tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185558907838942992024-03-13T09:57:25.058-04:00Teach. Learn. Collaborate.Sharing ideas, reflections, and resources. A place for questions and play.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318555890783894299.post-53411707618358082842014-11-23T11:24:00.000-05:002014-11-23T11:24:22.181-05:00Free Doesn't Mean Barrier Free<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; line-height: 1.15; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-72DwUJS6OrU/VHIHB6b5o0I/AAAAAAABEHc/_5TPbSsWgN0/s1600/2468506922_c1ed495959_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-72DwUJS6OrU/VHIHB6b5o0I/AAAAAAABEHc/_5TPbSsWgN0/s1600/2468506922_c1ed495959_z.jpg" height="261" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: Flickr user Sybren Stüvel <br />(CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/4L8K7b</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last week I had an interesting conversation with a parent that illuminated an issue that I think is important to those of us who are using, or advocating the use of digital tools in the classroom: <b>Free tools aren’t necessarily barrier free</b>. In this case, her concerns arose not from how tools were being used in the classroom, but the expectations around students and parents using these tools at home. This parent wanted to be involved in her child’s education, and had made several attempts to the issues her family was experiencing addressed by the school. To be specific, this parent was experiencing issues with using Google Apps for Education and the chosen home/school communication tool while on the family computer at home and on mobile devices.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;">As teachers, I believe our responsibility is to ensure that all areas of our practice are as barrier-free as possible. While we want to provide an engaging experience for our students and their families, we first need to make sure they can access those experiences at school, at home, and anywhere else they might need to. If our students and families can’t access learning experiences and communications with the resources they have at hand, then <b>it is our responsibility</b> to meet their needs, not their responsibility to purchase the newest, latest and greatest hardware or software.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here are a few thoughts that I had based my conversation that should be considered for tools that you are going to place a heavy reliance on in your classroom.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Know your community</span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the first things that I did each year was to survey my students and their families to find out what kind of internet access was available in their homes, and how much access they had to a computer or other networked devices (tablets, phones, etc.). This informed many of my other decisions around integrating educational technology in the classroom.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Passwords and Accounts are Barriers</span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;">With regard to home/school communication tools, passwords and accounts are barriers. I think that our responsibility as teachers is to make our classrooms as accessible and transparent as possible, so it is my responsibility to ensure that parents can access that information without having one more account or one more password to remember. In addition, my own experience has been that when you require a parent to enter a password to view information about their child’s class, they are much less likely to visit the website or resource. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Most parents want to know the following things on a regular basis:</span></span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;">What did my child’s class do today? (*Notice the wording - “</span><b style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;">my child’s class</b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;">” not “</span><b style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;">my child</b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;">”. Specific information about any child should be communicated confidentially to a parent via another means)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do they have any homework?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;">What can I do to help them?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Is there anything coming up that I need to be aware of (field trips, assessments, school celebrations, etc.)</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;">None of this information is confidential and parents and students can only benefit when they have access to this information. When we choose a tool that means a parent needs to sign up for a new account, or enter a password to receive this information, <b>we have put a barrier in place</b>. If you have things that demand greater security, you can put them in password protected locations such as Google Drive or a learning management system such as Desire2Learn or Moodle.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is specifically for this reason that I have <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/16ua0ZnLvp4U3ru7vLgXq5DzfAbYP35ELSONvQtCu5FU/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">advocated for classroom teachers to use public blogs</a> to communicate with families. <a href="http://www.blogger.com/" target="_blank">Blogger</a> and <a href="https://wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Wordpress</a> are my favourite tools and both offer easy options to have parents <b>subscribe by email</b>. Blogs are also easy to push into Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms <b>if you have a community who uses these social networks</b>. The reality is that <a href="http://canadiansinternet.com/canadian-digital-social-mobile-statistics-global-scale-2014/" target="_blank">most parents aren’t on Twitter</a>, but most have email, so <b>at the bare minimum, you need to choose a platform that parents can sign up for easy email updates</b>.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Responsibility to Understand the Tools we Use</span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the concerns raised by the parent that I was speaking to was that her child had a great deal of difficulty accessing Google Apps for Education (GAFE) on their home computer and mobile devices. Their home computer was a little bit older, and as regular users know, GAFE works best with an up to date version of Chrome (and works well with up to date versions of any of the other major browsers). The experience on mobile devices is best on Android, decent on iOS, but sorely lacking for Blackberry users. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;">If we are using GAFE, we should be prepared to help students and their families understand how to effectively use these tools on any device. <b>We should not assume that just because it is free, that it is easily used by all students and families</b>. Luckily, Google has built in features that make it easy to <a href="https://support.google.com/drive/answer/2423534?hl=en" target="_blank">download Google Docs</a> that make it easy for students to save their work to a USB key in a variety of formats including the OpenDocument format, which can be opened and edited with the free office editing suite <a href="https://www.openoffice.org/" target="_blank">OpenOffice</a> (you can even get a <a href="http://portableapps.com/apps/office/openoffice_portable" target="_blank">portable version</a> that can be run off of a USB key). </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Printing</span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;">In some cases, you may have a student or parent who has absolutely no internet access, and no computer or other networked devices. In this case, feel free to print! Blogs and Google Docs can both be easily printed. One of the easiest ways to print a blog for easy reading is to use the <a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/clearly/iooicodkiihhpojmmeghjclgihfjdjhj" target="_blank">Clearly extension</a> for Chrome. It removes all of the sidebar elements from your blog, just leaving the posts. If you’re printing a Google Doc, be sure to double or triple space it, so that the student has room edit the document.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Building Digital Literacy for Parents</span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Another option for teachers is to work with parents to build their digital literacy skills. Most parents want to be involved in their children’s education, so consider sending home “cheat sheets” that are personalized with their child’s username/password for the tools you will be using on a regular basis. You might also consider offering evening learning opportunities for parents where <b>you and your students</b> teach parents about the tools you are using in class.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Obviously I sincerely believe that teachers should be offering their students engaging learning experience that leverage the power of digital learning tools and resources. We need to remember that we can’t let our own enthusiasm for a certain tool overwhelm the need to ensure it is accessible to our students and their families.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’d love to hear other suggestions for ensure your digital learning experiences are accessible to all students and their families in the comment section.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://goo.gl/swdfbv" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://goo.gl/swdfbv" height="222" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Steps to download a Google Doc<br />File menu --> Download As --> Choose a format</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318555890783894299.post-82228846390143329492014-09-30T19:28:00.001-04:002014-09-30T19:28:14.127-04:00#FAIL . . . As In, I Failed in my Big PlanThis afternoon I failed. Kind of big time. I'd posted on Google+ and Twitter that I was going stream a Hangout on Air (HOA) as I worked with a group of Kindergarten teachers on setting up classroom blogs. I had the resources prepared, and I had no problems with traffic on my way to the school. I'm passionate about blogging and thing that it is a fantastic way to improve home/school communication.<br />
