FTT - Clickable Announcement Banners In Schoology

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Up Your Schoology Game With Clickable Announcement Banners

@LisaBerghoff/@MrKimDHS

     If you have been on the internet looking at anything classroom related, you can't really ignore all of the "virtual classrooms" that teachers have created and posted on their learning management systems. I have looked at these and thought they were cute for elementary teachers but did not really see the relevance for high school students. We're serious, right? Anything cute, eye-catching, or flashy would be beneath us. Well, I am happy to say that I have come around and here's three reasons why.

1. Nothing is more important than communication.

    If you can't get your instructions, resources, schedules, information, and assignments to your students in a way that is organized and easy, you have lost them. These clickable banners are a great way to give clear guidance to your students. It's like hanging a huge neon sign that says CLICK HERE so they can't miss it.

2. We want our classrooms to look and feel different in person, the same goes in a remote setting.

    You would dress up your classroom, wouldn't you? You probably would not do a full on pinterest-worthy 2nd grade style situation but you would put thought provoking posters on the wall, or something so it doesn't look like 4 blank walls. It's ok to put your personality into your remote learning classroom page.

3. It's ok to model creativity. Actually, some would argue it is critical.

    Since Sir Ken Robinson's passing, I have watched his Ted Talk multiple times. I have seen it many times before but I am finding his message particularly poignant these days. And while a cute virtual classroom is far from what he is talking about when he discusses creativity in education, I do think we as adults could do a better job of modeling what it's like to think outside the box, dream a little, and make something fun. Have a student who is interested in art? Ask them to create a banner for you!

HOW DO I DO IT?

I definitely went down a YouTube rabbit hole watching videos on how to make these. There are several different methods. Here's what I found to be easiest.

Step 1: Create in Google Drawings

Go to your Google drive and click New, then More, then choose Google Drawings.

Step 2: Create Your Banner

Before you do anything, click the blue share button and make sure to set your drawing so that anyone on the internet can view. Also, it helps if you give your drawing a title. 

This is where the fun comes in! There are lots of examples you can look at. Use the Insert Image tool to search the web for copyright-friendly images you can use to create your room. Bitmoji is a favorite here but you can add anything you want.  This is where you will also add any links to your images if you want students to be able to click on them. You can even have it take students to another section of your Schoology course. 

Step 3: Go To Schoology Updates

You can do this in updates and click on the bell to make it an announcement that shows up at the top of your course OR you can create a page on your materials page and have it show up inline. It all depends on how you want to use it. I did mine as an announcement so it lives at the top of my course whenever anyone goes there. That is the way I am going to instruct you now. If you want to see more or have any questions, please feel free to reach out and ask!

Step 4: Click The Resources Icon and Choose Google Drive Resource App

When you click the Google Drive Resource App you will see your drawing. Click the box and then click import embed.

Step 5: Post

You can click the bell to post it as an announcement. That means that it will stay at the top of your Schoology course even if your students are no longer on the updates page. If they navigate to the materials page, the clickable banner will still be there! 

Also important to note, anything that you change on your Google drawing will sync and update on your Schoology course.

This is a great "hack" for getting around just posting text in updates.

Want to learn more? Reach out and set up a time to meet.

FTT - Zoom Zoom

 

Zoom Zoom

@LisaBerghoff/@MrKimDHS

Great, we missed the boat again. Just like Apple stock in the 80s and Bitcoin in 2018, hindsight is expensive. Who would've thought pre-Covid that Zoom stock was about to make an 800% jump in valuation in the next 6 months? If only we could go back and whisper to our past selves to stock up on toilet paper and to invest in Zoom...

Anyway - Zoom is here to stay so let's take a look at a few ways we can maximize our educational utility.

ScreenCasting

While Screencastify is still our go-to tech tool for screencasting, you can easily cast through Zoom by sharing your screen to an empty room while recording. Merely share your screen and have your browser ready, hit "record" on Zoom and viola. Note though that you wouldn't have access to ScreenCastify's editing software. I would suggest cloud recording on Zoom. It's simple and your videos will automatically be converted to MP4 for viewing. You can download it from the website if you need to edit it, or push it to Youtube. So what does the recording process look like?

