Technology Tuesday - Supporting Differentiation in the Classroom

Differentiating Content:

Here are a few tools to help in finding content suited to the different levels in your classroom.

Twurdy - http://twurdy.com - Need to find content to help in differentiation in the classroom?   Twurdy searched the internet and labels results with a readability score.  The darker orange the background of the result is the higher readability level it has.  This would be great when searching  for materials for struggling readers and for the gifted students who need more of a challenge.   The have their own scale system so be sure to check out the feature to turn the age level to understand their system.

Google Reading Level - Google also has a search filter that will sort results based on Basic, Intermediate and Advanced Reading Levels.   Type in your search term(s) and then click on the reading level you want to focus on to see the websites that fall in that category.

Text Compactor  - http://textcompactor.com/ - Create a summary of your text by pasting in the passage, drag the slider to show how much of the text you want to keep in the summary and then view the results.   You can also cut and paste the results into a text to speech program or into a language translator to help process the information even more.  This could be used for those ELL students or for struggling readers to comprehend the text.  Or use it in the writing process as students pasting in their own writing and determining if the created summary really reflects what was intended by the student.

Sweet Search - http://www.sweetsearch.com/ - A search engine designed to give results based on analyzing the credibility of the website so students will have access to information that is more accurate than random sites.   This website also contains widgets that you can place on your website so that students can use it as a launching point for searches in class and at home.

 

Differentiating Product

This is easy with Web 2.0 technology tools.  Students do not need to all create the same product, but choices can be given to allow them to choose a method that is more in alignment with their intelligences.  All these tools help students create.  According to the Digital Bloom's taxonomy - creating is on the high end of the spectrum of critical thinking tools.  You don't have to be an expert in all of these tools.  Tutorials already exist in youtube or by talking to other teachers who have the how-to papers ready to go.  Students are ready to learn the program to accomplish the product so let them try!

Create:

• Videos : Animoto, MovieMaker, PhotoStory,


• Webpages: Google Sites, Wix, Weebly, Wikispaces


• Interactive Timelines: Dipity


• Interactive Posters: Glogster


• Interactive Presentations: Voicethread, Prezi, Thinglink


• Audio presentations: Podcasts with Audacity

This list is not comprehensive, but this should get you started.

Management of Differentiated Products:

Worried about grading all these different products?   With the design of a good rubric grading can be easy as the content should always be what you are looking for no matter what the packaging is.   Rubistar is a great place to start in designing a rubric.

Tammy Worcester had a great idea of how to gather all the links/products into one place with a digital dropbox.  Using a google form, create a place for students to turn in their links for easy access to all products posted online.

Example:

Resources:

http://cooltoolsfor21stcenturylearners.wikispaces.com/Flexible+Learning+Paths

Tech Thursday - March 29th

I know it has been a little bit between posts, but with Google Apps testing and a wicked allergy season blogging moved to the end of my to do list.

Anyway - today I am looking at easy ways to create screencasts for your students.  Screencasts make excellent reviews or tutorials for students to access at home or on their on in class.  This is also an essential tool if you ever think about flipping your classroom.



Screenr - http://www.screenr.com/ - Is a free service that is a web-based recorder.  You can record your voice as the screen is recorded to create up to a 5 minute video.  The size of the screen to be recorded can also be customized.  The screencasts can be shared via link or by embedding them on a webpage with the provided embed code.

ScreenCast-O-Matic - http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/ - Allows for up to 15 minute videos and also allows the recorder to pause the screen and  highlight the mouse.  The video can be downloaded in a variety of formats and then can be loaded into Youtube so it can be embedded on your webpage.

ScreenCastle - http://screencastle.com - Click the record button and set the size of your screen before you begin recording.  After recording the video is uploaded to their website and you are provided links to use or an embed code.  Free and easy to use, although a little basic for me.



Jing - http://www.techsmith.com/jing.html?gclid=CKrqiuyhjK8CFUpjTAodRAHbFg - this is a great resource to create 5 minute videos based on what is happening on your screen and your voiceover.  The user can determine what part of the screen they want to capture in either screen shots or video.  Once done the video is in flash format and will need to be converted before loaded into Youtube.   This does require a download, but the software is free.

 

I must say I am partial to Jing as I have the most experience with it, but it does require a download and frequent updates which can be a pain if you don't have that type of access to your computer.   What is your favorite?

