Adventures in Google Apps

Over the past several weeks we've been exploring Google Apps for Education here at St. John's. I really like the way Google Docs allows for collaborating on projects, but the biggest hurdle that prevented us from using it in our middle school was a registration process that requires users to sign-up with an e-mail address. We can't require our students to have internet e-mail accounts. This is why we decided to try Google Apps for Education.

The process began with signing up our school, registering our domain, and setting up our site. Our reward came this week we when we actually started using it with 6th Grade.


Signing Up/Registering Our Domain
Signing up for Google Apps for Education begins at their site. This is where the process got a little confusing for me. Thankfully our school network administrator was there to help me through the process. The first thing they ask for is your domain name. We had a couple of domain names registered to our school that we were not using so we chose one of those.
Next we had to prove to Google that we actually owned our domain. This involved either uploading a unique HTML file they supplied to our site, or by changing something called the CNAME to redirect our site to Google. Since the name we selected to use was registered to us but not an active web site, we could not upload anything to it, so we had to change the CNAME. If this part sounds confusing to you, rest assured it was confusing to me too. Thankfully our network guy knew what to do. He had to go to the site where we registered our domain and make these changes.

It took almost a week for Google to verify that we had ownership of the domain, but once it was done we could go to our site and a custom Google start page (think - iGoogle) would appear. The page included links to Google Docs, GMail, GoogleTalk, Google Calendar, and any other modules I chose to add.

NOTE: Going to www.yourdomain.com would take you to your custom start page. You can go straight to Google Docs by typing docs.yourdomain.com.


Set-Up & Adding Users
The default settings in Google Apps for Education automatically creates GMail accounts for each of your users (Think: username@yourdomain.com). Since we did not want our students to have GMail accounts, we chose to disable the GMail feature, along with GoogleTalk (Chat is blocked by our firewall anyway) and Calendar (our school site already has a calendar). This basically left Google Docs.

To get our students into the system I was able to export their usernames from our learning system into an Excel CSV file, tweak the spreadsheet a little so it looks like the one below, and upload them to our Google site. For student passwords I just assigned them a generic password and checked a box that requires them to change it the first time they login.


Our First Project
Our 6th grade history teacher wanted his students to collaborate on their class notes for his lesson on the Age of Pericles. He created a Google Presentation with a single question on each slide. We decided it would be easier for a first project to have students each working on their own slide as opposed to editing over each other on the same text document. That presentation was copied multiple times - one for each group of 4 or 5 students. Students were were then invited to collaborate on their copy of the presentation.

For the introductory lesson we just showed students how to login and access the presentation. Even though their usernames had already been imported to our Google system, for their first login they still had to do two levels of "type the squiggly word" and click on the "agree to terms" button to verify their account. We showed them the Common Craft Google Docs video to give the kids an idea how Google Docs work. Then we showed them how to open & edit their copy of the presentation. Student groups had to decide who was going to work on which slide. Their assignment was to go home and work on their questions so their answers could be shared in class the next day.

What was the first thing they all started doing? Changing the themes and watching the screen change on each of the PC's in their group. I've to to admit, that is kind of empowering - and fun. The next day, out of three class periods, all but 2 or 3 students had completed their assignment.

NOTE: The ones that didn't finish had copied the web site incorrectly in their assignment book.

Every Place Has a Story

Imagine this...

• You're on visiting a historic Civil War battlefield. You're carrying a GPS enabled PDA with you. As you walk into a particular area your PDA starts playing a recorded story of what happened on that spot. Old photos appear on the screen showing what you might have seen had you been standing there 145 years ago. As you leave that area, the audio fades out. You continue exploring and as you do different voices, sounds, and images appear specific to those locations. It's as if those places are reaching through history to tell you their story.
• You're walking through a park near your home with that same PDA. Suddenly a voice prompts you to stop and look around. It points out specific geological or natural features visible from where you are standing.
• You're strolling through the neighborhood near your school. As you walk through certain areas you hear poetry, music, or stories written by your students who were inspired by those locations.

You've just experienced place-based learning. This weekend I had a chance to attend a workshop at KQED in San Francisco. Leslie Rule of KQED led the discussion as we shared ideas and brainstormed ways that place and space can be used to add an extra dimension to learning.

Many of us have seen how tools like Google Maps and Google Earth can connect us virtually with just about any place on the planet. Google Lit Trips takes events from books and links them to places. Imagine following the journey of the Joad family from Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, or the story of gold seekers traveling from Boston to California in Sid Fleishman's The Great Horn Spoon.

Google Maps is valuable tool for organizing data and information by location. During the California wildfires last fall KPBS used Google Maps to share place-specific information with the public and alert communities of evacuation areas and road closures.

Using Google Street-View you can virtually stand in Dealy Plaza and survey the scene where JFK was shot, look up at the 6th story window where Oswald was perched waiting for the motorcade to pass by, and click down the street to the spot where the fatal shot struck the President.

While these types of place-based learning can all be done from the comfort of your own computer screen, the real power of place-based learning happens when you step outside the classroom and into the real world. You experience the content while standing in the actual spot - seeing, hearing, smelling, and feeling it for yourself. This is where things really start to get fun.

Using GPS enabled PDA's and Mediascape software Leslie showed us how to actually create a simple version of the imagined projects described above. We pulled in a picture from Google Earth of the area just outside KQED and programmed in the longitude and latitude coordinates. Then we created zones on certain areas of the map and imported pre-recorded audio that would play when the device entered those zones. Once the "mediascape" was created it was downloaded to the PDA and we ran outside to test it out.

We turned on the PDA's, waited for the GPS to acquire our position, and opened our downloaded file. The map and zones appeared on the screen we started walking. Upon entering a zone an audio clip started to play. As we stepped out of that zone the clip stopped. Errors in the GPS positioning meant that different PDA's were triggered in different spots, but for the most part, the experiment worked!

Admittedly, the technology we used was a little glitchy and it may be a while before this type of project becomes practical. The software we used only works with Windows and Windows Mobile enabled devices. Since not many PDA's are equipped with GPS capability, we had to use a separate bluetooth GPS unit to feed our position to the PDA's. It worked for some and not for others, but everyone did get a vision of how powerful this type of learning could be.

