ESC 18 - Taco Tech Tuesday

Minus the Tacos, Extra Tech!

March 31, 2020

Branching in Google Forms

One great feature in Google Forms is the ability to branch the form into different pathways as students answer and fill out the form. This allows a number of different possibilities. By building a form with different paths you can create built-in differentiation for students as they struggle with concepts or enrichment opportunities for students who excel at the topic. Imagine one form that hits all student's needs! This also opens up the ability for students to pick their own paths or storylines. We all remember those Choose Your Own Adventure Books, now create forms that can do the same thing.

Here is a great walkthrough for branching forms or watch the video below to see a quick demonstration of how to build a Branching Form.

Wizer

Wizer gives teachers the ability to provide engaging learning through worksheets that are digital and interactive. The worksheets can include video, audio, images, and a variety of question types (multiple choice, fill in the blank, draw/label on an image, matching, and open-ended ). The worksheets can be assigned to students through Google Classroom, OneNote, or any learning management system. If you don’t use one of those tools, students can access the worksheet by going to this link and entering the pin number you give them.

Wizer worksheets can be created and completed on any computer, tablet, and device connected to the internet. Once students can access the worksheets, they have a number of tools that they can use to complete them. These include adding text, image, video, link, and audio, which means that they can record their answers, even to the open-ended questions. That’s especially useful for ESL and special needs students. There’s also a very large gallery of shared worksheets already created and ready for you to use. And more tools are in development and will be added soon.

Voice in Voice Typing

Use your voice to type across many different websites

With the Voice In Chrome Extension, you can use speech to text to dictate in ANY textbox on ANY website. Use the power of speech recognition to type emails in Gmail or write blog posts on Wordpress or send messages in Slack. You can use Voice In for: - Email Dictation: Use Voice In to compose emails in all popular email sites. - Voice Typing: Go hands free and type with your voice. Get our thoughts out and take a quick pass in the end to fix mistakes - Language Pronunciation: Practice language pronunciation using our speech to text engine. Voice In supports 40+ languages. Voice In works on most popular websites. Add the chrome extension here

Insert Learning

Insert instructional content on any web page

InsertLearning saves teachers and students time while keeping students engaged. Teachers can insert questions, discussions, and insight directly into any website. When students go to that website, they can respond to those questions and discussions, see that insight, and take their own notes. Use InsertLearning to turn any website into an interactive learning experience!

Watch this short video below to learn how to set up your first lesson!


First Lesson with InsertLearning

Google Voice

Google Voice is a free* to start service available to you if you have a personal Gmail account. You can make phone calls via the Voice app on your phone or through your web browser. It’s a boon to teachers who may need to speak to parents during the COVID-19 challenge. It’s also nice to be able to share your Google Voice number with strangers. Only you need know that it’s not your “real” phone number.

To get a Google Voice number, login with your personal Gmail account, then go online to the Google Voice website. Be sure to login with your personal Gmail account, NOT your G Suite EDU (school/work) account. If you don’t have your own Gmail account, then you may want to get one first. Now you can make phone calls via your computer dial in and mic or utilize the Google Voice app and download it onto your phone.

Access to eLearning

Webinar: April 2, 2020

Accessible eLearning—It Looks Like This!

Presented by: Mike Marotta, ATP

With the move to eLearning, districts see the need for accessibility more than ever to support students with IEPs and 504 plans. The challenges with eLearning include:

  • Widening performance gaps for students with IEPs
  • Teachers struggling to support the wide range of abilities in their inclusion classrooms
  • Related services having fewer ways to drive IEP goals

While districts turn to accessibility as one fundamental way to address these issues, what does accessible eLearning look like in practice?

Join accessibility expert and ISTE Inclusive Learning Network Outstanding Educator, Mike Marotta, as he demonstrates how accessibility tools including uPAR, Snap&Read, and Co:Writer help students tackle send-home assignments with more independence. He’ll show how:

  1. PDF annotation tools help students complete worksheets, quizzes, and eLearning packets
  2. Reading tools work to aid comprehension—including read-aloud, text leveling, visual supports, reading guides, and study tools
  3. Writing tools help students access their full writing abilities through word prediction, vocabulary support, and voice typing/speech recognition

Want to see what accessible eLearning looks like? Register for the webinar!

Register for the Webinar

Thursday, April 2, 2020

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM Central Daylight Time

(1:00 PM Eastern, 11:00 AM Mountain, 10:00 AM Pacific)

Our webinars are always free.

Everyone who registers for the webinar will receive a free “Make the Shift” reference guide.

About the Presenter

Presenter: Mike Marotta, ATP, is a RESNA Certified Assistive Technology Professional and owner of Inclusive Technology Solutions, LLC. Mike is a nationally recognized speaker who has provided training at the local level as well as at the major national Assistive Technology conferences (ATIA, Closing the Gap, RESNA) in all areas of Assistive Technology.

Technology Help Desk

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Google Educator Level 1 and 2 Certification

Click on the image below to learn more about becoming certified as a Google Educator Certification Level 1 and Level 2.

Chris Enriquez

Coordinator of Instructional Technology and Analytics