tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67884246111295982472024-03-13T23:00:04.006-04:00UsefulTech from the UsefulitarianAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03176524688159659630noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788424611129598247.post-68965732528682434022015-11-13T16:13:00.001-05:002015-11-13T19:57:14.691-05:00Is your Chromebook touchy? I hope so!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_1DFkG_f75E/VkZR7BYukSI/AAAAAAAADEw/WviWP608IQ8/s1600/touchpad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_1DFkG_f75E/VkZR7BYukSI/AAAAAAAADEw/WviWP608IQ8/s320/touchpad.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Remember to model the simple things!</td></tr>
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A neighboring school district recently shared their scope and sequence for technology skills across grade levels. What really caught my eye was the tagline on the pages for each Essential Understanding: "<i>All teachers will model all skills at all times</i>." You might be wondering what this has to do with touchy Chromebooks.<br />
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We recently heard concerns from teachers about the difficulty some students were experiencing when using the touchpad on their Chromebooks. Then came the question "<i>Can't they just use a mouse</i>?"<br />
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My immediate thought was: does the issue lie with a user's lack of instruction or with the device?<br />
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Solid modeling plays a very important role in removing barriers to using technology in the classroom. When young learners need to be shown how to properly hold a pencil we introduce them to the <i><a href="http://mamaot.com/3-tricks-to-help-kids-learn-to-hold-their-pencil-correctly/">tripod grasp</a> </i>or the <i>pinch and flip </i>trick. So why wouldn't we teach them the two-finger swipe or two-finger scroll on their Chromebook touchpad?<br />
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Google provides a support page for everything you would want to know about how to be efficiently touchy with your Chromebook's touchpad: <a href="https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/1047367?hl=en">https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/1047367?hl=en</a>. In addition to learning a few gestures, you can also slow down or speed up the responsiveness of your touchpad.<br />
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So remember: be a good model in your classroom and <i>model all skills at all times</i>!<br />
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<a href="https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/1047367?hl=en"><img alt="Chromebook Touch Pad" border="0" height="623" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Hnggvjh2OwA/VkZQCv6Jr7I/AAAAAAAADEk/pX-7V83WEL4/s640/Chromebook%2BTouchpad.png" title="" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788424611129598247.post-90383114016119917472015-10-23T13:35:00.001-04:002015-10-23T13:35:43.223-04:00Speak Up about 21st Century Education and Technology<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Lato, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><b>Calling all participants! </b><a href="http://www.tomorrow.org/speakup/" style="color: #0033cc;" target="_blank">Speak Up</a>, a national online research project facilitated by Project Tomorrow®, gives individuals the opportunity to share their viewpoints about key educational issues, particularly concerning 21st century education and technology. Each year, findings are summarized and shared with national and state policy makers. Let your voice be heard!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Lato, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><a href="http://www.speakup4schools.org/Speakup2015/" style="color: #0033cc;" target="_blank">Take the Survey!</a></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.speakup4schools.org/Speakup2015/" style="color: #0033cc; font-family: Lato, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;" target="_blank">Now through December 18, 2015</a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Lato, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-weight: bold;">NEED HELP? </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">View participant tutorials here: </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; line-height: 20px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Lato, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.tomorrow.org/speakup/speakup_tutorials.html" style="color: #0033cc;" target="_blank">http://www.tomorrow.org/<wbr></wbr>speakup/speakup_tutorials.html</a></span></span></div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788424611129598247.post-5900804799649453742015-10-04T16:18:00.003-04:002015-10-04T20:38:54.384-04:00Show and Ask - Fun with a Mystery ObjectThere it was...an abacus and I couldn't resist. I'm going to get a big bang from the buck I spent at a yard sale this weekend!<br />
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Remember <i>Show and Tell</i>..why <i>tell</i> kids what your object is, ask them instead! But instead of having one kid blurt out the answer and then <i>everyone</i> knows, use a Google Form to see who knows what the object is and what it's used for. Dig a little deeper and also ask how kids would find out what it is (if they don't know) and how they would learn to use it. It's a great way to get kids thinking about how they learn.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CHF6zz-qyeI/VhFSxfmW-eI/AAAAAAAAC20/OrXz0rcoJ9k/s1600/insert%2Bimage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Add an image to Google Form" border="0" height="235" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CHF6zz-qyeI/VhFSxfmW-eI/AAAAAAAAC20/OrXz0rcoJ9k/s400/insert%2Bimage.jpg" title="" width="400" /></a></div>
