Google Sites is a site creator, but not one I had ever used before, and my little experience in designing websites has shown me that there are several out there to choose from. While I found Sites to be a bit limited, it is simple to use, and free.
I decided that, since I am going into middle school education, I would choose a book to cover that I loved when I was in 8th grade, Flowers for Algernon. You can view the website here.
Using sites' interface, I selected a blank template to start with, and later changed the colors of the website to match some of the images I had put in there to make it look a little nicer. The image on the home page is that of the cover of the book. On the page titled "Characters," I listed a few of the major characters from the book, and a short description of who they are. Of the ones I could find a picture of, I searched Google for pictures of the characters as they are portrayed in the movie adaptation of the book, at least the ones I could find!
Finally, I created a page for external links that contain topics related to the themes of Flowers for Algernon, such as medically increasing IQ, and the treatment of mentally disabled people in society.
While Sites is a very simple-to-use and free tool to create a website with, it isn't quite as powerful or sleek as some of the ones I have used in the past. However, it is cheaper than most of those. The sites I have designed before have usually cost somewhere between $8-15 per month, especially if you want to register your own domain. So Google Sites is a free alternative if you're wanting to create a simple site free of charge.
It's easy to see how this could be used in a classroom to help students, or to teach students how to create their own simple websites. Just make sure that your students are old enough to use this tool, and that they aren't posting anything that could get you (or them) into trouble!
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Monday, May 18, 2015
GAIN - Google Forms
I, like many of you, had never used this software prior to this assignment. While I had previous experience with Documents and Sheets, Forms was something that until now I really never even knew existed, or what it even did. Now that I've seen how simple it is to use, and how it can make grading and quiz creating much quicker, it's something that I hope to take advantage of in the future!
I'm really glad we used Sheets before this, as reacquainting myself with the formulas in Sheets was very helpful in the grading portion of Forms. While I did view the tutorials showing me how to do it, most of it was very simple in comparison to what we were doing when we created our gradebooks in Sheets for the previous GAIN assignment.
When I went to create a form, I decided that I would do one on my favorite movies: Star Wars (the original trilogy). I'm a huge nerd, so they aren't the easiest questions for the uninitiated, but if you would like to take that quiz, you can do so here. When you are done, hopefully (if I did it right, anyway), you can view results here.
I do have to warn you, though, that if you pick Greedo for the question of "Who shot first," then it is an automatic fail. I'm mostly kidding.
While the assignment itself had us as teachers creating a quiz for our students to take, it was an idea in the Graham book that caught my attention as one of the coolest ways to use Forms in the classroom. It was mentioned that by allowing our students to create their own Forms and surveys, they can learn how to collect and use and interpret data for their own projects. I don't know why I didn't consider this myself, but this use would be a great way to meet a Common Core Standard, as well as assisting students in things like Science Fair projects, among other things. Taking a survey of their fellow students to see how many of them like different flavors of ice cream, and then using those percentages and numbers to create a pie chart or something similar would also be a cool project to do in class. There are tons of ways to use this software, but by using it this way, we are teaching our students to gather, prepare and interpret information in an easily accessible and simple-to-use way.
I'm really glad we used Sheets before this, as reacquainting myself with the formulas in Sheets was very helpful in the grading portion of Forms. While I did view the tutorials showing me how to do it, most of it was very simple in comparison to what we were doing when we created our gradebooks in Sheets for the previous GAIN assignment.
When I went to create a form, I decided that I would do one on my favorite movies: Star Wars (the original trilogy). I'm a huge nerd, so they aren't the easiest questions for the uninitiated, but if you would like to take that quiz, you can do so here. When you are done, hopefully (if I did it right, anyway), you can view results here.
I do have to warn you, though, that if you pick Greedo for the question of "Who shot first," then it is an automatic fail. I'm mostly kidding.
While the assignment itself had us as teachers creating a quiz for our students to take, it was an idea in the Graham book that caught my attention as one of the coolest ways to use Forms in the classroom. It was mentioned that by allowing our students to create their own Forms and surveys, they can learn how to collect and use and interpret data for their own projects. I don't know why I didn't consider this myself, but this use would be a great way to meet a Common Core Standard, as well as assisting students in things like Science Fair projects, among other things. Taking a survey of their fellow students to see how many of them like different flavors of ice cream, and then using those percentages and numbers to create a pie chart or something similar would also be a cool project to do in class. There are tons of ways to use this software, but by using it this way, we are teaching our students to gather, prepare and interpret information in an easily accessible and simple-to-use way.
TECH - iPad Disciplines
As I'm looking to get into the field of middle school teaching, in the realm of history (social studies), I figured I would choose three apps from the social studies section and review them. The three apps I chose to review are: This Day in History, Stack the States, and Your World.
App #1: This Day in History
I selected this app because I have always loved the little block of information on Wikipedia that is titled the same thing. Knowing what happened on this particular day hundreds to thousands of years ago is kind of fascinating. And while this app is very simplistic and basic in what it offers, that information can easily be used in the classroom. Loading up the app brings you a list of events that happened today throughout history. For example, as today is May 18, on this day in 1652, Rhode Island passed the very first law in English-speaking North America making slavery illegal. Also, on May 18, 1756, the Seven Years' War began when Britain declared war on France.
This is a neat bunch of info, and it literally gives you hundreds of events that happened on a specific day. One of the projects that I thought would be interesting for a classroom would be for every student to use this app to find out what happened throughout history on their birthday. Since you can use this app to find events for every single day, and not just the current day, I thought it would be a fun connection for the students to see how their special day lines up with events in history.