Technology Tuesday: Free Classroom Tools

In the training I attended yesterday the presenter used some pretty slick digital tools to time activities and choose people to call on.  Although that software was for sale, I also know there are some free alternatives that will do some of the same things.  Here are a few to explore before spending your money:

Triptico:  This is an installation, but once installed you have access to classroom timers, random number/name pickers and spinners.  All of these tools can be created ahead of time and saved on your computer for access use later on. Files can also be shared, so if teacher A creates a great spinner, then that file can be shared to Teacher B, C, D, etc without a problem.  This program also has several other templates including quizzes, scoring, and games.

ClassTools.net - offers free tools that do not require a download.  It has a classroom timer complete with your choice of soundtrack to run during the countdown.  It also has a random name/number picker for using to pick what student in each group you would like to call on.  These would have to be created as you need them and cannot be saved for future use.  You may want to save any lists you create in a word doc to be able to copy and paste over for quick access.

Online_Stopwatch:  Is also a free online tool that does not require a download.  This timer will count up or down and will go full screen to gain attention of the students.  This is one of my favorites to use!

Smart Notebook:  If you already have a smart slate or smart board in your room, check out the Notebook Gallery section and do a search for a spinner.  The default is for 4 sections, but that can be changed as can the labels and colors.   They also have a random number generator that can be used to randomly pick numbers in the number range that you set.  These can also be shared amongst the other smart slate users on a campus.

I also know several of my staff has iPads or other devices they bring to campus on a regular basis.  Check out the app store to find free apps for timers to use.

If you know of any other good tools to share (or apps), please leave them in the comments below.

 

Twitter Tuesdays - September 27th

Video Resources:

YouTube Channel for Teachers:

@pseudotechgeek: RT @mheducation: YouTube goes live with new channel for #teachers: ~by @tinabarseghian #edtech  http://www.youtube.com/teachers

Another Good Professional Development Website is Teaching Channel:http://www.teachingchannel.org - a web site dediecated to bringing you good teaching videos to help you grow professionally

 Khan Academy - instructional videos in math, science and the humanities.   Excellent videos to post on your website for reteaching opportunities or to shos in class so kids can hear and see it a different way.

@educationweek: Blog: Learning Math the Khan Academy Way #edtech
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/DigitalEducation/2011/09/elearning_update_learning_the.html
http://www.khanacademy.org/

Good Technology Modeling for Students:

Ideas on Way to be a good Technology Role Model

RT @pschoolsystems: 20 Everyday Ways to Model Technology Use for Students http://bit.ly/n6BmKv #edchat #edtech
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/20-ways-model-technology-students-heather-wolpert-gawron

 Digital Storytelling:

 28 Digital Storytelling Tools for Educators

 RT @missnoor28: Digital #Storytelling Tools for Educators | @scoopit http://j.mp/pAUCVQ #edtech #edchat
http://www.scoop.it/t/the-best-of-storytelling/p/388615148/digital-storytelling-tools-for-educators

 

 

Twitter Tuesday - September 20th

Bloom's Taxonomy

Webtool divided out by Bloom's taxonomy - great resource to find new tools

@shannonmmiller and @mrplough07-Tools for Teaching Students at the Top of Bloom's Taxonomy: https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dhsgv8zv_4143np48dg

Digital Storytelling Tools

@cossie29: Updated- Digital Storytelling Tools on @scoopit So many fantastic tools out there to encourage a passion for writing!  http://www.scoop.it/t/digital-storytelling-tools

QR Codes in the Classroom

@SadlierSchool: Using QR Codes in the Classroom via @edutopia http://t.co/qFeULjNj #edchat #edtech @dgrice @rjacklin @dawblack :)
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/qr-codes-education-mary-beth-hertz?utm_source=housead&utm_medium=post&utm_content=blog&utm_campaign=qrcodesinclassroom

Flipped Classroom -

Firsthand accounts of teaching in a flipped classrom.

