Thinglink


I originally shared Thinglink in a blog post last year (http://engagingtechtools.blogspot.com/2013/09/thinglink.html) but I wanted to remind everyone about this amazing resource that now has a free teacher account that makes it easy to add and manage student accounts.

Things I love about Thinglink:

  • It can be used in ALL subjects in ALL grades.  
  • It's an easy way for student to "smash" or "layer" products (video or picture) from other apps into one final project.  
  • It's a website and an app (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/thinglink/id647304300?mt=8). Perfect for 1:1 or BYOD classrooms.
  • It's a great way to combine paper products with digital.  For example: students can draw/illustrate a diagram of the water cycle on paper and then use a picture of it as the background of a Thinglink with video explanations for each phase.

How To Create a Free Teacher Account:
1.   Go to the Thinglink Education website: https://www.thinglink.com/register?student=0&teacher=1
2.  Login with your district Google account.

Add Your Students:
1.  Click the Students icon at the top.
2.  Click the "Register Students" link in your class (or create additional groups if you have multiple classes).
3.  Type (or paste) a list of your students... just their first and last name.
4.  Thinglink will generate a list of user names and passwords.  Warning:  They definitely aren't pretty!  You'll want to print the list of logins AND save it as a PDF for future reference. 

Sharing Completed Projects (from the app):
  • Students can easily share their Thinglink on KidBlog by tapping the Share icon below their published project and choosing Copy.  This will copy the URL to the clipboard.  Students can then create a new blog post and paste in the link.
  • Students can add their Thinglink to the class "channel" by clicking the first icon below their image after they publish (it looks like a stack of pictures).  Then students will be able to see the work of their classmates via the class channel.
Check out my initial blog post on Thinglink for more ideas and instructions.

Video Files and the Google Drive App

To upload videos to Google Drive in the app, you should be able to:

  1. Open the desired folder.
  2. Click the + sign and choose Upload Photos or Videos.  
  3. Choose the desired files.
Screen Shot 2014-05-02 at 1.53.14 PM.png

We have discovered that some video files will not upload to Google Drive via the Google Drive app.  I've investigated a variety of common apps that save videos and have found this information:


It seems that 30 Hands, Shadow Puppet Edu and Chatterpix Kids will not upload directly to Google Drive.  Here are some work arounds:

iMovie 

  1. Create the video project in 30 Hands, Shadow Puppet Edu or Chatterpix Kids as usual.
  2. Since saved iMovie videos WILL upload to Google Drive, students can create an iMovie project with only the 30 Hands, Shadow Puppet Edu or Chatterpix Kids video.
    • Open iMovie and create a new project (plus sign and choose Movie).
    • Pick any theme and tap Create Movie.
    • Tap the desired video file from the Video panel and insert it into the movie.
    • Click the back arrow to exit movie editing.
    • Click the share icon and choose Save Video.
    • This will save the video to the Camera Roll in a format that will upload to Google Drive.
YouTube
All students have a YouTube account using their GCISD Google account.  In order to be able to upload videos from an iPad to a district Google/YouTube account, students first have to create a channel.  These steps must be completed ON A COMPUTER.
  1. Go to http://www.youtube.com and login with your GCISD Google account.
  2. Click NEXT.
  3. Click SAVE.
  4. Click UPLOAD
  5. Enter the student's network ID (the first part of the Google account… the part before the @gcisdstudents.net.  If that’s already taken, try adding GCISD to the end of the network ID)
  6. Click OK- I’M READY TO UPLOAD.
Full instructions (with teacher instructions) here:  http://goo.gl/ZQCFMu 

Once they've setup their channel, students can upload any video from their camera roll.  
  1. Go to the Camera Roll to watch the video.
  2. At the bottom of the video screen, tap the “send to” icon (square with arrow) and tap Send to YouTube.
  3. Fill in the video information:  Title, Description, Category (Education), Privacy (Unlisted)
  4. Click PUBLISH in the top right hand corner.  Login with GCISD Google user name and password if prompted.

Shadow Puppet Edu 

Shadow Puppet Edu has a built in feature to "open in" another app and Google Drive is an option.


1.  Create your Shadow Puppet Edu project as usual.
2.  Click menu icon in the top corner and choose Share.
3.  Tap More

4.  Tap and hold on the "Grownups Only" button.  You can turn off the "Keep checking age" feature when prompted.

5.  Tap More again and choose "Open In". Choose "Open in Drive" from the list.



Have you had this happen in other apps besides the ones mentioned?  Do you have another work around?  I'd love to hear about your experiences in the comments below. 

