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Matt’s Media Tips 1-10 Building out the New Year
‘Tis the season for new resolutions, fresh starts and all of that jazz. It also is roughly six months more until summer break! With that in mind I wanted to share with you some of the new(ish) things that you can do with Discovery Education. Over the next two weeks we’ll explore the Discovery Education Builders and Classroom Management tools. Of course, as always, I’ll highlight new and innovative iPad apps and call out really interesting webinars - so be sure to check out the links on the third page. This week we’re going to explore the Writing Prompt Builder, Quiz Builder and Assignment Builder. And while were not really going to touch on it today; if you have access to Discovery Education Science Elementary, Middle, or Techbook, there is a great webinar on 1/17 at 7pm EST on the formative assessment tools built into those sites. If that is of interest to you check out the Evaluating Student Knowledge: Formative Assessments within Discovery Education Science Techbook webinar. So let’s get into it. Here are five of my favorite things you can do with the Discovery Education Builders The Writing Prompt Builder is one of my favorite tools within Discovery Education. It can be used to teach so many different types of lessons, topics and grades. And, since you can embed almost any web 2.0 website into the builder, it really becomes a versatile tool for your students as well. I’ve seen it used as an interactive science journal tool, an innovative way to assign math prompts, a creative way to reach ELL students, and much, much more. But two of the coolest things that I think you can do with a Writing Prompt Builder is 1. Embed an eReader into your Writing Prompt (truth be told - once you know how to do this you can add an eReader into any of the Builders) and 2. Embed an instant messenger tool into your Writing Prompt Builder.
1. Embedding an eReader into your Writing Prompt. Creating and embedding an eReader into your Writing Prompt is a fantastic way to help your ELL students master a concept and/or language. And not only can you, the teacher, embed an eReader, your students can embed the tool into their completed prompts as well. Students simply follow the same steps as you do when crafting their responses. Therefore, it becomes a very powerful tool not only for your read/write learners but also an awesome way to differentiate your instruction. I actually showed you how to do this easy little trick back in September - check out these how-to instructions. If video is more your thing - I created a narrated screen cast for you as well. 2. Creating a back channel for your students within a Writing Prompt. You’re probably already familiar with the terms “Instant Messenger” and “Disruptive Classrooms.” While you may be thinking - ‘not in my classroom,’ let me make the case that this is actually a good thing. By creating a vehicle in which your students can communicate and brainstorm with each other encourages collaboration, fosters respect, and actually promotes a few of the 21st century literacies that we are preparing them for today. Still not convinced? What if I told you that you could moderate their conversations? Well you can! Here is a step-by-step narrated video that will walk you through the steps. The Quiz Builder is a great tool to explore. It allows you to create interactive quiz questions that can be assigned to everyone in your class or individual students. It also has lots of flexibility built into it. For example; you can choose a setting so that students see the questions in random order (great when in computer lab setting), you can allow students to see their results and/or let them retake the quiz. And, like the Writing Prompt Builder, you can include Discovery Education media (videos, songs, articles and more) as well as embed other sites into your instructions. But you can also do my next two favorite things. They are as follows: 3. Allow a video to appear when a question appears on the screen. Most people know that you can select some type of media to go along with your quizzes before your students take the entire quiz. However, most people don’t know that you can actually have a video appear when your question comes up on their screen! This wouldn’t be Matt’s Media Tips if I didn’t share the “how-to.” Here is a short little video to show you how you can tag a video to your individual questions. 4. Allow a video to appear if a student gets a question wrong. Second verse same as the first! You can also choose a setting so that if your students get a question wrong a video will appear that will give them the information they need to choose correctly the next time! Same how-to video. That brings us to the Assignment Builder which is really the Cadillac of the three builders. Not because it is the ultimate in luxury builders but it definitely is the most roomy! In fact you can embed a Writing Prompt and a Quiz into the Assignment Builder. I have seen teachers use the Assignment Builder to create interactive webquests, embed an assignment into Google Earth, and send work home to a student who was out sick. Which brings me to my fifth and final favorite thing about the Builders. 5. As I mentioned above, educators have used the Assignment Builder to create some really cool webquests and embed assignments into Google Earth. To create a webquest simply open up the Assignment Builder and edit your instructions box. Then type in some text, highlight it, and click on the little blue half-world symbol with a link on it. Then enter in the URL and you’re on your way to creating a really cool webquest. Each URL will open in a separate window so you don’t have to worry about accidentally closing out the assignment. To embed your assignment into Google Earth - check out these nifty instructions!
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Discovery Education Webinar Schedule Dates
Time (EST)
1/11
7pm 8pm
Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge Are you up for the Challenge? You have the power to shape your future! We’re thrilled to introduce you to the Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge, the nation’s premier sustainability competition that gives students the inspiration and free tools to make a difference.
1/12
7pm 8pm
DE Science Techbook: What does it look like in my classroom? During this session we’ll walk through the model lessons that are an essential and powerful component of the techbook, discuss strategies for using the 5E concept view for lesson planning, and highlight professional development resources like the 5 Minute Preps.
1/18
7pm 8pm
Making Mobile Media Meaningful in Your STEM Classroom (and beyond!) Make your classroom walls expand! Mobile phones, iPads, and tablets have the ability to create and share learning both in the classroom and in the extended online anywhere/anytime universe. In this webinar, Hall Davidson will show educators how to build interactive projects and assessments that tap and expand student knowledge with apps, QR codes, social media sites, and more. Attendees will learn how free resources, media libraries, and the web can work mobile even for students without smart phones. You don’t want to miss this webinar!
Guess what? You can now access all of the great Flash based content inside Discovery Education absolutely free on your iPad. All you need to do is download the free Rover app from the App store and start browsing!
“In an effort to enabled Flash-based content for iPads, iSWiFTER Learn has developed a new browser app, called Rover, specifically designed for educators and students that offers both pre-selected learning content and filtered web browsing.” Rover is currently available as a free download on the app store. In addition to the firewall-compliant web browser that meets the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) standards, the app contains education content from provider partners like Discovery Education, FunBrain, and 3P Learning, providers of the popular Mathletics program. Students can also access the same school-approved content on their iPads at home. "Discovery Education is excited to partner with iSwifter to expand the availability of our robust, interactive content found on the iPad," said Craig Halper, vice president, Discovery Education in a statement. "This new app will provide educators an innovative tool to deliver dynamic lessons from our suite of services and engage students' natural curiosity with thousands of Discovery Education digital learning assets." Stephen Noonoo, “iSwiFTER Releases Rover Flash Browser for iPad” T.H.E Journal, Mobile Apps/ News, 1/5/12, Online Publication. Date Accessed: 1/10/2012. http://thejournal.com/articles/
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