Digital Library for the Classroom - The Blog

Pages, Pages Everywhere!

3/24/2015

All students have access to Pages on their iPads and BOY is it a powerful tool. Notes/Outlines, papers, letters, resumes, posters, postcards, trifold brochures and newsletters are all preset templates in the Pages app. What is even MORE fabulous is that you can set up any sort of new "template" you want from your computer and share it out to students. Why would you do that? If you want students to use MLA format you could provide a preset paper with all of the settings you expect.

Adding More Templates

Pages Templates

Template Bundle

Education Pages Templates

Check out the apps to the left to add more templates directly to your iPad. Note that these are all PAID apps ranging from $1.99 to $9.99 so if you want them for yourself you will make your own purchase. You can then create anything you want from them and have students use them for assignments and to restructure to fit their needs.

Creating Your Own Templates

The link below has directions on how to set up your own template on your computer, which can then be shared with anyone to use on a computer or iPad. I’m not sure that it hits every MLA formatting need but it will show you how it all works and you are free to add any other settings you prefer. Below is also a sample template I created on my computer of a paper in MLA format. Feel free to use it as is or open it in Pages and tweak it as needed.

How to Create an MLA Template in Pages

mla_paper_template.pages
File Size:	227 kb
File Type:	pages

Now what?

See the tutorial below to learn how students can use your template on their iPads.
(Tutorial created using http://www.screencast-o-matic.com to record what I was doing on my iPad on the computer using Reflector.)

Contact Carol Roth for assistance with any of the steps or workflow for your classroom!

Carol Roth
Instructional Technology
Central York School District

Interactive Videos with Touchcast

3/12/2015

Videos for or by students are nice BUT...
wouldn't it be even better if the videos were interactive?

Touchcast provides an ability to insert pop up windows (called vApps) of websites, polls, maps, photos, videos, calendars and many more directly into your video while you are recording. All of these are interactive!

Below is a quick Touchcast I did highlighting a few features and discussing some of the options for use in the classroom either by you for your students and parents or by students for you, parents or the public. Please email me to set up a time to explore this incredibly powerful tool, Touchcast!

Some featured Touchcasts can be found HERE.
Resources for using Touchcast in your classroom are HERE.

Click to set custom HTML

- Carol Roth
Instructional Technology

Music and Soundz Abound!

2/12/2015

Why aren't you and your students using Soundzabound?

I'll bet you forgot! It is time to check it out again.

Soundzabound is a paid subscription we have that gives you and your students access to music and sounds that are copyright free. Aside from creating your own music this is REALLY the way to go when you want music to be part of a presentation or project of any kind. This is easy to use on a computer OR iPad. They have a wonderful tutorial on their website on how to download audio on an iPad.

We have a subscription that gives us access to volumes 1-5 and I think you will find them very useful in your classes. Contact Carol Roth if you need help with accessing or using this fantastic resource!

The app called Readdle Documents is highlighted on the Soundzabound website for being a very easy way to download and use audio files from an iPad. Try it out!

Comment on how YOU and your students use Soundzabound in your classroom!

Carol Roth
Instructional Technology
Central York School District

Screencasting up the SAMR Ladder

2/2/2015

Screencasting is such a simple task but can be so powerful at the same time. Below you will see a series of ideas and examples on how to leverage this engaging tool to move learners forward into higher levels of thinking and your instruction up on the SAMR model. Notice that some of these ideas are more centered on the teacher while others are student-centered. How can you shift some of your activities from teacher to student-centered? How could you shift an activity or two THIS WEEK up on the SAMR model?

Stepping up the SAMR Ladder:

Teacher screencast for student learning and review. Examples: Khan Academy Geometry lesson, Crash Course lesson on Bicameral Congress (Substitution - teacher centered)
Teacher screencast uploaded into EdPuzzle (example below) or eduCanon to insert questions, comments, time to think, etc. (Augmentation - teacher centered)
Students screencast to share with teacher to check for understanding. Example: Instead of one or two students answering questions aloud in the classroom, everyone participates through their own screencast explaining how to solve a problem or diagram the main idea and supporting evidence of a reading. (Augmentation - student centered)
Students screencast to share with other students or the public for the purpose of learning from them and/or critiquing one another's techniques. Example: In Schoology, students post their screencasts for the class and peers comment with questions they have or suggestions. (Modification - student centered)
This level of technology integration requires us to step away from some of the more simple solutions stated above and jump into more long-term and far-reaching implementation. Example: Students are involved in creating a YouTube channel for students, by students to tackle the struggles of achieving an understanding of the standards for a class in which they are enrolled. Screencasts are created, critiqued, judged to make the cut for the channel, organized, uploaded and marketed to other classes and schools to achieve followers and spread the knowledge. (Redefinition - student centered)

Above is a demo example of EdPuzzle. The lesson is embedded here for you to try but responses will not be recorded in this mode.

