Tech Talk

Technology Podcast

savagep@schultzcenter.org (Unknown) — Thu, 08 Aug 2013 14:11:00 +0000

This is an example of a podcast created using Audacity and Lame. This free technology can easily be used to extend the instructional day or flip your classroom. Happy podcasting!

Podcast Powered By Podbean

The 2010 State of the Blogosphere

savagep@schultzcenter.org (Unknown) — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 18:49:00 +0000

Technorati's annual "State of the Blogosphere" for 2010 is out and I found that it had some very interesting facts. Mobile blogging has impacted 39% of the bloggers polled, and Facebook and Twitter are the biggest drivers of traffic to blogs. Interesting stuff! To see the complete presentation by Technorati, click the buttons below to move through the presentation slides.
State Of The Blogosphere Presentation 2010

Response to Intervention

savagep@schultzcenter.org (Unknown) — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 18:56:00 +0000

Watch this comprehensive overview of Response to Intervention. Click the arrow buttons to move from slide to slide.

Response To Intervention - Tier One Strategies

View more presentations from MikeFisher821.

savagep@schultzcenter.org (Unknown) — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 17:04:00 +0000

Here is some information that we didn't get to (due to running out of time) during the Twitter workshop on Tuesday. Happy Twittering!

Hashtags:
Twitter users use the “hashtag” to categorize tweets. It’s like using “tags” to categorize online photos and blog entries. For example, if you tweet information about technology, you would include “#technology” somewhere in your tweet. Twitter identifies topics that are “trending” by looking at the hashtags. On your “Home” page in Twitter, look to the right side and you’ll see a listing of the topics that are currently trending. A couple of tips: don’t overuse hashtags. If each of your tweets is a hashtag, you’ll dilute the usefulnees of them, and many people will shy away from you because it seems spammy. Another tip ~ give your hashtag some context. Post a tweet that explains what it is so that your followers will know exactly what it’s talking about. Just remember that hashtags are there to help organize specific tweets for you and your followers. You can also search for tweets that are about a specific topic by searching for hashtags. In the search field on the right side of the screen, type in a hashtag to search for, for example #education. That will bring up all tweets containing that hashtag. This is a good way to discover people that you might want to follow.

Mr. Tweet:
Mr. Tweet is a great way to discover Twitters to follow, and also to get recommendations from your followers. Just go to http://mrtweet.com and allow the application to log in to your Twitter account. You should go ahead and join the Education community. There are many communities to choose from. It’s nice to recommend people after you’ve been following them for awhile. You can do that through Mr. Tweet. Explore the communities by clicking “Communities” at the top of the screen. Then click on the different names of the communities. When you find one to join, click the big button “Join Community”. Follow the people who appeal to you. This is another way to build your PLN.

URL Shorteners:
When you find an interesting article online or you want to share something that you uploaded to Google docs, the URL will usually be very, very long. That’s not a good thing when you’re sharing the URL in a Tweet that can only be 140 characters or less. Luckily there are free web-based “URL shorteners”. I use http://bit.ly to shorten mine. Just go to http://bit.ly and then copy and paste the long URL and click “Shorten”. One of the nice features of this website is that bit.ly will actually keep some data on the sites you are sharing and you can see how many hits were a result of people shortening the URL and sharing it. It’s pretty neat.

Twitpic:
Since Twitter is a microblogging site with no way to share pictures, you’ll have to use another web-based service for sharing your digital pics. I like Twitpic. Just go to http://www.twitpic.com and log in using your Twitter account login and click “Allow” to allow Twitpic to access your Twitter account. Once logged in, click “Upload photo” in the upper right of the screen. Browse to the photo on your computer, add a message, make sure that “Post to Twitter account” is checked, and then click “upload”. Twitpic will post your tweet which will include a link to your photo.

Technology: Leveling the Playing Field

savagep@schultzcenter.org (Unknown) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:58:00 +0000

I attended a workshop yesterday that was held at the Schultz Center, facilitated by renowned Apple Curriculum "Evangelist" Dr. Mark Benno, titled, "Remaking Student Projects That Are Out Of This World". It was great to see all of the wonderful activities and ideas that Mark pulled together to share with us. We learned about some free Internet resources, and got an overview of the new iLife and iWorks suites, and the ease with which students can create amazing products. We learned about document sharing online using the new iWorks.com website, and even joined a wiki where we all shared ideas for integrating technology into curriculum. The hands-on portion of the workshop had us working collaboratively on an enhanced podcast, using iWorks, iPhoto and GarageBand. We had a blast and you could see the wheels turning in everyones' heads and the "light bulbs" burning brightly.

