Tiny Scan and TeacherTube.com

Greetings and Salutations!

For this week’s blog, I would like to turn your attention to two great technologies that can easily be integrated into your instructional repertoire.

For starters, let’s explore the small but dynamic mobile tool: TinyScan.   

Tin y Scan allows users to turn their Apple or Android device into a mini scanner so they can scan their documents and save them for future use. In addition, scanned documents can be converted to PDFs for easy transfer through email.   

Here’s a quick look at the benefits:

·         Scan documents with mobile device

·         Save documents in three different color modes: color, grayscale and black & white

·         Enhance readability of documents by adjusting the brightness and contrast settings

·         Easily convert documents to PDFs

·         Email scanned documents with ease 

Download Tiny Scan to your Apple device…

·         Locate the Apple App Store Icon on Device

·         download the “free” version

Compatability:

TinyScan requires iOS 6.0 or later. Compatable with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.

  

                     Or install Tiny Scan to your Android

·                                                                               Locate the Android Play Store Icon on Device.

·                                                                      click the “Free” version to begin install/purchase process

Tiny Scan offers a fast and convenient way for students and educators to download documents with ease. This is a particularly useful feature if a student does not have internet on their computer but has to submit an assignment. The student can take a picture of the computer monitor and convert the image into a PDF document and walah! They can email their assignment directly to their instructor from their mobile device. 

Our next featured tech tool is TeacherTube.com

Educators and students alike have yet another forum to take advantage of the read and write web for learning. TeacherTube is a fantastic site dedicated to education. Their motto: Teach the World is brought to digital life with the vast educational resources offered to instructors and learners. The site enables users to share videos much in the same way that YouTube offers.

Here’s what you can find on TeacherTube.com:

·         Free to all users

·         Sample study plans that can be sorted by recently viewed, top rated, and featured and then downloaded into a PDF file

·         Thousands of videos covering topics from math to human rights  

·         Instructional videos with comments from other instructors as to the relevancy of the content

·         Ability to flag inappropriate content

·         Videos are uploaded from instructors and students across the globe giving users unique perspective and insight into education projects from around the world.

       

       Additional Features:

·         TeacherTubes video sharing website offers sample study plans that can be sorted by recently viewed, top rated, and featured. Videos can be easily shared and embedded into blogs. Users are also able to create or participate in groups for easy communication and collaboration. In addition, users can post photos on the site that are easily “pinned” to Pinterest. Don’t have time to watch a video? No problem! TeacherTube offers audio that can be streamed so you can listen to it while you drive or while you’re cleaning the house. Don’t see a channel or a group you want? Create one. It really is that simple. Take a quick peek for yourself www.teachertube.com

This is a great resource for adult learners who are earning their GED and need some additional help with various subjects. Educators who instruct adults with learning disabilities may also find helpful and creative ideas to present material to students. In turn, students can use this site to generate new ideas as they are exposed to learners from all over the world through video presentations.  

Thank you for tuning in this week,

Veronica Clark

Tech Girl

Google Docs and Evernote

For this week’s education technology tools, I thought I would conduct some research on two web based tools that provide added convenience, collaboration, and accessibility to students no matter where they are.

Benefits of Using Google Docs:

Google Docs allows you to store files in the “cloud” thus affording you the opportunity to create, view, edit, and share your documents from any computer with internet access.  You can delegate access to others allowing for collaboration.

Here are some examples of how Google Docs can help you and how I plan on using this tool in my professional practice. Read on…

Education:

·         Great for group assignments that required editing and collaboration

·         Team members can edit Google Docs at the same time

·         Increased organization and accessibility

·         Feedback between parents-teacher as well student-teacher

·         Global connectivity

Business Uses:

·         Work remotely – don’t go into the office unless you want to… or absolutely have to

·         Able to create spreadsheets, financial statements, surveys, and presentations

·         Collaborate with team members

·         Maintain meeting notes

·         Global connectivity

Friends and Family:

·         Maintain an online calendar to keep your loved ones informed and organized

·         View your child’s homework and provide feedback

Now that we have discussed how awesome Google Docs is, let’s explore some of the potential issues:

OFFLINE

The downside to Google Docs is that if you do not have an internet access or Google Docs is offline, you will not be able to retrieve your records.

My recommendation is that you save a copy of important documents to a file on your computer.

OUT OF BUSINESS

Ok, so what is the likely hood of Google going out of business or going bankrupt? Perhaps not high, not anytime soon… maybe... but one never knows. I mean, no one ever thought the Roman Empire would fall… so there is a lot of risk that comes with trusting a company, one in which you have no control over, with your information. On a smaller scale, Google could decide that Docs is no longer an equitable product and decide to do away with it; much in the way that Reader was discontinued.  

MY PERSONAL TAKE ON GOOGLE DOCS

There is no doubt that Google Docs can make a significant contribution to your business, education, and personal needs but in no way do I think it should in no way replace Microsoft Word.  There are some amazing creations that can take place in a standalone document such as found in programs in the Microsoft Suite. Share, edit, collaborate and take comfort in the cloud but I suggest you still take some caution when deciding how far you want to take Google Docs.

The next technology I would like to introduce is Evernote.  

Evernote is another cloud based program that allows adult learners to stay organized and take notes that they don’t have to worry about losing.

Evernotes technology enables users to:

·        Record audio notes

·        Store a single note or an entire notebook…errr make that notebooks –Plural meaning you can have a Justin Bieber notebook, a recipe notebook, a yoga/knitting notebook… ok you get the point on notebooks but the possibilities are endless!

