This is an example of a podcast created using Audacity and Lame. This free technology can easily be used to extend the instructional day or flip your classroom. Happy podcasting!
August 8, 2013
March 22, 2011
The 2010 State of the Blogosphere
Technorati's annual "State of the Blogosphere" for 2010 is out and I found that it had some very interesting facts. Mobile blogging has impacted 39% of the bloggers polled, and Facebook and Twitter are the biggest drivers of traffic to blogs. Interesting stuff! To see the complete presentation by Technorati, click the buttons below to move through the presentation slides.
State Of The Blogosphere Presentation 2010
State Of The Blogosphere Presentation 2010
April 29, 2010
Response to Intervention
Watch this comprehensive overview of Response to Intervention. Click the arrow buttons to move from slide to slide.
April 15, 2010
Here is some information that we didn't get to (due to running out of time) during the Twitter workshop on Tuesday. Happy Twittering!
Hashtags:
Twitter users use the “hashtag” to categorize tweets. It’s like using “tags” to categorize online photos and blog entries. For example, if you tweet information about technology, you would include “#technology” somewhere in your tweet. Twitter identifies topics that are “trending” by looking at the hashtags. On your “Home” page in Twitter, look to the right side and you’ll see a listing of the topics that are currently trending. A couple of tips: don’t overuse hashtags. If each of your tweets is a hashtag, you’ll dilute the usefulnees of them, and many people will shy away from you because it seems spammy. Another tip ~ give your hashtag some context. Post a tweet that explains what it is so that your followers will know exactly what it’s talking about. Just remember that hashtags are there to help organize specific tweets for you and your followers. You can also search for tweets that are about a specific topic by searching for hashtags. In the search field on the right side of the screen, type in a hashtag to search for, for example #education. That will bring up all tweets containing that hashtag. This is a good way to discover people that you might want to follow.
Mr. Tweet:
Mr. Tweet is a great way to discover Twitters to follow, and also to get recommendations from your followers. Just go to http://mrtweet.com and allow the application to log in to your Twitter account. You should go ahead and join the Education community. There are many communities to choose from. It’s nice to recommend people after you’ve been following them for awhile. You can do that through Mr. Tweet. Explore the communities by clicking “Communities” at the top of the screen. Then click on the different names of the communities. When you find one to join, click the big button “Join Community”. Follow the people who appeal to you. This is another way to build your PLN.
URL Shorteners:
When you find an interesting article online or you want to share something that you uploaded to Google docs, the URL will usually be very, very long. That’s not a good thing when you’re sharing the URL in a Tweet that can only be 140 characters or less. Luckily there are free web-based “URL shorteners”. I use http://bit.ly to shorten mine. Just go to http://bit.ly and then copy and paste the long URL and click “Shorten”. One of the nice features of this website is that bit.ly will actually keep some data on the sites you are sharing and you can see how many hits were a result of people shortening the URL and sharing it. It’s pretty neat.
Twitpic:
Since Twitter is a microblogging site with no way to share pictures, you’ll have to use another web-based service for sharing your digital pics. I like Twitpic. Just go to http://www.twitpic.com and log in using your Twitter account login and click “Allow” to allow Twitpic to access your Twitter account. Once logged in, click “Upload photo” in the upper right of the screen. Browse to the photo on your computer, add a message, make sure that “Post to Twitter account” is checked, and then click “upload”. Twitpic will post your tweet which will include a link to your photo.
Hashtags:
Twitter users use the “hashtag” to categorize tweets. It’s like using “tags” to categorize online photos and blog entries. For example, if you tweet information about technology, you would include “#technology” somewhere in your tweet. Twitter identifies topics that are “trending” by looking at the hashtags. On your “Home” page in Twitter, look to the right side and you’ll see a listing of the topics that are currently trending. A couple of tips: don’t overuse hashtags. If each of your tweets is a hashtag, you’ll dilute the usefulnees of them, and many people will shy away from you because it seems spammy. Another tip ~ give your hashtag some context. Post a tweet that explains what it is so that your followers will know exactly what it’s talking about. Just remember that hashtags are there to help organize specific tweets for you and your followers. You can also search for tweets that are about a specific topic by searching for hashtags. In the search field on the right side of the screen, type in a hashtag to search for, for example #education. That will bring up all tweets containing that hashtag. This is a good way to discover people that you might want to follow.