YouTube "Safety Mode"

If you use the Chrome browser, you may have been getting this message lately when trying to view YouTube videos. 


To disable "Safety Mode", scroll to the bottom of the page and click the drop down next to "Safety".  Select Off and click Save.  Refresh the video page and your video should begin to play.

If you're trying to view a video that's embedded in another webpage, go to  https://www.youtube.com.  Follow the instructions above and then return to the webpage with the embedded video.

For more information about Safety Mode:





Top 10 Apps for Elementary Classrooms

I'm often asked for a list of my top 10 apps for a digital classroom.  I created this presentation for a breakout session during last week's Digital Classroom Cadre 5 training.  These are the apps that I think give you the biggest "bang for your buck".  They can all be used for students to create projects in any content area.  


Download a PDF of the presentation here:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxlRLSbpU4dtSjduV2lRd2tyWG8&authuser=0

Math Tool Apps for the Elementary Classroom

I created the following presentation for a breakout session during our Digital Cadre 5 training this week.  

Several of these tools are great for creating images to be used in other apps like Shadow Puppet, Tellagami or Popplet Lite.  For example, students can create and screenshot representations of numbers using the Number Pieces Basic app.  Then capture the student's thinking by inserting the images into Shadow Puppet and recording audio explanations.  

Do you have another math tool app or resource you love?  Share it in the comments below!


Google Forms - Are they anonymous?

I LOVE Google Forms.  There are so many great uses for teachers and students in the classroom.

Some of my favorites are:

More resources:


Are They Anonymous???

Since we've "Gone Google" in the district, several people have wondered about the anonymity of the forms.  I've played around with it and here's what I've discovered.

When a form is created using our district Google accounts, there are 2 options at the top:  Require GCISD login to view the form and Automatically collect respondents GCISD username.

If only the "Require GCISD login to view the form is checked, you'll be required to login to your GCISD account but your username will NOT be collected.

Here's what the form looks like for the person filling it out:

And here's what the response spreadsheet looks like for the person who created the form:

If the "Automatically collect respondents GCISD username" box is also checked, your username will be collected but you WILL know it.  If your username is being collected, there will be a message at the top of the form telling you.

Here's what the same form looks like for the person filling it out when this box is checked:

Here's what the response spreadsheet looks like now for the person who created the form:

Want to learn more about Google Forms and how to use them in your classroom?  Check out this blog post: http://gcisdleadwithtechnology.blogspot.com/2012/06/using-google-forms.html

Shadow Puppet EDU

Shadow Puppet Edu


I heard about the Shadow Puppet app awhile ago but didn’t really pay any attention to it because it had all the same features as 30Hands or Storyrobe (which used to be free).  Basically you take pictures and put them together to narrate and create a movie.  It’s great as a layering app to take pictures created in other apps like Doodle Buddy, Popplet Lite, Haiku Deck or even the camera roll and combine them.  It’s easier to narrate them in an app like this vs iMovie because it automatically sets the time that the picture displays for as long as your narration (in iMovie, you have to change the time setting for your picture after you narrate.) 

Shadow Puppet just added several features that I think make it superior to 30Hands so I’d recommend that everyone check it out.

First of all they’ve created a special Edu version with features only available for free to teachers and students. 

Secondly, you can combine not only images but also video clips from your camera roll.  That means that you can take videos created in other apps like Tellagami, Chatterpix Kids or Doceri and combine them with images.  

It’s easy to use.  Just pick your images or videos. Tap Start and narrate the story as you flip through the pictures.  As you’re recording, you can add drawings to your images, zoom in or add text. There are a variety of sharing options (tap the more icon to choose the option “open in” and save directly to Google Drive) or you can save your final project to the camera roll.   

You can add up to 100 items and up to 30 minutes long.  There is a built in search that includes the Library of Congress, NASA and “Web Images”.  Be sure to use the “Web Images” search with caution.  There is a possibility for finding inappropriate images.  I would recommend limiting your students to the Library of Congress and NASA sections and find other images on a website like http://schools.clipart.com (using the GCISD login) or http://pics4learning.com.  

Check out my presentation with suggestions for finding copyright free images here (you'll need to be signed in to your GCISD Google account to view):  
https://docs.google.com/a/gcisd.net/presentation/d/11qZF9zZ5vz5V-W6MIeYEHYpgvrrflyMxCx-oCT18MiA/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000