Bonding through Blogging: July 2018

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

50 Africa Based Educators to Follow on Twitter...via Mr Kemp

Twitter is a great tool for educators. I couldn't live without it. I am @fibeal on Twitter. So when I read Mr Kemp's post on his blogpost entitled '50 Africa Based Educators to Follow on Twitter' http://bit.ly/2mFtNzF in May, I was delighted to see my name there! Thank you Mr Kemp! He says: "I have been doing some research, connecting with my PLN and finding the best of the best Educators from every corner of the globe to feature in my series of Location Based Educators to follow."

Are you wondering who Mr Kemp is? Craig Kemp describes himself as the "passionate Head of Educational Technology at a large International School in Singapore. I am a lifelong learner, dream creator and thought leader. I love to inspire others and find inspiration." He has a very popular blog called MrKempNZ (he is a New Zealander).

Why I love Twitter
This got me thinking about why I love Twitter so much as a teacher. Here are my top five reasons:

1. Become part of a global community of teachers

I joined Twitter in 2009. I have got to know so many teachers around the globe through Twiiter. In fact when I attended the Google Teacher Academy in New York in 2012, we referred to each by our Twitter handles (mine is @fibeal) because we found that we already knew each other from Twitter.

2. Keep informed about using technology in the classroom

Twitter is one of the best ways to find out what is happening around the world technology-wise in classrooms. Twitter posts often lead to blog posts. And, there are some incredible teachers out there with amazing, informative blogs. Teachers love sharing with one another. I have been inspired by all the wonderful ideas that teachers pass on. ' One idea always leads to another' is what I often think to myself. Here in South Africa we use the #ZAedu hashtag for sharing ideas that might interest South African teachers.

3. Share ideas and resources

Sometimes you either create a really good lesson, or you discover someone else's excellent post and you really want to share this with your followers. Twitter is the perfect tool for sharing ideas and resources.

4. Embrace new ideas
Twitter is a form of professional development. It\s a place to learn about best teaching practices. Often one has an idea one would like to try out and then you see others are doing it and tweeting about it. I find that this gives me courage to step out and embrace change and new perspectives.

5. Enjoy Twitter chats
These are the best. I love connecting with local teachers in South Arica in a Twitter chat talking about something really relevant. In fact here in South Africa we have an exciting monthly Twitter chat on the #ZAedu, led by the innovative pair @LadyWesner and @MsMorrisTeach. It takes place on the last Wednesday of the month at 20:00. This month it will be on a chat about the changing educational landscape in ZA and ideas on how to navigate it.

50 Africa Based Educators to Follow on Twitter
So who are the 50 Africa-based educators to follow on Twitter according to Mr Kemp? Here is the list from his blog.

To conclude. Thank you Mr Kemp, and Twitter!

Selected as one of 10 finalists in the ISPA Super Teacher competition 2018 - yay!

I received SUCH an exciting email yesterday one of the ISPA Superteacher competition organisers:

'I am writing to confirm that the project you submitted has been selected as one of the top ten finalists in this prestigious national competition. Warmest congratulations on an outstanding achievement!

As a Finalist, you are offered an all-expenses paid trip to Capetown for the ISPA SuperTeacher Gala Dinner Awards Ceremony on Monday 22ndnof August at The Westin Hotel . The awards ceremony will take place in the context of iWeek - http://www.iweek.org.za."

What is the ISPA SuperTeacher Competition?
The 2018 ISPA SuperTeacher Competition is an annual competition sponsored by the Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA) and WASPA. The competition is managed by the Digital Education Institute.

This prestigious competition has a proud history going back to 2001, when ISPA launched the competition to support their Train the Teacher ICT Project. This year we will be focusing on classroom practice as well as personal teacher development. We are hoping to extend the competition to include many more teachers.

What is the aim?
The ISPA SuperTeacher Competition gives educators an opportunity to showcase their skills in using Information Communication Technologies (ICT) to improve the educational environment within their
classroom, school or community.