@haikulearning: 7 Stories from Educators About Teaching in the Flipped Classroom (via Emerging Ed Tech) http://t.co/9xO5dXlT #edtech  http://www.emergingedtech.com/2011/09/7-stories-from-educators-about-teaching-in-the-flipped-classroom/

A great infographic explaining what a flipped classroom is and how it developed.

subatomicdoc: The Flipped Classroom [Infographic] via @Knewton #meded #edtech  http://www.knewton.com/flipped-classroom/

Facebook and Summarization

The difference between using twitter and facebook is that Facebook statuses can be longer than 140 characters.  But keep in mind that facebook statuses should not be paragraphs of information.    Facebook posts are written to express your thoughts or opinions to you friends so a post should not read as if it is a report written for your teacher.  Most students have a facebook account or have at least seen or heard of facebook.  While using facebook is not advisable, you can take advantage of it's draw to motivate students in your classroom.  This can be done with one computer and a projector or with multiple computers.

 Here are some ideas to have students summarize with using facebook in mind:

• Write a status update from a historical perspective or from the perspective or a character in the novel or an element in science


• What would Columbus have posted after landing in the New World?


• What would Robert E Lee’s posts been during the Civil War?


• What would Peeta have posted after the first day in the Hunger Games?

 Other ideas using facebook:

• Respond to a status update – Show a sample status update on the board and have the students respond to it from different points of view:
  
  
  
  • Read King George’s status update after the Boston Tea Party – how would Samuel Adams have responded?
  
  
  
  


• RolePlay - have students/classes assume different characters and interact with each other in a facebook like environment such as edmodo - or in a forum within moodle.

Ways to play this out in the classroom:

•  
  
  
  
  • Roles assigned to each class period - As a class look at the postings on the screen and decide the best response
  
  
  • Roles assigned to different teachers  - Interact with different classrooms as a class - partner with teacher who teaches your same grade level/subject in the building or find classes outside of the building who will assume a character adn interact with your classes
  
  
  • break the class into groups and have the groups assume a character and decide together how to interact
  
  
  • Roles assigned to different students
  
  
  
  

 

Resources to make this happen:

• Create a non-interactive fake facebook wall for a character http://myfakewall.com/


•  Secure Social Networking Site for schools - http://www.edmodo.com/ - Create your own facebook like environment and have kids use the characters name as theirs to make posts.

Idea #4 - Concept Mapping with Inspiration

Want to increase brain activity in your students,  encourage active comprehension and step-up dynamic discussions in the classroom?  It all can be done with one simple activity of concept mapping.

Today’s idea uses  the software Inspiration 8 (installed on all teacher machines on campus) and your projector.  The document camera can also be incorporated as student's share the maps they have created.



Why use Inspiration?

1. It's easy and already loaded on all teacher machines on campus.


2. Inspiration provides pre-made templates to get the concept map going for the big screen (choose New - From Template to see the options)


3. Keeps the map organized and easy to read for the class.


4. Circles can be changed to clip art for more of a visual impact.


5. Brainstorming is easy with the lightening bolt icon.


6. Maps and ideas can be easily rearranged without starting over.


7. Finished products can be saved as Word files and placed online for those who missed the class.

Ideas on How to Use Concept Mapping in the Classroom:

As a reading strategy:

1. Pre-reading:  have students brainstorm what they know about the items listed on the skelton concept map.  Add those ideas in and have students record on their own papers.

2. During Reading - Students then read the assigned passage and add in more details as they learn them.

3. Post reading - Compare maps with the class and add in details students might have missed.  (Use the document camera to show student's original maps.)

Extension:

• 
  
  
  
  • Sub-topics can be recorded on note-cards and students can add in more details about that topic as they read/learn more
  
  
  • Cards can then be turned into a paragraphs within a research paper.
  
  
  • Each sub-topic could become a research topic for the class.
  
  
  
  

As a note-taking strategy:

1. Give students a partially filled concept map and have them add to it as you discuss, research, etc. the topic given.


2. Have students create their own map of the story/event with main characters/main events in ech sub-circle and details surrounding from there.

Getting Started:

Download a how-to guide for Inspiration 8:  How to Use Inspiration 8

Watch a quick tutorial on the software here:


Documentation and research on using concept mapping in the classroom is based from "Classroom Instruction that Works" by Robert Marzano and Project Criss.

Idea #1 - Teach Students How to Read the Textbook

With the addition of document cameras and ceiling mounted projectors in the classroom, the challenge is learning to use this new technology to it's fullest.   This is the first in a series to offer teachers ideas:

Idea #1:  Teach Students How to Read the Textbook

Students do not automatically know how to read any given  textbook.  Each book is different with it's own structure and style.  Using a document camera and a projector, teachers can teach students to analyze the structure of their textbooks so that they can better comprehend what they are reading.

