Friday, April 26, 2013

Recap: Technology Workshops

A big Thank You all of the faculty who attended a technology workshop last week!

If you weren't able to attend a workshop here are links to the materials that Spectrum has posted related to their topic.


Developing a Lesson Plan using Screenshots: Why recreate the wheel? Learn timesaving techniques to capture and annotate images from your digital textbooks and other sources for lesson plans and worksheets.

Board Cam: An essential app for every teacher! Find out how to use your iPad as a document camera, create video tutorials, project live experiments or feature student work, freeze and annotate an image, and more with this app.

myMitty Quizzes & Guided Access: Use the myMitty Quiz tool to create auto-graded homework assignments or in class quizzes. Rose will also cover the steps teachers can take to turn the iPad into a secure testing environment.

Simple Steps for an Outstanding myMitty site.  Easy tips to make your myMitty site more friendly and appealing for students.

Using QR Codes for Class Activities: You may have seen a QR code (that square barcode) in magazines or on your cereal box, but did you know that anyone can create a QR code? Graham will share how he uses QR codes to design engaging class activities and get you started creating your own. 

Creating Visual Seating Charts with the Smart Seat iPad app. An easy way to create dynamic classroom seating charts and recreating the learning environment for the students.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

QR Code Workshop Video

Check out this video of my mini-workshop for teachers at Mitty. You may have seen a QR code (that square barcode) in magazines or on your cereal box, but did you know that anyone can create a QR code? In this workshop, I share how I use QR codes to design engaging class activities and get you started creating your own. All it takes is a QR Code generator (such as http://delivr.com/qr-code-generator), the URL of a website you'd like to share with your students, and the Scan app for your students' iPads (which is available in Self-Service).



Friday, April 12, 2013

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Project a timer on your iPad for your class

A simple and useful idea: Open up a TIMER app on your iPad and project it for the class when they are doing something for a given amount of time (group work, quizzes, transitions, labs, etc). It helps students budget their time, while freeing you from being the time-keeper. There are lots of free apps, including the "Clock" app that is on your iPad by default. I personally like the app called "Timer+" (available on Self-Service) because it allows you to store and label different timers, so you can quickly select ones that you use on a regular basis.

13 Ways to use iMovie in the classroom

Here is an article that describes 13 ways to use iMovie in the classroom, and at the bottom is a 5-minute introductory tutorial video on how to use iMovie. This tutorial is thorough enough that if you were to show it to your students, it would be enough to get them started on a project. Go ahead and skim through the list of ideas - there's something for everyone! Many are obvious ideas, but there are a few that I wouldn't have thought of (like microscopy!)

http://edapps.ca/2011/11/13-ways-to-use-imovie-in-the-classroom/

DIY Tech Support - System Status Sites

Given how connected all of our devices are, it can be challenging at times to figure out if a problem is with your device or "the system"

I wanted to share with you links that may be helpful when you are having an issue with an Apple online service (like yesterday's extended iMessage and FaceTime issues) or a Google Apps service.


Google Apps Status

These two sites will let you know if there is a known issue. Google will link public versions of their incident reports from the Google Apps Status site after the issue has been resolved.