Even if you don't have all the equipment you need right now, you can still start thinking about and creating place-based content with technology you already possess. For example, you or your students could record content and upload it to your web site. That information could be downloaded to an iPod or mp3 player. Your students could use handheld GPS units or even paper maps to indicate where to play certain tracks. Then, in the future if you do get PDA's , that recorded information would be ready-made and easily moved to a GPS enabled hand-held device.

If you have no equipment at all, you can still create an educational "treasure hunt" called an EdTrek. KQED's Quest web site has an example and instructions for creating your own.

However you choose to implement it, the important thing to remember about place-based learning is that every place has a story. It could be geological, historical, personal, or inspirational. For your students it could be a specific place that works like a trigger to get them writing.

• Tell about something that happened here.
• How does this place make you feel?
• Use your words to describe the sights, sounds, textures, and smells.

For those making the learning journey through those places it will give them a new perspective as they experience that place through the words of another.

Place-Based Learning Resources:
Create-A-Scape - Software to create a mediascape.
KQED Sample Quest
Lesson Plan for Creating an Ed-Trek Activity
"No Student Left Indoors" by Jane Kirkland
Google Lit Trips

NOTE: I would not have been able to attend this workshop without a generous invitation from Janet English of KOCE. Thanks Janet for the invite and for all you do to support teachers and technology in Orange County.

Will Web 2.0 Be There When I Need It?

Warning: Normally I don't use this blog post as a forum for venting frustration, but I'm writing this today to ask, "Has this ever happened to you?"

My position here at St. John's has me spending a great deal of time working with teachers and helping them integrate technology into their lessons. While some of our teachers L-O-V-E technology and all the possibilities it offers them, many still approach these new tools with trepidation. It's a big step out of their comfort zone. While I applaud them for their willingness to take a leap forward and try something new, I'm frustrated when things just won't work as planned.

This happened last week while I was away at CUE Conference. I convinced our second grades to use Voicethread instead of Power Point for their Important Book Project. Classes worked for weeks making their pictures and recording video comments. When the teachers tried to present their final projects on Grandparents Day last Friday, Voicethread locked up and would not play. (NOTE: This Monday Voicethread added the ability to download and save projects locally. Timing is everything!)

Earlier this year 8th grade was all set to use MyBrochureMaker.com for a literature project. The site worked perfectly the day before, but when the time came for the students to start working on their projects, all that came up on their screen was the "Page Cannot be Displayed" message.

Today in the lab I had a class come in to work on a project using Kerpoof.com. I've used this site before and never had any problems but today it just wouldn't open. I posted my dilemma on Twitter and a few other colleagues shared that they were having the same problem. As a result I had to switch gears quickly and do another activity. While I can roll with these little annoyances, many of my new technology adopters see it as a reason NOT to use these new web tools and stick with "more reliable" crayon, pencil & paper projects. I can understand their feelings.

I've done enough trainings and presentations to know that the nature of all things online means that the one web tool you need might not work when you need it most. If that's true, how do I convince a timid teacher to replace their "always reliable" paper project and integrate these new web tools when they just don't trust them?

How do YOU handle this? I'd love to hear your thoughts. If nothing else, let me know I'm not alone here.

CUE Thoughts

It's Monday morning. I'm back at school, and while I'm mentally exhausted from last week's CUE Conference (and still adjusting to the time change), I need to post some of my thoughts and reflections while they are still fresh in my mind. This year's event was probably one of the best CUE experiences I've had, not just because of the sessions and presenters, but also because it provided an opportunity to connect and converse with some brilliant and talented educators, many of whom I had never met.

Most of these conversations would not have occurred had it not been for the connections I started making last summer at the Discovery National Institute. That experience really helped me jump in and start networking with people across the country and the world using online tools like Twitter, Skype, and Google Reader. It's amazing how my learning network has grown in the last 9 months. As a result, I was able to have some great conversations with people that I would never have known, and would not have approached had I not been following them online.

Wednesday - EduBloggerCon West
Thanks to Steve Hargadon (Classroom 2.0)for organizing this and to Mike Lawrence & CUE for providing rooms and wireless Internet. Those of us fortunate enough to participate in this "un-conference" got to share some great ideas and participate in some wonderful discussions. In addition to Steve, I was also able to meet several people I've been following online, but had never met in person including Jen Wagner and Sylvia Martinez. I also added a few new names to my network:

Rushton Hurley is creator of Next Vista for Learning, a free site for viewing and downloading videos created by teachers & students. Videos focus on Learning, Global Understanding, and Community Service. Rushton is also a dynamic presenter and one of the CUE spotlight speakers. I'll be blaming his Google Tools presentation for all my hours that will be eaten up playing with Google Sketch-Up.

My "serendipty" moment of the conference came during our round table discussion on Project Based Learning. Sylvia Martinez was leading the discussion. I reached in my bag and pulled out the ISTE book we've been using for our middle school teacher training, Reinventing Project Based Learning. When I praised it as a great resource a voice from across the table replied, "Hey, I wrote that book!" It was Jane Krauss, one of the authors. Of course, I had her sign my copy.

Thursday - DEN Pre-Conference
A room full of Discovery Educators was a great way to kick-off the CUE Conference. Scott Kinney gave a terrific presentation on the role that media plays in our student's lives. This event also ended up being a mini-reunion of National Institute friends. We had 8 "Academic Excursion" attendees together in the same room. Good times. Most of us got together for dinner at Las Casuelas that night.

Friday - Conference Sessions & Party Time
I've been following David Jakes on Twitter and on his blog for some time, but never had a chance to meet him until today. His presentation on Digital Storytelling opened my eyes to some new possibilities for using these with my students.

David Jakes presenting del.icio.us at one of the "CUE-Tip" mini sessions.

Jeremy Davis shared advanced Google searching and revealed some hidden Google tools - like calculator, dictionary, and custom searches.
Frank Guttler & Mitch Aiken from the American Film Institute shared their screen-education curriculum for students and gave us a sneak peak at their new AFI ScreenNation site - a place for students to post and share their videos.

After the sessions, it was party time. Since I volunteered at the registration booth this year I was invited to the Volunteer Reception at the Wyndham Hotel. That was followed by a reception for our Orange County CUE affiliate where we were introduced to our new affiliate president Lainie McGann. The night was capped off by a Discovery Education Celebration. Kudos to the Discovery folks for throwing a great party. They rented out Boomers in Cathedral City so we had the whole place to ourselves and we had a terrific time. I was one of about 200 Discovery Educators who reconnected with their inner-child as we played in the arcade, pounded down pizza & soda, and raced each other around the go-cart track. Thanks DEN!