Students who have more knowledge of text structure learn more from expository material that students who are not aware of text structure.

The document camera makes it easy by allowing the teacher to project the textbook onto the screen for all to see, instead of having to hold up the book and hope students are looking at the same place they are.

The video walks you through the basics of teaching students to evaluate the structure of a textbook and to identify the resources provided.



For more information on teaching students how to read a textbook see:

• http://www.addchoices.com/reading_text.htm


• http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/25816.aspx

YouTube Video Tools for Teachers

Here are a few video tools for YouTube  all teachers should know about:

YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/

TubeChop - http://www.tubechop.com/ - Ever had a video on Youtube that you only wanted to show part of?  This website helps with that.

1. Find a YouTube Video you want to clip


2. Copy the URL - and go to http://www.tubechop.com/


3. Paste in the url into the provided box on the webpage


4. Select video and choose "Chop It."


5. Choose the portion of the video you want to keep by dragging the markers on the beginning and end of the clip and click on "Chop It"


6. The website then provide you with a link to your chopped video as well as an embed code to place that clip on a webpage.

Kick You Tube - - Download YouTube videos for future use.       You have options on what format you want to save the video and downloaded videos can be stored on Thumb drives or DVD's for access when the network is down or you don't want to rely on streaming.  Basically you type in the work "kick" in the url before"youtube" and follow the instructions.

A great tutorial on how to do this can be found at Tammy Worcester Tip of the Week.

YouTube to Mp3 Converter - http://www.video2mp3.net/ - convert video clips into mp3 clips.  Good when looking for sound bites for instruction.

Glogster - Create an Interactive Poster

Making a poster, creating a model, or drawing a picture all help increase activity in the brain by having students take information in one form and transform it into another. Classroom Instruction that Works indicates that using nonlinguistic representations achieved a 27 percentile gain  As a history teacher I also found those assignments more enjoyable to grade than essays where they students copied information from books and online resources without ever thinking about what they were writing.

So how to make use of this technique using technology?  One way is Glogster.

What is Glogster EDU?

Glogster EDU is the educational version of the Glogster site.  Teachers and students can design interactive posters that incorporate artwork, videos, music, links to other websites, wordles, etc.

Sample Math Glog:

Teachers are given 100 free student accounts to allow students to create their own glogs under the teacher's account.  User names and passwords are automatically generated and sent to the teacher's account.

Finished products can be embedded into wikis, webpages, or teacherweb sites using the provided html embed code.  You can also link to the glog itself.

The site provides background templates and frames to get you started in all sorts of themes.

See this glog on Glogster EDU for more info: http://thilby.edu.glogster.com/glogsteredu/

(Warning - make sure you are using the EDU version for your students.  Glogs found on the original site may not be suitable for all audiences.)

Getting Started:

If you are ready to try this resource out, go to http://edu.glogster.com/register/ and register for an account.

For a step by step tutorial check out - Glogster Tutorial Page - by Traci Blazosky

Uses in the Classroom:

• Create a glog as the homepage for a class project with all the info.


• Using a projector use the glog as a the home base for your lesson or discussion in class.


• replace traditional poster board projects with a glog


• group images together to set the tone for a historical unit or a novel's setting


• gather all the notes together for a math concept so the formulas and examples are all in one place.


• Create a glog to replace a research paper. (If they are copying all the info from online anyway - why not show them how to link to those sources and write a summary that introduces the link?)

Sample Glog for To Kill a Mockingbird:

Resources:

• Hooked on Glogster by Brenda Dyck

Getting started with Audacity

I had a request from the 6th grade science teachers to create a video tutorial on Audacity so kids who choose to make a podcast in an upcoming webquest, could do so if they so chose.  I thought I would share the video here as well.



Here is the handout that goes with it.  Audacity Basics

Interactive Excel - Conditional Formating

One thing I learned at TCEA was how to use conditional formatting in Excel.  This is probably something everyone else knows how to do, but I had always wondered how this was done, but had never asked.  Since this is new to me, I thought I would share.

Conditional Formatting:

I always wondered how people made excel sheets that seemed interactive.  It comes down to formatting.