For example, my birthday is February 9. On February 9, 1895, the sport that would eventually become Volleyball was created. Also of extreme importance to me, and something I was unaware of until I found this app, is that The Beatles made their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show on Feb 9, 1964, which was their first performance in America and broke American television records with an audience of 73 million viewers. I love the Beatles, but did not know this event was connected to my birthday!
There are other cool events that happened on my birthday, and that is just one of the project ideas we can employ that would use this app.
App #2: Stack the States
This is a game-like app in which the user is supposed to be able to identify the shapes of each state. The question comes up "Which one of these is Alaska?" And then it gives you a few options of state silhouettes to choose from. Selecting the right one allows you to place that state on a little platform, where your goal is to stack the states above a certain height line, which completes the level and allows you to progress further. It is similar to Tetris, in a way, but instead of trying to stack them in rows to make them disappear, you must stack them higher and higher to get above the line, while ensuring that you've stacked them evenly enough so that they do not fall over and off of the platform!
This is a fun little game that students can play that will help them to identify the 50 states better. There is also a country version of the game, as well, if you are doing world geography.
App #3: Your World
Your World is a neat little globe game in which you must go around the globe and place silhouettes of each country onto where it is located. One of the biggest issues I had with Your World is that it lets you place the initial 40 or so countries onto the globe, but then prompts you to upgrade to the "full version" for $3.99. So no, it isn't free. But it is fun, and I enjoyed the brief interaction I had with it on my home iPad.
One of the coolest things about Your World is that whenever you are placing a country, you can tap a button with a giant W at the top right of the screen and it will take you to the Wikipedia page for that country, which has loads of information. It does this for every country. And while some of the smaller nations of the world aren't included in this game (as they would be too hard to see on the global map), many of the large and medium sized countries are all there for the students to find and learn about. This would be a good game app for a world geography class to play. Just be aware that the game is not free.
App #1: This Day in History
I selected this app because I have always loved the little block of information on Wikipedia that is titled the same thing. Knowing what happened on this particular day hundreds to thousands of years ago is kind of fascinating. And while this app is very simplistic and basic in what it offers, that information can easily be used in the classroom. Loading up the app brings you a list of events that happened today throughout history. For example, as today is May 18, on this day in 1652, Rhode Island passed the very first law in English-speaking North America making slavery illegal. Also, on May 18, 1756, the Seven Years' War began when Britain declared war on France.
This is a neat bunch of info, and it literally gives you hundreds of events that happened on a specific day. One of the projects that I thought would be interesting for a classroom would be for every student to use this app to find out what happened throughout history on their birthday. Since you can use this app to find events for every single day, and not just the current day, I thought it would be a fun connection for the students to see how their special day lines up with events in history.
For example, my birthday is February 9. On February 9, 1895, the sport that would eventually become Volleyball was created. Also of extreme importance to me, and something I was unaware of until I found this app, is that The Beatles made their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show on Feb 9, 1964, which was their first performance in America and broke American television records with an audience of 73 million viewers. I love the Beatles, but did not know this event was connected to my birthday!
There are other cool events that happened on my birthday, and that is just one of the project ideas we can employ that would use this app.
App #2: Stack the States
This is a game-like app in which the user is supposed to be able to identify the shapes of each state. The question comes up "Which one of these is Alaska?" And then it gives you a few options of state silhouettes to choose from. Selecting the right one allows you to place that state on a little platform, where your goal is to stack the states above a certain height line, which completes the level and allows you to progress further. It is similar to Tetris, in a way, but instead of trying to stack them in rows to make them disappear, you must stack them higher and higher to get above the line, while ensuring that you've stacked them evenly enough so that they do not fall over and off of the platform!
This is a fun little game that students can play that will help them to identify the 50 states better. There is also a country version of the game, as well, if you are doing world geography.
App #3: Your World
Your World is a neat little globe game in which you must go around the globe and place silhouettes of each country onto where it is located. One of the biggest issues I had with Your World is that it lets you place the initial 40 or so countries onto the globe, but then prompts you to upgrade to the "full version" for $3.99. So no, it isn't free. But it is fun, and I enjoyed the brief interaction I had with it on my home iPad.
One of the coolest things about Your World is that whenever you are placing a country, you can tap a button with a giant W at the top right of the screen and it will take you to the Wikipedia page for that country, which has loads of information. It does this for every country. And while some of the smaller nations of the world aren't included in this game (as they would be too hard to see on the global map), many of the large and medium sized countries are all there for the students to find and learn about. This would be a good game app for a world geography class to play. Just be aware that the game is not free.
Sunday, May 17, 2015
TECH - iPad Literacy
For the TECH assignment this week, I elected to review three iPad applications that I believe that we can use in the classroom to enhance our students' ability to learn and create. The apps I reviewed are Dictionary, Drawing Pad, and Strip Designer.
App #1: Dictionary
Dictionary is... well, it's a dictionary for the iPad. While it may seem basic and self-explanatory, Dictionary offers a search feature for hundreds of thousands of words. Once you select a word that you are searching for, Dictionary provides you with that word's meaning (or meanings, if there are several), the pronunciation of the word, and other information that is provided by standard, book dictionaries. One of the best things that Dictionary offers, however, is a thesaurus tool. Any word you have searched in Dictionary can be linked to a thesaurus as well, providing you and/or your students with a list of synonyms to use when writing papers! It is this option that most impressed me when I booted up the app.
With the thesaurus tool, the dictionary-like features, and the simple fact that it is just more easy to use than flipping through hundreds of pages in a physical dictionary, this is a must-own app. Considering that it is free to download, there is no excuse why every iPad in every school shouldn't have it.
