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Content AreasiOS Tips and TricksProfessional Learning

Napkin PD: Solving Problems Together

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Creating engaging professional learning sessions that model PBL in a device-agnostic environment can be challenging. Come along as we explore a workshop design that focuses on solving problems together in a BYOD setting. You will also get the chance to see some of our favorite teacher-created products in this one and a half to three hour session.

Essential Elements

Before we jump into the project stations, let’s review a few components common to each. Each project station includes three components:

  • Explore
  • Adapt/Create
  • Share

In the Explore portion, participants are presented with a simulation of a real-life problem. They work to develop background knowledge in the key concept shared. In the Adapt/Create, they make connections between their own experiences as learners. Two ways to accomplish this include adapting an existing work in light of new information. The second way is to create a new product. After they create or adapt, they share that online with a global audience. Sharing is accomplished via a Seesaw Class space.

All project stations are designed to facilitate hands-on learning experiences. You can learn more about the reason why PBL remains a solid hands-on learning strategy to engage learners of any age. Let’s get started.

An example of a fanciful way of removing trash

Project Station #1: Dealing with Trash

In the Explore stage, participants are introduced to a problem. The problem is about communication, and involves learning how to use various iOS apps. In this case, the scenario is simple:

Your editor has just noticed a news story about trash on a small island. The problem involves local trash disposal issues in your hometown. The task involves providing information, raising awareness, and preparing a call to action for this Sunday’s television editorial.

Participants are encouraged to create a product that models various ways to solve the problem or interview experts on how to best get rid of trash on the island and around town. A variety of apps are provided.

Remember you can “app-smash” or combine the products of multiple apps into one. Participants also have access to other resources, as needed:

The goal is to provide time and an incentive to model collaborative problem-solving as learners explore various technologies intended for use on the Apple iPad, a device many districts have available.

Project Station #2: Parking Lot Solution

napkin pd

One example of a teacher-created product

In this project, a problem that takes advantage of drawing and communication tools is presented to participants. The first stage, Explore, includes the following:

In the school parking lot, there was a car accident between two teachers. Both complained that in the parking lot, the spaces were poorly designed and hard to navigate. How could you redesign the parking lot to minimize the likelihood of accidents and maximize the number of parking spaces?

In the Adapt/Create stage, participants are invited to use one of the tools below to redesign the parking lot and create a product they can share with the team.

A popular activity, participants found various ways to showcase their parking lot designs.

Project Station #3: Ghostwriters to the Rescue

In this tragic problem, participants assume the role of ghostwriters, called upon to finish a task.

A celebrated illustrator and author created beautiful picture books. Unfortunately, she died before she could finish. Help her editor and family create an illustrated story. Together, select pictures from the web and develop a story that models story/plot development. Create a short video with the first elements of a story.

Learners are encouraged to use one of the tools included to create a short video.

  • Image Sources
  • Google Slides
  • Screencastify
  • Nimbus Screenrecording

Participants are also invited to add interactive elements by incorporating a variety of media with a MMTS or inquiry-based hyperdoc. Resources include the following:

Creating hyperdocs or multimedia text sets can be engaging, if time-consuming for some participants. Often, working with video serves as a convenient alternative.

 

Watch video. One of my favorite creations. This team’s inventiveness captured the fun of the Elementary Technology Conference.

Project Station #4: Weather Forecast Needed

Ready to put your green screen skills to the test? Consider this scenario:

Congratulations! You have been selected as the new weather forecaster/meteorologist at the local news station. Budget cuts have made it impossible for you to travel to locations in the viewing area. The first weather forecast is coming up at 5:00 p.m. today.

Breaking News: An oil spill has taken place on the Galveston coast in the midst of a water spout.

Working with your team, take advantage of green screen technologies to create a weather forecast report for the local news broadcast. Your end product will be a video that will be run on the evening news.

Participants explore the DoInk Green Screen app (Watch the video ), as well as watch this Jonathan Wylie created sway. Participants are also encouraged to visit the Go Green resource page. It features videos, blog entries, a sketchnote of ten ways to get started with green screen for under $5, and much more.

This has resulted in several inspired creations that are sure to make you smile.

More Project Stations

The session includes two additional project stations focused on encouraging participants to collaborate and create an infographic or digital story of a screen play. In the last project station, participants rely on paper slides to create a presentation to address a serious global problem.

Turn Napkin PD into a Reality

Want to schedule TCEA professional learning for your school district that focuses on project-based learning? Fill out a TCEA logistics form, as well as attend our face-to-face conferences and the annual TCEA Convention. We can help you turn your napkin professional development plans into a reality. And be sure to check out other  “napkin PD” blogs here.

