Author

Lori Gracey

Lori Gracey currently serves as the executive director of the Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA) and is responsible for training technology directors, administrators, curriculum supervisors, librarians, and teachers across the country. Since 2009, she has led TCEA in membership and revenue growth, helped to pay off their building and purchase a new, larger building, and implemented new conferences, partnerships with other associations, and professional development opportunities for members and non-members. She serves more than 75,000 members and oversees a staff of 20. Lori has served on the board of the Texas Society of Association Executives and SXSWedu, and she has served as the Regional Program Chair for the ISTE 2017 and 2021 Convention in San Antonio. Lori has 28 years of experience in education, with 22 years as a curriculum and technology director.

Updates to Google Classroom, Forms, and More

by Lori Gracey August 17, 2016

written by Lori Gracey

As another school year gets ready to begin, Google has announced changes and updates to a variety of its offerings. Most of these are welcome and will make learning a little bit easier this year.

Google Hangouts on Air

The first announcement came yesterday when they let us know that, effective September 12, they will be discontinuing Hangouts on Air and are instead encouraging people to move to YouTube Live or their new Duo app (available free for Android and iOS). While this may not be something to thrill your heart, it will help to combine two products into one and make it easier to schedule and host video conferences/discussions.

Google Classroom

For Classroom, Google now includes summaries of student work that can be automatically shared with parents by teachers. The summaries (or classroom announcements) can be sent daily or weekly, depending on what you prefer. This will make that home/school connection even stronger. There are also a few updates to the Classroom mobile app. Now it will allow you to annotate documents, turning them into whiteboard-like screens. You can use the annotations to mark papers, grade assignments, highlight mistakes or excellent work, and demonstrate concepts. In addition, the teacher can now add topics to posts and allow students to filter their own streams for topics of interest to them.

More Google Goodness for the Classroom

Google has also released Cast for Education, a free Chrome app that lets educators share their screens wirelessly to a projector. This is another great way to make the teacher more mobile and get him/her away from the front of the room while teaching. It’s very easy to use. Just install the app, give your device a name, and invite your students to cast. A GAfE account is required.

For Forms, Google has now added the ability to include images in questions or in multiple-choice answers. This is especially great for math, social studies, and science educators who want to have students focus on complex concepts that resonate better in graphics than in text.

If you’re using the Google virtual reality program Expeditions, you’ll be delighted to discover more virtual field trips have been added. Using smartphones paired with inexpensive cardboard viewers, Expeditions brings the world to your students with more than 200 trips now available.

Google continues its strong support for teaching and learning. And we definitely appreciate that!

August 17, 2016 0 comments

Making Student Research as Easy as Candy

by Lori Gracey August 10, 2016

written by Lori Gracey

Teaching students how to take the tremendous amount of information and data that is available to them on the web and then do something useful with it becomes a little harder every day. Information overload, plagiarism, finding exactly the right content and then remembering where you found it, correctly citing sources — these make research projects of any kind difficult for both students and teachers.

How Candy Helps with Research

If you’re using the Chrome browser, however, there is a new extension available that will solve many of these digital literacy problems. Candy styles itself as “the flexible and visual way to organize the best things from the web” and it’s true. Once the extension has been added, students can conduct their research as they normally would. But as they collect information that they need, they are now able to highlight the data, drop it onto a “Candy card” with automatic site location and citation, and then organize the ideas into a “Storyline” to reveal connections and find answers. Candy cards can be dragged and dropped into different orders, which is fabulous for organizing the final draft, and the contents of each card are searchable. Once the research is complete, the Storyline can be exported as a text file with just one click.

What’s Great About Candy

research Information and quotes from any source can be Candyed, including websites, social media, videos, images, and more. When you’re ready to insert the Candy cards into a document, the original source comes with it, making citation simple, complete, and automatic. To help students throughout the project, a teacher can ask that the Storyline in digest format be emailed to her to look over. Candys can also be shared via email and social media and inserted into blog posts, which is great for student blogs.

