Digital Learning at Grant Wood AEA
  • Home
  • Learn
    • Green Screen
    • Stop Motion
    • Physical Computing
    • Free Media
  • Think
    • Blog
    • BrightBytes
    • Tech Coaches
    • Blended Learning
    • Think Make Innovate
    • Edtech Take Out
  • Grow
    • Pear Deck Resources
    • Makerspaces
    • GWAEA Online Resources
    • OER
    • Computer Science
  • COVID19
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Learn
    • Green Screen
    • Stop Motion
    • Physical Computing
    • Free Media
  • Think
    • Blog
    • BrightBytes
    • Tech Coaches
    • Blended Learning
    • Think Make Innovate
    • Edtech Take Out
  • Grow
    • Pear Deck Resources
    • Makerspaces
    • GWAEA Online Resources
    • OER
    • Computer Science
  • COVID19
  • Contact

Breaking Down Breakout EDU: Join us this summer!

5/19/2016

0 Comments

 
0 Comments

The 3 R's and the 2 P's of Summer Vacation

5/17/2016

1 Comment

 


Summertime...
​Rejuvenate,
Renew &
​Recharge
​​

The last few weeks of the school year are an odd mixture of two parts celebration for what the students have accomplished and one part anticipation for what the next year will hold. Teachers teach classes up until the final moment of the year while making plans and setting expectations for next year.  And sandwiched between what was and what will is that brief respite of time called "summer vacation."

As a classroom teacher it was always interesting to hear a non-teacher describe their expectations for my 'summer vacation.' They believed my vacation was filled with idyllic weeks at the pool, and lazy, lingering days on the porch with a book in my hand and a dripping glass of iced tea. I am happy to say that I did experience those things - but in brief snatches of time rather than weeks.

The truth of a teacher's life is that much of our summer is spent preparing for the next school year - in classes both face-to-face and online, studying and learning, and catching up on those new pedagogies that we didn't have time to explore during the school year.  For many of us summer vacation is a time for personal, professional learning.


​Summertime...
Personal,
Professional 
Learning

If you are ready for personal, professional learning,
here are some online opportunities for you


    

Picture
The first opportunity is from Atomic Learning.
This amazing site is a treasure trove of videos that break down online learning tasks into easy to practice snippets. If you live in the state of Iowa you have free access to this site through IowaAEAOnline with your school district's log in.  

This summer Atomic Learning is offering an additional opportunity.  With this link you can sign up for weekly emails 
focused on helping you learn something new - Google maps to digital photography!

The second opportunity is all things Google! 
Google has recently revamped their training pages - moving the focus from the tools to integration of the tools into the learning environment. The training is broken into two options:  Fundamentals and Advanced. These are the first two modules in the Fundamental course.  
Picture
Each module includes learning opportunites, videos, quizzes and reflection prompts.  
Picture
If you are looking for specific training for devices or resources this link gives you practice by focusing on each of the apps in the Google Apps For Education suite.  The training modules are stand alone, or you can move to the next step and take the test for certification.  

If your school district is a Google school, this professional development option may be just the one for you!  Follow the highlighted links for all the information

Picture
Picture
The third personal, professional learning option is something completely different. Two school districts have created summer camp websites for their staff.  One of them is brought to you by Augustus H. Burley School in Chicago, Illinois, and the other from Portland Public School in Oregon. Each of these websites includes a variety of challenges to earn badges - just like the camp experiences from our childhood. 

These sites are great resources for you, no matter the school district where you work. Explore the challenges and take advantage of the reflection prompts on your own blog as you apply this learning.  

Another very personalized professional learning option is Kathy Schrock's website. This website is an incredible plethora of knowledge!  The link to the left is one example of the site's wealth of information as it focuses on online tools.  The tools are divided into categories of use - with links to the actual tools.  
Picture
To use this website for your personal, professional growth, you would need to pair it with your own integration practice and reflection options. You might even 

I saved my favorite personal, professional development for last - that is this very website and my Digital Learning Team at Grant Wood.  This site offers a wide variety of professional development options from the TMI YouTube channel to the EdTech Takeout Podcast and this very blog.  For example the previous post was a SMORE with many professional learning classes offered at Grant Wood this summer and in the upcoming school year.  Be sure to check it out!

Spend some time this summer exploring the many links included in the site.  Feel free to reach out to the members of our team as well, each of us brings our own unique teaching experience to our technology consultant work.  ​

I hope you have time to rejuvenate, renew and recharge this summer!  

In the words of the German writer Van Goethe - 
   We must always change,
   renew, rejuvenate ourselves,
​   otherwise we harden.

We owe that to our students, our family, and most of all ourselves.
​
Beth Swantz, Technology Consultant
​@betswan
Picture
1 Comment

Digital Learning May Update

5/10/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
Here is the link to this month's update!