<br />
And then things started going wrong. I didn't read my email closely enough. Although I had the event booked for 3:00 pm in my calendar, and that's what I'd advertised, the school didn't even finish until 3:40 pm. That was totally my fault, not the fault of anyone at the school. In spite of that, I started my Hangout at 3:00, just in case anyone was expecting to start then. One brave soul was there (THANK YOU whomever you were and I apologize). Unfortunately, I had no way to directly communicate with them, because I hadn't sent them a direct invite, so I guess they couldn't join the hangout and we couldn't actually interact. I tried to let that person know about my mistake, and that I was hoping to actually start around 3:45 om.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eaaPt-2NBAE/VCs8XegClDI/AAAAAAABCOg/snP-97kxOF8/s1600/k7173669.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eaaPt-2NBAE/VCs8XegClDI/AAAAAAABCOg/snP-97kxOF8/s1600/k7173669.jpg" /></a></div>
I wanted to see if I could restart the video for my HOA, because I thought that at least people wouldn't need to watch 20 min of me getting my act together, so I tried stopping and starting it. Apparently there is no way to restart it. So, I needed to set up a new HOA. I did that and left the link to the new HOA in the old event.<br />
<br />
Eventually the teachers arrived, but some had to change plans, and it ended up that the teachers I was working with had already started blogs and seen my presentation on why blogging is awesome before. So, to be fair to them, I just jumped ahead into blog set up. They'd already done most of it, but I didn't want to totally neglect my attempt to do a Hangout on Air, and I figured I could clean it up again. Again, I apologized to the TWO viewers who were watching the hangout and I will record that screencast that takes you through my presentation on why I think blogging is fantastic in the near future.<br />
<br />
The teachers I worked with were fantastic as I tried to balance getting information out via YouTube and addressing their needs in the classroom and I really appreciate that people gave up their time to try and take part in this professional learning.<br />
<br />
The last element of failure, was that I tried to go into YouTube editor to clean up the HOA video, and I don't think I can! It's not even showing up in my playlist. So I'm stuck with this disastrous 1.5 hour video, and I can't even erase the parts that show me just waiting to get started (if you want to torture yourself, you can <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvqcn8wjXJ4#t=2574" target="_blank">watch it here</a> - it should start midway through where I actually start taking people through the blog set up). I'm hoping it shows up soon in my list of videos that I can edit.<br />
<br />
So, would I do this again? Probably. I think that there is value in attempting to share professional learning opportunities in real time, and archiving them on YouTube can help the people who were there and want to revisit the work or let visual learners access the learning in a way that fits their learning style better. I think that the single most important change I will make is to actually make sure that I have some real people in the hangout at remote locations, so that I can get effective feedback, in real time.<br />
<br />
Thanks again to the teachers and viewers who gave up their time. I hope that I can do a better job next time.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318555890783894299.post-43236344442001208672014-09-06T11:01:00.001-04:002014-09-06T11:15:17.240-04:00Online Calendars: Am I just doing it for them?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xj_1JaOyHSs/VAsfYNpCvmI/AAAAAAABBuE/-IVcxIvEOEI/s1600/11283397605_6a8ca5b359_m.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xj_1JaOyHSs/VAsfYNpCvmI/AAAAAAABBuE/-IVcxIvEOEI/s1600/11283397605_6a8ca5b359_m.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"_TMH1094" by Flickr user Tia is<br />
licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“So am I teaching them to be organized, or am I just doing it for them?” That was what my friend Tracy asked me as we were discussing options around moving away from traditional paper based agendas and looking at digital options. I had suggested considering using <a href="https://www.google.com/calendar/" target="_blank">Google Calendar</a>. It met many of the conditions that were necessary:</span></div>
<ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">free</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">accessible to parents</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">accessible on a variety of platforms including the web</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">it didn’t require new accounts (her students already use Google Apps for Education)</span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-43e95f11-4b6a-1c5c-4881-014c11a60389" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What prompted her question was my suggestion that she actually do most of the work to populate the calendar and add her students as viewers. For years, I’ve heard the argument that using an agenda teaches students better self-regulation skills, and I think there may be some value to that, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">for some students</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. However, in my experience, “agenda time” meant that all students copied the exact same thing off the board and I walked around the class to verify they had done so. The reaction of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">many</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of my students (at various grade levels), was something like, “[Groan], I don’t even use this. Why do I have to do it?” and I tended to agree with them. I’m pretty sure that students get enough practice in copying things down in school. That’s why I switched to a classroom blog several years ago and stopped requiring all students to use a paper agenda. They were free to use one if they chose to, but I wasn’t going waste their time, or mine, on copying from the board.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My rationale for creating the calendar and populating it (and this applies to blogs and many other online tools teachers may use as well), is that we want to teach students to appreciate the value in an organizer, and how to use it as a valuable reference tool. With a paper agenda, I might have students copy “Math Test on Friday” off of the board, but if I use an electronic calendar, I can actually link to activities and resources that will help them study. A paper agenda can be misplaced at home or at school. A online calendar can’t be lost, and because I can add parents as viewers of the calendar, I no longer need to check agendas each day. </span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I think that if students come to see their electronic calendars (classroom blogs/sites/organizers/etc.) as resources that provide valuable information to them (through the use of links and attachments), and are accessible in a variety of formats (e.g. on mobile devices, the web, or even in a variety of printed formats), they will begin to consider the use of these tools independently and in a format that works best for them. If a teacher models the use of the Calendar and points out the resources that are included, students have a reason to use these tools outside of the classroom. Then students will have actually learned something beyond how to copy.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For more on how you might use Google Calendar in your classroom <a href="http://www.google.com/edu/training/tools/calendar/level2.html" target="_blank">click here</a> to see Google for Education's official resources.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318555890783894299.post-86876106010451050262014-08-30T19:50:00.002-04:002014-08-30T19:53:57.065-04:00Anecdotal Voice Comments with Google Forms and Mobile DevicesOne of the biggest challenges for me as a classroom teacher was keeping track of my observations and anecdotal comments. My normal solution was to carry a clipboard around the classroom, with some line paper or a checklist for making observations, and then file those in a somewhat haphazard manner, to be accessed when it was time to write reports. I don't think it was a great solution and it didn't serve me, or my students the best.<br />
<br />
Last year, I was working with a primary teacher, and she wanted to know what she might be able to do with her smartphone to make use of it in her classroom. She didn't really see herself using Google Apps for Education with her students, but wondered if there might be a way take advantage of the phone and GAFE for some kind of assessment purposes.<br />
<br />
After a few minutes of brainstorming, I thought about combining the power of the voice to text engine in the phone, with the simplicity of a Google Form and the power of Google Spreadsheets to organize and review data that has been captured. Put them together, and you have a very simple way to record and organize the observations and comments you make about the students in your classroom.<br />