If you type in a question:  What is the capital of Texas?

In the cell you want an answer for, you tell it  - "If the text types in = Austin, turn the cell green.  If the text typed in does not = Austin then turn the cell red."

Here is a short tutorial video on how to do this in Excel 2003:

Excel - Conditional Formatting in 2003

Here is a short tutorial video for Excel 2007:

So how would you use this?

New Year's Resolutions: PowerPoint

With the New Year I thought I would focus on a few New Year's Technology Resolutions.  The first one is: "I will learn to avoid the commons PowerPoint mistakes."

PowerPoint is a great tool for getting information presented to a group of people, but too often we try to make PowerPoint do too much for us.

Here is a humorous look at the ways we go wrong with PowerPoint:



(If the video is not visible - you can also see it here: How NOT to use PowerPoint!)

Here are some guidelines to go by when making OR assigning powerpoints:

1. Keep it Simple!

• No more than 6 lines of text per slide and each line should have no more than 6 words.


• No paragraphs! (This is a presentation tool and not a research paper)


• Limit graphics, animations and Wordart


• Sound effects should enhance the presentation and should only be used sparingly.  Remember sound can slow things down and get old very quickly.


• Your presentation should not be more entertaining than you are.  It is the background not the main attraction.

2. Make it Readable!

• Font size should be at least 28 pt.


• Backgrounds should be subtle colors and be consistent.


• Font colors should stand out on the page.

3. Proof Your Presentation:

• Spell check is your friend!


• Stand back about 6 feet from the screen and make sure the slides and easy to read and that the colors work together.  Also check any charts or graphs to make sure they are legible.


• Check for animation and sound errors.  If you get tired of waiting for the animations to run, chances are your audience will too.

Anything else you can add on making a good PowerPoint?

New Look - New Efforts

I was looking over my blog tonight and realized how LONG my posts have gotten lately.  So along with a new appearance I want to try to get back to short and sweet tips on using technology in the classroom.  The ideas are there, but I need to slow down and break them into smaller chunks.  At least I think so.

Any comments or input?  :)

Emebedding PowerPoint with Slide Share

So many teachers have created wonderful powerpoints to use in their teaching.  The problem then is how to give access to the presentation for the students who were absent, or maybe for those who would like to review the materials later.

No matter what site you choose to house your teacher web page, space is always an issue.  Powerpoints are space hogs and can eat up the alloted space very quickly.

One solution is to outsource or find a third party source to house the powerpoint which leaves the space on your website for other types of files.

SlideShare is a site that I have used lately for presentations, and most recently for the school web page.  This website allows you to upload powerpoints up to 100mb in size and then you can link to the file or embed the file onto any website.  Viewers can choose to view the powerpoint full screen or in the provided window, but they don't have to download the file or have powerpoint on their compter to view the files.

How to use the site:

1. Sign up for a free account.


2. Click on "Upload"


3. Browse for your presentation (more than one file can be chosen at a time).  Note - for PowerPoint 2007 users, the web site asks that you have saved your presenation as a .ppt and not a .pptx file.


4. Choose your settings:
   
   
   
   • Name your file (or keep the name it has),
   
   
   • Enter tags or key words so it can be searched
   
   
   • Set the privacy levels (if you keep it public others can use your work - a nice way to give back for the ideas you borrow from others)
   
   
   • Give a brief description
   
   
   • Decide if you want others to be able to download the file, or only view in online.
   
   
   • Click on "Publish"
   
   
   
   


5. It could take a few minutes to make the file available for viewing.  once it is converted, you can link to the file, or embed it onto your website.


6. To Embed your powerpoint:
   
   
   
   • Click on the file to open it in slideshare
   
   
   • Locate the Embed code on the right side of the screen.
   
   
   • Copy the code
   
   
   • Paste it into the blog, wiki or web page of your choice (note: the code is html and will need to be pasted in html mode)
   
   
   • Save and test the file.
   
   
   
   

Here is an example of what it looks like once embeded.  (This was a powerpoint I used this summer in training.)

Wiki Summer Training2

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own.

Here are is an example of slideshare embedded on a wiki page:

• http://teachwiki.wikispaces.com/WebQuests08

Here is the link to my account on slideshare:

• http://www.slideshare.net/robiny

Another nice thing about this program is that you can search other people's powerpoints and use them in your teaching.

