Blog Archives

Deploying iPads Without Opening the Box

1/28/2015

At Grant Wood we are rolling out an iPad refresh of 160 iPads to staff. While we will be providing hands on assistance using Apple’s DEP program, we wouldn’t have to. Apple’s deployment program (DEP) allows you to provide a user with a new unboxed iPad that will self-enroll and setup once the user has it connected to the Internet.

To get started, go to deploy.apple.com

This is the portal that Apple uses for managing DEP, app purchases, and Apple IDs for students under 13. The setup process will involve you creating a new Apple ID just for use with the Apple Deployment Programs. This Apple ID will require you to set up two-factor authentication. Keep in mind, two factor authentication takes up to three days to be authorized. In addition, Apple can take up to a week to authorize your DEP account. Plan ahead.

Need help with two factor authentication? - http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204152

From the page shown above, choose Enroll Now this will walk you through setting up an account. You need to be a person in your organization authorized to do this. The requirements are that you are a C level employee (CEO, CIO, etc... ) There is a list of options to choose from. If you are not, you will need the assistance of one of these people in your organization to enroll. I was not able to set up our DEP account, I needed to have our Director of Technology do it. Apple is pretty strict on this point. They will call you to verify this, they also look at your organization’s website to make sure you are listed with the proper title. In our case, they called HR to make sure our Director of Technology was who he said he was. (I think there were less hoops to jump through in getting a mortgage.)

Once you have been approved by Apple, you can login and start deploying devices. Please note: each time you login, you will be prompted to authenticate via two-factor authentication. If you are in an environment with multiple administrators, it seems the limit is five phone numbers. Once you select the appropriate number, Apple will send you a text with a four-digit PIN.

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Creating Digital Portfolios

1/26/2015

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Here's a question. What do you do when you have to add an important learning artifact to a student's literacy folder (that stays at school) and can't send it home to parents? Answer: how about a digital portfolio? Now, when the topic of digital portfolio arises amongst teacher friends, usually website creation and maintenance is what my instructional brethren think of. The problem with this? Usually the elementary teachers get pretty worried about how they are going to get students who have limited typing skills to set up and continually maintain a website. So, elementary teachers, the following tools are presented with you in mind.

Kidblog - Kidblog is a website that easily allows the teacher to set up individual blogs for each of his/her students. One of the nicest features of Kidblog is the fact that it automatically sets up a Blog Roll for the teacher of all of the students in the classroom. Additionally, parents can be invited into the classroom blogs and can post comments. Teachers have a variety of options with setting up the visibility and commenting/posting permissions of the blog.

In addition to sharing writing and blog posts, Kidblog is an awesome place to share digital images and video files created by the students. I have had the opportunity to work in my 1st grade son's classroom this year. We have been using Kidblog as a place to put digital images of handwritten assignments or drawings. We have also posted content that we created in other apps (30 Hands for example). The handy-dandy Kidblog app makes this super slick. Another nice feature of Kidblog is the fact that it is device agnostic and is primarily web based, meaning that you don't have to have an iPad to use this one.

The video below by Molly Miller is a 10 minute tutorial on how to get started with Kidblog. Here also is a link to a playlist of Kidblog for iPad tutorials that Wes Fryer made.

Seesaw - The Seesaw app is one that I discovered recently thanks to my colleague Jonathan Wylie who shared this blog post with me from Larry Ferlazzo. Being a former elementary teacher he has a keen eye for what will work in an elementary setting. Seesaw is a digital journal that allows student to create a portfolio of work that they created. The app allows you to add images, videos, content from the camera roll or drawings that you create within the app. The app is set up to work well in either a multi device setting (1:1) or in a single device as it is easy to switch between student accounts. Another great feature for the little ones is that there is no URL, username, or password to remember and/or type - just a quick scan of a QR code brings the student into his/her classroom. Additionally, there is a parent feature that connects parents to their child and keeps them updated of posts that have been made to the child's digital journal via the separate parent app (iOS or Android) or web access. I found the video below initially on Larry Ferlazzo's EduBlog - you can find that post hyperlinked to his name above.

So yes, this blog post is a tool review. However, in my estimation they are very useful digital tools that help solve what is, in my mind, a bit of a problem; how do you continue to keep that line of communication about what is being learned in class open and how do you create opportunities for students to communicate their learning in their own words. This is extremely important in helping students develop a strong reflective practice (read more about it here) which, in turn, will lead to them becoming better learners.

Gina Rogers
Technology Consultant - GWAEA

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Organizing Your Google Inbox

1/7/2015

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Happy New Year! 2015 is my year of Digital Organization Nirvana!! As a self-described Digital Hoarder - I am attempting to take the 40 Bag Decluttering Challenge - out of my home and apply it to my digital footprint. I have Diigo bookmark lists, emails, Google Docs and an overflowing Dropbox!! Do I really need it all?

My first organizational stop is the place I live the most - Gmail. These two tips have helped me to begin down the decluttering path in my email inbox!

