VARtek Blog

From Jackie in Ohio: “I follow the technology news sometimes and heard about Coursera offering free online classes. Which ones should I take?” Well folks, unless you’ve been living under a rock or something for the past year, you’ve no doubt heard about Coursera too, the edtech non-profit that brings college classes straight to your computer for free. As it happens, they just added a ton of news classes and universities to their roster, so now is a better time than ever to join! Depending on what you want to learn about, Coursera has a variety of classes available. Two Classes Every Teacher Should Take The first class I think would be beneficial for educators to follow along with is the E-learning and Digital Cultures course. If you’re interested in edtech at all, and you probably are if you’re reading this, you should take this class. Second, the Fundamentals of Online Education course will delve into a little bit more detail about how to start incorporating effective, Internet-based elements into your curriculum. This one should be very good indeed. For the Tech Geeks Us technology geeks are a special breed, since it seems we have an unlimited capacity to learn about...

From Carole in Pennsylvania: “Do you have suggestions for sites to find movies for the nurse to teach subjects like dental hygiene, sun saftey, hygiene, etc.?” Thanks for writing to us Carole! I’ve looked at some of the major kids health websites out there, and I’ve tried to gather up some of the best for this post. Some of the sites separate videos out by age group or grade level, but others don’t make that distinction. I’ve tried to include a few of both so that you can target multiple groups of students. WatchKnowLearn.org aggregates educational videos on a large number of topics. They have over 1000 physical and health education videos, so there’s a lot to choose from. Their interface isn’t so nice though, so be sure to drill down through the list of subcategories to find what you’re looking for. BrainPOP is a neat site that you may already be familiar with. They have a lot of health-related games and videos. The downside to BrainPOP is that you’ll need to buy a subscription to use the site to it’s fullest extent, but be sure to check with your school first, they may already have one! For younger students, PBS...

From Kyle: “I saw on your Twitter last month that you got a certification for [Google] Apps for Edu. How was the test? Was it worth getting certified?” Thanks for writing in Kyle! (Here’s the link to the Twitter post of mine that he’s referencing.) Let me break down the exam structure for you below. Google’s Apps for Edu main certification page is here. As you can see, they have a “training center” full of study materials that review the material that will be on the exams. I would recommend going over this stuff thoroughly. They also detail the two levels of certification that individuals can achieve: either the “Individual Qualification” status or the actual “Certified Trainer” title. Lastly, you can also search their directory listings for certified people. My GAFE Individual Qualification Certificate Preparing for the Qualification Exams The first step is to take the Individual Qualification exams. Before you can do that, of course, you need to study. I would read all six sections of the material in-depth, and probably take notes using either pen and paper or Evernote. Now, there’s no restrictions against having your notes open while you take the exams, at least as far as I...

From Pam in Arkansas: “I want to keep up with the latest news in education and technology. There’s so much information out there though, I’m not sure where to start without drowning! Help!” This was a big problem for me too, Pam. As always, the more you look into a given topic, the more and more interesting facts and questions you uncover. Here’s a short primer on how I keep up with the flow of edtech information. Use an RSS Feed Reader As you know, visiting websites one by one is tedious and time-consuming. Luckily, RSS feeds (when paired with a “feed reader”) allow updates from most websites to come to you instead of the other way around. Common Craft has a neat video that explains the concept. I use Google Reader to subscribe to the RSS feeds of websites I like. From then on, I just visit my Google Reader page to read all the latest news. This can save you a ton of time in the long run. Here are some edtech blogs and sites to get you started: ISTE Connects Blog Spotlight on Digital Media and Learning Free Technology for Teachers The VARtek blog :-) Participate in Communities...

From Richard in Virginia: “I have a Facebook account, and I know most of my students do too. How can I use it to communicate with them on school-related topics without ‘friending’ them. Our district won’t allow that.” Thanks for the question Richard! Facebook is playing an ever-larger role in students’ lives, so its almost inevitable that it will spill over into education in some form. In this case, privacy is an especially important factor. Luckily, it is possible to use Facebook Groups in such a way that it allows teachers and students interact in a safe manner. What is a Facebook Group? A Facebook Group is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. It creates a special page on Facebook where group members can post all sorts of things: Events (big tests coming up, class field trips, etc.) Photos (results of experiments, play rehearsals, etc.) Documents (study guides, classroom notes or rules, etc.) Questions (homework help, advice from teachers, etc.) These groups create the possibility for all sorts of interaction. Students will probably love it too, since it’s on their own terms and on a site they already use anyway. Fortunately, all of this is possible without you ever having...