<br />
The video below will take you through the complete process of setting up a Google Form, getting it to your smartphone (or other mobile device with a voice to text engine), and organizing the data to make it easy to use for reporting and conferencing. It supplements the <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DtOPJxA_1OfooTJ4zKWCtXrRgYR9wVpxmGDr6u5Ny8Q/pub" target="_blank">tip sheet</a> that I prepared for Ontario GAFE Summit in the spring of 2014.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/m7H-ipE27qY?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Since demonstrating this with several teachers and administrators and helping them set up their own forms, we've come up with a variety of uses and considerations that I'll list below.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul>
<li>You don't have to use the voice-to-text. If you have an observation that you wouldn't like others to overhear, simply type it out the way you normally would.</li>
<li>You can still use the form from your laptop computer if you'd like to make observations there</li>
<li>In the demo, I used a simple field (Subject) to categorize the data. You could choose to use specific curriculum expectations to organize your observations. In this case, you might want to make a different form for each subject/class that you are planning on using this tool in.</li>
<li>If you try getting specific (as described in the point above), you don't need to put ALL of the curriculum expectations for a subject in at once. You can simply put in the observations that you are currently working on, and change them on a weekly (or other timeframe) basis.</li>
<li>Administrators can use this tool to record observations from walk-throughs (though again, they may find it more useful to type confidential information).</li>
<li>Students with mobile devices could adapt this to record their own reflections on their work</li>
<li>You could add a second paragraph text item to allow students to add their own response to your comments/observations during conferencing.</li>
<li>For more ideas check out <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/mydigitalfootprint//innovative-ideas-for-using-google-forms" target="_blank">Molly Schroeder's "Innovative Uses of Google Forms"</a> page. Many of those ideas could be adapted to take advantage of the voice-to-text engines build into various devices.</li>
</ul>
<div>
In terms of the security of your anecdotal comments and observations, <a href="http://googleenterprise.blogspot.ca/2014/08/googles-cloud-is-secure-but-you-dont.html?utm_campaign=entblog&utm_source=CloudSecurity08272014&utm_medium=g-plus" target="_blank">Google Drive is a very secure platform</a>, but you should pay attention to your school board's policies about what information can be stored in the cloud. You should also be aware that your GAFE administrator could access your account (if necessary), and should be comfortable explaining any comments/observations to students/parents/administrators, etc.</div>
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318555890783894299.post-33601335996895529782014-08-25T22:31:00.001-04:002014-08-25T22:31:37.992-04:00Getting Started with the Google Drive Desktop AppThe <a href="https://support.google.com/drive/answer/2374987?hl=en&ref_topic=6069785" target="_blank">Google Drive Desktop App</a> allows you to sync folders from your computer with your Google Drive Account. It functions much like <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/" target="_blank">Dropbox</a> except that it give you WAY more space. For teachers (and students), the nice thing about using the Google Drive App, is that if you are using a home computer, you can simply save your work from any program (i.e. MS Word, Movie Maker, Audacity, iMovie, etc.) to your Google Drive folder and then still be able to access it when you are at school and using your Google Apps account. Lost memory sticks? Not a problem because your work is saved directly to the cloud.<br />
<h3>
A couple of things to note...</h3>
<br />
<ol>
<li>You still need to enable offline access for your Google Docs/Sheets/Slides (it's shown in the tutorial).</li>
<li>You can only set up the Google Drive Desktop App for one Google Account at a time. So if you have a personal account and a work account, you will need to choose between them (tip: create a shared folder for stuff you need access to from either account). Teachers who are storing student data, should use their Google Apps for Education (GAFE) Account and not their personal Gmail accounts.</li>
<li>Files that have been shared with you won't sync until you add them to "My Drive" or a synced folder in your Google Drive.</li>
</ol>
<br />
In the video below, I will show you how to set up the Google Drive Desktop App using a Windows 8 computer and the new Google Drive interface.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/jP4IhtgvILU?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318555890783894299.post-54201963845288024062014-08-25T22:08:00.001-04:002014-08-25T22:17:22.064-04:00Signing in to Google DriveOne of the most common questions I get from teachers who are new to Google Chrome is, "Why is it asking me to sign in to Chrome?"<br />
<br />
The answer is that signing into Chrome allows you back up your account information to Google's servers. The benefit of this is that when you sign in to Chrome from another location (say, on your home computer instead of your school computer), you will continue to have access to all of the sites that you have bookmarked, your browsing history, or that cool extension that you downloaded at school (but now forget the name of). Google will even sync your saved passwords (if you give it permission to - personally, I prefer <a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/lastpass-free-password-ma/hdokiejnpimakedhajhdlcegeplioahd?utm_source=chrome-app-launcher" target="_blank">LastPass</a> because I think it is more secure). Bookmarks can even be shared between your mobile devices using the Google Chrome browser and your desktop/laptop devices, so when you're on the road and come across a great site with your phone, simply save it to your mobile bookmarks and quickly find it when you return to the full browser.<br />
<br />
In the short screencast below, I'll take you through the steps of signing in to the Chrome Browser. I've done it using my YRDSB Google Apps for Education Account, so some viewers may see an extra single-sign-on step that you won't be asked to complete.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/qXxad6QQJcM?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Imagine, no more working to find the perfect site on the weekend only to forget what it is on Monday and no longer be able to find it. With your synced bookmarks and browsing history, it should be a snap!</div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318555890783894299.post-27826753911733447722014-07-24T12:12:00.003-04:002014-07-24T12:12:48.098-04:00Google Teacher Academy ATL 2014 Reflection<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OwFC9ePwWHw/U9Euay8CWAI/AAAAAAAA5IU/Olscos_CHcc/s1600/GTA_ATL_Cohort.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OwFC9ePwWHw/U9Euay8CWAI/AAAAAAAA5IU/Olscos_CHcc/s1600/GTA_ATL_Cohort.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Google Teacher Academy - Atlanta 2014</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s now almost a month since I attended </span><a href="http://www.google.com/edu/programs/google-teacher-academy/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Google Teacher Academy</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (GTA) in Atlanta. I began using GAFE in my classroom in 2007, and it was a long term dream for me to attend the GTA, but personal and professional circumstances made it difficult for me to apply before last year (I applied to the GTA in Chicago last year, but wasn’t selected). This year, there are </span><a href="http://www.google.com/edu/programs/google-teacher-academy/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">11 GTAs around the world</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, so it definitely provide more opportunities to be selected.</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-2d598d54-6914-1df1-5f6b-e7548d0d6e49" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Google Teacher Academy was a chance to meet some </span><a href="http://barrowmediacenter.com/2014/06/15/allow-us-to-introduce-ourselves-the-google-applantans-of-google-teacher-academy-gtaatl/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">amazing educators from across North America and around the world</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. It was less about the Google tools that we use (although we did get an early introduction to </span><a href="https://classroom.google.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Google Classroom</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) and more about making connections and problem solving. Through the idea of “</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uaquGZKx_0" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Moonshot Thinking</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">”, we were pushed to consider problems that we experience in education and envision ways that we might work together to solve them. Andy Plemmons (</span><a href="https://twitter.com/plemmonsa" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">@plemmonsa</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) has posted a </span><a href="http://barrowmediacenter.com/2014/07/15/reflections-on-google-teacher-academy-gtaatl/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">very detailed reflection</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> on the Atlanta GTA that includes thorough descriptions of the kinds of activities that we participated in, and I’d recommend reading it if you are interested. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PeqX9MlO3sk/U9EwGVINOKI/AAAAAAAA5Is/vJGZZhQAYtg/s1600/IMG_3647.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PeqX9MlO3sk/U9EwGVINOKI/AAAAAAAA5Is/vJGZZhQAYtg/s1600/IMG_3647.JPG" height="200" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New Canadian GCTs <br />at ATL2014</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the things I was thrilled with, was to see how many Canadians were selected for the two GTAs happening this summer in the US. The GAFE community is growing rapidly in Canada, particularly in Ontario and Alberta, and it’s great to see Google recognizing this and supporting Canadian educators. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The GTA reflected what I believe is the strength of Google in Education. The agenda and resources are </span><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/gtaresources/events/2014-06-25" style="line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">publicly accessible</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, so while only a relatively small number of teachers are able to attend the GTA, anyone can use the ideas that were shared in their own classroom. The GTA also helped develop my confidence in pushing harder to see the changes that I think are necessary in education. My own passion, is to re-imagine the way that professional development is delivered to teachers and, if they aren’t getting the PD they need, to help them learn strategies to connect with communities of educators and get it for themselves. Along with Jim Jamieson, I will continue to organize our YRDSB EdTech Camps, but we are also developing opportunities for administrators to develop their own digital leadership skills. I want to try and make sure that I don’t give as many “one and done” professional development sessions by making more screencasts and offering PD opportunities via Google Hangout.</span><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Another takeaway from GTA was how fortunate we are to work as educators in Ontario as opposed to many jurisdictions in the US. Many teachers I spoke with at the GTA and </span><a href="https://www.isteconference.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ISTE</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> talked of needing second jobs to support their families over the summer and stringent standardized testing for all students that impacted both their compensation and their tenure. While I think that we are generally respected as professionals, I developed a new appreciation for the role of our teacher federations who work to ensure that the gains teachers have made over the years for both themselves and their students are not eroded for short term economic reasons.</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I deeply appreciate the opportunity to participate in the Google Teacher Academy and become a Google Certified Teacher. I look forward to collaborating with my cohort of GTA ATL 2014 on projects and helping connect the teachers I work with on a regular basis to the network of passionate GCTs. Thanks to all the folks at Google and </span><a href="http://cue.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CUE</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for organizing these opportunities, our lead learners and the amazing educators who shared their experiences and expertise.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_2AiwdlYcIA/U9Eva_MjWOI/AAAAAAAA5Ik/8n6w3GxYt9U/s1600/IMG_3669.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_2AiwdlYcIA/U9Eva_MjWOI/AAAAAAAA5Ik/8n6w3GxYt9U/s1600/IMG_3669.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318555890783894299.post-35308431923092103752014-06-27T22:35:00.000-04:002014-06-27T22:40:30.961-04:00ISTE Day 1 - The Hack Education Unconference<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.isteunplugged.com/uploads/2/3/3/8/233894/6617533.png?1402587150" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.isteunplugged.com/uploads/2/3/3/8/233894/6617533.png?1402587150" /></a></div>
I need to reflect and blog more frequently. So, ISTE seems like a good place to start. Though I doubt this will be a very reflective blog post, more like a summary of some of the things I saw and learned today.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I took in the <a href="http://www.isteunplugged.com/fri-627-hack-education.html" target="_blank">Hack Education</a> education unconference that opens ISTE today. It was my first experience with a large unconference, and I learned a few things about organization and set up, both from the day and others that I spoke with through the day.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a href="http://www.designthinkingforeducators.com/" target="_blank">Design thinking</a> was something that I've been hearing about for a while now, so took the opportunity to sit in on a session where those who were using it and exploring it shared there thoughts on the benefits and challenges of design thinking. It does have a lot in common with Project Based Learning, though it might be better framed as Challenge Based Learning or Problem Based Learning. You can take a look at some of the notes from the session <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mig5Bx7VedfSuitow1bH3jXD9orhpNnQ8jahS0jdvY4/edit#heading=h.bs9e8s44t29b" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Professional development is something I've been thinking about a lot in my role as a digital literacy resource teacher and as a part of my M.Ed. course work. I think there are a lot of problems with the way that PD is traditionally delivered to teachers, and not just in the areas of technology. I learned a few ways that schools are attempting to give teachers more autonomy in that that pursue their ongoing professional learning and that was exciting. I think that Jim Jamieson and I also had something to contribute as we shared the story of our YRDSB Google Camps and the YRDSB Leaders and Learners Google+ Community that we've developed.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The last session I attended was facilitated by Audrey Watters, the amazing mind behind the <a href="http://hackeducation.com/" target="_blank">Hack Education</a> blog (which I think every educator should read!). It concerned data and privacy, and while it's a tough subject to tackle (especially amongst innovative educators who believe that technology can facilitate different ways of working and learning), I think that the important message of the session was, "Have the conversation. Each and every time you want to use a tool with your students, make sure you read the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, and if you don't like what they have to say, don't use the tool. But have the conversation, again and again, because we need to make sure that if we are giving up students' personal information, there is a good reason for it, and the data will be protected, used, and shared appropriately."</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
That's it for Day 1! Looking forward to day two tomorrow!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318555890783894299.post-23035055216747348872014-04-05T21:49:00.000-04:002014-04-05T21:49:29.222-04:00Overlooked Opportunities<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I had to opportunity to take in Rolland Chidiac’s (<a href="https://twitter.com/rchids" target="_blank">@rchids</a>), “<a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=1RK4sY3MOS7zPQdD0f6iZwrwiX29Ighnczwn7-ja0HIQ" target="_blank">Chromebooks in the Hands of Grade 2 Students</a>” session at the Ontario Google Apps for Education Summit in Kitchener and what blew me away was the opportunities I’ve missed over the years to make use of the Drawings tool in Google Apps. I sometimes struggle with finding an entry point for primary students and teachers in Google Drive (my go-to tool is usually Slides/Presentations) and I picked his session specifically to look for strategies to use with primary students and teachers. </span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-3416234f-34b0-1b7f-9f3f-9fa387de2929" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What I learned from Rolland (and his students) is that, sometimes it’s best to let the students explore the tools and tell you what they’re good for. As a starting point, Rolland gave his students 20 minutes to explore and create with Drawings and learn to use the tool. What the students picked up on what that they could use the various tools, and shapes to create simple drawings to communicate their thoughts and ideas. They’ve added text and used the sharing and collaboration features of Google Apps to give and get feedback on their work. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before I saw Rolland’s students work, I saw Drawings as a somewhat rudimentary tool; a tool that you might use to create simple mind maps or embed images that you wanted to create mashups with. Now, they’ve redefined my vision of how to use Drawings. One of the best things about the tool: it’s accessible throughout all of Google Apps.</span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was also great to see all of Rolland’s anchor charts in which (I don’t think) Google Apps was mentioned once. His learning targets and success criteria were all anchored in the curriculum, and students had the freedom to choose the tools that worked for them to get the job done. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rolland blogs at <a href="http://www.newfluencies.blogspot.ca/">http://www.newfluencies.blogspot.ca/</a>. </span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318555890783894299.post-61449780083623695342014-02-24T20:58:00.000-05:002014-02-24T21:07:10.912-05:00Classroom Blogging ResourcesI've spent the last couple of days getting ready for <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/yrdsbgcamp/" target="_blank">YRDSB Google Camp 2.0</a> this coming Saturday. I'll be leading teachers through a session where they will learn about the many ways in which a classroom blog is an ideal online space and then use Blogger to set up classroom blogs. <br />
