#57 Screenr

This week we review the tool Screenr.

http://www.screenr.com/

Screenr is a tool to make free, web-based screencasts.

A screencast is a video of something that is happening on a computer screen, often containing an audio narration. Screencasts are commonly used for tutorials but can have other uses.

Why we like Screenr:

• It is free
• It is web based so there is nothing to install
• It works on PC or Mac and plays on iDevices
• You can embed screencasts on your blog or website
• It can be used in many subject areas and by both primary and secondary teachers
• It is very easy to use
• You can make screencasts up to five minutes long

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T & Cs:

While children under 13 are not permitted to use Screenr themselves, it is a very handy tool for teachers as they can make screencasts for their students. It is important to note that all Screenrs are public unless you have a pro Screenr business account.

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How to use Screenr:

1. Go to http://www.screenr.com/ and click on the record button either up the top or down the bottom. You can then go to the internet page or program you wish to show in your screencast.

2. There are three steps to starting your screencast. A prompt on the screen reminds you what to do.

• Move and resize the frame to choose what part of your screen you want to record
• Click the red button to record (most laptops have inbuilt microphones if you don’t have an external one)
• Press done when finished

3. When you are finished, you will need to login to publish your Screenr. You don’t need to set up a Screenr account; you can login with Facebook, Twitter, Google, Yahoo, Linkedin or Windows Live ID.

4. You may be prompted to set up a Screenr username. Tip: you might want to make your username “Mrs/Ms” or “Mr” someone if you’ll be using the tool with your students. 

5. The next step is to publish your Screenr. You will need to add a description in the box down the bottom. If you decide not to publish your Screenr, there is a delete button in the bottom right hand corner. Hit publish when you’re done.

6. On the final page, you can watch or share your Screenr. Look on the right hand side for your URL to share or HTML code to embed on your blog or website. You can also publish your Screenr to YouTube or download an MP4 file to play on your computer.

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Using Screenr in the Classroom:

Teachers or older students could make all sorts of screencasts with Screenr.

I have used this tool to make a screencast showing how to comment on our class blog. This provides an explanation for new visitors to our blogs and less tech savvy families.

You may have heard of the flipped classroom model where class time is spent on interacting with students while theory is learnt at home via internet technology such as screencasts, podcasts or vodcasts. Screenr could be a great tool to use in flipped classroom situation.

More ideas on how Screenr could be used to make screencasts:

• Students over 13 could make their own screencasts as evidence of learning. An assessment task could be to make a Screenr explaining a concept.
• Teachers could use screencasts to give feedback to students who had created a piece of digital work.
• Teachers could make screencasts for younger students to explain a task. This could  allow those students to work independently which would free up the teacher to work with other students.
• Teachers or students could make tutorials on how to use different programs for others.

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How else could you use Screenr in the classroom? Have you tried it? Leave a comment and let us know!

Tip: click on the title of this post and scroll down to find the comment box.

Good luck using Screenr and look out for the next edition of Tech Tools for Teachers in two weeks.

Simon, Kathleen and Matt

http://www.teachgennow.com.au

#56 Visuwords – Online Graphical Dictionary

This week we review the tool Visuwords

http://www.visuwords.com

Visuwords.com is a free tool that helps you creatively build vocabulary for all your visual thinkers. The online visual dictionary is perfect for a range of different age levels, individual, group or whole class activity and as a homework tool.

Why we like Visuwords:

• It is free
• It caters for the visual learners in our classrooms.
• Children make and see the links between words.
• It helps build vocabulary.
• It can be used in many subject areas and with students of all ages.
• There is no sign-up required.

How to use Visuwords:

1. No set up required for Visuwords but it is worth having a play with the site to see how it works before you use it as a tool in the classroom.

2. Choose your focus: The lines on the left hand side cover a huge range of literary skills. Focus in on the skill that you wish to target. This way the students will know the colour and shape that they are looking for.

3. Be specific: If you try to look at all the lines it can become confusing. Eg. today we are looking for verbs, I want to find as many words in a green circle as possible.

