Home Content Areas
Category:

Content Areas

Discover resources and strategies for teaching core content areas. Explore tips, tools, and activities to enhance learning across all subjects.

Minecraft
Content AreasMicrosoft

Fantastic Voyage: Minecraft Lesson Planning

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Embarking on a fantastic voyage of learning with Minecraft? Let’s review the building blocks of project-based learning success. Minecraft Global Mentor, Benjamin Kelly (@BBTNB), starts us off with this project,  Minecraft Musical Chairs:

Fantastic

Anatomy of a Project

Texas educators may want to add a few more components to Ben’s project task card:

  • SWBAT statement
  • TEKS and ELPS
  • Engaging scenario
  • Formative assessment activities.

Let’s take a closer look at these building blocks.

Block #1 : Student Will Be Able To (SWBAT)

Minecraft Project Task CardsJared Dees writes “SWBAT stands for “Students Will Be Able To….” Use SWBAT to focus a lesson plan on what the students learn by doing. Ask yourself “How do these verbs Jared includes align to what students do in Minecraft?”

Block #2: Relevant TEKS and ELPS

Learning happens on the messy journey from problem to solution. Aside from using The TEKS Resource System, hook students with a problem scenario.  Match the grade level TEKS to a core content-embedded scenario.

In Ben’s example, students show how they can work together. They construct a 3D physical representation of their learning by first developing construction criteria together and then adding their own positive improvements. In this way, student-architect teams achieve constructions they could not do alone.

Block #3: Fantastic Voyage

In the Project Task Card above, I adapted Lynne Telfer’s (@lynnetelfer | blog) lesson, Create Fred The Human Body! from the Minecraft: Education Edition website. In The TEKS Resource System, this science lesson for grade 7 students helps them grasp the key concept that individual components combine to perform functions as a system.

During this unit, students study human body systems for the first time…They identify the main functions of the systems of the human organism.

Block #4: Assessment

Adapt an existing assessment, (e.g. rubric) from an existing one, such as this one offered on The TEKS Resource System. To gain maximum credit, modify the rubric as shown.

The 3D model of the human body is highly detailed, accurate. The model reflects the selected system with a high degree of accuracy. Each component is clearly labeled. Signs and Non-Player Character (NPC) provide functional details. Critical fluid flow is accurate and possible. Specific information on how size, scale, properties, and materials are included.  3D human body modeling is evident, analyzed, and explained.

Conclusion

While you can  teach this lesson the old-fashioned way , using Minecraft: Education Edition makes students architects of their own learning in 3D virtual environments. Research shows this is a growing future work trend (source).

Be sure to check out these links to additional lesson ideas.

 

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinEmail
interactive
Content AreasMicrosoft

Creating Interactive Math Textbooks

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

“It is not the reader of a text who learns the most,” says Stephen Knudsen, “but rather the author.  When a student makes a textbook in a course, the student engages daily in all classifications of learning…when students are asked to make a textbook, they are required to remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate and create. The results of this process are often nothing short of astonishing!”

Combine popular math tools like OneNote and GeoGebra to create astonishing, interactive math textbooks. Let’s find out how below.

Creating a Digital Textbook

Microsoft OneNote makes digital textbook creation easy. Students can work together on a single OneNote notebook that is organized into “notebook, section groups, sections, and pages.” Create a OneNote notebook as a textbook template, then share it via Docs.com. Students can grab the OneNote notebook digital textbook template, then enhance it. Each student or group of students can take responsibility for a specific section. OneNote enables you to insert all sorts of content, such as Vimeo, YouTube, Office Mix, Sway, and Microsoft Forms.

Organizing a Digital Textbook

Want to create a digital textbook template for your students? Let’s adapt Stephen Knudsen’s suggestions for a digital textbook:

  • Section 1: Welcome
    • Title page featuring student-created cover art
    • Dedication
    • A short Foreword by the teacher or someone who has read the textbook
    • Table of Contents. You can use Onetastic add-on to OneNote to auto-generate a table of contents for each “section chapter” and the digital textbook as a whole.
    • Author’s page with pictures of students, including their Twitter addresses
  • Section 2: Chapter 1 – Introduction
    • Organize the OneNote notebook into sections. Each section is a chapter.
    • Each section chapter will include its own table of contents and introduction.
  • Section 3: Chapter 2
  • Section 4: Chapter 3
  • Section 5: Chapter 4
  • Section 6: Chapter 5 – Conclusion
  • Section 7: Chapter 6 – Appendix

