Keynote at the 2013 CUE Conference

This morning is starting out with the keynote speech by Sir Ken Robinson, PhD, an inspirational speaker on innovation and education. I've seen some of his speeches on TED so it's very exciting to see him in person. Well, technically on a screen from the overflow room, but close enough. :)

I appreciated his focus today on the uniqueness of each of our lives and the unexpected ways our lives can change and progress. At four, he got polio and was sick for many years. He said he was the most unlikely candidate to be successful and to have the life he's had. It's so important to remember that the current circumstances don't dictate the future for us or our students.

I'll write more later as I'm off to a Moodle workshop, but I'll end with this quote that inspired me from today's speech. It's an old quote, with an unknown author, but it hit home on a topic I've been pondering lately: the urgency of now and the brevity of life.

"Don't regret growing old. It is a privilege denied to many."

2013 CUE Conference

I am so excited to be at the annual CUE Conference in Palm Springs, CA for the next 3 days! It's great to be surrounded by bright minds, tons of tech (I'm toting 4 devices at this moment) and brilliant ways of engaging students in learning through technology.

There is so much to learn in the world! Wish I had the time and capacity to know everything.

I'll be posting some updates as the day goes on about new and interesting things in the EdTech world!

Tablets in the Classroom

I have an exciting new project! Well, exciting and a little scary! I've been given some extra-duty work to help find a tablet for our incoming 9th graders next year. Our school district has plans to transition to a one-to-one program for the freshman. Each student will be given a tablet to use for the year in class and at home. Their textbooks will be accessible, as well as work assigned in class, books, educational apps, and their own content.

The trick is finding the right tablet! The more I research, the more I find that this is really an emerging field for education. Most of the companies seem to view the tablets as a side project. After spending hours trying to track down someone at Google to discuss the Nexus 7, I was told there are no salespeople for the device because, "The Nexus 7 sells itself." I believe that is true, but the reality is that since Google subsidizes the device in hopes of recouping the investment with apps from the Google Play app store, they don't have much motivation to sell the device in bulk. I was referred to the manufacturer, but that has been a disappointment as well. The price is higher in bulk than the local brick and mortar store!  

I met with a Lenovo representative on Thursday, and I have to admit, faced further disappointment. The product line was clunky, boring, and over-priced. Sometimes I look at technology and wonder why so many companies leave aesthetics out of their consideration. Don't they understand? Technology is no longer simply a means to an end, a necessary evil, or a simple tool. It is a part of life, the key to knowledge, the sparker of interest, the connection to friends, family, books, photos, music...it is loved, valued, and more a part of daily life than almost anything else we buy. Don't leave out beauty, appeal, and intuitiveness! Aesthetics are a huge consideration when we pick a house, a car, our clothes, even possibly our partner. Why wouldn't looks, ease of use, and appeal be a consideration when designing a device?

I tried to text type using the Lenovo Windows 8 tablet, and it was a disaster. Held it landscape and there was no way to type using just thumbs. When I held it portrait view and tried to thumb type, the tablet was so long and heavy, I couldn't hold it in my hands. It's almost like they designed it for a generation of people who don't want to transition to anything other than traditional forms of entering information. (Note to manufacturers: design your product for users who will actually use it.)

Of course there is the gold standard, the iPad, but price rules it out for us for now. I dream of their easily reachable and dedicated educational sales representatives, and the education discount (albeit small), the ease of transferring information, and hundreds of thousands of apps and 1.5 million books. I dream of iBooks Author, of Photo Stream, and of the 8 megapixel camera. However, that dream is on hold due to price...right next to my dream of seeing every country in the world. :)

So far the Nexus 7 seems like the best of the options, given the budget. Other than the fact that I keep searching for the home button like the one on my iPad, I seem to be figuring it out without too much trouble. It's not elegant, but it's colorful, functional, and fun. My heart was slightly swayed by the fact it comes preloaded with Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, although I am trying to focus on the specs, and not merely shiny distractions. It has 16GB of storage standard, Google Play seems to have a good selection of apps, and even my Apple brain is figuring out how to navigate the device without too much trouble. It feels good in my hand, it does what I need it to do, and I want to use it. There is a connection to the device and that's what I want for me, and for my students. Because, after all, even the best tool is useless if it's not used!

If you have any suggestions or recommendations I'd love to hear them! This device search is definitely a work in progress.

Part I: Edcanvas

I don't know if it's just because I'm attached to my iPhone, which makes tasks so effortless, or if I just inherently crave ease, but I am always looking for ways to make the classroom more efficient and productive. Last week I decided to try something new, and I'm implementing it this week. I'll let you know how it goes and if the students like it! The first part of it has to do with Edcanvas.