App #2: Drawing Pad
Drawing Pad, at first, seems like a simplistic drawing tool with which you can create fun little images to share with friends. And while that is mostly true, there is a lot of depth if you're willing to play around with it a bit. Drawing Pad offers lots of drawing tools. Colored Pencils, markers, crayons, and more make up the basics, but there are also some really cool backdrops you can insert that are already made, as well as several of what I call "stickers" to import to your drawing. These "stickers" are premade images like cars and rocket ships that you can insert into your drawing. So even if you aren't skilled enough to draw your own detailed car, you have an image you can go ahead and put in there that doesn't rely on your artistic skills. Doing this, you can still draw around the image, adding all kinds of flair and fluff to it.
One of the coolest features for those old enough to use e-mail and social media is that you can share any drawing you create on Twitter and in an e-mail from an in-app button. So if you're really proud of that cat you drew, you can send it to your friends or share it with the world with an easy tap.
Drawing Pad is a great little tool that will allow students (and anyone else) to express their creativity, even if they aren't the most artistically talented person out there.
App #3: Strip Designer
Strip Designer is an app in which you can create your own comic-book-like pages using pictures or images you've drawn. While it's too simplistic and limited to use to create a real comic book experience, it is a fun tool to use to create humorous to memorable images and organize them in a comic book format. You can take photos of your friends and place them in the different panels on the page, and from there you can move them around, add speech bubbles, stickers, and classic 1960's Batman-like "sound effects." So if you want to use a picture of one of your friends smacking another friend in the face, you can add a "ZONK" effect to the page to give it a more humorous effect.
This would be a fun way to let students express themselves by taking photos of all kinds of things and letting them play around with the app to do all sorts of projects. While it isn't the best app of its kind that I've used, it does have some nice features, but I think I prefer Comic Life to this one, personally.
App #1: Dictionary
Dictionary is... well, it's a dictionary for the iPad. While it may seem basic and self-explanatory, Dictionary offers a search feature for hundreds of thousands of words. Once you select a word that you are searching for, Dictionary provides you with that word's meaning (or meanings, if there are several), the pronunciation of the word, and other information that is provided by standard, book dictionaries. One of the best things that Dictionary offers, however, is a thesaurus tool. Any word you have searched in Dictionary can be linked to a thesaurus as well, providing you and/or your students with a list of synonyms to use when writing papers! It is this option that most impressed me when I booted up the app.
With the thesaurus tool, the dictionary-like features, and the simple fact that it is just more easy to use than flipping through hundreds of pages in a physical dictionary, this is a must-own app. Considering that it is free to download, there is no excuse why every iPad in every school shouldn't have it.
App #2: Drawing Pad
Drawing Pad, at first, seems like a simplistic drawing tool with which you can create fun little images to share with friends. And while that is mostly true, there is a lot of depth if you're willing to play around with it a bit. Drawing Pad offers lots of drawing tools. Colored Pencils, markers, crayons, and more make up the basics, but there are also some really cool backdrops you can insert that are already made, as well as several of what I call "stickers" to import to your drawing. These "stickers" are premade images like cars and rocket ships that you can insert into your drawing. So even if you aren't skilled enough to draw your own detailed car, you have an image you can go ahead and put in there that doesn't rely on your artistic skills. Doing this, you can still draw around the image, adding all kinds of flair and fluff to it.
One of the coolest features for those old enough to use e-mail and social media is that you can share any drawing you create on Twitter and in an e-mail from an in-app button. So if you're really proud of that cat you drew, you can send it to your friends or share it with the world with an easy tap.
Drawing Pad is a great little tool that will allow students (and anyone else) to express their creativity, even if they aren't the most artistically talented person out there.
App #3: Strip Designer
Strip Designer is an app in which you can create your own comic-book-like pages using pictures or images you've drawn. While it's too simplistic and limited to use to create a real comic book experience, it is a fun tool to use to create humorous to memorable images and organize them in a comic book format. You can take photos of your friends and place them in the different panels on the page, and from there you can move them around, add speech bubbles, stickers, and classic 1960's Batman-like "sound effects." So if you want to use a picture of one of your friends smacking another friend in the face, you can add a "ZONK" effect to the page to give it a more humorous effect.
This would be a fun way to let students express themselves by taking photos of all kinds of things and letting them play around with the app to do all sorts of projects. While it isn't the best app of its kind that I've used, it does have some nice features, but I think I prefer Comic Life to this one, personally.
Thursday, May 14, 2015
GAIN - Google Sheets
When I was in middle school, I had a computer/keyboarding class where we learned how to use Excel during a 2 or 3 week lesson. It was my least favorite portion of that class. Excel, at the time, seemed obtuse, awkward and like a lot of math formulas that barely made sense to me. I was able to learn most of it, but figured I'd be unlikely to use it again because of how much I disliked it.
Yet, here I am. Using the Google version of Excel, Sheets. And since it has been over a decade since I last learned how to effectively use Excel, I had to start basically from scratch when dealing with Sheets. But I am very glad that I did, because even though there are still a few of the functions and formulas that I'm unclear on, and the overall math portion of the program still looms over me like a hazy cloud at times, I realized how useful this kind of software will be when recording grades in a classroom. It helps to organize, and if a mistake is made, it is easily correctable by simply deleting the former information and inserting the new. No extra math is required, because the program does it for you. That's incredibly convenient.
You can view my gradebook here. And in case you're wondering, yes... those are the names of the Avengers. If you're wondering why I failed the Hulk, it's because he was prone to disappearing for long stretches of time. I live in constant fear of being smashed for this.
Back on topic, I surprisingly ended up enjoying my time with Sheets. It's a program that I will definitely take advantage of in the future, now that I remember how to use it. I'm looking forward to reacquainting myself with what I once considered my nemesis.
