High School Tech Communication - March 16 - 31

Technology HOTSPOTS @ AISC?

Widi’s Words of Wisdom:

Do you like the idea of Flipping or Blended Classroom?   Do you want to support your ELL students without much effort from you?

I do for the following reasons;

• Students and parents have access to the course content anytime
• Students and parents have the opportunity to get engaged from anywhere
• The structure enables participants to prepare for face-to-face classroom activities
• Accrued evolution of the content and structure make it easier to facilitate the course

I could go on and on making the list why Flipping classroom is great. However, I would like to share one of the many apps that I just got into it and fall in love. The apps is called Blendspace.

I use this app to provide stronger support for English Language Learners (ELLs). One might asks: “How does it help ELLs?” Well, simply put, this apps enable teachers to provide greater access. Our school has embraced inclusion approach, in which it creates higher challenges, especially for lower level ELLs. There is nothing wrong with challenging ELLs Beginner level. However, the high challenge  is not fair without to access the course contents is  minimal. We should be conscious about providing proper accommodation for those learners in need. In fact, providing greater access helps all students. Blendspace is a tool that will enable us provide better support so learners could have greater access to course materials.

Here is an example of a Blended lesson. I would like express my gratitude to Ms. Geetha Venugopal and Ms. Priya Mukesh for coaching me into using Blendspace. I also would like to thank Ms. Paula Frampton who urged me to use Blenspace to provide stronger access for ELLs.

Have a great Spring Break !!!

Do you want to use Blendspace?  School has a trial account now for you to try... Follow on:

We have a 6 weeks trial on the new Blendspace for Schools.  The new exicting features: You can add a class, you can add your students, you can add the contents of the lesson, create a quiz, and YOU DON’T NEED TO GRADE!  You can add an additional lesson content if mastery is not achieved.  The units can be made sequentially that the student needs to complete one to go to the next one.  It provides analytics of the test results at one glance with the information on who mastered the concept/skill and who has not.  Please design at least one unit and try it out.....

Here is how:

In order to sign into Blendspace for Schools, you'll need to follow the the instructions below:

1. Register on Blendspace for Schools at http://next.blendspace.com/register. (Note, this is not the same as http://www.blendspace.com)

2. When Blendspace for Schools asks for a school code, use this: aisch

3. How-To Document for Blendspace for Schools Basics

The following link is a living How-To Document that updates as we add new features - use it to learn more about Blendspace for Schools:

https://onedrive.live.com/view.aspx?resid=978ACF7D49462994!240&app=Word&wdo=2&authkey=!AN0Nz7aPpQFHjAQ

Google Awesome Updates:

There are many occasions I have been frustrated when I cannot crop an image  in my Google presentations.   The problem has been solved!

Now you can add borders and crop the images in your slides from your Google presentation. Here is how:

https://support.google.com/drive/answer/4600160?p=crop_images&rd=1

Google Add-ons:

There is a lot of buzz about Google's recent unveiling of its Add-Ons for Documents and Sheets. While Google's online applications have a lot going for them, especially in regards to sharing and collaborative writing, people often miss many of the features of the vastly more powerful Microsoft Word and Excel programs. This is now partly balanced with Google's new add-ons - third party, use-specific apps that can be selected and installed from a "Google Play" like collection and then triggered directly within a Google Doc or Spreadsheet.

They are easy to install. The new "Add-ons" menu item appears automatically now. Click on it, then on "Get add-ons" to open a window with multiple apps to choose from. Simply follow the directions for the particular add-on (they vary slightly) and the new add-on will then appear in the drop-down menu. Some of the few useful add-ons.....

https://docs.google.com/document/d/18sn5_F3gN2Thqb85Bb7HJu70ILmywLl7ai27zHnt27E/edit?usp=sharing