Edgaged

Depth of Knowledge Mr. Bounds, the assistant principal of Angola Middle School , is really challenging his staff to contemplate the types of assessment his teachers administer. By utilizing Webb's Depth of Knowledge , teachers are analyzing the tasks given to students and thinking of ways to increase the rigor to get a more accurate representation of student learning. I'm not attempting to play "buzzword bingo" here, but technology has certainly played a big part in the need to question how to assess students. I 've posted in the past in regard to Google Forms that my greatest concern is that questions being asked can be looked up with a simple Google search. Certainly, that doesn't accurately represent the student's knowledge on a subject.  My colleague had a concern regarding Google Forms. As the contemplate the type of questions, they often require more elements. There aren't a lot of formatting options in Google Forms and sometimes you n...

"How do I add voice in Google Slides? PowerPoint does it." This question should get frequent flyer miles. For so long my canned response was to use Screencastify or SnagIt (RIP) to record a video of the Slides presentation. To do this, students had to be good at using the Screencastify shortcuts to get a clean project without doing video editing. Sometimes this proved to be difficult for students as they could use a keyboard shortcut to pause the video. This typically caused confusion as to when they were actually recording. This was a frustration for a classroom of students that were fairly new to using Screencastify. There is certainly a learning curve when it comes to creating a good quality recording. Autoplay Saves the Day Google added a few features earlier this year that makes the process of creating a voice over in Google Slides much more palatable. By palatable, I mean that users no longer have to record the entire Slides presentation as a video. Th...

3D Printing What an opportunity we have as educators to bring creativity into the classroom. 3D printing is a process that allows users to dream up an idea and make it a reality. I recently worked with sixth graders through this process. For many, this was the first time they had ever seen a 3D printer. It was an obscure concept to them. Once they jumped into Tinkercad and saw it in action, students experienced scale, the metric system, and how ideas can be fabricated into reality.  A post shared by Lance Yoder (@edgaged) on May 16, 2017 at 9:13am PDT Tinkercad Workflow is key. Just like any other technology, there is a learning curve when it comes to using Tinkercad . The experience of knowing how to operate your tools and how it will affect the outcome plays a big factor int he usability in class. The common denominator when it comes to teachers not wanting to venture into the realm of 3D printing and using Tinkercad is the issue of time. It takes time to ...

Autodraw Google's Autodraw is extremely fun. Everyone has experienced the pains of attempting to draw on a device using a mouse or a touch-pad; it rarely turns out well. Google's Autodraw is an A.I. project where it predicts what you attempted to draw. Every time you release the click on your mouse, it pulls up a list of options at the top of your screen. When you select an item, it replaces your drawing with a clean and more realistic version of your own drawing. You then have the freedom to change the color of the object or insert fill color using the paint bucket. You even have the freedom to move and resize objects after you draw them.  Anyone can be an artist with Autodraw.  If you think Autodraw is pretty awesome, you should try it on a touchscreen device. Using this activity would obviously be easier if being able to draw objects by hand. It certainly increases the accuracy in predictability from Autodraw. I tried it on my Asus Chromebook Flip and it worked li...

Early Access MSD of Steuben County was fortunate to have a sneak peak at the new version of Google Sites. It was a great opportunity for students and teachers alike. Teachers now had the capability to build websites/resources that were simplistic and easy to use. Students could now build a website that was easy to understand and fully collaborative. We've had several teachers take advantage of the exciting opportunity Google Sites possesses for students to work on a website together. Imagine students being able to take a broad topic, break it down into multiple pages, and students build a learning resource together. This would not only benefit the group, but the entire class as the websites are easily shared via Classroom or a main website built by the teacher to host all the links.  All GSuite for Education school districts has access to the new version of Google Sites. Teachers will want to start thinking about utilizing it as the classic Google Sites will be depreci...

Connections Words with Friends is a powerful way to make connections with others. For a long time, it has provided a means for me to connect with my father. He and I have a common bond when it comes to word games. (In some ways, it is scary as I often feel like I'm playing against myself.) In my past place of employment, I would play fellow technology coaches and even my superintendent. Words with Friends has lost a little steam in popularity, but I still play with current colleagues. As a technology coordinator, it is important that I spend time with people and making connections. Believe it or not, Words with Friends has helped me accomplish that because the people I play like to discuss our games when I stroll through the hallways. Great Learning Experience What a great learning experience Words with Friends has to offer for students. Problem solving, vocabulary, and spelling are all benefits of playing Words with Friends. Long ago I had thought it would be great if st...

Need a Sideshow? Thanks to Matt Miller and Alice Keeler , a long missing feature in Google Slides is here. Ever want to create a quick slideshow with all of the pictures from your exciting field trip or special guest speaker in your classroom? Of course, we've all been there. In the past, I've always sent people to YouTube to use their video editor to import your images and create a video. ( Click here to see how. ) It is a great, free option. If you want it on a Slides presentation so visitors can click through each picture, Drive Slides will save the day. With a single click, Drive Slides will take all the pictures from a Google Drive folder and put them in a brand new Slides presentation. How to use Drive Slides What you'll need first to operate Drive Slides is the chrome extension which you can download by clicking here . Any pictures that you desire to be in a slideshow will need to be uploaded to a Google Drive folder. While in the destination folder, ...