Week Nine - Productivity Software

Before Class: Make a list of the features of Word, Excel and PowerPoint that you use that others in the class may not be aware of (eg. Word - adding a watermark, Excel - adding months to chart, PowerPoint - ?????). During class you will divide into small groups and after a short planning meeting each group will demonstrate some cool, helpful features with the class.

WORD PROCESSING

Tools:
Word (Microsoft)
Pages (Apple)
Google Docs

Resources:
Word 2007 Tutorial
Interactive: Word 2003 to Word 2007 Command Reference Guide
Pages (Apple) Tutorial

SPREADSHEETS

Tools:
Excel (Microsoft)
Numbers (Apple)
Google Docs

Resources:
Excel 2007 Tutorial
Using Spreadsheets in K-12 Classrooms
Interactive: Excel 2003 to 2007 Command Reference Guide
Numbers (Apple) Tutorial
101 Fun & Relevant Ways to Use Spreadsheets in K-12 Classrooms
Article: Excel in the Classroom

Class Project: Mr. Wright's 3rd Grade Class

PRESENTATION SOFTWARE

Tools:
PowerPoint (Microsoft)
Keynote (Apple)
Google Docs
SlideShare

Resources:
PowerPoint 2007 Tutorial
Brainy Betty PowerPoint Menu
PowerPoint Games
Interactive: PowerPoint 2003 to PowerPoint 2007 Command Reference Guide
Keynote (Apple) Tutorial
Active Learning with PowerPoint - University of Minnesota
PowerPoint Collection -- Jefferson County Schools
Dr. Alice Christie's Advanced PowerPoint - Sound
Blog Entry: Google Docs Presentations
Article: "Add Voice Narration to PowerPoint" (Microsoft)


OTHER RESOURCES
Back to School with the Class of Web 2.0: Part 2 Office Applications
How-to Articles for Teachers (Tips on using Word, Excel, PowerPoint & other software) by Microsoft
Microsoft Lesson Plans for Students & Teachers
2007 Microsoft Office System Courses (free)

Adding an Image to Your Blog

Blogger has fixed the bug that prevented uploading images to blog entries.

Here are the steps to add an image:
Click on "Add Image" icon from tool bar
Browse to find image on your computer or type URL for image on the web
Choose a desired layout
Accept conditions for adding images
Click on "Upload Image"
The image should be in the location that you requested.

To remove the image, click on image and hit your delete button.

Week Eight - SMART Board Presentation

Today you will present a SMART Board activity as required for Assignment #3.


All links saved to the SMART Board folder last week were lost, so either send a copy of your activity to lynette.sorenson@northwestu.edu or put a link to it on your blog. This will save time during our class on Tuesday.

You will not need to bring your laptop to class this week.

BTW - Spell check is working again!

Week 7 - SMART Board Practice

On February 19th you will the opportuntity to practice the SMART Board activity that you will share with the class on February 26th.

Additional practice times will be available. See professor regarding day/time.You are only required to come during your scheduled time. Be on time and be ready to do your SMART Board activity as individual time is limited.

Week Six - Web 2.0 Tools #1

WEB 2.0 WHAT IS IT?

The Educator's Guide to the Read/Write Web article by W. Richardson (you will need to use your NU login and password to get to this article)

WIKIS & BLOGS

Examples - Elementary:
-Arbor Heights Elementary School Wiki (Seattle)
-Mr. Tepley's 5th Grade Classroom (Mukilteo)
-Ms. Kutz Class (2nd Grade)

Examples - Secondary:
-Mr. Stafford's Life Science Website (Chehalis)
-Elizabeth Fullerton's English Weblog (Columbia, TN)
-Tim Fredrick's ELA Teaching Wiki
-Geometry Blog


Wiki Tools:
Wikispaces
pbwiki
JotSpot

Resources:
Educational Wikis
"Get Wild About Wikis!" from Education World

PRACTICE: You used a wiki when you signed up for your SMART Board Group and Individual sessions. I have created a new page at http://educ3302web2.wikispaces.com/ Think about how you could use a wiki in your class and play around with some of the features. Feel free to create your own wikis account in one of the tools listed above.

PODCASTS
A podcast is an audio recording that is saved as an mp3 file and distributed on the web, making it available for others to listen to or download.

