earthtree.org

Here’s a great tutorial on from Kevin Riebau on how to permanently tell your computer which application you want it to use when opening certain files.

An issue that keeps coming up - enough to warrant the production of the following 1min video - is that of files not opening in our preferred program. Many times this is due to upgrading software like Microsoft’s Word ‘03 to Word ‘07 and Promethean’s ActivStudio to ActivInspire. For example, the issue is that when you click on a .doc file, it doesn’t automatically open in Word ‘07 (because .docx files do that initially). The idea is that you want to customize what app your files open in - typically the upgraded software or your preferred program. The following movie will show you how to make your files automatically do this all the time and the process can be applied to any kind of files and their associated prgrams (for instance all audio filetypes .mp3, .aiff, .wav with iTunes).

This evening, Aaron Berthold and I presented to the Technology Steering Committee. Our focus was illustrating where netbooks fit in to education and how the netbooks are being used. Aaron spoke about from macroscopic perspective and I presented from the microscopic perspective of how teachers are using netbooks.

The presentation I created follows closely Robert Marzano meta-research for classroom strategies that have the greatest impact on student achievement. Presentation (ppt) The presentation contains links to many useful resources that are free.

This video below was created by Tom Fox and clearly demonstrates the benefits of using 1 to 1 computing with blogging to foster greater literacy among students. Watching the video, you’ll notice that several of the strategies that Marzano writes about are mentioned; summarizing & notetaking, reinforcing effort & providing recognition, and providing feedback.

I was reading one of my favorite blogs (NashWorld) the other night and stumbled upon the work of Punya Mishra from MSU. He has done some amazing work highlighting the need for utilizing relevant technology in the classroom with Lee Shulman’s work on Pedagogical Content Knowledge.

This morning I presented to the Technical Services Department five of my favorite ways that teachers are using technology in the classroom. Specifically, I focused on the computer, projector and visualizer.  There are thousands of examples to choose from, so it was nice to have a clean way of organizing my ideas. I leaned heavily on Punya’s work for the presentation below and am quite thankful that he shares his talents.

If you are interested, my attempt at blending Punya’s work with presentation is below in the form of a Google presentation. Below, I’ve added links to the 5 parts of Punya’s video. His videos are definitely worth your time. Check it out!

My Presentation on Creative Teachers | Punya Mishra’s Keynote: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5,

Do you sometimes wish you could do a Vulcan Mind Meld with your students in order to get a better understanding of strengths and weaknesses? If so, check out Mr. Riebau’s post on Student Response Systems.

Use ActiVotes & ActivExpressions Without an Interactive Whiteboard! Yes, that’s right, you heard correctly! You can use those student response systems like the Votes and Expressions without being in possesion of a board. I’ve found from many of my visits with teachers that there is a general misconception that they need a board in order to use these gadgets. The reality is, if you… READ MORE

image: http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/startrek/images/thumb/3/34/MindMeld.jpg/180px-MindMeld.jpg