Education Technology from REMC12 East

Five Friday Finds - March 2, 2012

2012-03-02T12:51:00.002-05:00

Here it is Friday again! This week's Five Friday Finds are about getting out and about in the world...

As always, share with others and have a great weekend.

General

Useful Charts

Just that - some useful charts for a variety of areas.

ELA

Google Lit Trips

A teacher created and shared site that is free for other teachers. Among other things, the site provides free downloadable files that "mark the journeys of characters from famous literature on the surface of Google Earth. At each location along the journey there are placemarks with pop-up windows containing a variety of resources including relevant media, thought provoking discussion starters, and links to supplementary information about “real world” references made in that particular portion of the story."

Math

Battleship Numberline

Brainpop interactive activity where students play "battleship" to learn about the numberline or work at estimating to hit the ship or submarine. (Ok, I admit that I spent too much time playing this one...it is engaging and as a former math teacher I could definitely see potential for this, especially as an activity kids could use for review or extra practice in learning these skills.)

Science

Smithsonian - Virtual Dinosaur Dig

The National Museum of Natural History has put together a virtual dinosaur dig to give users the essentials to the steps of discovering and recovering fossils.

Social Studies

15 Awesome Interactive Virtual Field Trips

Links to some great interactive field trip sites.

iPads in Education - App Suggestion Candy Count

2012-03-01T14:30:00.000-05:00

Candy count

(Currently Free)

Basics: Users play with candy - sorting it by color, counting the sorted item, then making comparisons (most, least, more, fewer) and ordering them.

Educational Use: This can be used with young students to learn color sorting, counting and basic comparisons using "candy" in this app. It's very easy to use, colorful and appealing to children.

Drawbacks in Education: The app does have connections to FaceBook and Twitter, which can be a drawback with young students...they can easily accidentally leave the app when touching those buttons.

iPads in Education - Cloning iPads to a New iTunes Library

2012-03-01T10:00:00.001-05:00

We have recently had the situation occur where the computer that our iPads were synced to had some issues, and we needed to sync the iPads to a different computer. The first iPad we tried to restore resulted in a muddled mess. It took us a couple days to figure out the most efficient way of getting our cloned iPads updated.

That process made us back up and reconsider how everything works. Here's what to remember, and the process that worked for us.

First - some key points to recall at a time like this:

A device can only be synced to one iTunes Library
App purchases (downloads) are tied to an Apple ID (formerly known as iTunes Account)
App downloads are in the iTunes Library the device is synced with

Next - what had to happen:

The devices needed to be tied to the new iTunes Library
The iTunes Library had to be logged into the Apple ID we used for the cloned iPads
All apps had to be downloaded onto the new computer in this new iTunes Library

Now - the process that ended up working for us:

Starting out - has to only be done once

Open iTunes, log into the appropriate Apple ID
Connect one of the iPads to the iTunes
Right click on the iPad name where it showed up in the Devices list, select "Transfer Purchases from '[iPad name]'" (where iPad name is the name of your iPad)
Wait while it downloaded all the apps onto the computer

Preparing the Backup - has to be done on the iPad you are using as a template

Connect the iPad
Highlight the iPad in the Devices list
Click on "Apps" in the menu bar for the iPad
Check the Sync Apps checkbox (you may have to wait a bit for the apps to un-grey)

If you want some additional apps that were not on the iPad before, but are in the list, check them now.

Click Apply
Wait while the apps all re-load on the iPad (yes, your folders are gone... )-: )
Re-organize the iPad screens as you want (I know, tedious - but you only have to do it on this first one)

Steps 5-7 are for organizing the apps on the iPad itself. If you prefer to organize them inside iTunes use this order - #7, #5, #6

Right-click on the iPad name in the device list for a drop-down list of choices
Select "Backup" (IMPORTANT - Note the time of your backup so you know which backup to use if you have multiple!!)

The mass of iPads - have to do on each of the remaining iPads

Connect the iPad
Click on the iPad name where it shows up in the Devices to highlight it
Click on "Apps" in the menu bar for the iPad
Check the Sync Apps checkbox (you may have to wait a bit for the apps to un-grey)

If you want some additional apps that were not on the iPad before, but are in the list, check them now.

Click Apply
Wait while the apps all re-load on the iPad (yes, your folders are gone...but you don't need to reorganize on these!)
Right-click on the iPad name in the devices list for a drop-down list of choices
Select "Restore from Backup" - make sure to select the correct backup by date & time!

Five Friday Finds - February 24, 2012

2012-02-24T11:13:00.000-05:00

Here are this week's Five Friday Finds! Remember the beauty in sharing and collaborating....

Have a great weekend :-)

General

Megans' (luv2teach) Pinterest

Ok, I'm not a Pinterest user, but this teacher has organized examples of lots of ideas for the classroom onto 91 boards - worth checking out if you are looking for ideas.

ELA

TES

A great site for finding English teaching resources; put together by a network of teachers.

Math

2D Geometry Shapes Game

Elementary game for children to test their geometry vocabulary. Uses both text & audio to ask them to select a certain shape.

Science

NASA - Station Spacewalk Game

Interaction simulations of actual space walks conducting repair work in space.

Social Studies

Toporopa

"Train your brain" with European geography. A variety of tools here.

