DISD Ed Tech News
October 30, 2018
Your Clever Portal - Saving Time with Single Sign-On!
Clever is what is called a "Single Sign-On Portal" meaning that both teachers and students can save time and hassle by logging into Clever to access their online resources. Once logged into Clever, users will see icons for various software and textbook resources that they use, all categorized by topic and content area. Many of these resources are now rostering nightly with TxEIS and Gradebook and teachers and students can simply click the icon for that program to go straight in without having to log into the program.
Other programs are "Saved Password" apps, which means that teachers and students must log in with their correct user name and password for that particular product only one time and Clever remembers the password for that user for the rest of the year. Some are also merely links to commonly used programs in the district but Clever is constantly adding programs to their list of rostering program so that list of apps where you do not have to log in at all is expected to grow.
So what does this mean for teachers and students? For the programs that are rostering in Clever, when a student arrives in the district or changes campuses, classrooms, etc. that information is updated the next day after it is changed in TxEIS. Students and teachers who log into the Clever portal will see only the software and textbook resources that are in use on their campus. Teachers can even set up their own classroom pages where they have links to only the products that they use in their classrooms. Only students who are enrolled in that teacher's classes will see the teacher's classroom page. (Remember, it is syncing with TxEIS so it knows what students are assigned to a teacher). Resources can be added to the Clever portal at a teacher's request, even if it is just to add a link to frequently used websites. For a few of our district programs, such as the textbook sites, students will still have to be uploaded when they come into the district. For those products, please email Rhonda Artho to get students added to the textbook products that they need so they can use the Clever portal to log into them.
The URL for Dumas ISD's Clever page is www.clever.com/disdclever. Users can bookmark this page or find it in the Student Resources tab on the DISD website. There is also a handy Log In Guide to Clever that is available for each campus to help teachers quickly see what the first time logins for the various programs should be. Jenetta Baxter has sent those documents out several times this school year.
After the initial log in for the year to each program in Clever, students can begin logging into the Portal and going straight into their products for the rest of the year. No more "I can't remember my password". Give it a try and see if it doesn't save you valuable instructional time!
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
New Digital Scavenger Hunt Available in Flippity
While at first glance you may think this is a resource better suited to elementary and middle school classrooms, it is a great framework to set up a break-out style online game that is as easy or difficult as the teacher wants to make it. There is a demo game to give you an idea of how it looks to a student playing the game and full instructions to help a teacher get started. Getting started is as easy as copying the template and filling in your own questions and answers.
In the instructions section, Flippity gives instructions for including images, YouTube videos and links in the scavenger hunt. Teachers can also insert Google Docs, equations from EquatiO and links from the Desmos calculator site. Once the Flippity Scavenger Hunt is complete, teachers can share the link with students through various means, including Google Classroom. This could be a great tool to introduce a topic or do a review of a topic or unit.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Free Math Activities Utilizing Google Earth on Real World Math
According to the Real World Math community blog, "RealWorldMath.org was created to be an instructional technology resource for math teachers. The lessons and activities use Google Earth as the tool to provide meaningful, practical math lessons that engage students."
Teachers must first register for access to the lessons by clicking the Contact button on the website home page. Downloadable lessons are broken down into five categories: Concept Lessons, Measurement Lessons, Project Based Learning, Exploratory Lessons and Space Lessons. Each category is further broken down into lesson subcategories to help teachers find the resources to best suit their needs.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Lunapic for Image Creation and Editing
Students and teachers can easily create items like the Motivational Posters you often see framed with beautiful photographs and inspirational text. There are dozens of special effects to play with, such as turning a photo into a stained glass image or making a tiny spherical world with your image. These options can all be found under the Draw Menu.
There are dozens of animated effects to add to images such as snowfall, rain, turning your image into a moving kaleidoscope, old movie effects, and more. There are hundreds of options for things you can do with this program so visit at www196.lunapic.com to check it out.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
TCEA eBook Library - Publications Providing Fresh Ideas for K-12 Educators
The first in the series, titled Operation Transform Learning: A Curated Collection of Ed Tech Resources, is available for download on the TCEA website. Their description states "Now instead of searching high and low, you can get great online resources for your classroom all in one place!" They've included a curated collection of vetted articles, podcasts, and more from trusted ed tech publications as well as resources organized by subject for easy reference.
