Thing 15- Book Creator

We have been began the "Getting Appy" portion of our 36 Things WU course, and the first app we played with was Book Creator.  Book Creator is exactly what it sounds like, it's a way for our students to create interactive stories and presentations to share.  One of the coolest things about Book Creator is the fact that students can collaborate on projects via their iPads.  Collaboration through technology is one of the best new uses of technology I have seen.  It allows technology to not be so individual, and more "social."

This app is not too different than other presentation software, besides the fact that it breaks it down into a page-by-page, book style format, instead of a slide-by-slide format.  This app could be a lot of fun for many classes, by using your own voice, videos, photos, and more to easily personalize your book.  The app is also very conducive for sharing your book via pdf, email, Google Drive, and more.

Thanks!

Thing 14- iTunes U

I recently learned about iTunes University and am super psyched!  I had no idea this existed and it's like free school for all!  I just read over an awesome digital photography class that is going to be an awesome aide in my Yearbook course.  The classes have homework assignments, examples, and basically powerpoint demonstrations of the lessons, they rock!

One class that I found that would be cool for a colleague of mine would be the class entitled "AP Studio Art: Drawing."  We have been kicking around the idea of having an advanced art class at Washburne and this course has a ton of cool ideas for projects for the more advanced artist.  This class is targeted toward high school students, but there are some really awesome project ideas with good instructions inside the course materials.

I plan to incorporate iTunes University into all of my classes!  I will develop materials out of different courses to fit the needs of my students in my classes, and share the best of iTunes University.

Love iTunes University!

Thing 13- Blogging

I enjoyed viewing all of the professional educators blogs.  They gave me ideas about what a legitimate blog should look like and what is popular in today's blogging world.

As I'm sure I could have concluded, popular blogs include videos and photos not just text.  One thing I've learned from my students since I started teaching our school's Yearbook course, is that students are developing a shorter attention span when reading social media and blogs.  Getting my students to write captions for pictures was like pulling teeth.  They aren't even the Instagram era anymore, where there was at least a sentence with the picture, now they are the Snapchat era where there is no text supporting the photo.
The point I'm making is that some of these blogs are very wordy and I'm not sure kids would enjoy reading them.  They are good for adults, but I think the majority of students would rather watch a video or look at picture directions than read a page of explanation.

I enjoyed looking at Dan Meyer's blog, I've followed him in the past, and he gives great examples of how to do math with real world examples.  He also loves to "tear apart" old text books language, and rewrite the questions to me more progressive and thought provoking.

The blog "Cool Cat Teacher" was more broad to all types of teachers, giving cool tips, ways to raise money, ways to improve your classroom environment, etc.  I liked this blog and will continue to follow both of these blogs.

One of the Curated Resources I really liked was the "SmartBrief on EdTech."  This resource shared "10 Takeaways from #ISTE2016 conference in Denver, and each of these are suggestions that could be laminated and put above every teachers desk.  One of my favorites being "When students bring their passions and insights to the table, they become "creators and not just consumers of ideas and technologies produced by others."  This is very applicable to my classes.

Thanks!

Thing 12 - ICE to NICE

I have had the privilege of attending the ICE Conference over the past few years and I always walk away with new ideas for my classroom.  I typically have to choose one day that has the most relevant information to my curriculum, and it's always tough, but with their awesome website, you can see all the presenter information and notes even if you cannot attend the talk.

One of the presentations I enjoyed reading about on the website was by Matt Miller : Video Projects Making them Fun and Practical.  This presentation shares a lot of cool resources for screencasting, video sharing, and more that will definitely be useful in my classroom.

If you use a lot of technology in your classroom, I would advise taking a look at the presenters and topics at next year's ICE Conference and if there are speakers you are interested, put in a request to attend.

Thanks!

Thing 11- Google Hangouts

Ever since I was introduced to Google Hangouts, I've been teaching people to use it.  It is a great (free) way to stay in touch with friends overseas, across the country, or across town.  You can hangout with more than one person so a whole group of college buddies can have a digital reunion, you can conduct a video conference, or you can show your mom and dad your child's first tooth LIVE!  

Google Hangouts is a great alternative to apps like Skype that cost money.  Whenever I get a new friend to Hangout with me, they are shocked at how easy it is.  This is one of my favorite apps Google has come up with.  

I struggled a bit with Google Hangouts on Air, but I intend to try more at this one.  I believe that one of the perks of this app is that people don't need a gmail account to participate in the Google Hangout.  Another perk of this feature is that you can conduct a class without having to look at all of your students, like in a Google Hangout.  

I can see myself using both of these features often in my classrooms, especially if students have problems or trouble with an assignment, I can have online office hours.  

Thanks!

John

Thing 10- Google+

I was introduced to Google+ during the Google Educators WU course and I'm still learning all of its nuances.  I personally like how I can easily use it as a 'professional' social networking site with my colleagues at my school, in my district, and in nearby communities.  I'm aware that I can use this site nationally and globally, but I feel that circles like GEG Chicagoland, and other local circles, you can network and actually go see what other teachers are doing instead of just see pictures or videos online.