From Barb in Ohio: “I’m not a fan of my districts science textbooks. Are there better options available digitally? [...] What are the important trends?” Thanks for writing Barb! Your question is an important one, since digital textbooks are bound to become more and more important as schools slowly but surely realize the advantages of digital content. There are currently a handful of specialized companies venturing into the digital textbook market. Two of the most well-known are Kno and Inkling. Both of these firms follow the same basic model: they make textbooks for the iPad that are full of features that regular books don’t have, and then they sell those books (often for less than their physical counterparts). Yes, there are some limitations there. Most glaringly, the vast majority of schools currently have not implemented a 1-to-1 computing model with iPads. This actually gets to the heart of the matter when it comes to digital textbooks: to take advantage of the awesome features that such textbooks have, a mobile touch-screen device is almost (but not quite) a prerequisite. Several efforts are underway to get around this limitation. Although Inkling’s content only works on the iPad, Kno has a web interface for...

From Mike in Arkansas: “My school just unblocked Youtube for all students and staff. We couldn’t use it before, so I’m not sure what’s good and what isn’t. Can you point me to some of the better educational videos out there?” Sure thing Mike! Unfortunately, Mike didn’t say what he teaches, so I’m going to have to do my best to round up videos for the main subjects. Also, the way YouTube works is that when a user uploads a video, that video resides inside that user’s “channel.” So instead of pointing you to individual videos, I’ll be giving examples of channels that publish some of the coolest educational content available on YouTube. Math The granddaddy of all math channels is, of course, the Khan Academy. With over 3000 videos, they have content covering every last nook and cranny of mathematics, ranging from basic addition to differential equations. This may be the only channel you’ll ever need as far as math goes. That said, there are some other great mathematics channels out there, like MathTV and StatisticsFun. Although these two channels cover higher-order math concepts, there are lots of others which cover every level of math you could think of. Social...

From Trisha in Pennsylvania: “I heard that schools can save a lot of money by using computers ‘in the cloud.’ But what the heck does that mean?” First of all, it’s important to realize that the phrase “the cloud” is just a fancy metaphor. There is no actual, physical computer “cloud” that you can see or touch, because it’s basically just a shorthand term used by tech-savvy folk. Think of it this way: you use electricity every single day, and the beauty of it is that you don’t have to worry about where it’s from, how it’s made, or how it gets to your house. At the end of the month, you simply receive a bill for the amount you used. Overall, it’s pretty simple and elegant concept. The idea behind cloud computing is similar. You simply “rent” the provider’s digital storage or computing power for your own use without having to worry about how these things work internally. At the end of a certain time period, you simply pay your bill. That’s all there is to it! As an example, Pinboard is a relatively simple cloud service that lets people bookmark websites. Before such services emerged, you had to bookmark...

From Tammy in Pennsylvania: “I use Wikipedia a lot at home to look up things. Should I let my students use it in the classroom? Is it reliable?” Wikipedia has long been one of the best sources to go to when you need a broad overview of a subject in very little time. That being said, it does have some downsides that you need to be aware of before using it in class. As far as citing articles goes, the best rule is of course to always use common sense. While I was in college I used Wikipedia to help with all sorts of class-related papers and projects, but I always sought out the sources themselves and used those, not Wikipedia directly. Indeed, Wikipedia itself states: “…as with all reference works, not everything in Wikipedia is accurate, comprehensive, or unbiased.” They go on to give several guidelines for using the site that are also pretty common sense: Always be cautious when relying on any one single source for information Check the referenced sources to ensure they support what the article says Never cite Wikipedia directly, always refer to the sources and cite those The quality of the articles can vary wildly...

From Cindy in Ohio: “What’s the best site for a class blog? I tried Blogger, but I want my students to be able to post things as well.” Good question, Cindy! There are a few blogging websites out there that teachers and students alike can use to create a class blog. Edublogs is one that’s specifically designed for classroom use. Others include Blogger, WordPress.com, and Posterous. While all of those platforms are great, the problem with them is that they require your students to have email addresses or accounts before they are able to submit posts. Tumblr, though, does not have this requirement, and that’s why it’s my favorite service to use for creating class blogs. Signup is easy enough, just enter your email address, a password, and the URL you want for your class blog (i.e. ClassBlogName.Tumblr.com). Once you have your blog created, you can go into the “Submissions” area of the settings and choose to let people submit posts. Be sure to save your settings at the bottom of the page! Once you have that configured, simply direct your students to your new blog’s “Submit” page. For example, I created a quick demonstration blog that you can see here. In my...