Google Forms are great for surveys, but also lend themselves to a variety of other uses. You might or might not know that you can add images and videos to a Google Form. Look for the options when you click the "Add item" drop down. Inserting an image or video is a fun way to conduct a "Mystery Object" activity. Images can also serve as powerful writing prompts or story starters. Have a look at this simple Google Form: <a href="http://goo.gl/S1mKH1.">goo.gl/S1mKH1</a>, a partial screen shot is below.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c1motSH0l0I/VhFUky6W9ZI/AAAAAAAAC28/b73yrc9gCaM/s1600/google%2Bform%2Bmystery%2Bobject.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Google Form" border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c1motSH0l0I/VhFUky6W9ZI/AAAAAAAAC28/b73yrc9gCaM/s1600/google%2Bform%2Bmystery%2Bobject.png" title="" /></a></div>
Once kids know what the mystery object is and what it's used for have them figure out how to use it and then create a short video to teach others.<br />
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Need help getting started with Google Forms? Visit the Google support pages for Google Docs and look for "Forms": https://support.google.com/docs/#topic=1360904<br />
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<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788424611129598247.post-31506109325161695412015-10-01T21:50:00.002-04:002015-10-01T22:43:44.596-04:00Come on in, the water's fine...but it's moving fast!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDZT6E24MqqXGYDwVh1BwbUiIPA7jLiV4Bj5BdTF3oG_nSfY5JOO4ttFq3Lk96eeefah5LHlX6jwIBLe8C4qcG2vHBDmWBWxEuYKPIgO1I1EFbdZyXhGKNg3PTCfZRIDGD2ER5VPqabzyb/s1600/rivers-foam-rapids-splashing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://www.public-domain-image.com/nature-landscape/river/slides/rivers-foam-rapids-splashing.html" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDZT6E24MqqXGYDwVh1BwbUiIPA7jLiV4Bj5BdTF3oG_nSfY5JOO4ttFq3Lk96eeefah5LHlX6jwIBLe8C4qcG2vHBDmWBWxEuYKPIgO1I1EFbdZyXhGKNg3PTCfZRIDGD2ER5VPqabzyb/s320/rivers-foam-rapids-splashing.jpg" title="" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Jon Sullivan, Public Domain</span></td></tr>
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Today is October 1 and is the first of 31 days of connected activities during <a href="http://connectededucators.org/">Connected Educator Month</a> and I feel like it's time to get my feet wet again. A couple of weeks ago I came across a post on The Learner's Way by Nigel Coutts titled <a href="http://thelearnersway.net/ideas/2015/9/20/why-build-a-personal-learning-network">Why Build a Personal Learning Network</a>.<br />
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Highlights from the post include the usual: building a case for collective knowledge, finding value in your own contributions, and getting past the day-to-day dealings that keep us gasping for more time as if were precious air.<br />
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We've heard it all before. But, there was something different here. Something <i>so simple</i>, yet <i>so wise</i> I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. It was the the most straightforward explanation of the power of building a personal learning through social media. Anyone who has ever felt overwhelmed, lost, or felt like they were going to drown in the torrent of information on Twitter, Google+, or other platform can relax...it's OK. Social media is not like a bucket for "collecting ideas that you will later sort through and make sense of". Instead, it's like a "fast flowing stream that you visit when you have time. You enjoy the ideas that flow past while you are there, you grab the best ones for use at a later date and you let the rest float by."<br />
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Yes, it's OK to let things just float by. We don't have to grab onto and feel compelled to hold onto and sort through every bit of information. We should, however, visit the river when we can to revel in the moment of a refreshing idea. There are times when we take a daily swim, but there are also times when we just have to sit it out and wait for another day.<br />
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As <a href="http://thelearnersway.net/contact/">Nigel</a> so elegantly states: "If you are not watching the stream you don’t think about it, you just know it will still be flowing when you next visit and most likely some new idea will float by."<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16928642587882809829noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788424611129598247.post-40342616563038259402015-08-04T10:59:00.000-04:002015-08-04T10:59:17.112-04:00Tune in to nature with a little tech!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eCndaLppD_k/VcDBRfKZzxI/AAAAAAAACvA/oW2fM0EL0zw/s1600/DSCN1227.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eCndaLppD_k/VcDBRfKZzxI/AAAAAAAACvA/oW2fM0EL0zw/s640/DSCN1227.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
If you are finding yourself a little out of touch with tech over the summer, worry not...Camp Google to the rescue! These nifty ideas like <a href="https://camp.withgoogle.com/activities/week3/whats-living-in-my-backyard">creating a magnifying glass</a> to examine objects found in your backyard make great projects for summer camp or summer school. <div>
