PPS Instructional Technology

Our final student response system in this series, is a newer tool developed by a classroom teacher in order gage student understanding.  This great tool is called: http://letsgeddit.com/ Question Types:  Multiple Choice, True or False, Short Answer, Poll.  Most prominent feature is the "Check-In" where students can rate their understanding on a simple bar graph or request attention. Works on:  Any internet connected device Really cool feature:  1. You can make notes about how the lessons went so you can review them later. 2. Have a constant running pulse of student understanding with the Check-In feature.  The best part about this feature is that it will compare how the student rates their understanding with how they answer questions so the teacher can see if their is any disparity between the two. Learn more about geddit by watching this video:

Adding to our list of great student response systems, we have: http://www.gosoapbox.com/ Question Types:  Quizzes include: Multiple Choice or Short Answer - you can include image with your question.  You can also do Polls (quick multiple choice) and Discussions (short answer) Works on:  Any internet connected device Really cool feature:  1. The Confusion Barometer: Students can show how well they are understanding the current topic.  2. Social Q&A: Students can ask a question, then other students can vote on questions if they want that question answered as well.  Go Soapbox will then automatically rank the questions based on which ones have the most votes.  Check this feature out:

Our second student response system we are going to take a look at is: http://www.infuselearning.com/ Question Types: True/False, Multiple Choice, Sort and Order, Text Response, Numeric Response, Likert Scale, draw response (only available in quick assessment mode) Works on: Any internet connected device Really cool feature: Students can draw their response - very cool if you have tablets in your classroom Looking for a play by play comparison of Infuse Learning and Socarative? Here is a great review comparing these two tools ( http://itechbob.blogspot.com/2013/01/socrative-vs-infuselearning.html ). The bottom line is: if you are looking for a student response tool, check out both of these great tools and see which one fits you and your needs the best.

Many of you know about the “Clicker” systems that a couple of our schools have that allow teachers to ask questions of their classes and have the students type in their response using the clicker. These are great tools for formative assessments, exit tickets and quick checks. Unfortunately, clicker systems are expensive and not very practical since they only do one thing. This is where great tools like GoSoapBox , Geddit , Infuse Learning and Socrative step in. These programs work like clickers to collect student responses, but students can use computers, chromebooks, smartphones or tablets to submit their answers. Another bonus is that they are really easy to use! Over the next week, let’s take a look at each one of these programs, starting with: http://www.socrative.com/ Question Types: Multiple choice, True/False, Short Answer, Exit Tickets Works on: Any internet connected device, iPad/iPhone App, Android App Really cool features:  1. Quiz answers are compiled i...

As always, we are here to help you! Whether you want some help figuring out Google, setting up your Google site, or developing a really great integrated project for your students, we are here for you. Now it is even easier to schedule an appointment with us. All you need to do is click on the link and follow the directions below. You can schedule an appointment for up to two weeks from the current date. If you want to schedule an appointment further in the future, please contact us directly at jwinstanley@portageps.org or pmurray@portageps.org . To schedule an appointment with one of us, click one of the following links and follow these easy steps: calendly.com/jwinstanley or calendly.com/pmurray Select the duration of time (15, 30 minutes, etc.) Select a day, AM or PM, with spots available Select a listed time slot Click continue Enter your contact information, location, and topics to cover. Schedule the Event That's it!  With three simple clicks, you now have an appoin...