Five Friday Finds - February 17, 2012

2012-02-17T14:36:00.000-05:00

Here are this week's Five Friday Finds! Remember, we are all smarter when we collaborate.

Everyone have a great weekend...

Art/Math/Social Studies

Sistine Chapel

Students can study the Sistine Chapel from the comforts of home in this 3-dimensional rendering. The room can be rotated in all directions, and zoomed in and out for varying perspectives.

ELA

Vocabulary Pinball
Players can learn new vocabulary while playing pinball by getting the ball to hit the letters that make up the current word.

Math

Numberlines

Create electronic number lines to use with your class - has colored squares you can use to cover some of the numbers in the sequence to check for knowledge.

Science

Build a Body

Learn about body systems and their placement within the human body using this interactive site, which includes information about major body organs.

Social Studies

Toporopa

Learn or review European geography & facts online

iPads in Education - App Suggestion ScreenChomp

2012-02-15T09:00:00.000-05:00

ScreenChomp

(Currently Free)

Basics: Record your explanation along with your "markings" on the device at the same time. Called a "doodling board," you use some simple drawing tools to explain or bring to life a problem or picture. You can start with either a blank screen or a picture from your Photo Library. The recordings are uploaded to "the cloud," and give you access to a url link you can use to either email out or post to a site for easy access; you can also download the video as a mp4 file for editing or local storage.

Educational Use: Teachers and students can easily create short tutorials, sample problems, diagrams with explanations, etc that can be shared with each other. As a teacher, this can be used to help reinforce concepts taught OR (if a student created the material) to check for learning. As a student, I could have a site to go to if I need to revisit the material and I can view it at my own pace as many time as needed. As a parent, I can see the content so I can better support my student at home.

Drawback in Education: --

Five Friday Finds - February 10, 2012

2012-02-10T09:00:00.000-05:00

Here are this week's Five Friday Finds. As always, share with others and enjoy!

General

FlipSnack

Upload your pdfs to create a flipping book for free! You can then share on your website with embed code.

ELA

Reading Bear

Site created by WatchKnowLearn to help teach/learn readings by teaching phonics. There are 50 lessons planned (not all are created yet), and the site is targeted to kids ages 4-7. It is free, but does require a login.

Math

Yummy Math

"We provide teachers and students with mathematics relevant to our world today …" A blog created by an instructional math coach and retired math teacher to bring the real world into math

Science

Sea and Sky

"Sea and Sky is a personal Web site dedicated to sharing the Splendors of the Sea and the Wonders of the Universe."

Social Studies

My Learning

"Learning with Libraries, Museums and Archives." UK site created as a resource for teachers.

iPads in Education - App Suggestion iTunes U

2012-02-08T09:00:00.000-05:00

iTunes U

(Currently Free)

Basics: iTunes U has LOTS of curriculum material created by educatorscategorized by subject area, submitting institution, and grade level. All the material is vetted through the submitting organizations, mostly Colleges, Universities and K-12 Education groups. There is a Beyond Campus area that also has materials from museums, libraries (think Library of Congress!), and other educationally minded organizations. Best of all - all material is available for FREE.

Educational Use: iTunes U is all about education as a majority of the information has been created by educational institutions. Find the material needed to introduce, reinforce or supplement topics you are teaching about. If you are in a situation where your students have the devices, as a teacher you can now push out the material you choose within iTunes U to the student devices using a common Apple Account (as long as students leave it logged into that account... Please note: don't share the account password with students as it is an account that works in the App Store, iTunes and iBooks!!)

Drawbacks in Education: The biggest drawback used to be that it was ensconced inside the iTunes Music Store. But, now that it is available as a separate app on mobile devices it takes away the fears that tech departments had in having iTunes open to access iTunes U when in a controlled environment

iPads in Education - App Suggestion iBooks

2012-02-03T12:39:00.000-05:00

iBooks

(Currently Free)
Basics: Yes, you can buy eBooks from the Store within iBooks, but you can also add your own materials (pdf and epub formats), and add materials garnered from other places on the web. The highlighting, note taking, built in dictionary, and bookmarking make it an interactive experience without defacing an actual book.

Educational Use: I have heard of many students with certain reading problems that can read better using iBooks as they can increase and change the font, and even change it from black text on white to Sepia or white on black. The ability for teachers to share their materials with students on the mobile device is nice; however, when teachers make their materials ePub format it is huge as it adds the functionality of the interactive pieces. The interactive features make it a great way to teach students how to take good notes that have meaning for them, and that are tied to the actual material the notes are about. I also know of an ELA teacher that gives assignments using iBooks - having student read novels as eBooks and do such things as highlight the main characters/themes/plots etc; the teacher then does a walk-about to see what the students have done by looking at the table of contents. The new addition of textbooks adds yet another dimension to this.

Drawback in Education: Biggest drawback is these uses work well only in a one-to-one environment. If students are sharing devices, they have access to each others bookmarks, notes, etc.

Five Friday Finds - February 3, 2012

2012-02-03T11:25:00.000-05:00

So, this week's Five Friday Finds definitely have an Elementary flavor to them, though most have applications for K-12. As so many of the content specific sites (but not all!) are tailored to middle/high school, I thought it might be nice to pop this week's items in there.