Saturday - Wrapping it All Up
In addition to Rushton's enthusiastic Google Earth and Sketch-up session, I got to sit back and listen to David Jakes one more time before he had to fly back to icy Chicago. His 21st Century Cartography session had our heads spinning as he showed the magic that you can add to your blogs and wikis using embeded code. With a "simple" copy & paste you can bring your pages to life with podcasts, maps, street-views, and virtual tours.
In my last session of the conference I got to give back a little as I presented some of my own cool tips and tricks with other Discovery STAR Educators in their "Stealing from the STARs" session. I shared how to make PhotoStory-like movies using iMovie08 and Voicethread.

Cool Web 2.0 Tools

• PicLens - Use this browser plug-in to turn your picture searches into an infinite photo-wall. Works with most image searches and Flickr.
• MeBeam - Probably the easiest way yet to video conference. Reminds me a lot of the Brady Bunch.
• Next Vista for Learning - Rushton Hurley's online library of free videos for learners.
• AFI ScreenNation - The final piece of AFI's Screen Education curriculum. Coming soon!
• GabCast - Record & post your podcast with your cell-phone. Evoca is another tool that does the same thing.
  
• Google Sketch-Up - Design 3-D buildings and objects and drop them into Google Earth. (This is just too much fun!)

PHOTO CREDITS: Thanks to Mark Pennington & Jen Wagner.

iMovie08: Follow-Up

Here's a video clip that explains the process for creating a PhotoStory3-like digital story using iMovie08.

iMovie 08: PhotoStory for Mac?

For a PDF (printable) version of this blog click here.

Microsoft PhotoStory 3 is a great, simple way for students and teachers to create their own digital stories. I’ve demonstrated PhotoStory at several workshops and conferences and every time I do someone always asks, “Isn’t this available for Mac?” I understand the shock that Mac users experience when I tell them, “No, it’s only for Windows.” We Mac users are used to having the best, and easiest to use software. We feel slighted when something comes along that’s simple, easy, free, and we can’t have it. This is especially painful when that product comes from Microsoft.

“No. No. That’s not true! That’s impossible!”
Luke Skywalker, reacting to Darth Vader’s revelation that he is Luke’s father

For those of you who have been wanting a Mac solution to the PhotoStory dilemma, here’s something that might just work. It’s iMovie ‘08. This latest version of iMovie has drawn numerous bad reviews, mostly due to the fact that it is radically different from it’s previous version. While I’m not going to argue which is better, please allow me to present iMovie 08 as an alternative to PhotoStory. Here is an example of how to create a simple digital riddle using iMovie 08. I’ve written the steps in much the same way that similar project would be created using Photostory.

Since today is Presidents’ Day, I’m choosing to create a digital riddle about one of our Presidents, Millard Fillmore. Before starting this project I collected two pictures and placed them in a folder. One is a blank slide that I will use a background for my titles. The other is a photo of Millard Fillmore that I plan to use several times. The idea is to zoom in on certain parts of the picture and only reveal the entire photograph at the end.

Start a New Story
Go to FILE and select NEW PROJECT.
If you want your project to be a standard video format, I suggest you select a Standard (4:3) aspect ratio.


STEP 1: Import Pictures
You can bring your pictures into iMovie two ways. If they’re already in your iPhoto library, click the camera button (at the right of the screen below the preview window). Locate your pictures and drag them to the project window.
For my project, I'm saving two pictures - a blank background created in keynote and the picture of Millard Fillmore - in a folder. I can drag the pictures from the folder into the project window.
Since I want to use each picture more than once, I can drag the same picture multiple times to create copies.


STEP 2: Add Titles
Click the title button (located next to the camera button).
Select the style of title you want and drag it on top of a picture. For my President riddle I’m selecting a centered title for my questions and a lower third for my answer.

Type your titles in the preview window. You will notice that each picture with titles has a blue bar over it.

STEP 3: Add Narration
Unlike PhotoStory, there is no window to type your notes for narrating. You and your students will have to write them ahead of time and print them out or open them in a small window on your screen.

To record narration, click on the microphone button. Use your mouse to position the “red line” where you want to begin recording. When you click, you will get a 3 second countdown to begin recording. To stop recording, click the mouse button.

NOTE: In PhotoStory you only record one slide at a time. In iMovie if you don’t stop after each slide, your recording can flow into other slides. If this happens, you can adjust the length of each slide to fit the recording. In the picture below, notice that the voiceover (purple bar) for my third Millard Fillmore picture is 6.4 seconds long and the picture is only 4 seconds long.






Crop Images, Adjust Motion
Once you have adjusted the duration of your slides to match the voiceover, you can crop your images or adjust the pan and zoom. Click the crop button to make these adjustments.


You have three options.

1. FIT - Make the entire picture fit in the window. You may see black bars on the sides or top & bottom.
2. CROP - Crop the image so part of it fills the entire window.
3. KEN BURNS - Make your image pan or zoom by setting a starting and ending point.

STEP 4: Add Music
Unlike PhotoStory, iMovie does not have a music creator. To add music you must select it from your iTunes library or from the pre-made jingles found in the iLife sound effects folder.


For my President Riddle, I selected "Medal Ceremony", because it just sounds Presidential. The song will appear as a green field behind your pictures. If the song you choose is longer than your video, it will fade out at the end.

STEP 5: Save Your Video
This creates an Quicktime or m4v version of your video which will play in Quicktime Player or iTunes. Go to SHARE and select EXPORT MOVIE.


You can select different qualities and sizes. Because I want a smaller file size, I’ll pick “mobile” for my project.

Once the file has been exported, you can post it online or upload it to a video sharing site like YouTube or TeacherTube. Here’s what my finished project looks like.




iMovie 08 does much more than what is explained in this tutorial. If you want to learn more about iMovie 08, check out the video tutorials on Apple’s web site: http://www.apple.com/ilife/tutorials/#imovie

Virtual Conferences

It may sound weird, but I love going to technology conferences. Each year I get to go to CUE (Computer Using Educators) in Palm Springs and this year I plan to pay my own way to go to NECC 2008 in San Antonio - just because I feel it’s important to be there.