<br />
Classroom blogs are a fantastic way to share resources with your students and create a learning and resource hub. It takes far less work to spend 5 - 10 minutes posting to your classroom blog each night than it does to write a monthly newsletter. The most recent content is at the top of the page, so it's easy for students and parents/guardians to locate the resources that are most relevant. It's a great place to keep everyone up to date on your classes learning goals and the assessments that are happening.<br />
<br />
One thing I learned after a couple of years of blogging what that you can dramatically improve the impact of your blog, if you can push the content directly to parents/guardians. In my classroom, that began by having every parent that came in for "Meet the Teacher" night in September, sign up for email updates from my blog. That way, parents didn't need to log on to my blog to find out what was happening, it just showed up in their email accounts. What I also learned, was that most often, it showed up on parent and guardian phones.<br />
<br />
As I updated my Blogger tutorial (linked below), one of the things that I was focussed on was how I could push those same email updates into the social media stream of parents in a way that was "safe" for teachers (i.e. didn't require friending or following students/parents/guardians/etc.). 93% of Canadians that use social media are on Facebook (<a href="http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2013/04/29/two-in-three-canadians-use-social-media/" target="_blank">Macleans on Campus, April 2013</a>), so I knew that if I could push content onto that platform, I might have even better engagement than email.<br />
<br />
Here are the resources I'll be sharing at YRDSB Google Camp 2.0. Right now they feel a little like instruction manuals, but that's the intent because I want teachers to be able to do this without me. I hope to add a little flavour to them over time.<br />
<br />
Feel free to share!<br />
<br />
<div style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Getting Started Resources</span></span></div>
<ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/19MViOdNQd9JgmbeLR594n3hpOEePXp-MEC1eGsX_naQ/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Presentation</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: An introduction to blogging, suggestions for what to blog about and considerations for privacy and security. (</span><a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/19MViOdNQd9JgmbeLR594n3hpOEePXp-MEC1eGsX_naQ/edit?usp=sharing" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">View only Google Presentation</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">)</span></span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ji_xovw5JQXS1eAsx0_9PVgBbr62kRtVRs4ihEyQ0r8/pub" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Introduction to Class Blogs with Blogger (Blogging 101)</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: Step by step instructions to take you through the complete process of setting up a blog, through your first post, adding a calendar page and gadgets to make it easier to connect to parents. (</span><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ji_xovw5JQXS1eAsx0_9PVgBbr62kRtVRs4ihEyQ0r8/edit?usp=sharing" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">View only Google Doc</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">)
</span></span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-7fdea9b2-66c1-4800-1e62-ed7eb5f736fb" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 17px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19.549999237060547px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Social Sharing Resources</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b><br />
<br />
<ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1C2RjWe2z4ahvV-Zjo4N7Hi4V3C3gEddXgXnkKCfI-xQ/pub" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Automatic Posting from Blogger to a Facebook Page</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: (</span><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1C2RjWe2z4ahvV-Zjo4N7Hi4V3C3gEddXgXnkKCfI-xQ/edit?usp=sharing" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">View only Google Doc</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">)</span></span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OO7z3VFUevuNGqM8duzpR5Vtvo9bYtOo_kAqs8GaHKw/pub" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Automatic Posting to a Twitter Account</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: (</span><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OO7z3VFUevuNGqM8duzpR5Vtvo9bYtOo_kAqs8GaHKw/edit?usp=sharing" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">View only Google Doc</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">)</span></span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-ehMFo7YHNPUEJ3lpsb50-Yj3RWBuTcQDMQHipM7z9k/pub" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Automatic Posting From Blogger to Google+</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: (</span><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-ehMFo7YHNPUEJ3lpsb50-Yj3RWBuTcQDMQHipM7z9k/edit?usp=sharing" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">View only Google Doc</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">)</span></span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_e_9y5U6Ttk/Uwv6xptkSBI/AAAAAAAAQ38/_NHX0gCogO4/s1600/GoogleCamp2LogoSmallTransparentcentered.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_e_9y5U6Ttk/Uwv6xptkSBI/AAAAAAAAQ38/_NHX0gCogO4/s1600/GoogleCamp2LogoSmallTransparentcentered.png" height="74" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318555890783894299.post-48739867171160949552013-10-01T09:53:00.004-04:002014-02-23T19:39:40.029-05:00Pack your Backpack for YRDSB Google Camp<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5QHRlUwreYU/TViDvswclmI/AAAAAAAAHvo/VPdo_Y1ETVg/s1600/DSCN1589.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5QHRlUwreYU/TViDvswclmI/AAAAAAAAHvo/VPdo_Y1ETVg/s320/DSCN1589.JPG" width="240" /></a>With only four days to go, I thought I'd share a few thoughts about what you might want to bring to <br />
YRDSB Google Camp. <br />
<br />
When I prepare for a camping trip, the first part involves making a list of all the equipment that I'll need, and making sure it's in good working order. For YRDSB Google Camp, this involves bringing a laptop computer with Google Chrome installed on it. For YRDSB staff, you can test your gear by bringing it to school this week and making sure you can connect to the school board's wireless network. <br />
<br />
The second part of preparing for a camping trip involves establishing a mental attitude that will help ensure I'm happy and successful. I want to approach each trip knowing that the weather may change, a portage may be much longer than it seems when looking at a map and that if something goes wrong, I can deal with it.<br />
<br />
For YRDSB Google Camp, here are some attitudes that I'm packing to ensure a great experience.<br />
<br />
<ul class="ul1">
<li><b>Prepare to be inspired:</b> You will have many opportunities to see different ways in which you can use Google Apps for education in your role. However, in one hour long sessions, facilitators may not be able to take you step by step through everything they share. Many will have links to resources that can take you step by step through what they are sharing, and there are incredible resources developed by teachers around the world all over the web. You'll likely want to adapt what you see to your own setting as well.</li>
<li><b>Prepare to get connected:</b> With over 500 teachers, administrators and support staff in attendance, try and connect with someone that you can learn from or learn with. Our <a href="https://mapsengine.google.com/map/u/0/edit?mid=zympCHUrwZrI.klPi5sou9fzk" target="_blank">session leaders</a> are people who have already volunteered to share how they're using Google Apps in their classrooms and there will be many more people in attendance who are already using Google Apps. Consider joining our <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/100788815762873732414" target="_blank">Google+ community</a> to stay in touch with other campers, share your learning, and ask questions to a wider audience who are willing to help out.</li>
<li><b>Prepare to innovate: </b> Imagine new ways that you can use these tools to engage your students and work more efficiently. When you walk away from YRDSB Google Camp, commit to trying one or two things in your classroom or role. It might be a commitment as simple as personally trying to move away from your regular desktop editor to using Google Drive when you want to create a text document, or it might be as challenging as committing to use Google Forms for effective formative assessment purposes on a regular basis. </li>
<li><b>Prepare to collaborate:</b> The biggest game changing feature in Google Apps for Education is the ability to collaborate. Commit to trying to change your own attitude to how you work and learn by sharing with colleagues and students. Try to get comfortable with giving up some control in order to become a genuine co-learner with your students. Try to make a connection with someone that you can collaborate with, in your school, across the board, across the province, or around the world. </li>