Students create hand-drawn resources and then digitize their creations with the mobile-friendly Office Lens app. Tablet access? Students can create their first draft of figures within OneNote. Identify key terms, record video/audio definitions and explanation. Design tall buildings and describe in a video how they were created. For math problems, students can use OneNote digital whiteboard technology to draft their explanation. Or rely on Microsoft Snip’s whiteboard capabilities and then embed that in the OneNote page. A few other tips include adding tags to chapters, creating a hyperlinked table of contents for each section, and setting a page template specific to each section. When complete, future classes can access the digital textbook via OneNote Online or a “frozen” copy can be permanently published at Docs.com.

Exploring GeoGebrainteractive

Wondering how to add difficult mathematics constructs? Take advantage of GeoGebra tools and materials.

GeoGebra is dynamic mathematics software for all levels of education (free to non-commercial users) that joins geometry, algebra, spreadsheets, graphing, statistics, and calculus. It also runs offline and works on various software platforms and devices (Source).

GeoGebra enjoys a rich community of support (check out Kurt Soeser, fellow Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE), work | watch his video) with over 500,000 pre-created resources. In addition to creating content with GeoGebra, students can also place any of those half a million resources within their digital textbook. Want to see this in action? Go to my TCEA Connect OneNote notebook using this link. You can also watch the YouTube video walkthrough.

Conclusion

Rather than rely on traditional textbook publishers, adopt a maker attitude in your math classroom. Empower students to create digital textbooks using Microsoft OneNote and GeoGebra. Publish to a worldwide audience and ensure that the learning is meaningful and authentic.

Featured Image Source

“Embed GeoGebra in OneNote” via Kurt Soeser as featured in the LearnOneNote Conference. Available at https://www.learnonconference.com/kurt-soeser-2016 during 11/12-11/17, 2016.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinEmail
writing
Content AreasLibrariesOnline Tools and AppsWriting

Celebrate National Writing Month

by Dr. Bruce Ellis
written by Dr. Bruce Ellis

November is National Novel Writing Month and can affectionately be referred to NaNoWriMo. As Ernest Hemingway once said, “We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.” Whether you want to become an accomplished writer of novels or just need to improve your writing skills, here are some online tools tailored just for you. Also, if you are an English, reading, or writing teacher, consider using some of these tools with your secondary students.

NaNoWriMo Website

Yes, a robust website has been developed and dedicated to helping folks improve their writing skills as they learn to share their story. NaNoWriMo.org has pep talks from authors, regional groups to facilitate meeting other budding (and recognized) writers, as well as support to help you plan out your novel. Besides using it to develop your own story, secondary teachers may find this a perfect resource for those students who find writing to be a great expression of themselves.

Wridea

Wridea may be the perfect tool for you if you are the type of person who likes to keep a notebook of ideas. As a digital version of your notebook, Wridea will let you organize and share your ideas with others. You can even share ideas with friends and have them vote on their favorites to help you choose the best idea to run with.

oTranscribe

If you are like me, I’m not able to write for very long before it seems laborious. At that point, my sentences (and thoughts) start getting very succinct…possibly too much so. For people like us, there is a tool called oTranscribe. Though not as good as having someone else transcribe for you, it allows you to upload an MP3 or video and play it so that you can type in the area provided. To make it nicer, you can adjust the speed of the audio to match your typing speed. You can use any device to record your audio or you can use a free online tool such as Online Voice Recorder.

SpeechNotes

SpeechNotes is a simple speech-to-text tool that will type what you say as you speak into your microphone. Power-users will find the voice commands handy for making the process even more effortless. You are able to type as well, although you’ll probably find the transcription to be very accurate and easy. SpeechNotes also allows you to set the language so you can speak in a language other than English and have it transcribe in that language. When done, upload your file to Google Drive, save as a Word document or text file, or send it as an email.

Rewordify

If you are trying to write to a broader audience, it is important to consider your writing vocabulary and examine it for readability purposes. Rewordify is a simple tool that will examine your writing for you and make suggestions based on your preferences. You can have Rewordify automatically swap out higher vocabulary with simpler synonyms or show the suggestions within the context of the writing itself. You can paste your text in the tool or paste a URL for it to examine a specific web page.

