April 25, 2014 - 'Add-On' to Your Google Know How

Happy Sunny Friday everyone!!

This week I would like to share a new Google tool which is meant to be used in conjunction with Google Docs and Sheets on the UGCloud.  You may have noticed the ‘Add-Ons’ in the tool bar within the Google Docs page and wondered about its use (see image).

Similar to Google Extensions (Read&Write, Google Dictionary, etc.), Add-Ons improve ease of use and increase the possibilities linked to the documents you (and your students) can create.  Some ideal add-ons to begin with include:

Openclipart- access to over 50 000 clip art images while working in a Google Doc

Easybib – have a bibliography created for you in APA, MLA or Chicago style by pasting in a book ISBN, title or web address into the search box

Table of contents – creates a table of contents right in your document for you

Thesaurus - an in-document thesaurus to aid in word choice and selection

To download an add-on, click on "Add-ons" in the top menu bar and select "Get add-ons."

A pop-up window will open with a variety of add-ons to choose from. You can search out the preferred add-on by typing in the search box or simply browse for something that catches your eye.

 Once you find the one you wish to install, you can either hover over it and then click on ‘free’ or click on it for more information, and then tap ‘free’ to download it to your account.  A final window will appear asking for permission to access your information; simply click ‘Accept’ and the add-on will be available to you immediately in your document or spreadsheet.

To access your add-ons while working within the document, simply click on the ‘add-ons’ drop down in the tool bar and select the add-on you wish to use.  The add-on will open a communication box on the right and side of your document where you can utilize its capabilities and resources.   

Add-ons you no longer feel as desired can be removed by clicking on the add-on drop down menu and selecting ‘manage add-ons’.  Then click on the ‘manage’ box linked to the add-on you wish to have removed and when the drop down menu appears selecting the ‘remove’ option.

I have found many of these tools to be extremely useful (especially Easybib!) and hope that you too can benefit from them.  Please give them a try and let me know if you have found any others that need to be shared 

Have a great weekend!

Stace

April 11, 2014 - Use Password Protection

Happy Friday everyone!!

This week there has been a great deal of media attention given to the ‘Heartbleed’ security glitch and it appears that it is going to be getting worse before it gets better.  Although technically not a virus or security bug, Heartbleed is an error in programming that could leave you vulnerable to hackers and cyber-criminals. The Canadian Revenue Agency has temporarily halted their e-file online tax submission option for fear over concerns that the public’s information may be compromised and several other major companies may be affected.  Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Dropbox and even Minecraft may have been affected to some degree.  So how do you ensure the safety of your online information? Here are a few tips…

     Don’t save information on your computer

When shopping online or filling in forms online, the website will often ask if you would like to ‘save password’ or save information for later’.  This is strongly not recommended.  What will save you a few seconds in the future could cost you your identity. 

     Watch what you do on public wifi systems

Recently many public spaces such as your favourite restaurant, library and even the Town of Orangeville have chosen to offer free wifi to individuals as a courtesy, however you need to know that the information you are transmitting could be viewed by others in the system.  So save the internet banking for at home over a secure wifi connection.

     Create a strong password

It has been estimated that hackers can break into a 5 character password in as little as 10 seconds, a 6 character password in 1000 seconds, a 7 character password in 1 day and 10 character password would take 3000 years to identify – so as passwords go, the longer the better.  Use a variety of numbers and letters and even include punctuation if possible.  Instead of using a simple password such as ‘money’ try using ‘m0n3y!’  The addition of punctuation and combination of letters and numbers will make it more secure. Also don’t use the most frequent passwords – ‘aaaaa’, ‘abc1234’ and ‘password’ You can even use a sentence to make up your password, by using the first letter of each word.  For example, the sentence ‘I love my special dog Spot’ could be changed to ILMSDS; a very random mixture of letters which are not likely to be hacked but simple enough for you to remember.