When I first started attending these events, it was all about the stuff. What were the coolest new tech toys? What new software titles did I want to add to my wish list for next year? I also did my best to religiously attend any and all sessions I could. Tell me more. Tell me more! I was a sponge.

Lately, my focus has seemed to shift away from the toys and all the information and focus more on the people. Networking! That’s what it’s all about now. I’ll gladly pass on a session to spend time talking and sharing ideas with a fellow educator. Sometimes I get to be the teacher, other times the learner. And sometimes, if I’m really lucky, both of us build upon each other’s thoughts and ideas and together we come up with something totally new. We'll also share Twitter and Skype names, blog and wiki addresses, and promise to stay in touch online.

The problem is, as my network grows and I start following more and more awesome educators, I hear about all these other great conferences that I would love to attend and speakers I would love to hear. For example, even though I’m here in California, I’m jealous of all you teachers enjoying FETC right now. I’m bummed I missed hearing Jeff Corwin speak - sounds like it was great! Unfortunately time, distance, and $$$ all prevent me attending.

Good news. Thanks to some cool online tools I can now attend some of these conferences virtually! Last night I was chatting with Diana Laufenburg, who will be presenting at EduCon 2008 this Saturday. Even though I can’t be there in person, I can watch her presentation live on UStream. In fact, EduCon has set up 8 Ustream channels and plans to webcast every presentation!

Earlier this year I was able to participate in the K12 Online Conference. This conference was completely virtual. All the sessions were webcast live or posted as pre-recorded podcasts with live chat discussions.

Discovery Education will also be presenting their own virtual conference on Saturday, February 2nd. For this one you can choose to attend in person with other educators at some of the satellite sites around the country, or participate from the comfort of your own home. Be sure to let Hall Davidson know if you're listening to his keynote address in your pajamas!

Is this the future of professional development? I'm not sure, but its nice to know that if I can't be there in person that don't have miss out completely.

Virtual Conference Links

EduCon 2008
Philadelphia, PA
Friday, Jan. 25 - Sunday, Jan. 27th, 2008
Conference Agenda and Ustream channels

Discovery Educator Network Virtual Conference
Saturday, February 2nd, 2008
Registration Page

K12 Online Conference
October 2007
(This event is over, but you can still access the archives)

WebCam Surprise

My online Merriam Webster Dictionary defines serendipity as

the phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for;

That's what happened here at school today. Our first grade class is studying marine mammals and their teacher asked if I could help her find some live web cams of marine life. After a quick Google search I found a live beluga whale camera from the Vancouver Marine Aquarium and the Shamu Cam from Sea World, but the surprise came when I found the live sea otter camera from the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Shortly after the video started streaming I could see the otters swimming around in their pool, but then I started to hear someone talking. My timing must have been just right because that happened to be the time that the trainers came out to do a short 15 minute education program about the otters.
I ran over to the first grade room and quickly got the live video up on their screen. The kids sat there and watched as the trainers fed and weighed the otters. They explained what they ate and discussed otter behavior. The talk was just perfect for 1st grade.
Sometimes you get lucky. I had no idea that their live cam also had sound. After checking the web site I found out more about the Monterey Bay Aquarium live cams and interpretive programs. Maybe you'll find this information useful in your classroom.

Monterey Bay Aquarium Web Cams

Sea Otter Feeding and Training Session - Live Cam
Daily at 10:30AM, 1:30PM, and 3:30PM (Pacific Time)

Kelp Forest Fish Feeding - Live Cam
Daily at 11:30am and 4:00PM (Pacific Time)

Outer Bay Fish Feeding - Live Cam
Tues, Thurs, Sat, Sun at 11:00AM (Pacific Time)

If the times for the live presentations don't work for you, they also have many links to pre-recorded videos as well.

IMAGE CITATION:
Baird, Mike. "Adult Sea Otter in Morro Bay, CA." mikebaird's photostream. 14 Dec 2007. 10 Jan 2008 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikebaird/2112205672/)

Lessons from Mary Poppins

Do you remember the Disney classic Mary Poppins? I just happened find it on the ABC Family Channel over Christmas break and took the opportunity to watch it again for the first time in many years. I was surprised to find myself humming along with the music - many of the songs I remembered from my childhood. I was also impressed by the visual effects which were pretty cutting edge for 1964. But what stood out for me, perhaps for the first time, were all the little words of advice and mini-lessons presented by the title character. I know I may be stretching things a bit, but I think Mary Poppins has a lot to teach us about how we should be using technology in our classrooms - if we take a little time to listen to what she has to say.

My niece sharing a photo op with Mary Poppins at Disney World.

A Spoonful of Sugar

“In every job that must be done there is an element of fun. You find the fun and - SNAP - the job’s a game.”

If learning is medicine, why not make learning fun? Use the technology tools available to you and design engaging assignments that your students can get excited about. If you’re the kind of teacher that insists on a silent classroom, you may have to make some adjustments. Kids that are excited and having fun are rarely quiet. Better to worry about keeping them on task, rather than keeping them silent. Remember, adding fun to your lessons means more than just providing a fun reward at the end of a dull assignment. The learning process itself should be the reward.

And don’t forget to save a spoonful of sugar for yourself too. If you’re bored with the lesson you are teaching, imagine what your students must be feeling! Make your lessons fun and interesting for yourself as well. Your enthusiasm is contagious and will infect the kids your teach.

At a loss for ideas? Here’s a few to get your brain going...

Kindergarten Voicethread Projects from Bridget Belardi (Sorry about your Steelers Bridget. There’s always next year.)
Digital Riddles from Jennifer Gingerich
iPods in Education - Have a little fun yourself! Use your iPod in your classroom, or try your hand at Podcasting.


Jump into a Chalk Drawing

Be creative. Let your imagination go wild! By third grade we manage to stifle much of the creativity kids had when they started Kindergarten and replace it with repetition and routine. If you haven’t seen the video from Sir Ken Robinson yet, now would be a good time. ("Do Schools Kill Creativity?") Provide your students with opportunities to imagine, invent, and create. Not only are these skills important for your students personally, according to Daniel Pink (“A Whole New Mind”) they are a vital part of the new economy.

