Register Today for January's Parent #TechTuesday Sessions

The DLC team is again offering Parent #TechTuesday sessions at 2:15PM - 2:45PM focused on upskilling parents in the use of digital tools. The January sessions will focus on specific questions for you, the parents. The three sessions will be run in a Q&A format. Please submit the question(s) you have HERE so we can prepare to serve you when you attend. We ask that you bring a device if you have one so you can click along during our sessions. Laptops, tablets or phones will be handy.  The sessions will be in the DLC office on campus.

Please REGISTER for an event on the events calendar on the right side of our ET blog. When you click on the event title, you will then click the red "register" button.

The DLC Team hopes to see you a session!

Tips For Keyboarding at Home

Good keyboarding skills are essential if we are going to use our computers effectively and efficiently. The most important thing with keyboarding is realizing that good keyboarding is based on neurological patterning ... we groove this into our brain.  To do this well it is essential that we type with our fingers on the home keys in a consistent manner.

Home Keys:

Learning to base our hands on the home keys will help us become very fast, efficient typists.  We can find the home keys by the raised dot or bumpy lines on the F and J keys.  Index fingers rest there and other fingers rest beside them in a straight line.  Thumbs rest on the space bar.  Imagine your fingers are glued to these keys and that one finger at a time can stretch up or down to other keys, but immediately springs back to its home once it has typed the letter.

Wrist Position
It is really important not to rest your wrists on the computer or the table as you will build an incorrect neurological pattern and a bad habit.  This could cause problems if keyboarding a lot later in life, as you will be putting ongoing pressure on the medial nerve in your rests and could cause repetitive strain injuries.  Aim for a straight line across your forearm into your hand as in the third picture below.

Seating

It is difficult to have a good wrist position if you are not seated at the correct height table and chair.  Ideally your feet should be flat on the floor and your shoulders relaxed, allowing your forearms and wrists to come straight over the keyboard.  

How Do I Know If I am Doing Ok?

Typing is a balance between speed and accuracy.  Accuracy is the most important.  You are aiming to keep you accuracy percentage between 90 and 95%.  If it's higher than 95%, focus more on improving your speed.  If it's lower than 90%, slow and down and focus on your accuracy.  Speed will come if you stay consistent on home keys and accuracy.

If you are using keyboarding online, we have preset the accuracy for you and allowed quite a slow speed, so just focus on home keys and being as accurate and consistent as possible.  Try and keep a steady rhythm.

Have fun!

Is the Internet making us small minded?

Image: BBC website: http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20161212-algorithms-are-making-us-small-minded

http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20161212-algorithms-are-making-us-small-minded

A very interesting article from the BBC website.

Quotes from the article 

"We live in a world of curation. The internet — aided by algorithms that predict what we search, buy, listen to, read, watch and even who we want to date and marry — expertly helps to us find what we want."

"Rather than taking us out of our comfort zone, the digital revolution is enabling each of us to live happily in our own worlds, and in the process closing down opportunities for originality, spontaneity and learning."

Full article

• By Sydney Finkelstein 

Teach fractiosn right from you Chrome browser

   Chrome extension available in the Chrome store  (free)

Be in to win! What would you like to see at a #TechTuesday/#WiredWednesday in 2017?

Seoul Foreign School Teachers...



Please click on the link to fill out the Google Form below with some topics you'd like to see covered at an upcoming #TechTuesday/#WiredWednesday Session!

Google Form Link

Fill in the form to go into the draw for an iTunes gift card.

Parents and Digital Media

"Nine hours and 22 minutes is the average time parents spend with screen media daily, including for personal and work use. 7:43 of that time is devoted to personal screen media ..."

Common sense media just released (December , 2016) their latest research on parents and digital media.  It highlights parent personal use, thoughts and concerns about their children's use and provides some fascinating reading.  For a more indepth look at their report, you can go here or to their website.

Design your own games

Students...Want to design your own games?   Gamestar Mechanic

Gamestar Site

Using STEM to break Hot Wheels loop record

.