In the Graham book, it was discussed about how Sheets can be used to help students with Math, especially, but it also can be used to help them digest and interpret information from images with the way that one can make charts and put them in the Sheets document, as well.
I hope everyone else was able to use Sheets effectively. Even if you found it confusing, it is definitely useful. I think it is worth learning and sticking with.
Yet, here I am. Using the Google version of Excel, Sheets. And since it has been over a decade since I last learned how to effectively use Excel, I had to start basically from scratch when dealing with Sheets. But I am very glad that I did, because even though there are still a few of the functions and formulas that I'm unclear on, and the overall math portion of the program still looms over me like a hazy cloud at times, I realized how useful this kind of software will be when recording grades in a classroom. It helps to organize, and if a mistake is made, it is easily correctable by simply deleting the former information and inserting the new. No extra math is required, because the program does it for you. That's incredibly convenient.
You can view my gradebook here. And in case you're wondering, yes... those are the names of the Avengers. If you're wondering why I failed the Hulk, it's because he was prone to disappearing for long stretches of time. I live in constant fear of being smashed for this.
Back on topic, I surprisingly ended up enjoying my time with Sheets. It's a program that I will definitely take advantage of in the future, now that I remember how to use it. I'm looking forward to reacquainting myself with what I once considered my nemesis.
In the Graham book, it was discussed about how Sheets can be used to help students with Math, especially, but it also can be used to help them digest and interpret information from images with the way that one can make charts and put them in the Sheets document, as well.
I hope everyone else was able to use Sheets effectively. Even if you found it confusing, it is definitely useful. I think it is worth learning and sticking with.
TECH - Safari vs Rover
While most of us have used Safari in one way or another (it's basically the Mac version of Internet Explorer, but a bit better), Rover was something I had never even heard of before. Once I had started to play around with it, I realized why I hadn't heard of it before: because it isn't very good, and because it isn't very free, either.
In comparison to Safari, Rover has several restrictions placed on it. This is because it was created as a browser that can be safe for kids to use. However, this is also its downfall, as it kept me from visiting a handful of sites that, in my opinion, were completely safe for kids to visit, like certain sports themed websites.
Rover also is not free, at least not if you want to take advantage of all of its features. There is a free version of Rover, but in order to use features like Flash and video streaming, you have to pay the one time fee of $9.99. Which is odd, because most web browsers offer services like this for free. I've never had to pay Firefox just to be able to use Flash. And while Safari and Flash may be incompatible, Rover's lack of ability to let you freely search the web without restriction makes that particular feature moot in some cases.
Overall, I doubt I'll ever consider purchasing Rover, or using it at all. While the Flash option might be nice, I don't like the restrictions or the fees involved.
That said, Rover probably would be a decent web browser to use in elementary schools, because of its restricted access to filtered websites. But for anyone in high school and above, its restrictions are more limiting than anything else.
In comparison to Safari, Rover has several restrictions placed on it. This is because it was created as a browser that can be safe for kids to use. However, this is also its downfall, as it kept me from visiting a handful of sites that, in my opinion, were completely safe for kids to visit, like certain sports themed websites.
Rover also is not free, at least not if you want to take advantage of all of its features. There is a free version of Rover, but in order to use features like Flash and video streaming, you have to pay the one time fee of $9.99. Which is odd, because most web browsers offer services like this for free. I've never had to pay Firefox just to be able to use Flash. And while Safari and Flash may be incompatible, Rover's lack of ability to let you freely search the web without restriction makes that particular feature moot in some cases.
Overall, I doubt I'll ever consider purchasing Rover, or using it at all. While the Flash option might be nice, I don't like the restrictions or the fees involved.
That said, Rover probably would be a decent web browser to use in elementary schools, because of its restricted access to filtered websites. But for anyone in high school and above, its restrictions are more limiting than anything else.
TECH - iThoughts
iThoughts is a unique piece of idea-webbing software. It allows one to create an idea-map (which my gradeschool teacher referred to as a web, because of its similarity in appearance to a spider web), and use text, pictures and links to map out ideas and information. The cool thing about iThoughts is that it is incredibly easy to use, offering touch based controls to allows you to place your thoughts all over the map with ease.
It's easy to see some places where one could use iThoughts in education. I mentioned above that in grade school, we learned about mapping our thoughts in this way, so designing a lesson on this technique while using iThoughts to teach it would be one way. Another is for mapping out ideas and information when students are learning how to effectively write stories, essays and research articles for class, or when they are working on big projects that require a lot of planning.
Not only would it be useful for students to learn how to use, but teachers can also use this powerful tool in lesson planning as well, allowing us to organize our thoughts and ideas for each lesson onto one map.
So there are just a few ways to use iThoughts in the classroom. It's an easy-to-use, helpful piece of software that I'm looking forward to using.
It's easy to see some places where one could use iThoughts in education. I mentioned above that in grade school, we learned about mapping our thoughts in this way, so designing a lesson on this technique while using iThoughts to teach it would be one way. Another is for mapping out ideas and information when students are learning how to effectively write stories, essays and research articles for class, or when they are working on big projects that require a lot of planning.
Not only would it be useful for students to learn how to use, but teachers can also use this powerful tool in lesson planning as well, allowing us to organize our thoughts and ideas for each lesson onto one map.
So there are just a few ways to use iThoughts in the classroom. It's an easy-to-use, helpful piece of software that I'm looking forward to using.
TECH - iWorks and Pages
The iWorks applications on iPad are mostly there to replace similar programs on desktop computers, like PowerPoint, Word and Excel. I chose to work with Pages and compare it to Word for this week's TECH assignment. So here are a few things about Pages that I found were similar to Word, and one thing that is notably different in a good way.