Mr. Tweet:
Mr. Tweet is a great way to discover Twitters to follow, and also to get recommendations from your followers. Just go to http://mrtweet.com and allow the application to log in to your Twitter account. You should go ahead and join the Education community. There are many communities to choose from. It’s nice to recommend people after you’ve been following them for awhile. You can do that through Mr. Tweet. Explore the communities by clicking “Communities” at the top of the screen. Then click on the different names of the communities. When you find one to join, click the big button “Join Community”. Follow the people who appeal to you. This is another way to build your PLN.
URL Shorteners:
When you find an interesting article online or you want to share something that you uploaded to Google docs, the URL will usually be very, very long. That’s not a good thing when you’re sharing the URL in a Tweet that can only be 140 characters or less. Luckily there are free web-based “URL shorteners”. I use http://bit.ly to shorten mine. Just go to http://bit.ly and then copy and paste the long URL and click “Shorten”. One of the nice features of this website is that bit.ly will actually keep some data on the sites you are sharing and you can see how many hits were a result of people shortening the URL and sharing it. It’s pretty neat.
Twitpic:
Since Twitter is a microblogging site with no way to share pictures, you’ll have to use another web-based service for sharing your digital pics. I like Twitpic. Just go to http://www.twitpic.com and log in using your Twitter account login and click “Allow” to allow Twitpic to access your Twitter account. Once logged in, click “Upload photo” in the upper right of the screen. Browse to the photo on your computer, add a message, make sure that “Post to Twitter account” is checked, and then click “upload”. Twitpic will post your tweet which will include a link to your photo.
November 10, 2009
Technology: Leveling the Playing Field
I attended a workshop yesterday that was held at the Schultz Center, facilitated by renowned Apple Curriculum "Evangelist" Dr. Mark Benno, titled, "Remaking Student Projects That Are Out Of This World". It was great to see all of the wonderful activities and ideas that Mark pulled together to share with us. We learned about some free Internet resources, and got an overview of the new iLife and iWorks suites, and the ease with which students can create amazing products. We learned about document sharing online using the new iWorks.com website, and even joined a wiki where we all shared ideas for integrating technology into curriculum. The hands-on portion of the workshop had us working collaboratively on an enhanced podcast, using iWorks, iPhoto and GarageBand. We had a blast and you could see the wheels turning in everyones' heads and the "light bulbs" burning brightly.
Probably the best part of the day was when a teacher, who just happens to be a media specialist and the district's Teacher of Year, shared some student work with us. She and her classroom teachers planned an activity that addressed "author's purpose", that integrated technology, the study of fables, creative writing, and visual art. It was great! The students learned about and read fables in the media center, as they worked on author's purpose and genre studies in their classroom. They began writing original fables, which they illustrated in their Art class. The media specialist facilitated their reading their original fables, recording and editing them in GarageBand. She scanned their original artwork and brought those into iPhoto. She also provided them with transitions ("and then they", "because of", etc.) for their podcasts. The finished products were wonderful! The best part about it was that these 2nd grade students completely understood the concept of a fable and the author's purpose because they were engaged in their learning and motivated by the use of technology. They had complete ownership of their learning! Isn't this better than giving quizzes and tests?
Another teacher from Chets Creek Elementary shared that their teachers had all been working collaboratively using Ning and also had wiki's and blogs. Most of the teachers post homework assignments and use their blogs to keep the parents and community informed. No longer can a student say that they didn't do their homework because they misplaced the sheet, when it's available online. The faculty and staff of this school were early adopters of technology and have been doing amazing things! Visit their site, then click "Resources" and then "Blogs, Wikis and Websites".
