Friday 15 February 2013

February 15, 2013 - Do A Doodle and More...


Happy Friday Everyone,

This week I have a variety of tips and tidbits for you to use as a technologically savvy teacher.  Enjoy…

Do a ‘Doodle’ - Online Website
Have you ever tried to schedule a meeting between multiple participants and find that the logistics is mind boggling?  Try using a Doodle… http://doodle.com/?locale=en    A doodle is free to make and allows you to create an assortment of potential times and dates for your meeting; you then e-mail the invitations to the attendees.   They will receive the invitation with an active link to a webpage which shows the possible dates and times for your meeting.  Next, they select the times which fit into their schedule and click save.  The information is transmitted back to you and you can see when the meeting would best fit into everyone’s schedule.  This is a quick and user friendly tool that takes everyone’s schedule into account and makes your scheduling much easier.

iMotionHD –Free iPad App
Have a creative student in your class who is interested in creating a movie of their own but they aren’t sure where to start? iMotionHD is an iPad and iPhone app that makes stop motion animation easy and fun.  The app allows you to choose between a pre-set timed photo  shot (i.e. daily or every second) or choose to  manually select when the image is taken.  You simply capture all of the images and the app will collate them and create the movie with them.  You are able to control the speed at which the images are shown in the video (i.e. 1 frame per second, etc.) When complete, videos can be uploaded to Facebook, YouTube or emailed.  This is a wonderful tool to be used with Lego creations, either capturing how they are built brick by brick or by using them to illustrate a story.  Also helpful to demonstrate changes in cloud formations and growth changes in plants.

SmartBoard Magic Pen

By engaging the magic pen, you have several tools available at once.  Click on the pens and select the magic pen (see image on right).  The magic pen does not create permanent marks on the SmartPages or documents, if you write with it; the drawn lines will disappear in about 10 – 15 seconds.  Additionally, if you use it to circle a portion of an image, etc. it will highlight it (dim the screen around and illuminate the item which was circled.  You can then move the circle around using its blue outline or if you pull (click and drag with the mouse or touch and drag with a pen from the tray) on the inside of the circle; you can enlarge or shrink the size of the circle.  Click the red circle or square to the right and it will disappear.   You can also use the pen to make a square on the image and it will immediately zoom in on that blocked image allowing for better viewing.  When you are done simply click on the red circle or square to the right and it will revert back to the original image.

OTF Connects – Professional Development Opportunities Delivered to Your Computer
      You may have received an e-mail from the OTF (Ontario Teacher’s Federation) recently and not have paid much attention to it.  In this message they shared information about upcoming online PD webinars, many of which are on the topic of technology in education.  These hour and a half sessions include a wide variety of topics and can be accessed from your home computer at times which are convenient to you.  Subjects include:
·         Supporting Student Learning with iPads
·         Flipped Classroom - The Basics
·         Blogging for Learning
·         BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) High Yield Instructional Strategies
I have personally taken several of the OTFConnects courses and have found them to be very beneficial and enlightening.  The instructors are quite knowledgeable and even include the UGDSB’s very own Brenda Sherry.  You may want to visit their website (http://www.otffeo.on.ca/english/events/?page_id=49) and have another look at these courses . 

Cheers,
Stacey

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