Who is eligible?
All educators currently teaching at schools throughout South Africa.

What will be required for entry?
Teachers will be taken through an online process of creating an ICT enhanced project for submission. Training and professional development webinars assist and motivate teachers to innovate. Internet access is therefore important.

Categories

Category 1:
ISPA SuperTeacher Award
Open to educators at Quintile 1 to 3 schools.
Previous finalists and entrants may re-enter.

Category 2:
ISPA Tech Teacher Award
Open to educators at Quintile 4 & 5 schools.
Previous finalists and entrants may re-enter.
Project focus areas for Categories 1 and 2 (Choose 1 of the following 3)

A. Curriculum integration and classroom management:
The project demonstrates the creative and efficient use of ICT to enhance teaching and learning in the 21st century.

B. Effective school leadership and management
The project demonstrates the innovative use of ICT skills to enhance overall productivity, educator or learner motivation, administration or extra-curricular activities in the school.

C. The school in the community
The project demonstrates the appropriate and effective use of ICTs to strengthen the relationship between the school, its parent body or the community it serves.

Category 3:
Mobile Tech Teacher Award
Open to all teachers as well as previous finalists and winners of previous years.

So, I am beyond excitement and very grateful for this opportunity.

Saturday, July 21, 2018

Gamifying the classroom #1: What does it mean to gamify the classroom?

I am very interested in adding some gamification to my lessons at school.

What is meant by 'Gamification'?

As an educator I'm very interested in how to in ways of making the curriculum relevant meaning for an interesting. every teacher would like their learners to be engaged while they are learning under them. for me gamification is the key. educators have been talking about this globally for a while now.

“In gamification, the student does not play an entire game from start to finish; rather they participate in activities that include elements from games such as earning points, overcoming a challenge or receiving badges for accomplishing tasks. The idea is to integrate game-based elements more commonly seen in video.”

-Karl Kapp http://bit.ly/2vpsFo3

Why do I want to add gamification?

For a long time now I've been interested in the concept of gamifying the classroom. I think we all know that our learners love video games, computer games and other types of games and so I have been researching what it is that makes a game so captivating. How can I use these principles in my lessons?

The things that interest me about gamification

The player uses facts and information as tools to solve problems in context,
Useful feedback is given back regularly during the game
Information Is presented in levels. When a level is not reached the player tries again and doesn’t see this as failure. The learner aims for mastery.
Collaboration is usually necessary for success
Badges are given to show mastery.
Terminology such as Quests, Challenges, Missions etc are used.
What is gamification?
Games can be a very strong motivator for students when the same game elements are applied in an educational context. Thus, some educators have adopted the concept of Gamification, where the structure of gaming is applied to a non-game framework.

The following video on YouTube, called 'Gamification' explains the concept of gamification.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYnbapB5Yl8

How can I go about adding gamification to my learning experiences?

I thought that I would like to make a start a simple start by letting my grade 6 learners create e-portfolios in their blogs using the concept of gamification.

Ideas to Gamify Your Classroom

Here is a great list of ideas:

Foster collaboration Present the classroom syllabus as a form of a game and have students create classroom goals and rules with you.
Provide instant feedback - In a game setting, feedback is essential for students to know how they are doing in the game. If a student makes a choice in a game, it is usually known immediately if that choice was the right one.
Make progress visible - Progress bars and levels in games allow students to set goals for themselves and celebrate success once achieving them.
Create challenges instead of homework - In games, students are constantly required to meet challenges, such as identify patterns or break codes. The same element can be applied to homework and projects in a fun, yet challenging way.
Give students choice and a voice - Games often give students various choices. Instead of simply issuing a test, you can allow student to take different paths to demonstrate their understanding of the material.
Offer badges and rewards - Badges or other rewards are a good way of recognizing student achievement and for giving students an incentive to continue reaching their goals.
Allow for second chances - When a challenge is failed in a game, students are able to learn from their mistakes and try again

Target audience: My class, improve, engage, motivate, share,
Defining objectives: Create -e-portoflios using blogs, learning about disigtal safety online, use gaming terminology
Structuring the experience:
Start the term with challenges. Link each one to a badge. Prepare all the lessons. Link them to Hyperdocs.
Apply gamification elements. Badging, challenges, instant feedback on their blogs and in the classroom as I walk around, Here is a breat post on 'How to make a badge using Google Drawing' from Alice Keeler: https://alicekeeler.com/2015/01/10/create-a-badge-with-google-drawing/

So, I am keen to get started in my classroom.