Hemingway App

The Hemingway App is another simple tool that gives you feedback on your writing. Besides calculating the readability of your text, it will also make highlights for you to consider revising, including sentences that are hard to read, possible adverbs to remove, suggestions for simpler text for various phrases, and a check on your use of passive voice. If you like stats, you’ll find that it gives you the basics stats regarding counts for paragraphs, sentences, words, characters, and letters, as well as how long it will take the average reader to read your text. While the online version is free, a desktop version is available for purchase if you want to work without the need for Internet connectivity.

Additional Resources

If you find that you are looking for even more writing tools, then consider checking out one of the following lists:

I’ve shared several tools to help you in your journey of using technology to support your writing and hopefully make it more enjoyable for both you and your reader. We’d love to hear from you; post your comments below and tell us what tools you use to help with writing or even your favorite author to read.

 

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinEmail
BYOD
BYODContent Areas

Five Math Tools for the BYOD Classroom

by Dr. Bruce Ellis
written by Dr. Bruce Ellis

Between lesson planning, parent conferences, and grading homework, you may find that you have little time (or energy) left over to look for great tools to help you teach math in your BYOD classroom. Don’t fret! I’ve pulled together five of my favorites that you might like to try.

National Library of Virtual Manipulatives

Manipulatives are great to use when it comes to helping students bridge concrete concepts into more abstract reasoning. The National Library of Virtual Manipulatives has developed a strong collection of manipulatives and simulations to help your students do just that.

Place your mouse over the intersection on the grid of the grade level of your students and the content/skill you’re teaching, and you’ll be served up a nice list digital supports that your students can use right away. Locate the specific tool and then share the link with your students. Your device will need to be Java-friendly to make use of these tools. If your device or browser is not Java-friendly, then consider Math Playground, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s iTools, or, if you have an iOS device, try Virtual Manipulatives!.

Wolfram-Alpha for Mathematics

Known for their research and content, Wolfram-Alpha will help students visualize and better understand math concepts by allowing them to adjust calculations to see the effects. Though elementary math is covered, this tool is better suited for secondary students. And if you like how Wolfram-Alpha presents math concepts, you may want to check out their main landing page to explore additional options.

MyScript Calculator

Calculators abound on the Internet. But what sets MyScript Calculator apart is that it actually interprets your handwriting and converts it to the appropriate math expression. This is a handy compromise when you want your students to practice writing expressions (as opposed to just tapping buttons) to reinforce the formula or theorem. You can find the MyScript Calculator app for both Android and iOS devices.

Geoboard

Geoboards are handy tools when having students learn about finding area and/or perimeter. And, as fun as that might be in and of itself, many students find shooting the rubber bands at each other even more entertaining. Here are several geoboards that solve the rubber band problem and still encourage students to explore the relationship between area and perimeter.

Math Learning Center’s Geoboard is a good tool that runs in your browser, gives you multiple colors of rubber bands, and even allows you to swap out boards of different sizes and shapes. With many other features, this is a great tool for elementary math teachers to use. You can also access it as an app on your iOS device, your Chromebook, or your Microsoft tablet.

Doodle Buddy

Though not thought of as a math app, Doodle Buddy can be a excellent tool to support math instruction. Besides having students illustrate their problems using the drawing tools and stamps, they can also use the Dots and Boxes background for work with area, perimeter, plotting, and basic graphs. And don’t underestimate the power of students taking a photo to use as the background on which they draw, illustrate, and/or diagram. You can find Doodle Buddy in the iOS store as well as the Microsoft store.

Even if you don’t consider yourself a “math person,” you can still help your students acquire a passion for math by integrating various technology tools. And since your BYOD classroom will have a variety of devices to run these tools, consider sharing this list with your students. Even if one particular tool isn’t available for every type of device in your room, your students can branch out and find many similar ones that still allow them to practice the skills and demonstrate mastery as they think like mathematicians.

What other online tools and apps have you found helpful in teaching math? Drop us a comment below and become part of the conversation of sharing. We’d love to hear from you.

 

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinEmail
Content AreasEducational Trends

Everyone Needs a Little GEO in Their Classroom

by Guest Blogger
written by Guest Blogger

This is a guest blog post by Barbaree Duke, GEO-SIG Media Officer. 

