The METS Group: January Newsletter
Michigan Educational Technology Specialists
Happy New Year from the METS Group!
Winter VirtuRally
Gear up for our 2017 Winter Virtual Rally on February 10, 2017 with Regional Rally Roundups throughout the state (including, for the first time, the Upper Peninsula! Yea!)
Cool Tools for the New Year
Our picks for the up-and-coming HOTTEST EdTech tools in the new year!
MeL K-12 Education Specialist: METS Member Guest Post!
Our featured METS Member for January is Christine Schneider of the Michigan eLibrary. Check out her article below on Free eResources for your Digital Toolbox Compliments of the Michigan eLibrary, featuring new and important updates!
Idea Slam 2017
Submit your pitch for the 2017 Idea Slam, taking place in Downtown Detroit on Wednesday, March 15 from 7:00 - 10:00p. One pitch will have the opportunity to take home up to $2500 that will be crowdfunded the night of event!
METS VirtuRally (with Optional Regional Rally Roundup)
Keynote Presentation by Ebiri Nkugba and Rick Mushing, Kent ISD STEM Consultants
While you can participate in this in the comfort of your home, you can also attend a Regional Rally Roundup (Including one in the UP!) What's a Regional Rally Roundup, you ask? In the morning, you'll be able to participate in the METS Virtual Rally at the roundup, but then in the afternoon you'll focus on a local EdTech Agenda with your local peeps. We've always gotten great feedback from our Regional Rally attendees and most roundups offer SCECHs... bonus!
*Registration for your local Roundup is on <or coming soon> on the GDoc linked above*
Friday, Feb 10, 2017, 08:00 AM
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Virtual Personal Assistants
What can Siri do for your classroom? Have you met Alexa? Love Google? Consider Google Home!
Virtual Personal Assistants (VPA’s) were a hot item this Christmas and they can be extremely useful in the classroom. Do you have classroom jobs? Let the Time Keeper be in charge of setting reminders using an iPad throughout the day. "Siri, remind me to get my gym shoes on at 10:42." "Siri, What time is it?" "Siri, set a timer for 20 minutes during DEAR time." "Siri, remind me in ten minutes to switch groups." Do you have a Weather Keeper? "Siri, what will the weather be today?" Do you have a student who is always forgetting what they have for homework? "Siri, remind me that I have science homework at 2:42 p.m."
Have you ever needed a couple extra minutes with a particular student? Ask Alexa to practice multiplication facts with the others so you can have a minute or two. Say: “Alexa, enable multiplication practice.” “Practice facts up to 12.” Another use would be to have a student ask “SciGuy” a quick question. Sometimes, as educators, we need a quick answer to something without pulling our attention to far from the lesson. Alexa could be your answer.
Augmented Reality
Yeah, it’s been around for a while, but have you started using it adaptively? Have you had your students use it to immerse themselves in another world or just to look at a cool rollercoaster? Have you asked your students to engineer a replica of the rollercoaster?
Some apps we like:
Discovery Island Phonic Tricksters (iOS) - This is a free app from Pearson Education. One reason we like it is because students have to use phonics at every turn in their own world to capture the tricksters, whom have stolen the English phonemes. This is a great way for students to begin reading or even with students who struggle with Dyslexia.
Imag-n-o-tron (iOS, Android) - This is a $.99 storybook app that allows your storybook to come to life, literally! One try and you’ll be hooked.
Pete the Cat School Jam (iOS, Android)- This is a $.99 find and seek app that uses music and the beloved Pete the Cat storybooks to entice children. I see a huge application here with ESL learners as well as building site words and vocabulary with the younger students.
ZooBurst Digital Storytelling Creators (iOS) - Who doesn’t love Pop-Up books? This free app (paid subscription for heavy users) allows students to use photos and text to create a digital storybook. We love this idea in the History class or to use during reading with cause and effect relationships.
