Blog Archives

Did You Ask for Some More? Smore!

9/29/2016

With Smore you can create beautiful newsletters/flyers that can be easily shared. Check it out by signing up for the free account. If you end up loving it, you will want to pursue a paid option as the free account is limited to five flyers.

Right now, there is a special "back to school sale" as shown in the image below. The price is reduced from $59 to $39 for the first year.

See the image to the right for the benefits of an Educator account.

Smore is easy to use - Design, Share, and See the results. Start off your design by using one of the templates or start from a blank slate.

Design choices still abound if you start with a template! The background, colors and fonts can all be changed. Each design section (pumpkin, handwritten, etc) has additional background, color and font choices. Below are views from the pumpkin design choices.

Edit with a click! Click the box or pencil to edit text or click the "x" to delete unwanted sections. Not enough sections? No problem you can add more stuff to your flyer!

Here is a quick example flyer I made. This is also an example of how you can use the embed code to place the flyer on a website/blog or where there is an option to embed.

Whether you create one or twenty-one, I think you will be wanting to make "smore".

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As the name says...it is EPIC!

9/26/2016

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I just learned about Epic from Andover's Edtech Facebook post. Epic advertises that you will have "a library at your child's fingertips" and "instant access for over 15,000 books for kids 12 and under". See more at https://www.getepic.com/

Don't let the first glance at the site through you off however....

Because Epic is FREE for educators (see the small print under "get your free month") in the US and Canada. Take a look a the image below for all the benefits of the educator account. For a direct link: https://www.getepic.com/educators.

Simple step up:
1. Choose the age of the reader (you will choose one age at first, but can add more later).
2. Pick favorite subjects (this connects with the types of books that are shown).
3. You may be prompted to pick a few more.
4. Create the account (there is an option to sign in with Google Classroom)
5. Fill in school and personal information
6. Start reading or listening (their are books that are read to you).

Access online, via app from the App Store or Google play...it is even available on the Kindle. And access isn't limited to books...there are educational videos and articles!

The teacher dashboard offers the ability to add students and monitor their usage/reading. Adding students for Google Classroom users is just a few clicks away with the "import Google Classroom" option. Teachers can also create quizzes and assignments.

It is EPIC!

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Photo + links = ThingLink

9/19/2016

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What is ThingLink?
It is a platform for creating interactive images and videos. Your image(s) can "come alive" with video, text, additional images, music and more. A basic/free plan will allow you to have one class of up to 105 students and use of image editor (it doesn't not include the video or 360 photo editors). You can learn more in the video below:

You and your students can create enhanced images and participate in digital storytelling through ThingLink! Build lessons with interactive maps, study guides, YouTube videos, websites, etc. A picture really can be "worth a thousand words"...or more!
Sign up here to get started.

Using ThingLink

It really is fairly easy as described in the image above. 1st choose an image, 2nd add the "tags" or links and 3rd share.

Links and Tags
There are over 70 rich media tags that can be easily added to your image. For more information on these tags click here.

Sharing
Once your ThingLink is saved, the sharing option will be available (see image below). The image can be shared via social media, Edmodo and Schoology, and by link or embed code.

ThingLink Educational Tutorial
Learn how to use ThingLink here

Checkout the SAMR example and other example can be searched under the "explore" tab

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Put Some "POW" into Your Presentations

9/12/2016

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Are you tired of presenting information the same way? Do you need something to catch your students' attention?
Do your students' need a new tool to present their information?
Would you like a new free awesome tool?

Check out Powtoon!

Powtoon provides an easy way to create animated videos/presentations.

Make use of the ready made templates at first. If you need some tips before getting started, be sure to check out the tutorials section.

Once you have a Powtoon completed, it can easily be uploaded to Vimeo or YouTube. Or if you want to embed the Powtoon onto a blog or website, an embed code can be generated. I have embedded one below as an example.

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Diigo

9/7/2016

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Diigo is one of my favorite social bookmarking tools. It is free and features a special free educators upgrade!

Check it out at www.diigo.com
Sign up for the free account and then request approval for the teacher account.

With Diigo, you can save your favorite websites, tag them (to find easily), and share with a specific group/class.

Take it a step further and you can highlight on a webpage and add notes! Sharing that bookmarked site will also share your highlights and notes with others.

Adding Bookmarks
To make bookmarking simple, I would recommend adding one of the bookmarklets. You can view the bookmarklet options here. New users are recommended to use the "diigolet". Diigolet is added to your bookmarks bar by a simple drag and drop.

Once it is added, click on it and the image/options below will appear.

I love that the book beside bookmark in the picture will be red if you have saved the site previously.

One more click -- on bookmark --and you will be ready to enter information to save your bookmark.

Often the Url and Title are filled in for you. Double check the title to make sure it is clear. In the image to the right it says "My Library", changing it to say "My Diigo Library" would help clarify.

The description section should express why you saved the site or provide a good description of the site.

Lastly, add some tags. Tagging the site will help you locate it later. Diigo will give some recommended tags that you can click on to add, but you can also type in your own tags. In the above example, I would click "library" from the recommended and I would add "social bookmarking", "list", "websites".

Highlight

Add Notes

Teacher Console

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Google Quizzes

9/1/2016

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Thanks to Erica Shook for the email on Google Quizzes! She writes:
"In case you have not seen it yet, Google Forms has a new option called Google Quizzes that has some really cool features--features that no longer require the use of Flubaroo. And the best news? The forms you may have already created as quizzes can be switched to the new quiz format with the change of one simple setting. No retyping! And, whereas with Google Forms/Flubaroo, you could not collect student emails to send them their quiz results because this also allowed them to send themselves their answers to forward onto others, now you can collect those emails. There are additional settings that let you choose what options students have available and when you release quiz results. Plus, the data that Google Quizzes provides you with student responses is incredibly helpful and much easier to read than Flubaroo! "

Tutorial

To make use of Google Quizzes begin by creating a new Form. Then under the settings (gear icon), click on "quizzes". The image at the left shows the view once quizzes is selected.

Click on the slider beside "make this a quiz". The slider will turn purple to signify that quizzes is active. Additionally, you will be able to choose the quiz options and what respondents can see.

Then click save after making your selections.