Biteslide: A free alternative to Glogster

I don't know about you, but with so many free resources available online, I am no longer seeing the need to pay for services that can be found elsewhere.  Glogster is/was one of my favorite tools to use in the classroom.  However, after having my bank account docked every year for the subscription, I decided that it was time to find something else.  After trying out a few "glog-ternatives", I came across Biteslide.  It is a little more simplistic thank Glogster, but it is super easy to use and printer friendly.  A teacher can register for a free account with 30 student accounts.  By referring Biteslide to other teachers, 5 additional student accounts can be added (with a max of 30 additional accounts=60 total).  There are paid versions of Biteslide, but the free account does the trick as well.  Unlike other sites, Biteslide is intended for school use, so I have yet to stumble across inappropriate content.  You can participate in a demo by clicking on the icon at the top of this post.  You can also find a presentation with handouts at THIS link.

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

Remind 101

Remind 101 is a free service that allows teachers to send text messages to parents who have joined or subscribed to the service.  Contact information is kept private and the messages are only one-way, so there are no replies coming back from the text that is sent.

Here is a short video that I created on the basics of set-up and sending a text (please excuse my noisy children in the background :)

Introduction to Augmented Reality

OK...so I'm definitely a newbie when it comes to Augmented Reality and I am still learning, so feel free to leave any helpful comments below.  I started hearing about AR at NCTIES and have noticed that there are already sold out sessions at ISTE for Augmented Reality, so I've decided to try finding some resources that would be helpful for other newbies like me:)

I found this Prezi by Matt Hollowell that I think does a great job of introducing AR