I NNOVATIVE E DUCATOR C ONSULTING ’ S
TECHNOLOGY BYTES
“Inspired Technology Leadership to Transform Teaching and Learning”
A PRIL 2014
INNOVATIVE EDUCATOR CONSULTING’S
TECHNOLOGY BYTES Naomi Harm, CEO ◆ PO Box 188, Brownsville, MN 55919 ◆ (608) 386-2018 ◆ naomi@naomiharm.org ◆ http://naomiharm.org
Greetings and Happy April! We would welcome Spring with open arms; however it is coming slowly, very slowly! April and the new life that is creeping across the landscape will soon include the buds of trees, greenery, sounds of birds, and a newer fresher spring scent. Plenty of things to be thankful for as we transition from this past winter season. PO Box 188 Brownsville, MN 55919 Phone: (608) 386-2018 Email: naomi@naomiharm.org http://naomiharm.org #nharm
Along with the talk of spring schools begin to look toward Earth Day and other ways to involve outdoor education into the curriculum. Be sure to take a look at our list of apps to enhance your learning outdoors as well as some resources for Earth Day and the paperless classroom. We help celebrate National Poetry
S TAY C O N N E C T E D !
Month as well as provide resources for Autism Awareness and
Click on the appropriate app icon below to download our app!
many other technology resources, links, and information to keep
https://itunes.apple.com/us/
you springing forward! Enjoy!
app/innovative-educatorconsulting/id737480444?mt=8 https://play.google.com/store/ apps/details? id=com.conduit.app_2318c8d33 d6845f6824c2a14923576f9.ap http://www.amazon.com/ Conduit-Innovative-Educator-
INSIDE THIS ISSUE IEC’s Inspiring Professional Development Workshop Opportunities ........................................................................................................... 2 Googly About Google ............................................................................................ 3 Show Me the Money: Contests and Grants............................................... 3 Apps for Outdoor Exploration & Learning .................................................. 4 MS Office Finally Releases Apps for Word, Excel, & PowerPoint ... 4 Investing in the Paperless Classroom.......................................................... 5 Earth Day ................................................................................................................... 5 National Library Week (April 13-19, 2014) ............................................. 6
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From the BLOG Shelf: Library Media Specialists .................................... 6 The Digital Buzz Radio Show............................................................................. 7 Chats with Deb ....................................................................................................... 7 Technology Tips, Tricks, and Trends ............................................................. 8 Moving Into Mobile Online Course ................................................................. 8 Autism Awareness Month ................................................................................ 8 April is National Poetry Month ........................................................................ 9 Easter .......................................................................................................................... 9 Readers Feedback: How’re We Doing? ...................................................... 9
I NNOVATIVE E DUCATOR C ONSULTING ’ S I NSPIRING P ROFESSIONAL D EVELOPMENT W ORKSHOP O PPORTUNITIES April 22 ■ April 29 ■ May 6 ■ May 13 Moving Into Mobile Learning Online Course
All workshops are av ailable for graduate credit. Please click on the wo rkshop title for more information, including fees, details regarding graduate credit, and online registration.
Moving into Mobile Learning and Creativity in the Mobile Classroom are e-learning courses for teachers that explain and demonstrate the implementation of mobile learning with interactive activities and locally relevant classroom examples. These courses help teachers transition to mobile learning with background research, planning strategies, and suggested technology apps and online tools. They offer suggestions for assessing student learning with mobile devices and managing a mobile learning environment.
April 30 iDeisgn: Creating Authentic Learning Centers in the Elementary and Middle School Environment Host Site: Medford School District This hands-on iPad workshop for intermediate and advanced users will have you creating rich content activities and digital products for dedicated learning centers to empower student learning. These activities can be easily reproduced so students can work in cooperative groups or students can take the lead and model their peer coaching skills to facilitate an iPad learning center in your classroom environment. Please note: This workshop is designed for intermediate level users of iPad technologies.
June 11 - 13 Summer Tech Splash -- Registration will open by April 7th! Host Site: Portage School District This innovative technology event will offer dynamic learning opportunities to focus on building a collaborative culture to learn and lead in the digital age. The twenty technology infused sessions will inspire team collaboration, sharing of digital resources, and investigating and tinkering with new ideas. Sessions topics include Flipped Teaching, Makerspaces and Robotics, Digital eBook Creation w/ iBooks Author, Everything Google and Student Projects, Multitude of iPad Creation Literacy Center Activities, BYOD and SAMR, and Minecraft and Gaming in the Classroom.