Priority Inbox

I have an ongoing love/hate relationship with my email - I love communicating so easily, but I hate how difficult it is for me to find items I have read before they are buried in new emails! This tip from Technology Coach, Frank Slabaugh, changed the way I work with my email. Instead of having all my mail jumbled in one large category, it is now divided into 3 categories that I created - Unread, To Do and Everything Else. This is a short video explaining the steps needed to do that.

Google Calendar on my Inbox

One other item I added to my Gmail is a small Google Calendar in the bottom left-hand side. It connects directly to my Google account and I can see what is on my calendar while still in mail! Saves me several steps. Here is a short video detailing the steps on how to add that.

With tips like these, the road towards my Digital Organization Nirvana is measurably shorter. They are a great way to help me tame the madness that is my email, and keep me focused on the most important challenges ahead.

Beth Swantz - Technology Consultant (and Digital Hoarder)

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The Best Productivity Tools for Tech Savvy Teachers

1/1/2015

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Technology is often most valuable when it makes us more efficient, more productive, and saves us time. As educators, these are the things we always look for. After all, who doesn't need more hours in the day to get everything done that we need to do. So, In this post, I am going to round up some of the best productivity tools for teachers. Each is focused on making your life just that little bit easier so that you can concentrate on the one thing you do best - teaching!

Note Taking: OneNote

A great note-taking tool can be invaluable whether you are at a conference, a professional development day, planning lessons or getting ready for parent-teacher conferences. There are lots to choose from, but a personal favorite of mine is Microsoft's OneNote. This free, multi-platform tool is available for Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows Phone, Kindle Fire, and the web, so you can quickly add or view your synced notes on almost any device. You can tag, sort, organize and search through everything you have ever written. You can write with digital ink, record audio and video, share and collaborate on notes with others, and even work offline. Still not convinced? Read This is why OneNote is Awesome by Thomas Maurer for the full scoop.

Alternatives: Evernote, Google Keep

To-Do Lists: Wunderlist

As a teacher, my desk used to be covered in Post-it notes. They were on my laptop, in my textbooks, and stuck to the wall. When I ran out of Post-its, I would resort to writing on my hand. Then I discovered Wunderlist, and I gave up Post-its for good. Wunderlist is a task list manager that you can trust to organize your life and store all your best ideas. It is simple, effective, and works every time. You can have multiple lists to help you at work and at home. Tasks can be broken down into sub-tasks, browser extensions let you save things from the web, reminders can be set for any of your tasks, and lists can be shared with others. Wunderlist is also available for all your devices and everything syncs seamlessly to keep you up to date. Oh, and it's free!

Alternatives: Todoist, Google Keep, OneNote

Calendars: Sunrise

Google Calendar is great, but let's face it, a makeover is somewhat overdue. It works on all platforms, but it can look a little different from device to device and there is no dedicated app for iOS. Enter Sunrise. It's cleaner, easier on the eye, and looks great on the web, your Mac, iPhone, iPad or Android device. It can be used with, or without, a Google account so it can be a great replacement for the Apple iCal app or just about anything else you were using in the past. Facebook events and birthdays are automatically added if you authenticate with your Facebook credentials, and there are multiple views for your events. Sunrise if free on all the platforms it is available for.

Content Curation: Pocket

It is an oft quoted expression, but searching the web for information is like drinking water from a fire hose. There is just so much out there, so you need a way to sort, categorize and curate your favorite articles, lesson ideas, and other random sources of inspiration. Pocket is ideal for just this purpose. With just a couple of clicks (or taps) you can save your favorite websites, blog posts and articles to your Pocket account and access them on any device, even when offline. Anything you save can be tagged to help you search for it again in the future, and there are over 500 apps like Zite, Twitter and Flipboard that let you send things straight to Pocket from that app. It's simple, easy to use, and free.

Alternatives: Diigo, Pinterest, Symbaloo

Lesson Planners: PlanbookEdu or Planbook.com

This one was too close to call so I am going to recommend both PlanbookEdu and Planbook.com as great options for teachers looking to create lesson plans aligned with state and Common Core Standards. Both services let you share plans with others (e.g. principals, substitutes, grade level partners), attach files, and access your lessons on multiple devices. They also support custom schedules like A/B days or 4, 5 and even 6 day rotations. Neither are free, but both are very inexpensive for what they offer, and discounts are available for multiple teachers who sign up together. They are great tools for teachers at any grade level and can be a great way to go paperless with your lesson planning.

Did I miss any of your favorites? Feel free to add them in the comments below!

~Jonathan Wylie, Technology Consultant

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Deploying iPads Without Opening the Box

Creating Digital Portfolios

Organizing Your Google Inbox

Priority Inbox

Google Calendar on my Inbox

The Best Productivity Tools for Tech Savvy Teachers

Note Taking: OneNote

To-Do Lists: Wunderlist

Calendars: Sunrise

Content Curation: Pocket

Lesson Planners: PlanbookEdu or Planbook.com

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