Nora's Blog

Today was fascinating as it was our turn in the driver’s seat to walk each other through various online applications and  how they can be used to enhance our teaching, help our students and ,with any luck, make our job just a little bit easier.

The best thing was that, because of our different positions in our schools (teacher or administrator), all the websites presented covered different disciplines and points of view. In the few occasions when they were similar, everyone was able to show slightly different features that can help to make an informed decision about which to use and when/how to use it. There were sites for grading, quizzing and organization. Others that are excellent for brainstorming and project collaboration. Science and math were strongly represented with various interactive games, labs and practice pages. English and social studies teachers showed us some great tools that can be used across curricular and in everyday web use (refining searches in Google and picture manipulation).

Everyone’s presentations were very informative and engaging and showed how we had each thought of practical applications of our discovered websites. I’m looking forward to the two (?) presentations we have left for today.

This is an excellent online tool for creating tests that students can take anywhere in the world. I unfortunately didn’t have time to explore all the features available, but it’s very easy to navigate so go ahead and explore.

How to create a quiz

The part of the YouTube URL you need.

The final look of your quiz

A downside to this site is that it’s not embeddable into a blog.

“Dog ate my homework.” That’s one thing that you shouldn’t hear if you introduce your students to this site.

Soshiko Assignment Homepage

This website allows students to have a separate page  for each of their classes and add their assignments. The interface is simple and as well as updating assignments via the website, they can be added by email or SMS. Unfortunately, the SMS function is only available to US residents at the moment.

Most importantly, students also do not have to login to the page everyday, the site will email or SMS (US only) the student to remind them of due assignments.

Status of assignments

http://www.vocabahead.com

This website allows you to create your own list of words that can be embedded in your blog.

Teacher's homepage on VocabAhead

This is what you will see when you choose to register/sign in as a teacher.

Creating your own vocabulary list on VocabAhead

This explains how to create your own vocabulary list. It can also be used by students to create their own lists in addition to yours.

Your list

Once you’ve created your list you can share it with others. This is not the same as embedding on your blog, anyone on the site will be able to view your list. Under the Shared List tab at the top you can also view lists created by other people and save them.

Your list as flashcards

Your list as video

Once your list is done you can vier the words as flashcards, videos and quiz your students.

Your list as a quiz

To benefit from the flashcards and quiz features, your students will need to visit VocabAhead themselves as only the list and the videos show on the embed.

How to embed your list on your blog/website

And this is what it looks like!

1. Approx. how many machines does your school have?

There are about 105 computers in the Elementary school, this includes those for classroom use (student or teacher) and administrators.
2.where are they located?

The bulk of these computers are in the 2 labs, which each have 21 student computers and one teacher computer. The labs also each have 2 printers (1 laser jet and 1 colour ink jet) and a flat bed scanner. The 2 main smartboards are here (the other is portable and stored in the A/V room) and are constantly used by the IT teachers.

The 2 teacher workrooms have 5 computers and a printer (laser jet). The printer in the lab on the first floor is also connected to 3 other computers on this floor ( one in the SEN room, the ESL room and the curriculum advisor’s office; NB the C.A’s office has its own printer but it’s not very reliable).

There is 1 computer in each classroom, however since not every class has a projector or smartboard, these are mainly used by the teacher to take attendance, update Edline or for early finishers to work on a research project or play an educational game.

Each grade centre is set up with a desktop PC, projector and screen. These are used in assemblies and by teachers to show short videos without the hassle of having to book the A/V room.

So far there are only 3 classrooms that are set-up with a projector and screen, but the school is aiming to add to that number. However, we do have portable projectors and screens available to be used in classrooms, all we have to do is put in a request to the IT department to check them out in our name. I don’t think any of the teachers actually know about this though, as everyone I asked hadn’t heard this before I mentioned it!

The library hosts 12 computers, not counting the 3 used by the librarians.

The remaining computers are in the various offices in the building.

3.what types of machines are they?