Apps for screencasting:

On iPads:

Educreations (free) - simple and quick screencasting app for students or teachers
Knowmia Teach (free) - more advanced screencasting tool options
Explain Everything ($2.99) - usually used by teachers to create high quality screencasts to share with students

On Computers:

Screencast-o-matic (free) - outstanding yet easy to use program with some installation needed, will not work on Chrome browser
Screenr (free) - very simple web-based screencasting option for computers

Carol Roth
Instructional Technology
Central York School District

The One-Button Studio, Are They Prepared?

1/6/2015

The One-Button Studio is up and running in our high school and middle school HUBs. You may or may not know much about these so I thought I would give you a little virtual tour AND help you with how to prep your students for the adventure. To schedule class time with the One-Button Studio contact Debbie Bieber.

What should students prep/plan before recording day?

The script - give them a template to direct them, have it written out
decide if using green screen, blue screen or project images/slides
if using the teleprompter prep that script before the visit
collect needed props
PRACTICE BEFORE they come to the studio

After recording students will need to:

connect jump drive to library computer to upload raw footage to their Google Drive account
if green/blue screen used: bring up on any computer in the HUB (or elsewhere) to edit in iMovie OR request the Green Screen app if an iPad user to assemble video and background
bring up on any iPad to edit in iMovie - best for straight video or projected slides scenario

For assistance with any of these steps see Debbie or Scott in the Tech Office or email Carol Roth to schedule a planning session.

Carol Roth
Instructional Technology
Central York School District

Weebly Has Stepped Up!

11/24/2014

Last year, Hannah Ilko shared all about why Weebly is such a great tool for designing websites. Unfortunately, Weebly was not editable on the iPads at that time. Good news! Recently, Weebly released a new app that allows students to create websites, edit them, and insert photos and links. The two drawbacks are:

the sites are not able to be collaboratively edited through the app
students can not type up their writing elsewhere and copy/paste it into the Weebly app

Other than that it really is a smooth app that allows students to create high quality subject specific work without having to be an expert in web-design. Check out the sneak peek on YouTube and the step-by-step visuals below for how easy it is to insert an image into a page.

Carol Roth
Instructional Technology
Central York School District

ThingLink: Adding Digital Dimensions to Learning

11/5/2014

We all know that it is hard to only verbally describe a process, image, or event to our students- they only can picture it in their heads based on our description and their best summation of our words. Showing just a picture might help clarify and create a better picture in our students’ minds, but a multimedia tool might be the best option. If there was a way to connect a picture to a related current event article, “How To” videos, related resources, and record your own explanation, would your students have a better learning experience?

Great news! There is a tool that can do ALL of this! One of my favorite new tools this school year is ThingLink because it allows both teachers and students to create an outlet for a deeper understanding. As an interactive, online tool, ThingLink has revolutionized how I personally can communicate information to students and how they demonstrate their understanding of that information to me. Students are able to create or explore a maze of multimedia layers that offers a variety of ways to learn about a topic. One of the projects that I use with my Global Studies students is an Intro Project for each region that we study.

First, students find a picture to act as the background or topic of the ThingLink. They are able to upload a picture from the camera roll (iPad) or pictures (laptop). Then, they edit the ThingLink picture by adding tags that contain text, YouTube videos, recorded videos, websites, and other multimedia resources. The tags come in many different shapes, designs, and colors and can be rearranged anywhere on the picture to blend in or stick out. For my students’ Intro Project, they use a map of the region as their background picture and research specific examples of the themes we examine throughout the unit (see expectations below).

Some of my students offered their work as samples for the Africa unit. They also did a great job on the Intro Projects for the Middle East unit.

You can also use ThingLink to communicate information to your students; just follow the same steps and add the same types of tags that would explain and offer relevant information to what you want the students to explore. If you don’t feel that you are inventive enough to start out creating your own ThingLinks, you are also able to search a topic and choose one the web community has already created. ThingLink is a practical tool for any classroom and can be used in so many different formats; something as simple as highlighting or emphasizing parts of a map (Location and Status of Ebola Outbreak in US) or collecting a variety of sources for a topic (How To: Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo) can add a tactile and visual layer to our students’ learning. Here are more examples for how ThingLink can be integrated into your classroom or curriculum:

Monica Barnett
Central York High School
Social Studies Teacher

Additional ThingLink ideas and resources from Tammy Howell (MS - Skills for Digital Age Learners) are shared below:

Students create character analysis of fictional characters or historical figures. EXAMPLE: http://www.thinglink.com/scene/439880358951911425
Students research and tag an image of an iPad or MacBook with the correct term or keyboard shortcut. EXAMPLE: https://www.thinglink.com/scene/429692587599724546
Students demonstrate understanding of nonfiction text features: EXAMPLE: http://www.thinglink.com/scene/358259750342754305
Create interactive book talks by asking students to create audio ads or video book trailers and tag them to images of the book covers. EXAMPLE: https://www.thinglink.com/scene/421691333351047168
Provide a virtual tour of your classroom, teacher website, or learning platform through interactive images. EXAMPLE: https://www.thinglink.com/scene/412042493366894593
Students add tags with photos, audio, videos, text that demonstrate the meaning of vocabulary words. EXAMPLE: https://www.thinglink.com/scene/544688184198430721
Create an Internet Scavenger Hunt by creating questions related to any topic that can be answered from added tags. EXAMPLE: http://www.thinglink.com/scene/448659459602907138
Students work in small groups to create a 'Meet the Author' multimedia presentation adding tags to book lists, book trailers, biographies, bibliographies, etc. EXAMPLE: http://yourteacherlibrarian.wikispaces.com/Laurie+Halse+Anderson

Time to Move up!

10/28/2014

How will you go up a step on the SAMR model this week?

Since things have settled in a bit (yeah, I know...kinda, sorta) it is time to think about how you are stepping up to challenge your students to think differently, be creative, collaborate, communicate beyond just you and their peers, etc. Sometimes it can be hard to break out of what you have always done but thankfully, there are many others out there who are sharing the great things they are doing so you don't have come up with everything on your own!

My suggestion is to check out 21 Things 4 Teachers

This website is a valuable tool for teachers to investigate topics that they may be interested in including in their classes. A total of 21 topics are shared with multiple resources under each.
Aligned with SAMR and ISTE, teachers will find tutorials and activities to help them navigate the wide range of tools that can be a part of the move up the SAMR ladder!

Carol Roth
Instructional Technology
Central York School District

Tools with Tricks!

10/16/2014

Welcome Back...a bit late!

Sorry for the long absence! It is time to get our weekly blog posts up and running again.
For those of you new to our blog this is a collaborative effort where each week a different educator would share something that is working well for them when it comes to the use of technology resources and tools. The basic purpose is to keep everyone from having to reinvent the wheel and to learn from one another. With that in mind, if you have an idea for something that you would want to share with your peers I would welcome you to join us. Just email your interest and topic to Carol Roth.

The Tricks

From the Educreations iPad app of see https://www.educreations.com/browse/featured/

Speaking of not reinventing the wheel...many of the fabulous tools we use frequently have resources built into them highlighting work other teachers have done. These are useful in gaining ideas for:

how you could use the tool in your own classroom,
use the work for your own students as is, OR
many also allow you to copy the work and modify it to meet you needs.

A few examples:

Above you can see a screenshot of the free Educreations app for creating screencasts. Some submissions may be a little goofy but many are quite good. (app and website)
Livebinders, a tool for organizing a lot of work and information, has many shared binders that can be used as resources for many classroom activities. (app and website)
TED Talks has an education version where you can add questions and ideas to videos. Many are already created for you to use &/or modify. (website)

In addition, if you requested the upgrade to eduCanon &/or Nearpod they BOTH have really good archives of materials that you can use and update for your specific needs. Nearpod is an interactive presentation tool and eduCanon is a tool to add questions to already existing video. If you are interested in either one of them contact Carol Roth.

Carol Roth
Instructional Technology
Central York School District

Our Library has eBooks!

6/4/2014

The Library Catalog indexes all the materials housed in the library and online. Some of the catalog’s eBooks reside in the Follett Shelf, which can be accessed through a catalog search or directly through the Follett Shelf link. There are also eBooks through Destiny in the card catalog. Currently, you will need a special code to access them. For the summer, you might want to just stick to the Follett Shelf books.

Prepping to use the Follett Enlight™ App

Follett Enlight delivers a consistent reading environment whether you are reading from your desktop, tablet, or smartphone. After logging in to Follett Shelf with your district name and password on your computer, choose Follett Enlight as your preferred eReader by clicking on your username in the top-right corner of the screen and then select Preferences from the drop-down menu. Choose Follett Enlight (Cloud) as your preferred eReader.

At this point you should find a book you are interested in reading and "check it out." As soon as you do it will be available to read directly from your computer or you can now jump to your mobile device or tablet to have a more handy method for your reading pleasure.

Logging in to the Follett Enlight™ App

Download and install Follett Enlight from the App store or Google Play.
Launch the mobile app.
Enter your district username and password.
Enter the Follett Shelf URL: http:// wbb11458.follettshelf.com
If you are on a private/safe/secure device and want to skip steps 3 and 4 next time you access the mobile app, select the Stay logged in check box.
Tap Log In.

Navigation:

Click on the backpack in the upper right corner to view any books you have signed out.
Download the book(s) to your device to have access wherever you go.
Once you begin to read you are able to touch and hold on a text selection in order to highlight, make comments or use the dictionary. (drag the ends of the selection to include more text)
Touch the outline of a bookmark in the upper left corner to bookmark any page you would like.

Ms. Deborah Wilson
High School Librarian
Central York School District