Similarities:
1. The Interface. Pages' interface is almost a direct copy/paste from Word. You have many of the same buttons, from choosing your text size/style to printing options. If you're familiar with the way that Word works, the Pages version of word processing software will feel instantly familiar.
2. Pages also includes many of the same templates for the different types of documents you would like to create. In this way, it mirrors the Word startup page in which it asks you to select a template before you begin to work.
3. The tools. Any tool you have at your disposal in Word can be found here in Pages, as well. I was unable to find anywhere that Pages was lacking in comparison in my short time with the application. In fact, Pages offers a few things that most versions of Word do not... including...
Differences:
1. Speech to text conversion. While some versions of Word may or may not have this feature, it is completely dependent on whether or not your PC has a built in mic, or if you have one sufficient enough to use. This is not a concern on the iPad, as they come with built in microphones to detect your voice. While there are a few hiccups here and there when using this feature, as long as one speaks clearly and at an even pace, Pages will write whatever you're saying.
2. Touch. Unless you are using Word on another tablet, Pages offers touch control features that Word doesn't have. It actually makes the interface a bit more enjoyable and easy to use than the traditional point-and-click mouse input does.
Similarities:
1. The Interface. Pages' interface is almost a direct copy/paste from Word. You have many of the same buttons, from choosing your text size/style to printing options. If you're familiar with the way that Word works, the Pages version of word processing software will feel instantly familiar.
2. Pages also includes many of the same templates for the different types of documents you would like to create. In this way, it mirrors the Word startup page in which it asks you to select a template before you begin to work.
3. The tools. Any tool you have at your disposal in Word can be found here in Pages, as well. I was unable to find anywhere that Pages was lacking in comparison in my short time with the application. In fact, Pages offers a few things that most versions of Word do not... including...
Differences:
1. Speech to text conversion. While some versions of Word may or may not have this feature, it is completely dependent on whether or not your PC has a built in mic, or if you have one sufficient enough to use. This is not a concern on the iPad, as they come with built in microphones to detect your voice. While there are a few hiccups here and there when using this feature, as long as one speaks clearly and at an even pace, Pages will write whatever you're saying.
2. Touch. Unless you are using Word on another tablet, Pages offers touch control features that Word doesn't have. It actually makes the interface a bit more enjoyable and easy to use than the traditional point-and-click mouse input does.
Monday, May 11, 2015
GAIN - Google Drawing
Google Drawing is a tool used to create images using shapes and lines, along with text, that you can insert into your Documents or Presentations files. Like everything else I've covered so far when it comes to Google's software, Drawing can be opened up for collaboration with others. While Microsoft Office itself doesn't have a standalone piece of software for drawing, there are tools in Word that allow one to insert shapes and lines, even if it is a bit obtuse in practice. There is also Paint, an application that comes with most PCs for free, and while that particular piece of software is a little more free in terms of what one can draw than Google Drawing, it is a little bit similar in nature.
The cool thing about Drawing lies in its collaborative ability. The tutorial I watched depicted one person creating several shapes and aligning them the way that he wanted (which, when I tried it afterward, was very easy and convenient! Much more so than my experiences with the drawing tools in Microsoft Word). It also demonstrated the ability to insert text into the shapes, how to change the colors of the shapes, and introduced to me the ability to chat with others who are able to edit the document. This allows that other person to make their own suggestions, and being able to talk to them in real time about what you are working together to create gives the project an amount of synergy that one would not find in Paint or Microsoft Office.
It is also easy to see how, according to the Graham book, one would be able to use something like Google Drawing in the Common Core standards. Whether it is by using graphs, charts and diagrams to decipher meaning from images, or drawing shapes for a math class using certain parameters Google Drawing offers a great tool to be used in the classroom setting.
The cool thing about Drawing lies in its collaborative ability. The tutorial I watched depicted one person creating several shapes and aligning them the way that he wanted (which, when I tried it afterward, was very easy and convenient! Much more so than my experiences with the drawing tools in Microsoft Word). It also demonstrated the ability to insert text into the shapes, how to change the colors of the shapes, and introduced to me the ability to chat with others who are able to edit the document. This allows that other person to make their own suggestions, and being able to talk to them in real time about what you are working together to create gives the project an amount of synergy that one would not find in Paint or Microsoft Office.
It is also easy to see how, according to the Graham book, one would be able to use something like Google Drawing in the Common Core standards. Whether it is by using graphs, charts and diagrams to decipher meaning from images, or drawing shapes for a math class using certain parameters Google Drawing offers a great tool to be used in the classroom setting.
Sunday, May 10, 2015
TECH - Tablets in Education
It feels like it was just a couple of years ago that the iPad was released. Since then, it has quickly taken off, selling millions and millions of units and inspiring Apple's competitors to release their own versions of tablet computers that offer similar features. It is safe to say that tablets have taken over the world, to a degree. Anyone can use them. Adults can use them to check e-mail, teens can use them to create media, and children can use them to play games like Angry Birds.
So why not educators and students in the classroom, too?
While the tablets all have their own strengths and weaknesses, there is one thing that they all share: they are all electronic book readers. Nook, Kindle, iPad, Surface Pro... all of them have book stores that are just a few taps away. And this feature is one of the greatest reasons why many schools have recently chosen to adopt iPads and other tablets instead of textbooks. For one, carrying around a tablet is much more convenient (and lighter)! But it is also almost always the case that purchasing a textbook on a tablet is much cheaper (sometimes up to 50%!) than buying the physical version of the same text. So not only is it a more convenient way to read textbooks, it is also cheaper, too, and schools love being able to save money. Add to this the fact that some tablets, like the Kindle, offer book rentals as an alternative to full purchases, and that makes the price even cheaper.