This update contains information about iPadU 2016, our new Digital Learning Institute, opportunities for instructional/technology coaches, information about The Edtech Takeout podcast, Think, Make, Innovate Makerspace show, as well as some opportunities to learn about coding! Please feel free to share with other educators who may be interested in the content! 

Please contact me or one of the technology consultants know if you have any questions!

~Stacy Behmer, Coordinator of Digital Learning, Grant Wood AEA

For more posts like this, please subscribe to our blog! You can also connect with us on social media if you Like us on Facebook, Follow us on Twitter or add us to your circles on Google+. We even have our own podcast you can listen to. 
0 Comments

Think Outside the Bot

5/9/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
There has been a robot invasion happening in schools.  As coding has become more prominent, robots are often purchased to extend and apply use blockly coding that students learn with Hour of Code.  Robots in the classroom lends itself to great application of students being able to see and control objects right in front of them through the code that they write.  ​

Spheros, BeeBots, and Dash and Dot have been making their ways into our area schools.  These robots are easy to use, can be coded with iPad apps, and have applications that can stretch wide age bands.  As I've learned more about them, the traditional uses of these robots are great.  You can drive them, code them, have them change colors or even speak, but there is the potential for them to do so much more.  
I have stumbled across a few resources that have pushed my own thinking, and will hopefully push yours too, about how robots can be integrated into classroom environment.  

TomBot & JerryBot - This blog details how you can rethink Bee-Bot.  I had always seen the Bee-Bot as a lower elementary bot because of its simple coding buttons on top.  This blog shined a light for me on the potential of game design and strategy with robots, as outlined in this blog & video post.  Even older students, who have had zero coding experience, could be challenged by creating an elaborate cat and mouse-style game, with interesting rules or game levels.  Or as I push myself more, these robots could serve as hands-on prototypes for working out an original computer game that students may be designing in Scratch.

Sphero Lightning Lab -  This is a great free community for teachers to join and find a variety of different tested lessons for all age groups and subjects designed to incorporate Spheros, BB-8, or Ollie into the classroom.  It’s easy to use and you can use the filters to help you find the lesson that will best support your curriculum.  You can even create classes within the Lightning Lab to assign activities to students.  My biggest takeaway from Sphero lessons is that robots are not meant to stand alone.  Don’t just think about it as a round robot, transition that thinking to a motor.  Allow students to be innovative and design carts or covers to fit over the Sphero will serve as the motor to drive and test out students designs in a variety of situations!  

Wonder Workshop YouTube Channel - Creativity shines through on this YouTube Channel featuring Wonder Workshop’s robots Dash and Dot.  They host several playlists and upload original video like their own kid’s show, where kids design new uses for Dash and Dot.  I also gain so much insight from the Teach Wonder and Community Fan Projects to see new ways that people around the world are playing, learning, and innovating with Dash and Dot.
​

@mypaperlessclassroom Instagram Account - Sam Patterson’s Instagram account has pushed me outside of my bot learning and made me rethink ways that that bots can be used.  A sphero is not just a round robot, and Dash is not just a robot that can move around.  How can we rethink the parts of these robots for a variety of problem-solving uses?  These images made me rethink EVERYTHING....

Picture
Picture
Follow Sam’s account or check out his podcast Beyond the Hour of Code Podcast by Sam Patterson - as he shares amazing resources, companies, and ideas about coding and robot integration into the classroom.

I love learning about ways to rethink robot use, if you have an idea or blog that inspired you, please share with me in the comments section.

~Amber Bridge-Smith
@abridgesmith
​
0 Comments

5 Tools for a Distraction Free YouTube Experience

5/2/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
YouTube is a fantastic resource for teachers. However, there are certain things that we sometimes wish were not visible for our students. Comments are a prefect example. They are frequently unmoderated and contain all kinds of language that we would rather avoid exposing students to. The suggested videos on the sidebar or at the end of a video are another case in point. Then there are the ads. Waiting 30 seconds to view a video is an eternity for some teachers and exposes your students to commercial products you may not want to endorse. So, is there any hope? Indeed there is! Take a look at this list of tools that are guaranteed to give you a distraction free YouTube viewing experience for your classroom.

1. ViewPure.com

If you visit viewpure.com and paste in the link to the video you want to watch or share with students, you will instantly be greeted with a clean view that strips out the comments, sidebar and more. You also get a link that you can use to share that specific view with students on Google Classroom, an LMS or by email. If you click the gear for advanced options you can choose the start and end time for your video as well as the option to create a custom URL. They even have a nice bookmarklet you can add to your browser toolbar so that you can clean up videos in one click - no copy and pasting required. Oh, and you get all this for free!
Picture

2. The YT Full Fill Chrome Extension

This Chrome extension was built by a teacher, for teachers. It modifies a YouTube URL so that when clicked, you automatically get taken to a full screen version of your video. No sidebar or comments are visible and you get a nice big video player to view your content. As a bonus, you will notice that when you use this extension, the tic tac toe board of videos that you normally see at the end of your video, is also gone. Once the extension is installed, all you do is click it when viewing the video you want to use inside of YouTube. A drop-down menu reveals the modified link for you to copy or preview. Easy, right? The video below has more information. Download the YT Full Fill Chrome extension here.

