The Flat Classroom 15 Challenges

Recently, I purchased Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds - Move to Global Collaboration One Step at a Time figuring that it might make it easier for me to help teachers ease into global projects if we had a process. I have been a huge fan of Vicki Davis and Julie Lindsay and the Flat Classroom Project ever since I was introduced to it in Atomic Learning back in 2008. Being a Google Apps district as well as an Edmodo one, we have lots of tools that we can employ in our classrooms to be successful with global projects. We also have a diverse population that should be able to help us make the connections. Everything seems to be in place!

So, in an effort to share my interest in making global connections (and in conjunction with our Google + Networks = Collaboration Network this summer), I thought I would publicly share my experience with the Flat Classroom 15 Challenges! I'm curious to see how much "overlap" their is with the way we are planning our summer networks!

Challenge 1: Set Up Your RSS Reader
To be honest, Google Reader was not my thing. Something about the visual layout never worked for me. I did have an iGoogle start page until our district went Google Apps and we removed that feature due to security concerns with students.
I am a Diigo user and belong to the Diigo in Education group which is a group that I learn from constantly. Love it! (Shameless plug!) I have a Diigo SBISD group that I then share my finds with. I am a bit disorganized and probably not very efficient when it comes to my PLN. Somedays I use my bookmarks bar, some my TweetDeck account, etc. However, it seems to have worked for me.

From the comments I read on the FlatClassroomBook site, I decided that I would try Flipboard. I had heard about it and read some rave reviews, but I had never taken the time to set up. So last night, I set up Flipboard and brought in some of my favorites: Miguel Guhlin, Karl Fisch, Kim Cofino and George Couros (a new find from #ETMOOC). Additionally, I brought in my Twitter feed. I don't like Facebook and only use it from time to time personally (guess I'll get on board once I have grandkids), so I didn't include that. I'll see how I do with that. I think Google+ wouldn't connect because of the way we do LDAP authentication. I hope we reconfigure that this summer. I really like Google+ and Hangouts!

So, we'll see how that goes!

Challenge 2: Set Up Your Blog
Luckily, I already had this blog! While WordPress has more beautiful themes, I like the ease with which we can create Blogger blogs since we are a Google Apps district.

Challenge 3: Connect and Reflect
I had never really paid attention to the term Connectivism before this book. I like it. We are working to help teachers take the time and find the value of a PLN. I started my PLN back in 2008 (at least that is what I remember) when I first learned about the Flat Classroom Project and Diigo. And, as they say at the Oscars, "I wouldn't be where I am today" with my PLN.
In response to this challenge, I have accomplished the following:

• added the Twitter hashtag #flatclass to my TweetDeck feed
• visited the Global Learning project - they have some Voicethread book reviews in different genres, a heroes voicethread and more
• visited Mrs. D's Flight Plan blog where she reflected on a collaborative project with another classroom on social justice

At SXSWedu this year, I attended a session by Lindsey Own around place-based education. We tossed around lots of projects that classrooms could collaborate on! There are just so many opportunities! Interested? Let's get together and move forward!

Google Takeout! Where have I been?

I just found out about Google Takeout today from Brian Gray of St. Stephen's Episcopal School! Google Takeout lets you take your data our of your Google products in one fell swoop or bit by bit! What does this mean for SBISD? This service will provide a viable way for our graduating (and exiting) students and/or staff to take their Google portfolio of work with them! And, it is EASY!

Go to http://google.com/takeout. You'll be prompted to login to your account. Then, you'll be in Takeout! Determine if you want all of your data from all of the listed services, or select Choose services from the menu and select your desired data. You can even select just a folder or two!










Click the download button. You can also request to receive an email once the download file is ready for download to your computer.

From here download the zip file. Your data is in portable and open formats. It should be easy to import to other services or into your personal Google accounts.






This seems to be just what our exiting students need to retain their work! We should also use this at the end of 5th grade for our students when they migrate to the mysbisd.com domain from the e.mysbisd.com domain.

Reflections: Connected Learning from an "#etmoocer"

Digesting after attending the archived webinar from Alec Couros's Introduction to Connected Learning and Dean Shareski's session Sharing = Accountability. (Both terrific sessions)

And... after pondering on the blog "starters" - the questions posted by Alec:

• What does my PLE/PLN look like? How can I share it?
• How important is connected learning? Why?
• Is it possible for our classrooms and institutions to support this kind of learning? If so, how?
• What skills and literacies are necessary for connected learning? How do we develop these?
• What are limits of openness in regards to privacy & vulnerability? Are we creating or worsening a digital divide?
• How do we expand this conversation?

for two days now, I can ponder no longer. So here goes.

