ICT Tip: TED-Ed helps you “Flip your Classroom” by using existing on-line videos

This ICT tip could be best applied to the following subjects:

Links: ed.ted.com

Quick overview: Not only does the TED-Ed website have lots of great videos that were created in partnership by educators and animators, the website now allows you to take an existing video and build your own lesson around it. More specifically, you can pick any TED-Ed or YouTube video and attach your own quizzes, short answer questions, and links. After that, share the unique web address with your students.

What is Flipping the Classroom? Check out these short video clips by Aaron Sams and Jonathan Bergman to explain the concept. If you have a little more time, you may also want to check out this video by Salman Khan. It’s worth mentioning that in adult education, we often avoid assigning homework since many of our students have commitments outside of school. As so, videos can instead be shown in class or students can be taken to the computer lab during class time.

How can this be used in the classroom? In my opinion, using multiple videos allows you to differentiate your teaching materials and avoid a one size fits all lecture. That being said, it doesn’t necessarily mean you need to “flip” everything you do. On the contrary, I’d save “flipping” for the tricky stuff where students may benefit from watching multiple (and preferably short!) explanations. Rather than creating your own videos from scratch, using YouTube or TED-Ed videos can allow for a quick and sustainable way to flip your classroom.

Looking for on-line video materials? Be sure to check out the TED-Ed videos which are categorized by subject and created specifically for education. There’s lots of great new material to be found. If you’d like to know more, I’ve included a link to an overview of how it all works.

Are we offering any workshops on flipping the classroom? The RECIT Provincial and Regional services is planning to offer an FGA Flipping the Classroom workshop in late May 2012. Please contact either Marc-André Lalande or myself if you’d like more information.

Video: To see a 3 minute video example of how to create your own lessons from TedEd or YouTube videos, please click the play button below:

ICT Tip: Alternatives to YouTube and other on-line video sites to use in your classroom

This ICT tip could be best applied to the following subjects:

Links: www.vimeo.com, www.schooltube.com, www.dotsub.com

Quick overview: Three different video websites that are similar to YouTube but are less likely to be blocked by your school board or district filters. Also, more places to look for existing material when flipping your classroom!

What are these sites? Like it or not, YouTube is often blocked by our school board or district filters. On the ICT Blog, we’ve shared ways to circumvent the blocks but these workarounds often require some advance preparation. In this post we’d like to provide you with some quick alternatives for screening videos in the classroom.

How are these sites different from YouTube? While Vimeo and SchoolTube‘s video collections are nowhere as comprehensive as YouTube, many of the videos on these two sites have been created by students or amateur videographers. This opens up the door to all sorts of potentially interesting videos that can’t be found elsewhere. In addition, as SchoolTube has been specifically created for education, your students can upload their own videos if they choose to do so.

What about videos for second language learners? Second language students may be interested in Dotsub which contains English language videos of news broadcasts, current events, documentaries, and so on. However, the main appeal of Dotsub is that students can watch the videos on the site with written subtitles in the language of their choice. (Source: Joanne Salvagio, Saint-Laurent Adult Centre, EMSB)

Word of caution: Even during a spontaneous teaching moment, it’s still a good idea to check out a video in advance before showing it to your class, especially when showcasing videos you are not familiar with. Is the video relevant and appropriate for your students?

Want even more video sites to explore? Still not enough? Here’s a great link to 100 other video sites to explore using in your classroom. (Source: Missnoor28 via Twitter)

ICT Tip: Popplet allows your students to do collaborative brainstorming

This post could be best applied to the following subjects:

Link: www.popplet.com

Quick overview: Popplet is a “mind mapping” tool that allows students to explore and expand upon their ideas in a visual way. It’s free, collaborative, and easy to use!

What is Mind Mapping? Mind mapping is a different way for us to organize our thoughts. A mind map is often setup like a tree, whereas you begin with one main concept and then branch out to many related topics. Each concept in the mind map is represented by a “bubble” that may contain a few words, an image, or even a video. The lines drawn between the “bubbles” indicate the link between the concepts. I’m the first to admit that I’ve never been terribly excited about mind maps. I’ve always liked to simply jot down my ideas in a bullet point list. That being said, I’ve started using Popplet with my colleagues and I’m amazed at how intuitive it is to brainstorm together. It’s definitely worth trying out and it also works well on an IWB (SMARTBoard) too!

How can it be used in the classroom? Popplets can be used by students to brainstorm, consolidate information from multiple sources, plan tasks, or present a topic. A Popplet mind map can be created by one student or simultaneously by a group of students on different computers. A maximum of six popplets can be stored within an account. If you reach your maximum, you can simply delete the popplets you’re done with to get more. Popplet mind maps can also be exported to PDF or JPG.

What about mobile devices? Popplet Lite and Popplet is available for the iPad for those with iPads in their classrooms. (Thanks to Catherine Boisvert, FSL teacher at Eastern Quebec Learning Centre, CQSB for being the first to explore this resource with me!)

Video: To see a 5 minute video demonstrating how the tool works, please click the image below:

ICT Tip: Corkboard.Me allows for realtime collaboration between your students

This post could be best applied to the following subjects:

Link: hello.corkboard.me

Quick overview: A website that allows you or your students to simultaneously place written “sticky notes” on a virtual corkboard. More than just a simple message board, students will see written sticky notes appear as they are being typed. No usernames required, simply start a new Corkboard and share the URL with your students. Free!

How could this be used in the classroom: Corkboard.Me could be used for class research projects, brainstorming sessions, peer correcting, or a collaborative class message “wall” without using private Facebook accounts. For those of you familiar with Etherpad, CorkboardMe is similar in concept but with “sticky notes” instead of a writing pad.

Benefits and limitations: Corkboard.Me is quick to setup, easy to use, and collaborative. A limitation is that anyone can make changes to the notes if the public corkboard is setup with a free account. As so, I would suggest the tool be used with a more mature group of students and a series of “do’s and don’ts” should be established right from the start. Since anything can be changed or viewed on a public Corkboard, I would avoid posting crucial homework assignments or private comments.