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Each week focuses on a new theme. You can check out the activities here: <a href="https://camp.withgoogle.com/activities">https://camp.withgoogle.com/activities</a>. Don't worry if you're joining late in the game. It looks like Camp Google is keeping its gates open so you can complete activities at any time...maybe even after school starts in September! </div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788424611129598247.post-79554763057860134252015-05-28T15:42:00.004-04:002015-06-09T15:43:24.570-04:00Takeout, Anyone?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://www.google.com/takeout"><img alt="Google Takeout" border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q8rBjnFDp5U/VWdrUCVkmYI/AAAAAAAACkQ/mPgUVAEyutI/s400/Takeout.png" title="" width="341" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.google.com/takeout">Google Takeout</a></td></tr>
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Sorry - no, I'm not asking you over for pizza and wings. It's <i>Google</i> Takeout!<br />
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Google Takeout</h2>
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June is right around the corner and it's the time of year when staff and students start wondering what to do with all of the <i>stuff</i> in their organizational Google account.<br />
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Enter Google Takeout! You have the option to download the data associated with an organizational Google Account so that it can be transferred to a personal Google account, other service, or simply to keep a copy for your records.<br />
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Visit <a href="http://www.google.com/takeout">www.google.com/settings/takeout</a> to create your archive. <b>NOTE: you will be prompted to enter your Google user ID and password in order to create your archive. </b>If you have questions you can check out the FAQ by selecting the "Learn more" link on that page.</div>
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About Transfer of Ownership for Google Docs</h2>
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If you created and own documents that are shared to other users in the organization you can transfer ownership of items you no longer need to another user<i> in the same organization</i>. (What this means is you can't transfer ownership of docs from your school Google Drive to your personal Google Drive.) Find out more about transfer of ownership here: <a href="https://support.google.com/drive/answer/2494892?hl=en">support.google.com/drive/answer/2494892?hl=en</a></div>
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Calendars are Tricky!</h2>
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If you are leaving your organization and own important shared calendars please read this to make sure that shared calendar data does not get lost: <a href="https://support.google.com/calendar/answer/78739?hl=en">support.google.com/calendar/answer/78739?hl=en</a><br />
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Google Sites</h2>
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If you created and own a Google Site under the Manchester School District Domain add your personal Google account as a Site Owner. Now log in to your Site via your personal Google ID and click the gear in to top right corner and then select "Manage Site". Under the General settings select "Copy this Site." NOTE: if any links point to items that were stored in your MSD Google Drive, you will need to add those items to your personal Google Drive and relink them.</div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788424611129598247.post-14162854121067202302015-05-20T11:21:00.000-04:002015-05-20T11:23:57.531-04:00What would you do with an empty box?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I'm passionate about recycling to the point of tearing off the paper tag from my tea bag so it can be recycled. When we deploy hundreds of Chromebooks I work hard to find homes for hundreds of empty boxes. The first person I try to get ahold of is the art teacher. Art teachers understand how to take junk and turn it into something beautiful.<br />
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If I can't find an art teacher I look for kindergarteners. Just give a kid a box and they'll know how to turn it into something magical. Who wouldn't want such a cute little box with a cute little handle?<br />
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But what if I'm in a middle or high school? No problem, I find a language arts or English teacher and show them my haiku box (see below) made from the trays inside the many rescued boxes. How about one of those projects where you have to decide what 10 things you'll need to survive on a deserted island? Start thinking and you'll come up with lots of things to do with an empty box...and the stuff inside it.<br />
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What would you do with an empty box?<br />
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788424611129598247.post-11886980079417229402015-05-03T20:48:00.000-04:002015-05-03T20:48:02.909-04:00Can you use a document camera with a Chromebook? You bet!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ik9to3PszcA/VUa4qi1gI8I/AAAAAAAACfg/Y7JStbj664Y/s1600/20150503_164943.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Ipevo Point 2 View doc cam & Chromebook" border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ik9to3PszcA/VUa4qi1gI8I/AAAAAAAACfg/Y7JStbj664Y/s1600/20150503_164943.jpg" height="240" title="" width="320" /></a></div>
If you've ever wondered whether or not you can use a document camera with a Chromebook, the answer is a wholehearted YES.<br />