Desktop PCs, the older models unfortunately still have cathode ray monitors.
4.do you know if they are on a replacement cycle?

Apparently they are! If a machine is beyond simple repairs, it’s replaced immediately. The computers in the computer labs are replaced every 2 years and the old ones distributed to the class rooms.
5.are teachers assigned their own computers?

Each teacher has a computer in their classroom and is free to use any of the ones in the workrooms or the library.
6.does your school offer / support laptops for students? for teachers?

The school provides laptops for administrators and some teachers, for example the music teacher and the film course teacher have been provided with iPads, but this is in the High School. In Elementary it’s mainly the admin. staff who are provided with hardware.

Students are not provided with laptops.
7.what kind of software do computers at your school run?

The OS is either Windows XP or Vista, depending on the age of the computer. All have Microsoft Office installed (2007), as well as adobe reader and the basic Windows programs (media player etc).
8.what is your school network coverage like?

As we’ve experienced in class, it can be very slow at times! Also because we’re in an area with a lot of construction work we have suffered incidences of having cables cut by diggers while installing pipes and so on. When this happens the school tends to run off dongles!

As a general rule though, the network is reliable. It’s available and running more often than not, but of course we only take notice of when it’s down, not when it’s doing what it’s supposed to.

All PCs are connected to the web via LAN but wireless internet is available throughout the building although some rooms have better connection than others.

9. How do you request IT support?

IT support is readily available just by calling the IT office extension number-each building has its own IT crowd to answer our calls for help. Most of us have ‘our IT guy’s personal number as well so we can get in touch with him even if he’s out ‘on call’ and not in the office.

10.How do you develop and maintain your technology skills?

Mainly through workshops during staff development days or at the start of the academic year before the students arrive. Last year the school sent some of us to the AUC to attend a two-day introduction to Web 2.0 tools.

11.How is Instructional Technology supported?

We have a support team for our CSM (Edline) who are on call to help with any issues that may arise, such as report card comments not being received or grades disappearing. For example after a teacher lost the comments for her entire class we realised that when using a MAC, comments are not saved.

Today was ,again, full of online goodies. There is so much cool stuff out there to use! Some for teaching and others just for recreation, or more likely, procrastination. The best part was joining up with Dr. Carroll’s class for a presentation on digital storytelling and seeing the faces of the other class’ students. Now I know what we looked like yesterday!

The section on hardware and software and knowing what to take into consideration when buying a new computer-whether for personal use or for a school- was very informative. Although I had a general idea before of what the jargon meant and what to look for, this will definitely be a big help in the future.

The most eye-opening part of the day, for me, though was at the end of class when we began our search for web 2.0 apps and programs for our upcoming assignment. The sheer number and scale is mind-boggling, there really is something for everyone and everything and if not, then there’s probably someone out there right now creating it for you! I only wish I had the time to properly explore each one.

No idea what ‘coquinate’ means? Neither did I! It means: behaving as a cook.

While searching for Web 2.0 tools this evening I came upon this site http://savethewords.org/ a website that is attempting to save the rich diversity of the English language. You go on the site, click on a word

if you like it you can ‘adopt’ it and try to save it from oblivion!

Have a look, I promise the words won’t misqueme

Well it was certainly an eye-opener!

I don’t think most of us had even heard of a lot of this technology, much less seen it in action, and I think it could be seen in our reactions. “Wow”  was heard quite a lot, as was  ”Can we do that? Will we be able to do that?”, both of which were answered with a resounding “Yes!”.  My mind was whirring with the possible ways I could use some of the software introduced, especially http://www.zooburst.com/

We were all impressed by the Livescribe Echo pen-I’m sure I’m not the only one who googled it to find out where to get one and how much they cost. Can’t help but think how much easier university may have been if I’d had one of these. Some of my notes may have actually made sense!

My personal achievement today was to tackle a spreadsheet, albeit a simple one, without breaking out into a rash! Excel is not my friend, never has been, so this was a pleasant surprise.