Friday, July 20, 2018

#130 I love Google

After looking through all the Google in Education posts that were shared to my various subscriptions recently, here is a selection that looks useful for teachers who enjoy using Google applications in the classroom http://bit.ly/2uS38n0. (The link to the previous posts can be found at http://bit.ly/2Inr7Q7 and prior to that on the SchoolNet blog at https://goo.gl/CNO3M2)

Monday, July 16, 2018

Five amazing G Suite Cheat Sheets from @cogswell_ben

These cheat sheets must have taken Ben Cogswell (@cogswell_ben) a long time to create. They are amazing cheatsheets to bookmark and use with your students. They answer all the questions your students might have by showing them how to work with the five applications below in the form of animated Gifs. Ben has kindly licensed these cheat sheets with a Creative Commons license.so that they can be reused and shown on another blog. One can't embed them but if you click on the images below you'll be taken to the originals.

CLICK ON THE IMAGES

https://goo.gl/GSJCh7

https://goo.gl/hZuGz1

https://goo.gl/zjcrQT

https://goo.gl/EDylt6

http://bit.ly/2miHtQY

This hyperlinked cheatsheet concept is so useful for creating documents for students to use in the classroom. Visit Ben's blog https://goo.gl/OqQh1M for other great ideas.

Thursday, July 12, 2018

Getting to know Samsung Note 8: #1: Moving data from an old phone to a new one

I have just got my new Samsung upgrade - a Note 8 - and am sitting here opening up the box. Whew! The reason I wanted to get the Note 8 is because of the stylus! Hopefully Samsung has sorted out the problems of the note 7! I am EXCITED but this is going to take some thinking - moving everything across from my Samsung S7 to the Note 8. Where do I start!? Thank goodness for the Internet, and especially YouTube. I thought that I would write a series of blog posts on what I learn about the Note 8 to keep a record of my learning!

Here are my starting questions:
I thought that the best way to start is to write down my main questions at this stage.

How do I set it all up?
At what stage do I add my current Gmail address?
Should I skip face recognition, fingerprint and iris recognition for now and just do a pin code until I am more familiar with everything?
How does the Smartswitch app work for moving data across?
How do I remove my Gmail and Samsung details from my old phone?

An overall view of the Galaxy Note 8
It is probably best to first get an overall view of the Note 8,
Video 1: 20+ Galaxy Note Tips and Tricks (20 mins): http://bit.ly/2m6LtUA

This video gives the following tips:

1. Make use of a wireless charger. One has to buy this separately.
2. The Always On display.
3. New features on the Spen.

4. Different home screen settings

5. Hide applications

6. Brightness toggle.

7. Multi window
8. Smart capture for screenshots

9. One-handed mode

10. How to extend your battery life.

11. Changing app shortcuts on the lock screen

The last few tips were for advanced users (developer mode?!) so I will come back to that later.

OK. I am convinced that this is a great phone with some amazing features.

Where do I start?

I think I should now watch the video that preceded the one above. This video shows the first ten things one should o with the Note 8

Video 2: Samsung Note 8: First 10 things you should do! (16.28 mins) http://bit.ly/2zeD3nB

.
This video gives the following tips:
1. Expandable storage using a SD card.
2. Change out the button layout of the apps.
3. Customize colours'
4. Unlock with home button
5. Security matters - face, fingerprints, iris and pin
6. Smart lock'
7. Always on display
8. Blue light filter
9. Themes'
10. Enable quick camera for taking pictures.
11. Enabling and isabling the edge panel.
12. Bixby
13. Google Assistant

Actually this video was interesting but too advanced for my knowledge at the moment. What I really want to know is how to set up the phone. At the MTN shop they checked the box contents and everything that is supposed to be there is there. They also put the SIM card in. But that is all they did!

How to set up the phone
This is what I want , I think.
Video 3: Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Data Transfer from Older Device: (5.24 mins) http://bit.ly/2m81MR1

This video gives the following tips:
Actually this one is perfect. it shows how to get going once the sim card is in, and it takes one through all the set up tips. It shows how to use Smart Switch on both phones to transfer the data. Yep, this was excellent.

How to save an email as a PDF

Today I was explaining to someone that you can save an email as a PDF by pressing Control/P. They commented: 'But that is the control for printing'. That is true. In Google Chrome Control?P gives you the option to print OR save as a PDF. When I got home I discovered I was only partly correct when it comes to emails. ( I will show the correct procedure in a video below - you still use the Print option.)

Let me just say at this point that if you are on any webpage and you want to save it as a PDF, all you do is click Control/P (yes, the PRINT option) and it will also give you the option to save the whole webpage as a PDF.

How to save an email as a PDF
1. You need to be using Google Chrome an the online Gmail.
2. Open the email and then click on MORE. Then select PRINT.
3. When PRINT option you'll see an option to CHANGE. Click on CHANGE.
4. You will then be given the option to save the email as a PDF.

Perhaps this screencast, which I have just made, will make things clearer.

Wednesday, July 11, 2018

Hyperdocs #4: Packaging a Hyperdoc using G Suite Apps

I am writing a number of posts on Hyperdocs. This is the fourth. Basically, Hyperdocs are a way to digitally and innovatively package your lessons. Today we look at the type o G Suite Apps that suite creating Hyperdocs.

Here are five very suitable ways to package Hyperdocs:

Examples of Hyperdocs using the above Google Apps:

Google Slides example: https://goo.gl/m1wGCx
Google Maps example: https://goo.gl/MfRtlu
Google Docs example: https://goo.gl/oANurQ
Google forms example: https://goo.gl/IsS0Kz
Google Sites example: https://goo.gl/aApwyD

In the next post we'll explore how to create a Hyperdoc: Hyperdocs #5: 5 steps to creating a Hyperdoc

Sunday, July 8, 2018

Hyperdocs #3: How did Hyperdocs start?

In this post we meet the creators of Hyperdocs. Three USA teachers Lisa Highfill, Kelly Hilton, and Sarah Landis coined the term “HyperDoc” to describe what they were experimenting with in their classrooms. This idea spread like wildfire. In 2016, they published The HyperDoc Handbook to teach others their method for creating these lessons. Follow them on Twitter:
Lisa Highfill: @lhughfill
Kelly Hilton: @kellyihilton
Sarah Landis @sarahlandis

Their book explains how HyperDocs work, why they have such an impact on instruction, and their model for how teachers can design HyperDocs for high-quality instruction.

They also have a website with many free templates and ideas for creating Hyperdocs. Visit it Hyperdocs website: http://hyperdocs.co/
The three Hyperdoc Girls have also created a website called Teachers Give Teachers
http://teachersgiveteachers.net

View the following YouTube video and meet the three 'Hyperdocs Girls' Lisa Highfill, Sarah Landis and Kelly Hilton as they join Ditch that Textbook to discuss Hyperdocs -- what they are, how they can be created and how to make them the best for your students!

In our next post we'll look at the Apps in GSuite that we can use for creating Hyperdocs. "Hyperdocs #4: Which GSuite apps can I use to create Hyperdocs?"

