Black History People
by Quikthinking Software
This app has many of the “usual” people one would expect in studying Black History from Martin Luther King, Jr. to Rosa Parks, George Washington Carver, Bill Cosby and Barack Obama. It has the people divided into categories of Authors and Poets, Civil Rights and Politics, Education and Sports, Entertainment-Art-Business, Inventors, Law, Medicine-Science-Aviation, and Music.
The information provided is limited, but does... More →
As a teacher, I am often asked by parents and by other teachers about apps to use with their children. I always recommend ones that encourage children to be creative and allow them to express themselves in a positive way. These are several of my favorite Android apps for Preschool - adult. I have included a variety of types. I also like these because the product can be saved to... More →
If your situation is similar to many I have encountered in multiple school districts around the country, BIP tracking looks different in each school you visit, heck sometimes in every classroom you visit. There are charts, tally sheets, narratives, and every type of tracking mechanism under the sun, but if not every teacher is using the same method it is very hard to turn any of the data that... More →
Before you tell me that you don’t want me anywhere near your backpack or your TPACK, let me explain. TPACK is simply a framework and yet another acronym that we can use in education. Except this acronym really matters (like all the others). According to http://www.tpack.org, “The TPACK framework extends Shulman’s idea of Pedagogical Content Knowledge.” Props to Dr. Matthew Koehler,... More →
INTRODUCTION
This is the fourth in a series of resources outlining apps, Web sites, and ideas for using Bloom's Revised Taxonomy to support teaching and learning. This resource deals with Android apps for the fourth of Bloom's levels, analyzing.
The previous posts in the series were:
An overview of Bloom's and apps to support the remembering level
Apps to support the understanding level
Apps to support... More →
Introduction
Bloom's Revised Taxonomy is a pedagogical model we are all familiar with. This is the third in a series of resources outlining apps, Web sites, and ideas for using Bloom's Revised Taxonomy to support teaching and learning. This resource deals with Android apps for the third of Bloom's levels, applying.
The previous posts in the series were:
An overview of Bloom's and apps to support... More →
While Dragon Dication by Nuance is not the only dictation application on the market, in this educators opinion, it is the most polished and one of the most widely used. If you are not familiar with this type of program it is simple to explain: you say it and the program types it. For fellow special educators and general education teachers alike, this probably elicits a Scooby Doo-like... More →
Reading comes to life with interactive eBooks using the Storia app by Scholastic. Get five free books just for downloading the app. It's easy, just download and install the Storia app, launch, sign in and read.
Teachers like that they get five free books and that they can use their Scholastic bonus points to buy eBooks. But what teachers really like about Storia, is the built-in book manager. Books... 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 →
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 →
I'm really excited to use the Sony Xperia Tablet with K-2 students. I'm sure that they will think of even more ways to use the apps than I will.
The first 6 year old that I handed the Xperia Tablet to immediately tapped on an app to open it. It was intuitive. I did need to show her how to get back to the home screen and how... More →
You did it! You made the wise decision to purchase a SONY Xperia tablet. Now what? As an educator it can be quite overwhelming to wade through the vast amount of information out there on the best Android apps to use. Let me help you by posting my findings on a Learnist board.
This first post features Wave Recorder, Skitch Evernote, Quixey, and qPDF. These... More →
Well the SONY Xperia created quite a stir in this teacher’s classroom. “Did you get, did you get it?” and “Can we see it?” were repeated by many anxious voices as I unveiled the new classroom learning tool. The live wallpaper of swimming koi, complete with water ripples when you touch the screen, helped up the coolness factor.
... More →
One of the best things about the Xperia tablet is it’s versatility. Not only do you have a content consumption device with apps to interact with, digital reader functionality, and Internet accessibility, you also have a content creation device that can act as a still camera, a video camera, a sound recorder, and a productivity suite.
The challenge in a one tablet classroom is finding ways in which... More →
So I have to admit, I came upon this idea thanks to a colleague of mine who was looking for a fun way to encourage creativity and reward good behavior. We got to talking about wedding receptions we had recently attended at which the hosts had provided a photo booth experience. You know what I’m talking about. You go into the booth, click the button and a camera... More →
The Idea
One great way to use your Sony Xperia in the classroom is to create a class voting booth. This could be done in conjunction with an election unit or simply to instill a little bit of the democratic process into your classroom.