If educators are going to use tablets in the classroom, we need to do more than just use them as an alternative to textbooks. Devices such as tablets and smartphones are becoming extremely prevalent in daily life for people today. We've got to take advantage of the popularity of these devices and learn how to use them to teach more effectively. Luckily for us, there are hundreds of applications on the app store available to use. And most of them are very cheap! There are media creation apps, like iMovie, Garage Band, and Comic Life, that allow our students to create videos, audio and images. Beginning the school year by asking our students to create a comic strip about what they did over the summer is a great way to get them writing and creating media on the iPad, and it is a fun way to let them be creative, as well.
In the future (and the present, as well), it is going to be very important for school and educators to adopt tablets, and learn to use them to their fullest capabilities. Devices like the iPad have taken over the globe, giving people a computer that can fit in their hands, and that they can take with them anywhere. It is an incredibly useful tool, and they are not going to go away any time soon. Therefore, it would be wise for us to take advantage of the tools and apps they have to offer, as well as the alternatives that they provide to using traditional textbooks, at a much more affordable price. There are hundreds of ways to effectively use tablet computers to teach, learn, create, and play in the classroom. It is up to the current and future generations of teachers to provide our students with the best ways to use them.
So why not educators and students in the classroom, too?
While the tablets all have their own strengths and weaknesses, there is one thing that they all share: they are all electronic book readers. Nook, Kindle, iPad, Surface Pro... all of them have book stores that are just a few taps away. And this feature is one of the greatest reasons why many schools have recently chosen to adopt iPads and other tablets instead of textbooks. For one, carrying around a tablet is much more convenient (and lighter)! But it is also almost always the case that purchasing a textbook on a tablet is much cheaper (sometimes up to 50%!) than buying the physical version of the same text. So not only is it a more convenient way to read textbooks, it is also cheaper, too, and schools love being able to save money. Add to this the fact that some tablets, like the Kindle, offer book rentals as an alternative to full purchases, and that makes the price even cheaper.
If educators are going to use tablets in the classroom, we need to do more than just use them as an alternative to textbooks. Devices such as tablets and smartphones are becoming extremely prevalent in daily life for people today. We've got to take advantage of the popularity of these devices and learn how to use them to teach more effectively. Luckily for us, there are hundreds of applications on the app store available to use. And most of them are very cheap! There are media creation apps, like iMovie, Garage Band, and Comic Life, that allow our students to create videos, audio and images. Beginning the school year by asking our students to create a comic strip about what they did over the summer is a great way to get them writing and creating media on the iPad, and it is a fun way to let them be creative, as well.
In the future (and the present, as well), it is going to be very important for school and educators to adopt tablets, and learn to use them to their fullest capabilities. Devices like the iPad have taken over the globe, giving people a computer that can fit in their hands, and that they can take with them anywhere. It is an incredibly useful tool, and they are not going to go away any time soon. Therefore, it would be wise for us to take advantage of the tools and apps they have to offer, as well as the alternatives that they provide to using traditional textbooks, at a much more affordable price. There are hundreds of ways to effectively use tablet computers to teach, learn, create, and play in the classroom. It is up to the current and future generations of teachers to provide our students with the best ways to use them.
Saturday, May 9, 2015
GAIN - Google Slides
In the same way that Google Documents mirrors Microsoft Word, Google Slides seeks to provide an alternate version of Microsoft's PowerPoint software. While I am definitely more familiar with the latter, I learned some intriguing new things about Slides through some experimentation. Here are a few of them:
1. The Search Function
This feature is also included in Documents, but I think it is worth mentioning here, too. Slides offers a tool that users can utilize to search the entire internet (in a similar vein to Google's search engine) to find quotes, videos, pictures, and more. So if you're creating a presentation about zoo animals, simply type "zoo animals" into the search bar, and voila... you have hundreds of pictures of pandas, monkeys, and bears to choose from.
This is a much, much better alternative to PowerPoint's offering of ClipArt. ClipArt's limited selection of images pales in comparison to Slides' search function. It's a powerful tool that we can use to spice up our presentations.
2. It is Free and Collaborative
Yeah, we know this already. But seriously, how great is that fact? You can get a piece of software that is a slightly better version of PowerPoint, but for absolutely nothing. Anyone can use it. And, on that note, you can share your presentations with anyone. So if you have a group project you've assigned to your students, they can all easily make changes to the presentation at their own home computers, without the need to meet up together in person.
3. It is an Online-Only Resource
One of the few drawbacks to Slides is that you cannot access it without the internet. So if you're in a jam, and have no wifi hotspot to use, you'll be in trouble if you need to edit your slide at the last second.
4. It is Easy to Use and Accessible
Slides is user-friendly, and offers a very comprehensive interface that anyone can use. For those familiar with other presentation creation software like PowerPoint, you will find the interface even more familiar, yet with a couple of extra, powerful tools like the search function with which to work.
1. The Search Function
This feature is also included in Documents, but I think it is worth mentioning here, too. Slides offers a tool that users can utilize to search the entire internet (in a similar vein to Google's search engine) to find quotes, videos, pictures, and more. So if you're creating a presentation about zoo animals, simply type "zoo animals" into the search bar, and voila... you have hundreds of pictures of pandas, monkeys, and bears to choose from.
This is a much, much better alternative to PowerPoint's offering of ClipArt. ClipArt's limited selection of images pales in comparison to Slides' search function. It's a powerful tool that we can use to spice up our presentations.
2. It is Free and Collaborative
Yeah, we know this already. But seriously, how great is that fact? You can get a piece of software that is a slightly better version of PowerPoint, but for absolutely nothing. Anyone can use it. And, on that note, you can share your presentations with anyone. So if you have a group project you've assigned to your students, they can all easily make changes to the presentation at their own home computers, without the need to meet up together in person.