4. Know the words you are going to research beforehand. Random really is a random generator and any word could pop up. Type your word in the top right hand search bar.

5. The Screen comes alive: different colours and lines start to spread out across the screen.

6. Find out More: double click on the words of interest. Many of these words will then spread further to further your visual word discovery.

Examples of use

• building word walls
• developing vocab in writing
• brilliant for noun, verb and adjective foci
• exploring the language in maths
• developing personal dictionaries
• “Today’s word is…”
• exploring keywords in articles
• IWB whole class or small group focus
• 1:1 word research
• CAFE’s expanding vocabulary

How else could you use Visuword.com in the classroom? Have you tried it? Have you got OTHER websites that you use to futher develop language in the classroom? Leave a comment and let us know!

Tip: click on the title of this post and scroll down to find the comment box.

Good luck using Visuwords and look out for the next edition of Tech Tools for Teachers in two weeks.

Simon, Kathleen and Matt http://www.teachgennow.com.au

#55 Free Guide – Google Documents for Teachers

This week we share a useful resource:  Free eBook – Google Documents for Teachers

Google Documents for Teachers is a free guide created by Richard Byrne to help assist teachers with the functions of Google Docs. Recently we have reviewed a number of Google tools for education and believe this resource is a great overview of some of these useful tools.

Richard Byrne is an American educator and also has a blog called Free Technology for Teachers which provides reviews and shares information about free resources that teachers can use in their classrooms.

Richard teaches US History and Civics to high school students at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School in South Paris, ME. In the past he has also taught courses in global studies and English/ Language Arts.

“I believe that when used correctly, technology has the power to improve student engagement and student achievement. I also believe that technology gives teachers the ability to form powerful, global, professional learning communities.”

Why we like Google Documents for Teachers:

• It is free
• It is easy to follow and contains clear instructions
• It can save teachers a lot of time
• It helps teachers to use Google Docs
• It can be used across all subject areas and with students of all ages
• It allows you to create self-grading quizzes
• It informs you how to create, share, and publish documents and presentations.

How to access this free resource and more:

Richard Bryne has created a wonderful and easy to follow 40 page guide to using Google Docs in education and can be found on his blog: www.freetech4teachers.com 

The benefits of using Google Documents

Creating a Google Account

Creating, Sharing and publishing documents

Creating, sharing and publishing presentations

Creating and publishing forms to collect information

Creating self-grading multiple choice quizzess

“Google Documents is my preferred word processing tool. For the last five years I’ve created roughly 90% of all of my documents in Google Docs.

Google Documents offers many benefits for teachers and students. When you create and or store files in your Google Documents account, those files are available through any computer with an Internet connection. This means that you don’t have to send file attachments to yourself via email, carry a flash drive, or worry about file compatibility. 

The collaboration options in Google Documents makes it a great tool for editing your students’ writing as well as making it a great tool for peer-editing. Students can share documents with your or with each other. Once a document is shared comments and suggested edits can be placed in the margins of the document.”

-Richard Byrne

Richard provides a range of free downloadable eBooks on using technology in the classroom including:

• ‘Making Videos on the Web A Guide for Teachers’ – How you and your students can create videos without purchasing any software or video equipment.
• ‘Twelve Essentials for Technology Integration’ – A free resource looking at collaborative projects, alternatives to youtube, Communicating with Students and Parents and Creating Documents and Presentations.
• ‘Beyond Google’ – Tips and Tools for Improving Internet Search Experiences
• ‘The Super Book of WebTools for educators’ – A comprehensive introduction to using technology in all K-12 classrooms.

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Do you know of any other great resources and free guides for teachers? Leave a comment and let us know!

Tip: click on the title of this post and scroll down to find the comment box.

Good luck using this resource and look out for the next edition of Tech Tools for Teachers in two weeks.

Simon, Kathleen and Matt
http://www.teachgennow.com.au

#54 Flubaroo

This week we review the tool Flubaroo.

http://www.flubaroo.com/

Flubaroo is a free tool that helps you quickly grade multiple choice and fill in the blank online quizzes.