We challenge you to find a subject that doesn’t have a location or geography moment. Geography and place-based technology touches every corner of our curriculum. Think about how place and location play a part in what you teach.

The power of place can spawn discussions in English, science, social studies, math or even music classes. Thanks to the broad development of free Internet-based tools, all you need is a browser to get started and “geo” your lessons.

What are some examples of GEO-based technology in the content areas?

Setting and location are integral parts of ELA, as well as natural tie-ins with history topics. Online mapping tools, written lessons, and ready-made maps are available for a variety of historic concepts that align with literary analysis such as the Dust Bowl‘s look at social and climate conditions setting the stage of Grapes of Wrath.  Seeing the boundaries and migration patterns set in the Civil War activity adds understanding to works from The Red Badge of Courage to An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge to Walt Whitman’s wartime poetry or even the Lincoln-Douglas debates. Adventure down the Mississippi River and explore the culture that inspired Mark Twain with maps. Works like The Watsons Go to Birmingham are great opportunities to create interdisciplinary experiences that engage younger students and span all subjects with mapping technology.

geo

Discover where your breakfast came from with a map!

History and English aren’t the only subjects with easy geography connections. Science and math are replete with mappable moments.

Tom Baker and Roger Palmer have been sharing their ideas for some time now in a regular GEO-SIG column in TechEdge. In the August 2016 issue, “Complexity Bugs Me: Environmental Science and Biology” gives an example of an activity that examines mosquitoes and the spread of tropical disease. The idea here is to use just 15 minutes of class time to give students an analytical experience with powerful data.

Where did GEO-SIG come from?

GEO-SIG was formed several years ago to help educators embrace technologies that leverage spatial-based information. Some examples include GPS, geocaching, spatial photography, geoRSS feeds, GIS, virtual globes, and remote sensing.

If you don’t what some or any of these are, don’t worry. That’s why this Special Interest Group was created. Members network, share ideas, promote professional inservice opportunities, and support development in spatial-based curricula. We speak all map languages. If you like maps and globes, you should be a member! Consider joining our merry band of geo-enthusiasts to receive regular updates on the latest curriculum and resources available.

How can I see it and learn more?

Plug into the power of online mapping in our global technologies playground at the TCEA 2017 Convention & Exposition . Bring yourself and a friend for two hours of high voltage inspiration to engage your students. Talk with experienced educators, see demonstrations at multiple stations, get free resources, collect tokens and win fantastic prizes, bring your own device and get setup to implement online mapping and geospatial technologies in your classroom when you get home.

Our come-and-go free playground is sponsored by your GEO-SIG friends. Sign up at convention registration and join us on Thursday, February 9, 2017 from 1:30-3:30 pm at Hilton Room 412. Don’t miss the map-tastic fun!

Also, be sure to catch some of our GEO-SIGers presenting during the conference.

Give your students a global perspective. Make a world of difference.  Put a little mapping in your classroom.

 

1 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinEmail
research
ChromebooksContent AreasDigital LiteracyGoogle Tips and Tricks

Making Student Research as Easy as Candy

by Lori Gracey
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 researchconduct 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

researchInformation 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!

 

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinEmail
Content AreasEducational Trends

Inspiring OER with Amazon Inspire

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

This blog was updated on October 4, 2016 to include additional resources and information.

“High-quality OER (Open Education Resources) can save teachers significant time and effort,” points out this article at Edutopia, “on resource development and advance student learning inside and outside the classroom. Further, open sharing of resources has the potential to fuel collaboration, encourage the improvement of available materials, and aid in the dissemination of best practices.” Given that OER is increasingly available in education space, representing various “big players” like Amazon, Apple, Google, and Microsoft’s OpenEd.com, it’s worth taking a look at new offerings in this space.

What will these services mean for school districts and teachers? And, more important questions linger, such as, “Should teachers and school districts be trying to create their own content when so much is available online already? If not, who curates OER content?”

Let’s explore three current and future sources of open educational resources:

Amazon Announces Inspire

“Where big ideas take-off,” shares a video for Amazon’s new service,  Inspire. You might think a free online lesson plan collection would be passé given that there are many other online lesson plan collections (as well as open educational resources available at no cost), but Amazon Inspire seeks to put a fresh face on digital lesson design, as well as open educational resources.