While the act of voting via clicker or via webtools such as polleverywhere.com may be a quick way to gather class information, the act of... More →
Google Apps for Education is Google’s suite of web-based tools that help the busy teacher work more efficiently and effectively for working with students, collaborating with colleagues, and communicating with parents.
Here are some of the most popular Google Apps for Education:
Google Drive: Teachers are using Google Drive to store all of their important documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and forms. Google Docs is now part of Google Drive.... More →
INTRODUCTION
This is the fifth in a series of resources outlining apps, Web sites, and ideas for using Bloom's Revised Taxonomy to support teaching and learning. This resource deals with Android apps for the fifth of Bloom's levels, evaluating.
The previous posts in the series were:
An overview of Bloom's and apps to support the remembering level
Apps to support the understanding level
Apps to support the... More →
I live in Minnesota where the weather can be extreme. Thank goodness there are weather apps so that I can stay inside.
If I were planning a unit on weather in my classroom, the first thing I would do is round up resources that I have available, the resources online and the apps on my Sony Xperia Tablet. In my classroom I would have thermometers, a barometer and books. Then... More →
It is here, the Common Core Learning Standards have officially taken over as THE focus. The writing is on the wall as many professional teaching books, pinterest pages, and professional development conferences have quickly switched their focus. With good reason. The standards are guiding all of our decisions as we educate our students to be college and career ready (not to mention that... More →
Sony Xperia Tablet and Second Language Learners from Keri Duncan on Vimeo.
The above video is an example of how the Sony Xperia tablet is used in a one-to-one situation with a second language learner. Each week a volunteer at the school comes and spends the day working with different students. For about 40 minutes she works with this particular student to help him in his fluency for sight words.... More →
As great as it would be to have a tablet for every student, and although it may seem a little more feasible than the one to one computer solution, it still may be a ways off for many teachers and schools. There are still lots of great ways to use the one tablet in the classroom.
For the primary classroom, one option for the tablet is to use it as... More →
In my classroom I am constantly recording what my students are doing and putting it on my class Web site. Finding an easy way to accomplish this feat has been cumbersome at times because there have been too many steps such as loading video onto my laptop, editing the video, converting the video for the Web, and then uploading it to my site. Victory was... More →
There are a lot of apps out there… more than we can even begin to explore. The Google Play Store has tens of thousands… but how do we choose apps for learning? What are some criteria to help us choose apps for our students?
Basic Criteria
Curriculum
First things first, the app needs to provide opportunities for students to learn or practice something we value. This could be... More →
http://Mathsframe.co.uk
This British website is the home to many interactive math tools and resources which run perfectly on my Sony Xperia tablet. Many of these are available free, while an even greater selection is available by subscribing for about $15 per year. While these are described as being “Interactive Whiteboard Resources” they can certainly be used with a tablet with or without a projector. Think about... More →
I was a Facebook late-comer. I was teaching, I had a family and a life, and if I wanted to “connect” with friends and family, I would pick up the phone or email them. I eventually gave in, joined and it’s moderately useful for me, but the ways I’ve seen it used by other teachers is amazing to me. So, if you’re... More →
Kids Numbers and Math by Intellijoy - paid version - has 8 different activities for children from pre-school through second grade. First there is just the identification of numbers. A number is on the screen, it is said, child repeats it and goes to the next number. The second game is to count the number of flowers and choose the correct number. After 5 correct answers there is a little positive feedback... More →
So you have one tablet, does it have any use in a busy classroom of learners with an already busy teacher? YES!
Having a limited supply of any tool or resource means we need to be even more thoughtful and intentional about how we use that tool. Here are a few ideas for integrating your tablet into the teaching and learning in your classroom, even if you only have one... More →
Using a tablet in physical education or science as a measurement tool for measuring and recording heart rate is easy with Cardiograph by Micropinch, a free Android app. Cardiograph records your heart rate and keeps the data so you can see the rate on various and times. Each data set is automatically time and date stamped and saved into a profile. You can have multiple profiles.