</ul>
<div>
I can't wait to see everyone on Saturday! </div>
<ul class="ul1">
</ul>
<a href="https://plus.google.com/111666205420347699929" rel="publisher">Google+</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318555890783894299.post-46573133396745988582013-09-14T11:08:00.000-04:002013-09-14T11:08:12.061-04:00Educators who are Excited to be Learners<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Even though we're only a couple of weeks in to the school year, I can't help but reflect on how exciting it is to work with educators who are excited to be learners. In my role, I frequently work with teachers and students who are excited about developing their collaboration skills and integrating digital literacy skills into their work, but over the past two weeks my experiences with YRDSB Google Camp and my first online M. Ed. course are helping create a positive feedback loop of enthusiasm.</span><br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jHVgXzBm_LI/UjR7q8QWnRI/AAAAAAAAPaA/yeyYcXtvIbQ/s1600/GoogleCampLogoNew.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="188" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jHVgXzBm_LI/UjR7q8QWnRI/AAAAAAAAPaA/yeyYcXtvIbQ/s200/GoogleCampLogoNew.png" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/yrdsbgappscamp2013/" target="_blank">YRDSB Google Camp</a> has been an organically growing event that seems to have just passed its tipping point where enough people are involved and excited, that a small buzz is being generated outside of the initial target audience. YRDSB Google Camp was envisioned as an opportunity for York Region District School Board teachers who were already using Google Apps for Education or who wanted to get started using Google Apps for Education to get connected and learn with and from each other. We wanted to help facilitate the development of a community that could inspire and support teachers within the school board and we wanted it to be accessible and affordable. I'm excited to say that even though registration has been open for less than two weeks, we have over 500 people registered and not just teachers. We have occasional teachers, principals, superintendents, consultants, educational assistants, administrative assistants and more coming. A very diverse audience! Those who are coming are excited to learn, and I'm so thrilled that approximately 40 YRDSB teachers are going to open the doors to their teaching practice and share what's happening in their classrooms. Sharing your practice in public (much like blogging), can seem risky and intimidating, but I know that these teachers are passionate about the ways that Google Apps allows them to work differently and collaborate with their students to become truly become co-learners and will do a great job helping others.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I've also just finished my first week of my first online M.Ed. course through Nipissing University and it's great to join a new community of educators who have diverse range of experiences and backgrounds. We spend the first week discussing a journal article documenting a first person experience with online learning and it allowed us the opportunity to open up and share our own feelings regarding online learning. We're in the process of developing norms for the group, but what I've been really impressed with is how these individuals are open to sharing not just their successes, but also their fears about entering this kind of learning (for many of us it's our first M.Ed. and a return to "academia" after many years). </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Working in these kinds of environments just re-energizes my own passion for teaching, reinforces the need for me to question my own practices and assumptions, and makes me excited to work with educators who never stop learning.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318555890783894299.post-40304632548068943012013-09-08T16:42:00.000-04:002013-09-08T16:42:07.014-04:00Thank Goodness for Digital Dictionaries<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CA3l5W789Z4/Uizfzfm6D3I/AAAAAAAAPZM/P-B_pdIkmDk/s1600/dictionary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="216" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CA3l5W789Z4/Uizfzfm6D3I/AAAAAAAAPZM/P-B_pdIkmDk/s320/dictionary.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image Source: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/greeblie/" target="_blank">greeblie</a>. <br /><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/" target="_blank">Creative Commons 2.0 License</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I like to think that I'm a relatively well read individual. My family would likely say that I read a lot. I'm not terribly intimidated by listening to Rex Murphy on the CBC, and I can usually decipher the meaning of unfamiliar words from their context. However, now I'm in a position where I must do some academic reading, and whether I understand a word "mostly" or "exactly" matters.<br />
<br />
Instead of purchasing the traditional hard copy version of a text for an online course I'm taking, I purchased it through Google Play. For me, a digital text was the way to go for a variety of reasons. I usually have at least one digital device with me, so if I get some time, I can keep reading. I really like being able to search through a text digitally (as opposed to thumbing through it), and when it comes to taking notes, sticky notes and notes in the margins just won't work for me. First, I'm too slow and sloppy when handwriting <span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">(I'm a lefty)</span>, and second, I like the flexibility of moving typed notes easily between different places, so I can quickly move my notes into the rough draft of an essay without replicating work that's already been done.<br />
<br />
Perhaps the best feature of online texts, is the ability to quickly define an unknown word. On my tablet, I simply press on the word and choose "define" from the pop-up menu. Instantly, the built-in dictionary gives me the definition of the word, it's origins, usage and related words. If that's not good enough, I can copy and paste it into another dictionary or thesaurus app and see what results appear. And, in the case where the built in dictionary or apps don't work, I can always query Google (define:<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">erotetic - it's not what you think).</span><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I know that I could do these things with a hard copy dictionary, but then I'd have to carry it around with me, and even though I understand alphabetical order completely, it's just more effective using the digital tools. I'm not advocating that students don't learn how to use dictionaries, but using voice-to-text to "look it up" just makes life easier.</span><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Here are some of the tools I've used or currently use:</span><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/merriam-webster-dictionary/id399452287?mt=8" target="_blank">Merriam Webster Dictionary</a> (<a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/" target="_blank">Website</a>)</span><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/concise-oxford-english-dictionary/id665033586?mt=8" target="_blank">Concise Oxford English Dictionary</a></span><br />
<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/dictionary.com-dictionary/id364740856?mt=8" target="_blank">Dictionary.com Dictionary and Thesaurus</a> (<a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/" target="_blank">Website</a>)<br />
<br />
Most E-Readers have a built in dictionary that you can access. In any Google Search box, type "define:" before the word you'd like to look up.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318555890783894299.post-65611339477655699902013-09-03T16:40:00.000-04:002013-09-03T16:40:59.309-04:00Back to SchoolIt's the first day of school and I'm excited to be continuing in my role as a Digital Literacy Resource Teacher for the York Region District School Board. I'm thrilled that our school board will be implementing Google Apps for Education for all staff and students (approximately 130 000 users) and I'll have a role in getting students, teachers and administrators engaged in using the tools to improve collaboration, assessment, and feedback. We're also planning a <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/yrdsbgappscamp2013/" target="_blank">YRDSB Google Camp</a> for early October where YRDSB teachers and other presenters from around North America will share ideas for using Google Apps.<br />
<br />
For the first time in 11 years, I'm heading back to school as a student - in the formal sense of the word - not just as a lifelong learner. I'm going to be a part time M. Ed. student at Nipissing University and I'm looking forward to engaging discussions and course work as I begin that journey. I hope that I can use this blog to reflect on my experiences with the M. Ed. work and also make connections to the work I do as a DLRT.<br />
<br />
So, with that in mind, it's time to challenge myself to post to this space on a weekly basis. I've challenged myself before, and failed, but I think it's important to keep trying. I'm not promising that it will always be inspiring thoughts, and I think it will take some time before I develop a consistent voice and theme for the blog, but, I've placed this work on my weekly to-do list, so hopefully I will.<br />
<br />