How to manage this resource: To keep track who wrote what, I’d suggest students sign their names at the end of their notes. I would also suggest the teacher use a URL shortener such as TinyURL so it’s easier to provide the address of your corkboard to your students. (Special thanks to Stephanie Sabbagh, Place Cartier, LBPSB for inviting me into her classroom and trying this out with her winter French prep students!)

Video: To see a 3 minute video demonstrating how the tool works, please click the play button below:

ICT Tip: Prezi instead of PowerPoint?

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Link: www.prezi.com

What is it? Prezi a popular on-line presentation tool that goes way beyond your typical PowerPoint. Prezi can be used by both students and teachers. Prezi offers free licenses for students and teachers.

What’s Prezi? Well.. Prezi is one of those things that needs to be seen to be understood. As so, I would encourage you to look at this sample before reading any further. In a nutshell, a Prezi presentation contains all the information you’d like to present on one huge canvas. With each click, the screen zooms and flies to the next point. If after you’d like to know more about making your own Prezis, you can follow this link.

How can it be used in the classroom? Prezi can be used whenever you or your students might use a PowerPoint presentation. A Prezi presentation can be made collaborative so a whole team of students could work on one presentation. Also check out the PreziU library which contains categorized presentations contributed by teachers and students. For my mobile blog readers, the Prezi viewer is now available for the iPad too!

Benefits and limitations: Prezi is an on-line tool. This means there’s no need to worry about USB drives or if you have access to the latest version of PowerPoint. It’s also easier to integrate YouTube video clips into a Prezi than in a PowerPoint. However, the fact that Prezi is on-line can also be disadvantage. If your Internet connection is down, so is your Prezi! Technically, Prezi Desktop allows you to download an offline version of your Prezi, but that feature requires a paid account. (Special thanks to Nancy Sher, CDC Vimont, SWLSB for inviting me to try Prezi with her English 5061-3 students.)

ICT Tip: YouTube for Schools

This post could be best applied to the following subjects:

Link: www.youtube.com/teachers

Quick overview: A version of YouTube designed specifically for education. This can also be a great resource if you’re looking for subject specific videos to help flip your classroom.

What does it do? YouTube for schools contains videos categorized by subject and grade level. Teachers and students can find videos of science experiments, language tutoring, math examples, world events, and so on. In an attempt to minimize distractions for students, YouTube for schools does NOT contain any comments or “side bar” video suggestions. Please keep in mind that if YouTube is currently blocked in your center, this new site does not automatically mean YouTube will be unblocked. We’ll talk about some alternatives for educational video sites in an upcoming blog post.

Video Tutorial: For more information on YouTube for Schools, please click the (1 minute) video link below:

Consider this: Twitter for Professional Development?

This post could be best applied to the following subjects:

Quick overview: A short video explaining the benefits of using Twitter for your professional development as a teacher.

What is this about? Believe it or not, Twitter can be an invaluable educational tool that can help you easily connect with other educators in order to find new ideas and resources to use in your classroom.

How does it work? Twitter isn’t at all like Facebook. You don’t have to share personal information or spend a lot of time if you don’t want to. In fact, it’s perfectly OK to simply start “following” people or educational organizations you find interesting and see what they have to say from time to time. It’s soft of like tuning in to watch the evening news to see if anything interesting has happened. However, instead you’ll tune-in to “follow” web resources and teaching tips tailored to your classroom needs.

Need help? Are you an FGA teacher looking to sign-up for Twitter and need some pointers where to start? Give us a shout by e-mail. If you’re already on Twitter, we are: a_spector (Avi) alainphaneuf (Alain) and malalande (Marc-André). We so strongly believe in this self-guided approach to PD, that if there’s only one thing we hope you take away from our ICT Blog this school year, it would be to start using Twitter!

Video Tutorial: To explain the pedagogical benefits of using Twitter for PD, my colleague Marc-André Lalande has put together an amazing (5 minute) video called “To Tweet or not to Tweet: (Source: Marc-André Lalande, RECIT FGA Pedagogical Consultant, via r.u.aware blog)

Consider this: What is “schoolisyzation”?

This post could be best applied to the following subjects:

Quick overview: Did you ever come across a school problem, especially in math, that uses a real-life context, but still didn’t make any sense?

What is this about? In this 6-minute video presentation, my colleague Marc-André Lalande presents his thoughts on the subject of “schoolisyzation” and how he thinks technology can help us improve our pedagogical practices. (Source: Marc-André Lalande, RECIT FGA Pedagogical Consultant, via r.u.aware blog)

Feedback: Comments? We really want to hear what you have to say! Please feel free to leave your comments on our blog with the “leave a comment” link below this post. Also, if YouTube is blocked in your school, you can view Marc-André’s original SlideRocket presentation from his r.u.aware blog...

ICT Tip: Royalty-free music for students to use in multimedia projects

This ICT tip could be best applied to the following subjects:

Links: www.jamstudio.com and www.incompetech.com

Quick overview: Websites that either allow students to create or download copyright free music for use in multimedia projects.

JamStudio: JamStudio.com allows students to cook up their own musical compositions to use in projects, even if your students aren’t musically inclined. It’s similar in concept to Apple’s Garage Band but everything is done through a web browser instead. A free educational account is required before using it with your students. (Source: Tammy Worcester, ISTE Philadelphia 2011)

Incompetech: If your students are simply looking for “ready to use” royalty-free music then send them to the Incompetech website. They can search for music by feel (moody, happy, dramatic, etc) or by genre. Listen and download the music for free, no fuss, no muss.. no catch! This is a great resource for iMovie, Movie Maker, or other ICT projects. Here is an example of an upbeat silent film piano score or a dramatic film score found on the site. For more information on copyright usage, see the FAQ section. (Source: Robert Miller, ISTE Philadelphia 2011)

Update November 22nd, 2011: I’ve received two additional (totally amazing!) royalty-free music sites from our readers Chris and Dano. Be sure to check out MusicRevolution and DanoSongs if you’re looking for some high quality tracks.