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This picture shows the Ipevo Point 2 View USB document camera connected to my Chromebook. The Ipevo is a cost effective little device that can be purchased for around $70. There are also a number of optional accessories like a magnifying lens, a microscope adapter or a height extension stand. Check it out here: <a href="http://www.ipevo.com/prods/Point-2-View-USB-Camera">http://www.ipevo.com/prods/Point-2-View-USB-Camera</a>.<br />
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You can also use any other document camera that can be connected to your Chromebook via USB.<br />
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I like to use an app called Webcam Toy to display the image on my Chromebook. (You can also use the native Camera app on your Chromebook by changing the camera settings to display through an external camera instead of the internal camera. The camera settings are a bit tricky to find: look under Settings > Show advanced settings > Privacy - Content settings > Media - Camera.) Whichever camera you decide to use, snap away and capture images.<br />
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You can even do a screencast - that's right, capture video. <a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/screencastify-screen-vide/mmeijimgabbpbgpdklnllpncmdofkcpn?hl=en" target="_blank">Screencastify</a> is a video screen capture tool for Chrome. Record your entire desktop or just a tab in your browser. You can save to disk or upload to Google Drive or YouTube. <br />
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Need to conduct a demonstration or show small things to a big audience? Connect your Chromebook to a projector or fire up the <a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/google-cast/boadgeojelhgndaghljhdicfkmllpafd?hl=en" target="_blank">Google Cast</a> extension and display your content on your Chromecast device from your browser.<br />
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<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/u5EwafRU8xg/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/u5EwafRU8xg?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788424611129598247.post-47533269116614732362015-05-03T17:00:00.000-04:002016-07-27T20:34:57.587-04:00Tiny bits of goo - the skinny on URL shorteners<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Some URLs are long and ugly. Have a look at the link for this Google Form:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghnYZGMIpcMVMWsL2QcqIKeds8D69umHE3sjH6u_FqptszRJEfWPaCrSugZfNExmXAjscbNxcYT7VWBSEzFVrJmskM9ipWKNSbBMlhQd8LSjBszObClZRJRHnn2tfqZqIjxFtXpXaG9AMI/s1600/link.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="36" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghnYZGMIpcMVMWsL2QcqIKeds8D69umHE3sjH6u_FqptszRJEfWPaCrSugZfNExmXAjscbNxcYT7VWBSEzFVrJmskM9ipWKNSbBMlhQd8LSjBszObClZRJRHnn2tfqZqIjxFtXpXaG9AMI/s640/link.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Problem solved with a handy tool: the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/URL_shortener">URL shortener</a>. URL shorteners take a long URL and make it into a shorter URL <i>alias </i>that directs to the desired web page. It makes your URL easier to say or write on the board, like - tinyurl.com/eddress or goo.gl/aqvOcL.</div>
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Here are three commonly used URL shorteners and they all work the same way. Copy your long URL, navigate to one of the links below and paste your long URL into the URL shortener. Optionally, Tiny URL and Bitly allow you to create a custom alias.<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="http://tinyurl.com/">tinyurl.com</a></li>
<li><a href="http://bitly.com/">bitly.com</a></li>
<li><a href="http://goo.gl/">goo.gl</a></li>
</ul>
<div>
<b>Tiny URL</b>: TinyURL is the granddaddy of URL shorteners. What I like about TinyURL is that <i>no login is required</i> and you have the option of creating a custom alias (if it hasn't already been used by someone else). If you can't create a custom alias you will get a shortened URL with random numbers and letters. What I don't like about Tiny URL is that <i>no login is required</i> so I have no way to track my shortened URLs.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5eaZFWQ1-G0/T5NggIeLY_I/AAAAAAAAACE/bnzqtCDWHMg/s1600/maketiny.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="122" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5eaZFWQ1-G0/T5NggIeLY_I/AAAAAAAAACE/bnzqtCDWHMg/s320/maketiny.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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<b>Bitly</b>: Bitly is another <i>no login required </i>URL shortener that will give you an alias that contains random letters and numbers. If you want to create a custom alias, however, you will need to create an account. But - becasue you are logged in you can keep track of all of your shortened URLs.<br />
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<div>
<b>Goo.gl: </b>Because I am always logged in to my Google account my "go to" URL shortener is goo.gl. Goo.gl is easy to use and I can view a list of the URLs I've shortened. Here's one shortened URL:</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QOoY3jCLr4E/T5Nkfr70aSI/AAAAAAAAACY/o7Z4OSTRulI/s1600/goo.gl.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="80" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QOoY3jCLr4E/T5Nkfr70aSI/AAAAAAAAACY/o7Z4OSTRulI/s640/goo.gl.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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What I don't like about goo.gl is that I can't create a custom alias. Best of both worlds for me? If TinyURL married goo.gl and had a URL shortening child that allowed me to create custom aliases AND see a list all of my shortened URLs.<br />
