Tech Happenings @ LvHS

Our school SMS/CMS/LMS powered by Whipple Hill  (called My Louisville)  is now capable of sending notification text message and emails to students and parents when a new assignment is added by a teacher or changed, even if for just one section.  Teachers check a box to send, it is not on by default for every assignment. It's great! I hope everyone parents and students take advantage of this.

Whether you use a blog or your class Message Board for online asynchronous discussions, or even if you’ve never had your students engage in online discussions, here’s a great article that is worth reading… http://www.edutopia.org/pdfs/stw/edutopia-onlinelearning-mastering-online-discussion-board-facilitation.pdf For deep exploration of purpose of discussions online: http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/NCP0330.pdf This article includes best practices, strategies, assessment and management tips.  Here's an article with sample grading rubrics (who wouldn't want this!): http://frank.mtsu.edu/~webctsup/faculty/manual/WebCT_DiscussionBoardRubrics.pdf The difference between the class message board on our online class pages at our school and a blog is that on a blog students can comment on each other’s postings, while on the message board there is no comment tool, only a reply to the original post. Both are good, depending on what you want.

http://bubbl.us is the simplest and nicest (my opinion) web 2.0 tool that I’ve ever seen for • Brainstorming as a class or in groups • organizing information • flow charting • pre-writing (you can put lots in those bubbles! • diagraming steps to problem solving • presentation planning for Prezi All your students can do this with their laptops, it takes literally 2 minutes to learn. It’s as easy as an app on an iPad. It’s colorful and easy to manipulate making it a slam dunk for group brainstorming and organizing information using your laptop or interactive whiteboard. Shares for collaboration among multiple students Autosaves every 5 minutes. Prints out the image Exports as an image (that you can upload to your course page) Exports in outline form as an html page.  If you have your students use it, tell them to use their school email address as their username, it’s easier for them to remember in the long run. Teachers too!

We had a constructive meeting with Brad Rathgeber, who was so knowledgable and informative. His facts were compelling. He stressed that 90% of online learning is supplemental and growing exponentially. It was also interesting to know that schools are claiming to have online classes but they are really outsourcing for k12 inc. Parents may not know that they are not getting content developed by their child's school. Or that students from other schools are in the class. And that the same course could be available elsewhere for less. Pilot... Brad had great suggestions for a pilot of online classes with OSG. He suggested that we select three students for various classes, like a freshman for Latin, a junior for an elective and a senior for an AP class. This would ensure parents that the school is taking it seriously and that we are establishing means of supervision and physical logistics. Funding... Funding for courses can be a established by eliminating classes that contain less ...

I sent a note to seniors about some good hints while using Prezi, but same advice apply to PowerPoint presentations too. Please read this over and keep them in mind whenever you assign a presentation in your class. 1. Cite your image sources! Unless images are saved from Creative Commons (free to use) you should always jot down or save the web address where the image comes from. You can list these references in your Prezi by grouping them in a frame and making it small. Perhaps put it last in your "path" or show it just upon request. If you intend to share your Prezi in the public galleries, you MUST cite your images! 2. Think beyond images/photos: search Google Images for cartoons or maps. Use Wordle to create, snip and save an image of a word cloud that contains key words and emphasizes the most important. Use Google Earth to save an image of a country, town, street-level image. Use the arrows that come with Prezi to create flow. You can even use Comic Life to make a...

Designing a presentation or lesson with Prezi makes you think aobut your delivery and prioritize what's important.... A good read! http://edu.prezi.com/article/27827/-Prezi-makes-you-stop-and-think/