This tool is a script that is used in used in conjunction with Google docs forms. To find out how to easily make a free quiz with Google docs, check out the 2010 editions of Tech Tools for Teachers here and here.

Why we like Flubaroo:

• It is free
• It is easy to use, especially if you’re familiar with Google docs
• It can save teachers a lot of time
• Students can be emailed feedback
• It can be used in many subject areas and with students of all ages
• It creates a range of data such as average scores
• It flags answers that more than 60% of students answered incorrectly and highlights the lowest performing students.

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Pros and cons:

While there are many benefits to using Flubaroo, it can only grade assignments when there is one correct answer. This makes it useful for multiple choice quizzes but not useful for longer written responses and more authentic assessment tasks.

Another slight downside is there is no option to create graphs for individual student responses to give you an overview of student strengths and weaknesses. You can create graphs to summarise the results of the whole class if you use multiple choice questions.

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How to use Flubaroo:

The people at Flubaroo have written a fabulous step-by-step tutorial on how to use their tool. You can access it here. 

There are five steps to grading a quiz with Flubaroo

Step 1: Create an Assignment
Step 2: Create an Answer Key
Step 3: Assign It!
Step 4: Grade It!
Step 5: Review the Grades

If you’d prefer to watch a video than read the instructions, check out this three minute video below.

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Tips for Using Flubaroo:

1: Student details: When you are making your Google doc quiz, make the first question “What is your name?” This is the only way you’ll be able to identify the students when the results come in. You might also want to ask students to enter their grade/class name. Include a question asking for the student’s email address if you want to email results.

2. Question types: Multiple choice seems to work best when assessing Google doc quizzes with Flubaroo. You can also use multiple choice to create a true/false or fill the gap question. If you want students to choose a text response, they will need to write their word/number answer the same as you submitted in the answer key. Text responses can’t be turned into graphs when you grade your responses with Flubaroo.

3. Giving students the link: You will need to decide how you’re going to give students the link so they can easily access their Google docs quiz. The link will be far too long to write on the whiteboard for students to copy, however you can use a link shortening tool, such as bit.ly which we reviewed here. I often put a link for things like this on the sidebar of my class blog.  You could also create a QR code for the students to scan, or email the link to your class. Alternatively, you could save the link on the Ultranet, school network or school website.

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Using Flubaroo in the Classroom:

At the start of the year, I turned a traditional paper maths test on counting, place value and number into an online quiz using Google docs forms. I used multiple choice and fill in the blank questions.

My grade four students navigated the online quiz easily and the assessment was a breeze. I could see which areas my class as a whole had difficulty with, and which areas they were generally confident with. The lowest performing students were highlighted in red indicating that I needed to provide extra assistance to these children.

Only the multiple choice questions transferred to a graph; text response questions did not.

Looking at individual student results wasn’t as clear and I had to export the results to Excel to further analyse. This may have been due to the length of my test. If you created a short test, you could probably visually scan the results without the need of graphs for further analysis.

Obviously only some areas of learning can be assessed via right/wrong or fill in the gap answers.

Flubaroo could be used to assess quizzes in:

• spelling (choose the correct spelling)
• vocabulary or foreign language (choose the correct meaning)
• maths (select the correct answer or enter the correct answer)
• geography
• history
• science

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How else could you use Flubaroo in the classroom? Have you tried it? Leave a comment and let us know!

Tip: click on the title of this post and scroll down to find the comment box.

Good luck using Flubaroo and look out for the next edition of Tech Tools for Teachers in two weeks.

Simon, Kathleen and Matt
http://www.teachgennow.com.au

#53 Apps for Education

This week we review techtools used as apps for both

Android (Google Play)

or Apple (Need to dowload iTunes).