Some considerations: As I’ve mentioned in other posts, students can easily get caught up in creating the bells and whistles (i.e. – music) for a project when the main focus may be about developing language or other competencies. Try to remember to keep them on track. Last but not least, don’t worry about being an expert with either tool. There’s a good chance your tech savvy students will figure out how to insert the music into their projects on their own.

Video Tutorial: For more information on how to use these resources, click the video (3 minutes) link below:

ICT Tip: Dipity allows students to create media rich interactive timelines

This ICT tip could be best applied to the following subjects:

Link: www.dipity.com

Quick overview: Dipity helps students to create interactive timelines comprised of significant events. Each “event” on the timeline can be fleshed out by the student to include text, images, and video. Timelines can be set private, public, or collaborative.

How can it be used in the classroom: Instead of asking your students to memorize out-of-context historical dates, why not ask them to research and assemble their own interactive timeline instead? Furthermore, timelines need not be limited to events from ancient history. Instead, students could create a Dipity timeline that contains a breakdown of the various pieces leading up to a current event (i.e – political or economic situation) or they can even assemble a family history or bibliography. Here’s an example of a timeline created with Dipity.

Is it free? Yes, the Dipity website allows for free accounts with most functionality intact. One limitation with free accounts is that you can only create three timeliness per account, with 150 events per timeline. Regardless, that shouldn’t be a problem for most student work.

Video Tutorial: For a short video (3 minutes) on how to use Dipity, please click the play button below:

ICT Tip: Random Name Picker

This ICT tip could be best applied to the following subjects:

Link: classtools.net

Quick overview: A website that can randomly pick one of your students’ names to answer a question. Easy to use, only takes a few seconds to get up and running.

How does it work? Enter your students’ names manually or copy and paste your class list from a Word document. Either way, the Classtools website will randomly pick a student’s name, one at a time. While the site is designed with younger students in mind, I find the site is much more suitable to use with adult learners if you simply mute the silly sound effects by turning off your speakers. (Source: Tammy Worcester, ISTE 2011 Philadelphia conference)

Video Tutorial: For more information on how to use this this tool, click the (1 minute) video link below:

ICT Tip: Urlist allows you to line-up a list of websites before teaching your class

This ICT tip could be best applied to the following subjects:

Link: http://urli.st

Quick overview: Urlist is a website that allows you to store multiple website addresses you’d like to present in your upcoming class. Once class starts, you can simply jump to each website without having to type in complicated web addresses or sift through piles of bookmarks. This resource is similar to the furly website that we highlighted in a previous blog post, however urilst allows you to go back and edit previous lists or even make the lists collaborative for others to edit!

How can this be used in the classroom: If you regularly present different websites to your students, the urlist website can help things run more smoothly. Using the this website, you won’t have to scramble to type in long addresses (while your class waits!) or search through a huge list of bookmarks when presenting different websites to your class. An added bonus is that you can easily share the list of websites with your students after class (with a unique URL) so they can consult the list of websites at a later date. Alternatively, if a group of students share the “edit” link, they can create a collaborative list that they can all edit together. Even if you regularly use furly, this is a great backup site to have in your back pocket. Here’s an example of what a shared urlist. (Source: John Scammell, Zero Knowledge Proofs)

Video Tutorial: For a video (3 minutes) on how to use urlist, please click the play button below:

ICT Tip: Wolfram Alpha is a lot more than a search engine!

This ICT tip could be applied to the following subjects:

Link: www.wolframalpha.com

Quick overview: Like Google, Wofram Alpha works with keywords. However, Wolfram Alpha does a lot more than simply retrieve information from web pages. Instead, it creates a “custom fit” for you by assembling or calculating the information you’re looking for.

Can you give me some examples? If you type in the name of any two cities (i.e – Montreal and Ottawa) you’ll get a rich comparison between the two cities. If you type in the name of a food item (i.e – big mac) you’ll get a detailed breakdown of the nutritional information of that food. Best of all, if you type in a math equation (2x + 15 = 45) you’ll get a visual representation of the equation. You can even download the results or equations as PDF files!

I want to know more! Here is a great organized list of some other possible keyword combinations to try on Wolfram Alpha. In addition, here’s a link that explains how to use some of the more important features on Wolfram Alpha. (Source: Tammy Worcester, ISTE 2011 Philadelphia conference)

ICT Tip: Qwiki displays interactive multimedia presentations of any topic

This ICT tip could be best applied to the following subjects:

Link: www.qwiki.com

Quick overview: A website that displays encyclopedia articles in small “easy-to-digest” multimedia presentations. Encyclopedia articles are presented with a mix of spoken text, video, and images. All the information from Qwiki is obtained from Wikipedia.

How does it work? Like Wikipedia, students enter in keywords and find articles. The difference is that Qwiki automatically repackages the information into slick interactive mini-presentations. If desired, students can click on keywords while the presentations are running to dig deeper for more information. (Source: Tammy Worcester, ISTE 2011 Philadelphia conference)

How can it be used in the classroom? This tool could be used to help students that have trouble reading through long written articles or simply have trouble focusing their attention for long periods of time. Micheal Moore-Jones, a student from New Zealand put together a great blog post and testimonial of how Qwiki was used in his classroom. A interesting read, check it out!

Video Tutorial: For more information on how to use Qwiki, click the (1 minute) video link below:

ICT Tip: Today’s Meet creates a “backchannel” in your classroom

This ICT tip could be best applied to the following subjects:

Quick overview: Today’s Meet (www.todaysmeet.com) allows you to setup a “backchannel” for your audience or students while you are presenting or teaching.  It takes less than 1 minute to set up and can keep a record of discussions for up to 1 year.

What is a backchannel? A backchannel is basically a real-time “chat room” that your audience can participate in.  This discussion can also be projected on a screen or wall while you are teaching.  The idea behind such a tool is that participants can publicly ask questions without having to wait for a break or permission.  The backchannel displays comments or questions in the order they were typed.  Questions can be answered by the speaker (the teacher) or other audience members (students) creating a multi-tiered learning or meeting environment.  Keep in mind that participants must have access to the internet via computer or smartphone during the lecture.

ICT Tip: Safeshare removes distractions around YouTube videos and even allows you to isolate and show the most relevant parts of the video!