     Change your passwords frequently

Although we run the risk of forgetting our new passwords when we opt to alter them, the recommendation is to change them once every three months.  Additionally we should not be using the same password for several accounts.  If a hacker discovers your password for one account they can then easily follow the trail of social media, etc. and use the same password to hack several of your other accounts. 

  

     Use an app or tool to help you remember

There are several trustworthy online tools and apps which can assist you in maintaining your passwords for you. Lastpass (https://lastpass.com/) and 1Password (https://agilebits.com/onepassword) securely encrypt your passwords and maintain them securely for you so you never have to think up an outside-the-box secret word.  Further, many personal computers now have finger swipe encryption or a ‘Simple Pass’ fingerprint reader which can be used to safely log into several accounts so you never need to remember that complicated string of letters.

While this current threat to security can be frightening, you shouldn't shy away from using technology.  You simply need to be smart about your virtual conduct and behave as you would in real-life.  Don’t give out private information to strangers and be sure to be secure.  Starting students on this path to virtual security early can have a significant impact later in life. Don’t leaver yourself vulnerable to cyber-criminals.

Cheers,

Stace

April 4, 2014 – Get In Touch With Your Students With Socrative

Happy Friday everyone!!

With the Upper Grand District School Board rolling out BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) system wide, I thought this week I would highlight a student response web tool called Socrative.

Similar to a clicker system, but without all of the specialized equipment, Socrative communicates immediate feedback on student knowledge and understanding, while engaging students in a fun and interactive classroom experience.  Teachers and students can access Socrative on any device with a web browser (tablet, smartphone, laptop or iPod touch).  By logging into a free Socrative account (www.socrative.com) with their email and a chosen password, teachers are given a ‘room number’ which is their own personal identification for all of their activities.  Students access the website (no need for an account or log in) at m.socrative.com  and enter the room number their teachers have been specified.  

Once they have entered the virtual classroom they will be able participate in the activities that the teacher creates.  These activities can include multiple choice, short answer, exit ticket and true/false questions and teachers make up the questions as they go along or have a preset exit ticket prepared in advance.  Results are displayed immediately in graph form showing the number of respondents for each answer.  Questions can be answered anonymously or with student names and Socrative sends teachers live reports that include grades for all questions asked (except short answer). 

Give it a try and let me know what you think of this engaging and accessible web tool.  If you have an idea for a future blog topic, please feel free to pass it along to me.

Cheers,

Stace

iBet You May Not Know These Tricks

Happy Friday everyone!!

This week I have chosen share a few tips and tricks for the iPad that you may or may not be aware of…

Splitting the keyboard

If you're holding your iPad with both hands, you know how hard it is to thumb type in either the portrait or landscape view. The good news is that then you can split the keyboard to make typing easier.  Touch and hold the "Keyboard" key, to bring it up onto the screen then use two fingers to ‘unpinch’ the keyboard to split it, and pinch to merge it (often this is best performed by placing both thumbs on the ‘g’ and ‘h’ keys and pulling them back towards  the outside of the screen or squeezing them back together).

Caps lock

To type a single capital letter on the iPad keyboard you need to tap the left or right shift key, then the letter, however typing multiple capital letters can be frustrating.  To type a whole word in Caps turn on the caps lock by double taping on either shift key.  Double tap again to turn off caps lock.

Take a photo of what is on the screen (“Screenshot”)

You can take a photo of the image on your iPad by pressing Home and then the Sleep/Wake button at the top of the iPad. The screen will flash and you'll hear a click, indicating that the photo has been taken. Your images are automatically saved in your Photo gallery, where they can be viewed, emailed or used in iPad apps.

Contractions Simplified

iPad’s intuitive word suggestions can automatically include a contraction for you quickly and easily.  By repeating the last letter of the word, it will add in the apostrophe (i.e. welll – we’ll) and complete the word for you when  you tap the space after the word.  

