For some great educational information about the different panels, walls and ceiling go to;
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Interactive Tour of the Sistine Chapel
If you are studying the Sistine Chapel with your students than you will find no better 360 degree Virtual Interactive Tour than this one. It is a beautifully made high definition fly around one of the most world's most famous Chapels. Built by Villanova at the request of the Vatican this is a quick and easy way to give your students a sense of the size, scale and beauty of the paintings. It is spectacular!
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Using iDevices in the Science Lab
Can you record what you see in a microscope using an iDevice. This post has been cross-posted at AppsinEducation. One of the Science teachers came into the staff room very excited yesterday. She had been working with her senior science class with the normal light microscope looking at red and white blood cells at 400X. They were discussing how they could document their experiment. One of her students just grabbed his iPhone, placed it on the eyepiece of the microscope and took a photograph. Here are the resulting images.
This was so good because the NSW Biology Stage 6 Syllabus states that students must:
 |
| The pink dot in the top left corner is a white blood cell |
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| These images where use to grid up and count the cells before drawing the diagram. |
This was so good because the NSW Biology Stage 6 Syllabus states that students must:
- use a technique using prepared slides and
- measure the field of view
- performs a first hand investigation using the light microscope and prepared slides to gather information to estimate the size of red and white blood cells and draw scale diagrams of each
The beauty of this is not the use of technology itself but that the technology increased motivation and the subsequent task became easier to perform. The drawing and documentation became a real learning experience and the students were able to contribute to their own learning by discovering new ways of documenting their own experiments.
It would be easy to take this further again. Looking at hormones under an electron microscope would give you beautiful images of crystalline structures. This opens up some great links between art and science. This is itself a discussion that has gained attention lately and one area where a cross curricula project could be beneficial to develop.
 |
| Progesterone, Estradial, Estrone, Methhotrexate, Testosterone,and Diethylstilbeshol |
These are images of hormones as seen under a microscope, from the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory at Florida State University.
I would love to hear how you have used iDevices in your science lessons. Include them in the comments section so we can share these ideas with others. Science teachers do get to do some pretty cool stuff.
To see what is possible check out Princeton University's 2011 Art of Science winners.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Free Stock Music - Royalty Free License
FreeStockMusic offers a wide variety of 100% free production music in eight genres: cinematic scores, corporate, easy listening, electronic, hip-hop, international, pop and rock.
FreeStockMusic are committed to helping find the perfect song for your video, movie, film, video game, or media project. Their music comes with a royalty-free license allowing you to use the music in all types of productions for worldwide distribution, forever. There are never any fees.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
ThingLink - Image Linking Tool
This is a fantatsic Web 2 tool that allows you to create links within your website or blog using your images. It turns you images into an interactive wall or a single image into an interactive image full of tagged information. Roll your cursor over the button and up pops the info, video or sound. I can see so many uses for this in a classroom - and it could be so much fun.
This is well worth a look from an educational point of view. Not only could teachers make some amazing resources but the students could present their own information in a pretty cool way. Check out the ThingLink site and watch the video to see how it works.
This is well worth a look from an educational point of view. Not only could teachers make some amazing resources but the students could present their own information in a pretty cool way. Check out the ThingLink site and watch the video to see how it works.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Small Group Types
The Centre for Teaching Excellence is about fostering teaching and learning of the highest quality. This is an excellent discussion on the different types of group work with students. There is a very good explanation of the different types of group work and then a series of instructions for setting up and getting the most out of it.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
The Differentiator
I love this tool! This is a great tool for teachers to be continually asking themselves how they are differentiating the tasks that they set their students. Developed by Ian Byrdseed at Byrdseed Gifted it is an exceptionally simple idea executed beautifully. It is just so easy to use. Even if you do not use this all the time it is a reminder that we should be using all of Bloom's Taxonomies and not just the few that we are comfortable with. Make sure that you visit Byrdseed Gifted where you will also find lots of resources, tools and ideas for teaching in a gifted classroom or with gifted students. Enjoy!
Sunday, October 9, 2011
ASLA Conference Resources Roundup
I was lucky enough to be invited to present a session at the ASLA Conference last week at Riverview. I was amazed at the energy and enthusiasm around both professional development and the notion of integrating technology in education.
Because of other commitments I was unable to attend the full conference however I was an eager follower on twitter for those sessions I missed and I wanted to make sure I missed nothing of the online resources being discussed.
Tweeter of the Conference - Gold Star goes to @stacyt for 154 tweets, and who I was lucky enough to have sit in on my session and a close second goes to @craftylibrarian for a plucky 108 tweets. Congratulations to all who attended and to those on the committee - this is a conference all educators would benefit from. So after 1171 tweets from 146 different twitters who tweeted a total of 70 separate hashtags and 286 urls here is the breakdown.
Presentations:
Presentations:
http://deangroom.wordpress.com/ - gaming in education
Blogs:
Marita Thomson Reader's Advisory for Secondary Schools
Sue Krust Teacher librarians and transliteracy
Di Laycock Graphic novels in the classroom
Judith Way Are you game?