How it works
You... 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 →
There are lots of ways to create eBooks these days, using lots of different tools. This post focuses on one way to create eBooks that is simple, free, and takes full advantage of the tools available on your Xperia tablet.
The Idea
Have your students author content for a book that can be turned into an eBook, read on digital devices, and shared with others.
The content of the book... More →
Many of us are in classrooms that do not yet have HD connections to our projectors or TVs. In my case, all the classrooms in the school are equipped with a ceiling mounted projector that shows the tv cable shows with the click of one button, and the connected computer with the click of another button but has a VGA cable as the input to the projector.. What if you... More →
Last year, I wrote a blog post titled “11 Things I Think I Know About 1:1 Classroom Management.” In that post, I approached teaching in a 1:1 environment from the perspective of what it takes to teach well in a media-rich environment. The conclusion I came to was that, really, the skills that it takes to be an effective teacher in the Digital Age are the same as the skills it... More →
I love to read. Don’t you? I love books, magazines, manuals, blogs, and more. One of the challenges teachers face is how to instill that love of reading in their students. Thinking about the digital students we have today, I thought about what we can do to instill that love of reading with technology. Here are some suggestions.
Connect with other readers online.
Scholastic has a community for... More →
I’ve always felt that one of the goals of a teacher is to help each student feel like a rock star. Thanks to an observant colleague who saw a couple of kids playing with Songify, I think I have the next tool to help realize that goal.
What Is It?
Songify is a simple and free app that you can use on your Xperia tablet to record students... More →
Welcome to your new Android device. When you pull the Sony Xperia Tabletout of the box you will quickly find all hardware buttons you will need. The power/sleep button is located on the upper right hand corner above the volume rocker button. On the opposite side of the device you will find the headphone jack and a little cover. To access the cover find the little notch at the... More →
Lets look at your screen now to learn how to navigate in your Android tablet. You have three areas that we will talk about: the top, the middle and the bottom.
The top: This slim area houses three unique areas. To the left is the word “Google” and a Microphone. This is for quick access to search.
Touching Google will bring up the keyboard and touching the microphone... More →
I love homescreens; I am comfortable admitting it. The thing I love most about homescreens is that I can customize them with apps, app folders and widgets. The one thing that can be a plus and minus is that you get five, no more, no less. If you love widgets and you can’t get enough, then having only five homescreens might be a problem. But what I think... More →
Many teachers are oppressed, more than anything else, by time. Is everything ready for tomorrow? Is the grading done? Will I ever get a full night's sleep again?
Saving time to be inspired, though, is what can provide the energy not just to keep going, but to enjoy it as you do, and a great source of inspiration comes via the TED app from TED Conferences (when searching, you... More →
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One app that comes with your machine is Movie Studio (please excuse my busy background). If you're looking for the Xperia equivalent of Premiere, this ain't it.
That said, if you need a quick way to bring together a few clips, pictures, and music, Movie Studio can do the job.
The app allows adding any of the items mentioned above, as well as taking pictures and video from... More →
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Ask a 6th grader how many different jobs there are, and you might get, "Well there's (what my mom does), (what my dad does), teacher, police officer, football player, movie star, and the president of the United States. Did I get them all?"
Hopefully not, but more to the point, there are remarkably few opportunities in most curricula to explore lots of different careers in any kind of efficient... More →
Having a tablet or other mobile device that may well be handed among several students as part of an activity can cause problems if the students have multiple accounts they need to access. Imagine, for example, that three students in a group will use one device, and each has a GAFE (Google Apps for Education) account. How do they access their accounts without stepping into each others' mail, files, etc.?
... More →
What Is It?
Class Dojo is a robust behavior tracking and management application designed for teachers and parents which allows a teacher to create a customized icon for each student. These icons can then be used to attribute either positive or negative behavior marks towards individual students or even the entire class. As a I stated previously, this app can be highly individualized, but let’s... More →
The Google Play Store on your Android tablet offers a wide range of educational apps that are great for not only younger writers but writers of all ages as well. There’s likely an app that will help your students with their mobile writing endeavors!
