Resources for using Diigo in the classroom

Dear teachers and students,

I've updated my guides on getting started with Diigo.  These may be found in the Faculty and Staff Moodle and CVU Students Moodle pages, respectively.

Some FAQ:

What is Diigo?
It is an online tool that allows you to bookmark, annotate (add highlighting and notes), and share web pages and PDF files.
Why should I try it?
You can keep all your bookmarks in the cloud (access them from any computer), mark up pages, create groups for collaborative research, and more.
Do I have to use the Chrome browser?
To access your bookmarks, you can use any browser and log in to http://diigo.com.  If you want to have the highlighting/annotation tools, you need to use the extension in Chrome.

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2015!  

I'd like to announce a new model for technology workshops at CVU starting semester 2. Every Thursday will be drop-in work time during the first half of each block.  I will have my office (127) set up with laptops and tables.

I will announce the topic for each week.  If you have something in particular that you'd like to work on or learn, please let me know and I'll put it on the list.

Topic for January 15 (at 8:15, 10:45 and 1:00 on this exam day rescheduled to 1:30):
Closing out your Moodle page for semester 1 and getting set for semester 2

Topic for January 22:
Save a Tree-- Assigning, collecting and giving feedback without paper.

Topic for January 29:
Checking in-- Making questionnaires, surveys, and exit cards.

3d History Project/Contest

Here's a great opportunity I just saw on Twitter from an organization called 3D Vermont.  I've seen what students in Hartford, VT did with this and it's really impressive (see the video below).

In their words:

INTRODUCING THE TOWN HISTORY IN 3D COMPETITION

Hidden within the small valleys of Vermont are historical treasures - beautiful buildings with a past as rich as their architecture. Using the 3D modeling software Sketchup and 3D printing technology, the Town History in 3D Competition will bring Vermont historical buildings and their amazing past to life.

High School and middle school students from around the state will be challenged to work in teams to research and recreate 3D models of historical buildings in their area. In the process they will uncover and document the history of buildings and create a multimedia presentation to accompany their printed 3D models.

All completed models and their accompanying multimedia presentations will be entered into a statewide spring invitational showcase where they will be judged for their technical mastery, architectural accuracy and historical research and presentation.
More info is at  http://3dvermont.org/

Here's what Hartford did:

Digging Into Data with Google Sheets and Forms

I did a presentation at a recent conference on using Google Sheets and Forms to work with data.  I've been in to several math classes helping students learn the basics (and beyond) of the spreadsheet as a tool for analyzing data, exploring patterns, creating graphs, and modeling problems.  Here are the slides from my presentation.  If there is something in here that you'd like to see in you class, let me know!

Using PiktoChart in presentation mode

Do you use PiktoChart?  I've posted about this great tool for creating infographics.  Recently, I learned something new about PiktoChart from a student...

Groups were presenting in my computer programming class.  Most used Google presentations or Prezis, but one group surprised me by using PiktoChart.  It turns out that there is a now a "Presentation Mode" that shows one block of the infographic at a time in a nice, clean interface.  It worked great for the presentation they were doing.

You can try it here (click on Presentation Mode on the upper right):

Here's how to use Presentation Mode in PiktoChart.