To the left is a sample Candy Storyline on 2015’s Hurricane Patricia. Each of the green sections is a separate Candy card. There is no limit to the number of cards that can be attached to a Storyline.

I really believe that this Chrome extension is one that all students in grades 4-12 should be using on a regular basis because it makes the whole research process much easier to manage and to understand. Simple to use, free, and makes life easier — the perfect candy for the classroom!

August 10, 2016 0 comments

Announcements/Important Dates Professional Learning

Your Best Learning Opportunity

by Lori Gracey August 3, 2016

written by Lori Gracey

Thursday, September 8 is a date you’ll want to circle on your calendar. That’s the day that registration for the best ed tech learning conference, 2017 TCEA Convention & Exposition, will open. At 9:00 a.m. Central, our new registration system will go live, allowing you to reserve your seat and hotel accommodations at the education event designed to strengthen “The Power of You.” Watch the TCEA 2017 teaser video to learn more about “The Power of You.”

Why would you want to attend this ed tech learning convention?

Your professional learning dollars and time are limited, so making the best decision about what conference you’ll attend is critical. More than 13,000 of the brightest minds in educational technology will be in Austin February 6-10 for TCEA 2017, making it your best choice for learning and networking opportunities. Over 950 hands-on workshops and sessions will help empower you, offer best practices and the latest research, and position you to innovate teaching and learning, making you an even better teacher, librarian, instructional coach, and leader.

No need to worry about your academies and workshops months in advance. Just select Premium Registration during online registration and then choose the best content for you at the convention itself. This ensures that the events you attend will be exactly what you need most at exactly the right time.
Get all of your technology integration questions answered in small-group discussions with experts in the new posters area of the convention. We’ll feature the following topics in this informal, yet powerful, setting in two-hour increments:
- STEM and Makers – Tuesday
- 3D Printing and Virtual Reality, Elementary Needs, and Leadership – Wednesday
- K-12 Coding and Computer Science, Amazing Resources, and Redesigning Learning – Thursday
Chat with exhibitors who offer strategic solutions to the problems your students and campus face during the new Exhibit Hall hours. Open Tuesday this year from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m., you’ll be able to experience hands-on sessions, product demonstrations, and the latest technology for learning.

What else will attending TCEA 2017 do for you?

Ten different, specialized, in-depth academies will be offered this year, ensuring that you are powered up and ready to meet the complex needs of your students and staff. Academies are open to all Premium Registration attendees and feature extended learning on a targeted topic.

ELA/Social Studies Academy
ESL/ELL Academy
Google Academy
iPad Academy
Leadership Academy
Librarian/Media Specialist Academy
Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) OneNote Academy
Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) Trainer Academy
Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) Teacher Academy
STEM Academy

best ed tech conference In addition to academies, Premium registrants may also select from more than 350 extra workshops, allowing you to get hands-on, minds-on experience with specific software, learning theories, best practices, and technology tools. Add to that the more than 450 sessions that are offered to both Premium and Basic attendees covering a wide range of topics from formative assessment to creating a makerspace to engaging student learners. All of these will ensure that you are powered up for the rest of the school year. And if you’re the chief technology officer in your district, there’s a day of special presentations just for you.

What do other educators say about the TCEA convention?

#TCEA16 Tweets

Bridget Visser: A1: Going to #TCEA16 was absolutely jaw dropping! So much info and networking, which is truly the best learning experience ever! #gcisdchat
Shawna Ford: Working to apply all of my learning from #tcea16! Anyone else operating on inspiration overload!?!?
Jenn and Sciefus: Phew! And we’re back!!! Is anyone else’s brain exploding with amazing #edtech after #TCEA16?!?! What a ride!

TCEA 2016 Attendee Feedback

“Y’all are doing a great job selecting speakers and topics. Kudos to all of you. You are wonderful educators.”
“Google was so energizing! Everything related to Google was GREAT!”
“Subject-specific all day academies – loved the ELA one this year – great resource!”
“All of them!?! There was not a single session in iPad and ESL Academies that I couldn’t benefit from. Presenters made it simple and appealing.”