Probably the best part of the day was when a teacher, who just happens to be a media specialist and the district's Teacher of Year, shared some student work with us. She and her classroom teachers planned an activity that addressed "author's purpose", that integrated technology, the study of fables, creative writing, and visual art. It was great! The students learned about and read fables in the media center, as they worked on author's purpose and genre studies in their classroom. They began writing original fables, which they illustrated in their Art class. The media specialist facilitated their reading their original fables, recording and editing them in GarageBand. She scanned their original artwork and brought those into iPhoto. She also provided them with transitions ("and then they", "because of", etc.) for their podcasts. The finished products were wonderful! The best part about it was that these 2nd grade students completely understood the concept of a fable and the author's purpose because they were engaged in their learning and motivated by the use of technology. They had complete ownership of their learning! Isn't this better than giving quizzes and tests?

Another teacher from Chets Creek Elementary shared that their teachers had all been working collaboratively using Ning and also had wiki's and blogs. Most of the teachers post homework assignments and use their blogs to keep the parents and community informed. No longer can a student say that they didn't do their homework because they misplaced the sheet, when it's available online. The faculty and staff of this school were early adopters of technology and have been doing amazing things! Visit their site, then click "Resources" and then "Blogs, Wikis and Websites".

At the end of our afternoon, participants shared their thoughts and feelings about integrating technology. A principal of an elementary school made some remarks that really resonated with me. She said that using technology with her school's ESE students allows them to "wind up where they've never been before". She said that the ease of use of these wonderful technology tools allows her exceptional needs students to create products that look sharp and professional, and as "good as work done by other students". Her ESE students never have to feel like their work is not good enough when they are using technology tools to create their original products. How awesome is that?

To follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/patysavage
To follow Mark Benno on Twitter: http://twitter.com/markbenno

Digital Citizenship and Netiquette

savagep@schultzcenter.org (Unknown) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:09:00 +0000

A member of my personal learning network (PLN) on Twitter (@stevekatz) shared his presentation on digital citizenship and netiquette, which he presented to parents. It's a great presentation - please enjoy:

Digital Citizenship & Netiquette

View more presentations from Steve Katz.

Social Media - Fad or Not?

savagep@schultzcenter.org (Unknown) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 20:32:00 +0000

Everyone needs to watch this!

Changes to FCAT from the Florida DOE

savagep@schultzcenter.org (Unknown) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 11:33:00 +0000

On September 16, the Florida Department of Education sent out two memoranda describing changes to FCAT Writes and FCAT for incoming 9th graders. To read the memo's:

Word Cloud of Obama's Back To School Speech

savagep@schultzcenter.org (Unknown) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:09:00 +0000

Click this absurdly long link to see the word cloud:
title="Wordle: Obama's Back to School Speech"> src="http://www.wordle.net/thumb/wrdl/1106245/Obama%27s_Back_to_School_Speech"
alt="Wordle: Obama's Back to School Speech"
style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd">

Great Presentation - Tech Tips for Not So Techy Teachers

savagep@schultzcenter.org (Unknown) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:47:00 +0000

This is an excellent presentation and shares many different tech tools for teachers. I would recommend presenting one of these tools per faculty meeting or early dismissal day. There are enough to last most of the year! Enjoy and share!

22 Smart, Inspirational Quotes From Bloggers In 2008

savagep@schultzcenter.org (Unknown) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:28:00 +0000

Click the play button to watch the presentation below. I found this to be very thought-provoking.

22 Smart, Inspirational Quotes From Bloggers In 2008

View more presentations from Adam Singer.

FETC 2009 Blog

savagep@schultzcenter.org (Unknown) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 21:09:00 +0000

FETC was 4 months ago and I haven't had a chance to share all of the wonderful tips and tricks that I learned! I finally decided that the best way to share the information was to blog about it. I'll be updating the blog over the next few days until everything that I learned is posted. There are a few posts there now. If you become a follower, you'll receive an email each time I update the blog with new info. The URL is http://fetc2009blog.blogspot.com. I hope you'll find it interesting and also find something that you can use in your work!

Podcasts and Blogger

savagep@schultzcenter.org (Unknown) — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 18:18:00 +0000

Lots of educators are using Blogger to extend the school day and communicate with parents. It's great to have a classroom blog where you can post information for your students and parents, display pictures of some of the events in your classroom that day, share study tips, homework help, and so much more. As a result of the online podcasting courses and our Tech Tuesday podcasting workshop, many more teachers are creating podcasts and want to share them on their blogs. A good way to do that is to create your podcast using Audacity or GarageBand, edit it, convert it to an mp3 file, upload it to Internet Archive, and then embed it in a post on your blog. Sounds pretty easy, right? The presentation below will take you through the steps:

How To Embed A Podcast Into A Blogger

View more presentations from Paty.Savage.