<h4>
Top ten, five or three...</h4>
If you google <i>best URL shortener</i> the above three are in just about every list. No matter which one you choose, URL shorteners are a handy tool for whenever you need a link that's easy to say or write in the board!</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788424611129598247.post-38858184048189601102012-06-13T23:20:00.000-04:002015-05-28T15:49:37.356-04:00The Real Deal<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h4>
Cracking down on plagiarism</h4>
<br />
Sometimes you <i>just know</i> a piece of writing doesn't sound like something a student could have written, but how can you verify it?<br />
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There are several web sites that offer services to screen for plagiarism such as <a href="http://turnitin.com/">turnitin.com</a>. Turnitin compares an uploaded piece of writing against billions of existing web pages and databased items. Unfortunately, this service is not free.<br />
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<h4>
What to do? Try a Google search!</h4>
The magic number is between 5 and 7. Copy a phrase from the writing you suspect is not a student's original work, put it in quotes and paste it into a Google search field.By placing the phrase in quotes, you make Google search for those <i>exact words</i> in that <i>exact order.</i> Here's an example: "The zombie shuffled mindlessly forward". Believe it or not, this is not a contrived scenario. It really happened in a classroom I was visiting. A Google search result shows that this phrase - and many others - occur in a published work:<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WbDLGInUpmA/T9lSzcrAyLI/AAAAAAAAAFw/PzVVO7U0dxk/s1600/search+result.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WbDLGInUpmA/T9lSzcrAyLI/AAAAAAAAAFw/PzVVO7U0dxk/s1600/search+result.JPG" /></a></div>
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If you are using Google Advanced Search you can paste the phrase without quotes here:<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qr4klzahAgw/T9lQKOmUhiI/AAAAAAAAAFg/jfwFl0MbJ0M/s1600/google+advanced+search.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="443" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qr4klzahAgw/T9lQKOmUhiI/AAAAAAAAAFg/jfwFl0MbJ0M/s640/google+advanced+search.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<h4>
How do you get to Google Advanced Search? </h4>
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If you are logged in to your Google account click the gear next to your username and select <i>Advanced search. </i>If you don't have a Google account, get one! Or, point your browser here:<br />
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<i> </i><a href="http://www.google.com/advanced_search?hl=en" style="font-weight: normal;">http://www.google.com/advanced_search?hl=en</a><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_T32m7cafcQ/T8zyH_-syqI/AAAAAAAAAEs/gkH_lKg7f0A/s1600/advanced+search1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="438" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_T32m7cafcQ/T8zyH_-syqI/AAAAAAAAAEs/gkH_lKg7f0A/s640/advanced+search1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788424611129598247.post-30219989378697661932012-05-23T11:30:00.002-04:002015-05-28T15:48:05.013-04:00Google Drive driving you crazy?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://support.google.com/drive/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2375046&topic=2463357&ctx=topic" rel="nofollow"><img alt="Google Drive support pages" border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cG0wlsCdnjI/T70AlFOE1MI/AAAAAAAAAD8/4W1WaFeRXLs/s320/drive+support.png" title="" width="110" /></a></div>
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Here's some useful info for new and old Google users alike.<br />
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If you were all cozy in your old Google Docs <i>Home</i> view, Google came along and rearranged the furniture with the recent introduction of Google <i>Drive</i>. If you are a new Google user you might be wondering what's up with the different views in the left navigation area of Google Drive on the web.<br />
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From the Google knowledge base:<br />
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<li><b>My Drive</b>: Everything in your Google Drive that you’ve created, synced and uploaded. You can automatically sync <b>My Drive</b> to the Google Drive folder on your computer. </li>
<li><b>Recent</b>: All of your private and shared files that you've opened in reverse chronological order.</li>
<li><a class="zippy zippy-expand" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6788424611129598247"><b>Activity</b>: </a>Everything that has been edited recently. This view includes anything
that you've created, that has been shared with you, or that you've
clicked the link to open.</li>
</ul>
For the complete list of Google Drive views and more information on the differences between Docs and Drive visit the Google support site here:</div>
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<a href="http://support.google.com/drive/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2375046&topic=2463357&ctx=topic">http://support.google.com/drive/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2375046&topic=2463357&ctx=topic</a></div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788424611129598247.post-18516147125400211202012-05-17T21:18:00.001-04:002012-05-17T22:04:06.876-04:00Exit stage left<div style="text-align: left;">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VNJ3dfurvlw/T7WL3RBHf4I/AAAAAAAAADU/B66fFC2u_Cg/s1600/11816624_s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VNJ3dfurvlw/T7WL3RBHf4I/AAAAAAAAADU/B66fFC2u_Cg/s200/11816624_s.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