Open Educational Resources are teaching and learning materials that you may freely use and reuse without charge. Open Educational Resources are different from other resources a teacher may use in that they have been given limited or unrestricted licensing rights. That means they have been authored or created by an individual or organization that chooses to retain few, if any, ownership rights. Source: OER Commons

Amazon Inspire seeks to make free resources, created by teachers and others, available for the purpose of improving learning outcomes. The new system will be searchable by grade level, type, and more. Contributors will be able to review and rate content made available online. Since Inspire is not yet available, teachers and contributors can request early access, and potential organizations can request to collaborate as well. Their invitation to collaborators appears below:

Are you a state, district, or school? An OER provider or a publisher with free content to share? We’ve collaborated with thousands of teachers and dozens of states, districts, and publishers during the private beta of Amazon Inspire. Now it’s your turn. Help us to provide teachers everywhere with access to a large and diverse selection of free digital teaching resources.

Of course, Amazon is neither the first or the last to the OER space.

Google OER Custom Search

Until Amazon’s Inspire OER clearinghouse is ready, be aware that there are ample locations to find OERs. One place that you can look is a Google custom search. For example, a quick search on blended learning yielded these results:

OER

How many of these resources remain current however? Keeping it all updated remains a key obstacle according to JISC’s web site:

Sustainability of OER release is currently a significant issue for institutions around the globe and evidence of benefits must be clarified if resources are to be made available for continued release. (Source: JISC)

If you explore The OER4Schools Professional Learning Resource, you will probably be impressed (as I was) by the breadth and depth of the content available. Now imagine maintaining this content, updating it to reflect the latest information (e.g. Google Forms and Drive updates may not be reflected on this page fast enough to be useful).

As LeiLani Cauthen (@learningcounsel – The Learning Counsel) pointed out recently (paraphrased in my notes below) at a San Antonio, Texas event, teachers are essentially competing against a global network of knowledge workers. Small teams of teachers in their respective classrooms are unable to keep up with the constantly changing flood of content, apps, and information washing over schools in waves.

Digital curriculum and LMS companies are dis-intermediating teachers because there’s no possible way for teachers to design the mobile learning experiences students need at the speed they need to. Teachers are competing against a global network of knowledge. Some district curriculum leaders think they can simply digitize their resources and teach teachers to use a variety of digital apps. But organizing and managing this for each teacher is impossible for them. It’s a never-ending task that teachers have no time for or expertise (most were not taught to be instructional designers of curriculum that is multi-sensory and mobile), and, as such, more information is needed.

OER Commons

Featuring an easy-to-use interface, the OER Commons presents educators
with a variety of open educational resources. As you can see from the results below, there is content available in a variety of areas.OER

 

FormSwift Common Core Lesson Plans

Another resource for creating customized lesson plans is from startup FormSwift. They provide a very nice-looking and easy-to-use template for making an ELA, math, or science lesson plan based on the Common Core standards. The free site allows you to edit a PDF or Word document that can then be printed or emailed in to a supervisor.

Conclusion

Open Educational Resources certainly have great potential for educators, providing content and lessons that teachers can adapt. Yet the question remains. Even though OERs are becoming available, who evaluates these and makes sure they connect to the district’s curricular goals? And do teachers really have the time to curate content coming from multiple vendors?

OER Apps and Resources

  • MERLOT OER Search (iOS) – MERLOT Search provides easy-to-use access to the MERLOT database of 48,000+ higher education resources. MERLOT’s Open Education Resource collection has been curated by subject matter experts, many with comments provided by members who have used them and often with learning exercises attached for use in the classroom.
  • OER Search (iOS) – OER Search provides a quick and easy way to discover high quality open educational resources that are freely available online. Search from 30,000 resources that have been curated by educators from over 300 collections and providers.
  • Creating and Sharing Open Educational Resources (iOS) – This nonlinear collection of multi-touch resource books are designed to support educators who are authoring content and/or guiding learners who are authoring content for publication. This course is designed as a collection of resources to help the teacher and student navigate through open educational resources.
0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinEmail
Molecular Workbench, simulations
ScienceSTEM/STEAM

Molecular Workbench Science Simulations

by Lori Gracey
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.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinEmail
elementary
Content AreasGoogle Tips and TricksiOS Tips and TricksPodcastsProfessional Learning

#TCEATots Voxercasts: Learning for Elementary Educators

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to travel to the TCEA Tots and Technology Conference taking place in Galveston, Texas for elementary educators. When I attend conferences like this one, it can be overwhelming to process all the information that’s being shared. That’s why I took a few moments to start up the Voxer app and interview folks on the way to TCEA Tots.

