Google Docs

As you all know, Gallaudet has moved to Google Apps for Gallaudet email. What you may not know is that Google Apps has more tools that can facilitate communication and collaboration. Google Documents, Google Talk and Google Calendar. With Google Docs you can create, share and collaborate on documents in real-time. Here is a screencast on how to use Google Docs.

MarchTechnology Projects

Mary Ellsworth used my favorite new tool VoiceThread with two of her classes. She wanted to see how much her students already knew about The Carbon Cycle. So she uploaded a picture and
asked them to make comments about where they can find carbon and how the carbon moves using a web cam or by typing. Mary said, "I found this to be a really powerful tool once we got past the 'learning how'. There was an opportunity to get each student to express the ideas themselves and record it. Then there is the sharing between students and I could see they were getting ideas about the content from each other." Check it out.... http://voicethread.com/share/76793/ and http://voicethread.com/share/77006/

We are Kendall and We Are Cool is a collaboration project between Lisa Pershan's first period English/ASL class and a group of students at Coolidge High School. The Coolidge students have begun to study ASL and would like to learn more about Deaf culture. Kendall students will be learning about story structure, short stories and poetry, a unit of study which the Coolidge students have just completed. These blogs will provide the space and opportunity to share and discuss their readings, stories and experiences.

Global Virtual Classroom (GVC) project is finishing up their web site "Holidays and Festivals Around the World" for the GVC contest. The web site is in draft form but most students have completed a web page on their favorite holiday. Go here to see their work.

Only 9 more WCN43 shows left! If you have any announcements or events you would like to see on WCN43, please see Wei Wang, Rosemary Stifter or Nancy Walla.

Social Bookmarking with del.icio.us

del.icio.us is a social bookmarking website -- the primary use of del.icio.us is to store your bookmarks online, which allows you to access the same bookmarks from any computer and add bookmarks from anywhere, too. On del.icio.us, you can use tags (similar to "labels" in gmail) to organize and remember your bookmarks, which is a much more flexible system than folders.

You can also use del.icio.us to see the interesting links that your colleagues bookmark, and share links with them in return. You can even browse and search del.icio.us to discover the cool and useful bookmarks that everyone else has saved -- which is made easy with tags.

Watch this closed caption video that describes Social Bookmarking in Plain English.
Contact Julie or Rosemary if you would like to get started with del.icio.us.

March Educational Web Resources

ToonDoo is a cool, comic-creating tool from Jambav, a fun site for kids. Jambav is devoted to creating a unique array of free and customizable online games of educational value for children of all abilities.

Digital Wish is a public charity on a mission to modernize classrooms to prepare students for tomorrow's workforce. Free tools have been developed to enable businesses to reach out to all the schools in their local regions, and donate technology without any administration cost. Both donors and teachers will find enabling tools at www.digitalwish.org. Like a wedding registry, teachers create a "wish list" of needed technology products for their classrooms. Educators describe how each resource will be utilized, write project plans, and post stories online. Using a simple Class Locator, interested donors can find their local school, purchase items directly from any teacher's wish list, or make cash donations to the schools.

Shift Happens (captioned)

Watch this to get yourself thinking about technology and education....

Did You Know? originally started out as a PowerPoint presentation for a high school faculty meeting in August 2006. The presentation "went viral" on the Web in February 2007 and, today has been seen by at least 10 million online viewers.

"Shift Happens" is a video from Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod, that includes new and updated statistics, thought-provoking questions and a fresh design.

Now closed captioned on dotsub.com http://www.dotsub.com/films/didyouknow20/index.php

January Technology Training: Gallaudet Email on Google Apps

ITS has been piloting the new e-mail system, Google Apps, since December. Google provides Gallaudet with better spam filtering capabilities and you may want to try out the new Google e-mail system today. Your e-mail address will remain the same. You can still use an e-mail client, such as Outlook, but you may not be able to fully utilize the Google Apps system. Go to the Technology Screencast web page and click on Gallaudet Email on Google Apps to watch the screencast on how to access your email with Google Apps system.

If you want to view any previous sceencasts go to http://clerccenter.gallaudet.edu/TecEds/training/screencast/index.html

Class Vlogs

Students at KDES and MSSD continue to add exciting posts to their vlogs. Take a look and leave a comment!

Vloggin Noggin http://clercblog.gallaudet.edu/skeltz/

Tom & Jerry's class http://clercblog.gallaudet.edu/jstewart/

Lisa's 3rd period http://clercblog.gallaudet.edu/lpershan/

Wildcats Class http://clercblog.gallaudet.edu/wildcatsclass/

Online Presentation Tools

Do you want to post a PowerPoint presentation on the web and invite others to view and make comments? There are a number of online tools where you can do this for free!

• slideshare is the world's largest community for sharing presentations on the web. You can share your own presentations (ppt, pps, odp, pdf formats); you can search and download presentations on many topics.
  
  
• With Thumbstacks.com, you can make presentations - like slideshows, or outlines - right in your web browser. When you're done, you can share your presentations with anyone, anywhere, just by sending them a link.
  