Great Video About Students and Technology

savagep@schultzcenter.org (Unknown) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:04:00 +0000

If you've attended any of the Schultz Center's technology workshops, you have probably watched the original "Did You Know" video on YouTube. Well, some middle school students have posted an updated version that shares their own views in their own words about the place that technology has in their lives. It's eye-opening and thought-provoking. The technology in the video is all about Web 2.0 tools. Click the video below and enjoy!

What is Blogging Anyway?

savagep@schultzcenter.org (Unknown) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:48:00 +0000

Have you heard of "blogs" but aren't really sure what they are? Click the button in the middle of the screen below to watch a YouTube video that explains "blogging" in "Plain English".

Podcasting in Plain English

savagep@schultzcenter.org (Unknown) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:38:00 +0000

Have you heard of Podcasting but aren't really 100% sure of exactly what it is? Here's a YouTube video that explains it in "Plain English". Click the play button in the middle once to play the video:

RSS Feed in Plain English

savagep@schultzcenter.org (Unknown) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:37:00 +0000

Have you heard of RSS but are not really sure what that means? This YouTube video explains it in "Plain English". Click the play button in the middle of the screen once to play:

SlideShare

savagep@schultzcenter.org (Unknown) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 14:17:00 +0000

I have new SlideShare step by step directions to help you use this wonderful and FREE online resource. I've talked about SlideShare in many of my workshops here at the Schultz Center, and everyone who has seen it now checks the site regularly for presentations that they might be able to use.

Click here to download the step by step directions (Click "Download" to save a copy).
Click here to go to SlideShare

If you're more of a visual learner, go to YouTube and check out the tutorial videos for SlideShare. Just type "SlideShare" in the search tool and you'll see that there are several how-to videos available there.

Embed YouTube Videos in PowerPoint Presentations!

savagep@schultzcenter.org (Unknown) — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 14:46:00 +0000

Everyone loves YouTube - there are tons of good educational videos available there. There are also lots of inappropriate videos there, too. So, the next time you include a YouTube video as part of a presentation that you make, why not embed the actual video into your PowerPoint presentation, instead of putting in a link that takes you to the YouTube website? It's really lots easier than you think. I put together a quick video about it and uploaded to my YouTube account. Click the play button below, and then view it in full screen to see the details of some of the screen shots.

Click here for print directions on how to embed a YouTube video into a PowerPoint presentation.

NOTE: In order for the video to play, you must be connected to the Internet.

Landmark Middle School Presentation

savagep@schultzcenter.org (Unknown) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:32:00 +0000

This afternoon, I had the honor of working with teachers at Landmark Middle School on their early dismissal day. We learned some PowerPoint tricks, searched for copyright free music and photos online to "spice" up our PowerPoints, and I also introduced them to blogs and Google Docs.

Here are some related links:
My PowerPoint Tips document at my Google Docs
How To Create a Blog Using Blogger
Managing Your Blog (Click "Download" - this is a PDF file.)
Adding Pictures and Video to your Blog
Harnessing the Power of Web 2.0
Blogs, Podcasts and Wiki's Handout
Pics4Learning
Free Play Music
Photobucket

Climb Aboard and Blog

savagep@schultzcenter.org (Unknown) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:05:00 +0000

Here is the link to the handout showing you how to add pictures and videos to your blogs.

NSDC Conference Summer 2008

savagep@schultzcenter.org (Unknown) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 20:51:00 +0000

All of our handouts from our presentation are located in our Google Docs. Click the links below to access the handouts:

Click here for the website for "If These Chains Could Talk".

Interesting Article About Podcasting in Education

savagep@schultzcenter.org (Unknown) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:01:00 +0000

"Podcasting in Instruction: Moving Beyond the Obvious" is a new article written by Ruth Reynard for Campus Technology. It's a thought-provoking article. What do you think the future holds for podcasting?

Click here to read the article.

New Study About the Digital Divide

savagep@schultzcenter.org (Unknown) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:58:00 +0000

A new study is out that brings to light new information and data concerning the digital divide.

Click here to read the article.

Harnessing the Power of Web 2.0

savagep@schultzcenter.org (Unknown) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 13:13:00 +0000

On Monday, June 16, I delivered a 3-hour workshop at UNF on "Harnessing the Power of Web 2.0". During our three hours together, we created a blog, embedded a You Tube video in our blog, explored Slide Share, Photobucket, and Google Docs. Click the link below to view the PowerPoint presentation that was used during the workshop.

If you would like to see the handout that was distributed during the morning sessions of "Blogs, Podcasts and Wiki's, Oh My!" then click here for the document in my Google Docs.

To view the handout, "Managing Your Blog" click here.

To view the handout, "Adding Pictures and Video to Your Blog", click here.

For more advanced users interested in removing the navigation bar from your blog, click here for step by step directions.

I'll update this post with information on Slide Share, Photo Bucket and Google Docs soon!