Author Archives: jzacharis

TED-Ed: Lessons Worth Sharing

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This post that lists 9 TED Talks recommended by students, for students caught our attention.  It includes a range of TED Talks about topics like education, character development, leadership, public speaking and what adults can learn from children that students have given the seal of approval.  It was published by a new resource called TED-Ed: Lessons Worth Sharing.  Their Lesson Library is a growing list of many lively lessons created by educators in collaboration with professional animators that can be a nice supplemental resource to amplify your teaching.

With a free account you can also create your own lessons or flip an existing lesson to adjust any previously created content to fit your needs and share with your students, with interactive reflection options and a way to plug any YouTube video into a lesson separate from all of the distractions of YouTube.  If you need help or if you give TED-Ed: Lessons Worth Sharing a try let us know.

Why Innovate?

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by Director of Technology Aaron Hovel
Originally posted on Pike Perspectives

I’m currently participating in a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) through Edx called “Launching Innovation in Schools” taught by Justin Reich and Peter Senge from MIT.  As you can imagine with the title Launching Innovation, there is quite a bit of talk about change.  But why innovate?  Often encouraging change can be seen as a negative comment on what we are currently doing, rather than recognizing that the need to consider change is because the workforce our children will enter will require different skills and qualities.  I highly recommend this video, where Justin describes the fact that over time jobs that are structured or routine will increasingly be done by computers.  He goes on to say that we need to teach our students to do work that computers can’t do. This falls into two categories:

**Solving messy or complex problems, which he calls “ill-structured problems.”
**Persuasive communication – communication needed to solve problems.

To prepare students for these tasks Justin Reich challenges us to think about all of the assignments we give in schools and consider how many of our assignments involve routine tasks. How many tasks ask students to solve ill-structured problems? How many projects ask students to engage in complex communication? My guess is that many assignments in most schools lean towards the routine task side, so we need to work to achieve a better balance with assignments.  What are your thoughts? Do you see this shift in your industry?  What types of skills are most important in the work that you do?  How do you see the needs changing in the future?

The New Periodic Table of iPad Apps

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The New Periodic Table Of IPad Apps via Mark Anderson @ICTEvangelist


Click on the image above or click here to see an informative graphic via Mark Anderson (@ICTEvangelist) that breaks down useful iPad apps into categories for suggested use.  You can easily search for apps by color coded categories like creativity, collaboration, teaching, learning and more.  This updated guide can serve as a great resource to determine apps that can amplify your existing teaching and make a big impact on learning in the classroom.  As Mark points out in his blog posts, it’s not all about the apps, good pedagogy always should come first.  To see the full blog post about this Periodic Table of iPad Apps click here.  There is also a Periodic Table of iPad STEAM apps and a Periodic Table of iPad apps for older students on the ICT Evangelist website.  

Speech Makerspace Project

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This week we are sharing a video of a Makerspace project that was completed in 7th grade Speech class this winter. Watch the 4 minute video above or click here to see how students used Spark for a collaborative demonstration speech project.  If you are inspired by these projects and would like to find ways to make this spring or plan for next year please be in touch.

Thanks to Lis and the 7th grade students for helping with the video!

Virtual Reality Creation Tool: StorySpheres

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Our most recent weekly tech emails have been resources that allow you to take virtual field trips or visit museums.  This week we decided to share a way to shift from using virtual reality for consumption only and present a way where students can create and eventually become virtual reality storytellers.   If you are interested in learning more about this Ed Tech Teacher has a tutorial on the web-based Virtual Reality Creation Tool: StorySpheres.  Click here to learn how to create a virtual reality environment with audio and be inspired by their ideas for incorporating 360 degree images into poetry, historical research, art, science and more.  Virtual reality images combined with audio provide a new and amazing way for students to demonstrate their understanding, reflect on their process and explain their inspiration.

(Pictured below: a 360 view and story created of the last watchtower in Berlin from the Story Spheres website)

 

Google Arts and Culture

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Now you can virtually explore many museums from several countries around the world via Google Arts and Culture.  You or your students can take advantage of this awesome resource via a browser or with their free iPad app.  The zoom views and virtual tours allow you to experience many of the world’s greatest treasures and landmarks.  This resource is a perfect thing to try if you are looking to amplify one of your lessons with a real view related to your curriculum.  Thanks to Google Arts and Culture I was just able to escape my snowy morning and “travel” to Italy and experience a 360 view of the Floating Piers installation by Christo and Jeanne-Claude (see screenshot above).

Thanks to Kate Moran for sharing this awesome link with us!  If you have any interesting new resources please share them with us.

Deleting pre-installed Apps

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Did you know that you can delete some of the pre-loaded Apple apps on the iPhone or iPad?  If there are some on your device that you never use and would like to get rid of follow these steps:

How to delete a pre-installed Apple app:
• Open a folder or locate an Apple app you want to delete
• Push down lightly on the app icon until it starts to dance.
• Tap the small x icon that appears on the top left.
• Tap Remove.

The Educator’s Guide to Copyright, Fair Use and Creative Commons

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Digital copyright awareness is an important responsibility that often gets overlooked or can be easily misunderstood.  The Educator’s Guide to Copyright, Fair Use and Creative Commons is an excellent explanation of the many layers of responsible use and has many resources for teachers and students to use when working with or creating online content.  

In addition to the educator’s guide, Fran and Linda also recommend the links below:
Cyberbee interactive copyright Q and A (Flash version) (non-Flash version)
Be Copyright Cool Google Slides presentation by Brisbane Catholic Education

We encourage you to check this information out, since understanding digital copyright is an essential skill for students.  Also, remember that we have excellent in house resources about this topic, so be sure to be in touch with Fran and Linda in the Library if you have more questions or need help.

SeeSaw in the Upper School

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Learn | Try | Amplify Week 6:

Last week you heard from the Lower and Middle School about the benefits of using SeeSaw with students.  This week we are sharing how SeeSaw is being used as an extension to some Upper School Math classrooms at Pike (4.5 minutes, see video above or click here to watch).  You won’t want to miss hearing Becky Miller’s 7th Grade Math students talking about what they like about using SeeSaw, and the video also features Nicole DeRosa’s teacher perspective.  If you would like help getting started with SeeSaw in the new year, please let the tech department know.

For some more SeeSaw Activity ideas for Grades 6 – 8 click here.

*Big thanks for your help 7th Graders, Nicole and Becky!