 

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androidify
AndroidChromebooks

Androidify Learning

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

“Ninety-two percent of students say that it is easier to use their mobile device to improve their access to information,” says Daniel Adeboye, citing university research. “Not every classroom can get a laptop every day, so [devices like smartphones], even if you have to pair up, become something useful for teachers,” says Ken Halla, a classroom teacher. In this blog entry, let’s explore a few, effective ways to “androidify” learning in your classroom.

Research Insights

Do BYOD devices enhance learning or distract learners? Let’s take a look at one meta-analysis of 110 studies, The effects of integrating mobile devices with teaching and learning on students’ learning performance: A meta-analysis and research synthesis.

androidify

Use the Android app PicsArt Photo Studio to create infographics like this one

Mobile devices…

  • Support various teaching styles, including lecture-style teaching, convenient information gathering, information sharing, cooperative learning, exploratory learning outside the classroom, and game-based learning.
  • Facilitate the development of communication, problem-solving, creativity, and other high-level skills among students.
  • Feature individualized interfaces, real-time access to information, context sensitivity, instant communication, and feedback.

In-Classroom Strategies

While the debate rages on the effectiveness of smartphones in the classroom, many educators and students have already taken the plunge. Consider the slide show, Thirty-three ways to use mobile phones in the classroom (PDF) as a starting point.

Effective Mobile Device Use

Daniel Adeboye makes the point that use of technology in classrooms often enhances efficiency, rather than improves learning effectiveness. He suggests several approaches, among them these three:

  • Audio recording
  • Live polling tools
  • Video creation

Some would also add tools that facilitate staying in touch with students, such as Remind.com for “real-time messaging for your school, group, or just a single person.” However, while educators like Ken Halla have compiled excellent lists of educational apps for BYOD, in this blog entry I’d like to make some of my own recommendations.

1- Audio Recording

As a veteran audiophile, my go-to set of recording tools includes the following:

  • Voxer.com: While many educators use Voxer to participate in audio-only communities and audio chats, only a few take advantage of it as a recording tool. You can record interviews with others using “My Notes.” Add an iRig Mic to enhance audio quality. You can save the audio as an MP3 file to the cloud. If you prefer to tweet the audio as a link, that option is available. Maximum record time is fifteen minutes.
  • HiQ MP3 Recorder: A drop-dead simple audio recorder, HiQ MP3 Recorder (free version) can save to MP3 audio format. You can get the audio off the device quickly, saving to Dropbox, Google Drive, or taking advantage of an app’s built-in WiFi Drive. WiFi Drive allows you to connect via a web browser on a computer (or another mobile device). Once connected, you save a copy of the audio file. This is a real time saver. Unlike Voxer, an account is not required to use HiQ MP3 Recorder. Maximum record time is 10 minutes in the free version.

Audio recordings can be used to monitor and/or assess students’ grasp of a subject or target language.

2- Live Polling Tools

Mobile devices facilitate “instant-feedback functions.” These functions “solve the difficulty of efficiently executing…formative assessment in a class with many students,” say the authors of the meta-analysis cited earlier. Many choices are available.

  • Poll Everywhere: Available for several years, this is often the go-to choice for conducting polls.
  • VoxVote: This app provides five events for free and allows for unlimited audience voting.

Some other tools include iClicker, Sli.do, and Quick Tap Survey. Add interactivity with tools like Kahoot! and Quizizz.

3- Video Creation

“By 2017, video is predicted to be two-thirds of the world’s mobile data traffic,” point out the authors of this article. Anyone can create a video with a smartphone. However, editing the video to good effect can be challenging on the small device. Just as iOS users enjoy a few tools like iMovie (free), Videocraft ($2.99),  Pinnacle Studio ($12.99), or Filmic Pro ($14.99), so do Android users.

Note: Remember that you need to be logged in with a personal Google account, not a G Suite EDU, to access links to apps in the Google Play store. Otherwise you will get an error.

Before jumping into a list of Android video creation and editing tools, it wouldn’t hurt to review the article, Six tips for successful mobile video assignments. Video creation and editing expectations need to be lower than desktop editing. Most “free” tools include watermarks that can only be removed with a monthly or annual subscription. If you need to record your Android screen, use XRecorder. The tools below focus on video editing.

  • YouCut – Video Editor & Video Maker, No Watermark: An easy to use video editor that will have you combining pictures, videos, and music (free titles available).
  • Filmora Video Editor: From their website, app creators describe it as “A pretty powerful video editor application, which will not stamp a watermark or place a time limit on your clip.” With FilmoraGo, you can make video with music and effects and then share to social media.
  • VideoShow Video Editor: This editor with in-app purchases offers simple editing, subtitles, and over a thousand music clips. A companion app, GIFGuru, makes animated GIFs possible. VideoShow allows conversion of the video to MP3 audio. Creating a video for class assignments shouldn’t be too difficult.
  • Action Director Video Editor: Action Director offers a variety of options, including editing video, adding music, and more.

