North Idaho EdTech

Last week, I was asked to be a guest on the premiere show of IdahoEdTech. It is a Google hangout show that is put on by Sarah Windisch (from Post Falls School District) and Simon Miller (from Kellogg School District). The topic was digital citizenship and we discussed issues surrounding this topic for students and staff of all ages and why it is important to cover digital citizenship in schools today. Here is the video on YouTube. Check back for more shows in the future!

As the school year begins this year, there is much buzz about the new classroom management suite from Google called Classroom. I know I'm as excited about it as anyone could be! Being able to manage student work and your own teacher workflow without knowledge of scripts and Add-ons makes my life as an instructional technology specialist much easier. One of the really great features in Google docs, and how Google Classroom integrates that as part of the assignment work/submission process, is the "Suggesting" mode in docs. While a student is completing an assignment, the teacher has the ability to open student documents and make suggestions. This is very handy during editing and revising periods, before a paper would be turned in. When a teacher makes a suggestion, the student will see the suggestion and the parts that have been changed will show up with a strike-through (see screenshot above). Students can then compare their text with the suggestion and make a d...

Recently, our district stumbled upon a little software package called AirServer . We hadn't looked at it much in the past because it was originally available for only Mac computers. Now that it includes support for Windows machines, we can fully implement it across our district. Our teachers have reported a much higher level of success and satisfaction from this versus using an Apple TV (see the company's comparison here ). Several of the main factors are: A teacher doesn't have to switch inputs on the projector to see what is on their iOS device on the big screen, it runs on the computer and the mirrored image comes up automatically. Included in that idea is that there is no need for extra cables, it runs through the same connection as the computer. The size of the mirrored image can be tailored to fit the personal needs/wants of a teacher or the occasion. Go full screen when you need to, or resize the window to have it sit side by side with another image already on ...

One of the many parts of my job as an instructional technology coach is to design professional development programs for teachers and students in my district. One of the most recent programs that I'm working to develop is a digital citizenship course for a 6th grade exploratory class at our district middle schools as well as a short introduction to digital citizenship for our staff. In addition, April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month and because of that, I felt that this topic would be timely and appropriate. Digital citizenship is something that I believe all teachers should address on some level in all classes.  Students need to be given tools to help prevent their own good intentions from exposing them to harm. However, it is most often neglected in classes due to pressures of curriculum, time, and even a lack of knowledge or resources on the part of the teacher (to no fault of their own - teachers are incredibly overburdened with so much during this time of trans...

One major topic that I've spent a lot of work time on the last few weeks is Digital Citizenship. I've been working on creating a course for students as well as a quick introduction for staff to bring these essential ideas into the forefront of our students' (and teachers') minds as we embark on the implementation of the Idaho Core. Part of my research has led me to an idea that I've taught my students in the past, and work with other teachers on using in the classroom, which is effective search skills with search engines. Whether a person is using Google, Yahoo, Bing, or any other search engine, knowing how to cipher through the list of results and find things that are relevant and useful can be a chore. One thing that I've found through my own searching and through suggestions by others (thanks  +Jeff Utecht /@jutecht and a reminder from a teacher in my district @117rocks) is A Google a Day . This search game can act as a great way to start a class or reinfor...

Previously, I posted about using the SAMR model, developed by Dr. Ruben R. Puentedura, founder of Hippasus, to work on purpose with technology use in the classroom. As I began reflecting, reading posts of others on the topic, as well as talking with practicing teachers in my district about the SAMR model, I realized that there needed to be more discussion around the practical use of the model. Below, I created a stream-of-consciousness line of thinking to show my thoughts. Once I started to really think about the SAMR model and how I would use it to develop professional development, I also started to think about how I could help teachers in my district realistically use the model to guide their own preparation and teaching. I came up with this thought pattern, which mimics some of the examples given by Dr. Puentedura in this slideshow . I am also drawing some ideas from an article in Education Week's Teacher Leader Network (TLN) by Jennie Magiera  and a blog post by Beth Holl...

One of the most handy functions in Google Drive is the sharing settings. This allows me to share any document that I own in my Google Drive with anyone that I want to who also has a Google Drive; but, sometimes I want to share a document with a wider audience (i.e., parents, community members, etc.). So how can I do this and still control how that document in viewed. One great option that is provided in Google Drive is the Publish option. This is available for documents that are part of the Google Apps family (i.e., documents, presentations, spreadsheets and drawings). When you do this, it creates a page where anyone can view your document, presentation, spreadsheet or drawing for informational purposes. This also makes a nice, web-friendly, version of your file that allows for easy embedding into your website, blog, or other online space. I really like to use this when I want students to create something that they are going to share on our website, blogs or wikis. Another reason f...