3. It is an Online-Only Resource
One of the few drawbacks to Slides is that you cannot access it without the internet. So if you're in a jam, and have no wifi hotspot to use, you'll be in trouble if you need to edit your slide at the last second.
4. It is Easy to Use and Accessible
Slides is user-friendly, and offers a very comprehensive interface that anyone can use. For those familiar with other presentation creation software like PowerPoint, you will find the interface even more familiar, yet with a couple of extra, powerful tools like the search function with which to work.
Thursday, May 7, 2015
GAIN - Google Documents
While I am most proficient with Microsoft Word when it comes to word processors, I am becoming more and more convinced that Google Docs is a better service. While both are incredibly similar in most aspects, there are some minor advantages that Google Docs has over Word, and a few things that Documents just does better.
The ability to share and collaboratively edit a document on Google Docs is a great tool. For school purposes, for example, students in a group project can easily get online and contribute to their part of a project without having to get together to work on it all at once. And while Microsoft Word does now include this option, it is definitely clunky when compared to the Documents version of the same service. One of my finals during my senior year of college was done in this manner, and it was very efficient and convenient.
One of the biggest things that always bothered me about Word was how annoyingly difficult it is to add pictures and images to a document. Google Documents has made this process easier in that, unlike Word, one doesn't have to know the ins and outs of the program just to be able to put a picture in the exact spot they want to. Word has an awkward interface when it comes to formatting and arranging the pictures in the document, and I've seen plenty of people get frustrated just trying to perform this simple action without warping their document's text all over the page.
Another benefit of Documents? It's free. Instead of handing Microsoft an entire week's paycheck just to be able to use Word, Google Documents is sitting right there, waiting to be used by anyone and everyone for the cost of nothing. And if that isn't enough to convince most people to use Docs, I don't know what is.
The ability to share and collaboratively edit a document on Google Docs is a great tool. For school purposes, for example, students in a group project can easily get online and contribute to their part of a project without having to get together to work on it all at once. And while Microsoft Word does now include this option, it is definitely clunky when compared to the Documents version of the same service. One of my finals during my senior year of college was done in this manner, and it was very efficient and convenient.
One of the biggest things that always bothered me about Word was how annoyingly difficult it is to add pictures and images to a document. Google Documents has made this process easier in that, unlike Word, one doesn't have to know the ins and outs of the program just to be able to put a picture in the exact spot they want to. Word has an awkward interface when it comes to formatting and arranging the pictures in the document, and I've seen plenty of people get frustrated just trying to perform this simple action without warping their document's text all over the page.
Another benefit of Documents? It's free. Instead of handing Microsoft an entire week's paycheck just to be able to use Word, Google Documents is sitting right there, waiting to be used by anyone and everyone for the cost of nothing. And if that isn't enough to convince most people to use Docs, I don't know what is.
GAIN - Blog Post Comment
I read through TravelinEdMan's most recent blog post from March 29 (which you can find here), in which he discussed some changes coming in the near future when Microsoft finally updates their operating system from Windows 8 to Windows 10 (yeah, I'm not sure what happened to 9, either). Some of the tidbits I personally found interesting were that they're getting rid of Internet Explorer entirely and shifting into a new browser called "Spartan." Hopefully Spartan will perform better than IE does.
As someone who loved Windows 7, and very much disliked 8 (I refused to "upgrade"), I was also very glad to read TEM's comment that Microsoft will be fusing what actually works between both 7 and 8 into one, hopefully good OS when they release Windows 10.
And finally, for those of us who are familiar with, and use, Macs, there was the interesting bit that Microsoft Office 2016 will be nearly identical between the PC and Mac versions of the software, which will be good for those who get confused when switching between the two.
I don't pay a ton of attention to everything Microsoft does, so TEM's blog post was informative for me, and I was glad to know that some positive OS changes will be happening in the near future!
As someone who loved Windows 7, and very much disliked 8 (I refused to "upgrade"), I was also very glad to read TEM's comment that Microsoft will be fusing what actually works between both 7 and 8 into one, hopefully good OS when they release Windows 10.
And finally, for those of us who are familiar with, and use, Macs, there was the interesting bit that Microsoft Office 2016 will be nearly identical between the PC and Mac versions of the software, which will be good for those who get confused when switching between the two.
I don't pay a ton of attention to everything Microsoft does, so TEM's blog post was informative for me, and I was glad to know that some positive OS changes will be happening in the near future!
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
TECH - Tablets Options and Uses
In responding to the scenario with the principal, I put more of an emphasis on how the tablets and their respective operating systems would be used in a school/educational setting, and very little on how they would be used personally. I did this for the obvious reason that the school would be purchasing these tablets for educational purposes. So I chose to focus on the apps, the ability of each tablet to use the internet and its features, the pricing of the tablets, and the availability of books. While I understand that things like Netflix subscriptions are also available on tablets, that is usually a more personal use for entertainment (unless a teacher assigns the students to watch a documentary, or something similar!). So here are some of the pros and cons of each operating system that I found would be beneficial for the principal to know when finalizing his decision.
Apple (iPads):
Pros:
+iPads and other Apple mobile devices have access to hundreds of thousands of applications for all sorts of purposes. The App Store is home to some great educational tools, and these devices have, by far, the widest selection of apps.
+When considering the option of adding cellular data to the tablets, the iPads offer the most options in terms of providers and plans.
+iPads offer a tool on their iBooks software, called Author, that is extremely useful for educators, because it allows them to make their own books that can utilize apps and other media in order to supplement what the students are reading.