At the end of our afternoon, participants shared their thoughts and feelings about integrating technology. A principal of an elementary school made some remarks that really resonated with me. She said that using technology with her school's ESE students allows them to "wind up where they've never been before". She said that the ease of use of these wonderful technology tools allows her exceptional needs students to create products that look sharp and professional, and as "good as work done by other students". Her ESE students never have to feel like their work is not good enough when they are using technology tools to create their original products. How awesome is that?
To follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/patysavage
To follow Mark Benno on Twitter: http://twitter.com/markbenno
Probably the best part of the day was when a teacher, who just happens to be a media specialist and the district's Teacher of Year, shared some student work with us. She and her classroom teachers planned an activity that addressed "author's purpose", that integrated technology, the study of fables, creative writing, and visual art. It was great! The students learned about and read fables in the media center, as they worked on author's purpose and genre studies in their classroom. They began writing original fables, which they illustrated in their Art class. The media specialist facilitated their reading their original fables, recording and editing them in GarageBand. She scanned their original artwork and brought those into iPhoto. She also provided them with transitions ("and then they", "because of", etc.) for their podcasts. The finished products were wonderful! The best part about it was that these 2nd grade students completely understood the concept of a fable and the author's purpose because they were engaged in their learning and motivated by the use of technology. They had complete ownership of their learning! Isn't this better than giving quizzes and tests?
Another teacher from Chets Creek Elementary shared that their teachers had all been working collaboratively using Ning and also had wiki's and blogs. Most of the teachers post homework assignments and use their blogs to keep the parents and community informed. No longer can a student say that they didn't do their homework because they misplaced the sheet, when it's available online. The faculty and staff of this school were early adopters of technology and have been doing amazing things! Visit their site, then click "Resources" and then "Blogs, Wikis and Websites".
At the end of our afternoon, participants shared their thoughts and feelings about integrating technology. A principal of an elementary school made some remarks that really resonated with me. She said that using technology with her school's ESE students allows them to "wind up where they've never been before". She said that the ease of use of these wonderful technology tools allows her exceptional needs students to create products that look sharp and professional, and as "good as work done by other students". Her ESE students never have to feel like their work is not good enough when they are using technology tools to create their original products. How awesome is that?
To follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/patysavage
To follow Mark Benno on Twitter: http://twitter.com/markbenno
October 22, 2009
Digital Citizenship and Netiquette
A member of my personal learning network (PLN) on Twitter (@stevekatz) shared his presentation on digital citizenship and netiquette, which he presented to parents. It's a great presentation - please enjoy:
Digital Citizenship & Netiquette
View more presentations from Steve Katz.
September 18, 2009
September 17, 2009
Changes to FCAT from the Florida DOE
On September 16, the Florida Department of Education sent out two memoranda describing changes to FCAT Writes and FCAT for incoming 9th graders. To read the memo's:
September 8, 2009
Word Cloud of Obama's Back To School Speech
July 17, 2009
Great Presentation - Tech Tips for Not So Techy Teachers
This is an excellent presentation and shares many different tech tools for teachers. I would recommend presenting one of these tools per faculty meeting or early dismissal day. There are enough to last most of the year! Enjoy and share!
April 29, 2009
22 Smart, Inspirational Quotes From Bloggers In 2008
Click the play button to watch the presentation below. I found this to be very thought-provoking.
April 22, 2009
FETC 2009 Blog
FETC was 4 months ago and I haven't had a chance to share all of the wonderful tips and tricks that I learned! I finally decided that the best way to share the information was to blog about it. I'll be updating the blog over the next few days until everything that I learned is posted. There are a few posts there now. If you become a follower, you'll receive an email each time I update the blog with new info. The URL is http://fetc2009blog.blogspot.com. I hope you'll find it interesting and also find something that you can use in your work!