This is not an apple vs android review or debate. I am presenting my top 5 tablet apps for teachers in the classroom. These apps are available on all devices, they are web based apps. The main idea of these 5 apps is to make things easier to share, prepare and preview, no matter what the device. I could easily do a single post on each of the apps, but today I am presenting a quick overview of my current top 5. These are in alphabetical order. I will review the app that you choose in more detail. Simply vote on the poll found at the bottom.

1. Dictionary.com (Free with Ads)

2. Diigo (Free)

3. Dropbox (Free 2GB account)

4. Evernote (Free Account)

5. Splashtop HD

1. Dictionary.com

• It is free with ads. (Android $2.82, Apple $5.49 without ads, I still have it with ads).
• It is a portable dictionary and thesaurus.
• Easy to search – as you type suggestions come up, you can also use voice activation.
• Shows whether it is a noun, verb, adjective etc..
• Includes origin of the word.
• Provides the word of the day plus:

- short post on an interesting fact of the English language.
- Question of the day
- and a look at dictionary words searched by others in your area.

• You can use it as a focus for a whole grade, small groups, pairs or individuals.

2. Diigo

• We have reviewed aspects of diigo previously Diigo – The Social Bookmarking site and Diigo – Groups.
• It is a browser – you can do your Internet research here.
• You are able to preview and bookmark to your diigo library.
• You can also share to Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and more.
• It has a great read later tool, it allows you to save webpages to read when offline. (Great if you have something to show or share with the students and you don’t trust your network).
• You can block ads in the settings.

3. Dropbox

• It is free for 2GB Sign up here and download it to all of your devices.
• We reviewed Dropbox for the PC back in 2010, there is so much more that we can do with it now.
• In the beginning it was great to share the larger files, such as videos, music and photos.
• I am currently using it as our network to save documents for grade 6, including timetable, resources and more.
• It is accessible on every computer you download it to. I use it with my PC, my IWB and my tablet.
• Documents are only for viewing on the iPad, however you can annotate them using apps such as Screen Chomp.
• Can open files in Evernote to edit, annotate or add audio.
• Can use a code to lock if you don’t want students to access.
• Take pictures with the iPad and upload it to a student folder for assessment.

4. Evernote

• We have reviewed Evernote on a previous post.
• You can sort your notebooks with names.
• Sharing folders is possible, however they cannot edit your notes unless you have a paid account.
• Search your notes easily with tags.
• You can also search your notes by a map. (It records where and when you added the note).
• You can email notes directly to your notebooks. (Evernote provides and email link).
• Add pictures to your notes from your camera roll, or pictures you take with the device.
• Record audio directly to your notes using the mic on your device.
• I have used it as a checklist for students when using the iPad. They have to follow the instructions in my notes to properly achieve the focus set with a certain app.

5. Splashtop Remote Desktop

• Display and control the screen of your PCs connected to the same Wi-Fi.
• Note – you have to also download Splashtop streamer to the computer you want to display.
• Great when you want to show or share something that needs flash on the iPad.
• It plays video and audio also.
• It is smooth and easy to navigate. It informs you of how to use your hands to scroll, click etc when you open it.
• You can also access your home desktop remotely. I have accessed files saved on my home computer when needed.
• Easier to help somebody fix a small problem as you can see their screen remotely.

Don’t forget to vote below and leave a comment about these Apps, or other MUST HAVE Apps for educators!

Tip: click on the title of this post and scroll down to find the comment box.

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Good luck and look out for the next edition of Tech Tools for Teachers in two weeks.

Simon, Kathleen and Matt
http://www.teachgennow.com.au

#52 SpiderScribe

This week we review the tool, SpiderScribe.

www.spiderscribe.net

SpiderScribe is an online mind mapping tool with the ability to include images, links, files, text and calendar events..

Why we like SpiderScribe:

• It is free (with an upgrade option for extra storage).
• It is easy to use.
• Mind maps can be public or private.
• It is a great way  for students to organise their thoughts and brainstorm ideas.
• Completed SpiderScribe mind maps can be embedded on blogs or websites.
• It is ideal for a wide range of ages and subject areas.
• It fosters student creativity and thinking skills.

