Instructify

BY KEVIN HODGSON

I am a big fan of Google Docs for collaborative writing, for storing my documents in the cloud, and for sharing documents, slide shows, spreadsheets, drawings and more. Having documents available through any internet connection is really convenient for me. If you are someone who wonders what Google Docs is all about, Google has just launched a Google Docs Demo Site that allows you to create a document, spreadsheet or drawing without registering for an account (you will need a Google Account to save Google Docs long-term, though).

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BY KEVIN HODGSON

Now approaching its 200th show, the weekly Teachers Teaching Teachers webcast (and later podcast) is a wealth of interesting discussions and resources for teachers trying to navigate ways to use technology in the classroom. Hosts Paul Allison and Susan Ettenheim invite guests each week to talk about an issue, or a technology tool, and then skillfully guide the discussions around teacher stories and reflections on the issue.

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BY BILL FERRIS

Several months ago, online writing collaboration tool EtherPad realized the dream of every 21st-century startup company — they got bought by Google. The search giant wanted to integrate EtherPad’s seamless multi-user collaboration into their much-ballyhooed Google Wave project. What they weren’t so interested in doing, however, was keeping EtherPad up and running, meaning that you can no longer create new documents at the EtherPad site.

If you’d planned a bunch of classroom writing activities based around EtherPad, fear not. Google has made the code base for EtherPad open source, meaning anybody can set up EtherPad on their own server for free. (more…)

BY JASON DON FORSYTHE

If you’re like me, you remember with fondness long nights with your friends, your trusty plastic icosahedron, pencils and paper, and junk food. I’m talking about Dungeons and Dragons of course, the game many of us geeks played when we were younger and had a lot more time on our hands. At one point blamed by pundits and media outlets as a bad influence on children, D&D is now making inroads in libraries and touting its value toward teaching children problem solving, teamwork, and mathematics and reading skills.

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This article also appears on LEARN NC.

BY CINDY PHTHISIC

A class of second-graders sits and waves to themselves on screen as the teacher tests the web camera. The students know they’re about to make a video call using Skype. This is the first time they have ever heard about Skype, so they are not sure exactly what’s going to happen. For now, they are fascinated with just seeing themselves on screen.

While waiting for word on the other end, the teacher pulls up a Google Map to show the caller will be speaking to them from many miles away in Louisiana. A message flashes at the bottom of the screen indicating the caller is ready. Students go quiet as they hear their teacher place the call.

When a familiar face appears on screen, the students whisper, “I know him.” “He was at our school.” The caller is author Mike Artell, who had visited their school just a week earlier. The rambunctious group becomes still and silent. The students sit completely captivated.

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BY REBECCAH HAINES

This article is also posted on LEARN NC.

As educators, most of us are familiar with the dreaded School Improvement Plan (SIP). Every few years each school is required to create an extensive, detailed document that outlines its plan for constant improvement until the next document is due. In the interim, success on reaching goals is evaluated, documented, and sent off to the central office. As any teacher who’s been involved in this process can attest, creating this document can be extremely labor intensive.

My personal experience participating in our school’s last SIP committee was no different: Reams of data had to be collected and analyzed. Goals had to be pinpointed, voted upon, and revised. Success indicators had to be determined and recorded. It took our committee of eight or so teachers nearly the entire school year to prepare this document. Not only was the process labor intensive, it used a tremendous amount of paper. Drafts, revisions, and submissions to the staff required new copies each time.

Several years ago, there weren’t a lot of options for streamlining the SIP process. But the recent explosion of Web 2.0 tools, thankfully, offers schools many time-saving options. No longer does the process need to be so time consuming. By using the following collaborative tools, schools can go through the SIP process much more efficiently and collaboratively, and with much less paper. (more…)

BY JASON DON FORSYTHE

Let me just say it: I love PBS. From the documentaries, to the quality children’s programming, it’s one of my favorite channels to watch. But my love of Cookie Monster aside, did you know that PBS had developed a top-notch web resource for teachers? If the answer was no, then you owe it to yourself and your students to spend a planning period looking at the PBS Teachers website.

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BY BILL FERRIS

Dividing your class into teams is an activity fraught with peril. Friends cluster together, shy kids awkwardly ask if they can join a group, and all that jostling can eat up several minutes. You could pick teams yourself, but doing so makes things too complicated — you have to put Little Johnny and Little Suzie in separate teams or they’ll goof off the entire class period. Type-A Bobby will want to do all the work himself, and Steve and Vanessa will let him, so you’ve got to split them up. See? Nothing but headaches. If only you could turn this process over to random chance.