This ICT tip could be best applied to the following subjects:

Link: www.safeshare.tv

Quick overview: Safeshare is a great site if you want to screen a video in your classroom, but don’t want your students to be distracted by other videos that pop-up on YouTube. It also allows you to highlight the most relevant part of the video by cropping out the parts that you don’t need to show. Easy to use, highly recommended!

How does it work? Using this site, you can share videos in the classroom without all the distracting or potentially inappropriate video thumbnails that typically appear alongside YouTube videos. With Safeshare, the YouTube video simply shows up by itself, surrounded by a plain gray background. As an added bonus, Safeshare easily allows you to “crop” videos before sharing or showing them to students. What this means you can share (or prepare in advance) a link for a YouTube video that starts or ends at any point you want. This way you can remove distracting intros or irrelevant content. Here’s an example of using Safeshare to show just one scene from the YouTube “Montreal in Two minutes” video.

Video Tutorial: For a short video on how to use Safeshare, please click the play button below:

ICT Tip: Wikisend and Filedropper – a simple and EASY way to share large files

This ICT tip could be best applied to the following subjects:

Link: www.wikisend.com and www.filedropper.com

Quick overview: Two websites that allow you to easily share large files that are too big to include as e-mail attachments. Free!

What does it do? Wikisend and Filedropper allow you to upload very large files and then share them with a unique link. The best part is that no registration or anything else complicated is required. Simply upload your file from your computer and then share the link. Done!

How can it be used in the classroom? In addition to sharing large files, teachers can use these sites for sharing smaller files with their students. For example, teachers can can place a document on-line and then provide the same link to all the students. There’s no need to send out multiple e-mail attachments. Save trees and stop photocopying! Leave your USB keys at home!

What’s the difference? Filedropper allows you to upload files up to 5GB in size, but there’s no option to make the link private. In comparison, Wikisend is limited to files up to 100MB in size but you can choose to make the link private with a password, if desired.

What’s the verdict? Overall, I’d highly recommend using Wikisend over Filedropper. Wikisend’s interface is neater (a lot less questionable ads!) and there is no need for the student to enter in a captcha to download the file. In my opinion, the only reason to use Filedropper would be if you absolutely need to share a file larger than 100MB.

Video Tutorial: For a short video on how to use these two sites, click the play button below:

Voicethread – Let your voice be heard

This ICT tip could be best applied to the following subjects:

Link: http://www.voicethread.com

Quick overview: Voicethread is an online Web 2.0 tool that can be used as a way of holding group discussions around pictures or other media (videos and documents). Comments can be left by voice, text or video.  You can even leave a comment on a Voicethread page using your cellphone.  Creating an account is free and takes just a few minutes.

How does it work? A Voicethread can contain many pages and each of those pages can contain comments from you or others.  You can also share your voicethread with a few people or the whole world.  A voicethread page can hold almost countless comments.  There are literally hundreds of interesting and useful ways to use Voicethreads.  Once you create your account, several Voicethread tutorials are placed in your “My Voice” area for you to peruse.  To create a Voicethread, simply upload a few pictures, leave a short comment for each, choose how to share it and you are done!

How can it be used in the classroom? There are almost endless ways to use Voicethreads in the classroom.  They can be created by the teacher or by the student (they can have their own accounts or you can share a classroom one and use identities).  Here are just a few suggestions.

• Have students present a project by creating a personal Voicethread.  Have other students peer review it through comments.
• Upload a historical video and have students comment on what it means to them.
• In an ESL/FSL classroom, upload short phrases and have students read it out loud in the comments.  An added benefit is that students also get to hear how others pronounce the same phrase.
• Take pictures of an outing or field trip and have students comment on them.
• Have students prepare a Voicethread of thankyou cards and share it with a guest speaker, parent or other person/organization that has helped your class.
• For more ideas, check out the following link: http://voicethread.com/community/library/

Some considerations: It is important to remember that images used in Voicethreads are subject to the same copyright restrictions as any other site.  Students should make sure to use personal images or those distributed under the creative commons license. (See the following link to learn more about this).

Video Tutorial: For more information , click the play button below:

ICT Tip: Always have access to your files with DropBox- Part 1/2

This ICT tip could be best applied to the following subjects:

Link: http://www.dropbox.com

Quick overview: Dropbox is an online (cloud based) file storage system.  More importantly, Dropbox is a way to have files automatically synchronized and backed up online and between your computers and mobile devices.  It is FREE for use up to 2 GB (Gigabytes) and is very easy to use.  Never lose a file again!

How does it work? Once Dropbox is installed, simply drag or save files to the newly created dropbox folder and the dropbox program running in the background will upload and synchronize all of your files if you are online.  You can link as many computers as you want to your dropbox account.  Simply follow the same installation procedure on all of them and enter the information for the existing dropbox account that you have.  Dropbox works across all platforms (Windows, Mac and Linux).  It even works on iPhones, iPads and other smart phones and devices.  When a new file is created and saved in the dropbox folder on one of the computers, all other connected computers receive the same file.  A copy of the file is also kept online providing you with a backup!

How can it be used  professionally? When preparing lessons at home, simply save your files to the dropbox and let them sync online.  You can then download the files to the school computers the next day using the browser.  You will never have to carry a USB memory stick ever again.

How can it be used in the classroom? This will be discussed in a later post but you can set up a shared folder with all of your students so that they can submit work or to share files with them.

Some considerations: Due to administrative user restrictions on most school computers, it is unlikely you will be able to install the Dropbox software on your classroom computer. However, you can still use the Dropbox website to download and manage your files through a web browser or use your own personal laptop with Dropbox installed at school.

Video Tutorial: For more information on how to install and use the software, click the play button below:

Click to play video

ICT Tip: Flixtime allows your students to easily create slick looking video montages

This ICT tip could be best applied to the following subjects:

Quick overview: Flixtime allows students to combine images, video clips, text, and music to create a 60 second video montage with slick transitions and flashy effects. No previous video editing experience needed. Basic account is free.