For all of the other teachers out there who are just getting started with your students, I hope you have a wonderful year!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r5H89BdEysY/UiZHItOOb7I/AAAAAAAAPV8/bmhGUUbsDf4/s1600/school_bus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r5H89BdEysY/UiZHItOOb7I/AAAAAAAAPV8/bmhGUUbsDf4/s320/school_bus.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo Credit: Creative Commons License by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/23024164@N06/7887766094/in/photolist-d21S49-ajpVta-d1mhTy-8wDHUc-fwpcQu-bKBxMc-7VmWQy-8YHpia-dGBNgT-ahm4sF-aAKjds-agHTYH-diLLdq-fswWmW-daEZ1Q-7yMY2V-cHVvzG-daviDN-7JKzWm-dBbT8d-ayLeJp-81BRp2-d6fNF7-8zzBte-dav9a5-fxeoK1-agHV2g-ewbCZH-dVG8X7-9Sohz9-agLJvh-dGBAzP-cFaziN-b5AXg6-aqNHCG-dcCEHX-cKEhWU-fh6WDB-djjqBs-7ADSVs-d8BKys-e61MA7/" target="_blank">Damian Gadal</a></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318555890783894299.post-45608979101597458042013-06-18T09:11:00.002-04:002013-06-18T09:11:46.829-04:00Saying Goodbye to Google Reader and Hello to FeedlyOver the past couple of years, I've frequently suggested that teachers try out Google Reader as a tool for professional development. Sadly Google is <a href="http://googlereader.blogspot.ca/2013/03/powering-down-google-reader.html" target="_blank">ending support for Reader</a> as they try and focus their efforts on a smaller number of products. <br />
<br />
There have been many suggestions around the web as to what the best <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5990881/five-best-google-reader-alternatives" target="_blank">replacement for Google Reader</a> might be, but I've chosen <a href="http://www.feedly.com/" target="_blank">Feedly</a> as my replacement for the simple reason that, like Google Reader, it can sync my read/unread articles across any device I choose to access them from. The iPad and iPhone apps work well and are aesthetically pleasing (much like <a href="http://flipboard.com/" target="_blank">Flipboard</a>). Feedly is making the transition for Google Reader users to Feedly smooth and you can log in with your Google credentials and s<a href="http://lifehacker.com/feedly-gets-its-own-syncing-service-detaches-you-from-513783286" target="_blank">ync your feeds up automatically</a>.<br />
<br />
Feedly has apps for both <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/feedly-your-google-reader/id396069556?mt=8" target="_blank">iOS</a> and <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.devhd.feedly&hl=en" target="_blank">Android</a> devices.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318555890783894299.post-56676011422982513392013-06-04T10:45:00.002-04:002013-06-04T11:19:30.884-04:00140 Characters Just Won't Cut It For Real ConversationsRecently I came across a <a href="http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2013/6/2/the-140-character-discussion.html" target="_blank">post in my Google+ stream</a> that intrigued me. It discussed the value of "the 140 character discussion" that occurs on Twitter. <a href="https://plus.google.com/116217943729017198602/about" target="_blank">+Doug Johnson</a> made the point that Twitter doesn't really permit a true conversation or debate on any topic because of the nature of the tool. His accompanying screenshot of a Twitter stream showed a variety of tweets and a couple of them really stood out to me as a solid examples of why Twitter doesn't work for in depth learning. That being said, I don't mind it for sharing links, but prefer to use a tool like Flipboard to read my Twitter stream so that those links are pulled to the forefront.<br>
<br>
A couple of Tweets in the <a href="http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2013/6/2/the-140-character-discussion.html" target="_blank">screenshot</a> really stood out for me and connected deeply to why I feel that discussion on Twitter lack the nuance required for an in depth discussion. I have to qualify my response here to say that I was not part of this discussion, and I don't know the people involved, but I'm guessing that they have more nuanced views than those expressed within the 140 character limit of Twitter.<br>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"You have a bad PD program if you are teaching tools."</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The fact that teachers have to get 'trained' on Google Apps is pretty bad, though" </blockquote>
At one level, I agree with these sentiments. However, I don't think that they take the whole scope of teachers lives into consideration. If I was to modify the first tweet, I would modify it to say "Your PD program <i>may be lacking some effectiveness</i> if you are teaching tools <i>in isolation</i>". With respect to the second tweet, I would say that, in my experience, teachers are quite capable of using Google Apps in exactly the same way they have used Word, Excel and PowerPoint. That is not the point of training teachers in using Google Apps. When I work with teachers "training" them to use Google Apps in their classroom, what I'm hoping to get them to do is "think differently" about how they work together with their colleagues and with their students. The ability to collaborate with anyone in real time and to give feedback while the student is actually engaged in the task is an incredible change in the way we work. Teachers, like students, need time to engage with these tools, and re-imagine the way that some things happen in their classroom. Describing it as "pretty bad" implies that either the individuals leading the training are narrow in their focus in terms of the desired outcome of the their training, or that teachers who don't immediately grasp the potential of some of the new tools to engage their students and give them choice in how learn and demonstrate their knowledge are "bad teachers". The incredible responsibility of teachers to stay on top of planning, giving feedback, marking, communicating with parents, running extra-curricular activities, character development, and the other responsibilities that come in a modern classroom, means that many teachers may not have time to follow the latest developments in educational technology.<br>
<br>
I know they Tweets above have bee taken out of context, so I apologize to the authors if I've offended, and I hope I've made it clear that I expect that with more than the 140 character limit imposed by Twitter that they would have more nuanced thoughts on the topic. What are the best ways to have these deeper discussions? I love the blog, and I'm learning more and more about Google+. What are other ways to ensure we get depth and breadth?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318555890783894299.post-34561369376579343722013-04-21T15:37:00.000-04:002013-07-01T21:52:06.070-04:00Great Examples of Open Forms for Assessment<a href="https://plus.google.com/116498651353722533474/posts" target="_blank">Molly Schroeder</a> shared some <a href="https://sites.google.com/a/flippededucation.com/flippedevents/home/google-apps-summit-presentations/flipping-your-classroom-with-sites-youtube-and-forms/forms" target="_blank">great resources</a> and some different ways of thinking about how to use Google Forms effectively for assessment purposes today at the Ontario Google Apps for Education Summit. The idea behind a generic form like the one below is that it is ready to go whenever you need it. You may use the same for each time (deleting responses as soon as you're done with the form) or you might create a copy of the form. Check out her site for <a href="https://sites.google.com/a/flippededucation.com/flippedevents/home/google-apps-summit-presentations/flipping-your-classroom-with-sites-youtube-and-forms/forms" target="_blank">more examples</a> of how you might use forms.<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="700" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/15cIvDIEkjumRyFCJCbukfqGEmW9d5ZVabAe0tzQfWJE/viewform?embedded=true" width="650">Loading...</iframe>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318555890783894299.post-19094249500742037782013-04-21T06:20:00.001-04:002013-04-21T06:20:10.766-04:00Ideas from the Google Apps for Education Summit App SlamI'm lucky to be at the Ontario Google Apps for Education Summit (#gafesummit) this weekend, connecting with other educators who are using Google Apps. One of the highlights for me has been the <a href="http://on.gafesummit.com/program/detailed-sessions/demo-slam" target="_blank">Demo Slam</a> because I learned a few things and saw a couple of Chrome Extensions that could be very worthwhile in my work. I haven't tried them all out yet, but recording them here might be a way of remembering to take a look at them.<br />
<h3>
Google Apps Training</h3>
<a href="http://www.synergyse.com/" target="_blank">Synergyse</a> is a Chrome extension that provides training in the task you are interested in, when you're interested in learning it. It looked pretty slick during the demo, but when I checked out the site, I saw that the free version limited you to 5 lessons. After that, it was $10/year.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.googlegooru.com/" target="_blank">Ask the Gooru</a> is a second Chrome extension that live in Gmail and provides access to training videos right on the Gmail desktop. These quick and clear videos are also available on their <a href="http://www.googlegooru.com/" target="_blank">site</a> for Google Apps users who don't have Gmail access.<br />
<h4>
Tip Sheets</h4>
<div>
The folks at EdTechTeam who put the Summit together also have a <a href="http://www.edtechteam.com/workshops/2013-01-12docs" target="_blank">great set of tip sheets</a> on their website.</div>
<h3>
Free Alternatives</h3>