Below, you’ll find short “voxercasts.” The Voxer app makes it easy to record content and then quickly share it. I bookmarked the tweets where I shared the Voxercasts and you can subscribe to the #TCEATots Voxercasts RSS feed via the Diigo social bookmarking tool.

These TCEA Tots voxercasts really help capture the flavor of this fantastic conference geared to teachers of young children. Note that links below will open to a Voxer page.

Seven Tots and Technology Voxercasts:

  1. Green Screen Tips from Dr. Bruce Ellis – This conversation really blew my mind, so to speak, and sharing the tips Dr. Ellis included in his overview of green screes caught the attention of pre-conference attendees in my Become a Storymaker session.
  2. GeoGuesser with Dr. Bruce Ellis – This conversation expands on social studies/geography connections possible with GeoGuesser, a Google feature I had never heard of. In fact, when I spoke with Lampasas ISD teachers who were presenting on virtual field trips and geo-related activities, they did not know about it either.
  3. iPad Sharing Made Easy (Part 1) with Miguel Guhlin – This conversation has me sharing about iPads and getting information out there. I highlight several apps, including Readdle Documents and Seesaw. This is a two-part series since we were having too much fun, and Part 2 also mentioned Android.
  4. iPad and Android Sharing Made Easy (Part 2) with Miguel Guhlin and Dr. Bruce Ellis – You may have noticed that the previous voxercast was cut short. This is the second half.
  5. Notecard Confessions with Pedro Delgado (El Paso ISD) – What a joy to chat with Pedro Delgado (Twitter @neuropete01), TCEA Teacher of the Year Award finalist. He describes how he and his fourth and fifth grade students adapted the Paper Slide Videos, which I shared in my pre-conference session at TCEA Tots and Technology, to create Notecard Confessions. Check out Pedro’s phenomenal web site here.
  6. sherrieshelleyVirtual FieldTrips and More with Sherrie Berry and Shelley Kozma (Lampasas ISD) (shown right) – We discussed Seesaw, as well as other awesome ideas and tips in the iPad classroom. This really addresses collecting student work from iPads. Also discussed Microsoft in Education, as well as Skype in the Classroom. And Google Lit Trips were also referenced. Catch them on Twitter @shelleykozma and @sherrie_berrys.
  7. Digital Storytelling with Dr. Martha Green (Texas A&M) and Cecelia “Cece” Porra – In this wonderfully rich conversation, Martha, Cece, and I discuss digital storytelling and its application for instructional purposes. Martha provides some insights into using digital storytelling for mathematics, as well as shares other ideas.
  8. codinginlangartsCoding in the Language Arts Classroom with Kelly Hong – Listen to Kelly share what she knows about coding in the language arts classroom. Who would have thought you could “write” or “code” fantasy stories and tales with MIT’s Scratch program?
  9. Seesaw with Brittany Adcock (@adcockb10) – Listen to Brittany share about Seesaw, a phenomenal digital portfolio tool.
  10. digitallearningctrsDigital Learning Centers with Crystal Flores and Jeanine Freeman (@techtimewithj9) – This is a fascinating presentation by Crystal and Jeanine about how Crystal created audio versions of her classroom books. Also listen to Dr. Roland Rios share his reflections, too.
  11. TCEA Tots participants were asked to share their insights: What is one take-away from TCEA Tots? Other participants Image 276(TonyaHinkebein; MalvernMRS shown below with service dog, Nelson) also offered their thoughts on Promoting Technology Use in their classroom.
  12. Collaborative Grant Writing (Part 1 and Part 2)– This was an enlightening session regarding crowdfunding (e.g. DonorsChoose) with Brandi (@aesfinearts) and Mandy Bryan (@mandyrbryan) and collaborative grant writing tools. It resulted in two parts.

Be sure to check back for even more interviews from TCEA Tots and Technology 2016 in Galveston, Texas. And if you want more learning for elementary educators, consider joining us for the Tots Frisco conference July 24-26.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinEmail
EasyBib
Content AreasOnline Tools and Apps

EasyBib EDU Is Here and It’s FREE!

by Lori Gracey
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.

1 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinEmail
Newer Posts
Older Posts