Currently our 5th grade students are using their online class discussion forum to imagine and write endings to some of the Harris Burdick mysteries and comment on what their classmates have done. Since the forum is protected, I can’t share their work publicly, but here is a link to the book to give you an idea of what it is all about. (The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg) This is a great book for getting students’ imaginations going. It’s fun to watch them mentally “jump” into the pictures as they create their stories here in the computer lab.

There are also many web tools out there that let students imagine, create, and invent. Here are just a few:

Scrapblog
Scratch
Kerpoof


Chim Chim Cher-ee

Chimney sweeps are people too. Take time to learn about, and empathize with those who come from a place or culture different from your own. You may find you have more in common than you think. Consider a collaborative project with a class in another state or country. By sharing comments or contributing to a group project blog or wiki they may learn more than just the subject they are studying.

Using communication tools like Skype or iChat, your students can connect easily with other classes in different states or countries. During the recent Southern California wildfires some of our teachers had a chance to video conference with Martha Thornburgh’s students in Washington. They were able to ask questions and learn about what we were going through. No, Disneyland did not burn down. It was just fine. (Martha, if your class would like to Skype again sometime let me know.)

Voicethread is another great tool for collaborative projects. Recently they’ve added some extra capabilities. You are no longer limited to voice comments. Now, if you have a webcam, you can leave video comments too.


Feed the Birds

Your students can make a difference in the world - if they’re given a chance. In the movie, Michael causes a scene at the bank when he decides he’d rather give his tuppence to the lady who feeds the birds rather than deposit it in the bank for himself. Give your students an opportunity to make a difference in their community with projects that extend beyond the classroom.


I Love To Laugh

And you should too! How serious is your classroom? How serious are you? Laughter helps keep you healthy and should be a regular part of your day. (Laughter Therapy from NPR News) So when technology doesn’t work in your classroom, don’t freak out. Laugh about it. You’ll relieve the tension in your room and you may clear your head enough to come up with a fun alternative solution. In fact take a little time right now to laugh. I bet you can’t watch the following video with out at least cracking a smile.

Festive, Fun, and Free

Yes, it's true! Christmas Break is just hours away,
And when that last school bell rings you will jump up and say,
"No more lesson planning, or staying up late
grading papers! (At least until 2008.)"
Instead of watching the kids deck the classroom and halls,
You'll be fighting adults as you dash through the malls.
Grabbing last minute gifts to put under the tree.
Hoping maybe you might get that last Christmas Wii.
But in the midst of this spending spell you've been put under
You suddenly stop, shake your head, then you wonder...
Perhaps the best gifts have no paper or bow.
Maybe these gifts come from Web 2.0
They're posted online, so at the press of a key.
You've got holiday fun that's both festive and free.
So when you escape from the malls and the stores,
And finish all your 200 pre-Christmas chores,
Take a minute to check out these holiday sites.
I hope they give you and yours some joys and delights.

Make Your Own SnowFlake

Remember back in school when you folded paper and cut out snowflakes? Here and online version without the mess. Thanks to fellow Twitterer mrmartinsclass. Note: I also spent way too much time playing that TimezAttack game he mentioned this morning.

Gingerbread House

Remember those Highlights magazines you used to read as a kid while waiting at the dentist's office? Here is a holiday activity from their web site. You get to decorate your own gingerbread house. If the music gets annoying, you can always turn it off. (Thanks to jgingerich for mentioning this one on your blog.)

ScrapBlog

Use this great free site to create your own custom "e-cards". They've got some great Christmas templates to get you started. Just add your own photos, videos, or sounds. When you're done, you can e-mail your family and friends a link to your scrapbook, embed it in your blog or wiki, or share it on MySpace or Facebook.

Do you have any other fun Holiday sites to share? Please post a comment and let me know.

A Not So Simple Solution

Sorry if this post gets a little more technical than usual. Sometimes there just doesn't seem to be a simple solution.

I really like Microsoft PhotoStory. It's a simple, easy tool that lets teachers and students create digital stories. What's not simple is trying to play these stories on a Mac. This has become a problem because some of our teachers like to post their PhotoStory files on their class web site. Parents with Macs at home can't view them.

Flip4Mac is a free Quicktime plugin that allows the Mac Quicktime player to play Windows Media files (wmv's) but for some reason it will not seem to play files created by PhotoStory. Real Player for Mac won't play them either.

After a some research I discovered something about the PhotoStory Video Codec. Apparently Microsoft PhotoStory 3 does NOT use the standard Windows Media Video (WMV) codec but a special codec developed for compressing still images: Windows Media Video 9 Image v2.

One solution for playing these files on a Mac is to convert them to .mov files. I've used Zamzar and that seems to work but the file size increases. My 6.5MB Photostory file converted to a 16.2MB .mov file. Even though the file size more than doubles, the picture quality of the converted file doesn't seem to be as good.

Another solution is to use use Windows Media Encoder (another free download from Microsoft) to convert your PhotoStory file to a file that will play on Quicktime with the Flip4Mac plug-in.



When you convert your file using Windows Media Encoder, use the following settings:

1. For "Content Distribution" select - File Download (Computer Playback)
2. For "Encoding Options" select...

• Video - VHS Quality (250 Kbps VBR)
• Audio - CD Quality (VBR)

My 6.5MB photostory file converted to a 11.3MB wmv file that plays on my Mac.

Using media encoder seems to give me a better quality conversion and lower file size than using Zamzar and converting to a .mov file.

Now I just have to train our teachers to convert their completed video file before they post it online AND tell our Mac using parents that they need to download and install the Flip4Mac plug-in to view their class videos.

As I said, sometimes the solution is not that simple.

Fight Plagiarism with Creativity

Right now my school is on the verge of a new technology adventure. Next fall we hope to be starting a one-to-one program in our sixth grade, expanding that program to our whole middle school over the next three years. Currently we’re hip deep in implementation meetings and discussions over how we’re going to present the program to parents and how we plan to train our teachers. One of the big concerns is how this new technology is (or isn’t) going to change the way we teach.