Here are some of my favorite writing apps that are great for your Android tablet. All of these apps are free and all are... More →
One of my favorite ways to curate the web is via Symbaloo, a web 2.0 tool that allows the user to create webmixes of their favorite sites. The tool is easy to learn, and it’s free.
There are all kinds of reasons to like Symbaloo webmixes. First, they are very customizable. You can create custom buttons to represent each URL you would like to add. Also, you can have... More →
Every educator has too many tasks, not enough time and is pulled in a million directions. Here is a quick run-down of my favorite apps to use with my Sony Xperia tablet (or other Android-enabled device) to streamline life, while still staying effective.
Evernote - Take notes on your tablet, add pictures, audio recordings or attachments quickly to your notes, along with sharing “notebooks” to collaboratively edit;... More →
Widgets are just awesome. You heard me mention this before in the post about homescreens. In my opinion widgets are one of the great things that make the Android operating system stand out. Widgets allow you to customize your homescreens with useful information and or functional apps not just shortcuts to an app. Want to see your Google Calendar agenda without launching the app? Just install the widget on one... 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 →
If you are in the classroom like me, then you know that getting a one-to-one reading assessment completed without interruptions is a miracle. I have perfected the art of peripheral vision scanning of the other students as I conduct running records, and my frantic hand gestures to those that would interrupt are unmistakable. What I have not perfected is the art of completing the forms... More →
Newton’s laws of motion help us understand how objects in the world move around us. Through these apps students of all ages can understand the basics of physics and the comprehension skill of cause and effect.
First I would allow students to time to explore and play with the apps. Several are listed below. Then I would introduce Sir Isaac Newton and his laws of motion. I... More →
INTRODUCTION
If you were an education major in college, you are probably very familiar with Bloom's Taxonomy. In the image below, on the left, is the original Bloom’s Taxonomy, developed in the late 1950’s by Benjamin Bloom. On the right, is the Revised Blooms Taxonomy, published in 2000 by Anderson, a student of Bloom’s, and Krathwhol. The names of the levels were turned into action... More →
INTRODUCTION
Last month, I provided an overview of Bloom's Revised Taxonomy and include a set of Android apps and Web sites that could be used to support teaching and learning at the remembering level. If you did not read that first installment, please take a moment to do so!
UNDERSTANDING LEVEL
The next cognitive level of Bloom's Revised Taxonomy is the understanding level. The understanding level involves... More →
By no stretch of the imagination, am I a professional photographer. I like taking pictures of my work with schools, teachers and students and I love taking pictures of school signs.
I also believe in the need to document, in pictures, the fantastic things that are happening in our schools every day. Photos capture moments that will never, ever happen again. So in working with my Sony Xperia tablet,... More →
Being data-informed as a teacher is critical, especially in the Information Age. The more information we have about our learners, the more capable we are of designing lessons that enhance student learning. Finding ways to collect student feedback quickly and with the user-experience in mind is becoming more and more easy. Thanks to web 2.0 and the app culture, we now have the means to take the pulse of any group,... 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 →
One of the things that I love about tablet devices like the Xperia is that they are playgrounds for self-motivated, exploratory learning. An Internet-connected tablet offers unlimited possibilities for discovering new, wonder-inducing things to know.
That said, with all of the world at your fingertips, it is hard to know where to begin. As a service to my fellow explorers, I have provided 10 of my favorite places to learn, explore... More →
So it’s day one of a new unit on punctuation and grammatical usage. You have twenty students that you expect to have a working command of commas, periods, quotation marks, and everything in between by the end of the next grading period. Where do you start? What do these kids already know, and what are they totally unaware of? You can craft a pre-test... More →
I love art. I love drawing, painting, and creating art of all kinds. My students usually cheered when I got out the art supplies. Students love art too. One of the wonderful features of the Sony Xperia Tablet is that it allows students to be artistically creative and to share their work. Illustration apps allow students to express themselves through drawing, to illustrate their stories, and to communicate. Their illustrations... More →
Many kids love to read, and if they don’t, well we as teachers want to instill a love for reading in them. Reading opens new worlds to many students where they would never be able to go, or opens a fantasy land to their imagination.
