PPS Instructional Technology

One of the key components of a flipped/blended classroom is providing video based content for your students to view at home.  However, as educators, we know that a lot of students will just turn on a video and multi-task until they get to the end of the video, not really understanding the content.  What if we could make the videos more interactive?  Using Zaption, teachers can include multiple-choice questions, continuous polls, discussions and more to videos they pull from Vimeo, YouTube or their own computer. Cost: Free for a 30 day trial.  $49/year after that. Uses for the classroom: Use Zaption to annotate and make your videos interactive while engaging students. Learn more about Zaption and watch some examples at:  http://www.zaption.com/

Through the use of Google Hangouts, we have the ability to visit anywhere in the world that we can get a person and an internet connected camera. An initiative from Google called Google Connected Classrooms will allow you to participate in field trips from all over. This service is new, so the offerings may be limited in your area, but it's worth looking around for something that might augment your curriculum. At the end of this email you will find additional links that will show you some of what you might expect from this service. Where we see the power of hangouts really having an impact in our classrooms is through local businesses and our own personal/professional contacts. We see events like... Multiple classes visiting a restaurant kitchen, interacting with a head chef Walking a classroom through a factory while asking questions Visiting the zoo with a guide Interacting with the curator of a museum connecting to other classrooms across the district/country and so many...

Would you like to learn more about helping students blend their digital and non-digital lives into a healthy, inspired appoach to living?  Then this may be the MOOC (massive, open, online course) for you. When does the course occur? Spring semester, 2014 (January 12 to May 4). Taught by? Myself (Jason Ohler), President’s Professor and Professor Emeritus, Educational Technology, University of Alaska; Professor, Fielding Graduate University, Media Psychology PhD program. Through? The University of Alaska Southeast, School of Education How to register? Professional Development Course, ED 593. Contact: Cathie Thomas (cathy.thomas@uas.alaska.edu) from the Professional Education Center. She will give you directions about how to sign up. The free MOOC. As mentioned above, come to this website for the course materials. To join the discussion, join the Google+ Community Digital Citizenship MOOC 2014 . To learn more: http://www.jasonohler.com/wordpressii/

Start your New Year off right by registering for Blended Learning in the Classroom a free course for classroom teachers of students of all ages and administrators. The course begins online January 22 and ends May 9. Register at: Blended Learning in the Classroom . During this course you will: Experience active and timely practice Engage in learning, application, review, and revision of your own content Begin developing your own blended environment For more information check out http://www.remc.org/blendedlearning or contact blendedlearning@remc.org Sponsored by REMC Association of Michigan with support from the MACUL.

Taking Kindergarten and Young Fives students to the lab can be an adventure.  Having a plan before you go is essential for making the learning time in the lab successful and productive.  Here are two documents that should help make your computer lab time a stress free experience for both you and your students. Kindergarten/Young 5s Computer Resources and Lesson Ideas http://tinyurl.com/ppsky5tips Lanschool for Elementary Teachers http://tinyurl.com/ppslanschool As always, if you would like some help, I would be more than happy to come over to your building and give you a hand.  I can model  a computer lesson for you, we can work on a project together, or we can just brainstorm various ways to use the lab with our youngest students at PPS.