See what I did there? I set a problem to make you wonder if there was a solution. And there is. Team Maker randomly generates teams for your class’ group projects. (more…)

BY BILL FERRIS

A lot of schools and families shell out big money to Microsoft every year for MS Word. It’s my word processor of choice, but I’ve been lucky in that it came pre-installed on my computer. If I had to actually find a word processor on my own, I’d face a real dilemma: on one hand, I’ve gotten really used to Word’s format, as well as the level of formatting I can do on documents. On the other hand, I’m a cheapskate.

Longtime Instructify readers know there are a bevy of free and web-based word processors out there. Only a few of them, however, are powerful enough that I wouldn’t miss Word. I dare say that Zoho Writer is one of those few.

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BY BILL FERRIS

Scribblar makes student collaboration really easy. It presents users a large white canvas and arms them with an array of pencils, line and shape tools, and colors. Students can add images easily as well, either by uploading photos or by inserting snapshots of websites. These functions are all very intuitive, even for folks without a lot of graphics experience.

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BY BILL FERRIS

Wallwisher gives your students a set of interactive sticky notes they can use to post questions or ideas. Once you set up your Wallwisher account, you’ll get a shareable URL. Students can post their comments and questions simply by double-clicking the wall and typing their notes. They can also add pictures, links and images.

If you have a digital projector, you could display Wallwisher at the beginning of class so students can post questions about their homework. It’s also a handy tool for brainstorming or sharing notes, especially if kids are working on a group project from two different locations.

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BY BILL FERRIS

Just because Google and Microsoft hate each other doesn’t mean their software can’t work together in harmony. OffiSync lets you create, access, edit and save Google Docs from Microsoft Office.

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BY NICK YINGLING

Calling someone a “dweeb” basically aims to call that person socially inept. Essentially, everyone is on a level playing field, so when I call other people names and put them down, I generally feel better about myself. What’s really sad is that I get the pop psychology for what I’m doing but I keep doing it. The best time to call someone a dweeb, I’ve found, is during gym class, right before you blast them in their thick glasses with a dodgeball.

So what can dweebs do? They can take that pejorative name and repossess it. By creating a social website for students to help get homework done, Dweeber connects youths and helps them work with their school friends online. See what just happened? Dweebs aren’t socially inept anymore—they’re socially connected!

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BY BILL FERRIS

The web is full of free online word processors. EtherPad sets itself apart by letting multiple users collaborate in “really real” time. By that they mean you see someone else’s updates as they type them in. Google Docs, for example, has a considerable lag between updates, so contributors could unknowingly contradict or duplicate each other’s edits. With EtherPad, you can see your work partners wreaking havoc on your text as it happens.

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Welcome to May’s random roundup. This month’s theme: Little Johnny, one-man stand-in for school-aged children the world over. After a year-and-a-half of hard work, we figured this overused cliche deserved a post of his own before he gets back to studying.

Time-savers for teachers
For other notes and resources the students need, consider giving this stuff to them as a whole, at the beginning of a session or semester. That way you only have to keep a master copy for Little Johnny who struggles to keep himself organized.

Learning exercise: Promote healthy living this school year
If you’re concerned about your students’ health, you can do something about it by extolling the virtues of healthy exercise. Ask Little Johnny how his little league team did over the summer. Do you have any joggers or climbers in your midst? Take an interest, and maybe they’ll get more active.

Search Visually, Safely with RedZee
RedZee filters out porn and other inappropriate content, so you don’t need to worry that Little Johnny will “accidentally” stumble across something he shouldn’t be looking at on a school computer.

Swap your Stuff at Zwaggle
But Zwaggle might be a good resource to pass along to parents. If you can make their lives easier by showing them where to find Christmas presents on the cheap, they might make your lives easier by encouraging Little Johnny to buckle down and try a little harder for his nice teacher.

Keep Your Grade Book Online with Engrade
If students (and their parents) can track their grades at any time, it may motivate them to stay on task throughout the class. Come parent-teacher conference time, you won’t have to deal with parents who are angry about Little Johnny’s surprise “D.”

Instructifeature: How to Stimulate Class Discussion Using Discussion Forums
In the classroom, you’re limited by clock. There’s only so much time you can devote to class discussion. Students feel the time crunch even more keenly—they’ve got to compose a thoughtful response in mere seconds. And while thinking on one’s feet is a valuable skill, how much better would Little Johnny’s answer be if he had more time to compose his ideas? Using discussion boards, students have the time they need to think of the best answer they can.

Photo credit: khalid almasoud on Flickr.