Photo Editing for All!

Photo editing is all the rage.  Taking a good photo has become easier as we all carry devices capable of capturing an image quickly and easily.  It is rare to find a resource that allows kids to manipulate images easily, see results and does not require them to give an email or create an account.  With the use of Chromebooks in our schools, that type of resource is really valuable.
Enter iPiccy!

iPiccy,  found here, begins with the simple steps of uploading rather than logging in.  Perfect for students that need to adjust, resize, brighten, or give a simple effect to an image without creating an account or personal information.  Using iPiccy is simple:

1. From the www.ipiccy.com website, click Start Editing.
   
2. Click the Upload Photo button.
   
3. Use the tabs across the top or along the sides of the image to change the image as you need.  
   
4. Once you have altered the image you then re-save the image and have the option of changing it to a few formats and size ranges.

 

This is a simple tool with fantastic results that is one to keep on the list.  If you want help with some of the great photo effects or need a quick tutorial, let your Tech Integrators know!

Be a Connected Educator!

October is Connected Educator month!  Beginning in 2012 the U.S. Department of Education held the first ever Connected Educator Month.  Based on the success of this first event, educators requested a second event to be help this month.  The emphasis for the 2013 event will be, "helping districts promote and integrate online social learning in their formal professional development" (www.connectededucators.org). With goals and themes surrounding personalized learning, Innovating Literacy, "connecting"educators, and supporting collaboration and innovation in professional development, I immediately saw a correlation to the work being done in the Muskego-Norway Schools.
In the many resources found on the Connected Educator Month site, there are a few that are worth pointing out.  Depending on your level of interest, time, and comfort there is certainly something for everything among these resources:

• Sign up!  Fill out the form at this link and begin to get regular updates of the events including webinars, forums, collaborative projects, contests and information about what is going on.
• Download the Connected Educator Month Starter Kit - This PDF is full of a 31-day plan to becoming a more connected educator.  Filled with embedded videos, great ideas and resources to try each day, this interactive document might be something worth downloading and looking over.  Even if you just try a few of the ideas, it is very well done with the help of respected educators from all areas of the country.
• Launch the EdConnectr and create an account to find other educators across the country with similar interests with which you can build a Professional Learning Network.  This tool will ask you professional questions search the database of other educators and make suggestions for others that you might want to form connections with.  
• Calendar of events - A full calendar of events and activities are available each day.  These events are organized based on various strands, audiences and topics.  They range from personalized learning, Google Apps, Flipped Classrooms, pedagogical discussions and much more.  Check it out and dive into some great opportunities!

Finally, from the main page you will find a very diverse blog called. "Innovation Exchange" that you might find to be useful and informative.  This blog features a unique collection of authors and a very broad variety of topics that are sure to offer something for everyone in education.  I hope you find some of the resources on this site to be of interest and have a HAPPY CONNECTED EDUCATOR month!

Templates Galore

Google Template Gallery is an amazing resource for teachers and students to explore.  It is something we have included in the Google in the Classroom Resource Site for teachers, but also something worth reviewing here.  Much like you add an app or extension, the Google Template Gallery can be added as an addition that shows up in the menu of your Google Drive.  To add it follow these steps:

1. Open your Google Drive.

   

   Step #2

2. Click Create and look to the bottom of the menu that appears to find "Connect More Apps as shown in the image on the right labeled Step #2
3. Click on "Connect more apps" and in the box that appears search using "Template Gallery".  You want to "connect" the one that looks like the image below by selecting "Connect".
   
4. Once you do this you will be asked permission, click "OK".  Now when you click "Create" from your Google Drive, you should notice the Google Template Gallery is an option.  
   
5. Choose "From Template" and a new window will open that allows you to select from some Muskego-Norway templates or from the public templates.  Explore!

In the Categories area select Students & Teachers and you will be amazed at all the templates you can find, view and use.  Some that might be really great are certificates, Cornell Notes, Parent Conference forms, reading logs, etc.

Once you find a template you like, you can view the document, and if you decide to use it click "use this template".  It will be placed in your Google Drive with a title of "copy of" and the original title. You can then edit the template title and document.  What a great tool.

Relevant Education Technology Integration Resources

The goal of integration of technology is to use tech so that those using it no longer think of its use, but simply go about learning in an enhanced way because of it.  Providing teachers with "relevant" technology application is very important as that helps us to be on our way to a seamless use of the technology in the classroom and ultimately for learning. The Web 2.0 Guru blog is packed full of resources and the page of this resource is titled "Web 2.0 Resources for Relevant Education Technology Integration".  Cheryl Capozzoli is very knowledge and keeps a very complete and organized list of tools that would be great in classrooms that have a 1:1 environment.  Categories are very helpful in determining ways you can add a digital element but the list is concise and, well, relevant!

Take some time to consider some of the resources you see here.  Celebrate how many you are already using as I certainly found many!

Comic Strips with Google Presentations

Every so often you find a bank of information out on the web and a really creative, knowledgeable person who shares their work openly for the benefit of others and ultimately our students.  I recently ran across a resource that Eric Curts from North Canton County Schools created to support teachers in learning how to use Google Presentations to build Comic Strips.
He has a nice example of a strip that teaches osmosis here.

His learning page was created for a presentation he must have done and can be found here.  His tutorial presentation has a lot of great ideas and suggestions and can be found here.

He does a fantastic job at explaining images, backgrounds and the settings within Presentations.  I think this would be a great idea to model out to kids and perhaps allow kids to work to emulate as a way of learning how to use Presentations. I find kids are much more creative than I and would love to see what they come up with.  If you do decide to tray this out, let me know as I would love to help in the process!

Google Search

Google is just really good at searching!  Ever wonder how they do it?  The following YouTube video from Google explains how the search is done using the running speed of a cheetah.  Great resource to show kids and help them to be a little better at searching.

Great Chrome Shortcuts

In our move to a 1:1 environment using Google Apps for Education, the teachers are all being encouraged to make the switch from other browsers like Internet Explorer or Firefox to Google Chrome.  Saving tome and being efficient are always at the top of my list so I have created a collection of keyboard shortcuts or trick that you might want to try out.  I'd love your feedback on these or others you find yourself using.

Press Shift and click a link. - Will open a link on a page in a new window
Drag a link to a tab. - Will open a link in the tab that you have dragged it to
Drag a link to a blank area on the tab strip. - Will open the link in a new tab
Ctrl+Shift+T - This open the last tab that you have opened.  Actually Chrome remembers your last 10 tabs!
Ctrl+1 through Ctrl+8 - Opens the tab in the spot of the tab strip of the corresponding number you use
Ctrl+Enter - Adds www. and .com to your input in the address bar and open the resulting URL.
Ctrl+F - opens a search/find bar for the page
Ctrl+D - Saves your current webpage as a bookmark.
Ctrl and +, or press Ctrl and scroll your mousewheel up. - Zooms or enlarges everything on the screen
Ctrl and -, or press Ctrl and scroll your mousewheel down. - Zooms out on everything on the screen
Ctrl+0 - Returns everything on the page to normal size