  
• Google Presenter http://docs.google.com Google Tool provides import of PPT files, and a clean editing interface. Presentations can be live shared with invited others or published.

January Educational Resources

• Looking for a fun way to have your students practice their spelling words? Or, do you have an interactive whiteboard and want to have some serious classroom fun? Then you must check out SpellingCity.com! http://www.spellingcity.com/
  
  
• Teaching Tolerance www.teachingtolerance.org Tools, lesson plans, articles related to bullying, cultural sensitivity and tolerance issues.
  
  
• Guide to Using Classroom Simulations www.usip.org/class/simulations/instructions.html Guidelines to using simulations, both web/computer based and classroom based.
  
  
• Using Math to Teach Social Justice www.radicalmath.org Online tool for teaching match and social justice with database of lesson plans, articles, websites, etc.
  
  
• The Algebra Project www.algebra.org Website to enhance mathematical literacy to promoted thinking and problem solving skills.

December Technology Projects

We have started a new vlogging adventure with two classes at KDES and one at MSSD. Please take a few moments to see what these students are up to and please leave a comment.

Vloggin Noggin is a collaboration project with Stella Keltz's class at KDES and Jason Stewarts's class at MSSD. Visit http://clercblog.gallaudet.edu/skeltz/ to see Stella's student videos.

Lisa's 3rd period is a vlog using a new technology tool "Voice Thread" (see below) where you can make video comments using a web cam. Exciting stuff! Check it out at http://clercblog.gallaudet.edu/lpershan/

Wildcats Class http://clercblog.gallaudet.edu/wildcatsclass/ Stella has done an excellent job of documenting the learning experiences in her class.

We hope you have seen WCN43. It broadcasts daily 8AM-3 PM on Gallaudet cable channel 43. We would love to know what you think! Go to the WCN43 blog to view past shows and leave comments.

December Technology Training: Photo Story

Looking for a neat literacy activity that uses technology and is easy to do? Have your students or create a Photo Story that includes photos and a poem. See this example. First find a poem that you want your students to read. Have a discussion about the meaning of the poem. After this discussion, ask the students to find photos that represent the meaning of each line in the poem. Flickr Creative Commons is a great resource for beautiful photos that are copyright free. This activity could be done with lines from a story, as well.

Here is a screencast movie of how to do it http://clerccenter.gallaudet.edu/TecEds/training/screencast/photostory/index.html.

Online Technology Tools

Voice Thread

Don't let the name fool you. This technology tool is awesome! A VoiceThread is an online media album that allows people to make comments, either video, audio or text, and share them with anyone they wish. A VoiceThread allows an entire group's story to be told and collected in one place. VoiceThread is offering free educator accounts for all k-12 classroom educators. If you are interested in using Voice Thread, please contact either Julie, Kathy or myself. http://voicethread.com/

dotSUB is a browser based tool enabling subtitling of videos on the web into and from any language. Here is an example of captioning of a NAD video. It has also been translated into several languages. http://dotsub.com/

December Educational Resources

Writing Fix (Where the motto is -“WritingFix: Where getting a daily “fix” of writing is more important than fixing your writing”)

This excellent resource provides daily writing prompts (including right-brained prompts), writing lessons, 6 Trait lessons, interactive plot generator and so much more! If you teach writing … you are in for a treat … and so are your students.
http://writingfix.com/index.htm

Dream in Color

Scholastic is offering free storytelling lesson plans that will help teachers celebrate diversity. These standards-based lesson plans introduce children to the tradition of storytelling. www.scholastic.com/dreamincolor

SpiRIT Writing Contest

10th and 11th grade deaf and hard of hearing students are invited to enter the third annual RIT SpiRIT Writing Contest. Winners have the choice of a $500 cash prize or a scholarship to the Explore Your Future program at RIT’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf. www.rit.edu/ntid/WritingContestNR

Online photo resources

Why spend good money on a photo editing software when you can crop, resize, and enhance your photos for free! And you can do it on any computer that has an internet connection.

picnik

You can fix your photos in just one click or use advanced controls to fine-tune your results. Crop, resize, and rotate in real-time, there is no installation. there are tons of special effects, from artsy to fun. This is a good tool for kids to use. http://www.picnik.com/

FotoFlexer

FotoFlexer features advanced retouch, coloring, distortion, resizing and morph tools. You can import and export photos with leading photo sites such as flickr, Picasa and Yahoo. There are many ways to enhance your photos with this fabulous, free tool. I recommend this tool for older students.http://fotoflexer.com/

Block Posters

Got an empty space on your classroom wall that’s just crying out for a poster? Why not capture your students’ attention with an eye-grabbing graphic that embodies your content area? Drop by http://www.blockposters.com/ , follow the simple directions, and you’ll have an amazing instructional focal point in no time.