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How to use SpiderScribe:

1. Sign up: Go to http://www.spiderscribe.net/signup.php and fill out the required details to sign up for a free account.

When you have entered your details you will be sent a confirmation email. You can then go to http://www.spiderscribe.net/app/ to log in.

2. Introduction to SpiderScribe: A great place to start with SpiderScribe is the 2 minute introduction video found here.  You can also find teacher training videos here to give you a good idea of how to use this tool in your classroom.  These training videos are part of a free teacher training video series by Russel Stannard.

3. Get Started: When you have understood the basics, sign up and click the create new map link.

4. Adding content: Using the number of features available you can easily add content by clicking and dragging your icon of choice onto you SpiderScribe map.

5. Link your files, images and text: With a simple click between your notes you can easily link with arrows to organise your thoughts.  You can also customise the colours and position with the controls tab.

6. Embed or Share: when your SpiderScribe is done, you can share it, save it or print your mind map. You can also embed it on your blog or website. To embed, click on the share tab and make the SpiderScribe public and click on ‘embed into website’ to obtain the embed code.

This embed code can then be placed into the HTML section of your blog or website editor.

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Using SpiderScribe:

SpiderScribe is one of the great online mind mapping tools available.

SpiderScribe could be used in the classroom to:

• Organise ideas
• Plan projects and research tasks
• present research
• create stories or timelines
• summarise chapters, characters or books
• create mind maps

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Good luck and look out for the next edition of Tech Tools for Teachers in two weeks.

Simon, Kathleen and Matt
http://www.teachgennow.com.au

Prezi Upgrade Winners!

Congratulations to the following four people who have won a free upgrade to the Edu Pro version of Prezi. They left a comment on our last Tech Tools for Teachers with their ideas about using Prezi in the classroom.

We used the random name generator on classtools.net to choose the names.

We will contact our four winners via email. Look out for more chances to win with Tech Tools for Teachers this year!

#51 Prezi

Tech Tools for Teachers is back for 2012!

After a fabulous summer preparing and presenting, Technify Your Teaching in 2012, we are pleased to relaunch our fortnightly newsletter for its third year.

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This week we review the tool, Prezi.

http://prezi.com

Prezi is a cloud-based presentation software with a zoomable canvas that leads your audience down a path of discovery.

Why we like Prezi:

• It is free and educators get extra benefits. NB – there are Edu Pro upgrades available – see below for your chance to win!
• It is easy to use when you get the hang of it.
• There are excellent tutorials available.
• Prezis can be public or private.
• It is a great alternative to PowerPoint.
• Completed Prezis can be embedded on blogs or websites.
• It is suitable for a wide range of ages and subject areas.
• It fosters student creativity and thinking skills.
• There is a free iPad app available.
• There is an educational community for Prezi at PreziU.
• Prezi Meeting (free) allows you to edit, create, and show Prezis with others in real time.

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Legal Stuff:

Prezi is adults only (18+), however, children over 13 can use Prezi with school or parent permission.
Primary students might be able to use Prezi with their teacher or parent. Alternatively teachers could use Prezi to create presentations for their class.
An education email address is required to sign up for a teacher/student account.

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How to use Prezi:

This is just a short overview of how to get started with Prezi. Find more detailed instructions here.

1. Sign up: Go to http://prezi.com/profile/signup/edu/ and sign up for Edu Enjoy (free) or Edu Pro (paid).

When you have entered your details (education email is needed) you will be sent a confirmation email. You can then go to prezi.com to log in.

2. Learn Prezi: When you log in to your Prezi account you will see three tabs up the top of the page – Your Prezis, Learn and Explore. We recommend you head straight to Learn to find easy to follow videos and written instructions.

Here is the first Getting Started video.

If you can’t watch the video, check out this cheat sheet with written instructions for getting started.

3. Get Started: When you have understood the basics, head to the Your Prezis tab and click on New Prezi to begin.

4. Embed or Share: when your Prezi is done, you can share it via email, Twitter or Facebook. You can also embed it on your blog or website. To embed, click on the Prezi in Your Prezis and click on Share.