If every student has a notebook computer and access to all the information and communication tools that it offers, then our teachers need to be able to design lessons and projects that engage the students and force them not only to find information, but to evaluate it, check it for accuracy and bias, and use it in a meaningful and creative way. We don’t want our teacher training to focus primarily on specific software packages or hardware tools without addressing ways in which they can be used to encourage students’ critical thinking and creativity in core curriculum areas. Otherwise these new notebooks become just a high-tech version of what we’ve always done. The machines just become nothing more than an electronic textbook. Instead of paper worksheets and tests, students will have electronic worksheets and tests and instead of writing their reports on paper they’ll be typing them in a word processor. If students aren’t given opportunities to be creative, the truly creative kids will quickly get over the novelty of the technology and start looking for the quickest, easiest ways possible to give the teacher what they want so they can “be done”. Cheating and plagiarizing begin to look really attractive.

Thinking about all this brought me back to an article I wrote in 2004. (I knew some of this stuff sounded familiar.) I don’t know if the publication is available online so here it is again for your reading pleasure. (Am I plagiarizing from myself now?)

Fight Plagiarism with Creativity (from May 2004)

It’s confession time. We all have our dirty little secrets and this one has been weighing on my conscience for far too many years -- since 5th grade, in fact. I want admit now and confess publicly that most, if not all, of my state report on Oregon was copied from the encyclopedia. It’s not something I’m proud of, but those words scribbled on my paper were not my own. They belonged to the writers and editors of the World Book Encyclopedia. Yes, it’s true. I am a plagiarist.

For 27 years now I have had to live with the guilt that I was given a grade I did not deserve. Although I suspect my teacher probably knew that I had copied my work, I was never confronted about it. It would have been easy for her to prove that I had plagiarized. The encyclopedias were right there in the back of the room. All she would have had to do is look up Oregon and it would be plain that I was passing someone else’s work off as my own. She didn’t, and I have been suffering ever since. (Perhaps that was her intention all along.)

What brought me to this miserable state? Why did I decide to come clean now? Recently a teacher at my school brought me a paper that was allegedly written by one of his students -- two pages, double-spaced, with the student’s name at the top and no cited references whatsoever. “I’m pretty sure this paper was not written by the student.” He explained. “You’re the computer teacher. Do you think you can prove this was copied from the Internet?”

After scanning the paper and noticing several words that even I would need a dictionary to define, I agreed to give it a try. I went to www.google.com, took the first six words from the student’s second paragraph, and typed them in the keyword search box, putting them in quotes to search for an exact phrase. I could have chosen the first paragraph, but I figured the student might have been smart enough to change the wording of the first sentence. When I clicked “Search”, the first web site on the list caught my eye. I clicked the link and viola! There it was, word for word.

“We got him!” I whispered to myself, with the same exuberance of the Marines who captured Saddam Hussein. I hit the print button to get a hard copy of the evidence, but while I listened to the whir of the inkjet my mind went back to my fifth grade state report. It was so easy to prove that he had plagiarized. My excitement quickly evaporated and was replaced by guilt and remorse.

In my defense, when I copied my report 27 years ago I had to actually read all the material and then write the information word for word. So I was learning about my state as I was copying, right? Using the Internet, this student didn’t even have to read the article. All he had to do was copy, paste, and print. I seriously doubt that any learning about the subject matter occurred at all. It probably took me over an hour to plagiarize my report. This student did it in a matter of minutes. Isn’t technology wonderful?

If the whole point of letting our students use the Internet for educational research is that they actually learn about the subject, then maybe the traditional assignment to “write a report” is not the right approach. It makes plagiarism very tempting. If I can complete my assignment in a matter of minutes, why spend hours writing the same thing in my own words? Recently, I attended a Computer Using Educators conference where Ted McCain, a teacher and speaker for the Thornburg Center for Education offered a different, more creative alternative to report writing. Here is his example.

What if, instead of having your students write a report on Japan, they take on the role of travel agents, with you as their client? You tell them you want to visit several places with historic significance, try eating various local delicacies, and learn about the major industries so your company can do business with them. Your students would then be assigned to write up a travel proposal with the information you requested, along with travel time and weather (so you know what clothes to pack). You could even ask them to suggest several hotels near some of the places you wish to visit and maybe list several different airlines that fly to your destination.

Let’s see your students try to plagiarize an assignment like that. Not only will they learn about Japan, but they will gain “real world” research skills as well. Their task is specific, and their objectives are clear. It may take a little work on your part to create the assignment and develop a scoring rubric for their work, but I’m sure the results will be well worth the effort.

Of course your assignment does not always have to be in the form of a written report. This spring our seventh graders were studying human anatomy. Rather than writing a report, they created Power Point presentations describing how to take care their pet liver, spleen, stomach, etc. In their presentations they explained what “tricks” their pet organ could do, why it is important, and what needs to be done in order to keep it healthy. At the end of the presentation they were also required to have a slide that listed the web pages they used for all their information and pictures. If they did not list the web site it came from, they could not use it. It’s amazing what the kids were able to accomplish because they were motivated and allowed to be creative. Best of all, the work they produced was their own, not something copied from a web page. If you are interested in learning more about this project, you can download a copy of the assignment sheet and scoring rubric at www.geocities.com/dennis_grice/pet_organ.pdf. (Thanks to Yvette Stuewe for allowing me to post her assignment sheet.)

It’s been said one of the best ways to keep from sinning is to avoid putting yourself in a situation where you might be tempted. By adding an aspect of creativity to your assignments, not only do you make it difficult for your students to plagiarize, you also provide them with an opportunity to exercise their own creativity. All the while, they are actually learning about the subject, not just copying information.

VoiceThread Update

Okay, I'm really becoming a fan of VoiceThread. In fact I'll even be including it in a Digital Storytelling workshop I'm presenting later this month. Last week VoiceThread updated it's site and added a few new features. One big difference is that there are now two versions of VoiceThread - the free version and the Pro version. Those of us who signed up for the free version are now limited to creating only 3 voicethreads with a maximum of 50 slides each. The pro version, which costs $29.95/year, gives you unlimited VoiceThreads and storage and also give you the ability to upload mp3 files for your comments. So pro users can, for example, record, mix, and edit their audio comments using something like Audacity to create more professional sounding presentations.

Here's the good news. K-12 educators can sign up for a special pro account for free. First you need to register for a free account and login. Next you find and click where it says "Go Pro". At the bottom of the page will be a link that says "K-12 Educators Click Here". That will take you to the educator application form.

How is the new VoiceThread site different from the old one? Here's a look at some of the changes.

