Texting in Class

Should kids be texting in class? What if it is condoned or even encouraged? Some teachers are endorsing the use in class. This begs the question that teachers grapple with dealing with technology: access. What do with the kid who does or doesn't? What could you do with texting in class?

Favorite Things: Dropbox

How many times has this happened? You are late, running out the door. You grab all of the stuff you need that day. But in the rush, you left your flash drive behind with that really important file. With dropbox, that is not even a worry.

The free plan comes with 2 GB of storage.  After signing up, you install the program on your computer.  You place the files you want into that folder and they are automatically synced on the web.  Voila, that file you need is stored on the internet, ready to be downloaded.

You can also sync files between computers.  You will not have to worry about not having that file on your laptop.  Other features include sharing files with other users and making files public on the internet by placing them in specific "public" folders.

Once you try dropbox, you won't know what you did before you had.  Like ordering a pizza without a cellphone... but that is another blog post for another day!

When PowerPoint Attacks!

Recently in the news, there have been some discussion about the dangers of PowerPoint. Case in point is the use of PowerPoint in the military.

“When we understand that slide, we’ll have won the war,” General McChrystal dryly remarked, one of his advisers recalled, as the room erupted in laughter.

PowerPoint can be a powerful tool, but with thanks to Stan Lee "with great power, comes great responsibility". Each educator must assess if PowerPoint is meeting the goals that they setup. Is it helping tell a story or is it just a tool to deliver text? This blog post may help with its 10/20/30 rule.

With thanks to lifehacker.

Project: Self Grading Quiz Pt. 1

Project

Self Grading Quiz

Part I: Form

Objective:  Create a quiz accessible online after students complete the quiz it is easily score-able.

Process:

1. Create form.


2. Setup form.
   
   
   
   1. Name
   
   
   2. Period
   
   
   3. Questions
   
   
   4. Edit Confirmation
   
   
   5. Save form.
   
   
   6. Set Theme.
   
   
   
   


3. Get URL or embed in webpage.

Part I:  Create form.

1. Click "Create new" and "Form"

Part II:  Setup form.

Here is where the genius of forms begins.  In the old archaic days of web programming you needed to have scripts to allow users to input data.  That data would have to be put into digestable form.  With the help of Google, this is a thing of the past.  With a Google Form, users input data and it is put in to spreadsheet format, ready to be manipulated.

1. Forms start you out with two questions.  You will need to edit those.  Click the "edit button" and put "Name" in the Question Title field and the Question type to "Text".


2. Select the next question and create "Period:" by typing in the Question Title Field.  Select  "Multiple Choice" and fill in the options.


3. Add two more questions by clicking the "Add item" from the drop down box at the top.  Create two multiple choice questions.  I used a few math questions, but this is easily customizable.


4. After submitting, the user will see a screen acknowledging that they have completed the form.  This screen is customizable by going through the "More actions" --> "Edit confirmation".


5. The form automatically saves, but you can always save at anytime by clicking the Save button.


6. You can also change the Theme of the form to make it more appealing.

Part III:  Get URL or Embed.

1. You can get the URL (web address) by using the link at the bottom of the form page.


2. You can embed the form within a web page by pasting the code from the "More actions" --> "Embed" screen in your web page.  You will have to copy it directly into your HTML code.  If you don't know what that is or how to get to it, it's probably better to just use the link.

Project: Self Grading Quiz