This is the time of year to start thinking about Data Liberation! That's right </span><i><span style="font-size: large;">data liberation.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></i></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you've been fretting about what graduating seniors or students who are moving are going to do with all of the stuff they have collected and created in their organizational Google accounts --<i> relax!</i> Google makes it very easy to pack your bags and leave.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">*Photo credit:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Copyright (c) <a href="http://www.123rf.com/">123RF Stock Photos</a></span></div>
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<h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">
Be no evil</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Google Data Liberation Front is an engineering team that designed ways for users to remove their data from a variety of Google services. Google's CEO was mostly concerned about<i> being big without being evil </i>and wanted to provide users with an easy exit strategy.</span><br />
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<h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">
Google Takeout</span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Takeout is a platform that lets a user remove data from multiple Google products all at once. This is Data Liberation in it's simplest form. Below is a list of products currently available for takeout.</span><br />
<ul style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">
<li style="background-color: transparent; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.dataliberation.org/takeout-products/-1s" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">+1’d sites</span></a></span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.dataliberation.org/takeout-products/buzz" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Buzz</span></a></span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.dataliberation.org/takeout-products/contacts" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Contacts and Circles</span></a></span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.dataliberation.org/takeout-products/google-docs" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Docs</span></a></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.dataliberation.org/takeout-products/picasa-web-albums" style="text-decoration: none;"></a><a href="http://www.dataliberation.org/takeout-products/google-stream" style="text-decoration: none;"></a><a href="http://www.dataliberation.org/takeout-products/profile" style="text-decoration: none;">Google+ Profile</a></span></span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.dataliberation.org/takeout-products/google-stream" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Google+ Stream</span></a></span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.dataliberation.org/takeout-products/picasa-web-albums" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Picasa Web Albums</span></a></span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.dataliberation.org/takeout-products/google-voice" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Voice</span></a></span></li>
</ul>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">What about all the other stuff?</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While not all products are completely liberated, Google is about 2/3 of the way through creating exit strategies for their services. Some of the big ticket items in schools are <b>Blogs, Chrome Bookmarks, Gmail, Maps, Picasa Web Albums, </b><b>Sites and more.</b> For a complete list of all items that can be removed from Google and how to do it visit the DLF at <a href="http://www.dataliberation.org/" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.dataliberation.org</span></a>.</span><br />
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<h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">
Other ways to move <i>Documents</i></span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If your organization has adopted Google Apps it is easy to <b>transfer ownership</b> of documents to other users within the organization. (At this time document ownership cannot be transferred to a Google account outside the organization) If, for example, a student is editor-in-chief of the school newspaper (s)he can transfer ownership of files to another student. <b><i>Sharing a file </i>is not enough</b> because if the file owner's account is deleted, that file will disappear from the share-ee's account. Remember that documents can have only one owner.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>What to do:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Go to the <b>Share</b> settings for that item and add a new user. Click <b>Share and save</b>.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then change from <b>“Can Edit”</b> to<b> “Is Owner” </b>and that person is the new owner:</span></li>
