAOW (Digital, Art, Oral, Written) of literacy
Attitude is the aptitude
Practice private and social literacy
Develop literacy about digital tools
Fluency, not just literacy
Harness both reports and story...embrace story

Digital stories are seen as a new media narrative where students can imagine, create and express their world. Digital story telling is not about high end lengthy media production but about adapting to technologies and tools available and about non-techies deciding to take the next step. Two kinds of narratives are voice over narration and green screen production. Locations available on Dr. Ohler's website that provide further support and resources on storytelling are Storytelling and Green screen storytelling.

When creating a story it is important to consider the story first and the technology second. The three core elements of a story in education consist of inquiry (tension), discovery (resolution) and transformation (learning). Traditionally, stories began with an idea and developed through a storyboard and outline. A new approach to creating a story is called story mapping. Though mapping story creation can be organized on one piece of paper, begin at any stage and does not require the story to be developed in sequential order. One advantage to mapping vs. boarding is it is directed through emotional flow vs. flow of emotion. The mapping process can be described through the visual portrait of a story shown below in figure 2.

Figure 2 (Ohler, 2009)

An eight step process to story creation is provided Dr. Ohler (fig. 3). In fact he calls it the "how to do just about anything" process.

Figure 3 (Ohler, 2009)

View Dr. Jason Ohler's entire slide presentation titled, New students, New media, New literacties: Transforming learning through digital creativity...

NSDC 2008 Keynote

View more documents from jasonohler.

Additional Digital Storytelling Resources:

Low-Cost Digital Whiteboard Using Wiimote

2009-12-07T18:45:00.000-08:00

Mr. A. Bourgeois from MUCC recently showed us a low-cost alternative to interactive white boards (Thanks Mr. B!). From the directions provided by Johnny Chung Lee's Wii projects, located at http://www.johnnylee.net/projects/wii/, Mr. B put together an interactive white board similar to the one shown in the following video.

As shown in the Johnny Chung Lee video, the low-cost interactive white board requires an interactive light pen, Wiimote, LCD projector, USB Bluetooth adapter and Wiimote Whiteboard software download.

The video describes how to make a light pen, however Mr. B. found a company that makes these infrared pens called IR Great Innovations, located on the web at www.irgreat.com. After checking their website the pens sell for approximately $17.99 U.S.

The Wiimote is the controller used with the Wii video game console. It can be purchased separate from the console for approximately $50.00 Cnd.

The USB Bluetooth adapter connects to your computer through a USB port and links up to the Wiimote. You can find different name brands, of these adapters, but Mr. B. has had success with and recommends the D-Link. These Bluetooth USB adapters can be purchased for approximately $35.00 Cnd.

The Wiimote Whiteboard software is the software that connects your computer to the Wiimote. This software will need to be downloaded and installed onto your computer. The software download can be found on the Johhny Lee Chung Projects website located at http://www.johnnylee.net/projects/wii/. You will find it under the heading "Low Cost Multi-point Interactive Whiteboards Using the Wiimote." Be sure to read the software instructions to limit complications.

After watching Mr. B's demonstration we believe this is an excellent alternative to a SMARTBoard. Although it does not have the notebook software like the SMARTBoard, it does provide similar interactivity with a computer on projected surfaces such as walls, whiteboards or projection screens.

Additional Resources:

Bonn Jin has developed a shareware program called Smoothboard to enhance Johnny Lee Chung's version.
View instructions on "How to: Connect your Wiimote to your computer via Bluetooth" by www.instructables.com