If This Then That - IFTTT

 
Technology is supposed to make your life easier, but when using social media and other sites it seems to add more to an already full plate for most educators.  So how can you still use technology and make it simpler?  Well one way is to use IFTTT, which stands for If This Then That.  IFTTT is a site that allows you to make technology recipes.  For example, let's say that I am art teacher and I use my smartphone to take pictures of my student's artwork.  At the end of the day I go home and upload these pictures to a photo website such as Flickr to share with staff, students, and parents.  By using the IFTTT website I can instead create a recipe like this: IF I take a picture THEN automatically load that picture into Flickr (set them private, so you can choose later which pictures you want to share).  Let's say I have a classroom blog, then I could create a recipe that looks like this:  IF a blog post is created THEN email parents to let them know a new post has been created.

IFTTT already has many recipes already made by others that you can use.  Just think of the possibilities!  This would also be a great site to use with students aged 13 and older. 

You have to sign up for an account in order to use IFTTT, but the sign up is easy and takes 2 minutes or less.

This is a great video made by Matthew Woodward to help get you started.

Creating Google Forms

Google Forms is a great educational tool!  It's an easy way to create surveys, quizzes, and forms to collect information.  To get started you have to have a free google account (which all Menasha employees do), and then the forms are created under Google Docs.  Once you have created a form, the responses collected are put into a spreadsheet format.  These responses can also be viewed as piecharts and graphs.  The video will show you just how easy it is to create a Google Form.

Using iPad Apps to Stay Current with Education

If you have an iPad, there are some great apps right at your fingertips to help keep you current with educational news and trends.  There are two apps that I really like, both in what I like to call "magazine format" which allows you to flip through pages and browse news stories.  Flipboard and Zite are both free apps on the iPad (iPod touch and iPhone).  You can customize subjects and add your Google Reader content to both of these apps.  Flipboard allows you to share articles via Twitter, email, and favorite items in twitter.  Zite allows you to share articles via Twitter, Facebook, Delicious, and email.  Both apps are great ways to stay current, and don't take a lot of time out of your day.  Just a few minutes every day, and you can browse all the latest headlines in education.
Flipboard
Zite

Soundzabound

Did you know that if you are using copyrighted music in a project, under Fair Use you can only use 10 seconds of that music? If you have your students download music from anywhere on the Internet that is not royality/copyright free they are infringing on copyright policy.

Here is a simple solution to finding royality/copyright free music! Check out Soundzabound. 

Soundzabound is a site that the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Division for Libraries, Technology and Community Learning has purchased a subscription for Wisconsin to use. Soundzabound Music Library offers a wide variety of music, audio themes and sound effects for grades K -12 and universities that ensures your copyright safety. Perfect for podcasts, PowerPoint™, videos, news shows, video yearbooks, digital storytelling, presentations, TV broadcasts, web design and more! This site is one of the more frequently visited sites that the DPI offers through Badgerlink.

To access Soundzabound you need to first go to www.badgerlink.net and click on the link for Soundzabound. By entering the site this way, you enter through the subscription that the DPI has purchased. Watch the video below to learn how to locate music and download a song for use in a project.




The music from Soundzabound can also be used in Windows Movie Maker and Animoto.

Using Overdrive and How to Download to Kindles

Overdrive is here, Overdrive is here!!!  If you are not familiar with Overdrive, it's a subscription based website that allows users to download eBooks and Audiobooks on to their electronic devices for free.  Most public libraries have Overdrive (including all in our area), and now our school district also has Overdrive available.  I'm so excited to be able to offer Overdrive to both students and staff as a way to access books from the school library 24 hours a day!

You can download eBooks and Audiobooks onto your: computer, android phone, iPhone, iPod, iPod Touch, iPad, Kindle, Any Device with the free Kindle App, Nook, Sony eReader, etc.  List of compatible ebook readers.

Most adults may not enjoy reading books on their phone, but we have to remember our students are from a very digital generation.  As an experiment, one teacher allowed her students to bring in any device that had the Kindle App loaded on to it (which was a surprisingly large percentage of students).  The students were then allowed to download books to their devices from Overdrive.  I went up to help, and the students were so excited about being able to read on their own devices. One student who normally did not like to read, was quietly sitting in the corner reading off of his iPod Touch.

The Menasha Overdrive site is located here: http://mjsd.lib.overdrive.com

Student's can use their student ID number to check out materials.  Staff will be receiving (if you do not have it already) a letter with your id Number (or you may ask any library papaprofessional) in their mailbox soon.

Further Overdrive Instructions for Our District are Located Here. (only works if logged into your district gmail account)

How to Download Kindle Books from Overdrive

How to Read Early Grade Disney Books Instantly

Overdrive Pro's:

• Easy to download to Kindle or any device with Kindle App
• Easy to download and read K-3 Disney books online (if you have the subscription, which Menasha does)
• Instant access to books.
• Access to school library 24 hours a day/7 days a week
• Students can read books on their own devices.
• If you have the Adobe Digital Editions software loaded on your school computer (we do not) it works great with a Smartboard for class reading.
• Link right from Overdrive to free public domain books.
• Links for visually impaired students.

Overdrive Con's

• Must download Overdrive Media Console software in order to download books to devices other then Kindle or Early Grade Disney Books.
• Overdrive Media Console not loaded on our school computers (yet)
• Must have Adobe Digital Editions software in order to read PDF books on computer (which is not loaded on school computers (yet)).

For additional videos and help with Overdrive check this website (you will need to be logged into your school gmail account).