</ol>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-96_xOw5MKYs/T7WcolRfGvI/AAAAAAAAADo/JIfbKZ7zEes/s1600/change+owner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-96_xOw5MKYs/T7WcolRfGvI/AAAAAAAAADo/JIfbKZ7zEes/s1600/change+owner.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Moving MORE Documents, like all of them</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Google Apps administrator can <b>transfer all of a user's documents to another user</b>. This is done from the "Advanced Tools" tab in the Google Apps control panel. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See Google’s help article for more details: </span><a href="http://www.google.com/support/a/bin/answer.py?answer=1247799" style="background-color: white; color: #551a8b; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">http://www.google.com/support/a/bin/answer.py?answer=1247799</a><br />
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<h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Sites and Blogs</span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Follow these steps to move admin privileges <b>from one blog account to another</b>: <a href="http://support.google.com/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=41448" rel="nofollow">http://support.google.com/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=41448</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Changing owners of a Google Site</b> is very easy. For example, a student is president of the school's Lego Club and no longer wants to be the site's webmaster. Go to the share settings for the site. <b>Add another user and select "Is owner"</b>. Another nifty thing about Google Sites is that a site can have multiple owners.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788424611129598247.post-83719246545082117552012-05-13T10:06:00.002-04:002012-05-17T21:19:34.718-04:00A useful mindset<span style="font-size: small;"><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <b>All good things are said to come in threes:</b></span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <b>One: The Principle of Good Enough </b></span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I recently saw this little tidbit in someone's email signature and promptly looked it up. Here's </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_good_enough" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Wikipedia's</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> spin on the Principle of Good Enough (POGE):<i> It favours quick-and-simple (but potentially extensible) designs over elaborate systems designed by committees. Once the quick-and-simple design is deployed, it can then evolve as needed, driven by user requirements. </i></span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We've all seen the paralysis of indecision in focus groups and committees that continually motion to wait for a more perfect solution (to whatever problem they want to solve). In many cases, however, the solution in shiny armor never materializes and there goes another year of having done nothing...again. And sometimes -- <i>again.</i></span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <b>Two: Disruptive Innovation </b></span><b><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /></b><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chew on this: </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">"...disruptive innovations typically start out as primitive; early on, they can only solve the simplest of problems, so people tend to deride them. But disruptive innovations improve predictably over time-often over several decades-to solve harder problems. And as they do so, over time, people abandon their old ways of doing things, shed their conceptions about how things have to be, and adopt the new."</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is Good Enough's first cousin. The above quote was brought to my attention through our state's Ed Tech news list. It is an excerpt from an </span><a href="http://www.eschoolnews.com/2012/04/11/online-learning-disruptive-innovation-in-progress/" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">article by Michael Horn</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> on the topic of online learning, but the concept can be applied to anything else in an organization that needs to be changed or improved.</span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <b>Three: Don't be an expert!</b></span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wes Fryer, award winning blogger and educator was the keynote speaker at our state's annual technology conference two years ago and I haven't been able to let go of one simple thought: you don't have to be a techno-expert to start integrating technology in your classroom. You just need to be willing to let go and try something new. Our classrooms are filled with Digital Natives who possess an innate ability to figure out what button to push when you can't get something to work.You can follow Wes's blog at </span><a href="http://www.speedofcreativity.org/" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">http://www.speedofcreativity.org/</a><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <b>Done! </b></span></span><b> </b><span style="font-size: small;"><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so - this post is good enough. I've dispensed with the long-winded examples of how these three mindsets apply to my own teaching or to the dynamics in our organization. Instead, I simply present these mindsets to you the reader in the hope that they will strike a resonating chord and become a song that you just can't get out of your head. Now go sing in your own key!</span><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /></span>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788424611129598247.post-24144891164029432612012-04-26T21:50:00.001-04:002015-05-28T15:50:29.058-04:00Spring cleaning: e-waste<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The cable drawer. Do you you have one? I have <i>two:</i></h4>