As always, feel free to share with others as we are all smarter through collaboration! Have a great weekend.

Free Online Sign up Sheet

SignApp Now

Create free and easy sign-up sheets online, no account needed. Share the url with those you want to fill out the sheet. You can easily download the file created.

Celebrating the 100th Day of School

100th Day of School

Activities, lesson plans, websites and other ideas for the 100th day of school.

Children's Music

Nancy Stewart's Children's Music site

Nancy has lots of resources on her site, this link takes you to her Song of the Month. Each month she provides a new song for download FREE - includes "audio file, sheet music with guitar chords, and any activity or prop patterns which accompany the song." There is an archive of the songs of the month going back to 2001.

STEM Engineering Resources

Engineering is Elementary

"[P]roject fosters engineering and technological literacy among children. EiE has created a research-based, standards-driven, and classroom-tested curriculum that integrates engineering and technology concepts and skills with elementary science topics. EiE lessons not only promote K-12 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning, but also connect with literacy and social studies."

Online Photo Editor

iPiccy

Those Picnik users looking for a similar online photo editor site should check out iPiccy. iPiccy is currently a free site, and requires no registration to use it. It has all the features of other photo editing sites, and is very easy to use. It has a definite Picnik flavor to the site so should be an easy move for those looking for a similar solution!

Five Friday Finds - January 27

2012-01-27T15:00:00.000-05:00

So this week's Friday's Finds are all about easy survey & polling sites. And, oh yes, they are all free when used on a small scale.

Have a great weekend!

Socrative

Smart student response system via smartphones, laptops & tablets

polltogo

Mobile instant feedback site (online polling)

Poll Everywhere

Instant audience feedback via text message.

Doodle

Schedule an event or have people select from a list.

Kwik Surveys

Another survey tool; it’s free & unlimited.

Five Friday Finds - January 20

2012-01-20T09:00:00.000-05:00

Here are this week's Five Friday Finds. Have a great weekend, and as always, feel free to share with others!

General

Slideshare by Renee Hobbs based on her book of the same name. Some very good information to update your knowledge of copyright and permission to use. (Like - did you know created items are automatically copyrighted by law? They no longer have to go through an application process....)

ELA

Free Resume Building Tools (blog)

A list of some tools that can be used to create resumes and other content for selling your professional self. All do require accounts.

Mathematics

Bitesize K12 Math

Video on converting fractions to decimals

Science

iBioSeminars

A series of online lectures on various Biology topics. There are teaching tools available with many to help teachers integrate the lectures into their curriculum.

Social Studies

History of the World

A great interactive timeline on the History of the World. Very cool!

Creating Cloned iPads via iTunes (iOS 4 iOS5)

2012-01-18T10:53:00.000-05:00

If you are in the situationwhere you have multiple iOS devices that you want to be clones (identical in setupand content), there are several ways you can go about setting this up. Here are the directions for cloning them using iTunes tethering. The advantage of this is that there are no device limits and it works whether you are using iOS4 OR iOS 5. The disadvantage is that you physically have to cable the devices to a computer.

iTunes Settings

You will want to change the following setting in iTunes onthe computer that is going to be used to sync multiple iPads with the sameimage:

• Turnoff automatic syncing by checking the box next to “Prevent iPods, iPhones, andiPads from syncing automatically”

• PC:Edit Menu - Preferences; select Devices icon

• Mac:iTunes Menu - Preferences; select Devices icon

• If you set Restrictions in the iPad settings,please note that you MUST NOTrestrict the adding and deleting of apps. If you do, the syncing from a backup will not work properly.

Creating the Backup

It is easiest to set up a single iPad and use its backup tosetup the remaining iPads. Note: all these iPads will have the same name using this method. Eachtime you wish to change the content on the iPads, you will need to create a newbackup to use for restoring all the iPads. Suggestion: usethe same iPad for this each time.

Connectthe iPad you are using as a template for your backup
Setup theiPad information in iTunes as you wish all of them to be set

Add/delete apps, music, photos, podcasts, eBooks

Set the app screens as you want them to appear

Change the background of the screen
Make any setting changes that need to be made

Sync theiPad by clicking Apply:
Right-clickon the iPad name and select Back Up
Once thebackup is created the iPad can be disconnected

SettingUp Additional Devices to the “Template”

If you have an iPad that has not been used before and isgoing to use the same setup as your template iPad, go through these steps (thisallows you to skip some of the steps used in starting up with a new iPad out ofthe box; if you are setting up a stand-along iPad, watch for the ‘iPad Out of the Box’ post):

LaunchiTunes
Attach theiPad(s) via USB connection
Progressthrough the setup screens (Click ‘Continue’, ‘I agree…’ and ‘Continue’)
Log inusing your iTunes account information for the device (this is probably thegeneric iTunes account used with the devices).
Chooserestore to backup (pick the desired backup from the dropdown)

RestoringDevices to Backup

In actuality, you are going to restore the iPads to abackup, not sync them. This willerase any settings/app changes made by the user(s) that last had the iPad andrestore it to the setup you created.

