The World's Most Expensive Potato Chip

$11 for 5 chips. Comes in its own box. Made with truffled seaweed found near the St. Faroe Islands.

http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2016/10/luxury-potato-chip-markets-everything.html

RSA Style Animations

I love RSA animations. They remind me of illustrated books I loved as a kid. They also remind me of the vintage cartoons I also loved. The first RSA I believe I ever saw was the now famous Ken Robinson talk.

I've been looking on and off for awhile for RSA animators that I could use for my teaching and for my students to use as they make reports.

I've found two that I will review here.

1. Mysimpleshow. I found Mysimpleshow from reading Jennifer Gonzalez's Cult of Pedagogy blog. Mysimpleshow is slow! At least it was slow for me. It took quite awhile for it to upload and it also had loading errors when I tried to go back to previous steps in the creation process. This, unlike the video I make below, was a serious effort. I wrote a script. The content matter is about Samuel Huntington's Class of Civilization thesis.

plusses- it is web-based. You can take a powerpoint, which I did, and modify it to make it the basis of your video. This is a terrific feature. Also, if you'd rather not record your voice, there is a auto-narration feature. Finally, unlike VideoScribe, it is FREE!

Minuses- OMG it is slow. In fact, it took hours to upload once complete.
Here is my serious effort at a mysimpleshow.

2. The other tool I'm checked out is VideoScribe. It is super easy to use. It does not let one start with a preexisting powerpoint. Did I say that it is quick and super easy to use? It is web-based and doesn't require a full browser as I made it on my iPad. It took me all of 15 minutes to make something decent looking. It is unscripted and hardly a best effort, unlike my legitimate attempt at mysimpleshow. Still, I think I like videoscribe better. Also, the pictures are "drawn" not just placed as they are in mysimpleshow. This makes it more visually appealing.

The downside, it isn't cheap. In fact, it is expensive. I made this with my free 30 day trial. It is $144! for a year and even more if you want to only buy a month, $29!

Click here to see my example.

Want to add a widget to your blog?

I wanted to spice up this blog a little bit. I admit in advance none of this is profound stuff. But if you want to know how to add that spinning globe that marks my new visitors over there on the right side of the screen to your blog, read the simple directions below.

I started here at https://www.revolvermaps.com

I then went into my layout page on this blogger.com blog.

I clicked "add a widget"

Then in "basics" I clicked on  'HTML/JavaScript'. 

I cut and pasted the javascript from the revolver map page and viola, I too now have a spinning globe.

I know this is no great shakes, but I am always inordinately pleased when I figure something like this out. 

Google News now Fact-Checking

While it is good, right and necessary to teach students to recognize good sites and news sources and to be able to distinguish such sites from bogus sources of news, it is also good to know that Google is now fact-checking news sites.

In teaching, reading and learning about this election cycle, it is nice to know when "facts" cited are real.

Google Classroom and Chrome Extensions

In the summer, I wrote about some of my favorite Chrome Extensions. I have three more to share. Chrome Extensions increase the functionality and ease of use in the Chrome Browser. Some extensions allow for shortcuts that are so quick and cool. Others add levels of functionality that will surprise you. Fellow teachers and tech users, these extensions are for your full Chrome browser.

My new favorites include:
1) Share to Classroom. If you use Google Classroom, get this one. With just a click you can send any link right into Google Classroom. +#FCS Upper School Faculty

2) Google Tone. +Dan Crowley showed me this yesterday. You no longer have to email a url you like in order to share it quickly. Google Tone uses your computer's speakers to exchange URLs with nearby computers. You can send the URL to any webpage, YouTube video, even search results.

3) Google Docs Quick Create. Quickly create new google docs, spreadsheets, forms and presentations right out of your browser. It'll save you more than a few clicks.

Blended Learning.

"Blended Learning" is one of those catch-phrases that ed. techies like me throw around. (BTW, ever wonder why we have buzz-words but have catch-phrases? Why not buzz-phrases and catch-words?) What do we actually mean when we say blended learning? 

It means that we blend online and face to face learning experiences for students. It's a broad umbrella.

A flipped classroom is one of several types of blended learning, but the terms are not synonymous.
I blend. To me, it is important for students have some control (agency) over time, place, path and pace of their learning. As often as possible, I give my students a range of choices in assignment and in readings. I also blend by making sure that students publish for an audience bigger than just me, their teacher.

Some helpful resources.

Tips for a long-time humanities teacher:
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar13/vol70/num06/The-Basics-of-Blended-Instruction.aspx

Getting started with Blended learning:
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/getting-to-know-blended-learning-victor-small

For a longer, thoughtful read check out this article in the Atlantic.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/09/new-data-backs-blended-learning/432894/

Knowing How, the 4 C's and Google Docs

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” - Benjamin Franklin

Technology at the end of the day is just another tool. However, it is a powerful tool that can help you design tasks for students that involve them. This awesome, downloadable google doc from Steve Wick and Melissa Wilson is full of terrific advice on how to use Google to support student learning. In my previous post, I mention Bloom's Taxonomy. These 4 C's are getting at much the same thing and are at the root of the doc.

Many of these tips require a full browser. So tablet and iPad users, you won't be able to do much of what is posted. But for inspiration, there is much to be gained from reading this document.