Quick Screen Shot - a Chrome extension

Alice Keeler, a well known educator (check out her website, alicekeeler.com) , has commissioned a Chrome extension that will allow you to take a quick screenshot and save automatically in Google Drive. The link to the screenshot is copied into the clipboard allowing you to paste and share.
Alice recommends this for those using Google Classroom. You can take the screenshot and paste the link into Classroom to distribute to your students.
Well worth a look.

http://alicekeeler.com/2016/09/22/quickshare-screenshot-chrome-extension/

Watch Youtube clips in 360 degrees

Watch a Youtube clip on a mobile device and be able to rotate yourself to feel fully immersed in the video. See example below.

Is Mastery the goal? Salman Kahn at TEDTalks

VoiceThread - New features

1. The ability for students to add their own media to your Voicethread without being a teacher. This is a great way for them to add what they know to the topic using voice, video or a file. I believe it will also allow other to comment on other students slides as well.

2. Coming soon will be the ability to integrate with Google Drive. It will be easy to draw content directly from your Drive into your VoiceThread.

For more information on using VoiceThread at SFS, contact alan.hoskin@seoulforeign.org

Collaborate with Commenters

For over 10 years, VoiceThreaders have created vibrant, engaging conversations and projects. Now creating collaborative VoiceThreads is even easier!  Next week commenters will be able to add slides to VoiceThreads without needing full edit access.

This feature will be available on Friday, October 28.  Learn more here.

What else is new in VoiceThread?

Find Comments
It’s quick and easy to find all comments made by a specific person on a VoiceThread! Whether you’re evaluating student work or just want to hear everything a particular person has to say, use the new comment search feature to quickly pull up anyone’s comments.  

YouTube Imports
Just grab the share link for any YouTube video and use that in the URL import option when creating a slide. This will pull that YouTube video into your VoiceThread so that you can record comments and doodle on it.

Copied Settings
Now when you copy a VoiceThread, the preferences you set on the original are copied over to the new one.  This is a small update with a big impact, especially when it comes to using VoiceThread for multiple projects or courses.

Coming Soon!

Google Drive Integration
Import your documents and other Google Drive files into VoiceThread. Any files that VoiceThread can accept normally can be imported from your Drive, including your active documents.

Kaltura Integration
Integrate VoiceThread with your institution’s Kaltura License to quickly and easily pull your video content into VoiceThread.  This is a great way to have dynamic conversations around the content you’re already creating.

Register Today for Parent #TechTuesday Sessions in November!

The DLC team is again offering Parent #TechTuesday sessions at 2:15PM - 2:45PM focused on upskilling parents in the use of digital tools. The November sessions will focus on the Google's G Suite. We ask that you bring a device if you have one so you can click along during our sessions. Laptops, tablets or phones will be handy.  The sessions will be in the DLC office on campus.

Please REGISTER for an event on the events calendar on the right side of our ET blog.

The DLC Team hopes to see you at an event!

Which of your students inspires you?

How about telling a student that they inspire you and why.

Ancient Wonders captured in 3D

Ben Kacyra's foundation uses the technology his company has developed to create archives of world heritage sites. His mission is to capture in 3D, 50 heritage sites in five years (That was in 2011).

The video captures his presentation at a TED Talk in 2011 where he explains his work and why it is important.

To find out more visit his website and see some of the cool projects he has been working on at Cyark.

New Screen Time Recommendations From The AAP

The American Association of Pediatricians have just released a new definition of screentime and accompanying guidelines.

"For the new guidelines, the AAP identifies screen time as time spent using digital media for entertainment purposes. Other uses of media, such as online homework, don't count as screen time."

The article is an excellent read and has specific guidelines and strategies for parents of children at different ages.  Check it out here.

Useful app: Google Chrome App launcher customizer

Do you want to add or manage Google Apps in Chrome? Now you can using the Google Chrome App launcher customizer.
Rearrange your Google Apps so your favorites appear at the top of the dropdown menu. You can also add other Google Apps as well.

Article about the customizer (ComputerWorld)
http://www.computerworld.com/article/2475118/internet/how-to-customize-google-s-new-web-app-launcher.html

Get the app from the Chrome store
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/app-launcher-customizer-f/ponjkmladgjfjgllmhnkhgbgocdigcjm

New Handy iOS 10 Features

On October 11, 2016, the Parent #TechTuesday Session covered some of the new features inside of iOS 10 for the iPhone and iPad.

Below is the presentation that was shared with the Parents that attended.