Onthe devices, go to Settings - General - Reset (towards the bottom) andselect Erase All Content and Settings.Youwill get 2 warning screens ensuring that you want to erase the device.
LaunchiTunes
Attachthe iPad(s) via USB connection
Right-clickon the iPad name & select Restore from Backup
Selectthe Backup to be used for the restore; click Restore
Onceit has finished syncing, it can be disconnected

Five Friday Finds - January 13

2012-01-13T13:36:00.000-05:00

Here are this week's Five Friday Finds. Happy winter and enjoy the snow :-)

General

Understanding Copyright Law for Movies

An easy to understand explanation of copyright as it applies to using movies in the classroom. A good refresher...

ELA

Free English Tests & Exercises

Free online tests and exercises for ESL, TOEFL, TOEIC, GRE, SAT and GMAT. These require flash, but can also be downloaded for local use (Windows only)

Mathematics

Google Earth Blog - Measuring distance with the Google Earth Ruler
Great blog on ways to use Google Earth. This entry is about a little known feature that can be used to measure distances.

Science

Games@NOAA
Natural Science games located at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration site, part of the US Department of Commerce. Mousing over the pictures pops up the purpose of each one.

Social Studies

Seterra
Free downloadable geography quiz game for Windows.

Five Friday Finds - January 6

2012-01-06T13:10:00.000-05:00

Here is this week's Five Friday Finds! Happy New Year :-)

General

WatchKnowLearn

Free Educational videos organized by content, filterable by age.

ELA

Scriveners' Trappings

"Aides and resources for writers & teachers or writing." Author provides link to sites that may be valuable for writers; variety of resources including blogs, reviews, resource sites, etc.

Mathematics

MIT Blossoms

"Math and science video lessons for high school classes."

Science

Zooniverse

Online community science projects that anyone can participate in. Created by the Citizen Science Alliance.

Social Studies

Newspaper Map

“Find & translate 10,000 newspapers worldwide”

Five Friday Finds - December 16

2011-12-16T09:00:00.000-05:00

Here is this week's Five Friday Finds...enjoy!

General

Pixtick

"Capture screenshot, annotate, edit. Save, mail, upload or share. All online."

ELA

Persuasion Map

Site to map out argument for persuasive essay or debate. Map may also be printed out (either filled out or a blank map).

Mathematics

Piecolor

Create a pie chard online.

Science

Build an Atom

Online interactive to build an atom.

Social Studies

Ingenious

“This site brings together images and viewpoints to create insights into Science & Culture.”

Five Friday Finds - December 9, 2011

2011-12-09T09:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday! Here are five new finds for you. As always, feel free to share with others...

General

Behold

Easy search engine to find images that are free to use.

ELA

High Frequency Word Bingo

Directions and materials to play high frequency word bingo.

Mathematics

Mathsduck

Online games and activities to practice math.

Science

Global Clouds

View clouds & city lights on the globe. The cloud map updates every three hours.

Social Studies

World History Sources

"[A] website to help world history teachers and students locate, analyze, and learn from online primary sources and to further their understanding of the complex nature of world history, especially the issues of cultural contact and globalization."

Five Friday Finds - December 2, 2011

2011-12-02T09:17:00.001-05:00

Here are 5 new resources to share with you. As always, feel free to share with others...

Happy Friday!

General

A Google a Day

Learn to search better and smarter with the Google daily challenge.

ELA

Newswordy

Growing collection of "news words" along "a definition, a quote with its use (or misuse) in the media, and a news and Twitter feed on the subject." Updated every weekday.

Mathematics

Dice Simulator

"Here is a useful dice simulator for traditional six-sided dice which can be used for playing your own games. Choose the number of dice you want to simulate (1 to 6) and click 'Roll'."

Science

Weatherspark

"Beautiful Weather Graphs and Maps" and more. There are some really cool things you can do with weatherspark. Just be warned, there is a twitter feed on the main page so use caution before displaying that up on your data projector to your class.

Social Studies

Colonial Life in Early Ameria

"Learn What Daily Life was Like in Colonial Times, Colonial Life Trivia, How the Colonists Lived, What Foods the Colonists Ate, Facts about Colonial Occupations and Colonial Education on KidInfo.com's Colonial Life Resource Page."

Five Friday Finds - Thanksgiving Week Edition

2011-12-01T13:42:00.002-05:00

With most schools taking off this Friday in honor of Thanksgiving, here's a Wednesday edition of Five Friday Finds. (...just a few days late....)

General

Teachit Timer

Simple to use online timer.

ELA

Test Your Vocabulary

A self-assessment of the approximate size (in number of words) of your vocabulary. They have some interesting graphs on the growth of vocabulary over age on a companion page.

Mathematics

Fraction Painter

Illustrated fractions using an online interactive; this one is a 6 x 6 grid.

Science

Everyday Mysteries

"Everyday Mysteries will help you get the answers to...life's most interesting questions through scientific inquiry. In addition, we will introduce you to the Library of Congress' rich collections in science and technology."

Social Studies

The Best Online & Interactive Museum Exhibits

Indiana Jen's blog post on the best exhibits available online. A very nice list!

Five Friday Finds - November 18

2011-11-18T14:10:00.001-05:00

Happy Friday before Thanksgiving to everyone! Here are this weeks Five Friday Finds, some websites that teachers might find useful in their classroom or curriculum. As always, feel free to share with others.

General

BBC - School Radio

Audio resources for primary schools.