Carmel Galvin Librarycurrants
Jenny Luca Lucacept - intercepting the web
Tania Sheko Brave new world Her other blogs are listed from this site
Marita Thomson Developing readers one of various blogs
Karen Powers Big Bookcase
Leanne Windsor Learning to learn
Audrey Nay Teacher Talk and other blogs
Tech Blogs:
Greg Swanson - Appsineducation
Silvia Tolisano - Langwitches
Andrew Churches Edorigami
Greg Swanson - Edtechtoolbox
Greg Swanson - Artygames
Australian k-12 LibGuides:
Australian k-12 LibGuides:
These TLs are curating content and providing lessons for their students via LibGuides. You can see their sites here.
Leanne Windsor, Petra Pollum and Alison Rout at the Illawarra Grammar School
Cathy Oxley and colleagues at Brisbane Grammar School
Tania Sheko and colleagues at Melbourne High School
Stacey Taylor and Jenny Uther at Monte Sant' Angelo
as well as my valued colleague at Trinity Grammar School, Alison Klein at our site The Arthur Holt Library.
iPad:
Kings College App - http://www.kingscollege.qld.edu.au/iphone/index.shtml
China Heart - http://www.chinaheart.org.au/
Osfoora - rss reader for iPad
Aurasma - Augmented Reality for iPad - http://www.aurasma.com/
Resources:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXCuGvsThEw - People stuck on an elevator
Web2 Tools:
academic.research.microsoft.com/
Articles:
http://www.ecuad.ca/about/news/163186 - Using Zotero
Website Builders:
Interesting Websites:
http://aso.gov.au/education/ - screen australia with teachers notes
Student Built Resources:
Gaming for Learning:
Books for Gaming in Education
Reality is Broken
Grand Theft Childhood
Don’t bother me Mum, I’m learning.
Please add to these by emailing to me names of resources for all those sessions I did not see. Alternatively, direct people to a more comprehensive list of resources for the ASLA Conference in the comments section. Enjoy
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
100+ Google Tricks for Teachers
Thanks to Amber Johnson a contributor over at TeachHUB for putting this list together. Be sure to check out their site as it is a great place for news, recommendations and resources by Teachers, for Teachers. We do have a page on the main blog with 100+ google tools but they push out about 20 updates a month so a more up to date version might be needed. Anyway enjoy the fruit of Amber's hard work.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
IdiomDictionary
This is a great Idiom Dictionary. Type in your word or phrase and the dictionary will give you all the options it has for those words. If you can not remember the exactly phrase you can also search alphabetically.
This is a fantastic tool for your students to explore the weird and wonderful idioms that existing within the English language. This could even be used as the basis for a 4 quiz to see which of your students has the best handle on the use of idioms in everyday language.
I like the way that you not only get a definition it also gives you an example of the idiom's use within a context.
This is a fantastic tool for your students to explore the weird and wonderful idioms that existing within the English language. This could even be used as the basis for a 4 quiz to see which of your students has the best handle on the use of idioms in everyday language.
I like the way that you not only get a definition it also gives you an example of the idiom's use within a context.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Online Publishing: Create Your Own Content
Issuu:
Issuu is a Web 2 tools that allows you to publish PDFs. You can produce the documents in any program that you like - I prefer PAGES on the Mac. Once you have created a stunning document to impress the world, simply log on to Issuu and upload your PDF. The whole process takes about 2 minutes and you now have a digital magazine style document. This can be embedded into a blog or onto your website.
FlipSnack:
FlipSnack is an online flipping book software that allows you to convert PDF documents into Flash page flip digital publications. It's the ideal solution for those who wish to embed a book, magazine, catalog, newspaper, portfolio or any other kind of document into a website or blog.
Once created, you can embed your flipping book collection, download them or share them on social networking websites such as Facebook.
Wobook:
Wobook is an online solution for people who want to publish on the web through an interactive, 3D book. Any document can be turned into a wobook and made available to read online instantly. Wobooks can also be formatted and printed on-the-fly in a PDF format. A digital magazine powered by wobook is attractive, interactive and all sorts of rich media can be embedded in it! There, they can create or effortlessly turn their publications into a web oriented ebook or wobook. Develop your web communication! Create and publish all types of syndication: newspapers, digital magazines, brochures, e-catalogs, or e-books.
Surfboard: Websites turned into E-zine
Surfboard is a very cool service (similar to Flipboard on the iPad) that displays any website in a flippable newspaper-like display. All your different blog entries or pages are displayed and all the links stay alive. This makes the web reading experience a much more enjoyable one. This is a great Web 2 tool for everyone!
To use Surfboard all you have to do is enter the url of your favorite website and click "get surfing." That site will then be displayed in a manner that allows you to flip through the site's content without seeing the sidebar widgets and or advertisements.
For proper flippable display Surfboard requires the use of the latest versions of Chrome or Safari.
OnSwipe:
And if you have access to an iPad you could even try OnSwipe. Onswipe lets you provide a beautiful app like experience for your website on tablet and phone browsers. Onswipe is not an app and works in the browser with your existing content. You simply link the site and away you go. This is a quick and easy way to get your blog or website accessible by a iPad.
