Online Teaching and Learning

By Michael Rio, HCHS Digital Media Teacher

There are many benefits to "blending" or "flipping" your classes by using more online communications, videos, message boards, e-mail, handouts, web links, etc. Also as students have access to a variety of web devices, an enhanced web presence can improve communication, teaching and learning in your classes. Many teachers are already using a variety of free online resources, web pages and even a full LMS (Learning Management System). What are some good options to look into?

The Harper Creek Community Schools has changed this summer from eChalk to SharpSchool for the district web site and the basic teacher class web pages. More information and school training coming soon!

SharpSchool Home Page

For those looking to incorporate other tools and features, many teachers are also using other web sites, blogs and LMS sites that they link to their class web pages. These options may offer more features that can also be used to post class handouts, take online tests, communicate using message boards, submit assignments, watch videos, access web links and much more to teach their courses, at least partially, online. Some of the popular free options include:

Schoology
Google Classroom
Weebly
Edublogs
Moodle (contact Dan Hubbell for access to the HC Moodle server)
Udemy
Versal

Welcome back and have a great school year! All staff are welcome to submit an EdTech article for this HC EdTech Blog. Contact Michael Rio or Samantha Roslund for submission information and assistance. What are you doing with technology to improve teaching and learning? Please share!

What is the Maker Movement?

By Michael Rio, HCHS Digital Media Teacher

The Maker Movement is a new concept related to learning about technology, applying skills from various disciplines, taking advantage of low cost materials and new technologies, personalized learning, design, and classroom creativity to transform education.

Programming and building robots, 3D design and printing, computer programming, engineering,  mentoring and overall "doing" to create a wide variety of projects. The focus of the "Maker Movement" is for students to use critical thinking skills, creativity and 21st century skills to actually plan, design and make things! "Maker" projects and concepts can be applied at all grade levels and across the curriculum.

Here are some great articles and videos to get started!

Scholastic: What's the Maker Movement and Why Should I care?

Newsweek: Maker Movement Reinvents Education

Making Matters: How the Maker Movement is Transforming Education

Edutopia: How the Maker Movement is moving into Classrooms

ISTE: The Maker Movement: A Learning Revolution

Videos:

How the Maker Movement Connects Students to Education and Technology

TEDx: The Maker Movement

Maker the Movement Movie Trailer

Math Tools That You Don’t Want to Miss!

by Samantha Roslund

Hey, Math Teachers!  Are you looking for a way to incorporate tech savviness and 21st Century skills into your lessons?  Check out the below tools to see if they can easily be incorporated into your lessons.  As always, all my tech recommendations are FREE!

Function Carnival- for algebra students. Students can walk through an exercise that teaches them the importance and functionality of graphs by watching a video and spending about an hour working on the activity.  Function Carnival helps students to better represent and interpret the relationships between variables. Don’t forget - there’s a "Teacher View" that allows you to keep an eye on your students’ work.

Photomath - for linear equations. Students can use either their iPhones or Androids to download an app that allows them to photograph linear equations and, some say, “change the way we think about math” by walking them through, step-by-step, the answer.  Worried about cheating? You're not alone, but check out this link to short articles, videos, and chats on the subject.  

Ted-Ed: Math - check out a bunch of amazing TED Talk videos related to math: Algebra, Data Analysis & Probability, Geometry, Measurement, and Numbers & Operations.  The videos come with embedded content that asks students to "Watch, Think, Dig Deeper, and Discuss" by walking them through a series of questions, prompts, and extra reading.  The discussion section at the end is threaded for multiple approaches to dialogue.

21st Century Resources to Improve Learning

By Michael Rio, HCHS Digital Media Teacher

The technology options for educators are changing at a rapid pace! We are moving into a new era of 21st century education in which technology tools and online resources will be even more integrated across the curriculum, grade levels and in our daily classroom lessons.

Below are a wide range of tools and resources available for teaching and learning. The good news is that many of them are free! Check out these sites below and explore the many options you can consider to engage your students better and develop their 21st century learning skills.


Edudemic: 50 Educational Technology Tools Every Teacher Should Know About

Free Tech for Teachers

Edutopia: 4 Free Web Tools to Boost Student Engagement

ISTE; Find Free and Fair Use Photos

Education World: Technology Tools/Tools You Can Use

Apps that Rise to the Top: Tested and Approved by Teachers


Also please consider joining MACUL, the main Educational Technology organization in Michigan. Joining is easy and free at: www.macul.org

Also the CISD offer professional development throughout the year: CISD PD 

English/Language Arts Digital Tools

By Samantha Roslund, HCHS Media Specialist

It’s that time again – cool free tools from the library!  This month, we’re going to be focusing on English Language Arts tools.  Remember, all my tool recommendations are F-R-E-E.

Power Poetry– this incredible site allows students to upload their own poetry and share it with each other and the Power Poetry community.  They can post micro poems, upload video poem recitations, and enter poetry contests.  It would be an amazing supplement to any poetry lesson or unit.

Quill.org– this site allows students and users to edit and correct writing passages for grammar.  Passages are samples of classical fiction, historical passages, and mythical tales.  Students can click on words and make corrections, and are then given a report of their work.  They’re shown what they caught, what they missed, and what the common errors in the piece were.  Teachers can access already-uploaded lesson plans as well. Click here for a demo video.

EasyBib for Google Docs – now that we’re pushing Google Docs more and more, EasyBib has developed a Google Doc add-on you can easily install and use in your Google doc.  Students can input an article or book title, journal title, or website directly into their Google Doc window and have their citations instantly generated, formatted, and inserted into their document.  Please come to me if you have any questions about installing it.  I’ve used it and it’s incredible.