Saturday, April 16, 2011

Medical Practice

Spanish speaking students practiced medical terminology in the classroom infirmary. Armed only with steno pads, students diagnosed and prescribed treatment for numerous patients suffering from head injuries to broken limbs

We Be Styling!

Students strut their stuff on the catwalk while modeling favorite fashions. Classmates emceed the event in Spanish!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Following a Paper Trail


Sunday, April 10, 2011

Digital Images in the Classroom

Making up abut 65% of the population, visual learners absorb and recall information best by seeing. These learners think in pictures and create mental images to retain information. They learn best by seeing information through the use of maps, charts, and pictures. At the Mobile 2011 conference, Ty Richardson helped us imagine a classroom in which students get the "big picture" through a series of little pictures designed to scaffold learning.

Photographs can enhance learning experiences while fostering creativity, but just how does one go about incorporating Teacher-Made and Student Created Multi-media in Instruction? Ty recommends starting with iPhonography, utilizing the iDevice's built in camera. These devices provide great pictures that can be used across the curriculum.
Images enhance understanding. Images provide context clues. Images evoke emotion. Images allow students to interact with content.

Ty shared many ideas and apps to help jumpstart the creative
process.

Ideas and Recommended Apps:
LANGUAGE ARTS:
- Comic Strip+: Allows students to take photos and tell their stories via comic books. Students can give a visual representation of content.
- StoryRobe: Allows students to take photos or video and add audio to an original story. Every student can now be a published author!
- Motivation: Students can take their own photos and created motivational posters.
- Other recommended apps: Pages, story kit, sonic pics

MATH:
-Rulerphone: Camera app that allows students to take measurement of any object they can photograph. Students include "business card" to provide scale.
- Protractor: Allows student to take a photo of an object whose angle needs to be calculated. App provides angle measured and complimentary and supplementary angles.

SCIENCE:
- imicroscope: Allows students to magnify and take pictures under the microscope
- SciSpy: Students can take pictures of flowers, insects, and wildlife and upload them to the scientific community (for classification and research)

FOREIGN LANGUAGE:
- Wordlens+: Allows for translation of any sign from English to Spanish and vice versa
- Google goggles: Free translation
- Flash card Creator+: Take pictures and provide voice over to various objects. Create flashcards based upon pictures taken. Can be used in any subject.

BEST of the REST:
- Quickmark: Read and create bar codes and QR codes
- Skype: Virtual career day, distance learning and collaboration
- Sekaicamera+: virtual scavenger hunt
- Star Walk: AR app for reviewing constellations

Need more ideas?

Apps
- Hipstamatic
- Instagram:
- Camera+
- Genius Camera
- Pano: Stitches multiple pictures together
- Filterstorm: Photoshop for iPhone
- 100 Cameras in 1: HDR
- Geotag Photos
- Breadcrumbs
- Mover+: Allows for easy photosharing
- Photosync
- Timelapse
- Slow shutter

Tyrichardsonphoto.com
Big pixel.tumblr.com
Flickr.com/bigpixel

Photojojo.com - owlebubo: wide photolens that functions as a macrolens
Zoom lens
Romotamatic- allows for remote control of iPhone camera
Pocket Microscope for iPhone from amazon
Splashtop

Becoming a Mobile Learner (iSchool Initiative) by Travis Allen


Travis Allen of ischool Initiative is a fulltime student armed only with an iPad. Now completing his second year of college, he has been able to complete all coursework on the mobile device including in-depth projects filled charts, graphs, and images. While Travis does not suggest schools ditch traditional paper and pencil and adopt his way of thinking, he reminds educators that everyone learns differently and schools should allow students to learn the way they learn best.
Teachers should not incorporate technology simply for technology sake, but use it as a tool to enhance student understanding. Travis says, "As a digital learner I don't go out looking for cool apps, I encounter a problem and I go out and find a digital solution."


So which apps is Travis using?
Organization: iStudies Pro

Taking notes in Pages and on Flash cards (cranberry)
Fun Apps: Star walk and The Elements
Textbooks: Course Smart: textbook app or read online version
Discovery software- teacher develop their own book utilizing their own pics and videos
iAnnotate- allows you to annotate over a PDF
JotNot- scans document and turns it into a PDF

Interested? See how Kearns High has embarked on a digital revolution.

Putting Mobile Back into Mobile Learning - Dr. Mark van Hoof't

You cannot do mobile learning in the classroom.  Handhelds should not simply replace pen and paper.

Desktop technologies operate in their own small world.  Mobile technologies take place in the world.

Mobile learning goes beyond the technology or delivering content to devices.  It means being able to operate successfully in and across new and ever changing contexts and learning spaces - Pachler, 2009

Mobile Learning means real and Digital realms augment each other. (Layers and wikitube) Wikitube- allows for more than just pin points
Mobile learning means learning as constructivist, situated, collaborative, informal and lifelong. Mobile learning means emphasizing 21st century skills.

How do we do this?
Sample projects
-Frequency 1550 -A Mobile Learning Game (living history project)
Www.wash.org video footage
-London Street Museum-www.museumoflondon.org.uk app: You Are Here
You can do this yourself by using the program, History Pin
-Environmental Detectives: done at MIT video on You Tube
Directive Game simulation
-Cloud Bank - crowd sourcing running on Google Android; wiki type project
To help foreign workers in UK to learn slang 
-MyArtSpace (now Ookl) Way beyond running around a Museum with a worksheet
Allows students to create original products and well thought-out presentations to document their learning of the museum. Kids prepped prior to attending the museum. Attended museum, captured info, pics, and clips to be utilized later in presentation.
-QR codes You Tube video of Sigml 2009Washington DC Use a physical space and augment it with digital content.  Audio actually works better than video so that participants can look at the object while listening to significant audio clip.

Food for Thought: Importance of "place". The question is how to best balance physical and digital "places" to get the best out of both. (Milgram's Reality-Virtual Continuum(1994))

As educators, we must meet learners half-way and take advantage of the technology skills they already have, but teach them how to use these skills for learning, Learning lasts a lifetime.  Wevmust show students how to take advantage of how to utilize technology for this purpose.

http:// Ubiquitousthoughts.wordpress.com

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

The GeoHistorian Project - Dr. Mark van't Hooft

K-12 students are stepping back in time as they research, write and publish local history. Dr. Mark van't Hooft of Kent State University's Research Center for Educational Technology believes it is important to have students recognize social studies is more than just facts in a textbook and he is helping change students' perspectives through the integration of technology coupled with primary sources. In The Geohistorian Project, students Create Digital Stories about local history. The project is divided into 4 weeks with 4 tasks: 1. Discussion of the Importance of stories 2. Conducting Historical Research- students in groups visit specific locations; share research, digital pictures, and stories on wiki 3. Composing "The Story" - students are required to create a storyboard and then write the story 4. Editing Audio/video - used Photostory Once finished project is verified by the local historical society and published, students will post QR codes on locations so that others can view student-created historical content (audio, video, images). Learn more about the GeoHistorian Project at Www.rcet.org/GeoHistorian or experience it for yourself during tomorrow's Mobile Scavenger Hunt in downtown Phoenix, AZ!