So give it a try and let me know what you think.

How to Podcast - sort of...

This post explains a work around to posting audio files when you don't have the space to host and stream the files.

Back in the fall the US History teachers wanted to post student created audio files and videos quickly (24 hours turn around). We didn't have a space to host these types of files for easy access.  I could handle the video portion with the help of TeacherTube.  But where to host the audio files easily?  We decided to try TeacherTube as well, but first needed to transfer the audio to video files.  Here is our solution:

1. Gathered audio files (created with Audacity) saved as wav files.


2. Created a splash page using a PowerPoint slide and saving the slide as a jpg.


3. Using PhotoStory 3 - import the PowerPoint slide. (Note: take off the pan and scan option in customize motion - scanning across text slides can be annoying!)


4. Import your audio file. 


5. Preview the file to make sure the entire audio file plays.


6. Save the project and save it as for best for playback on your computer.

We then uploaded all the video files and the "audio" files (now videos) to Teacher Tube.  This allowed us to embed the files into the student's wiki pages. 



This started the school on the path to podcasting, even though this was technically not podcasting.  Now we have a blog space that can hos the files and provide the syndication needed to classify it as a "podcast."

YouTube on PowerPoint

Did you know that you can embed YouTube video into PowerPoint 2002?  I just figured this out and wanted to share what I learned.  This only works when the computer you will be showing the powerpoint on will be connected to the internet.

Find the movie you want to embed and find the URL:

• 
  
  In the address bar is the url  - highlight that info and copy it.
  Ex. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcqJoE_78a0


• 
  
  You must change the url by deleting the “watch?” and replace the “=” with a “/” |
  Ex. http://www.youtube.com/ v/YcqJoE_78a0


• 
  
  Note: http://www.youtube.com/ - will always be the same
  The end string “YcqJoE_78a0” is specific for each video.

To Embed it into PowerPoint:

1.   Open a Slide

2.   Go to View – Tools – Control Toolbox

3.   Click on the more controls button (hammer) and scroll down to find Shockwave Flash Object.

4.   A cross-hairs will appear for the cursor – so click and drag a box where you want the video to appear.

5.   Right click in the box and choose “properties”

6.   A properties box will appear  - scroll down to the item titled “Movie” and paste in the URL for the video.

7.   Save – view show.  The video will play once you double click on it, just like embedding on a website. 

 

That's it!   A few more steps than embedding it online, but a nice trick to know for making teaching presentations.

Del.icio.us - Social Bookmarking

or - How to Meet Friends and Influence People

With summer fast approaching (although not approaching soon enough) plans are already being made as to what people want to learn over the summer.  Most people have their favorite internet sites bookmarked on a computer and the question is how to access those sites from other computers to avoid having to find your resources again.

One solution is http://del.icio.us- It is a social bookmarking site where you can bookmark your favorite places and then have access to all of your links online by logging into your account from any internet connected computer. 

Web sites can be recalled by how you label or "tag" them.  Tags are key words that describe the site so later if you want to organize all your links to see what you tagged as "chemistry" you look on the right hand side column for your list of tags and click on chemistry.  Only those sites that you used that word for will appear.  The difference between that and using folders in Internet Explorer is that the sites can be filed under multiple "tags" and can be reorganized at any point by clicking on another tag.  Very flexible!




That is the basic function, but how can you make friends in delicious?   Delicious can also link you to people who are interested in the same things you are.  Once you bookmark a site, you can then see who else has bookmarked that site, and what else they have bookmarked.  If they have common interests you can add them to your network list and share internet sites you find with them and vice versa.   Once you have a friends list going, you can send them links that you think they might be interested in as well.

 

Getting Started:  Here are a few links to help you set up your account and to use Delicious to it's full extent.

• Step by Step Directions for Setting Up and Using Delicious


• 10 Ways to use Del.icio.us

Google Search Tricks

Google is a powerful search engine and can do so much more than just return websites that have the info you are looking for.  I thought I would find a few of those tricks and pass them along.

 8 Google Search Tricks:

1. Specialized Information Searches:

• Definitions: You can get a word defined in by using "define:warriors"


• Want to find food in a hurry?  Type in the type of food and the zip code or city and the closest business are returned in the results.  ex.  pizza 78664


• Weather:  find local weather by typing in weather and the city or zip code.

2. Restrict Information:

• Search Within a WebSite: If you put a word/term and then "site:" and then the domain name  you can conduct a search within that web site.  For example if you put "podcast site:robinstechtips.com"  you would be searching for podcasts within this website only.


• Search within a range of numbers.  Ex  BIll Cosby parenting 2007 2008  will return anything posted from Bill Cosby on parenting between 2007 and 2008

3. Calculator - Basic Math Operations: Type in a equation and google will do the math for you  ex. 12 + 34 - 56 * 7 / 8. 

• Functions include: + – * /


• Percentages  - % of


• Raise to the power of ^ or **  ex. 2^5 or 2**5


• Convert currency:  Enter the conversion you want Google to preform:  ex: currency of Mexico in USD or 40 USD in Euros

4. Filetype - Want to find pdf files, or just have powerpoints returned?  type in the search terms and add "filetype:ppt"

5. What Time is it?  Find out the time anywhere by asking "what time is it in Zimbobwe"

6. Track Flight Status:  No need to go to the airlines page - just type in the airline + Flight + flight number.  ex. Southwest Flight 805

7. Search for Related Terms - adding a ~ will opens results to terms that are related to the search word. ~education returns results with schools, universites, teachers, etc.

8. Phone Book - type in the name and city, state to return phone numbers

Not a Search Trick  - But did you know:  Google Maps now contains 360° views at the street level - Type in your address and look around your street. 

Do you have any favorite tricks in Google to share?

Resources used to prepare this list:

• http://www.googleguide.com/advanced_operators_reference.html


• http://lifehacker.com/339474/top-10-obscure-google-search-tricks


• http://www.google.com/help/features.html#calculator

Web Wandering Wednesdays - April 16

Need Pictures:

Comp Flight - http://compfight.com/

• What is it?  Searches Flickr for photos for the term you give it.  The results are returned on one page in thumbnail form instead of a list of images that you have to page through in Flickr.  Hold your mouse over an image and you can see the image resolution information. 


• What are applications for it in the classroom? -  Great if you need pictures for a presentation, but don't want to spend forever looking. 


• Tips:  Don't save from the results page -those images are thumbnails only and the resolution is VERY low.  Not kid friendly on the searches so be careful about terms and who is searching.

NARA on Google: http://video.google.com/nara.html

• What is It? - The National Archives has teamed up with Google Video to digitize it's file collection.  Includes footage from NASA, United Newsreels and Department of the Interior.


• What are the applications for the classroom?  Videos can be added to any presentation or be used in a teaching just as you would United Streaming.  Example: You can stream or dowload video from the past to show students what was happening when the novel you are reading was set.

Library of Congress Pictures on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/

• What is It?- The Library of Congress teamed up with Flickr earlier this year to make it's collection of photographs available.  You can search within this collection to find historical photos on sports, lifestyle or political events.


• What are the applications for the classroom?-  Anywhere you need pictures to illustrate a point being taught.  Great for Powerpoints, PhotoStory presentations, etc.

Timeline Software:

Mnemograph - http://mnemograph.com/ - Instructions: http://mnemograph.com/instructions/

• What is it?- Creates online timelines that are interactive.  Photos and text can be imported in.


• What are applications for it in the classroom? - 
  
  
  
  • Create a class timeline about
    
    
    
    • the novel being read
    
    
    • scientific discoveries
    
    
    • events in history.  - Example - American Civil War: http://mnemograph.com/app/viewer.php?uid=line_eacbe63816351cfcbe61f5bdb8fd8cb9
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • Add to it as you learn more.  
  
  
  • Compare two timelines together to see how events overlapped and may have influenced each other.
  
  
  
  

 XTimeline - http://www.xtimeline.com/

What is it?- Create your own online timelines or view those that have been created.

What are applications for it in the classroom? - 

Has pre-made timelines for viewing

Editors can be added to the timeline

Create a class time lines (see above)

Thanks to http://techchicktips.net/ and http://www.techedknow.com/ for sharing these resources!

Attention Ridgeview Middle School Subscrbers:  If you let me know you read this before I send it out to the campus, there are prizes for having subscribed!   Leave a comment about one of the resources, or send me an email to claim it.  Thanks!