My PLE/PLN is probably looks like the most disorganized environment ever (even though I am a fairly organized sort of individual)! It is very organic and fluid, depending upon the day. It probably resembles the diagram of participants in an open online course by Alec Couros as shared on Debbie Morrison's blog post How to Create a Robust and Meaningful Personal Learning Network (PLN), as there are now hundreds of people who are helping to shape my understanding and drive my commitment to continue on this path! Some I seek for curated lists, others for their open classrooms, some for their reflective thinking, so they are somewhat loosely grouped. They have become my teachers and my inspiration, along with many classroom teachers I engage with in SBISD!

I began on this journey more than a handful of years ago when as an assistant principal I was scouring the web for ideas on technology integration in the classroom. I believe one of my earliest major influencers was Kim Cofino who opened my mind and thinking about coaching teachers. From there I found Vicki Davis, Julie Lindsay, Karl Fisch and Anne Smith, Miguel Guhlin, etc., etc., etc. Needless to say, this #etmooc experience has been another influx of influencers! I can hardly comprehend the shear numbers of talented and creative educators out there - Will add links shortly.

I share my learning (some of it) through this blog, through our SBISD Ed Tech Google+ community, my Edmodo group (code: nknmvo), my twitter @justlk, and through conversations with teachers and administrators. However, I will admit, for the most part in the online world, I have been more of a lurker (as my kids would describe it) over the years than a contributor. I thought Dean Shareski's two tenants for professional learning as shared in his #etmooc session Sharing = Accountability (definitely worth the time - see archives),  LEARN, then SHARE.  I am where I am today thanks to those hundreds who have lived by those tenants!

I started reading Prensky's book Brain Gain last night. He believes that we are all becoming better thinkers as a result of technology and I have to agree. Technology has afforded me the opportunity to ideas and thoughts that I would have never found. Without technology, Karl Fisch and Anne Smith would have never come to our district to help shift our thinking.

To me two of the biggest skills necessary for connected learning are curiosity and curation.

PS. I feel like I am always a day late and a dollar short! I just went to pick my part of the song, and I've missed the deadline! Maybe next year... :-(

Recent "finds" for the iPad

Having a hard time keeping up with new apps for mobile devices? (Not to mention trying to keep sharing what you come across on all of your media platforms, this is a topic for another post.) Anyway, here are a few that I just have to mention:

Knowmia

Knowmia - This free app is great for creating video lessons. Use photos, drawings, text and animation to create slide decks. Record your lesson. Use a pointer. Add picture of picture of your face while teaching. You can also add videos to your lessons. There are more options than in Show Me and Screenchomp. Import and export between Dropbox, Box, Google Drive, pdfs. Complete the Lesson info, provide tags and publish to Knowmia.com.  Here's a link to the iTunes Preview page.
If you are looking for app that will record and allow you to save to your camera roll (export mp4s), then Explain Everything ($2.99) is still your best solution.

Haiku Deck

Haiku Deck - Create beautiful presentations on your iPad. Select images either by searching (Creative Commons licensed images), using the camera, or upload from Facebook. Share you decks via email, Facebook, Twitter or export and send via email. You can also grab the embed code from the website once uploaded (see below). It is viewable on any web-friendly computer, tablet or phone. Here's a link to the iTunes Preview page. As always, you would want/need to limit student information that is shared for the under 13 crowd. I chose to just share by first name and last initial and my twitter name.

Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app for iPad


For more apps to share content/understanding you may want to take a look at my training for Top 10+ Creation Apps. And, as always, feel free to comment on your experience!

And, if you're an Edmodo user, feel free to join my group of curated resources for the classroom - complete with folders! Group code: nknmvo

Mobile Video - How to move between devices - All ideas welcome!

Recently I visited with a campus librarian who was struggling to move video between iOS devices, and she reached out for help. Of course, I was of little help, but I suggested that we put our heads together and come up with a blog post that could hopefully help others, and us, at the same time. (We know we don't have all the answers!)