ELA

Science Papers

"Quick tutorial on reading scientific papers."

Mathematics

A Maths Dictionary for Kids 2011 by Jenny Eather

"A Maths Dictionary for Kids is an animated, interactive online math dictionary for students which explains over 600 common mathematical terms and math words in simple language."

Science

Science-class.net

Resources for elementary and middle school science educators (though I thought many could be used with high schoolers, as well), including activities, labs, slideshows, graphic organizers and a variety of other categories organized by content area (astronomy, biology, chemistry, ecology, forensics, geology, health, meteorology, oceanography, physics).

Social Studies

BBC -History Trails

"Articles, games, activities and quizzes that help make sense of the past and the sources that made history. Pick a trail and start your journey"

I Have an iPad...Now What?

2011-11-18T09:10:00.001-05:00

Since I've done this presentation a couple times now, and eschew paper printouts I figure it is time to share it out with others here.

I Have an iPad...Now What? (Presentation from Berrien RESA August 2011, Michigan State University Ed Tech Conference November 2011, local school districts December 2011)

What's in here?

Tips and Tricks
Ways/sites of Finding Apps
Suggested Apps (ok, most of these are really my favorite apps...but it's a place to start!)

For those of you looking for this since Saturday, here it finally is!!

(The show and tell is so much better than the static presentation, but maybe someone will find it useful...)

Five Friday Finds - November 11, 2011

2011-11-11T11:11:00.000-05:00

Here are this week's Five Friday Finds; as always, feel free to share with others.

Happy 11/11/11!

General

Sketchpad

Draw online using this easy to use sketchpad.

ELA

LetterPOP

Easy to create online newsletter site; because it is online, you can add digital content, including videos. Can be distributed in a variety of ways.

Mathematics

The Ambleweb - Totally Mental Machine

Online 10 question game to test your mental arithmetic skills.

Science

Space Shuttle: The complete missions

Eight minute YouTube video by NatureVideo about NASA'a space shuttle program. Shows clips from all 135 missions, including the two lost, in chronological order. See Nature News Special: Space Shuttle for more.

Social Studies

Archiving Early America

Access an array of primary source documents from 18th Century America.

iPads in the Classroom - Creating Clones (iOS 5)

2011-11-07T16:37:00.002-05:00

There are cases where an organization (such as a school) may want to mass deploy out iPads that are identical - or clones - as they will not be used as an individual device. Here was our method for accomplishing this using iOS 5. What is beautiful about doing this with iOS 5 is that the "tether-free" ability lets a person managing the iPads do this in whatever location they are in - they no longer have to collect the iPad in a central location OR carrying around a laptops with the backup on it. Beautiful and a whole lot simpler!
(Please Note:

Apple has now informed me that there is a hard 10 device limit on syncing with the cloud. You will have to create multiple identical accounts if you want to use this method for more than 10, noting which devices sync with which account.
This does not work for devices running iOS 4. I will do a post for cloning in iOS 4.)

Create the Master Copy

Turn on a device and set it up exactly as you wish all devices to be (add apps, music, photos, ebooks, settings, profiles, podcasts, etc; set it up how you want it to look with folders and multiple screens)
On the device, go to Settings -> iCloud -> Storage & Backup
Select Back Up Now

Note the Time & Date somewhere so you know which one to use.

Cloning the Other Devices

Turn on the iPad
If you have used the iPad previously, on the device go to Settings -> General -> Reset (towards the bottom) and select Erase All Content and Settings

It will take a few minutes while it is resetting the device
Turn on the iPad when it is finished resetting
Go through the first several steps of setting it up (select the Language, select the Country or Region, either Enable or Disable Location Services, select a WiFi network)
On the Set Up iPad screen, select Restore from iCloud Backup

Enter in the Apple Account ID of the account used to make the backup
Agree to the Terms & Conditions and decide if you want to send diagnostic information to Apple.
Pick the appropriate backup from the iCloud list and select "Restore"

Depending on the number of apps on your backup, it can take several minutes to restore. It will first restore the settings, then it will turn on and begin loading the apps on the device. You must maintain a WiFi connection while it is loading the apps onto the device.

Five Friday Finds

2011-11-04T15:39:00.002-04:00

Here are this week's Five Finds; as always, feel free to share with others.

Have a great weekend!

General

Online Converter

Select your target format; upload or enter the URL of the file; set some optional settings; and convert file. Converts: audio, video, images, documents, eBooks, and creates archives.

ELA

The Grammar Gorillas

Online game where the user helps the gorillas identify parts of speech.

Mathematics

Decimal Darts

Online game where user has decimal values at the top and bottom of the dart board. Must select values to pop the balloons located in between with darts. Requires Shockwave.

Science

Quickstarts

Demonstrations that students or teachers can perform in a science classroom; easy to put together and require 3-5 minutes to perform. Organized by grade level and curriculum strands (Canadian, but many are similar to US).

Social Studies

The Secret Annex Online

"Discover Anne Frank's hiding place" online, including a 3D representation of the house.

iPads in the Classroom - How to Change an Apple Account ID in iTunes

2011-11-03T09:00:00.000-04:00

Sometimes it is necessary to change your Apple Account ID to a different email address. For instance, we have had situations in schools where staff members have used their work emails (which become your Apple Account ID) to create their account for personal use. Two situations that have happened around here that have required them to change to a different email address:

They leave for another job, and the email account tied to the Apple Account is deactivated.
The school deploys iPads and the teacher is told to use their school email to create an Apple ID for redemption of any apps purchased by the school.