Watch Time Warner Cable News coverage of TCEA 2016, Educators Flock to TCEA to Learn About Technology.

What are your next steps?

Talk with your district or campus leaders in advance to obtain the funds and approval you need to attend TCEA 2017. Discuss the event with your colleagues and make a plan as to who will go with you. Then set a reminder on your calendar for 9:00 a.m. Central on September 8 and register for the convention online. Once you complete the shortened registration process this year, you will be given a link to make your housing reservation. Then get ready for the best learning experience you have ever had as “The Power of You” is strengthened and magnified, empowering you and your students.

August 3, 2016 0 comments

Educational Trends

Pokemon GO or No-GO?

by Lori Gracey July 13, 2016

written by Lori Gracey

When I wrote a blog post yesterday about my foray into the Pokemon GO world and how excited this new game has made me and millions of others, I did not realize that it might be controversial. But suddenly, I was in the middle of a big discussion. Two clear sides seem to have emerged: those who believe that something like this game can help us do an even better job of educating students and those who believe that we are just fad-jumping onto another useless, corporate, money-making trick. Wow!

I can see how some people out there are promoting Pokemon GO as a means to increase their likes, follows, and readers. Honestly, that really wasn’t my intent. I was simply so blown away by the social, health, and learning aspects of the app that I just had to share my excitement. Of course, I am thrilled that the blog post has generated so much interest. But even if no one had read it, I would still be a huge fan of something that gets kids (and adults) walking around outside, talking to their neighbors, and having fun while learning both alone and separately.

This has obviously struck a nerve and merits further discussion in the education world. David Jakes compares Pokemon Go to a new ping pong ball in education, something that leaves the main game unchanged. David Theriault created a great list of “14 Reasons Why Pokemon GO Is the Future of Education.” Tony Gurr, in his blog post on this topic, asks a tremendous question: “Are we doing what is best for our students or are we doing what is most convenient for us?” And ed tech leader George Couros added a strong article called “#PokemonGo, Being Observant, and Innovation to the discussion in which he urges educators to “pay attention and be observant to our world. The next big idea for your classroom could already exist; you might just need to find it and tweak it.” (my paraphrasing)

Thank you to each of these innovators (and others that I am not aware of on this topic) who are adding to the discussion. They’re all right, in one way or another. Yes, Pokemon GO could be just another flash in the educational pan. Yes, it could divert time and energy and resources away from real learning. Yes, it could cause dedicated but confused teachers to create Pokemon math worksheets and include monster names in long vocabulary lists. But it could also provide a starting point for the conversation we’re all wanting to have about how to really make teaching and learning better. And isn’t that enough?

Technologies change, but the underlying reasons we explore technologies remains: to stimulate learning conversations that extend how we interact with the world. In fact, Pokemon GO is child’s play, a game that teaches us new ideas (mapping reality with virtual information) that we may soon apply to more complex work. “The supreme accomplishment,” says Arnold J. Toynbee, “is to blur the line between work and play.” At TCEA, that’s how we can achieve our vision “Learning without Limits.”

July 13, 2016 1 comment

Science STEM/STEAM

Molecular Workbench Science Simulations

by Lori Gracey June 27, 2016

written by Lori Gracey

The Molecular Workbench free software (available for Mac, Windows, and Linux) is an incredible modeling tool for secondary science teachers and students to use in conducting computational experiments. Educators are provided robust curriculum materials to make using the tool easier, and students and teachers can create their own simulations as well.

