Using digital tools for learning

Need some inspiration?  Here are two videos showing digital learning at CVU.

First, what some students are doing:

 And some tips from teachers:

Annotating PDFs using Google Read & Write

Are you and your students already using Google Read & Write?  If not, please check it out-- it has tools that all students can benefit from.  In fact, as I posted recently, I sometimes use it just to have text read to me to give my eyes a break.

I just learned that there is now a new feature-- adding both freehand drawings and shapes to annotate PDFs.  Take a look at this intro video:

This makes a great tool even more helpful.  Please let me know if you'd like me to present it to your students.

Google Classroom for RISE (workshop!)

Dear teachers,
As you're planning for RISE, why not give Google Classroom a try?  It's an easy way to organize your resources, enroll students, and collaborate using Google Tools.

I'm building a Classroom for my course.  See that "RISE Journal" assignment in the second image?  Classroom will make a copy of my template for each student and put it in a folder for easy access.

I'll be doing a workshop after school on Thursday, 4/18 to show you how to get started using Classroom and some tips and tricks for using it effectively.  Please consider joining!

The power (and simplicity) of videoconferencing

I was just chatting with Olaf V about his robotics team.  Turns out there's a team at South Burlington HS doing similar work and their coach and Olaf thought it would be helpful to collaborate. 

Yesterday, they set up a Google Hangout (a videoconferencing app similar to Skype, Facetime, or Zoom) so that the students at each location could see what those at the other location were doing.  There was a webcam at either end, and some students also joined the Hangout with a phone, so they could use it to zoom in on details. Students asked each other questions and were able to help one another out.

Sound complicated? It's not!

• There's no software to install
• Just make a new calendar event or start a chat and you'll have the option to videochat

• You and students can connect on any device-- Chromebook, other laptop or desktop, phone, or tablet
• Plug in the webcam and it works (no drivers to install), or use the built-in in camera on your device.

Trust me-- you can do this! And it makes a difference.  

Olaf reports that the connections students made were powerful-- our kids helped out their South Burlington peers and vice versa.

Let's make even more of these connections-- whether it's the school down the road or somewhere across the world.

Google Drawings in Docs and Sites

I've written before about Google Drawings as a simple, yet effective way to create graphics (including existing images, shapes, text, and more).  Here are two more tips:

When you  insert a Drawing into a Doc, then later edit the drawing, you can click the drawing in the doc and choose "Update" to get the latest version.

A more advanced tip is that you can create "hot spots" in a Google Drawing that you place on a . This means you can make certain regions in the drawing clickable.  The trick is to put a shape on the top layer of the drawing, making both its fill and outline transparent.  With the shape still selected, insert a hyperlink. You can then embed the drawing in a Google site and the image will be clickable.
Here's an example  of that.