Of course there are many story apps to use with your students, so I will just review a few.
Read Me... More →
I recently came across a handy app on the Sony Xperia that was already there right out of the box. The app is called Scrapbook. If you don’t already see the Scrapbook app on your home screen, press Apps & Widgets in the top right corner to locate the Scrapbook app. To add an app to your home screen, just press and hold on it until you are... More →
So you're a teacher putting together a video or a slideshow, and you want to add some music. What's okay to use?
The rules surrounding copyright are complex, but help is out there. You can find all kinds of good music you can use. Legally. For free. You just need to know where, and how, to look.
Let's start by assuming that you want to be able... More →
I should start by making it clear I know Karen and Gene, the two gifted educators that write the Common Core and Educational Technology blog. They were part of the 2011 cohort of the MERIT program which I directed, and so I can say without any hint of subjectivity that they're amazing people.
So what have they done? They have launched a blog in which strong educational technology resources are... More →
You know about the International Space Station or ISS. But have you ever seen it, I mean actually see it fly throught the sky? The ISS Detector App will show you when to look up into the night sky to do just that.
So you are thinking great, I get to see the space station but how does that apply to my classroom? I teach kids during the day.... More →
Do you like to know about the world around you? Want to give your students that same opportunity? Well I have two great apps to help quench that thirst. The Field Trip App from NianticLabs@Google and HISTORY Here from A&E Television Networks Mobile.
The Field Trip App is Niantic Labs (a startup inside of Google) first app. They have recently become more known for their other location... More →
As a former speech teacher, I can’t tell you how jealous I am that today’s teachers have the ability to provide their young rhetoricians with the tools that the big boys use. When I discovered that tablets like the Xperia can be used as teleprompters, I thought back to all of those student hours spent writing notecards and designing cue cards. I remembered with pain the... More →
As a special educator one of the most easily addressed disabilities I've encountered is visual impairment; however, it is also one the most overlooked. This statement is in no way intended to minimize the challenges students with visual impairments face. It is simply intended to point out the wide range of magnification and access tools available to students in today's technologically advanced world. Despite this, I... 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 →
Pictures Pictures Pictures. I love taking pictures, looking at pictures, and showing off pictures. Kids love to take pictures too, but quick viewing can sometimes be a hassle in the classroom. None of the desktops in our classrooms have built in card readers, so they have to be checked out from the computer lab.
That’s where the Xperia tablet comes in and one of the reasons I love... More →
As teachers we are always looking for ways to engage our students in learning so they don't even know they are learning, but rather, think they are just playing games. Mango Learning has done just that with their apps. This review concentrates on the Fractions Intro app, but having taken a cursory review of many of their other apps for Fractions and Decimals, they seem to really have hit... More →
In an earlier resource, I discussed how you could use your Xperia tablet as a wireless microphone in order to dictate to text with Dragon. This is still a fabulous speech-to-text program, but it has two distinct drawbacks. First, you can not dictate directly into the tablet, rather it remotely transmits to a desktop or laptop computer which has Dragon Dictation installed on it. Second, Dragon is... More →
If you have spent any time at all in recent professional development sessions for teachers, you have almost certainly run across the term Universal Design for Learning (UDL). The term applies to reaching and engaging all types of learners through the use of innovative and a multi-sensory approach. It’s a great idea that I feel all educators should strive to achieve, but it can be a... More →
MyScript Calculator is a free calculator app with a special feature, it is designed especially for touchscreens, providing handwriting recognition as it does its calculations! This is almost like magic. You can scrall a wide variety of mathematical operations and equations on your tablet and this app quickly translates your handwritten numerals and symbols into digital text and delivers the computations in almost real time.
This calculator... More →
If you teach third-grade boys you know that in their independent reading bag they will at some point have a graphic novel like the books by Dav Pilkey in their independent reading bag. This is not to say that the girls do not appreciate this genre too.