3. Watchkin

Watchkin is similar to ViewPure. In fact it does many of the same things so this could come down to a matter of preference. However, it does include a dark theme and full-width option that you don't get in ViewPure. They also have an auto-redirect browser add-on that will automatically redirect any YouTube link you click on to a cleaned up Watchkin version. It takes a little bit of setting up, but could be a worthwhile option. Otherwise, they do have a bookmarklet you can drag to your toolbar, and copying and pasting YouTube URLs also works. 
Picture

4. Adblockers

Installing an adblocker on your browser will often remove all pre-roll ads from YouTube videos. It is a quick and easy solution and is something you basically set and forget. There are adblockers for every modern browser, and several to choose from. Adblock Plus, Adblock and Ublock Origin are some of the better known ones. 

However, be aware that adblockers do more than just block ads on YouTube. They will block ads on every website you visit. Sounds awesome, right?! Well, yes...and no. The internet that we know and love is mostly free for a reason. Ads pay for a lot of the sites that we use on a daily basis. If everyone installed an adblocker, the way we get content from the internet would likely change very quickly. In short, we would have to pay for a lot more of it.

Is it illegal to install an adblocker? No. Does it hurt sites that rely on ad revenue to stay afloat? Yes. I like to think that as educators in the classroom we get a pass on this, however, what you do at home with your personal devices is up to you. Many adblockers let you "whitelist" sites you want to allow ads to be shown on. This could be a good compromise in the free vs paid debate, but regardless of where you stand on this issue, adblockers will block pre-roll ads on YouTube.

5. TubeChop.com

Ever wish you could trim a little off the beginning or end of a video? Well, you can. Tubechop.com was created for just that purpose. Simply paste in the URL of your video, drag the sliders to include the content you need, and then click CHOP IT to lose the parts that you don't need. The resulting video is shareable by a link, and can be embedded with an HTML embed code. You also get a pretty good distraction free viewing experience. Try it for yourself at tubechop.com.
Picture
~Jonathan Wylie, Technology Consultant, Grant Wood AEA (@jonathanwylie)

For more posts like this, please subscribe to our blog! You can also connect with us on social media if you Like us on Facebook, Follow us on Twitter or add us to your circles on Google+. We even have our own podcast you can listen to and a Makerspace video show!
0 Comments

    Connect



    Blog Feed

    RSS Feed


    Like Us on Facebook

    Digital Learning at Grant Wood Area Education Agency

    Promote Your Page Too

    Our YouTube Show

    Picture

    Our Podcast

    Picture

    Our Tweets!

    Tweets by @DLGWAEA

    Authors

    Stacy Behmer
    Jonathan Wylie
    Gina Rogers
    Amber Bridge
    Beth Swantz

    Mindy Cairney
    Lynn Kleinmeyer
    Corey Rogers


    Archives

    November 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014


    Categories

    All
    3d Printing
    4Cs
    Assessment
    Augmented Reality
    Best Of The Web
    Blogging
    Board Games
    Coding
    Collaboration
    Communication
    Computer Science
    Connected Classrooms
    Creativity
    Device Deployment
    Digital Citizenship
    Digital Classrooms
    Elementary
    Flipped Classroom
    Formative Assessment
    GAFE
    Google
    Google Apps EDU
    Google Expeditions
    Green Screen
    Hattie
    Innovate
    Ipad
    ISTE
    Literacy
    Make
    Makerspace
    Office 365
    Pear Deck
    Personalized Learning
    PLN
    Podcast
    Professional Learning
    Research
    Service Learning
    Student Choice
    Think
    ThinkMakeInnovate
    Update
    Video
    Virual Reality
    Wakelet
    Web 2.0
    Youtube

Grant Wood Area Education Agency extends equal opportunities in its employment practices, educational programs and services, and does not discriminate on the basis of color, gender, race, national origin, religion, creed, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability, veteran status or as otherwise prohibited by law. If you believe you or your child has been discriminated against or treated unjustly, please contact the Agency’s Equity Coordinator, Maria Cashman, at 319-399-6847 or 800-332-8488. Grant Wood AEA, 4401 Sixth St SW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404.

It is the goal of Grant Wood Area Education Agency that the information on our website be accessible to individuals with visual, hearing or cognitive disabilities. Good faith efforts have been made to ensure that our site complies with the world wide web consortium’s web content accessibility guidelines. Learn more here.