This is very simple to do in iTunes. Hereʼs how:

Open up iTunes, go to the iTunes Store, and make sure you are logged into the account you wish to change.
Hover your cursor over your account name, and a downward pointed arrow will appear:

Click on that arrow to see a drop-down list; choose Account from the list:

You can see your account details. At the top is your Apple ID, look to the right to find the edit button:

When you click Edit it will take you to a screen where you can change your ID and password; when you type in your new email a message will appear warning you that a confirmation email will be sent to this new email address:

Once you save the changes, you will need to click Done

To finalize the change, you will need to click on a link in the verification email that is sent to the new address you entered.

Discovery Streaming - Creating a Generic Student Account

2011-11-02T10:24:00.002-04:00

In our area, many of the local school districts have a subscription to Discovery Education. Often teachers wish to have their students access some of the content they have marked for their lessons/curriculum, but not in a whole group/class setting. Yet they do not have a need for their entire class to be "enrolled" into the system. One solution for doing this is using a generic student account. Here are the directions I put together for setting this up.

There are times that you may want to make materials on Discovery Education available to students without actually downloading it. One possibility is to create a generic student account for your class (or classes). While you could create an entire class, for most purposes a single generic student account will work. Hereʼs how:

Go to Discovery Education and login with your account
Click on Classroom Manager (located towards the upper left side):

Select My Classes

If it is your first time here, select Create a Class:

Create a Class Name, and if desired put in a Class Description:

Click on Add New Students:

Fill in the information for a generic account (you must provide a first & last name, unique username, password and grade):

Click on the Add New Students button at the bottom of the table:

To the right under Review and Save Class, click the Save button:

You will get a message that pops up, select Return to Previous Page:

There are multiple ways to share content. For any of them, students log in with the generic username and password to access the content and/or resources.

A couple of the ways are briefly described below:

Share the URL of a specific resource with students via your webpage, CMS (such as Moodle), email or other electronic means.

Add the content to the assigned Classroom/Students (Fig. 1: check it, select Classroom/Students, click Add; Fig. 2: Set dates, pick the class, select which or All students, click Save; Fig. 3: get a confirmation)

Use some of the other features of Discovery Education, such as the Assignment Builder, Quiz Builder or Writing Prompt Builder to build your assignment on Discovery with the resources embedded right in; assign those to your class/students.

iPads in the Classroom - Volume Purchase Program Explained (October 2011 Update)

2011-11-01T17:42:00.004-04:00

Why you will want to establish an ‘App Store Volume PurchaseProgram’ (VPP).

The VPP allows educational institutions topurchase apps in volume and distribute the apps in the form of redemption codesto their users or those that maintain the iPads.
For many apps, ifyou are purchasing 20 or more of an app, you get volume discount - usually 50%off; if an app does not show the discount, you can contact the developer andrequest it (many will turn on that feature if they know about it)
If you work for a non-profit (such as aneducational institution!) you are not charged sales tax on any of yourpurchases through the VPP

There are four different types of accounts involved in theVPP.

o AuthorizedPurchaser (not part of VPP, but necessary if using vouchers for purchasing)

•Authorized Apple purchaser for the district –from Apple: “This should be the personwho is your normal procurement person for any Apple products and authorized tobuy product on behalf of your institution.”
•Purchases vouchersfor the Program Facilitators to redeem for credit

o ProgramManager

•Enrolls in the VPP
•Creates the Program Facilitator accounts

•This account MUST be created using an existing AppleIDaccount (create the AppleID before setting up the program)

o ProgramFacilitator

•Redeems Vouchers for credit to purchase app, if used

•Searches for and purchasesapps, selecting the quantity needed

•Accesses redeem code spreadsheet to distributecodes to iTunes Users

•For many institution, retains documentation ofdistribution of codes (who got what)

•NOTE: ProgramFacilitator accounts CANNOT be used in iTunes Store; it must be a separate account/AppleID.

o iTunes/iPadUser (or iPad manager)

•Redeems apps using codes given by programfacilitator (either in iTunes or on the device)

•Submits requested apps to Program Facilitator

Program Manager Enrollment & Account Setup

· Program Manager enrollment is done at

o http://edu-vpp.apple.com/asvpp.html

o TheProgram Manager MUST be an individual authorized by the institution to manage program facilitators (where I work, it means able to approve purchases)

o TheApple account used for the Program Manager MUST be an existing Apple account

· Program Manager sets up Facilitator accountsat

o https://edu-vpp.apple.com/asvpp_manager/index.php

o Facilitatoraccounts must be UNIQUE from existing Apple accounts
o Manager can rename facilitator accounts, if needed.

Purchase Volume Vouchers

· The Apple Authorized Purchaser for the districtpurchases Volume Vouchers at

o http://store.apple.com/us-hed/browse/home/education_routing/k12_institution

· When the vouchers arrive in mail (yes, they comevia snail mail), the vouchers need to be distributed to appropriate ProgramFacilitators.