What It Includes

MW has hundreds of already-created simulations, as well as embedded assessments for each. It covers a range of topics, including:

Gas Laws
Fluid Mechanics
Properties of Materials
States of Matter
Phase Change
Heat Transfer
Chemical Bonding
Chemical Reactions
Structure-Function Relationships
The Genetic Code
Protein Synthesis
Light-Matter Interactions
Electron-Matter Interactions
Quantum Phenomena

Using the Simulations in the Classroom

Understanding all of the complex concepts that must be taught and learned in secondary science classes can seem almost impossible. But the Molecular Workbench software makes it much easier. I recommend the teacher use it first as a demonstration tool, showing students how it works and what a simulation should look like. Then divide the students up into groups of four and have them run through the simulation on their own. Provide them with several reflection questions about the concept covered in the simulation so that they are doing deep thinking and not just playing around.

Once they understand the concept, have them get into pairs and create their own simulation that helps to explain the science concept. This will really stretch their understanding of what they’ve been taught and may prove frustrating for them the first time. But encourage them to stick with it. And be sure to include a “gallery walk” afterwards so that they can see what other students have created.

While the software must be downloaded and does require Java to work, it is so robust and real-world that it is definitely worth the small amount of extra effort required in getting it installed.

June 27, 2016 0 comments

Leadership Online Tools and Apps

Brainstorming and Voting: Getting Staff Input Easily

by Lori Gracey June 16, 2016

written by Lori Gracey

A campus or district administrator has a lot on his plate these days, including getting faculty opinions and buy-in on both small and large initiatives. What he doesn’t have is time to solicit that buy-in.

Now there’s a free tool that can help. Tricider offers fast and easy brainstorming and voting so that people can collaboratively make decisions. Unlike common survey tools which require set responses, it allows participants to add their own ideas, arguments, and discussion to a Tricider question. When the deadline for discussion and brainstorming is up, participants are asked to vote on the ideas presented. With its simple ask a question, brainstorm and discuss, and then vote process, this is one tool you’ll use over and over again.

The author of the question can invite participants via a shared link, email, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. And there are lots of ways to customize the discussion, from having new or better ideas emerge to the top to including pictures and links. No registration or log in is required, which makes Tricider very easy for everyone to use. But if you do register, then you are given a plethora of additional features, all included free.

To see how it works, I’ve posted a sample question below. Just click on the Add New Idea button and put in your answer. You can then add an argument, if you wish, or vote for one of the other choices. Please try it out.

I can see Tricider being used with students, particularly for small group work. You could even use it for entire classes or grade levels to discuss and vote on favorite books, prom king and queen, cafeteria rules, etc. And if your family is trying to decide on a vacation location or a gift to give Grandma from all of you, it will do the trick. You can set the poll to be private or share it with the whole world, which opens even more opportunities for collaboration. It’s just such a great, quick tool and I hope you’ll give it a try!

June 16, 2016 0 comments

Content Areas Online Tools and Apps

EasyBib EDU Is Here and It’s FREE!

by Lori Gracey June 13, 2016

written by Lori Gracey

EasyBib is a wonderful and accurate citation generator and bibliography creator available for student use. There is a free website for the MLA style, along with both an Android and an iOS app. There’s even an EasyBib toolbar for Chrome.

So What’s New with EasyBib EDU?

In the past, full access to all of the citation styles and the ability to save content to individual student notebooks required a paid account. But now, EasyBib EDU is free for schools, continuing to give students access to all citation styles (including APA, Chicago, and the new MLA 8th edition coming this summer) and notebook features, while providing campuses the tools to manage those student accounts. EasyBib EDU is available with coupon code access, which you can sign up for here. Coupon codes will be distributed by August 5, 2016, for schools that sign up by July 29. Individual campuses must sign up; there is no district registration available.

What makes the tool really stand out is that schools can sign in with Google and use the current EasyBib Google app to provide a single sign on option for their students. The login with Google button will remain as a sign in option on EDU. Google integrations like the Paper link will also remain. Students can instantly export their content to Word or Google Docs and can share information among project groups using the “Public Folders” function. Over the next few months, the company will be rolling out new features like an updated notebook, annotation tool, and Google Docs add-on.