Anatomy 4D (iOS & Android) - This free app allows you to check out a human body through a 4D experience. Focus on the skeletal, muscular or respiratory system, check out the heart intricately and explore different body parts.
Elements 4D (iOS & Android) - This free app is a MUST if you are a chemistry teacher (or just want to learn about chemistry). Paired with paper blocks you print off for free on their extensive website, see chemical reactions that you may not be able to do in class and learn about the different elements in an engaging way. Their website has lesson plan ideas for elementary, middle and high school.
DyKnow and Circle
Keeping our students safe is always a big concern for educators. As trends go, technology came with huge filters, and as students used it inappropriately, it left classrooms and schools, and teachers seemed hesitant to integrate it. The swing is coming back to get technology in the hands of students. We now have tools to help us monitor student behavior a little easier. With DyKnow it’s easy to address individual student behavior.
DyKnow (iOS) is an app that shows what students are looking at. Have you ever walked around the room and got the sneaking suspicion a student just shut a browser or app? With DyKnow you can now see what they click on and what they are doing before they know you see them. It’s discreet and an excellent way to allow for technological control to be given back to the students.
At home, we have the Circle by Disney. It was a device that cost $99 and we use it for time management, as well as a reward system. We can instantly “turn off” the internet at bedtime, or simply when my teenagers can’t hear the call for dinner because of their noise-canceling headphones. We also are able to set time limits with Circle for social media and other applications such as YouTube. My children don’t seem to love it much, but I cannot say enough good things about it.
Stick Pick
We know this app ($3.99 iOS, $2.99 Android) has been around a while but it is still one of our favorites. At first glance, it might look like a simple app to choose students but it has many more features that are amazingly helpful in evaluating and tracking your students. When you choose a student (at random by shaking or tapping) it allows you to grade their answer based on a critical thinking rubric! It’s super quick and easy.
In addition to student monitoring, it provides the teacher with "depth of questioning", which is the real reason we are recommending this app. This year our school is focusing heavily on teacher evaluation (5-D) and a huge component of that is classroom questioning and depth of knowledge. When you set your classroom roster, you choose a level of questioning for each student and you can base it on Blooms, Revised Blooms, and ESL. For example, I can set my whole 1st-grade class to be questioned at the Applying level of Blooms. Then it will provide me with 5-10 question stems to ask the question like, “Could this have happened if…?”, “What approach would you use to …?”, and “What differences exist between…?” If the student answers my question correctly I can move the Blooms level of questioning up or down to differentiate the instruction based on that student. The question stems are an extremely helpful in a pinch or when you are challenging yourself as a teacher to push thinking.
The Michigan eLibrary may just be the “new tool” you or your fellow educators are looking for! MeL is a program of the Library of Michigan and part of the Department of Ed. We purchase over $4 million worth of resources that are freely accessible by Michigan residents. These database resources are geo-authenticated; as long as the user’s IP address is here in Michigan, they have direct access without any login screens.
From my point of view, the biggest benefit of MeL for Michigan students is that they have access to databases similar to those used at the college level. Why is this important? Project Information Literacy, a study done at the University of Washington, concluded that college freshmen are not prepared to conduct college-level research and do not understand how library resources, particularly the digital databases, are used. Also, according to a survey conducted by CampusTechnology.com, more than 74% of college professors feel at least half, if not all, incoming freshmen are not prepared in the areas of critical thinking, comprehension of complicated material, or conducting research. The databases provided by MeL (particularly those found in MeL Teens) are very similar to those used at the college level. By utilizing MeL in the classroom, K-12 educators can start exposing students at the early grade levels to these databases so they can be more prepared for college.
Is MeL an “old tool” for you? Well, here are some refreshing and important updates that you may find beneficial:
Videos
Last month Gale Cengage Learning announced the integration of over 600 STEM videos into the Kids InfoBits database, as well as enhanced font size features. I am very excited to say that Gale has now added approximately 750 videos to Research In Context, including videos on topics frequently studied in middle school earth science and physical science courses.