Also available now is their second ebook titled Ready, Set, Make! which is packed with fantastic resources and information including: Background on the goals and benefits of making and how to maximize student creativity and engagement. There are great tips and ideas for curating a meaningful makerspace even if you don't have a lot of resources, storage space, or access to tech.
The third free ebook now in development will be Get Googling: A Curated Collection of Google Resources. It is bound to be an excellent resource as well. TCEA has a team of wonderful Ed Tech educators with years of expertise providing Ed Tech information and training to Texas Districts. Be sure to check out these resources and many more on the TCEA website.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Flap to the Future Online Game From Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Students can hone their observation skills with the BirdSleuth Explorer's Guidebook and access a vast library of bird communication audio clips and videos. There are lesson plans with teacher guides and activities to accompany beautifully illustrated children's books about birds and the environment as well as many more fun and engaging labs for students to learn more about habitats and the role of birds in the environment.
BirdSleuth also offers a variety of free webinars each month open to all educators. All of their fun and interactive webinars provide background content, highlight new and relevant educational resources, and allow discussion for successful implementation of such information and activities. Teachers can also access all archived webinars through their YouTube channel. Teachers can download their free children's publication BirdSleuth Investigator for classroom use as well.
The BirdSleuth website is a beautiful resource for teachers and students who want to learn more about birds and their environment. Consider letting students become involved in some of their Citizen Science projects where they can enter their own observations into the ornithology databases at Cornell as part of their learning. There are lots of fun resources here to explore!
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Using Technology to Help Others
The app called Be My Eyes was created to help people who are blind or low-vision - connecting them, via a FaceTime-like chat, with volunteers who can help with basic tasks, like checking the expiration date on a milk carton. The app has proven a success, with nearly a million volunteers signing up to assist about 70,000 people in more than 150 countries and 180 languages. The commitment is minimal - most volunteers receive one or two calls every six months, and requests usually take only a few minutes. When a person needing assistance submits a request on the app, the request goes to multiple volunteers via a notification on their phone. The first volunteer to click into the request takes the call. Hans Jorgen Wiberg, the app's inventor, who is blind, came up with the idea to serve his own needs. He felt like a burden, always having to decide who to call and bother for help. Now he can get the answers to questions with the help of volunteers with everything anonymized.
The app is now also used by people with dyslexia. "It's not only blind people who need a pair of friendly eyes," says Jensen. One user described the Be My Eyes app as "a good deed waiting to happen in your pocket." The app is available for iOS and Android. So whether you're in need of help or want to lend a hand, it certainly has the power to change your day for the better.
I can tell you from my own experience that the calls are infrequent but I've been asked to help read labels on frozen dinners in the freezer that were in the same size box and to help pick out an important piece of mail from the day's mailbox collection for another person. Another person asked me to read the label on her dog's antibiotic prescriptions because she couldn't remember what time of day she was supposed to give the various tablets. It's a nice way to help someone else with only a few minutes of your own time.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Your Instructional Technology Department is here to help!
If you want to arrange technology and/or software trainings for yourself, your PLC, your department or your grade level teachers please don't hesitate to contact either of us. We can come to you to provide support or you can take advantage of our Teacher Training Center for learning opportunities. There will be more scheduled "after school" tech trainings this year to help you fulfill your District tech training hours, as well as more eCourses posted in Eduphoria and more trainings designed to fulfill teacher requests and needs. We want to help you learn and provide support in whatever form best suits your needs. We all have the same goal: to provide exciting and interactive learning environments to engage our students and help them achieve their full learning potentials. Please feel free to email us or call us with whatever needs you have!
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
DISD Instructional Technology
Jenetta Baxter, Instr. Software Specialist
Email: rhonda.artho@dumasisd.org
Website: http://www.dumasisd.org/about-education-instructional-technology
Location: Teacher Training Center, DHS
Phone: 806-935-6461 1029