While this tool will not change the world, it can make the research process simpler for students. It is currently used by numerous universities and colleges, so getting your high school students familiar with it is a smart idea. And it will help to combat plagiarism, which is always a good thing.

June 13, 2016 1 comment

English Language Arts Reading (ELAR)

A Literacy Resource You Must See to Believe

by Lori Gracey June 8, 2016

written by Lori Gracey

I stumbled upon The Literacy Shed the other day completely by accident and was immediately blown away by what this British teacher had compiled. In his own words:

The aim [of The Literacy Shed] is to provide high quality resources that can be used in stand-alone literacy lessons, can form the basis for a whole literacy unit, or can support literacy units that you already have in place.

So What Is The Literacy Shed?

What does this free website offer? Amazing short videos collected from around the web with great teaching ideas for each. On the left side of the main page, you’ll see the vast collection divided into a large array of genres, including such interesting topics as The Thinking Shed, The Numeracy Shed, The Inspiration Shed, The Sports Shed, and The Fairy Tale Shed, to name just a few. I started in The Mystery Shed and immediately got lost in the great videos there.

The videos come from a variety of sources and definitely kept me engaged. (I won’t tell you exactly how long I spent watching them, but it was way more than I originally intended!) For each video, the curator has provided comprehension questions, as well as writing suggestions, along with ideas for the teacher. Some of the videos would be best used with elementary students, while others are suitable for high school learners. (To be honest, you could also use some of them very well for staff discussions and learning.)

While the site was originally begun to target visual literacy, all types of literacy skills are now included, including numerical, cultural, and media. This makes it a wonderful resource. You really need to take a look at The Literacy Shed today and then please let me know how you will use it with your students.

June 8, 2016 0 comments

iOS Tips and Tricks

Some Weird But Useful iOS Apps

by Lori Gracey June 1, 2016

written by Lori Gracey

As you know, we’re all about the educational apps and learning here at TCEA. But once in a while, we like to talk about unusual leisure apps that have nothing to do with education, but are still useful on a more personal level or are just fun. Here are a few of these strange apps that we think you should try.

Laundry Day – Care Symbol Reader

This is definitely a unique app. For just $0.99, it uses your device’s camera to scan the laundry tags on your clothes and tell you precisely how to best wash them. Now I know that sounds strange. But sometimes those tags with all of their new symbols can be hard to read. The app works well even if the tags are faded.

Sidekix: Urban Navigator

If you live in a large city and will be out walking, this is a great free app to have. Tell it the kind of places you’re interested in and where you want to go and the app will create a personalized walking tour for you. Whether you’re into food, nightlife, art, shopping, or more, this app will help you enjoy the journey.

Charm: Collect Tweets on Twitter

Okay, you could use this free iOS app for an educational purpose like saving Tweets from an edchat. But you could also use it as your personal Twitter repository, saving up jokes that you like or building a playlist of all of the music your favorite musicians and music accounts have posted. Charm will organize your favorite Tweets into collections, save articles for later, cue up playlists of music you find, or transcribe conversations. And it works with whatever Twitter app you’re already using.

OnCamera

I love the premise of this app. Register (for free) and then have the app open when you are walking alone late at night or in any situation where you may not feel safe. If someone threatens you, hit the large red button and be instantly connected via a direct video call to a uniformed police officer who is standing by live. He will warn the potential assailant away and let him know that he is being recorded and scanned with facial recognition software. The app has limited areas of use right now, but they are adding to it every day.

Dog Whistler – Your Free Dog Whistle

If you’ve got a pooch you want to train, use this free dog whistle app. You’re able to select from a large number of sound frequencies and so can pick the one that works best for your dog. IAPs are available, but not needed.

MSQRD – Live Filters & Face Swap for Video Selfies

apps I am not a selfie kind of person. But even I couldn’t resist taking my photo over and over again once I got this free app. (You can see one of my photos as a cat to the left.) MSQRD uses your app’s camera to add masks and live effects to a selfie. You can even swap faces with a friend in the same photo. It is so much fun and incredibly easy. Really, you have to try this app!

