Thursday, March 23, 2023

Tech Tips and News for March 24, 2023

"Frustrated male middle school student" by All4Ed 
is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.
It's always fun to try out new tech tools, but it's also important to know how pivot when things go wrong. This week, I've included a post from Practical Ed Tech to walk you through some troubleshooting steps to try when you run  into trouble. The best advice, however, is to test the new tech out before going "live" in the classroom with students. Sign in to a student chromebook with a student account, and see what happens. Do a test run of the lesson in your classroom to see if anything doesn't connect or is blocked. Use the troubleshooting posters in your classroom, as well as those in the post included below. If sites are blocked for students, shoot me an email with the URLs that need to be allowed. With a little planning, we can work through most snags and you'll look like a rock star in front of your students. 

Call Centre Scams - Wham! Bam! - That's a SCAM #2



iPhone or Android Slow or Buggy? Do This One Simple Thing Every Week

This is a good, simple habit to get into. The older my phone gets, the more often I need to do this just to keep it going. 

What's New on IXL - February 2023

New features include the ability to create quizzes in more subjects, and share them with other teachers.

Google Workspace Updates:  Improvements to Table of Contents in Docs

Were you aware that Google Docs will automatically create a table of contents based on headings? Just use the built in heading styles (you can customize them), and it becomes an automated process. When creating tables of contents in Docs, you'll soon be able to toggle between three default styles, page numbers and tab leader styles. Find out how to add titles, headings and tables of contents here. These expanded style updates will be rolling out by mid-April. You can read the details here. 

Six DIY Tech Fixes for Teachers

Six DIY Tech Fixes for Teachers, from Practical Ed Tech by Richard Byrne
Technology can be so complex, when you try something new, it's not uncommon that you run across a glitch here and there. Here are some common troubleshooting tips to try to fix any issues. Remember, it's always a good idea to do a test run on any new technology you are implementing in the classroom before class time. 

Google Slides Tier List Activity

Google Slides Tier List Activity, from Control Alt Achieve by Eric Curts
Stimulate critical thinking with this ranking exercise in Google Slides. This will also get some healthy debates going. 

Make or Use Custom Interactive Activies with Wordwall

Visit wordwall.net to create both interactive digital or printable activies to use with your students. Students do not need to login to access the digital activities. Activity types include Match up, Quiz, Group sort, Random cards, Random wheel, Matching pairs, Find the match, Open the box, Gameshow quiz, Anagram Flash cards, Missing word, Rearrange words, Wordsearch, Maze chase, Labelled diagram, Crossword, and True or false. There are many templates for you to use as is, or customize. You can assign the activity as individual assignments, or play as a group. There are three pricing plans. The free version allows 18 interactives but 0 printables, and 5 resources. For $6/month you can subscribe to the Standard version, and have access to 18 interactives, 16 printables and an unlimited number of resources. For $9/month, the Pro version will get you 36 interactives, 16 printables and unlimited resources. There are also school plans available for multiple teacher users. This could be a nice resource for creating some different activities now and then. 

Annotate Videos With Text and Pictures

Annotate Videos With Text and Pictures, from Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne
Need to add emphasis to a YouTube video by adding images or text? Timelinely might be your tool. 

14 April Fools Pranks Your Students Will Totally Fall For

So this one isn't tech-related, but it is fun!

Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)