As third-grade teacher, I have observed first-hand how ears perk up whenever... More →
The titles of my blog posts usually begin with Common Core Connections. At first a post on homework planners for the Xperia table might not make sense. However, if you think about it, students will be better equipped to meet the CCSS if they are organized and actually do the reinforcement work and projects teachers assign. I taught first grade for 10 years and homework completion... More →
Popout! The Tale of Peter Rabbit is an electronic book/app which has enough of the classic illustrations, vocal performance, soft piano background music, and story to please Beatrix Potter traditionalists AND enough interactivity to engage and enthrall the young ones just being introduced to the work of Beatrix Potter as well.
Some interactions built into the app are reminiscent of a paper-based pop-up book. There are little tabs... More →
Not all tablets and computers are created equal. And they don't always play nicely with each other. As an educator, this can be infuriating. I'm trying to teach our kids and their teachers, and I'm constantly running into blockades that prevent me from being able to seamlessly present cross-platform products. I just want to teach and for my students to learn.
Thankfully, I was able to find... More →
We’ve all grown attached to our email programs, but there are some distinct advantages for using GMail as your email client when you’re an educator, and particularly as an administrator.
Here’s my top five reasons to use GMail in an educator’s life:
1. Ability to search all emails - using the search box at the top of the page, I can search... More →
Most all tablets and smartphones have cameras in them. In fact, many of them have nicer/better cameras than many of our regular digital cameras. With such a visual society, it is great to be able to snap a picture or quick video clip to post on-line or use in a class demonstration.
With the Sony Xperia S tablet, I was intrigued to find the time lapse feature of the... More →
In my role as a curriculum and technology specialist, I often encounter teachers who say things like, “I want to create lessons that take advantage of digital content, but I don’t know what that looks like.” Often, this is because teacher schedules are so hectic, and searching the Internet takes time that many teachers don’t have.
That’s why I was so excited... More →
Many teachers love the collaborative nature of documents in the Google Drive system, but have difficulties keeping what is shared with them organized. I have some recommendations on how to handle that, and hope this will help you take advantage of all that collaborative documents make possible.
Note that if you are brand new to Google Drive, this post may be confusing. I am assuming an understanding of... More →
Google Drive allows students to write collaboratively. This falls in the Big Whopping Deal category, as students tend to be far more interested in producing higher quality work when the audience expands beyond the teacher. Student work can be reviewed, commented on, and discussed by peers in order to improve it before "turning in" the final draft to the teacher.
In Part 1, I described an approach to keeping... More →
Last month Google announced a new, handy little tool called Google Keep. First of all, I really like the simplicity of this app. Like the other Google Apps, it's tied to your Google account. More specifically it's connected to Google Drive. You can head here to download Google Keep from Google Play.
Once you've created notes, you can view them by going to drive.google... More →
I love challenges. Someone asked me if it was possible to get a Google Drive and a Box.net account to work together. I accepted this challenge and got to work figuring it out. I found that I can use both together. I already had Google Drive on my laptop and the Google Drive app on my Sony Xperia Tablet. I also had a Box.net account, Box sync... More →
This is an introductory activity to get to know the features of the Sony Xperia Tablet and a few of the apps. You can do the activities with a partner or by yourself. Tasks can be completed in any order.
All answers should be written down on the Sony Xperia Tablet. What app would you use for that?
Find the telephone number for the... More →
Any one that is familiar with the Orton Gillingham approach to teaching reading would greatly question how using a tablet is at all relevant. Orton Gillingham is a multi-sensory, sequential approach to teaching reading, spelling, and writing for individuals that have difficulties often associated with dyslexia. The key part is that it is multi-sensory and combines visual, auditory, and kinesthetic approaches. When learning a letter and... More →
Every summer I present a course to teachers called, “Pack Your Digital Backpack.” All year long I collect my favorite digital tools curated from Twitter, Diigo and some of my favorite blogs- tools that are low risk and high impact. Then I present them “smackdown” style to teachers. It’s a fun course because as we go over each tool, teachers collaboratively come up... 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 →
If you have found this site of resource, congratulations! But sometimes, we don’t even know where to start to find well-vetted resources. Look no further. Below, I’ve provided a brief list of great, well-vetted resource sites to reference when you are looking for great Android educational resources or apps. Enjoy!