Here was the challenge:
Students wanted to create videos using iMovie. The only devices available were iPads. These students had recorded several small videos on their iPhones. They needed to move these videos to one of the library iPads and add them to the iMovie app. Not an easy task, at least for us. We have all been using Dropbox as a way to move content on and off the device. The challenge was how to get the video into the camera roll so that they could be added to the movie in the iMovie app.

I didn't know how to accomplish that either. Then, she came across the iPad Camera Connection Kit. It appears that this little $29 device will do exactly what we needed. After she found this device, we marveled about how easy this solution is! Can't wait to try it! Any other suggestions or ideas will be appreciated as not all of our users will know or be able to purchase the kit!

Managing your Classroom with Google Apps

When SBISD became a Google Apps district, we were so excited because it is a great tool for collaboration (and more). It moved a suite of tools to the clouds for easy access from most devices. Teachers and students could share documents, presentations and more without needing to send through email. But, I never really thought about how challenging it might be for a teacher - particularly a secondary teacher with 5-7 classes - to manage classes and student submissions until a physics teacher at Memorial High School mentioned it early last fall.


Managing Workflow
After our discussion, it was clear to see that teachers might want need a way to manage the influx of products created and shared by students. Looking for solutions, I came across Hapara in the Google Apps Marketplace. Hapara has a wonderful interface for teachers and can help manage not only submissions, but offers additional features for managing email, Internet browsing and more! We are currently piloting it with a small group of teachers, but I'm not certain that it will be something we can afford district-wide.

What else is there? Recently, Carrie shared this Free Technology for Teachers written by Richard Byrne post on gClassFolders with me which, while not Hapara, would certainly be a better solution than nothing at all! gClassFolders is a Google Spreadsheet script that creates folders for you for any number of course sections. It creates a series of folders that will assist you with the management of the Google Apps classroom.

The video and this detailed printable sheet do a great job of walking you through the process of setting up your spreadsheets and running the script. I encourage you to spend a few minutes of your time on this post.

If the idea of running and managing scripts is overwhelming for you at this point, then here's another way to manage the workflow. Create and share (view only) a PickUp folder for each section. (If you haven't already added your classes to your Google Contacts, then follow this process. Then, sharing with each class is a breeze.) Then, create another folder for StudentWork for each section. Have each student create a folder with the section/period number and their name (ex: per2-KJustl) and share it with you. Once you have the folders in your Shared with Me list, drag them into the matching StudentWork folder. Then, when students add their work to the folder, you will be able to access it easily.

Here's another option. Holly Davis, one of our elementary teacher also shared that she creates a shared "drop"folder each week and color codes them for her reference. Here's her process:  "I create a weekly folder for each class with the date as the title then homeroom.  Having the date first keeps me organized.  I then color code the folders for each week.  As students share work with me, I drag it into the folder.  When I read, I mark the yellow star and comment.  The yellow star tells me at a quick glance that I've responded to their work."

Project/Product Workflow
It could be that you are just looking for a way to deal with project submissions when offering students choice. You might like a way to collect all of the links in one place rather than receiving a hundred emails from students with their links. Or, maybe you are trying to collect project embed codes so you can embed student work on a blog or website. Think about creating a Google Form! Create fields for student(s) name(s), period/class, project title, and embed code and any other desired information. Then, save as a template so that you can  create a copy for each project and post the link on a class blog or webpage.

Got some ideas/processes for handling workflow of your own? Looking forward to hearing from you!

Thinglink

Sometimes, I feel so slow on the go! Today, I ran across Richard Byrne's post from March about this really cool tool - ThingLink! It looked fairly simple, so I gave it a whirl. Here is what I created using a picture I took a few years ago. I really like the way I'm able to share my personal connection to the photo!


Then, I noticed that I also had come across this Google Presentation on ways to use ThingLink in the Classroom.  I think teachers and students can find lots of ways to use ThingLink for teaching and learning! Read about the limits on Richard's post, but I still think it is worth a look! Let me know if you try it!

Stupeflix Studio Update

Just noticed that one my first blog post on this blog was about Stupeflix Studio. Well, it is time for an update!  Stupeflix makes it really easy to mix photos, videos, music or voice to create stunning videos in seconds!We are no longer limited to the 1 minute limit for a free video! Spring Branch has purchased 15,000 accounts for teaching and learning! Teachers join the domain and are granted teacher privileges. Students join the domain and then teachers select their students to bring into their classroom! Teachers can then see student videos and projects without going elsewhere! Here's a brief video to explain the process!