Parenting In A Digital World

Parenting our children in a digital world can be intimidating.  How do we manage it?  Where do we go for help?

Check out this excellent Podcast from Two Fat Expats - they have some great things to say about how they manage social media and digital life with their families.  It's well worth a listen.  One of the key ideas that comes through in this podcast is, "it's all about having ongoing conversations and dialogue with our children" ...

Additionally, there are some fabulous resources, strategies and food for thought over on The Modern Parent blog by Martine.  Martine is a parent of 5, with a background in education and counseling.  She has lots of great thoughts, tips and strategies for parenting in a digital world.

Common Sense Media also has some fabulous resources for families.  You can check them out here.

Want some other adfree viewing options?

Whilst many people have adblock installed on their computers, there are some other options for safely viewing videos in the classroom.

On her teaching blog, "The Brown Bag Teacher", Catherine Reed suggests some great options that are working well for her in her classroom.  I personally like the first one she suggests:- View Pure.  Check the rest out here.

Additionally, with YouTube, you can download the video simply by putting an "ss" in front of the "y" for YouTube.

So if the original link was  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghk-nDJB3Tk

The download would be https://www.ssyoutube.com/watch?v=ghk-nDJB3Tk  which takes you to the save from net website.

Circle - A Great Way For Managing Technology In The Home

Sometimes we struggle to manage technology in the home.  Our children have homework on the computer but when we check in ... they are surfing social media ... texting with friends ... and doing many things but the homework they sat down to do.  How can we help our children manage their technology?  You may want to check out Circle.

Circle is a relatively new device that can be used to manage all your home's connected devices.  With it you can filter content, manage screen time, set bed times and have a very clear picture of how online time is being used.  Each user in the house gets a profile and you can customize this as needed.

Additionally, you are able to pause/freeze internet use for any/all of the users in your circle.  Great for those times you want instant attention in your family ;)

For those of you wondering how this works outside of wifi, Circle offer an additional service called Circle Go, which extends the circle to cellular and wifi networks.  This may not work in Korea - we haven't tested it yet.  Circle Go is paid on a monthly subscription.

A friend using Circle with her family suggests the most powerful part of it for their family is being able to have conversations on how internet time is being managed and make changes as necessary.

At present Circle is approximately $90 USD and is only available from Amazon in the USA. Although it was launched with mac and iOS devices, it has now extended to Android as well.

You can check out a detailed parent review here.

Group brainstorming a waste of time?

#whyopen brainstorm | by hardcorekancil

We all have used brainstorming sessions in our classes to find out what the students know or for that big idea. But is it the best way to find the pulse of the group or the best and most creative ideas?

The following article by Claire Karjalainen on the Trello Blog, exposes the myths and pitfalls of using brainstorming. Although this is written for a business context I think you will agree that the factors she lays out can apply in classroom situations as well.

Thankfully Karjalainen also give some pointers on how to get those great ideas from the group.

Why Group Brainstorming Doesn’t Work

EdTech Team U. Online training courses available

Tracy Purdy Director of Online Learning

Announcing EdTechTeam U EdTechTeam now offers anytime, anywhere learning to help you advance your skills and knowledge! Explore and discover our ever expanding catalog of online courses that have been built and designed with U in mind. Our courses include 15 hours of deep learning, application, and authenticity.  Each course connects you to global experts on each topic and build you a valuable and supportive learning community.

1 Credit Courses Launching October 3rd: Google Drive and Docs Google Forms and Sheets Google Slides and Drawings 1 Credit Courses Launching November 7th: YouTube in the Classroom Gmail and Calendar Assistive Technology Math and GAFE Even More Courses Coming soon! iPads and GAFE The New Google Sites Design Thinking REGISTER NOW for EdTechTeam U

Register Today for Parent #TechTuesday Sessions in October!

The DLC team is again offering Parent #TechTuesday sessions at 2:15PM - 2:45PM focused on upskilling parents in the use of digital tools. The October sessions will focus on Apple operating systems on the MacBook and iPhone. We ask that you bring a device if you have one so you can click along during our sessions. MacBooks will be handy for the October 4 and October 18 sessions. An iPhone will be handy for the October 11 session. The sessions will be in the DLC office on campus.

Please REGISTER for an event on the events calendar on the right side of our ET blog.

The DLC Team hopes to see you at an event!

Web Search with Reading Lexile rating

Looking for web content that is suited to your students reading level or even having them find the material themselves?

Our library system has this ability, it is called WebPath Express.
Go to the following link to start the search process. You do not need to be logged in to conduct a search but you do need to be logged in (with school account details) if you want to save the search for later.

Talk to your Section Librarian for further information and how to share a saved list of searches with your students.

WebPath Express

For information on Lexile (including the scale).

Online VoiceThread Workshops for October

No Images? Click here

Join us in October for our free workshops! If you are new to VoiceThread or just want some new ideas, we can help you with these interactive and hands-on sessions.

See All Workshops

 

VoiceThread Mobile​
October 4 at 7:00pm ET - Register here

Online course design has changed a lot in the last 10 years. Over 80% of students now use smartphones and tablets for academic work. In this workshop, participants will learn how to design lessons with mobile learners in mind. We will explore the differences between VoiceThread’s mobile app and the traditional browser version, and participate in hands-on activities.

VoiceThread and Universal Design for Learning (UDL)​
October 18 at 7:00pm ET - Register here

Participants will learn how VoiceThread can help educators provide multiple means of engagement, representation, action and expression for their courses. Participants will learn how to use VoiceThread’s multi-modal communication platform, closed captioning feature, and VoiceThread Universal to design accessible lessons.

VoiceThread and Common Core Lesson Design​
October 25 at 7:00pm ET - Register here

Are you looking for innovative ways to create lessons aligned with Common Core standards? In this K-12 focused workshop, participants will discuss lesson design and learn to blend Common Core and VoiceThread in a variety of ways. We will show examples for ELA, History, Speaking and Listening, and Math standards.

VoiceThread Basics 1 - Upload, Comment, and Share
November 1 at 7:00pm ET - Register here

Participants will learn how to upload media, comment and annotate on that media, and share it with others. This will be a slow paced, step-by-step, hands-on workshop. It is open to both VoiceThread license holders and free members.

 

About the Workshops

These workshops are completely free.  Each one is led by George Haines, an instructional designer, online educator, and former K-12 teacher.  George will share his expertise to help you get the most from VoiceThread.

Important iPhone Update

Apple have a new update (iOS 9.3.5) which you need to download on your devices.  The download is a fix for recently known security issues.  As always, you can do this directly on your device.

The Mac Observer writes the following:

Last week a mobile security company (Lookout) and the advanced research laboratory at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto (Citizen Lab), released details of a sophisticated, targeted, and persistent mobile attack on iOS devices. The big deal is that this attack can jailbreak an iOS device without the user’s knowledge and collect information from apps including Gmail, Facebook, Skype, WhatsApp, Calendar, FaceTime, and more.

Apple quickly released an update to secure user phones/ipads, which is why you need to update.  For more information from Mac Observer you can go here.

To update your devices, go to Settings > General > Software update.  If 9.3.5 is available, download and update asap!

Setting Up A Shared Folder in Google Photos

Setting up a shared album in google photos is very simple.  (You may want to upload a single photo first as it seems to help with the setup process!)  Check out the screen cast below.

Uploading to Shared Google Photo Galleries

Shared google photo galleries are a great way to collect class photos or photos for different projects.

In order to upload to a shared google gallery, you will need to have a gmail account.

If you download the google photos app you will find the process very quick and easy without a lot of extra steps.


How To Upload To A Shared Gallery (Google Photos App Installed)
Share the link with your album contributors and you are off and running.

Step One:  Click the shared album link

Step Two:  Click the photos icon 

Step 3A:  Choose Your Photos From Your Gallery

Clicking on the photos link should take you straight to your photo library.  If it doesn't see step 3B below (applicable if you do not have the google photos app installed).

Choose your photos by clicking on the ones that you want and then click DONE.  You should now see your photo in the Photo Gallery.  To caption/comment on it, check out Step Four below.

Step 3B:  (For Devices without the google photos app)  Choose Your Photos From Your Gallery

If you are on an older android device and the upload photos link does not take you straight into your device's photo gallery, you may need an extra couple of steps to get to get there:

Choose Select From Computer


Tap Documents

Select Images

                                           

Click on Camera Folder

Tap to Choose Image.  It should now upload to the library.

Step 4:  Using the Comments Feature to Caption/Comment On A Photo

Once your picture is uploaded to the gallery, it would be helpful to add a comment to it so we have more information.  You can do this by using the comments feature.  Tap a picture and look for the comments bubble below.  It will either appear on or below the photo and looks like a speech bubble.

Tap on that and add your comment.  When you are finished you can click send to upload your comment.

Students: Changing your password

It is important to keep your password secure. One way of doing this is changing it on a regular basis. To change your password for the SFS systems (wifi and Google Apps) do the following:

Log into apps.seoulforeign.org
Select Student Resources
Click on Change password

This will change the password for SFSWifi and Google Apps so that the next time you log in, you will need to use the new password.

You will also need to change the password on your printer setting.

Go to Print in any application
Select Print from System Dialogue (especially if you are in Chrome)
Select Job Accounting from the dropdown menu
Make sure the Owner name is your school login details
Change Passcode to your new password
Click Done.

Below is a screencast showing this process.

A Date With Google Calendar

Google calendar is an awesome tool.  You can layer personal, work and family calendars to keep a track of all you need to in your busy week.  If you need to find a meeting time with multiple people, its super easy in Google Calendar (providing you are all using it!).  Check out the screenshots and videos below for more info.

Left Hand Side:
Month view - click on a day and it will take you there directly.

My Calendars
This is where you will see any calendars that you own (ones that you have created).  You can turn them on and off by clicking on the check box next the calendar you want to see.

Other Calendars
This is where you will find calendars of other people.  You can click on the down arrow next to other calendars to add more.

Layering Calendars

Making Events and Find A Common Time For Multiple Guests

Booking Resources (eg. computer carts or school rooms)

New iMovie: How to Use Green Screen

Have you made the switch to the new version of iMovie?  Have you had some trouble figuring out how to edit your movie in ways that you used to know how to do?  This is the first post in a new series that will try and show you the updated features of iMovie and get you back to making amazing videos.

Green Screen

Green screen is a great way to improve the overall appearance of your Movie.  It can be used to make you appear to be places that you could never get to in real life.  It can add to the creative nature of your project.  It can also be very trick to get to work correctly.  

In the old version of iMove you needed to turn on green screen in the advanced tools section of iMovie preferences.  in New iMovie, greens screen comes already activated and ready for you to use.  It does behave a bit differently than in previous versions of the software, so I have created a short screencast to show you how to use it:

Here are some important tips to get your green screen to turn out right:

• Be sure that the subject of your video is not wearing blue or green clothing or they might disappear into the background.
• Make sure that the green screen you are using is a nice, rich green color, or it might not work.  
• Try to have even lighting in on the green screen itself.  Shadows and bright spots on the green screen can show through.
• Finally, it is best to do a test shot to see if everything looks right before you film a large clip.  It would be frustrating to get the clip recorded perfectly, only to find out that the greens screen isn't right.

POWERTEACHER PRO IS HERE!

PowerTeacher Pro is the new grade book just released by PowerSchool. In the HS we will begin using it this year (from the beginning of the year). One huge advantage over the old grade book is that PowerTeacher Pro is web-based. You don't need to install any software and you don't have to launch the grade book in a separate screen every time.

On Monday August 15th the HS will have a training session on how to use PowerTeacher Pro. You will also have time to set up your grade book and practice. Here are some resources to help you:

PowerTeacher Pro User Guide

Taking Attendance Video 

Questions for PowerSchool Support

Videos

 Part 1

 Part 2

Pagoda Basics: Screencast Resources

To help you get acquainted with our virtual learning environment (VLE) we have posted a link to HaikuLearning introductory screencasts.

Be aware that if you are viewing the link in Chrome or Firefox, you may find that the screencast does not load. You should notice a grey shield appearing in the address bar of your browser. Click on the shield and select to view the content. 

To get you started

Haiku: Getting started (5:05)

How to create a Haiku class (8:33)

How to Add Pages (4:22)

How to Add Content Blocks (e.g. Text and Images) (9:36)

How to add a Google calendar to Haiku (3:50)

How to embed a GoogleDoc (2:46)

How to embed the web (basic) (4:15)

More screencast tutorials

HaikuLearning screencasts