·        Ability to sync notes across all computers and mobile devices

·        Maintain privacy as Evernote is password protected.

My view from the bottom of the pit

At first glance, Evernote seems a bit overwhelming. I set up an account in efforts to be able to provide a first person perspective and felt challenged. This could be a complete turn-off for adult learners who are still fumbling their way through blackboard. There are some tutorials offered through Evernote that I have not yet had the time to explore.  While I think this can be a great tool (according to some it is and others it isn’t) users have to dedicate some time to familiarize themselves with the tool.

Thanks for tuning in this week!

Tech Girl

  

References:

https://drive.google.com

http://www.ehow.com/how_2283917_use-google-docs.html

Vandersteen, J (n.d.) The advantages and disadvantages of google docs. Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/info_12002735_advantages-disadvantages-google-docs.html

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericjackson/2012/04/30/heres-why-google-and-facebook-might-completely-disappear-in-the-next-5-years/

http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot_article.asp?ticker=GOOG

http://googleblog.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/a-second-spring-of-cleaning.html

http://lifehacker.com/5666954/avoid-everything-buckets-aka-why-i-cant-get-into-apps-like-evernote

http://lifehacker.com/5989980/ive-been-using-evernote-all-wrong-heres-why-its-actually-amazing

RSS and Wikis

Good day fellow classmates!

It's ridiculous fun managing a blog and uploading the cool tech stuff I find while I surf the net. I sure wish these many options were available when I was a kid... God knows this would have given me a good excuse to give my mom who was always nagging me that I was talking on the telephone too long and too often. Nevertheless, this week's research brings me to two impressive pieces of technology that can free up more time and can aid in the collaboration and syndication of new ideas. Read on!

RSS - Really Simple Syndication also known as Rich Site Summary

In a world full of information, RSS feeds provide a means for information seekers to redirect information from weblogs and media sites to one convenient site. Through the use of aggregator software, feeds from all over the world can be presented to an individual’s specific interest. This technology frees users up from having to access hundreds of blogs to get the information they are looking for thus saving countless amounts of time. In addition, users protect their privacy and security as they are not required to subscribe to the sites newsletters in order to access the content.

Let’s recap some of the advantages of RSS feeds:

·        RSS feeds provide significant content that provides valuable and pertinent information to business needs and personal interests allowing users to stay abreast of global events.

·        Scan and quickly get to the information that you want without having to review 20-30 websites reduce research and reading time

·        Help learners to identify pertinent information faster as they train their eye to look for specific key words 

Google Reader, a well-known and commonly used RSS feed was shut down in 2013 in Google’s attempt to improve services by not spreading themselves too thin. Other alternatives have since gained more popularity. I have included a couple of links for you to explore.   

http://lifehacker.com/5990881/five-best-google-reader-alternatives

http://www.feeddemon.com/

I currently use a similar technology that allows me to customize the content I want to read, magazines I want to browse through, and brings all of my social media pages to me in one place. Meet FlipBoard. For those of you not currently using it, I recommend you download the app, (available on android and apple products) and start flipping!  

  

Wikis- A Dynamic tool for Collaboration and Innovation!

Next, I would like to bring your attention to wikis as in “Wikipedia” - a fantastic tool that supports global connection, group collaboration, and the syndication of ideas. The work wiki stems from the Hawaiian word meaning “quick” (Richardson, 2010).  This open source technology allows users to develop, contribute to and edit comprehensive research. Richardson (2010) goes on to say that the content contributed to a wiki becomes the best efforts of the group and not the individual. In education, wikis are a way to invite learners to collaborate on group activities while providing an authentic voice and unique perspective on the assignment.  

Take a “quick” look at these two sites for more ways on how you can maximize this technology in your classroom:

Wikispaces.com is a free resource for educators   

http://trans4mbiz.blogspot.com/2006/08/benefits-of-wikis.html

Signing off for now,

Tech Girl!

Games for your Brain and Ways to Avoid Eye Strain

Games for your Brain and Ways to Avoid Eye Strain 

Greetings team tech! Your friendly tech girl checking in. I came across a couple of sites that I thought might be helpful for us to review for several different reasons:

1.  Luminosity allows you to design personalized training programs to help you improve cognitive processes including problem solving, memory, speed and attention. These are helpful areas that we as instructors can continue to improve upon as they can have a trickle down affect for our students.

http://www.lumosity.com/app/v4/current_training_session

2. Kim Kamando offers cool tips, tricks, videos, and how to's on her website. Take a look at this interesting tip on how to: Avoid digital eye strain and other tech health problems

http://www.komando.com/tips/

Signing off,

Veronica Clark

AKA Tech Girl

Hot Trends in Education

I came across an interesting read after conducting some brief research on emerging trends in technology and thought I would share:

http://www.innovationexcellence.com/blog/2013/07/29/10-emerging-educational-technologies-how-they-are-being-used-across-the-globe/

Pay specific attention to the Hot Trends that are expected over the next 5 years:

• cloud computing, 
• mobile learning, 
• learning analytics
• open content
• 3D printing
• MOOCs 
• virtual and remote laboratories
• games and gamification
• tablet computing 
• wearable technology .... being the fashinista that I am, I think I will have to look into this!!

This is exciting stuff! Now let's figure out how to use these technologies!

Much love from the technical world,

Veronica 

Aka Tech Girl

Welcome to My Blog!

Welcome to my new blog fellow team mates. The next eight weeks will no doubt prove to be eye-opening, challenging, and exciting. I look forward to swimming fearlessly into the vast sea of ever changing technology with you all! 

Veronica Clark 
aka Tech Girl