Infographics

Today at ISTE2014 I learned how to create an infographic.  I tested out many different sites and found easel.ly to be the easiest for beginners (like me).  Shirley Farrell presented and shared her Livebinder of resources with us.  I think in this case you would benefit most from "playing around" on the website rather than from me trying to create a tutorial video for you because your needs for infographics will differ from person to person.

So, why use infographics in education?  You can read an online article here, but I can also sum it up by saying that infographics combine visuals, informational text, and data to assist the learner in making meaning of what they are viewing.  Hence, they are utilizing multiple modes of learning.  If you take it even further by letting the student create infographics, then they will be using their higher order thinking skills as they sythesize their knowledge and create visual products.

Below is an example of a basic infographic that I created today for my resume.

Augmented Reality Take 1

The clock just struck midnight and I am sitting in my hotel room at ISTE2014.  I came here with an agenda and a plan for what I wanted to learn more about.  First of all I wanted to learn about all things Google since I have been selected to test out Google Classroom.  Second, I wanted to attend sessions that covered utilizing technology with reading and social studies (I am switching from math and science to reading and social studies and need some refreshers).  Finally, I wanted to learn more about Augmented Reality.  Unfortunately, all of the Augmented Reality (AR) sessions were booked up, so I searched all of the presentations from ISTE that covered AR and came across this FABULOUS Prezi which took me step by step through the creation process. Major props to Lauren Tate @teachertate for creating it!

Download the Aurasma App and hold it over the picture below to see my first "Aura"

Google Hangouts

Erin Klein and Kyle Pace shared Google Hangouts 101 and how to use Google Hangouts in the classroom at ISTE 2014.

https://docs.google.com/a/ecps.k12.nc.us/presentation/d/1_9hgx2A7A3E248g_8I-RvMwn4WJME3KqTFS-fqSHaww/edit#slide=id.g35659b189_07

Literacy Tools

Holli Taylor presented at ISTE 2014 on Literacy and the Web 2.0 teacher.  The first handout linked below has links to apps/websites that support guided reading.  The second handout is an example of the "menus" that she uses for guided reading.

https://www.isteconference.org/uploads/ISTE2014/HANDOUTS/KEY_87891843/Literacytoolsfortheweb2GOPDF.pdf

https://www.isteconference.org/uploads/ISTE2014/HANDOUTS/KEY_87891843/ReadingCenterMenus20132014.pdf