Google News

The last two weeks has seen Google moving to respond to the requests for more support in the Google Apps for Education (GAFE) project as well as accessibility over iOS devices. The result is a better fit between our 1:1 iPad initiative and our GAFE system. Some of the upgrades are available immediately and some are in beta for release by next school year.

Featured iPad Apps

Google has separated Documents (Docs) and spreadsheets (Sheets) from Google drive in independent apps. This update providers more options for use on iOS devices, including the ability to edit Docs and Sheets in the app, WITHOUT being connected to wifi. In terms of accessibility for students outside of the classroom, this provides opportunities for students to complete assignments without Internet connection. Watch for Slides (presentations) to be available soon. 

Having downloaded both last week apps last week I have found them functioning as promised. One thing to note is that the apps to require upgrading your iOS to 7.0 or later.

Maximizing Google

Perhaps the most significant addition to the Google Apps for Education (GAFE) offerings, is the introduction to Google Classroom. Released in honor of Teacher Appreciation week, Google claims "It helps teachers create and organize assignments quickly, provide feedback efficiently, and communicate with their classes with ease. Classroom is based on the principle that educational tools should be simple and easy to use, and is designed to give teachers more time to teach and students more time to learn." 

Google Classroom is not as robust a learning management system as Moodle, but it can be a great way to begin blended your classroom and providing a more organized approach to managing the Google tools that you are using. Consider this tool to organize your classrooms for the 2014/2015 school year.

Getting the Most Out of Your Learning Platform   

Whatever management system or learning platform that you choose to use, following accessibility guidelines is important. One of the advantages of a learning platform is the ability to provide students with multiple representations of material, including digitial text. However, many students with disability struggle with visual aspects of an online system. One way to address this is to provide a text description of any images that are used on your platform. The video below will demonstrate  how this is done in the Moodle platform.

Twitter Friday Follow 

As Google continues to upgrade apps and release new items, the best way to stay informed is to follow them on Twitter or subscribe to their blog. They also release cool applications of their apps or retweet examples from users.

Professional Development

As we near the end of our first year of 1:1 at the high school and look to move forward with 1:1 at the middle school, the areas in which we need more professional development become clearer. Personalizing PD has been part of this technology roll-out, but when we began we "didn't know what we didn't know"! Let's begin planning now how we want to end the school year, or even continue to develop our understanding and integration of technology, over the summer. One option is to consider the professional development modules and courses developed by the REMC Association of Michigan through the Michigan Learns Online Portal. If you are interested in completing a course, I can arrange for the courses to be uploaded to our ACS Moodle and facilitate. For most, you can access the information and material and use as needed, even if you don't complete assignments as a course. For a complete list of MLO Professional Development learning material, visit the website.

Featured iPad Apps

There are two professional development courses offered through REMC Michigan Learns Online. The first, iPad for Education, includes a section on built in Accessibilty features of the iPad. Other sections include setting up e-mail and how the iPad helps meet technology standards.

The second course, Integrating iPad in the Middle School Classroom, provides a more pedagogical approach to the iPad as a tool. While the emphasis, with lesson plans and examples, is middle school, the content is applicable to all grade level instructors.

Maximizing Google  

While many have integrated Google Drive into the classroom routine, Creating Student e-Portfolios with Google Sites focuses on reflective writing as a sustained process. Not just for English classes, the connected standards cover all content areas. As the Common Core requires student demonstration and application of learning, reflective portfolios deserve consideration. The course begins with this introduction to e-Portfolios in the K-12 classrooom, including what they are and why they should be used. The course then moves forward with instructions on how to use Google tools for e-portfolio creation. 

Getting the Most Out of Your Learning Platform   

In the Flipping Your Class With Moodle course, teachers are introduced to the flipped classroom model. Moving beyond the model, teachers are led through beginning steps to creating and using a Moodle classroom. Units includes course design, adding resources in Moodle, using discussions in Moodle and creating assessments. As a self-paced option, the course can provide real-time, when you need it support for your management system. Addressing varied learning styles of teachers, the course includes articles, documents, websites and videos for training support.

Twitter Friday Follow 

Integrating social media in the classroom can be seen as risky. What is the proper way to implement as well as which media and devices should be used are just the beginning of the questions most educators ponder. The Socially Networked Learning Course takes the educator from an introduction to social networking to applications in the classroom, including examples from teachers with different social network tools. Twitter is featured as one of the networks. 

For the #FF (Twitter Friday Follow) recommendation, the REMC Association of Michigan (@mi_remc) shares conferences, technology tips, resources and recommendations. While not prolific in number of tweets, the posts are consistent in topic and focus.