March 21, 2009
Podcasts and Blogger
Lots of educators are using Blogger to extend the school day and communicate with parents. It's great to have a classroom blog where you can post information for your students and parents, display pictures of some of the events in your classroom that day, share study tips, homework help, and so much more. As a result of the online podcasting courses and our Tech Tuesday podcasting workshop, many more teachers are creating podcasts and want to share them on their blogs. A good way to do that is to create your podcast using Audacity or GarageBand, edit it, convert it to an mp3 file, upload it to Internet Archive, and then embed it in a post on your blog. Sounds pretty easy, right? The presentation below will take you through the steps:
How To Embed A Podcast Into A Blogger
View more presentations from Paty.Savage.
February 26, 2009
Great Video About Students and Technology
If you've attended any of the Schultz Center's technology workshops, you have probably watched the original "Did You Know" video on YouTube. Well, some middle school students have posted an updated version that shares their own views in their own words about the place that technology has in their lives. It's eye-opening and thought-provoking. The technology in the video is all about Web 2.0 tools. Click the video below and enjoy!
November 4, 2008
What is Blogging Anyway?
Have you heard of "blogs" but aren't really sure what they are? Click the button in the middle of the screen below to watch a YouTube video that explains "blogging" in "Plain English".
Podcasting in Plain English
Have you heard of Podcasting but aren't really 100% sure of exactly what it is? Here's a YouTube video that explains it in "Plain English". Click the play button in the middle once to play the video:
RSS Feed in Plain English
Have you heard of RSS but are not really sure what that means? This YouTube video explains it in "Plain English". Click the play button in the middle of the screen once to play:
October 8, 2008
SlideShare
I have new SlideShare step by step directions to help you use this wonderful and FREE online resource. I've talked about SlideShare in many of my workshops here at the Schultz Center, and everyone who has seen it now checks the site regularly for presentations that they might be able to use.
- Click here to download the step by step directions (Click "Download" to save a copy).
- Click here to go to SlideShare
If you're more of a visual learner, go to YouTube and check out the tutorial videos for SlideShare. Just type "SlideShare" in the search tool and you'll see that there are several how-to videos available there.
September 18, 2008
Embed YouTube Videos in PowerPoint Presentations!
Everyone loves YouTube - there are tons of good educational videos available there. There are also lots of inappropriate videos there, too. So, the next time you include a YouTube video as part of a presentation that you make, why not embed the actual video into your PowerPoint presentation, instead of putting in a link that takes you to the YouTube website? It's really lots easier than you think. I put together a quick video about it and uploaded to my YouTube account. Click the play button below, and then view it in full screen to see the details of some of the screen shots.
NOTE: In order for the video to play, you must be connected to the Internet.
NOTE: In order for the video to play, you must be connected to the Internet.
August 27, 2008
Landmark Middle School Presentation
This afternoon, I had the honor of working with teachers at Landmark Middle School on their early dismissal day. We learned some PowerPoint tricks, searched for copyright free music and photos online to "spice" up our PowerPoints, and I also introduced them to blogs and Google Docs.
Here are some related links:
My PowerPoint Tips document at my Google Docs
How To Create a Blog Using Blogger
Managing Your Blog (Click "Download" - this is a PDF file.)
Adding Pictures and Video to your Blog
Harnessing the Power of Web 2.0
Blogs, Podcasts and Wiki's Handout
Pics4Learning
Free Play Music
Photobucket
Here are some related links:
My PowerPoint Tips document at my Google Docs
How To Create a Blog Using Blogger
Managing Your Blog (Click "Download" - this is a PDF file.)
Adding Pictures and Video to your Blog
Harnessing the Power of Web 2.0
Blogs, Podcasts and Wiki's Handout
Pics4Learning
Free Play Music
Photobucket
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