When you view a VoiceThread the screen looks a little different.


If you have trouble reading my comments, click the image to make it larger.

When uploading and rearranging pictures they've made things a little easier and given you a few more options.


Click image to make it larger.

When you click SHARE to add friends to your VoiceThread account or invite friends to view or edit your presentations, you can now see each friend and their edit rights all on one screen. Note: The button to add new friends is now located at the very bottom of your friends list. It took me a little while to find this.


Click the image to make it larger.

When setting my sharing options, I like to set my VoiceThreads to "Public, no comments". This allows anyone to see my presentations, but only those people I invite can comment or edit it. Since I generally trust those who I invite, I turn comment moderation off so when my friends comment, their comment is posted immediately. If you are working with students and concerned about privacy issues, you may want to keep your VoiceThread private and turn the moderation on so you can check what your students say before the rest of the class can hear it.

Want to participate in a VoiceThread. I've created one for an elementary project called Seasons. I'm looking for students or teachers to post pictures and share what the seasons are like where they live. Please comment or e-mail me if you would like to participate. Click on my profile for my e-mail link. Here is how the project looks so far:




If you can't view the embedded presentation, here is a link to it at the VoiceThread site: http://voicethread.com/#b10538

Happy storytelling.

Your Pictures Tell A Story

It's Sunday night and I'm sitting at home watching the new Ken Burns series "The War" on my local PBS station. If you've seen Ken Burns work before- like the Civil War series - you know that he is a master of telling a story using still pictures. His combination of pictures and voices, often from the very people in the pictures themselves, not only tell a compelling story but they often reach down and grab you emotionally as well. There's something about adding a human voice that brings the photos to life.

One great tool for doing this yourself is Microsoft's Photo Story3, but you're limited to working on your own project and your own computer. One person, one idea. If you really want your stories to take on a life of their own look at VoiceThread. It adds a unique collaborative element to photos and voices by allowing others to add their own voice comments to your photos or upload their own photos and comments. Imagine the collaborative possibilities!

Here's how it works. First you go to VoiceThread and register. Your ID is your e-mail address. Next you create a new VoiceThread, give it a title and a description, and even add some tags for searching.

Now you're ready to start uploading pictures. Pictures can be from your computer or brought in from your Flickr account.


Then it's time to start adding your voice comments to your pictures. All you need to do is go to "View and Comment" and click the record button to start adding your voice.

Now that you've got your thread started, it's time to share it with others. Click on Share VoiceThread and you can invite others to view and comment on your pictures. Once you invite someone you can grant them edit rights, giving them the ability to upload their own pictures. By default, your VoiceThread is private - only those you invite can see it or comment. You can make it public two different ways. 1) Allowing anyone to view and comment. 2) Anyone can view but only those you invite can comment.
NOTE: If you want to be able to embed your VoiceThread on a blog or web page, it needs to be public.

To try out some of the collaborative capabilities of VoiceThread, I created a test project about the Discovery National Institute I attended this summer. I invited several of my fellow shipmates to participate, asking them to add a picture and share a story from our "Academic Excursion". Here's a what the project looks like so far... (If you click on the photo you can zoom in and out.)

If you can't see the embedded VoiceThread, follow this link:
http://fresh.voicethread.com/#b7495

After some experimenting we discovered that pictures brought in from Flickr seem to work more reliably than those that were uploaded directly. I also noticed that the audio quality varied depending on the microphone and audio settings on different machines, but overall I was quite pleased with how easy it was to create a collaborative project.

If you want to use VoiceThread with your students and don't want them to have to register with an e-mail address, you can go to Yahoo or HotMail and create a generic class e-mail address that you can use as your VoiceThread ID. Then you can add additional identities for your students to use when commenting on photos. Since VoiceThreads can be private, only those who know the e-mail address and the password will be able to see the students pictures or hear their voices. VoiceThread has posted directions for teachers that explain how to do this.

Would you like to participate in a VoiceThread project? Amy Lundstrom has started one called Landforms Where We Live. Take a look at it and if you'd like to participate, leave me a comment.

Or go ahead a start your own VoiceThread. Here are just a few ideas to get you started:

• If you teach 5th Grade, perhaps you could try to get students from different states to post a picture and information about their state.
• Have students scan an old picture of their grandparents and asj them share what happened in that picture - a living history.
• Younger children may be interested to see what the seasons look like in different parts of the country. Have students upload a picture of what Fall is like in their area and describe the scenery and the weather.

What ideas do you have? Any thoughts or questions, please let me know.

BWAIN (Blog Without an Interesting Name)

Normally I try to come up with some sort of catchy title for my blog posts. For some reason I just blanked on this one. Sorry 'bout that.

To make up for it though, I thought I'd share a few interesting lesson ideas and web resources that I've sent out to our teachers during the first two weeks of school. Here goes...

Futures Channel (www.futureschannel.com)
Ever have kids in your science and math classes ask you, "Why do I need to know this stuff?" Here's your answer. This site has videos of real people using real math and real science in real life! The videos also have printable (PDF) classroom activities.

Math Playground (www.mathplayground.com)
Need an activity for your students in the computer lab? Or would you like to recommend something they could use to practice their math skills at home? This is it. I actually met creator Colleen King, or rather her Second Life alter ego Kristy Flanagan, while chatting at the Bloggers Cafe. (NOTE: Second Lifers should also check out the Math Playground Virtual Math Center on EduIsland II)

HM Technology Resources (hmtech.wikispaces.com)
For those of you using Houghton Mifflin's Reading series, here's a site with links to supporting web resources compiled by Eva Wagner.

ReadWrite Think: Student Materials (www.readwritethink.org/student_mat)
This site contains a whole collection of online activities for your students to work on at school or at home. Browse through this rather extensive list and try out a few that look interesting. When you click on the tool, you'll get a list of grade specific lessons that could be used with it. See how these tools might fit into your Language Arts or Literature curriculum.

Back to School PhotoStory3 Project (web.mac.com/jennifergingerich)
Jennifer Gingerich comes up with yet another one of those "its so simple why didn't I think of it" ideas. This great project for primary grades can be created using a digital camera and Microsoft's PhotoStory3 or Apple's iMovie. I love hearing the kids' voices on the video.