How does it work? Flixtime is very similar to the Animoto site I wrote about in an earlier blog posting. Like Animoto, Flixtime allows students to upload digital images, video, text clips, and music files. The student then places the media in the order she would like them to appear, as to create a story or message. Flixtime analyzes the student’s uploaded content and then automatically generates a professional looking 60 second video montage. Here’s a simple example I created for the Blog.

How can this be used in the classroom? One of our teachers came up with an innovative use of Flixtime in her classroom. First, she divided her class into two groups. Each group was asked to argue an opposing viewpoint (i.e. – pros vs cons of consumerism) and then present their argument with a Flixtime video clip, similar in format to a TV commercial. Before even touching a computer, students were asked to brainstorm 8 to 12 images they felt would best get their point across. Next, they used Google Images or their own digital cameras to gather their chosen images. Interestingly, some images were dropped or changed as they searched for those that would fit best with their video montage. The 60 second time limit forced students to be concise and effective with their point of view.

What is the difference between Filxtime and Animoto? With a free Flixtime account, students can create a 60 second video montage, instead of only 30 seconds with a free Animoto account. Flixtime also allows you to continue to work on your video montage while your images and videos upload. Currently, Animoto forces you to wait until everything is uploaded before you can start working on your video montage. (Source: The Tech Chicks, ISTE 2010 Denver Conference)

Video Tutorial: For more information on how to create a Flixtime video, please click the large play button below:

ICT Tip: Have your students create multimedia posters with Glogster for Education

This ICT tip could be best applied to the following subjects:

Quick overview: Glogster for Education allows your students to create on-line “posters” that can contain text, images, digital pictures, videos, and sound clips. Glogster be used for any subject that requires students to produce a presentation.

How does it work? Students sign up for a basic educational Glogster (edu.glogster.com) account before creating their own “glog” poster. Once the student’s Glogster poster is complete, the student can choose to publish it on-line or embed into a class Blog or Wiki.

How can it be used in the classroom? Students could use Glogster to create a mock advertisement or demonstrate their personal standpoint (i.e. – persuasive writing) on current issues. Students could also use Glogster to assemble a research project, as seen in this student created Glogster poster on Harriet Tubman. It’s a whole new twist on an old approach, have your students try it out! (Source: The Tech Chicks, ISTE 2010 Denver Conference)

Video Tutorial: For more information on how to use Glogster, please click the large play button below:

ICT Tip: Wix allows your students to create simple websites without any web programming knowledge

This ICT tip could be best applied to the following subjects:

Quick overview: Wix allows your students to easily create simple websites without any previous knowledge of web design or complicated HTML programming skills. Students can create websites from scratch or modify a template. Free.

What does Wix do? Wix (www.wix.com) allows you to build a website without needing to know the nitty gritty details of web design. You simply drag and drop text, images, and other elements to create a Wix website that anyone can visit. The Wix site is free to use with a standard account.

What’s the catch? Unlike “traditional” websites, you can’t really tinker with the code of a Wix website to tweak and customize things to your liking. Furthermore, the technology behind Wix websites is Adobe Flash. Adobe Flash is installed on most PC and Mac computers but can be troublesome on some mobile devices and smart phones. More specifically, accessing a Wix site on one of these mobile devices may be very slow or not work at all. Before you shrug that off, you’d be surprised how many of your students are now using mobile devices to access the web!

What’s the final word: I think Wix sites are absolutely great for teachers and students wanting to get their feet wet with web design. It’s both easy to use and free. However, if your students are looking to take their web design skills to the next level, then they may want to look into more traditional HTML based solutions. (Source: Robert More, Riverside, ACCESS)

ICT Tip: Tinychat allows you to instantly create a video or audio conference without special software

This ICT tip could be best applied to the following subjects:

Quick overview: The Tinychat website allows you create a video or audio conference in just a few seconds. No account sign-up is required for you or your students. It’s all web based, so no need to install any special software on anyone’s computer either. Did I mention it’s free?

How does it work? Visit Tinychat (www.tinychat.com) and click on the “create” chat room button. This generates a unique web address that you can share with students. Students type in the web address and they can join in. If desired, teachers can even save the chat to replay at a later date. You can have up to 12 people in a simultaneous video chat or a lot more for a text chat. Tinychat is a great alternative if Skype is blocked in your school or you’re not allowed to install software on classroom computers.

How can it be used in the classroom? There are tons of pedagogically relevant ways to use a videoconference in the classroom. Invite an “expert” for a videoconference with your class, go on a virtual field trip, collaborate with another classroom across town or in another country, use it for teacher training, or much more! (Source: Susan Van Gelder, LEARN)

Video Tutorial: For more information on how to use the site, click the play button below:

ICT Tip: Scan paper documents and newspapers into “editable” electronic text with the FreeOCR website

This ICT tip could be best applied to the following subjects:

Quick overview: The FreeOCR website (www.free-ocr.com) allows you to upload a scanned page from a worksheet, newspaper, or book and transform it into electronic “editable text” that you or your students can modify in a word processing program like Microsoft Word. No account sign-up necessary. Free!

How does it work? Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is a technique that computers employ to analyze scanned images and recognize printed text so that the text from the paper document can be modified in a word processor. Using the FreeOCR website is straightforward to use if you are already familiar how use your computer’s scanner.

Things to consider: While this little trick can potentially save you lots of time (i.e. – no need to retype an entire newspaper article you’d like to share or edit with your students) always make sure you have the rights to scan and modify the original printed materials. It’s also important to proofread the converted document to check for errors (spelling, scan errors, etc..) introduced in the OCR conversion process.

Video Tutorial: For more information on how to use the Free OCR site, please click the large play button below:

ICT Tip: Google Timeline and date specific searches

This ICT tip could be best applied to the following subjects:

Quick overview: How to search with Google using time specific variables. Great for tracking down information on past news stories and major world events.

How can these tools be used in the classroom? Google Timeline is a tool from Google that returns search results represented on a visual timeline with units representing years or months. This technique can be useful when your students would like to explore similar topics and themes that have occurred in the past.

