In this webinar we discussed BYOD (Bring your own device) which is a current buzz word. Basically instead of schools going to the expense of buying and maintaining technology devices the students are encouraged to bring their own devices from home – smart phones, laptops or tablets of one sort or another. What is your opinion on this? You would imagine that something like this wouldn’t work because of perhaps teacher skills in managing different devices or students forgetting their devices at home or not owning a device. Our two ladies in this webinar tell us what they have experienced at their respective schools..
Our two presentersNina Adams is the Innovation head at St Cyprians in Cape Town and she is responsible for technology integration throughout the school. Michele Botha is the Head of the Intermediate Phase at Somerset House Primary in Somerset West and she is also responsible for technology integration at her school. In this webinar they each relate the ins and outs plus successes of introducing the BYOD approach at their schools.
Thank you to these two ladies. (Adobe Connect can be troublesome at times but these two ladies persevered). Nina Adams from St Cyprians in Cape Town Title:‘To BYODly go…’Webinar recording:http://meet78641452.adobeconnect.com/p67ctfy140o/ (23 mins)Prezi Links: http://prezi.com/mqzvyevtmkv4/to-byodly-go/ Michele Botha from Somerset House Primary ‘
I love exploring Susan Oxenvad’s amazing blog Cool Tools for Teachers – do visit it and also follow Susan on Twitter. On her blog I came across a post with this this brilliant representation of ‘Great ways of using Google Documents’. Not only does she illustrate how amazing and versatile Google Docs is for learning in the classroom, but she also demonstrates a fabulous way to use a Glogster for giving out information visually. If you click on each part of the glog you will be taken to a post explaining that particular section of Google Docs. I have looked through those and they are great posts. I am SO impressed with this! How about you?
Susan's glog gives the option to embed, so that is what I will so! Don't forget to visit the original post here.
What is a Google hangout?Google+ is Google's new social networking tool. I have only just discovered its amazing potential since attending the Google Teacher Academy in New York in October. Google has put a lot of funding into developing Google+ and they are committed to making it work well for education, so it will just get better and better I am sure. Once you have created a circle of friends in Google+ you can choose to hang out with them on Google+. This allows you to video chat, IM chat, watch YouTube videos together, and more.
Summary of benefitsGoogle Hangouts are part of Google+, Google's new free social networking tool. On a Hangout 10 people (possible 15 on Google Apps) can:*video chat*IM (instant message) chat*watch YouTube videos together*collaborate on a Google Doc*use a whiteboard collaboratively*add effects for fun*record the Hangout directly on YouTube*live stream for more viewers*A minimum of two people *and more… A Slideshare showing the stepsThis slideshare was used in the SchoolNet webinar of the same name and shows the steps in creating a hangout.
Webinar recording:Last week SchoolNet had a webinar whih was presented by me (Fiona Beal) on 'Get the hang of a Google Hangout'. Here is the recording. http://meet78641452.adobeconnect.com/p6kgz1ndmhz/ (22 mins)Ideas for using a hangout in the the classroom• Read a story• Bring in an expert/guest speaker/author|• Share from a Slideshare• Homework tutoring• Professional Development meeting• Work on a project together• Virtual penpals• Global classroom discussions• Career Day wit panelists• Attend other hangouts (Google has a whole library of hangouts)• Extended discussion on a class topic• Subject-related hangouts• Conduct workshops and seminars
Additional reading and viewinga) A tutorial Please note that Google updates its products continually so some features in this video might look different.
b) Further Reading*How to use Google Hangouts *
How to Use Google+ Hangouts for Teaching*
How to create a Google event
