What are Google Apps for Education Mini-Course

Lana Reeser, Kate Barton, and I worked together to create a mini-course on Google Apps for Education.  Lana and my schools switched to Google Apps for Education this year so we felt this was very applicable to our work.  Hope you enjoy!

What are Google Apps for Education

Who Owns the Learning?

Below is my Book Talk for Who Owns the Learning? by Alan November.

Great Apps for Math Teachers, and others too :)

Desmos graphing calculator, available for free on the web and as a free iPad app.  Allows students to graph equations and manipulate them.  

Common Core State Standards, iPad app.  Allows you to quickly view the CCSS for Language Arts and Math.

 SplashTop, iPad app that allows you to remotely access your desktop. Great for using with an interactive whiteboard so you can walk around while writing on the board.

Padlet, formerly Wallwisher, allows you to communicate thoughts on a wall simultaneously.  Great for exit tickets.  Available free online or as a Google chrome app.  There is talk that our students will receive Google Chromebooks as incoming freshman, so this would be a great app for them to put thoughts down, even anonymously if they want, for the teacher to see either during or after class.

MyScript Calculator, allows the user to hand write a problem and then it calculates the answer.  Also turns equations into typed form so you can copy and paste it into other documents.  Free for the iPad.

Math Workout, mental math workout game to improve basic skills.  Great for all levels.  Available as a free trial with a $.99 upgrade.

Algebra Touch, allows user to manipulate various difficulties of equations.  Great hands on learning.  Available for iPhones, iPod touch, and iPads for $2.99.

Math Ref, contains over 1400 formulas, figures and examples for math, chemistry, and physics.  Available as a free trial for iPhone and iPad, with a $1.99 upgrade fee.  


Khan Academy, math and science tutorial videos available for free on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.  Also available online at www.khanacademy.com




Gradebook Pro, electronic grade book   I've just downloaded this but based on the reviews it's a great portable grade book   You can use it to input grades, take attendance, add notes.  For me it seems like it will be a much quicker way to show students their grades rather than having to pull up their grades on our school's online grade book  which is typically very slow to log in to.  

Last year a county wide math grant that I am a member of purchased iPads for all of the teachers in the grant.  I have to admit I didn't use it much last year.  I plan to try and use some of these apps this year to enhance my students' learning.  Students are very comfortable with mobile devices, many have one on them 24/7, so I need to find a way to incorporate them into my classroom, other than using them as a basic calculator.  Based on the readings from this module, I will definitely be considering ways to incorporate mobile learning into my classroom and convincing others to do the same.  Why take away a technology kids are familiar with when it can be used to help them learn?

Currently our school allows cell phones to be used during passing periods and at lunch but they are not allowed to be used in the classroom.  Students are allowed to bring laptops, but many don't have them.  There is talk that each incoming freshman will be issued a Google Chromebook to carry with them to each class.  When I first heard this I was immediately against the idea.  However, after researching many different tools that students can use a laptop for in the classroom to support their learning, I'm beginning to think it will be a good idea, even in a math classroom.  Instead of handing out paper exit slips, students could log on to our classroom padlet and answer the question or post questions they have, even anonymously.  Instead of teaching kids how to use a handheld graphing calculator, which most students do not know how to do, we could log on to desmos and graph together, something they can do at home, as long as they have internet.  These are just a few of the ideas I've come up with as a result of this module.

Digital Citizenship

Below is a link to my action plan and presentation for Eastern Greene High School to include digital citizenship as a part of the curriculum.  

http://www.scribd.com/doc/155119653/Module-5

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1s2gZ06WHxePyi_0eRdgDgqahFS1_Bjcbk3aPR1Pnlq8/edit?usp=sharing

Flip Your Classroom Book Talk

Below is my book talk for Flip Your Classroom by Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams.

The Digital Divide - Is It Still Present?

Check out our VoiceThread below that our class had discussing the Digital Divide.

This section really hit home for me because the digital divide is very apparent at my school.  Many of my kids don't have access to the internet at home, and many, if they do, have a very slow connection.  Kelsey brought up this point and I agree, the divide doesn't necessarily mean do our students have a computer but do they have appropriate access?  If they have very slow connections having the internet may be a burden when trying to do homework online.  If I ask my kids to go to a website and play a game to reinforce the learning that we did in class and they have a connection at home that takes forever to load, this activity would actually be counterproductive.  So to me, the digital divide isn't just whether or not they have access, but do they have the best access they need.

New Literacies - The Key to the Future

Lana Reeser and I worked together to create a popplet for our graphic.  Hopefully this link works.  We've included some graphics and YouTube videos that explain what each literacy are.  Lana created this Tagxedo to show that the words are interconnected and are the "key" to success in the 21st century.

Here's a link to our document: New Literacies Document