Now the race is on! Who will be the first to use one of these ideas or resources in their classroom this year? Will it be one of our teachers? Or will it be you? If it's you, please post a comment and let me know how it went.

The "Secret Society" of Bloggers

For the last few weeks, I've been struggling with this question. "How do I get teachers excited about blogging?" Well, I could write a blog that explains how valuable blogs can be as a teaching and learning tool. But then I realized that would be about as effective as handing someone a DVD called "How to play a DVD". If they could play it, they wouldn't need to watch it. And if you're reading a blog about blogging you're probably already aware of the value. Okay, so blogging about blogging is out. What else can I try?

Can we reach those non-bloggers by blogging? Obviously, no. - Webloge-Ed, January 2007

Essentially there are two kinds of people, those who blog and those who don't. Happily I'm a member of those who blog, but I'm in the minority. Those who don't blog, seem to look at those of us who do like we're members of some secret society. We have this mysterious network and communicate in strange and cryptic ways. Want to see an example of the gap between the do's and don'ts? Walk into a teacher meeting and tell your colleagues, "I'm sorry I was late. I was tweeting with one of my Second Life friends about a Webinar we had last week and was trying to set up time when we could Skype about it." I'm guessing you'll lose most of them after, "Sorry I was late."

It's obvious that training is needed. But watch out! While the corporate world can force technology change on it's employees, trying to do that with experienced, tenured, educators invites disaster. A different approach is needed.

Why do we treat teachers so delicately? Why do we forgive them year after year for not adopting contemporary information and communication tools? Why are we satisfied with small steps? Well, the answer is simple. Teachers are special. They are smart, resourceful, incredibly accomplished, and they work miracles — they make a difference. They influence so many lives and they are revered. It’s clear. How can we treat them with anything but awe and respect... David Warlick, September 3rd, 2007

It looks like a step backward is necessary. How much sense does it make to tell a teacher they should be making a blog when they're not even reading blogs? Look how I got started. Someone told me about a great blog (Weblogg-ed) and at first I treated it like a web page. Then I began bookmarking interesting blogs and checking them periodically. Later I discovered that I could add live bookmarks to my Firefox toolbar using the RSS link. Now I'm using an aggregator, Google Reader, to keep track of the dozen or so blogs I follow. I was reading blogs for months before I even considered making my own, but it was a process.

So the first step is to get teachers reading blogs. I like to pick pick out a few teachers and start by sending them links to some blogs that might be appeal to their discipline or grade level. The goal is to get them excited and let their enthusiasm generate interest among their colleagues. Here's a good place to start. (Thanks to Amy Lundstrom for the link.)

If they like one or more of the blogs, I show them how to subscribe to it using RSS. Here's a great little video clip that explains RSS in plain English.

Click To Play

Once teachers have started taking control of their information using RSS, they've reached the first step - they've become consumers. They have also taken their first peek into our secret society of bloggers. To get them in the rest of the way, you want to encourage them to start commenting on other people's blogs and eventually try creating one of their own.

I really like how this graphic explains the 4 C's of online communities.
Source: Participation Online - The Four C's

Blogs are just one of many tools available to teachers on the read/write web. To learn more about others, I suggest you check out Jennifer Dorman's course wiki called Online Connections, a recent Cool Cat Teacher Award winner. Even if you're not enrolled in the class, the site is a great resource for learning more about for wikis, podcasting, social networking, social bookmarking, and online collaboration.

Pecha Kucha

I've seen a lot of bad Power Point. I've been through the agony of bulleted lists in which the presenter read exactly what they wrote, or droned on and on and stretched 5 slides to 60 minutes pointless examples and enough tangents to give a calculus teacher a headache.

What I read in David Warlick's blog today intrigued me. Pecha Kucha is a structured presentation format developed in Japan back in 2003.

Each presenter is allowed 20 images, each shown for 20 seconds each - giving 6 minutes 40 seconds of fame before the next presenter is up. This keeps presentations concise, the interest level up, and gives more people the chance to show. http://www.pecha-kucha.org/

It was originally designed for use by those in the creative fields - art, photography, design, architecture - (see Wikipedia Article) but I believe this type of format could have some useful education applications as well.

What struck me first was the structure. It's like visual poetry. Remember back in high school when you had to write poems? Some types, like haiku, had a very specific structure that you were forced to follow. I remember struggling to be creative while at the same time, sticking to the rules. I hated it, but it really made me focus. How can I say what I want to say effectively within the parameters I've been given?

Pecha Kucha takes that kind of structure and applies it to visual presentations. It forces you to edit what you say so that you are concise and to the point. You also need to make sure you select meaningful visuals - visuals that give impact and emphasis to your words.

Imagine using this format for in-class presentations. Tell your students that their history reports need to be presented in Pecha Kucha format - 20 slides, shown for 20 seconds each. Make a Pecha Kucha describing he fall of the Roman Empire. Make one that shows why we need to recycle, or explains the importance of preserving a local wetland. If 20 slides is too much for the assignment you can, as David Warlick suggests, assign Half Kuchas (10 slides) or Quarter Kuchas (5 slides).

I'd love to hear any Pecha Kucha assignment or project ideas you have.

Free to YouTube

Maybe this has happened to you. You're online at home and you run across a great video on YouTube. "This would be a great video to show my students!" You exclaim, ignoring for a moment that fact that you are talking to yourself again.

Problem is, you get to school the next morning and discover that your Internet filter blocks YouTube. You sink into depression. That great lesson you were planning is now ruined. "It's not fair!" You cry.

Stop right there! Before you give up and decide to drown your sorrows in a pint of Ben & Jerry's, consider this possible solution...

Zamzar to the rescue!

Zamzar is a handy little Web 2.0 tool that converts files and e-mails them to you. You can upload files to Zamzar, select the file format you want it to be, and Zamzar will e-mail you the converted file. But Zamzar also converts online videos!



Every YouTube video has a URL. Copy this URL and go to Zamzar.



Then...



You'll see a progress bar as the video is uploaded to Zamzar. Then you'll get a message telling you that once the video is converted it will be sent to your e-mail. A few minutes later, check your e-mail. The message will link you back to Zamzar where you can download a copy of the video to your computer.

Once you have the video downloaded, you can show that file to your class or put it in your Power Point presentations. (Be sure to give proper credit.) Since it is now a file on your computer, you don't even need to have an Internet connection to view it.