Restoring Deleted Apps

If you accidentally delete an app, and wish to retrieve it you may do so by following these instructions. Visit the app store on your iPad and tap on purchased at the bottom of the page.  This will display all of the apps on your iPad.  By tapping on the ‘not on this iPad’ box at the top, it will display all of the apps which are not synced with the iPad.  Simply find the one you want and tap on the cloud symbol to download it.

Hidden keys on the keyboard

Rather than tapping on the iPad's second keyboard screen to enter a quotation mark or apostrophe, you can simply enable some hidden keys.  By tapping and hold over the ? key and a quotation symbol will appears above the key.  You can select it by moving your finger upwards. Likewise, you can tap and hold the ! key to show the hidden ‘ key – just slide your finger up to access it.

Change your signature

The default email signature on the iPad says, ―Sent from my iPad however if you wish to change it to something more personal merely go into Settings and tap on Mail, Contacts, Calendars. Find Signature in the fourth section down and type whatever you wish.

Tap to the Top

Scrolling back to the top of a lengthy list of twitter messages or website you have been reading can often take many, many swipes up the screen of the iPad.  Instead tap the title bar at the top of the page and the iPad will jump to the top of the page for you – in one quick tap.

I hope these are helpful in making your iPad practice more user friendly.  If you have any questions or suggestions for future tech tips, please feel free to email or message me. Past Tech Tidbits posts can be found on the blog at http://techtidbitz.blogspot.ca

Cheers,

Stace

March 21, 2014 - An Online Tool You'll 'Flip' For...

Happy Friday everyone!!

This week I’d like to bring you a fun and exciting online program which allows you to create your very own game show style practice and assessment tool.  It’s called FlipQuiz (http://flipquiz.me/) and I’m certain that it will quickly become your student’s favourite way to review material and practice for evaluations!

Once you create a free FlipQuiz account, you are able to begin generating your own game show ‘boards’.  First, determine your category(s) and then begin filling in the questions you would like the students to respond to.  You can include the answers to your questions or simply leave them blank to generate classroom discussions.    You have the opportunity to create up to 6 different categories with 5 questions in each and point values increasing from 100 to 500.  Additionally, you can include links to webpages or YouTube videos in your questions and/or responses to make them more interactive and illuminating.

Your ‘boards’ are saved in the FlipQuiz database so that you can view them again later or edit the questions and responses you have entered.  Also, you can view other subscriber’s boards to see if any of them are of benefit to your programming.  Finally, you can share the link to your board with your students and without creating an account or signing in, they are able to access the board on their own devices and practice the material themselves at home or at school – and are unable to alter the questions or responses.

Overall, I really enjoyed the user-friendly format and how quickly I was able to create a board based on my own material.  I believe that this tool will soon become one of your students’ favourite techniques for assessment.   

Have a great week…

Cheers,

Stace

February 28, 2014 – I would not, could not, forget to say Happy Birthday!

Welcome to yet another cold and wintry Friday everyone!!

This Sunday, March 2^nd, is the 110^th anniversary of the birth of one of the most beloved children’s authors, Theodor Geisel – otherwise known as Dr. Seuss. Here are a few online tools and resources to help you celebrate this amazing author with your students!

Seussville Website (http://www.seussville.com/)

This fun interactive website will keep children busy for hours, listening to his stories, learning about the many adored characters and playing various games and activities based upon his well-loved books.    A truly terrific way to learn about not only the author himself but revisit the many lessons his books taught to us all.

Teacher Stuff AtoZ (http://bit.ly/1hv9LhW)

This website offers a wide variety of activities and resources to incorporate Dr. Seuss characters and themes into every day math, science and language programming.  From surveying and graphing how many friends like Green Eggs and Ham to creating Oobleck and justifying whether or not King Yertle was a good king, students will be engaged and enjoying these fun activities.

