Monthly Archives: April 2010

Here are Forty-Three great ideas for how to use your flip video camera in the classroom. The image below links directly to the presentation.

Thanks to Carin McCormick for showing me Tom Barret‘s  work.

These days, there are so many options available for teaching and learning, that just picking a single path to follow in order accomplish a specific goal, can be a challenge. When it comes to assessment, evaluation, planning and teaching, these are the tools I use (see graphic). I used xmind to map out their specific functions. The applications below are for learners of all ages, teachers and students. My intention is clarify for myself and others the different purposes for using each application.

Have you ever been inspired by an idea but unable to truly take action on it because the files you need were stuck on the server at school? Do you work with more than one computer during the day? Perhaps a laptop at school and a desktop at home? Do you ever need to quickly pass out or collect files with students using netbook, laptop or desktop computers?

Well, you may want to try Drop Box (www.dropbox.com). You get a 2 gig folder that automatically synchronizes to the web… from anywhere. So if you’ve ever imagined yourself as the jetset type, this will work for you. You can also install the software on multiple computers. It works on windows, mac, and linux computers. If you drop something in your Drop Box folder at work, when you go home or walk over to your laptop, there’s the file. Since I started using it, I haven’t needed to use my W drive. It’s totally empty. I cleaned it out!  🙂

Check out their site. They provide a better explanation and a free and easy download and install. www.getdropbox.com

Using Drop Box doesn’t automatically free up space on the server, it just gives you a place to put things where they’ll be accessible from anywhere and always backed up as long as you have an Internet connection.

Drop Box should not be used for any file that needs to be secure such as Student IEP’s, documents with student name and data, etc. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is very clear about that kind of stuff. Infinite Campus and district servers are the best place for student information.

Thanks to Barb for this!

“Do you want to show You Tube videos to your students, but sometimes the images on the side of the video are not appropriate OR you have no idea what images will even show up?

SafeShare.TV removes distracting and offensive elements around YouTube videos and it also allows you to crop videos before sharing them. Try it and please pass this on to teachers.    http://www.safeshare.tv “

Here’s an example link to a video using www.safeshare.tv.