An Internet Minute in 2016

Every now and then, these "internet minute" statistics come out. I always find them interesting as a snapshot of our reliance on technology, for better or worse. One observation I have about this one in particular is that about everything included is related to social media and entertainment. 

Which of the services listed above do you rely on the most? For me, it's Netflix, Google, Spotify, Twitter and Amazon. (Chat me up about House of Cards or Kimmy Schmidt!) I'm not quite sure what a "snapchat" is, but I'm pretty sure I'm offended by it. 

What is "Google Cardboard" and why should you care?

There are times when it's difficult to tell when something is a novel fad or it has some staying power. I'll admit that I dismissed the iPod as a waste of money. 

"Pffft... why would I want all my music on that little thing? I've already got my 10 lb binder of CDs!"

With Google Cardboard, it's a novelty in the truest sense of the word. It's clever, unique,  and simple way to bring virtual reality into your classroom. Yeah... virtual reality. You've never seen anything like this before.  The cardboard boxes (shown above) house the cell phone or iPod that utilizes a variety of apps to create an immersive experience. When you turn your head, it moves with you. When you pull the lever, it responds. It's pretty stinking cool. 

Adding resources like Google Street view and the Cardboard app, you can virtually transport yourself to just about anywhere in the world, including the back room of our library. 

Great, huh? So what...? How, if at all, could these be used in your classroom? Welp, glad you asked! Imagine taking your students on a virtual field trip to the Louvre in Paris, or the Acropolis ruins as you're learning about ancient Greece. Make your current events and stories come alive by having students visit the locations their learning about. 

Is it cool? Oh, yeah... you bet it is. And the importance of adding a cool, high-interest resource to your classroom can't be overlooked. But, it's also a learning tool in the same way investigating at actual location or museum is. Student could also make their own virtual tours using Google Street View.  

We've purchased six of the cardboard goggles and two the the Viewfinder brand goggles along with two devices to put inside the goggles. These are available to our staff and students to use. If you're interested and want to know more, please let me know!

Continuum of Student Motivation

Continuum of Motivation TM by Barbara Bray and Kathleen McClaskey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on work at bit.ly/continuum-motivation* Graphic design by Sylvia Duckworth - See more at: http://www.personalizelearning.com/2016/03/continuum-of-motivation-moving-from.html#sthash.w6UXf0sN.dpuf

Use Poll Everywhere to add a new dimension to your classroom discussions

Poll Everywhere has been around for a few years as a way to get immediate feedback from your audience through polls. Lately, though, they've bulked up their response options to create more dynamic, interactive feedback methods. Below are a couple examples; the first to help plot students' understanding of concepts and the other is a great way to brainstorm by seeing what big ideas float to the top. 

There are two sample polls below. The second one is the only one open (only one at a time). Both polls below are completely interactive and don't require you, the participant, to log in with an account. Go ahead... Give me some feedback!
Before you choose to use this resource in your classroom, please let me know so we can discuss the terms of use!

Mastery Manager Glitch

Some have already come across this issue, but when printing Mastery Manager documents, it's important to uncheck "fit to page." This moves the QR code in the corner making it not usable.

From Charles Sprandel:

I wanted to give everyone a heads up about an error that has shown up in a couple of buildings.

If teachers get an error message that looks like the one below when they are scanning, it's likely caused by the way the documents were printed.

The directions that I sent out and the directions on the page in Mastery Manager where the answer documents are downloaded it describes the need to turn off features like fit to page, scaling, and auto rotate and center before printing. All of these will potentially move the location of the "bar code" in the upper left corner. If it is moved, the scanner can't find it and gives an error. Examples of the difference that the fit to page setting makes are shown below.

If teachers have not printed their tests yet, they should make sure that these settings are turned off before printing. 

If they have already printed them but have not given the test to students, they will need to reprint them.

If they have already given the test, there are no easy solutions. One solution would be to print new bubble sheets, copy the answers over, and then scan them. Another is to cut a thin strip off the top of each page and then scan them. 

I will keep working on this and send out an update tomorrow. For now if teachers are getting this error on most or all of their pages, tell them to stop scanning and wait for directions. I don't want people wasting a lot of time trying to get these to scan and thinking there is something wrong with the scanner.

It's important to note that using the digital version of Mastery Manager circumvents this whole issue. Please find me if you have any more questions.

Using Google Slides for Presentations is So Last Year!

I thought I'd add my presentation from our middle school Tech Camp on March 4th. If you or your students are using Google Slides just for presentations, this slideshow is for you. With a little know-how, you can unlock Google Slides' untapped potential!

Hapara's Highlights

Over the winter break, Hapara updates its Interact feature, which is now called Highlights. Along with the same features you already know, a few new ones have been added. Below is a short run-through of the new Highlights feature.