Next, click on embed and copy the HTML code. You can then paste that code into the HTML section of your blog or website editor.

* Important tip when using Prezi: overusing the zoom and move features could make your audience feel sea sick! Subtle movement and rotation is best.

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Using Prezi:

Prezi is a fabulous alternative to the often overused PowerPoint.

Prezis could be used in the classroom to:

• present research
• create stories or timelines
• summarise chapters, characters or books
• create mindmaps
• explore English or foreign language vocabulary
• discuss stimulus photos, videos or documents

Older students might enjoy creating Prezis for younger children.

At the start of the school year I used Aine Murphy’s idea of creating a Prezi to introduce myself to my new students. As this Prezi was on my class blog, it was an introduction for the whole community that they could respond to.

Win a Prezi Pro Account:

The Edu Pro version of Prezi, which is around $59/year, has the added benefit of premium support, extra storage space and Prezi Desktop. Prezi Desktop allows you to create Prezis offline.

Compare the free (Edu Enjoy) and paid (Edu Pro) versions of Prezi here.

We have four Edu Pro Prezi accounts to give away! Simply leave a comment with an idea of how Prezi could be used in the classroom or with a link to a Prezi you or your students have created. We will use a random name generator to choose the four winners on Friday 24th February.

Tip: click on the title of this post and scroll down to find the comment box.

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Good luck and look out for the next edition of Tech Tools for Teachers in two weeks.

Simon, Kathleen and Matt
http://www.teachgennow.com.au

Technify Your Teaching in 2012 a Success!

Close to 70 teachers travelled to Leopold Primary School on a wet and humid morning on Monday 30th January.

While many woke well before dawn and travelled hours to attend our day of learning, everyone approached the day with such fabulous enthusiasm and excitement.

This map shows how far our participants travelled to attend Technify Your Teaching in 2012. What dedicated teachers, with one teacher even coming from Canberra (read our Canberran’s review of the day here).

We were overwhelmed with the response for Technify Your Teaching in 2012 and sadly, we did not have enough room for all of the teachers who showed interest in attending the day. We hope we can make it up to those people next time!

The day began with a keynote on cyber safety and digital footprints by Matt before participants broke off into workshops. Teachers chose three areas to explore for the day including blogging, Google Apps, web 2.0 tools, podcasting, Edmodo and iDevices.

Some delicious catering kept the teachers’ energy levels up during the day and Leopold’s new BER building proved to be an ideal learning environment.

Below are some photos of the day.

The Geelong Advertiser paid a visit and wrote a short article in their newspaper. Check it out here.

Photo courtesy of Geelong Advertiser

We are collecting some very positive and constructive feedback from the day and look forward to presenting more sessions to meet your classes’ needs in the future!

In the meantime, if you’re looking for a chance to connect and learn with like minded educators in the Melbourne area, check out Meeting of the Minds, a two day “unconference” to be held on February 25th-26th.

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All participants who filled out the Technify Your Teaching in 2012 evaluation went in the draw to win a prize. We put the names in the random name generator on http://classtools.net and we would like to congratulate our winner! We will contact you via email.

Stay tuned for the 2012 launch of Tech Tools for Teachers within the next fortnight.

Technify Your Teaching in 2012 Update

Update 21/12/11 we have over 30 people on the waiting list so we are closing the sign up form. A big thank you to everyone who has show interest in Technify Your Teaching in 2012. Look out for more professional development opportunities during 2012!

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Places for our professional development day, Technify Your Teaching in 2012, have filled up fast!

From now on we are offering a waiting list. If you click here to sign up, you can enter your details and we will let you know if places become available.

For everyone who has signed up, please make sure you either make payment OR email us to make arrangments for payment by Thursday 22nd December. If we don’t hear from you, your place will be offered to someone on the waiting list.

If you are attending Technify Your Teaching in 2012, we will email you with more information about the day over the school holidays.

Thank you for your support in 2011 and Merry Christmas!