SUM M ER TEC H SPLASH EV E NTS The following dates are confirmed for Summer Tech Splash events. Summer 2014 is going to knock your socks off with great variety of creative content workshops. You won’t want to miss it!
JUNE 11 - 13 ⇢ PORTAGE, WI
AUGUST 5 - 6 ⇢ WINONA, MN
Flipped Teaching, Makerspaces and Robotics, Digital eBook Creation w/ iBooks Author, Everything Google and Student Projects, Multitude of iPad Creation Literacy Center Activities, BYOD and SAMR, and Minecraft and Gaming in the Classroom
Tinkering Learning Labs with DIY, Makerspaces and Robotics Sylvia Martinez, author of Invent To Learn, and national edtech leader will be leading this Makerspace learning event!
JUNE 18 ⇢ GALESVILLE, WI Everything Google and Student Projects, iPad Content Creation, Flipped Teaching, Robotics, Redesign Your Classroom
JULY 16 - 17 ⇢ IOWA-GRANT, WI Everything Google and Student Projects, iPad Content Creation, Flipped Teaching, Robotics, Redesign Your Classroom
JULY 30 - 31 ⇢ TBD SOON!
AUGUST 11 - 12 ⇢ WISCONSIN RAPIDS, WI Everything Google and Student Projects, iPad Content Creation, Flipped Teaching, Robotics, Redesign Your Classroom
AUGUST 19 - 21 ⇢ ALTOONA, WI Three day immersion of everything Google Apps has to offer, embedded with mobile assessment, student projects, Google Drive workflow, Chrome, Apps and Extensions, power searching, add-ons, scripts, and so much more! Facilitated by inspiring Google Certified/Qualified Teachers from MN and WI.
Tinkering Learning Labs with DIY, Makerspaces and Robotics
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G OOGLY A BOUT G OOGLE ✦ Google Apps - What's New in Apps Newsletter ✦ You’ve heard of the Chrome Web store and you’ve probably heard of the Drive App section of Google Drive. Well, now Google Docs and Sheets have their very own section for add-ons! These tools, which are built on top of App Script, bring advanced functionality to Docs and Sheets that aren’t available natively. See some of the top Add-ons, but remember to take a look as there are many more available! ✦ Google recently announced a new lower price for its online storage. These prices make it much more manageable and easy to fund all your online storage in the same place. ✦ Edit images right within Google Slides and Drawings! Now you have the ability to crop, apply shape masks, and add borders to your images right within your presentation. ✦ Maximize the power of a collaborative Google Doc, help support students in the editing process by utilizing voice comments on Docs. You can click here and here to read about adding voice comments. ✦ Google Calendar events will now have a Hangout video call link! New calendar events will now have a Hangouts video call link added automatically to save time and reduce last minute confusion and delays when event creators forget to add a Hangouts link. Additionally, you can add names to your Hangouts video links to make it easier for everyone to join the video call. Please note the following: • Hangout video calls are only added if the event creator has an active Google+ profile. • Admins can disable this feature through the calendar settings page in the Admin console. Users will still be able to add or remove Hangouts video call links from events, but will not be able to set their own defaults. • The Admin console setting is launched to both Rapid and Scheduled release domains but it only affects users in Rapid release domains. Scheduled release domain admins have at least two weeks to test this feature before it launches to their end users.
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S HOW M E THE M ONEY : C ONTESTS AND G RANTS Device Grants for Google in Education Solve For Tomorrow Contest Due Date: April 14, 2014 The Contest challenges entrants to describe how STEM can help improve the environment in their communities. Samsung will select 15 schools to receive $35,000 technology grants. Illustrate Book Covers Due Date: April 25, 2014 This contest helps pair a student illustrator to a novel written by another student. Student written novels have already been selected and looking for the right illustrator. Are you a student illustrator and up to match your talents with a student novel? Take this challenge! Innovative Educator Consulting’s 20% Constructive Play Time Contest Due Date: May 1, 2014 "If you were encouraged to explore, tinker, and follow your curiosity for learning as 20% of your work weekthrough constructive play time, what passion-driven idea would you pursue to enhance your profession as an educator and WHY?" Tell us your story, and share your ideas to win a collaborative tech team pass at one of our 2014 Summer Tech Splash events. Wisconsin IDEAS Student Photo Contest Due Date: May 6, 2014 Students in grades 6 - 12 may submit images to be judged by quality of composition, elements of design, concept, color and technical quality for a chance to win an iPad Mini, iPod Touch, or iPod Nano.
