The Friday Tech Tip

Happy Friday everyone! Last week Bruce Stuart and I were fortunate to be able to attend the GAETC Conference. This is a time where Tech Leaders  from across the state are able to come and learn about new technologies, and programs. I came across some tools that I thought would be beneficial to you. I learned a good bit about Google Chrome Extensions.  Extensions are like apps in the Google Chrome browser. As a tech department, we often push out extensions for testing, security, etc. . . You and your students can also go to the chrome store and browse extensions and install them yourself. Once installed they are there until you take them off.  I would like to showcase a couple of extensions that we have pushed out and and then a couple that you may want to check out and see if it is something that you want to use. If your students are using chromebooks then the district ones below will automatically show up. For you, on your teacher laptop, you just have to login to...

A week or two ago I was having a conversation with a colleague of mine who also has a career with instructional technology. We were talking about how learning is different now than when we were in school.  As a teacher I bet you learn differently as well.    For example, a real world  random question that someone asked me last night  "Hey Clint, who was the drummer of the Allman Brothers Band?” Let's break this down. If it was a mere 25 years ago and I was asked that I would have to remember the question, go find an Allman brothers CD or tape, open up the linear notes and find the answer. Or, I would go to the library and find an old copy of a Rolling Stones, or get on the microfish to find an article. I would then write down the answer or commit it to memory.  Thankfully I didn't have to do that.  I did what most of us do when we don't know the answer to a question. I got out my phone and searched "Drummer Allman Brothers Band"I quickly read a...

Happy Friday and almost Happy Halloween! As part of having a  ECSD Google Account you also have access to creating your own YouTube Channel. If you go to YouTube.com and click sign in and sign in with your ECSD account you can create a channel.  (Click on the picture below to see this) Why would you do this?  One of the many  benefits is that you can create your own playlists. For example, now that conferences are over I may have shared a few youtube video tutorials with my students' parents to help them with their math practice at home. Now, I can say, "Check out my Youtube Channel of categorized playlists.Example,  Here is the Unit 2 playlist you can go back and reference"  It's all in one place and you can add and edit.  Also, a benefit of having things on YouTube is that you can get YouTube on just about anything.  Smartphones, Televisions, gaming systems. etc. . . Also, if you have access to devices, you could pair it with a service ...

Over the Fall break I took my family on a Fall Camping Trip in the middle of nowhere Western North Carolina.  Ok, it was just outside of Robbinsville, NC. This was the first time that we have ever visited this part of NC.  But, the crazy thing is, I didn't pack a map.  To be honest, I can't think of the last time I used a paper map. I, like many, plugged my phone in and followed the Waze app till we got to our destination. I knew exactly how long it would take us, the cheapest gas on the route, and if there was road construction ahead. Knowing directions and locations is still very important but I did not have to memorize anything. I could think more about the why of my journey and not the what. ( For the record, always be aware of your surroundings )    So, that made me think about a service that both us and our students have access to.  Google MyMaps .  With Google MyMaps, students and teachers can create their own maps. Students and teacher...

Happy Friday! This is a little longer post since we will be out next Friday. I'm going to make an effort next weekend to "unplug" As passionate as I am about using technology with our students I really think it is important to  make time to unplug from being in front of screens.    One of my favorite tool for all students in grades K-12  is FlipGrid .  FlipGrid is a  free tool where students can  create video response. Teachers will need to sign up for a free account. Students will not have to ever to sign up.  I think this is a valuable tool because students are creating something with technology and sharing their voice.  All of these video comments are placed in a Grid and students can view each others comments. Flipgrid.com    So, for example, let's say that our students have recently finished a math problem or have just read a book.  Students can go the flipgrid link and leave a video response talking about HOW the...

Happy Friday! Have you ever had this experience in your classroom? Nothing like a collective "Aw, Man!" as you start erasing the board to make more room.  We now have a subscription for a program called equatio.  This program  is forced installed on the Chromebooks and for students with windows devices they will need to sign into the Chrome browser.  To do this they will open up the chrome browser and click the 3 dots and sign in with their Elbert account. For students at the Elementary and Primary school  without an Elbert Account the teacher can sign in with their account or with the generic that I will soon send out to those teachers. Equatio is a great tool for science and math and STEM related activities.   With this program Students can speak problems and equations into their device,  they can draw, (either with their mouse or using the touchscreen) and this will appear in a Google Doc. Teachers can also insert math equations into goo...

Happy Friday! I'm very excited to let you all know that we have new software on our devices!  We have two  new products that both students and teachers  will be to access with our new subscription to texthelp.   Read and Write for Google and Equatio . I'm excited about this software because it is going to help remove barriers for our students and help many of them to better  access digital Curriculum. These programs offer our students the ability to hear digital  text read aloud, easily find word meanings and word pictures, word prediction on docs, and easily create vocabulary charts.  With Equatio students can  insert equations, complete math problems on a touch screen (on our touch screen devices) and speak their math into a device.     I think that Michael Scott, a personal hero of mine, summarized what I felt like when I first learned about these programs.    There are 2 ways that both students and teachers ca...