Recording - Pretty simple through the Cloud

Through our district license, we have the option to record our Zoom sessions via the cloud. This way, your video is converted and prepared for viewing automatically through Zoom, and you will receive an email once it's ready to be viewed. The email will typically have two links, one for you the host and one for your viewers. 

Host Link

The first link will bring you to the Recording page where you can change some preferences before you disseminate your video. You're definitely going to want to click the "Copy Shareable Link" button to send the video to your students.

Click on "Share" on the top right corner and you'll see some very important preferences like having a passcode or adding expiration dates. It's probably best practice to limit viewing privileges to "Authenticated Users" only (District users) and to set up a passcode. Once you're ready, you can either send the link to your students via Gmail, or merely post it to your Schoology Page. 

DIY Document Camera and ScreenMirroring

Smarter people than I have come up with a pretty simple hack to present hand-written work through Zoom in the form of a Pocket Doc Cam. It just uses any ol' mirror to reflect the area over your keyboard for a makeshift document camera. If you have access to a 3D printer, I'd suggest using these STL files to start (MB for MacBook, CTL for Chromebooks, and Dell). You can get really cheap 2-inch mirror tiles at Amazon to fit these files.

Or if you have an old makeup mirror, you can get creative with some duct tape or string to rig it over your laptop camera. But if you're looking for more of a professional option, click here for IPEVO's Mirror Cam (Although as of 9/14 it's on backorder). 

iPhone/iPad and Doc Cameras

While not technically a "free" tech option, if you have access to an iPad, you can probably find solid utility using an iPad for screen sharing your written annotations, formulas, graphs, etc. With the combination of any stylus and a drawing app, you can easily share your iPad for your students' viewing pleasures. 

First I would suggest using the ShowMe interactive whiteboard app. It's simple, easy to use, and free. Then you can follow these instructions to screen mirror your iPad.

Lot's of creative ways to utilize Zoom. While I never got rich off of Zoom stock, I'll take being able to see and interact with my students and colleagues. Got more Zoom tips? Let us know below!

 

FTT - EdTech AppSmashing!

#BetterTogether- 3 Great EdTech Tool Mash-Ups For Learning (remote or otherwise)

@LisaBerghoff/@MrKimDHS

Peanut butter and jelly, coffee and donuts, popcorn and movies, biscuits and gravy, you get the idea. These are all things that on their own are fantastic but together, they are amazing. The same is true for many of our tech tools. On their own they are useful and effective but put some of the together and they can be transformative. Affectionately known in the edtech world as "app smashing", the idea of using multiple digital tools together in order to create a completely reimagined learning experience for students. Here are some ideas. I hope they inspire you to think differently about how these tools can be used. 

1. Peardeck and Tour Creator

So, you probably already know that Peardeck is an add-on for Google slides that embeds interactive elements and encourages student participation. Did you know that one of the element options in Peardeck is to add a website as an interactive slide?  Google has a tool called Tour Creator that lets you and your students create 360 degree tours either by using a 360 degree camera OR Google Streetview. There are also many fantastic images on the internet that are available for your use. You can add tour creator as a website in Peardeck. That way, when students open your slides presentation in Peardeck, they can view 360 degree images within the peardeck environment. 

There is a great Pear Share session by Stacy Young who explains how she uses these two tools to create virtual field trips. Check it out here.

2. Screencastify and Jamboard

Many teachers have been looking for a way to record lessons and show their screens. However, they do not just want to record their static screens. They want to show some activity in order to engage their students. That's where Jamboard comes in. It is a free app that acts like an interactive whiteboard. 

So, you can use Screencastify to record while using Jamboard to help make meaning for your students.

Want to learn more about using Jamboard? Watch the video below. Once you have your Jamboard game solid, you can click the Screencastify extension and start recording AMAZING videos for your students.

3. Flipgrid and Canva For Podcasting

So many teachers have discovered Flipgrid as an incredible tool for short videos posted by students. Another way Flipgrid can be used is for podcasting. Instead of showing students on video, they can create a graphic and save it as a sticker in Flipgrid. They would show their "sticker" on their screens while they are recording their podcast. That way, listeners are looking at the logo the students created in Canva while listening to the podcast they created in Flipgrid.

Here is more information about podcasting in Flipgrid.

What are some other edtech mash-ups that you are using in your classes? Are you looking for new capabilities to keep learning fresh? Go ahead and share in the comments below and let's get the ideas flowing!