A PPS
FOR
O UTDOOR E XPLORATION & L EARNING
FREE UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED This list comes to you courtesy of Kris Szajner a Kindergarten STEM teacher from Winona, MN. You can also follow Kris on Twitter! Now that spring is upon us we are all itching to get back into the outdoors. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been inside too much and now that spring is here: it’s time to change that. Life still needs a balance between the adventurous outdoors and our use of technology, but when integrated well these two areas can compliment for some great experiential learning. Geocaching Free & $9.99 Go on the hunt to find hidden treasures right in your neighborhood. Use geolocation to hunt and find these treasures. Integrates with Geocaching.com Starwalk ($2.99) acts as your interactive guide to the skies. Receive real-time feedback as you explore the night sky with information about the stars and constellations you find. Creekwatch helps you to monitor your watershed. You can also lend a hand and report on any waterway you should pass. Aquarena was designed to support outdoor water education along the headwaters of the San Marcos River in Texas. Includes an identification guide to the common fish, birds, plants, and animals that inhabit the area used to support K-12 education. How can you use something like this or replicate the contents with your students in your area? Marine Debris Tracker is the first of this initiative. It is designed in hopes to spread awareness of marine debris as well as serve as a tool for easy marine debris data collection. Fotopedia Wild Friends is a collection of stunning imagery taken throughout 125 missions spanning over 48 different countries. **NOTE: App does require an internet connection! iNaturalist Explore, Learn, and Record! This app helps to record observations of the natural world and contribute to iNaturalist.org. Learn to observe and take note of the natural events that occur in nature.
Journey North explores seasonal change by engaging students in a global study of the migration of wildlife during seasonal changes. K-12 students can share their field observations with classmates across North America. Natures Notebook allows users to observe and record plant and animal life cycle events, like plant flowering and bird migration. Record the observations made over the course of the seasons. Park Wildlife Free is an interactive field guide that will share wildlife and plants of over 100 National Parks as well as helps you identify native trees and wildflowers. The guide is also chalked full of useful information about each park. GoSkyWatch Planetarium Identify and locate stars, planets, and the constellations by simply pointing toward the sky. Project Noah allows you to document our planet's biodiversity as you share your encounters with the wildlife around you. Leafsnap is an electronic field guide with visual recognition software to help identify tree species from photographs of the leaves. Earth Explorers Follow the Earth Explorers as they venture into dangerous and remote places of the world; the depths of the ocean, the north and south poles, dense rain forests, mountains and caves. Enhance the experience by downloading the Augmented Reality experience and use your mobile device inside the exhibition.
MICROSOFT OFFICE FINALLY RELEASES APPS FOR WORD, EXCEL, & POWERPOINT This free version allows users to view documents but not edit. In order to create and edit, an Office 365 subscription is needed. Watch this short video to learn more about Office for iPad and check out some of the features they have by clicking on the links to the right.
Microsoft Word for iPad Microsoft Excel for iPad Microsoft PowerPoint for iPad
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C ELEBRATING M OTHER E ARTH : I NVESTING IN THE P APERLESS C LASSROOM What does it mean to go paperless? Balance is important and while we are not telling you to live without paper, the “paperless� concept helps you to consider if paper is the best means for the work or if there is a better option. In a paperless environment students can access their lessons and homework in the cloud. Paperless environments have many benefits as well. The cost savings to a school/district helps to support other key needs in the curriculum, helping our students to practice for the future, creating efficient workflows and opportunities to collaborate as well as teaching us to be more earth friendly. The Teachers Manual to the Paperless Classroom The Paperless Classroom with Google Docs Paperless Classroom with Google Docs (Recorded Hangout) Paperless Classroom - Pinterest Resources Paperless Classroom - Presentation & Additional Resources Showbie Blog - Paperless Classroom Solution The Paperless Classroom - Online Course Go Paperless Resources
E ARTH D AY Earth Day Teacher Resources Earth Day Lesson Plans Time For Kids- Green Tips Environmental Education for Kids Environmental Protection Agency-School Project Resources and Ideas Read Write Think Earth Day Lesson Plans EARTHCAST14-SHARKS ALIVE - VIRTUAL FIELD TRIP- April 22nd Earth Day with Scholastic
A LL A BOUT S CIENCE G ROUP This group, hosted by Science NetLinks, is a place to discuss, ask questions, and learn about the latest happenings in science (STEM), and science education. Science NetLinks is produced by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and is a Verizon Thinkfinity content partner.