How does the timeline search work? For example, typing in “oil spill” would likely show two significant peaks (of search results) on a Google Timeline graph from 1960 to 2010. The first peak would likely be in 1989 with the Exxon Valdez oil spill while the second peak would likely be in 2010 with the Deepwater Horizon distaster.

How does date specific search work? You can also instruct Google to return searches from a specific date range. Searching by date range can be useful if your students are researching a current event and would like to see anything new (i.e – last 24 hours or more) has come up since their last search on Google. (Source: Tammy Worcester, ISTE 2010 Denver conference)

Video Tutorial: Click the play button below to see how to search with Google Timeline and date specific results:

ICT Tip: New Google Images features

This ICT tip could be best applied to the following subjects:

Quick overview: A quick overview of some of the new Google Images features that were introduced in spring 2010. You can now search images by color, clip art, line drawing, or faces.

How can this be used in the classroom: These new Google Images (images.google.com) features can help you or your students narrow down search results. These new search features allow you to specify if you’d like clipart images, line drawings, full color photos, or even images where human faces are predominant.

Copyrights: When using Google Images, you should always be aware of image copyrights. For more information on digital image copyrights in the classroom, please refer to my earlier blog post.

Video Tutorial: For step-by-step instructions on how to use these new Google Images features, please click the large play button below:

ICT Tip: Is YouTube still blocked in your center? Here’s a new and improved solution!

This ICT tip could be best applied to the following subjects:

Quick overview: A website that allows you to download videos directly from YouTube. Almost instant. There’s no waiting for e-mails or loss of quality!

How can this be used in the classroom? Do you often encounter YouTube videos that you’d love to show your class but YouTube is blocked by your school board’s IT department? The Keepvid website (www.keepvid.com) allows you to plug in a YouTube video address and download the video, even if you can’t access YouTube at your school.

Chicken and the egg: There’s always a catch, isn’t there? How do find the YouTube video that you’d like to download, if you can’t get to YouTube in your school in the first place?

Solution: As a solution, I’d recommend accessing Keepvid on your home computer (see tutorial video below) and then bringing the video file to your school’s computer on a USB drive. At the end of the day, Keepvid is still not a perfect workaround, but currently my favorite.

Technical stuff: You need to have Java installed on your home computer or the Keepvid website won’t work. Java can be downloaded from this link. I also recommend you ask to have Quicktime or VLC installed on your school’s computer in order to play back the downloaded video files in your classroom. Why? Keepvid’s video files may not play with the standard Windows Media player.

Video Tutorial: To see a two minute video tutorial of how to use the Keepvid website, click the large play button below:

ICT Tip: Searching with the Google Wonderwheel

This ICT tip could be best applied to the following subjects:

Quick overview: Google Wonderwheel is a different (i.e. more visual) way of searching for websites with Google.

What does it do? If you often have difficulty finding the right keywords when searching with Google (www.google.com) then allow me introduce the Google Wonderwheel. Using a graphical interface, Google Wonderwheel allows you to start with a broad search term and narrow down the search results until you get what you were looking for. (Source: Tammy Worcester, ISTE 2010 Denver conference)

Video Tutorial: The best way to show you how the Google Wonderwheel works is to show you. Please click the one minute video below to see it in action:

ICT Tip: Furly allows you to line-up a list of websites before teaching your class

This ICT tip could be best applied to the following subjects:

Quick overview: Furly is a website that allows you to store multiple website addresses you’d like to present in your upcoming class. Once class starts, you can simply jump to each website without having to type in complicated web addresses or sift through piles of bookmarks. No complicated installations or passwords required. Extremely easy to use!

How can this be used in the classroom: If you regularly present different websites to your students, the Furly website (http://fur.ly) can help things run more smoothly. Using the Furly website, you won’t have to scramble to type in long addresses (while your class waits!) or search through a huge list of bookmarks when presenting different websites to your class. An added bonus is that you can you can easily share the list of websites with your students after class (with a unique URL) so they can consult the list of websites at a later date. I’ll show you how it’s all done in the video tutorial below. Highly recommended! (Source: Tammy Worcester, ISTE 2010 Denver conference)

Video Tutorial: For more information on how to use the furly website, please click the large play button below to watch the two minute video tutorial:

Welcome back to Avi and Alain’s ICT Blog!

This applies to the following subjects:

Welcome back to the ICT Blog for the 2010-2011 school year! The first change you may have noticed is that we’ve re-launched as Avi and Alain’s ICT Blog. Alain Phaneuf and I work closely together for the RECIT Regional Service in Quebec and share the exact same mandate to help teachers with the pedagogical integration of technology into the classroom.

Together and as always, we will be updating the blog on a weekly basis with great ICT suggestions using our successful “short and simple” formula. We will also be continuing our “Teacher Feature” posts which have been much appreciated.

Do you have any suggestions for us?  An ICT tip? A question? A compliment? We would love to hear from you so drop us a line. We are looking forward to another great school year with you!

ICT Tip: A quick and easy way to convert YouTube videos into standalone MP3 audio files

This ICT tip could be best applied to the following subjects:

Quick overview: A website that allows you or your students to effortlessly convert an on-line YouTube video clip into a standalone sound file in MP3 format. Fast and instant. No accounts, sign-ups, or waiting required.

How can this be used in the classroom: The video2mp3 site (www.video2mp3.net) is a fast and easy way to extract the audio from a YouTube video. Teachers may want to employ this technique if there is a piece of music or an interesting interview on YouTube they’d like to highlight in their class without showing a video file. Teachers often tell me that video can be distracting when students are focusing on developing a listening competency.

How can this be used with the SMARTBoard? Teachers may also wish to use this technique to extract the audio from a YouTube video and insert the audio into “clickable” objects in their SMART Notebook presentations. To see how to insert pre-recorded audio in the SMART Notebook software, please click on this link. (Thanks to Tina La Rosa, Galileo Adult Centre, EMSB for the tip on using this technique in conjunction with a SMART Notebook presentation)

Other details: An MP3 file does not require an active Internet connection to play. In addition, an MP3 file can be copied to a student’s portable digital music player, if desired. Last but not least, don’t forget to pay attention to copyrights in the classroom!