Examples:
RadioWillowWeb from Willowdale Elementary School, Omaha, NE
Mabry Online from Marby Middle School, Marietta, GA
Mr. Langhorst's Web Classroom (8th grade American History) from South ValleyJr. High School, Liberty, MO

Tools:
Audacity
Freecorder
-- Toolbar Quick Start Guide
Ourmedia (free podcast hosting)
Media Max (free internet hosting)
Box.net (free online file storage)

Resources:
EPN: Education Podcast Network
Podcasting
Podcasting Tools
"iPod, upod" by G. Butterfield, 2007
“Make Your Voice Heard: Creating a Podcast is Easier than you Think” by J. Branzburg, 2006
“Podcasting 101: How Educators can use this Technology” by M. Dionne, 2006


PRACTICE: Download the Freecorder Toolbar to your computer. Record a message, save it as a mp3. To post to your blog you will need to create an account at box.net or Ourmedia and they will provide a link that you can add to your blog. Think about how you could incorporate podcasts into your classroom.


PHOTOS & IMAGES

Examples:
Elementary Art Group
Jane Goodall's Camp (Created by a 3rd Grader)
Lewis Elementary School

Tools:
Flickr
Picasa
Photobucket
YouTube (Video)
Microsoft Photo Story

Resources:
FlickrEdu: The Promise of Social Networks by D. Baird, 2005
My Friend Flickr by A. Standen, 2007
Flickr Photo Sharing (U Tech Tips on YouTube)
Picasa in the Classroom

Flickr Mashups- Spell with Flickr -Trading Card Maker - Flickr Sukoko Also see list at Flickr Tools and Flickr Bits

PRACTICE: Create a Flickr account or download Picasa to your computer. Then create a album of your pictures that you can post to the web. Think about how you could use Flickr or Picasa in your classroom. Have some fun with Flickr Mashups.

IMAGE GENERATORS

Tools:
Cool Text Graphics Generators
Generator Blog - "Blog about software that creates software"
FD's Flickr Toys - "Producers of fine toys and amusements for your digital photographs"

PRACTICE: Have fun using one or more of these web sites. Think about how you could use image generators in the classroom.

RSS & NEWSREADERS
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) enables people to subscribe to web sites and with the use of a tool called an aggregator or newsreader recieve notification when information is added to the web site.

Tools:
Bloglines
Google Reader

EXERCISE: Find two or three blogs or websites that you look at on a regular basis (see list on Class Blog). Create a bloglines account and add your selected blogs/sites.

Week Six - Web 2.0 Tools #2

SOCIAL BOOKMARKING
Blinklist.com - "For all the web sites you want to get back to... "
del.icio.us
-"Simply del.icio.us: Online Social Bookmarking" by D. Muir
-"5 Things you Need to Know before using del.icio.us" by R. Newburn
Furl - "Your personal web file"
Stumbleupon - "Discover new sites"

WEB START PAGES
Pageflakes - "Personalize your homepage..."

ONLINE APPLICATIONS
Chat Creator - "Add chat to your site"
Map Builder.net - "...tag locations on a map and publish it on your own site"
Google Maps - "Explore the world using interactive maps"
Zoho Creator - "Create online database applications in minutes"

FREE INTERNET CALLS
Google Talk
Skype

CREATE A PERSONAL SEARCH ENGINE
Google Co-op - "Create your own search engine"
Rollyo - "Roll your own search engine"

VISUAL SHARING
Gliffy - "Draw and share diagrams on the web"
Skrbl - "The complete web whiteboard"

OFFICE 2.0
Google Docs
Zoho Office Suite
Spresent

CREATE EDUCATIONAL LEARNING GAMES
Classtools.net
edCreate.com (free trial only)

MISC
LibraryThing - "Catalog your books online"
TaDa Lists - "Simple, sharable to-do lists"
AssignADay - "Teacher-created calendars to manage classes and assignments"
Calendars Net - "Free online web calendar hosting"

OTHER RESOURCES
Web 2.0 Tools by Kathy Schrock
Shedding Lite on Web 2.0 by Kathy Schrock
The Best Web 2.0 Software for 2006

Notebook Software Gallery

Here is the link for the Essentials for Educators Gallery