Wow! The Time Flies!

I can't believe that it is almost time for Christmas break! This year has flown by for many reasons but let's take a minute to look at the technology that we've added for use here at CC since last May.

Probably the technology item that has had the most impact on classroom instruction this year is the installation of several new Epson Brightlink and PowerLite data projectors. The interactive features of the Brightlinks have definitely been a big hit with teaching staff. These were purchased with Title find monies and the plan is to add even more projectors with some of this year's Title funds. Other items purchased with Title funds are a site license for ExamView, curriculum software that works with the interactive projectors and wireless remote presentation devices.


Our new Ruckus wireless campus with both private and public access was installed over the summer and is up and operational. Because of the ability to add the CCPublic segment we were able to open up the ability for teachers to connect their own personal laptop, iPad, or other device to the Internet and use it in the classroom. Student use is currently still limited to only the private network but we are hoping to be able to give more access after Christmas break.

We've also added Google Apps for Education. Each student and teacher now has a Google Apps account which allows them to create documents, presentations, spreadsheets, forms/surveys, websites, blogs, etc. Google Apps also allowed us to give each student a school e-mail account. Using Google Apps for Education allows students and teachers to create and edit documents from anywhere with a broadband Internet connection without having specific software installed on your Internet device. Users can also collaborate on documents and projects live from various locations. Several teachers have already begun using these new tools for various classroom projects.

This year we are expanding the use of Stoneware via DOGR Connect (affectionately called "Dogger" by most staff). Staff can access their network server space from any computer connected to the Internet as well as applications such as Infinite Campus, Outlook, etc. DOGR Connect is also being used to make school activity calendars available as well as various online forms such as work orders for maintenance. Stoneware is a powerful tool and more features will be coming later.

Going Beyond Everyday Google Search

We all know of Google. We all use Google, probably on a daily basis, to search the web for articles, images, and research for our classes and daily life. It's become the go to search engine for most of the world. However, did you know about all the enhanced searching that Google has/is developing? I found a post recently from another blog that I follow by Joyce Kasman Valenza. There are a wealth of other options for searching but many are buried in the Google Labs. Here are a couple samples of what's available:

Google Squared: creates a matrix of examples perfect for students looking for topic options or comparison projects.
Google Sets: List 2 or 3 similar items and this search engine will then predict what other topics would fit in the set. Great for getting a list of topics for students to research.

There are also other ways of viewing your search results. After hitting the search button on a topic, on the left side under All Results are some other options for viewing the topic. Wonder Wheel gives a graphical organizer sort of layout while Time Liner gives a time line of historical references for the topic.

Pretty cool and useful stuff!

Math Class Makeover

Interesting video about revamping your math class.



What do you math teachers think about this?

The Avalon Project

The Avalon Project is a free online resource created by Yale University. The site is a digital collection of original documents from various time periods from 450 BC through current day. It's amazing and would be a great resource for teachers and students in U.S. and World History courses.

Brightlink 450Wi Projector

CC is looking at purchasing additional data projectors for classrooms with some our Title funds. One of the new projectors now available is the Epson Brightlink 450Wi Interactive Projector. This high end projector plus pen combination integrates interactive functionality in one piece of equipment. All you need is this projector/pen combo and a wall or hard surface to project onto. Have you been interested in using an interactive whiteboard similar to the Smartboards we have in some of our classrooms? If so, this projector combines similar functions right in the projector. No need to worry about where you're going to put the whiteboard in your crowded classroom. You can see more at this link: http://www.epsonbrightlink.webengager.com/Education/

Would you use one of these new interactive projectors in your classroom or would a regular data projector work better for your situation?

Tech Smith Grant

As you may have read in the CC update newsletter e-mailed the other day, TechSmith, the creators of various screen capturing software, announced a grant that would award schools copies of their software for free. Both Catholic Central and West Catholic applied and were approved! Our grant includes 50 licenses each for both Camtasia Studio and Snagit as well as a 1 year subscription to Screencast.com Pro. The total for the grant is $11,000 per school. So what will this allow us to do that we can't do now?

Snagit allows the user to capture a copy of whatever is on your screen. You can capture a certain area, an entire window, or a scrolling window. Once captured, you can apply effects, arrows, text, etc. to further describe the item. You can then share this with other applications such as Office and it also auto-stores them for you. So, if you have a web page that you want to capture a certain screen of and include further explanation of you can, and then send that to Word to include with your assignment. Post the entire thing on Blackboard.

Camtasia Studio goes a few steps beyond Snagit and allows you to actually record exactly what is happening on your screen. You can create videos that demonstrate a process, an application, or an idea you want to share. You can edit your product and add text callouts, arrows, additional photos, music, etc. for a full featured video that can then be saved in several formats such as iPod, Media Player, Flash, etc. I'm sensing some training videos coming from my office!

Screencast.com allows you to upload and store your videos online. You can then invite people to view it, assign a URL, or embed it in your Blackboard course or your blog/wiki!

Would you use this in your lesson planning and creation? How would software that allows you to do these type of screen captures enhance your lessons?

Interested in Expanding Your Personal Learning Network?

Here are some great online resources for expanding your PLN with educators across the globe.

LearnCentral

Tapped In

Classroom 2.0

All offer discussions, online tutorials and webinars, mentors, etc. Social Networking with a purpose!