If you really like the iLife suite, aren't sure you would want to put out the extra money for a Mac computer, you might consider using the Chrome extensions <a href="http://pixlr.com/" target="_blank">Pixlr</a>, <a href="http://www.ujam.com/" target="_blank">uJam</a>, and <a href="http://www.wevideo.com/" target="_blank">weVideo</a>, along with <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/" target="_blank">Picasaweb</a> to organize and share your photos.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Creativity</h3>
<a href="http://docsstorybuilder.appspot.com/" target="_blank">Docstorybuilder</a> appears to be a skin that is layered over top of the Google Docs page and makes collaborative story writing more playful. I can see it a means to engage teachers and younger students and make them think about getting started with Google Apps.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318555890783894299.post-69188317386094874782013-01-16T11:42:00.001-05:002013-04-21T06:30:58.357-04:00Doctopus for Google Docs Management in the Classroom<br />
<br />
<br />
For teachers who are getting on board the Google Apps bandwagon, Doctopus might make the sharing and managing of assignments in Google Docs significantly easier. <br />
<br />
It uses your class roster to create a copy of an assignment for each student, shares it with them as an editor and sends them a notification. All the copies off the doc are shared in the same folder and you can set up naming rules (no more Copy of Assignment1...). When you're ready to assess, you can actually automatically change all students back to having view only access at the same time. If you'd like, it will also email marks and feedback to students.<br />
<br />
It does take a lot longer to set up and share than just pressing the "Share" button, but the advantage is that you aren't relying on students to create the document and share it with you. You can also see all of the student assignments, when they were last worked on (edited) and link right to them from the doc.<br />
<br />
Thanks to Richard Byrne at Free Technology for Teachers for the tip.<br />
<br />
<div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span _mce_style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333969116211px; line-height: 20px; background-color: #ffffff;" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333969116211px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span _mce_style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333969116211px; line-height: 20px; background-color: #ffffff;" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333969116211px; line-height: 20px;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/HrB23XCeocI?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div>
<div>
<span _mce_style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333969116211px; line-height: 20px; background-color: #ffffff;" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333969116211px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318555890783894299.post-22560098597020067482012-10-10T17:32:00.001-04:002012-10-10T17:32:52.241-04:00Clearmeadow ideas<br /><br /><center><a href='https://picasaweb.google.com/106095903943851732059/TeachLearnCollaborate?authkey=Gv1sRgCJrG-cqlmoS9zAE#5797796842177160450'><img src='https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-VM9Q2pBIiaU/UHXpgonZ5QI/AAAAAAAANks/nOLM7oah3bY/s288/1.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />Posted from BlogPress mobile. <br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318555890783894299.post-37407977597803253052012-09-13T14:48:00.001-04:002012-09-13T14:48:21.506-04:00<br /><br /><center><a href='http://highview.teachnorth.com/monahan/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/FB697236-8F71-476A-BECB-93AE02D3E75B1.jpg'><img src='http://highview.teachnorth.com/monahan/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/FB697236-8F71-476A-BECB-93AE02D3E75B1.jpg' border='0' width='267' height='267' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />Posted on the go...<br /><br />Try to solve<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318555890783894299.post-66384685789741076882012-06-12T20:00:00.002-04:002012-06-12T20:00:52.715-04:00danah boyd on The Sunday Edition<b id="internal-source-marker_0.06240785261616111" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A couple of weeks ago, I caught a promo for </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Sunday Edition</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> on the CBC for an interview with </span><a href="http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">danah boyd</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. I missed the interview on the Sunday, but I downloaded the </span><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/thesundayedition/features/2012/05/13/danah-boyd/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">podcast</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to listen to while running. What I thought was fantastic about the interview was that she helped illuminate some of the challenges that parents and educators face when dealing with the way young people use digital tools. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have felt conflicted as a teacher for some time when working with other teachers or parents to differentiate the difference between real and perceived risks online. I think that danah did a great job illustrating how the media contributes to a very high perceived risk of online interactions and contrasted it with the many policies that prevent caring adults from interacting with young people in their online spaces. So, kids at risk, who are often sharing their challenges in online spaces, can’t get the help that they should because their peers don’t know how to help them, and the adults in their lives aren’t in those spaces.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The host, Michael Enright commented on “how sad” it was that people couldn’t find adults in their lives to relate to in person, but acknowledged that it was just as sad that those same caring adults weren’t a part of the online spaces. Just like good teaching, we need to meet young people where they’re at. However, I know that I personally am very careful about online interactions with the students in my class. I’ve made a choice not to “friend” students on social networks, and I’m careful about my public profile, so that students who choose to follow me on Twitter or read my blog find a professional presence. I wonder if we will come to a time and place in our profession where that changes.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For all teachers, parents, and others who work with young people, I highly recommend listening to the </span><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/thesundayedition/features/2012/05/13/danah-boyd/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">interview</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and reflecting on how you interact with the young people in your life.</span></b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318555890783894299.post-87109489599547089012012-05-08T20:42:00.001-04:002012-05-08T20:42:02.382-04:00Teach Learn Collaborate 05/09/2012<ul class="diigo-linkroll"> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://searchypants.com">Searchy Pants - Safe Internet Search for homes & schools</a> </p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/trail_runner/searchengine">searchengine</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/trail_runner/search">search</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/trail_runner/google">google</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/trail_runner/safesearch">safesearch</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/trail_runner/crt share">crt share</a></p> </li> </ul><p class="diigo-ps">Posted from <a href='http://www.diigo.com'>Diigo</a>. The rest of my favorite links are <a href='http://www.diigo.com/user/trail_runner'>here</a>.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318555890783894299.post-84098675929015592602012-05-04T20:41:00.003-04:002012-05-04T20:41:19.643-04:00Teach Learn Collaborate 05/05/2012<ul class="diigo-linkroll"> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://yourdigitalfootprint.weebly.com">Your Digital Footprint - Home</a> </p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/trail_runner/digital footprint">digital footprint</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/trail_runner/digital citizenship">digital citizenship</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/trail_runner/digitalcitizenship">digitalcitizenship</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/trail_runner/crt share">crt share</a></p> </li> </ul><p class="diigo-ps">Posted from <a href='http://www.diigo.com'>Diigo</a>. The rest of my favorite links are <a href='http://www.diigo.com/user/trail_runner'>here</a>.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318555890783894299.post-19814440933888917482012-05-03T20:41:00.003-04:002012-05-03T20:41:46.371-04:00Teach Learn Collaborate 05/04/2012<ul class="diigo-linkroll"> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://blog.edmodo.com/2012/04/30/free-download-digital-citizenship-poster">Free Download: Digital Citizenship Poster | Edmodo – Safe Social Networking for Schools</a> </p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/trail_runner/digitalcitizenship">digitalcitizenship</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/trail_runner/digital citizenship">digital citizenship</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/trail_runner/digital footprint">digital footprint</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/trail_runner/crt share">crt share</a></p> </li> </ul><p class="diigo-ps">Posted from <a href='http://www.diigo.com'>Diigo</a>. The rest of my favorite links are <a href='http://www.diigo.com/user/trail_runner'>here</a>.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0