Issuu is a Web 2 tools that allows you to publish PDFs. You can produce the documents in any program that you like - I prefer PAGES on the Mac. Once you have created a stunning document to impress the world, simply log on to Issuu and upload your PDF. The whole process takes about 2 minutes and you now have a digital magazine style document. This can be embedded into a blog or onto your website.
FlipSnack:
FlipSnack is an online flipping book software that allows you to convert PDF documents into Flash page flip digital publications. It's the ideal solution for those who wish to embed a book, magazine, catalog, newspaper, portfolio or any other kind of document into a website or blog.
Once created, you can embed your flipping book collection, download them or share them on social networking websites such as Facebook.
P.S. With FlipSnack you can upload several documents at once, allowing you to embed not only one, but multiple page flip publications in the same Flash widget.
Wobook:
Wobook is an online solution for people who want to publish on the web through an interactive, 3D book. Any document can be turned into a wobook and made available to read online instantly. Wobooks can also be formatted and printed on-the-fly in a PDF format. A digital magazine powered by wobook is attractive, interactive and all sorts of rich media can be embedded in it! There, they can create or effortlessly turn their publications into a web oriented ebook or wobook. Develop your web communication! Create and publish all types of syndication: newspapers, digital magazines, brochures, e-catalogs, or e-books.
Surfboard: Websites turned into E-zine
Surfboard is a very cool service (similar to Flipboard on the iPad) that displays any website in a flippable newspaper-like display. All your different blog entries or pages are displayed and all the links stay alive. This makes the web reading experience a much more enjoyable one. This is a great Web 2 tool for everyone!
To use Surfboard all you have to do is enter the url of your favorite website and click "get surfing." That site will then be displayed in a manner that allows you to flip through the site's content without seeing the sidebar widgets and or advertisements.
For proper flippable display Surfboard requires the use of the latest versions of Chrome or Safari.
OnSwipe:
And if you have access to an iPad you could even try OnSwipe. Onswipe lets you provide a beautiful app like experience for your website on tablet and phone browsers. Onswipe is not an app and works in the browser with your existing content. You simply link the site and away you go. This is a quick and easy way to get your blog or website accessible by a iPad.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Prezi Update - Add Diagrams
I have been a fan of Prezi for some time now. I like the way that it enables the author to pull out to look at the big picture and then to zoom in to investigate detail. We do need to be careful not to abuse it like we did with powerpoint. I have a discussion with my students that it should only be used when looking at both the big picture and detail is necessary for the presentation, otherwise just use a linear presentation tool.
Anyway Prezi recently released an upgrade that allows users up to insert up to 12 different diagrams.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
50 Ways to Integrate Technology in your Classroom Tomorrow
This site is via Jeff Thomas over at Tech the Plunge.
Using Free Websites as Learning & Teaching Tools
1. Have students use Spelling City to learn their spelling words, vocabulary words, or site words through games, practice, and quizzes. Spelling City is a free resource for teachers.
2. Use Brain POP to show short, animated videos as a lesson opener. Brain POP is available in its original version (appropriatefor grades 3-8), Brain POP Jr. (appropriate for grades K-3), Brain POP Español, and Brain POP ESL. There is a 30-day free trialavailable.
3. Use Dove Whisper as a computer center in your classroom. This site contains Internet games for all subjects.
4. Create flashcards for math facts, science vocabulary words, and more. Plus, you are able to find flashcards created by others.
5. Create a game show for your students to participate in as a review for an upcoming assessment. This site offers free templates.
6. Students can track visitors to their blog, wiki, or website through Clustrmap. This tool can be used for an ongoing geography lesson.
7. Have students create a daily or weekly live broadcast on Ustream about school news, new concepts or original ideas.
8. Enhance your predictions and inferencing lessons by having students create sequels/prequels to movies and books on Fanfiction. This may be more appropriate for secondary students.
9. Let students add free, copyright-free music to their presentations and movies through ccMixter.
10. Create custom game boards, customized dice, and many other printables to use in a variety of lessons.
11. Create videos that bring your lessons to life! Share your ideas for integration on Animoto.
12. Have students create a comic strip using Make Beliefs Comix. Students can use this tool to show main idea, sequencing, predictions, and more!
13. Introduce a new unit in reading with a vocabulary word cloud. Have the students guess what the unit/story will be about. Set a purpose for learning.
14. Find out what your students know before a unit or how much they've learned after a unit through an online survey. Surveys give students a way to give feedback quickly.
15. Have students create a time line to have a visual representation.
16. User KerPoof to allow your students to illustrate their writing, create a movie, and more!
17. Use Class Tools to randomly generate names, to show a countdown timer, to find graphic organizers, to create timelines, play puzzles and access other neat tools.
18. Have students create their "Wild Self". Use their creations for an intro into animal adaptations and habitats in science, or use them as a creative writing prompt.
19. Have an advanced student who is always done early? Let him or her get on Free Rice and practice challenging vocabulary!
20. Students can create animated videos at Flux Time Studio. They are able to save their videos and share them with others!
Read the full article:
http://sites.google.com/site/anchortechnologytomorrow/home/50-ways-to-anchor-technology
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