What are some fun personal apps you love? Please share with me in the comments section below.

June 1, 2016 0 comments

iOS Tips and Tricks

Four Tools to Help You Find the Perfect iOS App

by Lori Gracey May 20, 2016

written by Lori Gracey

With more than 1.8 million iOS apps now available in the App Store, it’s easy to spend hours searching for just the right one for a particular standard, topic, or student need. But there are ways to simplify the process. Learn four of them below.

Finding an App Based on Recommendations

TCEA staff members who are former educators regularly look at new apps that have been released and evaluate them based on their ability to meet the needs of teachers and students. Those that make the grade are listed by subject area and then by topic in our Recommended iOS Apps List (available to members only). We lean more toward free apps on the list because we know that funding for schools is still not what it should be. So if you want to find an app on a particular topic, like life science, spelling, or collaboration, this is a tremendous resource for our members. (We have similar lists for Android and Chrome apps.)

Finding an App Based on Content or Topic

You’re working on your lesson plans for next week and know that app you’ll be teaching adding fractions to your students. In the past, they have had difficulty with this concept. So you want to add an activity with an app for them to use. How do you find the right one? Try fnd. This website does what the App Store should have done from the beginning: allow you to search for apps by content or topic.

Type in “adding fractions” in the search bar and the site will provide you with a lengthy list of apps that include that content. And not just apps; fnd searches everything in the iTunes Store, including music, movies, TV, books, podcasts, and even Mac apps. To limit your search, simply click on Apps. (You can narrow the search down even further by selecting iPhone or iPad-specific apps, but I usually leave it on all as they will both run on the devices students are usually using.) Now you can quickly glance down the list of recommended apps, seeing the price, how many stars they’ve received, and screenshots of each app. When you find one that interests you, just click on the app name and you’re presented with tons of details about the app, along with reviews. If there are YouTube videos about the app, those are also included, along with any awards the app has won. Fnd makes locating an app specific to a topic or content idea very simple.

Finding an App Based on Student Need

There are times when a teacher needs a resource to help one or two students who have a special need that app others may not have. Perhaps they are special education and need to use an app with a switch. Perhaps they are needing help with their emotions or learning a second language. The Insignio database can assist in finding the right apps for that need. Insignio was developed by BridgingApps, a program of Easter Seals Greater Houston. Apps for a wide variety of devices are reviewed by educators and then included in the database. You can search by category, age, price, grade level, mobile device, or Common Core standard. Once you’ve selected your criteria, a variety of apps are returned with reviews, pricing information, app details, and screenshots. The database is more limited in the apps that it contains, but they are all educational and reviewed in great detail.

Finding an App Based on Pedagogy

If you’re looking for an app that will allow your students to create knowledge and share their learning with you and others, then the Padagogy Wheel is the tool for you. The Wheel, created by genius Alan Carrington, sorts apps by both Bloom’s Taxonomy and the SAMR Model of teaching. The teacher selects a level of Bloom’s or SAMR that she wants to use in the lesson. The Wheel provides action verbs to help ensure that what the students are doing is in the correct domain, along with recommended activities that match that level. And then, it finally recommends specific apps to accomplish all of that.

As an example, let’s use the cognitive domain of Analyzing. A sixth grade ELA teacher wants her students to examine words that begin with several common Latin and Greek prefixes, determine the meaning of the prefixes, and then use that knowledge to create their own new words with the prefixes. For the creation portion of the assignment, she will let the students pick from a variety of apps to showcase their new learning, including Corkulous, Pic Collage, Explain Everything, and Puppet Pals 2.

Once the teacher has defined the verbs and activities that will get students to the content she wants them to learn, the Padagogy Wheel provides her with the best apps for that particular need. This greatly simplifies the search for the right app.

Using one of these four tools is guaranteed to help you find the best app for any situation or student need.

May 20, 2016 0 comments

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