Tech Tip: Google Drive

You know you've made it as a company when your name is synonymous with the service you provide. Need to know something on the Web?  Just "Google" it!  But Google provides more than just a search engine.  Google Drive is an outstanding tool for collaborating and communicating "in the cloud" (i.e. on the Web).  All you need to get started is a free Google account.  From there, you can create and share Documents, Spreadsheets, Presentations, Forms (Surveys), and Drawings.  Sharing options include View or Edit.  You can also store your original documents like PDFs, Word Documents, PowerPoints, and even video files on Google Drive and access them from any Internet enabled device.  View the video tutorial below to learn more. Click here for more support from Google. In the coming weeks, I will be blogging about each of Google Drive's services, including Docs, Spreadsheets, Presentations, and Forms.

Tech Tips: Three Ring

Now that you have a year's worth of experience with APPR under your belt, it may be worth your time to explore Three Ring, an iPad app for capturing artifacts that represent evidence of student learning.

From Three Ring's home on the iTunes Store: 

"The easiest way to capture qualitative evidence of student learning. Three Ring allows teachers and students to document anything, organize it in seconds, and have it seamlessly available at school and at home. Three Ring is your ultimate instructional resource and the easiest way to make portfolios, save artifacts for IEPs, demonstrate student learning in non-tested subjects and the Common Core and much more."

Getting started with Three Ring takes just a few minutes.  Content is organized around three types of information to allow for easy retrieval later on:  Class Name, Student Name(s), and Tags.  Tags are a labeling mechanism you create--subject area, type of activity, Common Core Learning Standard, etc.  The app allows you to capture video, audio, and/or photographic evidence and upload it to the Three Ring website.  Once it is uploaded, you can access your artifacts on the Web, share them with parents via email, and download/save them to your computer.

Check out the video tutorial below to learn how to use Three Ring.

Tech Tips: Kid Blog

By now, you have probably heard about the concept of blogging, or writing a "web log." If not, check out this short video from Common Craft, Blogs in Plain English.

Have you ever thought about setting up a space to enable your students to blog? Take a moment to read a blog post from prominent edu-blogger and practicing education administrator George Couros, as he outlines some key benefits of student blogging.

One of the tools I have found to be useful to support safe student blogging is Kidblog. Kidblog allows students to exercise digital citizenship within a secure, private classroom blogging space. From their website:

• Teachers have administrative control over all student blogs and student accounts.
• Your students’ blogs are private by default – viewable only by classmates and the teacher. Teachers can elect to make posts public, while still moderating all content.
• Teachers can add password-protected parent and guest accounts to the community at their discretion.
• Comment privacy settings block unsolicited comments from outside sources.
• Kidblog is fully COPPA compliant and does not require any personal information from students.

Check out this brief overview of Kidblog and learn how you can get started today!