December 4, 2015
WV TIS Cohort 2015‐2016
Volume 4, Issue 8
Tis and That Background image from www.pixabay.com.
“A moment on the lips; forever on the hips.” ~ Anonymous In this ar cle we will take a look at two health and fitness apps that played a major role in my quest to get fit and lose weight. I began with a visit to my doctor and her approval to begin an exercise rou ne acceptable for my age and lose a desired amount of weight. A er star ng with a low‐end fitness band to track my daily steps, get me mo vated, and provide compe on with colleagues, I soon realized I needed more if I was going to take this endeavor seriously. Using a notebook or even an electronic spreadsheet seemed a li le an quated so an electronic calorie tracker was needed.
www.pixabay.com
LoseIt! from www.loseit.com won my selec on since it offered a free version with appealing features and user‐ friendly interface. A er entering an ini al weight and a weekly goal, it gave me a daily calorie budget and a prospec ve target date. Although it integrates with other health and fitness apps to gather and share data necessary for the goal, I entered my data daily. Calories can be entered manually or by bar code scans; sources of calories are common supermarket brands, restaurant brands, or recipes created by the user. If weight loss is a part of your LoseIt! fitness goal, I recommend LoseIt! When the rains set in and my daily walk was deterred, I had to find a replacement exercise rou ne. A er reviewing
several different fitness apps, my Daily Workouts choice was Daily Workouts from dailyworkoutapps.com. The primary reason for the choice was the demonstra on video for each exercise and they have a free version. It wasn’t long before this became one worthy of purchasing all the exercises available. At $9.99, it is loaded with 240 exercises—targe ng different parts of the body—including Pilates, stretching, and Ke le exercises. You can customize your workout rou ne with mul ple workouts and determine how many minutes you wish to spend on each rou ne. This app includes a disclaimer that recommends the user consult with a physician before beginning any exercise rou ne. The downside: If you burn 26 calories in your first rou ne and 12 in your last rou ne, the app mul plies the number of rou nes you have played through by 12. And vice versa—making the final calorie count incorrect.
Dictionary.com
This app is not just for the logophile or the occasional seeker of a defini on. There are blogs about grammar mistakes and word themes for different holidays.
This is not just a free graphing calculator app. There are also interac ve ac vi es available to help students learn a variety of math concepts. Just visit the Desmos Graphing website and go to Classroom Ac vi es to check them out. Calculator
Are There Resources?
The Hour of Code is Coming!
Students of all ages can choose from a variety of self‐guided tutorials, from Kindergarten to College. Tutorials work on any modern browser, tablet, smartphone, or even with no computer at all. You can join wherever you are, with whatever you have.
What is the Hour of Code? The Hour of Code is a one‐hour introduc on to computer science, designed to demys fy coding and show that anybody can learn the basics of coding. The goal of the Hour of Code is not to teach anybody to become an expert computer scien st in one hour. One hour is only enough to learn that computer science is fun and crea ve, that it is accessible at all ages, for all students, regardless of background. Every student should have the opportunity to learn computer science. It helps nurture problem‐solving skills, logic and crea vity. By gaining exposure, students will have a founda on for success in any 21st‐century career path.
When is the Hour of Code? Anybody can host an Hour of Code any me, but the goal is for tens of millions of students to try an Hour of Code during December 7‐13, in celebra on of Computer Science Educa on Week. It is not one specific hour, instead you can you do the Hour of Code any me throughout this week! You can split up your coding into mul ple sessions or class periods, and if you can’t do it during that week, do it the week before or a er! Plus, there are Prizes! Every educator who hosts an Hour of Code is eligible to receive 10$ to Amazon.com, iTunes or Windows Store as a thank‐you gi from Code.org!
Proloquo2Go This app allows the user to choose from a plethora of symbols and provides the words associated with the symbols. Languages include English and Spanish.
Here are a few op ons: Work in pairs. Research shows students learn best with pair programming, sharing a computer and working together. Encourage your students to double up. Use a projected screen. If you have a projector and screen for a Web‐ connected computer, your en re group can do an Hour of Code together. Watch video por ons together and take turns solving puzzles or answering ques ons. Go unplugged. We offer tutorials that require no computer at all. Get the word out. Host an event. Ask a local school to sign up. Or try the Hour of Code yourself ‐‐ everyone can benefit from learning the basics.
Get Started Today Currently, West Virginia only has 181 events registered, placing us in 46th Place. Help increase these numbers by going online and registering your event today! Visit: h p://hourofcode.com
experience into an interac ve learning experience with a built‐in forma ve assessment.
Adobe Slate
Create stunning presenta on and por olios with this easy to use free mobile app. Now available on any Stage Pro Turns your iPad into an web browser!!! interac ve Padlet whiteboard. Padlet is a digital canvas to create Educanon beau ful projects that Use online video are easy to share and collaborate on. content from It works like a piece of paper, where numerous resources, you can drag in videos, record an insert ques ons throughout the interview, import pictures, write content as needed, and turn the
posts, and upload some documents.
Cause and Effect Sensory Light Box This is used to help the learner connect with the effect of placing their finger on the screen. It is available on the App Store for iPad and Google Play for Android tablets.
Sky View Free This app is best appreciated in the dark with a clear sky. Make sure GPS is turned on and point toward celes al bodies to begin learning their names—stars, constella ons, planets and, yes, manmade satellites.