Edcanvas is my new favorite toy/website. It's pretty amazing. The way it works is that you set up a canvas (basically a template) and from there you can drag and drop pictures, video links, Word documents, PowerPoints, Prezi links, YouTube videos...pretty much anything you want! It's something I always wanted for my students, but didn't know existed. The reason it is so wonderful is that you can have all your resources in one place for students, and easily share them. If a student is going on independent study, or he or she wants more extension activities, or if another teacher wants to see your resources, everything is available from one link.

I use resources from many different sources during my classes. I typically have a PowerPoint open for my standards and learning targets, a CD with the reading, a PowerPoint or Prezi for the content questions, and possibly a short video clip to introduce the material, to name a few of the resources. This can be confusing and hard to switch between seamlessly, especially if something goes wrong and I have to restart the computer! Edcanvas makes it easy to have almost all my resources just one click away, and anywhere I go with internet access.

One of the best things about Edcanvas is its easy share options. It only takes a click or two to save the automatically generated QR code (more on that in my next post!) or to share via Edmodo, Twitter, Facebook, or email. I love the design of the site, the ease of use, and the possibilities to make my life (which is far too full of both electronic and paper files!) easier.

Here is the link to my canvas on Holt's American History textbook chapter 11 on the North prior to the Civil War:

http://edcvs.co/W0i6Bk

CNN Student News

Have you ever wondered how to get your students excited about current events, or how to spark an interest in reading and listening to the news? CNN Student News is a great program that provides a quick 10 minute overview of the news, including important international and domestic events from the day before, as well as some light news. The program engages students with a bit of humor and short quizzes, and brings in topics that relate to students' interests.

I've been using it often in my 8th grade class, and the students really enjoy it and have become more informed about current events. They now tell me about news that they read or watch at home, and are growing a larger knowledge base about the world. It was particularly useful for 8th grade American history during the election cycle as it explained all about the Electoral College and detailed the campaign, election, and inaugural process.

Since there's never enough time in any given day, I use it sparingly, however I do feel like it is a worthwhile use of time. I signed up for the daily email, and that has been very helpful. The night prior to the broadcast, they email with the content of the show, so I can see if it relates to a 7th or 8th grade topic.

In addition, they have some literacy materials that go with each lesson, so this can be a great way to add some discussion or writing to the lesson. The "Media Literacy Question of the Day" along with a short quiz can be found on the main page and can be printed out as well.

Let me know if you find it useful, or have any other tips for engaging students in current events!

How to Create Easy, Memorable, and Secure Passwords

Since so much of our personal information is now online, it is crucial to create secure, but memorable, passwords. It's also important to teach our students how to protect their online information with a strong password. The best passwords have 8 or more characters, at least one number, and both upper and lower case letters. This can be a challenge, but here is an easy way to create a perfect password!

First, choose a favorite song lyric to turn into the password. For example, if you took the song lyric, "Mary had a little lamb, its fleece was white as snow," you would take the first letter of each word, and you would have "Mhallifwwas." Of course, you need to add at least one number, so in this case I would turn the first "l" into a "1" and voila! a strong, secure, unguessable password that is easy for you to recall: "Mha1lifwwas." Remember, there is no need to write this down, so the password stays only in your head. For a password hint, you can just use the first word, or the artist's name, and that will remind you of the lyric and the password. 

Let me know if you have any other password tricks!

Doodle for Google: $50,000 Technology Grant

http://www.google.com/doodle4google/resources/history.html

You probably already know that Google's search box usually has thematic art for special days or to commemorate an event in history. I always enjoy seeing the creativity displayed with the Google logo. I also enjoy seeing some of the past Google art at the Doodle History page. Well, now there's something even better: the chance to win $50,000 in technology money for your school!

The contest is called Doodle for Google, and is open to students from kindergarten to 12th grade, and there are categories for the various ages. The first place winner receives a $50,000 technology grant for his or her school, a $30,000 college scholarship, a trip to the awards ceremony in New York, a Chromebook laptop, a tablet, and a tee-shirt with their design, in addition to their doodle being featured on the Google homepage on May 23, 2013.

There are also national and state winners, with a variety of prizes. The Google Judging and Prizes page has all the information about the number of winners.

Google even has a page for educators with information on how to help your students get started, an educator guide, a classroom poster, and an informational pamphlet. Here is the link to sign up for periodic emails for deadline information.