· The ENTIRE voucher amount is distributed to asingle facilitator (a single voucher cannot be divided between facilitators, nor canbalances be transfered between facilitator accounts)

Redeeming Volume Voucher Codes (Program Facilitator)

If you are a program facilitator for your organization’s AppStore Volume Purchase Program, you can redeem a voucher using the followingsteps:

Go to: http://volume.itunes.apple.com/us/store
Log in with your program facilitator account;your organization’s program manager would have given this account to you. (Note:this account is different from your account used in iTunes Store)
The first time you log in, you will need toconfigure the facilitator account:

Redeeming Purchase Voucher: (what to do whenyour Program Manager gives you a voucher to redeem to get monetary credit onyour account)

a. Click on the Redeem Voucher link

b. Enter the Voucher Code off the card

c. Click on Redeem

Other Ways to Purchase Apps

VPP ProgramFacilitators may now set up to purchase using a credit card or PCard, or even aPayPal in their account information. This would eliminate the need for vouchers.

This can beespecially useful if you have groups that want to donate towards apppurchase. Instead of having themdonate iTunes cards (which, if used, require you to pay tax), you can have aPayPal account setup that they donate to, which you can utilize on the VPPsite.

Purchasing Apps through the Volume Voucher Program

Program facilitators are responsible for purchasing the appsin the volume store, distributing the redeem codes to the appropriate users,and maintaining the records of code use/location. Please note: Thenumber of apps purchased cannot beless than the number of devices using the app.

a. Go to: http://volume.itunes.apple.com/us/store

b. Log in with your Program Facilitator account;your organization’s Program Manager would have given this information to you. (Note: this account MUST be different from theaccount used in iTunes Store)

c. Use the search box to type in the name of theapp desired and/or select the category

d. Click on search

e. Click on the app name from the list that isgenerated

f. Above the description screen (which is similarto looking at the app in iTunes), there is Volume Purchase Information:

g. Enter in the quantity you wish to purchase; theprice & subtotal will adjust

h. Click on Continue

i. The screen updates to tell you “A document containing# codes will be provided…” If thequantity is correct, click on Buy

j. It will process your purchase, and add the itemto your recent purchases list, and send you an email when the redemption codespreadsheet is available.

Accessing Spreadsheets with Codes& Recent Past Purchase Info:

a. Go to: http://volume.itunes.apple.com/us/store

b. Log in with your Program Facilitator account;your organization’s Program Manager would have given this account to you. (Note: this account MUST be different fromyour account used in the iTunes Store)

c. Click on your account name

d. A Recent Purchases area appears underneath thesearch area

i. Thisdisplays order date, number, description, total, number of codes and access todownload the spreadsheet containing the codes

ii. Clickingon the Description displays the information about that app (Note: this is useful if you bought 1 copy ofthe app to try it, and then want to go back and purchase volume.)

iii. Clickon the Download Spreadsheet to access the redeem codes to distribute toappropriate users

Notes on distributingcodes:

It falls on the Program Facilitator to documentwhat codes have been used with which account.
If several devices are synced to the same Appleaccount, a single code can be used; however, you must maintain documentation that you have one app per device (e.g. if 20 App Specific Codes were purchased, you can use onecode to install on all 20 devices, but the spreadsheet should indicate a uniquecode used for each of the 20 devices that had the app installed).
Anyone with a valid Apple account can redeem an App Specific Code given by a Program Facilitator in the Apple Store (either iniTunes or on a device)

Disclaimer:

This document contains information about iPads, iTunes and theApple Store and was developed to help the local school districts associatedwith Calhoun Intermediate School District make decisions about implementingiPads into their districts effectively. The information provided was developed to address their specific needsand situations.

Please note that every organization has its own unique needs andprocedures so the information provided may not be the best solution for yourown organization. With that in mind, you may feel free to use and modify all orpart of the information in this document under the conditions of the CreativeCommons license below.

Additionally, some of the information, such as screenshots orstep-by-step directions, may become outdated as our organization moves forwardwith new methods for setting up iPads and no longer use or test the oldermethods.

Five Friday Finds

2011-10-28T13:14:00.002-04:00

It is already our last Friday in October; where has the fall gone?

Here are this weeks Five Friday Finds. There is a definite focus on PBL (Project Based Learning) for these posts. As always, feel free to share these with others.

General

A Gaggle of Uses for Google Apps for Education

Eric Curts' Presentation on "dozens of ways our district uses Google Apps." Some great ideas here!

The following sites all come from the same blog site, but provide some GREAT resources and link to ideas/resource/lesson that are project based learning focused. The resources provided have the primary focus of the subject area under which they are listed, but many incorporate more than one area.

ELA

Project Base Learning Language Arts Projects

Mathematics

PBL Examples of Math Project Ideas

Science

PBL Examples of Science Lesson Ideas

Social Studies

PBL Social Studies Project Ideas

Five Friday Finds

2011-10-21T10:53:00.001-04:00

Here are today's Five Friday Finds! As always, feel free to share with others...

General

80+ Google Forms for the Classroom

With many schools implementing Google Apps for Education, many teachers have found ways to integrate it into their classroom. Here is a blog post and slide show sharing ways you might integrate it into your own class.