Since Google+ and Twitter have a lot of the same applications, I'm still trying to differentiate the pro's and con's of both, but I'm definitely digging the "circles" aspect of Google+ for social networking and collaboration.  I recently made a circle of members from this class, so I can ask questions about the course as they come up.

One of the groups I follow is called "Learning Photoshop" and even though I consider myself proficient in Photoshop, this page is full of cool new tips and tricks that I haven't seen before.  Another page I follow is Filmmaking Inspiration and Tips.  This site shares tips to screenwriting, shows inspirational clips of movies, etc.  It is great for new ideas for my classroom.

Thanks!

Thing 8 - Google Photos

Thing 8- Google Photos

I have been meaning to get familiar with Google Photos for awhile now and am happy I did.  Google Photos has many applications, including sharing photos with family and friends, editing photos and video, backing up photos to save space on your device, and much more.

One of the ways I plan to utilize this app in my teaching this year is through our school's yearbook.  Throughout the year my students take hundreds of photos, many of which are taken on their iPads.  If a photo is taken on the iPad it can instantly sync to their Google Photos and will be easily added to eDesign, the online software we use to edit our yearbook.  Google Photos will also be very helpful for sharing photos with my students instantly, allowing them to take the next step in uploading and editing them. 

This is a great app.

Thanks!

Thing 7- Google Keep

Google Keep

One if this week's things we learned about was Google Keep.  Google Keep is a live notebook, to-do list, grocery list, etc.  It can be shared with a love one, and best of all it travels with you so it's always on you, unlike the traditional grocery list we often forget at home.  I like Google Keep, but just need to become more disciplined in using it instead of making paper and pencil lists, or Microsoft Word lists like I'm so used to.

Thanks!

Thing 4

Using Google Apps In My Classroom

The most innovative thing about Google Apps in my opinion is the ability to collaborate on projects, word processing documents, sheets, forms, etc.  This ability allows all types of people to work together on items from across the world.  This feature connects us in a way that we have never been connected before and opens a lot of doors in efficiency and creativity.

One of the ways I plan to use Google Apps in my classroom is through scriptwriting.  In my Movie Makers course, students work together to modify a short story into a shooting script.  Through Google Docs students can work together not only in class, but at home at any time they feel necessary.  Group projects that were once difficult to organize outside of school, can now be done together from the comfort of your own living room.  My students can modify scripts, add notes, give comments, etc.

Another way I plan to use Google Apps in my classroom, is through Google Drive.  In my classes, students make many great projects and in the past we have made DVD's at the end of the trimester, which was cool, but a technology of the past.  Now everything is digital, so my students are going to make folders and organize their videos inside their Google Drive.  I'm still trying to figure out the most intelligent way to do this so my students will still have these videos after they leave Washburne and their email expires.  Also, I would like to make it more artistic, making a folder in Google Drive is not as pleasing to the eye as a DVD was.

The last way I plan to use Google Apps in my classroom is through Google Forms.  Google Forms are very easy to link through Schoology and a great way to get the pulse of my students through a survey.  In our yearbook class, I can see this being a very valid lesson to teach, so my students can conduct polls for inserts in the yearbook.

Thanks for reading!

Thing 6

Thing 6

Using a Chromebook

For the past few days I have been using a Chromebook for the first time.  I actually really like it for around the house functioning, it is light easy to use, and best of all opens the internet extremely fast.  Another thing that I like about it is that it seems to hold a battery for a long time because there aren't any other applications open that cause it to drain battery.

However, the fact that it is strictly internet based is also a problem for most consumers that depend on the functionality and expansiveness of applications like Microsoft Word.  I'm sure that there are comparable apps in the Chrome Store, but that would require more work and than many people would like to do.  I feel that most people, as they get older, like to use a program they've learned and learn as it develops, not necessarily learn a whole new program.

Overall, I see the value in the ChromeBook, it's easy to use and it's cheap, but it does have a target audience, and I don't think the art or business world are that target audience. 

Thing 5

Google Chrome Review

I've been using Google Chrome as my main web browser for over a year now and it is fantastic.  It works very well with the Gmail apps, and has a world of apps inside itself.  One of the apps I played with during this "thing" was the Desmos Graphing Calculator.  This is a lot of fun and very easy to use and check your answers with.  In a way, it "gamifies" graphing and makes it more interactive for our students.

I also got to play around with "Typing Club" which is essentially like "Ultrakey" which I grew up with, but free to use.  This also "gamifies" the learning of typing, encouraging you to type faster and more efficiently to break records.

Last but not least, I used "Biodigital Human," an interactive health app that allows you to investigate the different parts and conditions of the body.  This app is very intuitive and allows for deep analysis of the human anatomy.  Very cool!

There are endless amounts of apps inside the Google Chrome App Store, one of my favorites being AdBlock, which protects you and your students from annoying and often inappropriate ads when they are searching on the web.

I am a big fan of Chrome and plan to use it until the next big breakthrough in web browsing.

Thanks!