Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Haiku Deck - A slick way to make a presentation
I just learned about a great app, Haiku Deck, from the Apple trainers that were recently in the district. Haiku Deck allows you to create stunning presentations on the iPad. It is intuitive, easy to create and edit, and most of all easy to share. Presentations can be Tweeted, shared out to Facebook, embedded, or shared via a link. Check out what I made for our new teacher training today! You can get the FREE Haiku Deck app at http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/haiku-deck/id536328724?mt=8
Saturday, September 15, 2012
You Tube It!!
“Mike, how did you learn to solve the Rubic’s cube?”, I asked my 7th grade son.
“I YouTubed it,” he said.
YouTube is a verb. YouTube it. Anytime and anywhere there is a connection to the Internet, learning can take place. Never has a time existed where there is such open access to information. YouTube, Ted.Edu, and access to SMARTphones are changing the culture of the how and where learning takes place. How fantastic is it to be able to pause, play, rewind, and play a video again? Now it is truly possible to learn a topic at your own pace without feeling silly about asking questions. With the advent of the i0S devices, the ease of using YouTube, and network speed contribute to creating a culture that is transforming how, when, and where we learn. Accessing and streaming videos is as simple as changing a channel on a TV.
I decided to give YouTube learning a try and master a new song on the piano. I started at YouTube.com and did a search for “Apologize Piano Tutorial”. I pushed the sheet music aside and slid the iPad on the music stand. I pulled up this video and went to work. I played the video, paused it, then played it on the piano. Then I played the video again, paused it, played it on the piano. I repeated this process hundreds of times over the course of several weeks to master the song. Finally, I did it! I feel so excited, like a kid learning to ride a bike without training wheels for the first time. The thrill of mastering the skill coursed through my veins. Now the drive is there to perfect the song.
I can play Apologize without the iPad now. I am still polishing the tune, but am so amazed how fun it was to learn this way. My YouTube teacher never ran out of patience. In addition, having access to the knowledge via YouTube at the exact moment I needed it, along the ability to pause, rewind, and practice the notes, was key to me learning the song. YouTube is just in time learning that is powerful, purposeful, engaging, and leads to mastery. YouTube it today and learn something new!
-Ann Feldmann
“I YouTubed it,” he said.
YouTube is a verb. YouTube it. Anytime and anywhere there is a connection to the Internet, learning can take place. Never has a time existed where there is such open access to information. YouTube, Ted.Edu, and access to SMARTphones are changing the culture of the how and where learning takes place. How fantastic is it to be able to pause, play, rewind, and play a video again? Now it is truly possible to learn a topic at your own pace without feeling silly about asking questions. With the advent of the i0S devices, the ease of using YouTube, and network speed contribute to creating a culture that is transforming how, when, and where we learn. Accessing and streaming videos is as simple as changing a channel on a TV.
I decided to give YouTube learning a try and master a new song on the piano. I started at YouTube.com and did a search for “Apologize Piano Tutorial”. I pushed the sheet music aside and slid the iPad on the music stand. I pulled up this video and went to work. I played the video, paused it, then played it on the piano. Then I played the video again, paused it, played it on the piano. I repeated this process hundreds of times over the course of several weeks to master the song. Finally, I did it! I feel so excited, like a kid learning to ride a bike without training wheels for the first time. The thrill of mastering the skill coursed through my veins. Now the drive is there to perfect the song.
I can play Apologize without the iPad now. I am still polishing the tune, but am so amazed how fun it was to learn this way. My YouTube teacher never ran out of patience. In addition, having access to the knowledge via YouTube at the exact moment I needed it, along the ability to pause, rewind, and practice the notes, was key to me learning the song. YouTube is just in time learning that is powerful, purposeful, engaging, and leads to mastery. YouTube it today and learn something new!
-Ann Feldmann
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Techie Tuesday
I feel it is important to continually grow professionally. In my district, one way to grow professionally is by attending a Techie Tuesday. Techie Tuesday is the gift of time to spend eight hours on a topic.
We just held our 2nd Techie Tuesday of the school year on Macbook Basics. We had 34 people attend the session. Everyone had time to learn at a comfortable pace. We covered system preferences, the dock, keyboard shortcuts, and managing files and folders. We are paperless, so all the materials we used for the day are found on our website at http://www.edtech411.net.
Monday, September 3, 2012
Tagxedo
Here is a great tool: http://www.tagxedo.com/. Use this site to make amazing word clouds. This site allows you to copy and paste text from Word into Tagxedo and form them into a cloud or for fun, a shape. These can be saved as .jpgs and then uploaded to your Animoto, blog, webpage, documents, movies, etc. In addition, you can use a URL and Tagxedo will create a cloud from all words on that specific web page. It can even make a cloud of your tweets. The sample above is a I made from the Peru State College home page.
Tagxedo can be used in the school setting. For example, I teach a class where senior citizens are paired with 8th grade students. The students are the teachers for 8 weeks and teach the adults computer basics. At the end, the students give a small speech about the time together. We use Tagxedo to put in important words about their partner. I print the word clouds and frame them. The kids use them as a reference during the presentation and the framed copy is a keepsake for the senior citizen. The word clouds are also included in our Animoto movie that summarizes the course.
Give the site a try. How could you use Tagxedo in the educational setting? Here is a great blog post on 108 Ways to use Word Clouds in the Classroom. You can create a sample and post it on your blog. Be thinking of one to create to include in your Animoto project.
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