Examples include: biomes, electromagnetism, motion, tectonic plates, photosynthesis, and several others.” Available videos will be listed as a format type after selecting a subject or on the results page from a specific search. Videos are generally just a few minutes long and include content providers such as NOVA, AP (Associated Press), and Visual Learning Systems, Inc. Remember, while Research in Context includes content for literature, social studies, science, and history, these videos are geared to middle school earth science and physical science topics.
Don’t forget...Kids InfoBits and Research in Context are just two of many Gale databases that include G Suite for Education and Microsoft Office 365 integrated tools!
Webinars
On Thursday, January 19th, I am pleased to announce a webinar that you won’t want to miss! Join myself and trainers from Gale, Britannica, ProQuest (HeritageQuest), and WorldBook to learn about Digital Discoveries for Black History Month with MeL. Find out where to locate material that can be used in the classroom during Black History Month. This webinar is geared toward Media Specialists, teachers, and other K-12 staff.
We are offering two times for this hour-long webinar. Please be sure to sign up and save your spot:
Don’t forget...we will also host a webinar with our database trainers in early May - Using MeL to Prevent the Summer Slide. Once a date and times are confirmed, I will let you know.
Additionally, the Library of Michigan/MCLS host monthly 30 minute webinars about MeL. Be sure you check them out: http://mcls.org/mel/mel-training-events/
If there are any other ideas for specific webinars, I would love to hear from you!
MeL Student Ambassadors
Work has begun on starting a pilot program for MeL Student Ambassadors! If you are interested in participating in this program and are located in Oakland, Wayne, or Macomb counties, please email me ASAP.
MeL YouTube Channel
A link to our new YouTube Channel is now located on left side of the homepage at mel.org. Be sure to keep checking back over the next couple months - I have some new *short* MeL videos in the works. If you have any videos you’ve created about using MeL or any of the databases and would like us to include them on our Channel, please send them to me.
Did You Know?
Eunice, MeL’s awesome Internet Librarian, forwarded me an article that I thought you may be interested in: 10 Incredible Hi-Tech Education Tools.
MeL Teachers launched in August. Be sure to check out this newly redesigned portal for all things MeL K-12. There are 8 centers to help educators navigate and use MeL resources in the classroom.
All databases have implemented MLA version 8 citations. Also - be on the lookout - Gale is adding NoodleTools as an export option to all of their databases!
Many of you already know LearningExpress Library is a great database for test prep, in particular the SAT. But did you know it includes the following:
4 full simulated practice tests for the SAT plus tutorials and additional subject area tests;
Over 200 eBooks that are PDF versions you may download and keep. Feel free to use these in the classroom. Some titles include “501 Algebra Questions”, “Goof Proof Grammar”, “Spelling in 15 Minutes a Day”, and many books about careers;
Practice tests for AP classes like Biology, Calculus, Chemistry, etc.;
Practice tests for occupation certifications like Allied Health, Cosmetology, and Firefighting;
Practice tests for ASVAB, Military Flight Aptitude, and Officer Candidate;
The Career Center helps students learn about careers;
The School Center contains Common Core aligned tutorials for reading and math starting in the 4th grade.
Please be sure to let your Teachers and Guidance Counselors know about this awesome resource offered through MeL!
As always, if you have any MeL K-12 questions, comments, ideas, or requests for professional development, please email me at CSchneider.MeL@gmail.com.
Christine Schneider
MeL K-12 Education SpecialistThe application is HERE! Check out application and rubric on our website, metsgroup.org under the "Idea Slam".
A big THANK YOU to our Steering Committee Members Allison Keskimaki, Stacy Sanders and Rebecca Young for helping put our newsletters together.
Interested in making a difference in our great Mitten state with the METS Group? Contact us today to join the Steering Committee! It's always open to all METS Members.