Well-established and known, Common Sense Media, provides Android Apps reviews for kids, by age-level.
... More →
In another post on this site, I highlighted the TED app for Android, and am returning to that app to talk about ways we think about our students. Do we know what they can do? More to the point, do we know how our thinking can limit what we see of what they can do?
A friend asked me recently this question, "What's the coolest thing you've seen... More →
Colleagues often ask me where I find new tools and ideas for enhancing learning with technology. Obviously, I always learn from and share the great resources available from my fellow Sony Education Ambassadors, but beyond that, with so much content available on the web and so few hours in the day, I try to be as efficient in my learning as possible. As a result, I’ve gradually assembled... More →
The school year is winding down and my students just completed the New York State Common Core assessments for English Language Arts and Math. The reality is that assessment has moved to the forefront of every educator’s mind as we raise the rigor and expectations of our students’ skills and knowledge.
The use of flashcards as a study aid is definitely not new, but I have... More →
What if I told you that you could provide your students with an entire collegiate semester of foreign language instruction in just 34 hours? Now, what if I told you that you could provide that instruction anytime of the day or night and right on their tablet? No really, this isn’t a hypothetical. That would be pretty awesome right? Well, you can do this very... More →
Explain Everything has finally arrived to the Google Play Store and the Sony Education Ambassadors couldn’t be more excited! This post will cover some initial resources out there to get started on Explain Everything on your Android device, and to connect with other EE Android users.
The Website
The Official YouTube Channel
The Twitter Feed
The Facebook Fan Page
Download Link in Google Play Store
Explain Everything expects... More →
From a special education perspective, two of the largest challenges to student academic progress that teachers face are engagement and age appropriate material. I would also step out on a limb and say these are major challenges to all teachers. For instance, if you want one of your middle school students to improve or master his punctuation usage, providing him handouts with See Spot Run excerpts is neither... More →
The other day, I visited the classroom of a friend of mine. She is an amazing teacher who is very creative and is constantly finding ways to create a sense of wonder and joy in her high school language arts classroom. Given her artistic talents, I am never surprised to see something new and unique in her room. Over the years, she has furnished her classroom with chairs and tables... More →
Thank you to all the teachers for your dedication, time and energy. Our learners need your passion and expertise to guide their learning. Your work is inspiring and much appreciated!
As a teacher for over 35 years, I know that teachers love, and need, free stuff. So I was on a mission to find stuff for you. I haven't read all the fine print and haven't requested all of... More →
So you’ve been using your Xperia to capture all of the great learning that has been going on in your classroom, but after the moment has passed, those pictures have a tendency to just pile up and sit unused on your device instead of being organized and enjoyed. Ideally, there would be an easy way to organize photos quickly into albums that can be flipped through on your... More →
So I’ve been meaning to write this post for a while, but other posts have taken precedence. Still, I want to make sure I share this. In January, I had the opportunity to attend the FETC conference in Orlando, Florida. It’s a great conference, and it was made even better for me because I had the opportunity to hangout with some of my fellow Sony... More →
I do a lot of traveling and speaking, with my primary goal to help teachers see new possibilities for themselves and their students. This includes looking at new technologies from a variety of perspectives, telling stories of amazing things that the teachers and students I meet have done, and showing videos that help me make a point about vision and action.
My hope is that this post (and perhaps more... More →
So, you likely know about Android devices, and you probably have some experience with Google Docs (aka Drive). If not, check out these posts from other Ambassadors. However, have you considered all of the possibilities of using Google Drive on an Android device? If not, read on for all you’ve ever wanted to know about Google Drive for Android.
First, the basics.
With Drive, when... More →
The new Z tablet hit the market here in the US the end of May and boy has it made a splash! There have been some big changes since the S tablet release but what are those big changes, and do they really matter in the education world.
1) Waterproof - as soon on the advertisements and demos at conferences and exhibits, the new Z tablet can be fully immersed in... More →
As educators, we are constantly making a difference in the lives of our students. Those differences may be small - seeds planted that flower into something important years later. Sometimes, though, the difference is powerfully immediate.
