Andy Losik has been teaching for 19 years in a variety of elementary school settings. For the last thirteen, he has run the Infotech program in Hamilton, MI. Andy is a Discovery Education Star, a Google Certified Teacher, and Apple Distinguished Educator and was named Michigan Tech-Educator of the Year in 2009. Along with his classroom duties, Andy serves as a technology consultant in his school district and across the country for private, public, and charter schools. He has also provided insight for companies like Disney and Sifteo. First and foremost Andy is a husband and dad who loves his family, fishing, and football as much as he loves the techie stuff.
The developers at Spain's Chromville are busily creating an augmented reality world for users of all ages. By printing and then coloring pages depicting different characters and parts of the Chromville world, "explorers" use the special app available in Android and iOS to make their scenes come to life. Here is the backstory on this mystical land according to Chromville.com. "The ancient world Chromville, is well known for... More →
The Sony Xperia tablet Z has some amazing dust and water resistant qualities, but the device isn't invincible. With a little care, you can capture great adventure shots and insure the device has a long and productive life. I love bundling up in a Michigan winter and spending as much time as possible outside. Whether it is sledding, snow shoeing, playing pond hockey or ice fishing I try to... More →
Eyes are opening across education that students need to develop at least the basics of computer programming, also known as coding. We live in a world where almost everything we use from cameras to water softeners to the fuel pumps on our cars are controlled by some type of computer module. Things are only going to get more complicated and if our students today want to have a say in... More →
Some of the most fun you can have while learning with colleagues is through organizing a media safari. While at the humungous International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) conference in San Antonio this past summer, Sony Educational Ambassadors Rushton Hurley and Courtney Steffens joined me one evening for a media safari around downtown. A media safari is an informal gathering of video or photography enthusiasts who set out to... More →
I first met the amazing Jenny Magiera in 2011 at a summer tech camp in Arizona. The connection has produced a wealth of learning, but one of the most practical pieces of information I have learned from her surrounds using a device's background as a management tool. All of the laptops and Sony Xperia tablets I use in my Infotech program have been customized with unique backgrounds. We would love... More →
When Coach Bob Losik showed up this summer to oversee summer weight training for the Saugatuck High School (MI) football program he carried with him his Sony Xperia tablet. "The kids were amazed," states the 68 year-old Losik. "Not only with the Sony product but that somebody my age was 'technological' enough to be using it to critique how these kids were progressing through their lifts." Another spot where the retired... More →
In April of 2013, the first graders in Kristi Zoerhof's first grade classroom had the unique opportunity to test drive the Sony Xperia tablet. For roughly three weeks students used a number of applications to work skills but the real magic happened when the class transformed its traditional study of the butterfly's lifecycle by capturing and documenting daily changes with the tablet. More and more educators are discovering that... More →
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It seems that many teachers in the 1:1 learning environment express frustration over getting materials both on an off of their students' devices. Box.com is a free and cloud-based solution that can greatly streamline these management issues and allow teachers to focus on fostering the 4 C's of 21st Century Learning: Collabortation, Critical Thinking, Creativity, and Communication. Collaboration: When groups engaging in project or challenge based learning activities are... More →
I have always believed that educational technology has two main roles. It allows us to put more knowledge in our heads and it allows us to share it out. The tools work in tandem and once kids develop an understanding then we ask them to share it. When the time comes to share what they know, one of my go-to apps is Pic Collage. I love Pic Collage for... More →
With the Google Voice app you can easily put a new spin on formative assessment. By installing the app and then signing up for a free customizable number (I was even able to get my last name in mine.) teachers can create a feedback hotline for students and parents to leave comments, reflections, or questions. Here is an easy example. A teacher asks her class to read three poems by... More →
Learning Gems is an educational app development company based in Portage, Michigan and working to produce a number of offerings on the Android platform and for other devices. At last check the outfit had three pages of apps available in the Google Play Store. Apps range in price from free "lite" versions to $2.99. I caught up with Learning Gems' Robert Gleasson this week in Detroit at the 2013 MACUL conference. ... More →
I remember standing in Casa Grande Junior High School with slicked back hair and rolled up jeans on 1950's day in 1985 and telling a classmate, "You know, someday we'll be sending our kids to school on 80's day." Well, those days are here and for those of us who fondly recall the 80's and 90's enjoy the nostalgia of that era the rise of computer and video games are... More →
Social media has become so prevalent that it seems like our lives are bombarded with bursts of tweets, pins, check-ins, quick links, hashtags, and Instagrams. What too often gets lost is the substance behind all of those short posts...and there is substance. No really. There is. The cliché knock on social media is that it is just self-absorded nothingness post after post about where someone is eating... More →
Techsmith's Coach's Eye app may have been designed for coaches and athletes to analyze athletic performance but it harbors a lot of potential for any teaching situation. It is also one a very select number of apps on the Android platform that can be used to annotate video or flip learning. I have been looking long and hard to find an app on the Android platform that... More →
On Monday January 21, Google users discovered a powerful new search tool had been unleashed, the ability to search for applications. Tell the powerful search engine what you are looking for and let Google search not only places like the Play Store but all app review sites and blogs. In the example on the left, I searched for Android Whiteboard apps and was handed a couple of suggestions quickly as well... More →
One of the most powerful learning tools on the Sony Xperia tablet is its camera. In this video the Sony support team highlights a number of features housed in the tablet's camera application including shooting panoramas, editing photos, and accessing the camera quickly from the lock screen. Learn the basics of these features and more here. ... More →
So...your students have created great content on the Xperia tablet and you want to share it on a large HD monitor or HD projector, here is a quick walk-through from the Sony support team. ... More →
In this video Sony Education Ambassador Andy Losik shows some of his fifth graders hard at work and having lots of fun learning seventeen different professional camera angles. Five groups of students are all handled a different device. The Sony Bloggie and Xperia tablet are among those in play. The overall goal is not to create Hollywood masterpieces but to gain tech literacy with many different devices and platforms. ... More →
As a long time leader in the home electronics market, Sony knows that for many watching TV now involves having some type of laptop or mobile in one's lap as well. The Xperia tablet is the ultimate viewing companion because has a universal remote for many household and classroom devices built right into it. Sony takes the viewing experience a step further with an amazing app called Watch Now... More →
TeachersParadise.com Studios offer a number of Android apps. One set of their Pre-K through Second Grade handwriting offerings not only help young learners refine their small motor skills, but one set in particular helps them practice their sight word recognition. The Kids Handwriting HWT series uses the “Handwriting Without Tears” methods and has four apps that allow children to progress naturally. What is unique is that instead... More →