Video Tutorial: For more information on how to use the video2mp3 site, please click the large play button below:

ICT Tip: How do I use Twitter and setup an account? (Part 2 of 2)

This ICT tip could be best applied to the following subjects:

Quick overview: A step-by-step video tutorial on how to use the Twitter website. This post is a continuation of last week’s article on using Twitter in the classroom.

How does it work: If you’d like to know more about the advantages of using Twitter in the classroom, please refer to last week’s blog posting. This blog posting focuses more on the “how to” side of things and features a step-by-step video tutorial on using the Twitter website and how to set up your own account.

Blocked in your school board? Is Twitter blocked in your school board but you want to try the Twitter Experiment in your own classroom? If you are a Quebec (FGA) Adult Education teacher, contact me and let me know!

Video Tutorial: For more information on how to use the Twitter website, please click the large play button below:

ICT Tip: What is Twitter and how can it be used the classroom? (Part 1 of 2)

This ICT tip could be best applied to the following subjects:

Quick overview: An overview of the Twitter website and the pedagogical possibilities of using it in your classroom.

What is Twitter? Twitter (www.twitter.com) is a social networking web site. In a nutshell, a social networking website is an on-line community. The Twitter website enables individuals to create small public messages (140 characters maximum) called Tweets that others can follow. On Twitter, that’s all you’ll find. No pictures, music, or anything else fancy. Just short Tweets comprised only of text.

How does it work? Upon signing up for your own Twitter account, you can start creating your own Tweets that you’d like to share with others. Other Twitter users are then free to follow your Tweets which instantly appear on their screens as you post them. Likewise, you can also “subscribe” other people’s Tweets. The interesting part is that no permission is required on either end. This means you can subscribe to Tweets of famous movie stars or your friend next door. If you’d like to see a screen shot of an actual Twitter account looks like, please click here.

Criticisms of Twitter: You may often hear that many people choose to use Twitter to Tweet silly things like what they ate for breakfast or that they are waiting for the bus. As a counter argument, people could choose to use a telephone or computer in an equally ineffective matter if they choose to… Twitter is simply a tool, how it is used depends on the individuals using it!

What are the advantages of using Twitter? The neat thing about Twitter is that it can easily be updated from a computer or a cell phone. Many of our students are already using Twitter in their personal lives and use it daily to communicate with their friends and family. Why not try embracing what your students know (and like!) and use it in your classroom?

How could it be used in the classroom? In one example, Twitter could be used by students to collectively Tweet their ideas in a classroom while a lecture is taking place. A computer connected up to a projector could be used to show all the live Tweets (called a Twitter feed) as the lecture happens in the classroom. This allows a large class of students to equally participate in a class discussion, via Twitter. As Twitter messages can only be up to 140 characters long, it also forces students to more effectively convey their thoughts. Below is an inspiring video from the University of Texas demonstrating this pedagogical approach to using Twitter in a classroom. It’s short and definitely worth the watch. If you are interested in experimenting with the use of Twitter in your own Quebec FGA classroom please contact me to set up an appointment!

“The Twitter Experiment” by Kim Smith, University of Texas

ICT Tip: Animoto allows your students to easily create professional looking video clips

This ICT tip could be best applied to the following subjects:

Quick overview: A website that allows students to easily combine images, video clips, and sounds to create a 30 second video montage. The resulting video montage looks somewhat like a movie trailer, with slick transitions and flashy effects. Click here for some examples.

How does it work? The Animoto site allows your student to upload digital image, video, and music files. The student then places the files in the order she would like them to appear.  The Animoto site analyzes the student’s uploaded content and then automatically generates a professional looking 30 second video montage. These short videos are stored on-line and can be shared with other students by means of a unique web link. A free account is required to use the site.

How can this be used in the classroom? In writing articles for this blog, I will avoid writing about ICT suggestions that are “all flash” and offer little pedagogical substance.  When I initially came across the Animoto site, I came to conclusion that it produced really neat little videos, but offered little maneuvering room for student creativity. Last but not least, the free account was limited to creating only 30 second video clips!  However, while working with teachers, valid uses for this site kept coming up. Often teachers are looking for a way for their students to create short (i.e – poignant) video clips to demonstrate a particular concept. One teacher was looking for an easy way for her students to marry digital music and images, but did not want the students to create lengthy videos that ran on forever. In this case, the 30 second limitation was actually an advantage as her students would need to choose the most relevant images to get their point across. Another teacher was looking for a way for his students to assemble the best digital images they created in their computer applications class into a small web video file. The Animoto site once again worked well as the 30 second “limitation” forced his students to choose their best work to highlight. As teachers, what do YOU think of this site? Does it have the potential to be useful in the classroom? Comments on the blog are always appreciated!

Video Tutorial: For more information on how to create an Animoto account and create a simple video, please click the large play button below:

ICT Tip: An on-line “quiz generator” tool that helps you easily create paper tests and quizzes

This ICT tip could be best applied to the following subjects:

Quick overview: Using a template, this site helps you easily create beautiful looking quizzes that can contain short answers, multiple choice, word matching, or fill in the blank questions. Once saved, the quizzes can be reloaded and modified at a later date. An added bonus is that an answer sheet for the teacher is automatically generated with each quiz created. Quizzes can be printed to paper.

How can it be used in the classroom: The “EasyTestMaker” website (www.easytestmaker.com) is designed to help you easily create quizzes that are nicely formatted and easy to modify. No more wrestling with formatting in Microsoft Word or tediously creating quizzes with a pen and paper. Each quiz is saved on the EasyTestMaker website for later re-use. Teachers can accumulate a bank of quizzes and go back at a later date to change the answers or further modify the questions. An account is required to create quizzes, however it only takes a few moments to setup. Virtually all the features you’ll need to create quizzes are available with the free account.

What the final quizzes look like: Here are links to download a sample quiz and accompanying answer sheet that I created in the below video tutorial in PDF format. If you’d like to know how I exported the quiz to a PDF with only the free account, please contact me for more information.

Video Tutorial: I’ve created a step-by-step tutorial on how to setup and account and use the EasyTestMaker website. Pease click the large play button below to watch the video:

ICT Tip: Millions of “paper” books and magazines are available to read on-line through Google Books!