ELA

The Great Gatsby Blog

A great wiki with resources, ideas, and activities about "The Great Gatsby"

Mathematics

BaseTen

Free digital version of base ten blocks, set up in a practice game. Students drag blocks onto the paper to hit a target number. They progress to the next number from the existing number. Here's a blog post with some ideas for applications in the classroom.

Science

Cellular Respiration

"Explore how your body converts the chemical energy of glucose into the chemical energy of ATP." This does require a download.

Social Studies

Latitude & Longitude of a Point

Uses Google maps to let the user (student) select a point than get the latitude and longitude of the point. The point can be selected by clicking on the map (zooming for accuracy), dragging a marker or by entering the address. In addition to map reading skills, it could also be used in math for look at trends/patterns and predicting for other areas.

Moodle 2: Having Students Self-Enroll in a Course

2011-10-19T14:51:00.003-04:00

Having students self-enroll into a course can save a lot of time. A teacher still has control of whom is in the course, yet does not need to go in and manually add the students by hand. One trick some teachers use to prevent additional students from adding the course once a majority of students are enrolled is to change the enrollment key.

Here are the directions for setting up and using this features in Moodle 2.+.

Find out if your Moodle Administrator has enabled Self enrollment; this must be enabled first at the site level.  
(if they haven’t, you can share with them that it is done at: Settings -- Site administration -- Plugins -- Enrolments --; Manage enroll plugins) 
When in your course, go to Settings -- Course administration -- Users and click on Enrollment methods. 
Click on the icon to edit the Self enrollment settings (NOTE: the icon will vary depending on your theme):
Change appropriate settings (definitely make sure “Allow self enrollments” is “Yes” and enter in an enrollment key; most of it is optional. If you DO NOT set an enrollment key anyone can enroll into your course simply by clicking on it):   
Click Save changes at the bottom of the page.

When they are logged in, students can now self-enroll into the course by going to the course URL and entering the enrollment key you set up when prompted.

Quick Comparison: While the end user experience (having students put in an enrollment key to enroll in a course) is the same, the setup is vastly different from 1.9 to 2.+.

In 1.9 there was no differentiation between they key used for guests and the key used to self-enroll. These are completely separate now.
In 1.9 the key was set in the Course Settings, under Availability. Now all enrollment options are under the User are of the Course Administration area.
Enrollments can now be set in a hierarchical manner, setting the preferred enrollment to the top.

Five Friday Finds

2011-10-14T13:25:00.002-04:00

Finding good web resources can be the hardest part of the job for an educator. With all the demands on a teacher's time, who has time to spend searching? If this is you, here are some resources you may found useful.

As always, please feel free to share with others. Then make sure to go out there and explore at least one great tool!

General-

Teacher's Guide to Using YouTube

A practical guide with ideas for different applications in the classroom. Many different ideas, and a link to a site with YouTube alternatives for those that still have YouTube blocked.

ELA-

31 Online Resources for Better Writing

List of sites that can help anyone become a better writer (and more organized!).

Mathematics-

FooPlot

“Online graphing calculator & function plotter”

Science-

Jefferson Lab Science Education

A great science site maintained by Jefferson Lab, there are resources for teachers and students, games, videos and other information.

Social Studies-

The Civil War: 150 Years

Site by the National Park Service compares an event in history to a similar event in our time.

Education Technology from REMC12 East

Five Friday Finds - March 2, 2012

iPads in Education - App Suggestion Candy Count

iPads in Education - Cloning iPads to a New iTunes Library

Five Friday Finds - February 24, 2012

Five Friday Finds - February 17, 2012

iPads in Education - App Suggestion ScreenChomp

Five Friday Finds - February 10, 2012

iPads in Education - App Suggestion iTunes U

iPads in Education - App Suggestion iBooks

Five Friday Finds - February 3, 2012

Five Friday Finds - January 27

Five Friday Finds - January 20

Creating Cloned iPads via iTunes (iOS 4 iOS5)

Five Friday Finds - January 13

Five Friday Finds - January 6

Five Friday Finds - December 16

Five Friday Finds - December 9, 2011

Five Friday Finds - December 2, 2011

Five Friday Finds - Thanksgiving Week Edition

Five Friday Finds - November 18

I Have an iPad...Now What?

Five Friday Finds - November 11, 2011

iPads in the Classroom - Creating Clones (iOS 5)

Five Friday Finds

iPads in the Classroom - How to Change an Apple Account ID in iTunes

Discovery Streaming - Creating a Generic Student Account

iPads in the Classroom - Volume Purchase Program Explained (October 2011 Update)

Why you will want to establish an ‘App Store Volume PurchaseProgram’ (VPP).

Program Manager Enrollment &amp; Account Setup

Purchase Volume Vouchers

Redeeming Volume Voucher Codes (Program Facilitator)

VPP ProgramFacilitators may now set up to purchase using a credit card or PCard, or even aPayPal in their account information. This would eliminate the need for vouchers.

Purchasing Apps through the Volume Voucher Program

Accessing Spreadsheets with Codes&amp; Recent Past Purchase Info:

Five Friday Finds

Five Friday Finds

Moodle 2: Having Students Self-Enroll in a Course

Five Friday Finds

Program Manager Enrollment & Account Setup

Accessing Spreadsheets with Codes& Recent Past Purchase Info: