Apple TV in the Classroom (Macbook Airs)

I think that an issue that many people have when viewing how to use technology use in the classroom is that they only look at the surface abilities of a tool.  Take for example an Apple TV which can be connected to a projector or TV in the classroom.  You can easily see that the Apple TV can be very useful for playing videos and other content found in iTunes, YouTube or other places online.  What many people do not see is what the ability to wirelessly project from an iPad or a Macbook Air laptop can have in the classroom.

(Since my school is equipped with Macbook Airs, I will focus on them but many of the uses I discuss can be applied to iPads and there is a lot of information out there already about this.)

Connecting a Macbook Air to an Apple TV wirelessly is fairly easy and can be set up so that any computer can connect in order to share what is on their computer.  I suggest setting up your Apple TV so that you have it for a passcode instead of a password.  The passcode allows only the person who can see the screen to connect, meaning that a student can not try to connect to it while they are in another room.  And always remember that you can use the menu button on the remote to kick a person off of the Apple TV if they start sharing something inappropriate or out of bounds.

That sharing feature is the most critical component to the use of an Apple TV in the classroom.  While you can easily connect to the iTunes store, YouTube, Khan Academy and any of the media sites that are included with the Apple TV, the ability to share what is on a student's laptop may be key.  This can easily allow the students to help lead the learning and to share what they think and how they developed that understanding.

Lets work out a few cases to see how this could work.

• A student in a language arts class could quickly show off their writing and explain the reasoning for what they wrote.  They could also quickly show corrections or changes that are made by the group so that their writing becomes more effective.
• A science student could show the data they collected in the lab and how they analyzed it to develop their conclusion.  They could even show off simulations to help explain their ideas that they developed from the experiment.
• A math student could show off the correct graph for an equation or how to solve for that unknown variable.  

All of these are quick, little scenarios that show how we can easily have our students sharing their learning.  By giving the students the ability to quickly share with the rest of the class or their group, we can create a more collaborative learning environment.  The teacher is not the sole director of learning and students need to be able to share and compare their ideas in order to develop a deeper level of understanding.  

Not to mention it takes very little time for a student to wirelessly connect to an Apple TV when compared to the time it takes to connect their computer physically or to share the item with the teacher who would then connect.

What other pieces of technology can we use in our classroom in order to help form a more collaborative learning environment?

Attending a Conference Through Twitter

One of the biggest reasons that I push Twitter on to ever teacher I meet is that I find that it has so many benefits in my own personal growth as an educator.  One of the prime examples of that is when I want to be at an educational conference but can not go due to time or budget constraints.  This week I am following the Florida ed tech conference and am learning a lot that I can use now and some that I will keep for later.

Tips for how to follow

• Find the hashtag for the conference, the hashtag will be in the format of #______.
• Use Tweetdeck in a Chrome browser to easily see different hashtag searches.  This helps you to easily follow multiple subjects and then easily allows you to connect with those at the conference.

Follow new people

• A conference is perfect time to find new people to follow on Twitter.  Find those posts that you really like and follow those people.  
• Often times if you start following someone, they may follow you which will create a new opportunity to make a connection.

Saving good posts for later

• Find some way to save those tweets that you find really useful or informative.  You can favorite a tweet and then go back to see which tweets you favorited.  Or...
• You can use a ifttt recipe to save your favorite tweets to something like Evernote or a Google Doc or Spreadsheet.
• https://sites.google.com/a/ames.k12.ia.us/ahs-technology-integration/home/blog-posts/usingifttttoautomatetheinternet

Filtering spammers

• Unfortunately once there are a lot of people tweeting out using the same hashtag the spam bots will show up.  These are automated programs that send out tweets using the most popular hashtags at the time that will also include links which often lead you to a virus riddled site.
• If you are in Tweetdeck, you can easily filter out the common words that the spam bots are using so that you can remove them from your timeline.  
• Click the button next to the hashtag you are searching.

• Select "Content"

• Add the common words you are seeing in the spam tweets into the "Excluding" box.  Typically you will see "new followers" as a common term to filter.

Ed Tech Idea #325*

*This is just a random number, did not feel like putting 1 there but also wanted to start a weird numbering sequence.


While looking at action cameras the other day, think GoPro and the Sony Action Cam, I started thinking about how we could use these in education.  If a gadget I buy can also be used at work, I find it easier to get it.  I know that Google Glass is gaining a lot of popularity by teachers who are finding great uses in the classroom but that is well beyond the value on my gift card.

My ideas centered around getting the perspective of the students in the classroom for the teacher to use to self-evaluate their own lessons.  Often times we find it difficult to visualize what our classes look like from the student perspective.  This would be an easy way for a teacher to have a student wear the camera to record the class and then the teacher could watch it later.  This would not just be some footage from the corner, this would show the class from the actual student perspective.

Running at a cost right now from $170-$200 for the base line models of the GoPro and the Sony Action Cam, this is not something everyone could do but if one person had it they could always lend it out.  I have always offered up my gadgets to others to use when I am not, spread the wealth I say.

These cameras would also make it easier to record certain events like experiments or field trips and the time lapse feature could capture some very interesting information over a period of time.  The key is to think about what information you could get and use now that you could not get before.

Some information I found about POV cameras in the classroom; http://www.profkindt.com/site/POV_media.html.

Celebrating Nerds!

This past weekend I spent a good portion of my Saturday cheering on the Ames High Science Bowl team as they competed at the state competition at Iowa State University.  During my first three years of teaching I was the coach for our Science Bowl team at Jefferson High School in Cedar Rapids, IA.  (Events are in January so that was the January of 2005 - 2008)  This is a competition that is held every year and draws teams from around the state.  Students must prepare and study content that is not covered in most science classes.

(Quick sidenote: I do not view the term "nerds" as a negative word to use.  I am a nerd and proud of it.  I am also a bit of a geek, there is a difference.  I always tried telling my students this so that any of my students who feel bad when they are called a nerd can look at it as a positive term, because being smart and successful should not be something to be ashamed of.  Typically those who view the term "nerd" as a negative one should be the ones who feel ashamed.)

As a teacher I do not go to many of the main sporting events, mostly because it is nice to have a little time with my family and there are enough others that go so I don't feel like they need my support, although I give support to everyone during the school day by congratulating them on whatever competition they were in.  I do however always feel a need to go to any of the non-athletic events that may not see much support.  As a student I participated in these events and as a teacher I am always willing to help out.  Last year I was lucky enough to help with our Science Olympiad team and went with them to help as they competed at Nationals at Wright State University.

Let me state right here that I love sports, I love watching them and I love playing them.  My wife is very happy that after Sunday she will see more of me as there will be no more football games for me to watch until August.  So this is not a rant against sports.

This is a commentary on the fact that so few feel the desire to go cheer on the academic teams that compete.  I hardly ever see any parents at the Science Bowl, even for the teams that did not travel very far.  I do not see other teachers going to support their students.  I never see administrators there either.  So knowing this, I wanted to go and cheer on our students that were competing for a chance to go to Nationals in D.C. and show that they have worked hard for this.  These students practice and prepare, just like any other activity, but there is hardly ever a cheering crowd for them.  They do this knowing that most of the time the most publicity they will get is a quick announcement the next week, if there is time.  They also know that there is a greater chance that something like this will help them out in their future learning as many of the national winners receive scholarships to help further their education.

And if people would have gone to cheer on our team, they would have seen some great competitions.  ( A little background, there are 48 teams that compete and the morning rounds are a round robin to trim that count to 16 teams.  It becomes a double elimination competition in the afternoon with the winner going to Nationals.)  Ames tied Kennedy during regulation in their first match of the afternoon, something that coaches who have been doing this for a while had never seen.  Ames won after a 5 question overtime and then went on to beat a few other teams closely, with one coming down to the final bonus question to win by 2 points.  They eventually made it to the championship, without a loss, and faced Central Academy for the second time that afternoon.  The first contest was that one decided by 2 points and this one was close but Ames pulled away for the win.  They are the state champions and are going to get to go to Nationals in Washington D.C.  I am very happy for them and their coach as they are rewarded for all of their effort and time.

If we really do place a large emphasis on learning during the school day, then why don't we place that same emphasis on supporting and cheering on our academic teams.  I guess many people don't see the joy in watching a competition where there is no physical contact, but that doesn't mean that these teams don't deserve the same support we give to all other teams.  The next time you have the chance, go watch one of these competitions and cheer on those students that deserved to be cheered on, not forgotten.