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It's vacation week and I've been in the mood for spring cleaning.The result? I'm down to just one cable drawer.<br />
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Where'd the stuff go?</h4>
The other day I discovered the Best Buy recycling kiosk where you can get rid of old CDs/DVDs, rechargeable batteries, plastic bags and...cables! <br />
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Read the fine print</h4>
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Can I trust Best Buy with my junk? You're probably wondering what this could possibly mean. It means: do they do the right thing with my e-waste and the answer is yes, they do. If you visit <a href="http://bestbuy.com/recycling" rel="nofollow">bestbuy.com/recycling</a> and look for <i>Best Buy Recycling Standards</i> you can read all about the recycling process and the Recycling Partners . There are three listed on the site: <br />
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<li><a href="http://www.electronicrecyclers.com/" rel="nofollow">Electronic Recyclers International</a>, Fresno, CA</li>
<li><a href="http://www.e-structors.com/" rel="nofollow">E Structors</a>, Baltimore, MD</li>
<li><a href="http://www.regencytechnologies.com/" rel="nofollow">Regency Technologies</a>, Cleveland, OH</li>
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Of course I was compelled to do my due diligence and review each of the partners guidelines and policies. The findings: all three partners are R2 (Responsible Recycling) certified <i>and then some.</i> In a nutshell this means that e-waste will be broken down in a manner that complies with health and safety standards with minimal environmental impact. If you love factory tours check out this live stream video of the <a href="http://www.livestream.com/thebby/video?clipId=flv_4647d133-b208-4ba9-97dd-f4b25877f284" rel="nofollow">electronics breakdown process</a>.<br />
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More stuff</h4>
In addition to the recycling kiosk that can be found at the store entrance, Best Buy also accepts larger items in the store. Check out the <a href="http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Global-Promotions/Recycle-FAQs/pcmcat174700050009.c?id=pcmcat174700050009" rel="nofollow">recycling FAQ</a> for more information specific to each state. Here in NH e-waste recycling at Best Buy is free, but there is a limit of up to three items per day. <br />
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I love the spring and fall <a href="http://www.smalldog.com/ewaste" rel="nofollow">Small Dog Electronics e-waste events</a>, but now I've found the perfect solution for all of those<i> in-between</i> cleaning binges. <br />
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788424611129598247.post-88129269133111984672012-04-23T11:22:00.000-04:002012-04-23T12:00:21.386-04:00A B C, easy as 1 2 3Apologies, Fans, this is <i>not </i>going to be about the 1970 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABC_%28song%29" rel="nofollow">number-one hit song</a> by the Jackson 5.<br />
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It's not about <i>restaurants</i> either. The menu discussed below is a <i>menu</i> on a web site or in a software application.<br />
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It's about <b>Hick's Law. </b>From Wikipedia:<br />
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hick%27s_Law" target="_blank">Hick's Law</a><b></b>, named after British psychologist William Edmund Hick, or the <b>Hick–Hyman Law</b> (for Ray Hyman), describes the time it takes for a person to make a decision as a result of the possible choices he or she has...Hick's Law is sometimes cited to justify menu design decisions...if the list is alphabetical and the user knows the name of the command,
he or she may be able to use a subdividing strategy that works in
logarithmic time.</blockquote>
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What does this mean in English?</h4>
Because the human brain often seeks known patterns, putting the menu items on our new school web sites in alphabetical order intuitively made perfect sense to me even <i>before</i> I knew about Hick's Law. If a visitor to our web site is looking for a classroom teacher (s)he may intuit that there will be a staff list somewhere in the navigation menu. If the <i>staff</i> menu item joins the other menu items in alphabetical order , it will be easier for the visitor to locate the needed information.<br />
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Seeking patterns: classroom implications</h4>
Beyond the simplicity of putting menu items in alphabetical order, teachers can put more complex pattern seeking opportunities to work to support deeper learning for students as described in this article in ASCD's <i>Classroom Leadership</i>: <a href="http://www.ascd.org/publications/classroom-leadership/nov2000/Patterns,-the-Brain,-and-Learning.aspx" rel="" target="">Patterns, the Brain, and Learning</a>.<br />
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</h4>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6788424611129598247.post-63295771619876361122012-04-19T18:06:00.000-04:002012-04-19T18:15:51.023-04:00Red Leaf is useful!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Red leaf is useful! Especially when it comes bound together by those green velcro-like bands.</span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Anise is pretty useful too. </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">No further explanation needed! </span></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0