Adult Education Staff Complete Verizon Mobile Learning Academy Mobile learning has the poten al to completely revolu onize how we learn and teach. But to truly be effec ve, mobile ini a ves must have strong leadership from school administrators, tech coaches and teacher leaders. That means they need to be prepared. Recently, WVAdultEd/RESA 3 staff completed a unique professional development opportunity, Verizon Mobile Learning Academy (VMLA), offered in collabora on between ISTE, Verizon, and John Hopkins University. The 10 week course provided an overview of mobile learning and its real‐life classroom implica ons, supported by hands‐on ac vi es designed to gauge a school or district’s readiness to undertake a mobile learning ini a ve. A er conduc ng a guided evalua on implementa on site based on ISTE’s Essen al Condi ons, staff received feedback highligh ng its specific areas of strength and weakness. The course then provided five modules to help enhance the implementa on of a mobile ini a on. Module 1: Discovery Readiness to implement a mobile learning ini a ve. Evalua ng the mobile learning landscape Responsibili es, issues and plans Module 2: Mobile technologies and technology frameworks Device Focus and Applica on of Framework for Mobile Learning Understanding devices Framework for effec ve technology integra on Module 3: Design ac vi es and modeling Designing collabora ve and crea ve mobile learning experiences Modeling effec ve mobile learning strategies. Wheel of Padagogy Designing mobile learning lessons Module 4: Digital ci zenship Mobile device expecta ons Modeling digital ci zenship Module 5: Policies and management Capstone project: Mobile learning ac on plan VLMA was designed to be completed as a team,
including teachers, technology integra on specialists, and an administrator. The Adult Educa on team consisted of teachers from Boone County Adult Educa on, Clay County Adult Educa on, Adult Educa on Distant Learning Coordinator, and Regional Adult Educa on Coordinator from RESA 2/3. In addi on to the course, the team was assigned an Instruc onal Coach, Karen Richardson, who provided technical feedback and guidance throughout the comple on of the project. The Adult Educa on Mobile Learning Ac on Plan targeted sharing knowledge of the VMLA learning experience and a collec on of D.N.A. Apps with educators statewide. To learn more, visit h p://www.iste.org/lead/verizon‐mobile‐ learning‐academy
Do You Have a License to Derive?
A ribu on CC BY – Redistribu on or deriva on with credit to the creator
When digitally crea ng work we have a tendency to search for exis ng work we can use rather than crea ng everything from scratch. There are so many different types of work available if you know how to seek and find. For those who are technologically advanced there is li le anyone can do and be elusive. But having the ability to find the work does not give you a license to derive let alone use. Since there are many whose livelihood is based on that crea vity, and righ ully so, the rest of us legally are obligated to seek permission for use and give credit where credit is due. It is so easy to find work we would like to use, but a li le more difficult to determine what we can use and how we can use it. We may even run into the hills screaming when it comes to determining what can be done. www.pixabay.com There are several different licenses that can be acquired for work under the crea ve commons; their descrip ons can be found on the website h ps://crea vecommons.org. When accessing the work of others to determine if it comes with a license to derive, a rule of thumb is: If there is not a crea ve commons license associated with the work and nothing explicit on the website, request permission to use the work or bypass the work and leave it alone. Current licensing symbols are shown‐below with their general tles. For details about their restric ons and requirements visit h ps://crea vecommons.org/licenses/ or h ps:// crea vecommons.org/about/cc0.
Meet the Contributors Lisa Brady is a Special Educa on Teacher at Braxton County High School. She co‐teaches in English and Social Studies classes. She has taught for over 20 years, with 16 years serving preschoolers with special needs. She also advises Student Council and Assists in Coaching Cross Country.
A ribu on‐NoDerivs CC BY‐ND – Redistribu on without deriva on with credit to the creator A ribu on‐NonCommercial‐ShareAlike – CC BY‐NC‐SA – Non‐commercial deriva on with credit to the creator and same licensing A ribu on‐ShareAlike CC BY‐SA – Deriva on with credit to the creator and same licensing A ribu on‐NonCommercial CC BY‐NC – Non‐ commercial deriva on with credit to creator op onal licensing of derived work A ribu on‐NonCommercial‐NoDerivs CC BY‐ NC‐ND ‐ Non‐commercial without deriva on credit to creator No Rights Reserved – Self‐explanatory
Real Draw V Whether you are looking for a an inexpensive alterna ve to Adobe Illustrator for yourself or as a recommenda on to a student, check out Real Draw V from Media Chance (www.mediachance.com). This app allows for a variety of inputs and outputs including Photoshop and SVG. If you have any doubts about the images, check out the ornaments created below.
Crystal Jones holds a BA in Math and Business Educa on as well as an AS in Computer Science and Applica ons. She is a ful me Math Teacher at Buckhannon‐Upshur High School where she also serves part me as a Computer Support Technician and Sophomore Class Advisor. She has 9 years of experience in teaching and 19 years in computer programming and analysis.
James Adkins holds a Master of Arts in History from American Public University; a Master of Arts in English from the University of Texas at Tyler; a Cer fica on in Adult Educa on; is a Microso Innova ve Educator, Adobe Educa onal Trainer and Adobe Campus Leader (2015); is a professional development trainer, grant writer, and QUEST Team member with West Virginia Adult Educa on and SPOKES, Clay County/RESA 3 (2 years); Service Placement Specialist at West Virginia AFL‐CIO‐HRDF youth programs (4 years).