Over the last couple years, many of our technology tools have come from Google thanks to the Google Apps for Education initiative.  Your tech integration specialists have offered training on a wide range of Google topics including, GMail, Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sites, Blogger and more.  We realize, however, that it is not always possible or easy for you all to attend trainings.  Also, some of you prefer to learn at your own pace and on your own time.  If you fit in to one of these categories, then Atomic Learning will be the resource for you.  They have short online tutorials on a plethora of topics including all things Google.  Here is the latest Quick Tip sheet from Atomic Learning: The link from the quick tip is: http://goo.gl/DgvVMz

Are you looking to increase student engagement in your classroom? Do you want to effectively blend within your classroom to incorporate online elements? This free Blended Learning in the Classroom course is for all types of educators - administrators, teachers of all subjects, teachers of all levels! Participate in this FREE 16 week opportunity to begin transforming your classroom (*optional: 61 SCECHs for a minimal fee) As a participant, you will engage with a learning cohort in a blended course and begin developing your own blended learning environment to implement with your students. Participants will: • Experience active and timely practice • Learn with a small cohort of fellow educators • Engage in learning, application, review, and revision • Develop blended lessons in your existing classroom • Submit artifacts to your cohort for sharing and improving Q: Who is this course for?  A: Any Michigan Educator Q: How does this course meet?...

As you all recover after a couple long weeks of teaching and conferencing with parents, we would like to leave you with some light reading...the PPS Technology Times Fall Newsletter. In this edition of the newsletter, you will find: Tech Pilots in PPS Where to find Tech Tips Meet the Tech Staff: Your Technology Integration Specialists Parent Outreach with DigitalED 22i TRIG Grant We are always looking for great ideas to feature in our newsletters, so if you or someone you know is using technology in an engaging innovative way in the classroom, please let us know! Have a great weekend!  Enjoy. PPS Technology Time - Fall 2013

The National Library of Virtual Manipulatives (NLVM) is a great resource when trying to get across sometimes hard to understand math concepts to our students.  It works great on our TECs and students can use it in the labs and on laptops to help them better understand certain concepts.  With resources grouped by grade level (K-12) and Subject (Algebra, Numbers & Operations, Geometry, Measurement, and Data Analysis & Probability) it is hard not to like this great resource.  

Looking for a quick easy way to create online flashcards?   Flippity.net may be just the tool for you!  All you do is download the Google Sheets template.  Fill in the two sides of the card by filling in two columns in a spreadsheet.  Then, publish and presto!  Instant online flashcards are created! Cost : Free Uses in the classroom: Create flashcards to help students study at home or in the classroom for a test, display on your classroom TEC for review, or have students create their own flashcards for themselves or others to use as a formative assessment or review.

Having students create videos and podcasts is a great way for them to demonstrate their understanding of a concept. Unfortunately, finding music tracks for these types of class projects can be tricky because you need to use songs that are not subject to some form of copyright. This becomes an even bigger problem if you want to share your project online, and it gets taken down by YouTube for copyright infringements. To help with this issue,  YouTube have just released a library of tunes that you can download freely and use in your multimedia projects. There are over 100 songs and melodies to start with from different genres and styles. You can access the library at www.youtube.com/audiolibrary This great tip was found at:  http://www.whiteboardblog.co.uk/2013/09/youtube-launches-library-free-use-music/

Happy Friday All! Today's tech tip brings you a fantastic resource for spicing up your curriculum and engaging students in your content.   PBS Learning Media  has some wonderful videos that are short and on topic.  There extensive library of PBS videos can be narrowed down by grade level, subject, standard, or collection.  The best part about it?  You get quality PBS programming in bite sized chunks for FREE! Are you a middle school math teacher looking for an engaging way to connect with your students on the concept of integers?  Check out this video: Elementary school teacher looking for a way for your students to practice inferring and predicting?  Check out the Detectives Notebook Game . There are thousands of resources just waiting for you to explore.  These great games and videos are sure to help make a lesson go from bland to brilliant! Enjoy!

Over the weekend, Google replaced the black bar with the 9 square "grid". Watch this two minute video to find out what and where it is. http://youtu.be/OUunkeM4K_Y

Here's another Google Mail video with a couple of nice to know features. This is the last of the GFC four part series, but don't worry we still have other sources to pull from. Gmail: Responding to Email with Gmail We are starting this short 4 minute video at 1:51 and it discusses... Conversations Adding a Vacation Responder Of course, you can always start from the beginning if you want some of basic tips.