Dr. Seuss Went to War (http://bit.ly/1fXLM7K)

Although he was most recognized for his fun and fantastical characters Dr. Seuss also made significant impacts on the public through his political cartoons created during the Second World War.  When visiting this web page, older students can view and learn about the political statements which went largely unnoticed until he became better known later in his writing career. 

Green Eggs and Facebook (http://bit.ly/1lorviU)

This webpage offers 15 quotes from Dr. Seuss which can be used to help educate students on the safe use of social media.  “A person’s a person no matter how small” will clearly illustrate for students that no matter the size of the person at the keyboard, they have feelings and need to be respected.  Written in 1954, a full 30 years before the internet began its rapid expansion into the mainstream world, and yet the words of Horton the Elephant can still educate students on digital citizenship.   

Publishing over 46 children’s books, under the names of Dr. Seuss, Ted Geisel or Theo Le Sig, Theodor Seuss Geisel was truly an entertaining and enlightening author who not only shared lessons with children but also expressed his views on a variety of social and political issues.

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!!

Past Tech Tidbits posts can be found on the blog at http://techtidbitz.blogspot.ca and if you have an idea for a future blog topic, please feel free to pass it along to me.

Cheers,

Stace

February 21, 2014 – It's 'Appy Hour!

It has been estimated that the Apple App Store has over 475000 apps available for the iPad, so I have chosen to highlight a few more for you this week.  Enjoy!

Teacher Notes (Free)

 With Teacher Notes you can keep your grades, anecdotal, video and photo notes for all of your students in one place.  Organized by class and student, Teacher Notes is an easy way to maintain student records for easy report writing and evaluations.  You can file notes by student name, domain (self-chosen categories such as language, cognitive or behavioural) and content areas (i.e. Art, Math, Science, etc.)  Notes can be seamlessly uploaded and stored on Dropbox and can be maintained securely using a PIN code.  Additional features include being able to search notes by phrase, sort notes by child, domain or date, and e-mail notes to parents, administrators or teaching partners.  There are various Youtube videos available to assist in learning how to record and edit notes as well as use the graphing feature.  Although the app takes some practice to become familiar with, it is very much worth the effort and quite beneficial. Many thanks to Michelle for bringing the Teacher Notes app to my attention.

Penultimate (Free)

A free app which allows the user to handwrite, draw or create on lined, graph or plain virtual paper.  Some may wonder why this app would be preferred over the iPad Notes app, and my response would be that with Penultimate you are able to draw, as well as write on the virtual pages – while in class you could draw and label a diagram in addition to taking notes on the topic) Also, you are able to insert images from your camera or photo stream into your notes and add comments, labels or captions to them.  Other features include zooming into the diagrams and notes, being able to search handwritten notes for keywords, email notes and maintain all pages in various notebooks by subject or topic.

Google Translate (Free)

This app lets you translate into 80 different languages including French, Spanish, Hindi, Dutch and Italian.  You can type in or paste text to be translated or you may speak directly into the app and have the sentence appear on the screen for you.  Then you simply listen to your translations being spoken aloud as well as view the written words for easy rewriting.  Google Translate also maintains your translations in the memory for easier review later or they can be starred for quick access when offline.  I have worked with this app briefly and with my limited French background, it appears to be able to successfully translate various French verb tenses.  I would love to hear from any French instructors as to how they feel the app works in practice.

WWF Together (Free)

The World Wildlife Foundation has yet again found a way to excite and educate students about animals from around the world.  This app includes informative and interactive stories of endangered species including tigers, butterflies and polar bears coupled with spectacular photographs of them in their natural habitats. Additionally, it allows students to use the interactive 3D globe to discover the location of over 70 different species and a step-by-step guide to creating over 15 origami animal creations.  Kids will love the cool and unusual facts and games, making this a definite must have app for animal lovers.

As always, past Tech Tidbits posts can be found on the blog at http://techtidbitz.blogspot.ca and if you have an idea for a future blog topic, please feel free to pass it along to me.

Cheers,

Stace