Friday, July 6, 2018

Our school is currently fund-raising to get Chromebooks! Exciting! So I am starting to collect tips and tricks for Chromebooks. After looking through all the Google in Education posts that were shared to my various subscriptions recently, here is a selection about Chromebooks that looks useful for teachers http://bit.ly/2uSjU5x. (The link to the previous posts on Google links via List.ly can be found at http://bit.ly/2Inr7Q7 and prior to that on the SchoolNet blog at https://goo.gl/CNO3M2)

Wednesday, July 4, 2018

Hyperdocs #2: What is a Hyperdoc?

In recent times the term Hyperdoc has really caught my attention. It makes sense to create digital lesson plans that are multilayered for digital lessons presented in the 21st Century - and Hyperdocs do just that. They contain multilayered learning experiences.

What are the main features of a Hyperdoc

A Hyperdoc is basically a lesson presented in a Google document o one kind or another, that adds innovative elements such as instructions, links, graphic organisers and tools required by the learner in order to complete a task. It can be used in class with a balanced flow of teacher led/student led instruction OR it can be used in a a flipped classroom environment.

It is easy to use individually, in pairs or in groups. It aims to include the 4Cs:
Collaboration
Critical Thinking
Communication
Creativity.
It gets learners thinking by focusing on ways for them to apply their knowledge.
It contains multimedia text sets rather than lectures.

What is meant by a Multimedia Text Set
A multimedia text set is a collection of lessons, various texts, and resources based around a topic or theme. It can build background knowledge and shift pedagogy to an exploration of content rather than lecture. The different options of the lesson can be selected from a table.

How could we summarise a Hyperdoc?

This was shared by Lisa Highfill, the creator of Hyperdocs, in one of her presentations

This was shared Carrie Wilson on Twitter: "What's a #HyperDoc? My 1st HyperDoc Bootcamp"
http://bit.ly/2LLU0uH

But first, before we look depper into Hyperdocs, let's discoover something about their history.

Who started the idea of Hyperdocs? We'll find out more about this in our next post: Hyperdocs #3: How did Hyperdocs start?

Sunday, July 1, 2018

Digital Storytelling #1: What is Digital Storytelling?

There are many definitions of digital storytelling. I really like the definition of Digital Storytelling in this interactive image: "The art of combining storytelling with a combination of digital graphics, text, recorded audio narration, video and music, to communicate information about a specific theme or topic."

I love the way the Digital Storytelling Process is outlined here by Toniamcm using a Thinglink. https://www.thinglink.com/scene/382359211410980864.

Toniamcm used the concept of process writing (popularized by Donal Murray) to design this digital storytelling process visual. This process is made up of 7 stages namely: prewriting, drafting, editing, conferencing, revising, publishing, and sharing. If you hover your mouse over any of these stages you will be able to see a clickable button that you can use to access the list of iPad apps for that stage.

https://www.thinglink.com/scene/382359211410980864

Hyperdocs #1: How do you currently design and deliver your lessons?

Now that we have more access to the Internet, and we have such wonderful tools to use in lessons - tools that can take our learners further than they ever thought they would go, it is time for us to relook at our lesson planning.

How do you currently create and deliver your content?
Do you stand in front o the class and give a lecture?
Do you use photostated worksheets?
Do you use the text books?
Do you plan what you are going to do on a lesson plan?

Perhaps you plan and write out your lesson plan thoroughly using a pre-determined template.

Teacher Toolkit designed a very effective 5 minute lesson plan that was soon used across the world because it saved a lot of time.

This is the five-minute toolkit filled in.

These three lesson planning ideas would probably work well in a classroom situation where paper, pen and textbooks are used. It is not that any of these are wrong. It is just that in this age of digital exploration, are our traditional methods of lesson planning and delivery sufficient?

Are they easy to distribute?
Can our learners work from themDo they create a sen?
Do they provide how tos for new tools or links to amazing ideas?
Do they get out learners thinking and exploring?
Do they create a sense of excitement in the lesson?
Can they be used at home or school?

A consideration of all these questions has caused me to think about using Hyperdocs. We'll find out more about Hyperdocs in the next blog post "Hyperdocs #2: What is a Hyperdoc?"

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