Cons:
-The biggest flaw with iPads, in my opinion, is their inability to use Flash. Flash is a widely used piece of software, and is required in order to watch certain videos or even view web pages properly. The lack of Flash on iPads could limit the selection of educational videos that the teacher and students are able to view.
-The iBooks store does not have the scope of available textbooks that the other tablets have.
Android (Kindle, Nook, etc)
Pros:
+While the availability differs depending on what device one is using, the Androids usually have the widest selection of available texts, even going as far as to have made exclusive deals with certain textbook providers in some cases.
+Unlike its iPad competition, Android devices are able to use Flash
+Generally, these devices are cheaper options in comparison to other tablets.
Cons:
-Their selection of apps generally pales in comparison to the other tablets. This could limit the ability of teachers and students to use certain apps to teach and learn more effectively.
Windows (Surface):
Pros:
+Because Surface tablets are able to use the same operating system as Windows PCs, they can easily use common software like Microsoft Office that are not as effective on other tablets.
+Unlike iPads, Windows tablets can also use Flash.
+Windows tablets usually contain more onboard memory than the competitors, allowing one to store more files on the tablet.
Cons:
-Surface tablets are, in general, on the expensive side of the tablet chart.
-While windows tablets may have more apps available than Android, it still does not have the amount of apps that are available on the iPad.
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And finally, on the topic of cellular, we must consider exactly what that service provides and at what extra cost. Also to be considered is whether or not the added services justify the cost.
"Cellular" is a way of saying that a specific tablet is capable of staying connecting to a cellular phone tower. All tablets have wifi, but the addition of the cellular service allows tablets to stay connecting to the internet and other services, even if the tablet is out of range of any wifi hotspots. So long as the tablet remains connected to the tower, it can continue using online services. Only tablets that are compatible with this service can use them, and wifi-only tablets cannot be upgraded, so if one is wanting this service at any point in time, it would be wise to consider the option when purchasing the tablet.
Using the cellular service, however, comes at an extra price. For starters, tablets that can use the service are generally around $100 more expensive than the exact same model of said tablet that cannot. Add to that price the monthly fee of the cellular service through a contract from a provider such as AT&T or Verizon, and you are going to be paying more than you would for just the standard wifi model. Payment plan amounts differ depending on how much data you want to be able to use. The more you go up in gigabytes, the more expensive your monthly fee is going to be.
So the added convenience of always being connected can come at a price, so it is a good idea to consider if the school needs for these tablets to stay connected, or if it is just better to go with the standard models and use local wifi.
Apple (iPads):
Pros:
+iPads and other Apple mobile devices have access to hundreds of thousands of applications for all sorts of purposes. The App Store is home to some great educational tools, and these devices have, by far, the widest selection of apps.
+When considering the option of adding cellular data to the tablets, the iPads offer the most options in terms of providers and plans.
+iPads offer a tool on their iBooks software, called Author, that is extremely useful for educators, because it allows them to make their own books that can utilize apps and other media in order to supplement what the students are reading.
Cons:
-The biggest flaw with iPads, in my opinion, is their inability to use Flash. Flash is a widely used piece of software, and is required in order to watch certain videos or even view web pages properly. The lack of Flash on iPads could limit the selection of educational videos that the teacher and students are able to view.
-The iBooks store does not have the scope of available textbooks that the other tablets have.
Android (Kindle, Nook, etc)
Pros:
+While the availability differs depending on what device one is using, the Androids usually have the widest selection of available texts, even going as far as to have made exclusive deals with certain textbook providers in some cases.
+Unlike its iPad competition, Android devices are able to use Flash
+Generally, these devices are cheaper options in comparison to other tablets.
Cons:
-Their selection of apps generally pales in comparison to the other tablets. This could limit the ability of teachers and students to use certain apps to teach and learn more effectively.
Windows (Surface):
Pros:
+Because Surface tablets are able to use the same operating system as Windows PCs, they can easily use common software like Microsoft Office that are not as effective on other tablets.
+Unlike iPads, Windows tablets can also use Flash.
+Windows tablets usually contain more onboard memory than the competitors, allowing one to store more files on the tablet.
Cons:
-Surface tablets are, in general, on the expensive side of the tablet chart.
-While windows tablets may have more apps available than Android, it still does not have the amount of apps that are available on the iPad.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And finally, on the topic of cellular, we must consider exactly what that service provides and at what extra cost. Also to be considered is whether or not the added services justify the cost.
"Cellular" is a way of saying that a specific tablet is capable of staying connecting to a cellular phone tower. All tablets have wifi, but the addition of the cellular service allows tablets to stay connecting to the internet and other services, even if the tablet is out of range of any wifi hotspots. So long as the tablet remains connected to the tower, it can continue using online services. Only tablets that are compatible with this service can use them, and wifi-only tablets cannot be upgraded, so if one is wanting this service at any point in time, it would be wise to consider the option when purchasing the tablet.
Using the cellular service, however, comes at an extra price. For starters, tablets that can use the service are generally around $100 more expensive than the exact same model of said tablet that cannot. Add to that price the monthly fee of the cellular service through a contract from a provider such as AT&T or Verizon, and you are going to be paying more than you would for just the standard wifi model. Payment plan amounts differ depending on how much data you want to be able to use. The more you go up in gigabytes, the more expensive your monthly fee is going to be.
So the added convenience of always being connected can come at a price, so it is a good idea to consider if the school needs for these tablets to stay connected, or if it is just better to go with the standard models and use local wifi.
Monday, May 4, 2015
About Me
My name is Matt West. I am from a tiny town called Jamestown, Indiana. I am the oldest of three brothers. I am married with two children, Shiloh (3 years old) and Malachi (5 months old). My hobbies include football, movies, reading fantasy novels, playing music, and being with my family.
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