C ONNECT ! T RANSFORM
THE F UTURE Created to complement the themes of the Electropolis 3D film and the Plan It Green: The Big Switch! game, National Geographic Education designed educational materials to bring students in Grades 4-12 content about energy sources, energy efficiency, and energy conservation. These free, online education resources are standards-based materials created for teachers and informal educators to use to engage students in science, social studies, and geography concepts related to energy.
E NERGY
IN A H IGH T ECH W ORLD With support from the American Petroleum Institute, Science NetLinks has developed a number of resources that examine the
science behind energy and oil refining.
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National Library Week, April 13-19 How are you going to celebrate with your your local library? Here are a few ideas. Tweet about how the library has changed your life using the hashtag #liveschange and #nlw14. If your story needs more than 140 characters please encourage them to add it to the @ your library story collection.
FROM THE BLOG SHELF ✦ LIBRARY MEDIA SPECIALISTS ✦ Librarian Blogs Shannon McClintock
Ask students to snap a library selfie that tells their story. If you don't already have a speech bubble prop like the one the Queens Library has employed, they’ve created a PDF template which you can download and print. Thanks to Megan McFarlane, Campaign for America's Libraries
Gwyneth Jones- The Daring Librarian Joyce Valenza More from Joyce Valenza
Coordinator and ALA Librarian, Valerie Hawkins for posing for the image below. To make the speech bubble reusable have the print mounted to Fome-Cor and laminated at your local copy shop. A dry-erase marker can easily be wiped off the surface. If your library uses Flickr, join our Lives change @ your library group or share on your favorite social media channel using the hashtags #liveschange and #nlw14. And stay tuned, we'll be announcing a contest
Wisconsin Innovative Library Media and Technology Specialists Diana Knight Donna Smith Emily Dittmar Jennifer Malphy
related to this promotion. WEMTA 2014 - the educational and media conference for Wisconsin took place March 23, 24, and 25th at the Kalahari Resort in WI Dells, WI and the Innovative Educator Consulting team was there facilitating several sessions. Naomi was also one of three spotlight speakers for this event. Naomi provided hands-on workshops and dedicated sessions on “Best Practices on BYOD,” ‘Personalized Learning,” and “iDesign Literacy Center Activities.” ALL the conference handouts can be found here from all the innovative sessions. Here is a collection of the conference tweets curating theme through Tagboard.
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T HE D IGITAL B UZZ R ADIO S HOW The March 7th live radio broadcast from Portland, OR focused on three collaborative global and mobile learning topics. Naomi provided updates from The Intel Global Roundtable on collaborating with over fourteen countries. She shared the latest Intel Elements course on "Moving Into Mobile and Personalized Learning," and the final learning segment featured mobile learning in the art classroom with Augmented Reality. Special shoutout to Randy Maves, a phenomenal art and digital design teacher in Portland, OR. HERE IS THE COLLECTION OF SUPPORT RESOURCES NAOMI MENTIONED DURING THE DIGITAL BUZZ RADIO SHOW. Intel Elements: Moving Into Mobile Learning eCourse ARt: (Augmented Reality in the ART Classroom): Beyond the Gallery Wall- ISTE Article Augmented reality allows videos to ‘play’ on yearbook pages Augmented Reality Brings New Dimensions to Learning Augmented Reality - Aurasma App and Classroom Examples Integration of Augmented Reality in the Classroom Google Glass - An Interview with WI Educators and Naomi Harm on Purpose of Classroom Application Wikitude AR App The Digital Buzz radio also boradcasted live from the WEMTA conference March 24, 25, and 26th from the Kalahari Resorts in WI Dells, WI. Here is where you can find the archived radio shows from the edtech conference event. Special thanks to Robin Hosemann, Brandon Berrey, Jake Crase and Jenna Linskens for taking time out of their busy conference schedule to be interviewed and share their new learning with us! On Friday April 4th at 9AM CST Naomi will be providing a digital radioshow on “Meeting the Needs of Every child Through Personlized Learning” To listen to the live broadcast, you can tune in live here. This monthly radio show is broadcasted live the first Friday of every month at 9AM CT and found on The Digital Buzz channel on Spreaker. You can also tap into the archived radio broadcasts from the past two years. In addition, please join the Intel Teacher's Engage Community to continue your learning on more collaborative and shared resources from The Digital Buzz radio show and Intel Teacher’s Engage learning community.
