Online VoiceThread Workshops for October

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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.