This video is the story of The Apollos, a group of students from Oakland Technical High School who in 1979 were key in getting California to pass a law creating a holiday celebrating the life... More →
As any seasoned educator will tell you, formative assessments are key to steering instruction in the right direction. They provide valuable insight into what concepts need to be reviewed or even re-taught. Many believe though that using formative assessments to routinely check for understanding can take away from valuable class time. Socrative is a free and easy way to develop and administer exit tickets and quizzes to your students regardless... 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 →
English and reading teachers will rejoice when they download Reading Gridlines on their tablet.Reading Gridlines is a free android app that helps students focus on sections of the screen. This app adds gridlines to your eBook app or any other app you select. In order to focus on screen and text, we need reading gridlines to split the text into several parts, and quickly digest the text one by... More →
I love a truly well-crafted message. With movies, we watch a story unfold, and ideally, it captures our interest so that we are curious/excited/intrigued as to what happens next. A good educational video does the same thing, setting a stage for making a point that can help a child see something that was hidden from her or his understanding before.
In this piece, we meet a beggar on... More →
It's that time of year for educators. The Summer is vanishing infinitely faster than any physics teacher ever thought naturally possible, and we are faced with planning the daunting number of lesson plans, professional growth goals, and student learning targets necessary to succeed in the upcoming year. For the facilitator/administrator the feeling of being overwhelmed, especially early on in the year, is all too real. ...; More →
One of my favorite features of my Xperia tablet is that it is waterproof and that it takes pictures. While still on the beach, or sitting in the pool, I can then edit my pics with some of my favorite free Android photo editing apps. Here is just a handful of my favorites:
Pixlr-o-Matic - I use this app most often. It includes tons of vintage filters, overlays, light leaks,... More →
I’m always looking for new places to extend my informal learning online. Back in February I posted an article titled 10 Great Places to Learn and Play. Since then, of course, I’ve discovered new sites worth exploring, and I offer them here to those of you who are looking for new things to ponder and new digital gadgets to try:
1. Small Demons- I’ve... More →
The future doesn’t always deliver on the promises it makes to us as children, but video chats are one place where The Jetsons didn’t let me down. I may not be able to travel by pneumatic tube to school, have a delicious steak delivered to me in seconds at the touch of a button, or rely on my robot to clean up my messes, but I... 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 →
Sony now has an MHL- HDMI Adapter that allows you to hook the Sony Experia Tablet Z to an HDMI port on a television, monitor, or projector and mirror your tablet's screen! Of course, this is great for the classroom!
It connects to the MHL port on the Sony Experia Tablet Z and has an HDMI port on the other side. It also includes a charging port on... More →
Improvements in technology continues to allow for enhanced communication between people, ranging from quick text based chats to face-to-face video calling. Google has chosen to take a leading role in developing this technology. A recent update to the company’s Hangouts application attempts to create a seamless integration between both forms of communication and continue to make multiple user discussions easy, engaging, and uber fun. With an increasing... More →
The first step to welcoming the new addition of the Z tablet to your classroom is to learn your way around a bit. Hover over the targets on the image to learn more about the basics of the home screen.
... 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 →
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 →
One of the great things about mobile technology generally and tablet technology specifically is that one device can perform so many functions. Tablets like the Xperia can be a library, a stereo, a computer, a camera, a movie theater, and so much more.
One of my favorite uses for the Xperia tablet is as a video camera and production studio. With my Xperia, I have the ability to capture, edit... More →
As an educator, I am constantly looking for new ideas to shape my educational philosophy and pedagogy. While I don’t always have the time to read a book on current trends in education, I can always find a few moments each day to peruse the blogs that I follow and read a few posts to get my mental wheels spinning. Here are 10 of my favorite sources for inspiration:
... More →
During the month of September I had the absolute pleasure of providing each of my students with an Xperia Z tablet to use courtesty of Sony! Anyone who knows me, realizes what an opportunity this was for me. I try to be app savvy but it is frustrating when you have ideas for how tablets like the Sony Xperia Z can be used in the... More →