Internet TV

FYE (For your eyes) is a bi-weekly CSD-TV magazine providing investigative reports, interviews feature segments and profiles of deaf and hard of hearing people in the news. FYE is broadcast on internet TV at http://www.csd.tv/FYE.html

Net Sign News News video in ASL http://www.netsignnews.com/

Non-educational Web sites

Elf Yourself and Scrooge Yourself are silly but fun ways to get into (or not) the holiday spirit!!

Voicethread Activity

I have mentioned Voice Thread on this blog before but now this online tool is much more exciting and powerful for the deaf and hard of hearing community. Steve Muth and the Voice Thread folks have created a new feature where you can make video comments. This tool is so visual and can be used in a variety ways from educational to just plain fun. Here are two activities I created. Please register at Voice Thread (it's free!) and leave your video comments.

kdes loves kellie

I have created a group photo pool on flickr.com where we can share photos of Kellie called "kdes loves kellie."

http://www.flickr.com/groups/kdesloveskellie/

You can go here to look at photos, download photos or order prints. You can also leave comments. If you have photos you would like to share, please send them to me or you can join the group and upload your photos to the photo pool.

October Technology Training: WebMail, File Management & H: drive

We know you are all busy and it is hard to get to a technology training so we are trying something new this year. Each month we will post a video demonstration of a technology tip or technology mini-training. A video demonstration or screencast is essentially a movie of what a user sees on their monitor, often including audio or captioned narration. For example, Gallaudet WebMail has several video demonstrations on how to use the new WebMail. We have made a video of how to access those videos at http://clerccenter.gallaudet.edu/teceds/training/screencast/email.html. If there is something you would like to see in these videos, please contact me.

Thanks to Julie Longson for these technology tips videos. Click the links to learn more about:

File Management http://clerccenter.gallaudet.edu/teceds/training/screencast/filemngt.html

The H: drive http://clerccenter.gallaudet.edu/teceds/training/screencast/hdrive.html

October Technology Projects

Wildcat News is back but on a new channel. WCN43 now broadcasts daily 8AM-3 PM on Gallaudet cable channel 43. To view past shows or to leave comments, go to the WCN43 blog.

This fall we will conduct evaluations with grade 4-8 students as part of the research project, "Life-like, Expressive Avatars for the Instruction of Young Learners who are Deaf" with Vcom3d and funding from National Science Foundation. This project inlcudes the development and testing of computer-based reading instruction for Deaf studnets.

October Educational Resources

WGBH Teachers’ Domain has launched a special collection of Open Educational Resources—downloadable, shareable, remixable video segments, interactive activities and lesson plans in Earth Science, Engineering, Life Science and Physical Science disciplines. There are videos from the award-winning PBS Kids series, "Between the Lions" that focuses on early reading. All video segments are closed captioned.

Verizon's Thinkfinity is wonderful resource for teachers. From their web site: "This free, comprehensive digital learning platform is built upon the merger of two highly-acclaimed programs well-known to educators the program formerly known as Verizon MarcoPolo and the Thinkfinity Literacy Network. Thinkfinity, which means endless possibilities for learning, is designed to improve learning in traditional settings and beyond the classroom by providing high-caliber content and professional development needed to improve student achievement anytime, anywhere, at no cost." Thinkfinitiy offers opportunities for professional development through free online courses and standards-based lesson plans, reviewed Web sites, student materials, and interactive activities, covering content areas such as arts integration, economics, geography, the humanities, mathematics, reading, language arts and science.

TeacherTube, unaffiliated with YouTube, is a online video library for teachers to browse and post professional development videos. Viewers can learn everything from physics-through-projective-motion problems at Fenway Park to the best tips for creating an in-class laser show to the mathematics of musical-instrument strings. One of the most popular videos is Mrs. Burke rapping a math lesson, as she breaks down the two most important principles of geometry in rhymes and signs.

sparktop.org "helps kids with learning difficulties, including learning disabilities and AD/HD, understand that they are smart, have unique talents, and can succeed in school and life." It has since grown into a true destination featuring interactive games, comics, videos, music, cards, content-creation tools, message boards, and even an entire section for teachers interested in using it in their classroom.

LifeLinks Tutors’ Foundation “Tutoring Solutions.” Tutoring Solutions is offered as a free, non-profit public service for the Deaf Community. It is specifically designed to assist elementary, middle school, and high school students complete school assignments in mathematics, English, science, literature and history.

Copyright free images

I have noticed that most of our students at the Clerc Center use Google images to find images for their powerpoint presentations, videos, web pages, etc without taking into consideration copyright. Do we forget to teach them the importance of copyright? Do we model correct use of images we find on the internet? If the images used in your PowerPoint is only shown in the classroom then you are covered by fair use but what does that teach our students? That they can use any image on the internet freely? That they can copy and paste text from the internet without citing it? Every teacher should be conscious of this and teach by example by citing images found on the internet.

Here are some web sites where you can find copyright free images:

Flicker Creative Commons Search

aarinfreephoto.com

imagebase

PD Photo

Wikipedia Free Image Resources

Now a few online editing tools to resize or enhance your images:

picnik

FotoFlexer

Pic resize