C HATS
WITH
D EB
“Mrs. Norton’s Neighborhood” In this video, Deb Norton talks about using a site called Geddit. This is a great tool for the 1:1 or BYOD classroom to monitor student understanding and learning. Click here to watch this Chat with Deb video. R ESOURCES S HARED
IN THIS
V IDEO :
www.letsgeddit.com Sharing Technology blogpost Deb's email: nortond@ripon.k12.wi.us
Also join us for these upcoming dynamic webinars and as always - they are FREE!!!! April 25: 1:1 The Infrastructure and Architecture Question (7PM CT) April 29: Badges (7PM CT)
SHAKE AND TEACH APP- COMING REAL SOON FROM INTEL EDUCATION! And yes there is an app for that! By the end of April, Intel Education will be adding another new app to its lineup of student interactive creation tools. The new app will be called: Shake and Teach. It will allow teachers or students to create and choose from over 100,000 teaching ideas, lessons and challenges. It will include a unique shake and learn interface, with swipe options to flip individual cards and so much more. And the best part yet- it will be FREE! Look to next month’s Technology Bytes eNewsletter for the free app downloads of the iOS, Android and Windows versions.
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T ECHNOLOGY T IPS , T RICKS
T RENDS
AND
2014 Horizon Report: Trends and Challenges for Higher Education 10 Tips for School Library Media Specialists Hand over the iPad: Seattle Doctor Says Babies Should Use Tablets National Library Week April 13-19- What are you going to do to celebrate? Tips for Finding The Right Apps for Teaching and Learning Build and Collaborate with Gooru Resources
A UTISM A WARENESS M ONTH Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and autism are both general terms for a group of complex disorders of brain development. These disorders are characterized, in varying degrees, by difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behaviors. ASD can be associated with intellectual disability, difficulties in motor coordination and attention and physical health issues such as sleep and gastrointestinal disturbances. Some persons with ASD excel in visual skills, music, math and art. But how can we best meet the needs of our ASD students as we work with them on a daily basis, and model how to find educational success focused on their individual learning pathways?
M OVING I NTO M OBILE L EARNING O NLINE C OURSE
HERE ARE A FEW RESOURCES TO GET YOU STARTED:
A PRIL 22 ▪ A PRIL 29 ▪ M AY 6 ▪ M AY 13
Autism Outreach Apps
Presenters: Naomi Harm and/or Tim Nielsen
Do2Learn
Moving into Mobile Learning and Creativity in the Mobile Classroom are e-learning courses for teachers that explain and demonstrate the implementation of mobile learning with interactive activities and locally relevant classroom examples. These courses help teachers transition to mobile learning with background research, planning strategies, and suggested technology apps and online tools. They offer suggestions for assessing student learning with mobile devices and managing a mobile learning environment.
e-Ready
Click here for more information, including fees, graduate credit details, and registration link.
Apps for Autism Autism Apps: Best Apps for Kids Autism Games
Free and Reduced Apps for Autism Awareness Month Learning Difficulties My Easy Bee My Easy Bee Sort Results By Need OT’s With Apps and Free Apps for Autism Awareness Smart Apps for Special Needs Wheel of Apps Dyslexia Wheel of Apps for Students with ASD World Autism Awareness Day
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E ASTER
A PRIL IS N ATIONAL P OETRY M ONTH
Easter Resources and Activities
Daily Poetry: 5 Tools to Support Poetry in the Classroom
ESL Kids Easter Games and Activities
Classroom Poetry Lessons
Easter & Spring Party Ideas
National Poetry Month: Resources for Teachers and Students
Easter Printables
6 Technology Based Poetry Ideas for Students
Easter Lesson Plans EdHelper Easter Activities
Pinterest Page- Poetry Black Out Poetry Word Clouds by ABCya.com--iOS App
Poetry Genres: Some of the popular ReadWriteThink interactives have been turned into apps, and they are great for young writers: Diamante Acrostic Theme
And a collection of interactive tools to create poems with your students from Read-Write-Think:
T ELL US HOW WE ' RE DOING ! We always look for feedback whether it is our workshops, workshops teachers are looking for, or what we can do to help support educators in their districts. Technology Bytes is no different and we
Read Write Think
would like to know what you think or if you have
Poem Generator
any suggestions for us to
April is National Poetry Month Word Mover Interactive Trading Card Creator And 59 Other Student Interactives
improve our monthly enewsletter! We thank you for your time and open, honest feedback! THANK YOU! Click here to take the brief survey!
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We hope April provides for you a wealth of opportunities of inspiration, happiness and gratitude! #TogetherWeAreBetter from the Innovative Educator Consulting Team!