This ICT tip could be best applied to the following subjects:

Quick overview: Millions of paper books and magazines that have been scanned and placed on the Google Books website.

How does it work: Google Books (books.google.com) has been dutifully scanning paper books and magazines since 2004. Like a virtual library, students can read through books featuring short stories, classic literature, math, physics, poetry, science fiction, biology, linguistics, and so on.  However, due to copyright laws, some books are only a few pages (limited preview) while others are complete (full view) and can be read from cover to cover.

How can it be used in the classroom: I recommend that you familiarize yourself with the “Advanced Book Search” capability which allows you or your students to search for full view books by subject, author, title, publisher, language, publication date, ISBN or ISSN.  While I admit that reading an entire book on a computer screen can be tedious, students can use Google Books to search for a specific topic and then read the relevant chapters in relation to their research topic. Sources could be quoted the same as they would with a traditional book.

Copyright information: If you’d like more information on copyrights and what has been placed on Google Books, I suggest you read the agreement that Google has reached with authors and publishers.

ICT Tip: How to use digital images from the Internet without breaking any copyright laws

This ICT tip could be best applied to the following subjects:

Quick overview: Do you or your students use digital images from the Internet in class presentations or projects? If so, do you know if you are legally allowed to use these images in your classroom?

What is the problem? Most images found on the Internet are not copyright free, even for non-commercial educational use. In this blog posting, we’ll explore two methods of searching the Internet for digital images that ensure you or your students are not breaking any copyright laws.

How does it work? Flickr and Google Images are two popular websites that contain millions of digital images available for download. To address copyright concerns, Flickr allows the photographer (i.e. – original author) to assign a Creative Commons license to any photographic image they’ve placed on the Flickr website.

What is Creative Commons? Creative Commons is non-profit organization that has put a licensing system in place so that individuals, companies, and institutions have access to a straightforward and standardized method of attaching automatic copyright permissions to their creative works. Creative Commons is NOT only limited to images, but can also include works of text, sounds, and video. I recommend that you click on this link to read more about the different types of Creative Commons licenses.

Video Tutorial: For more information on how to search and use images from Flickr and Google Images without breaking any copyright laws, please click the large play button below:

ICT Tip: How to create a “transparent hotspot” in a PowerPoint presentation

This ICT tip could be best applied to the following subjects:

Quick overview: This technique could be used in a PowerPoint presentation to give the illusion that the user is zooming into an image (when clicked) for a close-up or to setup a navigation system between different PowerPoint slides.

How does it work: This technique creates a transparent hotspot in a PowerPoint presentation. A hotspot is an invisible graphic. Clicking on a hotspot can be setup to link to other slides in a PowerPoint presentation. This advanced ICT Tip requires previous experience with PowerPoint.  (Source: Marc-André Lalande, RECIT FGA)

Video Tutorial: Here’s a step-by-step video tutorial which shows how to setup and use transparent hotspots in a PowerPoint presentation:

ICT Tip: Etherpad allows instant collaborative document editing, no signup required, a great tool for brainstorming!

This ICT tip could be best applied to the following subjects:

Update August 3rd, 2010: Etherpad has been purchased by Google and the Etherpad servers are no longer active. However, the same amazing Etherpad technology is still available at the Type With Me website (http://www.typewith.me) which works the exact same way. Keep reading if you’d like to know more!

Quick overview: EhterPad allows multiple students to work simultaneously on one word processing document over the Internet.  As each student types, their edits appear INSTANTLY in the EtherPad document. To help a group keep track who is typing what, each student’s edits are represented by a unique text color.

How does it work: In many ways, EtherPad is similar to Google Docs which I’ve highlighted in an earlier ICT Blog posting. In a nutshell, both EtherPad and Google Docs allow multiple people to edit a single document at the same time over the Internet.

How is Etherpad different from Google Docs? When multiple people are working in Google Docs, it takes about five to fifteen seconds for any edits to appear. Edits in EtherPad are instant. Google Docs does NOT indicate which person is typing, so things can get confusing with multiple students working in a document at the same time. Lastly, Google Docs requires each user to sign-up and create an account to edit documents, EtherPad does NOT.  The benefit of not having to sign-up for an account is that you can start right away and do not have to worry about lost student passwords and logins.

How can it be used in the classroom: As it only takes a few seconds to start a new Public EtherPad document, this website could be used as a quick and dirty class brainstorming tool. For example, students could divide up and write down common ideas in one single Etherpad document.  Classmates could then refine their own ideas and even those of their classmates. Each student works on a different computer but everyone works in the same document.

How to collaborate: To collaborate on an EtherPad document with other classmates, students can log into the site with a guest account and start working.  They can then share a unique weblink that is automatically associated with each Etherpad document, called an “invite” link.  This link can be copy and pasted into an e-mail or even scribbled down on a piece of paper. However, be careful! The link is case sensitive which means your students need to make sure that they pay attention to all the capital and small letters when writing down the link to share with other classmates.

ICT Tip: Use the Survey Monkey website to create free on-line surverys

This ICT tip could be best applied to the following subjects:

Quick overview: The Survey Monkey website (www.surveymonkey.com) allows your students to create on-line surveys in only a few minutes. Survey Monkey then collects and compiles the survey data into easy to read graphs with percentages. Survey recipients participate anonymously.

How can it be used in the classroom: This ICT resource can be a great asset for Learning Situations. Students can collect real life feedback from other classmates, community members, friends and family.

How does it work: A basic (free) account is required to start using Survey Monkey. The basic account features sufficient usability to use in an educational context. Once a basic account is setup, the author uses a template to create an on-line survey. The survey can contain multiple choice, yes/no answers, written questions, etc. Once finalized, the author receives a unique web link to send to participants. This web link can be copied and pasted into an e-mail or even written down on paper and post up around the school.  Recipients visit the web link on a computer to anonymously take part in the survey.

Video Tutorial: Here’s a video I prepared that demonstrates how to create a survey with Survey Monkey and provides a brief overview of how the website works: