PISD Technology News!: January 2015

Friday, January 30, 2015

Websites of the Week! Celebrating Measurement - 01-30-15

Celebrating Measurement!
Interactive Websites for Elementary and Middle School Level

Share with your teachers!

Math Games - http://www.mathgames.com/measurement
Capacity, Longer and Shorter, Length and Height, Comparisons, etc.

And just for fun!

Shoot the Sheep! - Test your reaction time and mouse clicking skills.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sleep/sheep/reaction_version5.swf

Free App Friday! - 01-30-15

Free Apps Today for iPads:

(thanks Sara Simmons!)

Math Slicer - practice math facts

Reading Conferences - for keeping track of K-5 students’ Fountas & Pinnell reading levels & reading conferences (normally $9.99)

AGO Phonics Sound Pad - for learning phonic sounds (normally $4.99)

Outlook Problems After Updates? - 01-30-15

Scenario: Your computer has been updated to Windows 7 and/or Office 2013. Now, Outlook is giving you problems.

Most problems with Outlook can be corrected by doing the following:

Go to Control Panel and click Mail (32 bit)
Go to Show Profiles.... and remove Outlook profile. (Do not create a new one.)
Restart the computer
Restart Outlook (Outlook should rebuild the profile and work just fine.)
Any Personal Folders will need to be reopened. Here is how to do this:

Go to File and Open & Export
Choose Open Outlook Data File
Navigate to the data file (.pst)
Click OK

Friday, January 23, 2015

Powerful Tools for Teaching and Learning: Web 2.0 Tools 01-30-15

Massive Open Online Course

Powerful Tools for Teaching and Learning

This spring the University of Houston’s College of Education will offer another free MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) that is aimed specifically at K-16 teachers. This course is the second in a series of online professional development opportunities called Powerful Tools for Teaching and Learning. The five-week course was developed by UH’s Laboratory for Innovative Technology in Education (LITE) under the direction of Drs. Sara McNeil and Bernard Robin. Teachers in the state of Texas may be eligible to receive up to 15 hours of Continuing Education Units for each MOOC if they earn a certificate of completion from Coursera.

The first MOOC focused on the Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling and was offered in September 2014. It will be offered again in summer 2015. The second MOOC on Web 2.0 Tools will begin on February 1, 2015.

Each MOOC is five weeks long and will be delivered through the Coursera platform (http://coursera.org). The MOOCs are free, and the only requirements for participating are a PC or Mac desktop or laptop, an Internet connection and a willingness to learn and share new ways of using computer-based tools and techniques to support teaching and learning across different grade levels and multiple content areas.

Powerful Tools for Teaching and Learning: Web 2.0 Tools

The Web 2.0 Tools course is designed to provide teachers at all levels with strategies to effectively integrate Web 2.0 technologies into their instruction. Participants will learn to harness the power of free, easy to use, online tools to boost student engagement and motivation in their classrooms. Our approach focuses on the task rather than the tool in an effort to improve communication, collaboration, presentation, creativity, problem solving, and critical thinking in all learners. Participants will take part in a robust exchange of practical ideas while participating in online discussion forums and sharing their experiences with fellow teachers. Participants will learn how to use these tools effectively in their classrooms through unique problem-based scenarios that will help them understand how to choose an appropriate Web 2.0 tool for the task.

The Web 2.0 Tools course will begin on February 1, 2015 and end on March 8, 2015. To enroll in this MOOC, please go to: https://www.coursera.org/course/newtechtools

For more information, please contact Dr. Sara McNeil (smcneil@uh.edu) or Dr. Bernard Robin (brobin@uh.edu).

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Free Online Photo Editors 01-30-15

Looking for some photo editors? Can't afford PhotoShop or PhotoShop Elements? Want something easy for students to use?

Try these free online photo editors!

PhotoShop Online

http://www.photoshop.com/tools?wf=editor

most like photoshop

Pixlr

http://apps.pixlr.com/editor/

also very similar

Pixlr Express

http://apps.pixlr.com/express/

similar but less tools than the first two mentioned here

Pixlr-o-matic

http://apps.pixlr.com/o-matic/

more of a theme change to a picture than the specific tools in the others mentioned above

Be Funky

http://www.befunky.com/create/

minimal tools and some thematic changes

Office 2013 and 365 Training Resources 01-30-15

Here are some links to handouts, videos and eCourses that can help your staff get better acquainted with the changes associated with these upgrades.

Installing Office 2013

Staff who are ready to get started with Office 2013 can install it from the Software Center.

If you need help with the installation process, the Instructions are attached here.

Learning How To Use Office 2013 and 365:

Office 2013 & Office 365 Resources

http://www1.pasadenaisd.org/departments/departments_f-_l/instructional_technology/Office2013/

You will find these links:

Office 2013 - Top 10 Tips - Handout

https://pasadenaisdorg.sharepoint.com/sites/InstructionalTechnology/handouts/_layouts/15/guestaccess.aspx?guestaccesstoken=5LE4DKu1yTZl7%2f63J7Bkalw4VAnzA8QTdKHe3f9ASYo%3d&docid=045c6abe3fc98462fa6c1fd8ef02e29b3

Office 365 – Videos

Office 365 Tour for Users

Office 365 - eCourses
Office 365 OneDrive Overview - eCourse (for Credit)
OneDrive Sharing - eCourse (for Credit)

Office 365 – PowerPoint Presentation

https://pasadenaisdorg-my.sharepoint.com/personal/sdickerson_pasadenaisd_org/_layouts/15/guestaccess.aspx?guestaccesstoken=EsiAFLjA%2bJWLzmxcXzDdXRzdvl3eUX8fSvUXM3c8%2bx4%3d&docid=06a8175faf2374709868bc39e5cd03a06

Friday, January 9, 2015

Websites of the Week! - Celebrating Ordered Pairs and Poetry 01-09-15

Ordered Pairs - Interactive Websites

4th Grade could use these interactive sites during the next few weeks.
These are great for independent practice, whole group activities, and/or using it with a Promethean Board.

Feel free to share!

Billy Bug’s Quest for Grub:

http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/BillyBug2/bug2.html

Stock the Shelves:

http://mrnussbaum.com/flash/StockTheShelves2.0.swf

Catch the Fly:

http://hotmath.com/hotmath_help/games/ctf/ctf_hotmath.swf

Space Boy Challenge:

http://www.mathplayground.com/mathgames/SL_SpaceBoy_secure.swf

Find the Aliens:

http://www.mathplayground.com/mathgames/SL_LocateAliens_secure.swf

Driving Test:

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/maths/flash/grids.swf