Carter's Adventures in Educational Technology

While I was working at my desk this morning a teacher friend of mine came in concerned that Wordle  would not work on her computer. She also was worried that Tagxedo wouldn't work either. So I started investigating. First we had a problem with the Java Plug-in, then one said they wanted Silverlight... (What is Silverlight btw?) Firefox wouldn't work, my trusty Chrome wouldn't work, I cringed as I opened Edge and it wouldn't work either. What to do? She really wanted a way to get her struggling students that have had small group session after session, pull outs, and tutorials to have something fun to do. I figured, let's see what Google has for us. I searched "word clouds". Ding ding ding, we have a winner! Word Clouds ,  This this app is awesome!    https://www.wordclouds.com/ What does it do? Word Clouds allows you to import a document, PDF, TXT file, a web page or you can past text into it. Then it will perform a word count and make the wo...

It's 8:45 on a Thursday night and once again I'm sitting at the ball field wrapped in a sleeping bag splitting my attention between my Chromebook and the game. This is a regular occurrence for me, Monday a week ago I was in this same sleeping bag at another game with my earbuds in attending my online class and watching the game. Saturday the weather was warmer so I earned a sunburn as I worked on my discussion post responses at an all day baseball tournament (we came in second place).  Two nights ago I was in a band booster meeting that was during my class time as well, so I had one earbud in participating in class and voting in the meeting. This Saturday you will find me back at the ball field for another all day tournament as long as we keep winning. It's a good thing we have a mobile hot-spot! (Update - it was only one game and we won!) Its been a challenge to ensure that I give my classes the time they deserve while also spending time with the family. So far I've ...

To me e-portfolio was a buzzword that I heard at summer conferences as ways for students to showcase their work. I knew the general concept behind them, but I never thought that I would use one as an adult. Now that I am a student, I think of them in a new light. What are they? E-portfolios are a form of a digital scrapbook that tell the learner's story. It is a way for students to have a voice in the demonstration of their learning beyond a report card. I use the e-portfolio to keep a record of my learning, training sessions I've conducted, and my accomplishments throughout my career. It's a way of showcasing all I know and can do. I look forward to continuing to develop my own e-portfolio and I will encourage my students to develop one of their own. My struggles with the blog portion of the e-portfolio I was never really one to journal or do much writing in my younger years; I'd start with buying a cute notebook and I would record my musing through the day ...

If you are looking for a way to make virtual task cards then look no further! Classkick is a great app that does just that! It allows your students to write/type/record directly on the page. It's free and works great on all platforms. I've used it with Chromebooks, iPads, and desktop computers.  Once the students have the code they complete the tasks independently and they can raise their virtual hand for help or to check their work as they continue to work through the rest of the cards. The students can even help each other if the teacher has turned on that option. The cards can be created from PDF files, images, or created from scratch.  When creating your cards you can use text boxes, images, audio recordings, and hyperlinks for sites or videos (with upgraded to pro you can create multiple choice quizzes as well). What's great is that it can be a station/center in your class room if you are not 1:1. The teacher can see which card each student is on from their own devi...

As I venture into the arduous task of grad-school, I can't help but wonder how hard will it be, can I hack it, and will I have to write a bunch of papers? So far, I am reassured that I can be successful in this program. Our class meets once a week where we discuss the weekly topic. We have our own Facebook group for further discussions and collaboration where we learn from each other, sharing our successes and failures. I learned from Mindset  (Deweck, 2006) failure is not something to fear, but an opportunity to learn. While studying  Mindset   (Deweck, 2006), we first learned there are two opposing mindsets, the fixed mindset and the growth mindset. Those with a fixed mindset look at success as the total measure of their worth because they feel they must prove themselves. (p.  5 )  They believe that people have a set of skills, abilities, or talent...

I am a Flipgrid ambassador and I would be remiss if I did not start my blogging history with this amazing app! Flipgrid is an app that allows people to record videos of their response to a prompt as a way to have class discussions where every student has a voice.   There are many ways you can use this in the classroom and out. I have had students reflect on the topic of the day and tell what they learned in their own words. You can use it for students to introduce themselves and tell you a little about themselves.  I am currently using it as a way for teachers to record what tech-problems they are having or what they would like help with.  You can follow the twitter hashtag of #flipgridfever to open yourself to an amazing community of people that love giving #studentvoice. Flipgrid One (the free version) allows you to create one Grid but an unlimited number of topics within that grid and unlimited videos (90 seconds max).  You also have the ability to give f...