Android Authority has a few more choices listed. Try these three first. Kinemaster, ALIVE MovieMaker, and PowerDirector were objectionable for various reasons. Provided video editing is not a class assignment, students can use the Seesaw app to capture student video summaries. The real challenge for video on Android is video rendering time. Not all Android devices are created equal.

Green Screen Tip

On iOS, the DoINK Green Screen app reigns supreme. Green screen can also be done on Android. For video editing, try the paid version of Media Studio. For a one-time charge ($14.95), additional features can be purchased. These features include the green screen effect and audio recording/editing tools. For photos, use PhotoLayers (features in-app ads).

Androidify Learning in Your Classroom

As you work to “androidify” your classroom, remember to have fun. One complaint I often hear about BYOD involves teachers’ lack of familiarity with the right apps. They often do not know how to match apps to an instructional purpose. Consider these apps as a starting point.

Update: This blog entry was updated on 04/01/2020 with new information.

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green screen on smartphone
AndroidEducational TrendsiOS Tips and Tricks

Go Green Screen, Have Fun

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

“You know, that shade of green is perfect for green screen in your classroom,” I remarked to my wife, a second grade teacher. We had just finished setting up one of her bulletin boards. I opened up the Green Screen by Do Ink app and aimed it at the bulletin board featuring her class rules. Sure enough, the rules appeared to float on a sea of black (evidence that the shade in green butcher paper was perfect). Have you considered that an inexpensive green screen is only a sheet of butcher paper away?

In this blog entry, we’ll explore a variety of ideas for using green screen in the classroom. These are ideas curated from various Twitter feeds and blog entries available on the web. Let’s start with the basics. You may also want to read my previous blog entry, Four Tips for Green Screen in the Classroom.

The Basics

A green screen allows you to display video or images of far-away places. At the same time, you can have students in your classroom speak to what is displayed in those images or videos. Think of the local television news weather personality.

green screen

The weatherman spends his time in front of the screen using a large television screen monitor off to the side as a reference point (see the above example from a Facebook Live broadcast from KENS 5 Television in San Antonio, Texas during an early August 2017 thunderstorm).

green screenTo get started, you will need a screen solution (e.g. the right shade of butcher paper, a $.99 green tablecloth from Dollar Tree, or green cloth) and one of the apps below. If you have an iOS device, the best app on the market is Green Screen by Do Ink, although you can accomplish even more with Touchcast (but some find it a little difficult to understand at first).

Green Screen Apps

Let’s take a look at a few activities to get going with green screen.

Activity #1 – Make Your Wall Green

Ready to paint your wall green? Try green screen paint from Home Depot (e.g. Sparkling Apple).

Some more tips (source):

  • Get inexpensive green tablecloths from Dollar Tree and hang those up, using tape to smooth out wrinkles.
  • If you are shooting with two different green sources such as a painted platform and a cloth/tablecloth backdrop, it’s best to match the color as close as possible between the two.
  • You can also build your own portable green screen out of PVC pipe.
  • You can also pick up green paper plates and more to create a porthole in a ship or cockpit in an airplane or spaceship.

Activity #2 – Set Up Your Own Mini Screens

green screen

Use a wall-based green screen, green tablecloth, or mini green screens using a green file folder. Get the green three-tab file folder from Staples. Pizza boxes spray painted green will also work well. Affix student creations, LEGO people, and other props to green craft sticks  or green straws or suspend them with all-purpose green thread as you would puppets in front of a green screen. The green craft sticks and thread become invisible due to their color, allowing them to be suspended in mid-air. If you want to manipulate objects with your hands, why not wear green gloves? Green gloves can make your hands invisible. You can get disposable, green latex, powder-free gloves at a low cost.

Activity #3 – PBL with Green Screen

There are many ways to use PBL in a green screen-equipped classroom. For example, students in @MsTranClass get focused on the PBL activity:

green screen

Students can easily create non-fiction, fiction, or informational presentations featuring green screened solutions. Here are some fantastic ideas for PBL, How To Integrate Green Screens into Any Classroom. Some more ideas:

Activity #4 – Green Screen Dioramas

green screen

Why not create a video diorama using a green screen pizza box or box? Students can populate their creation with action figures that they move around with green rulers or straws (or suspend with green string). This adds another level of excitement and animation to the dioramas once created out of shoe boxes.

Students can also recreate scenes from their favorite movies, using action figures against a real life backdrop. Consider dinosaurs, Star Wars, or Star Trek as ways to create engaging plots and stories that explain academic topics. Can your students retell a favorite fairy tale or myth using Star Wars characters?

Looking for More?

Curious about more activities? Find more of my curated resources online. Also, follow @doinktweets and Tricia Fuglestone (@fuglefun) Twitter accounts to see fresh ideas about green screen use.

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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.

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