Pennsylvania

Note: cross-posted on Cliotech

The problem that many teachers face when having students create user accounts for web applications is that most applications require a valid e-mail address to create the account. There is a solution that I learned from Alice Mercer about harnessing Gmail to create “fake” accounts that applications will recognize as legitimate.

Create a legitimate gmail account at http://mail.google.com/. (e.g. username@gmail.com). Then, you can use that base account to “trick” web applications that require e-mail address to create user accounts. The way it works is that you add a + and a student name/alias after the gmail user name (e.g. username+sara@gmail.com, username+tom@gmail.com, username+chris@gmail.com, etc.)

The web applications will recognize those addresses as real e-mail addresses, but students never see an inbox. They cannot send nor receive e-mail because you haven’t actually created an e-mail account for them; they don’t have a password to sign into Gmail. Any e-mail (i.e. registration confirmations, etc.) that are sent to the username+name@gmail accounts will be delivered to the Gmail inbox that only you can access.

I have used this to register students for blogs, wikis, and other Web 2.0 applications. The one catch is that it does not work when registering students for Google applications, like Google Docs, Google Calendar, Google Notebook, etc.

So, here are those instructions as steps:

1. Create a legitimate Gmail account at http://mail.google.com/. (e.g. username@gmail.com).
2. Add a + and a student name/alias after the Gmail user name (e.g. username+sara@gmail.com, username+tom@gmail.com, username+chris@gmail.com, etc.)
3. Start registering students for web applications
4. Check the inbox of your Gmail account periodically

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Note: cross-posted on Cliotech

Thanks to Cheryl Capozzoli for serving as the regional coordinator for the Classroom 2.0 Conference in PA.

Here are some details about the conference from Cheryl:

Please take advantage of this FREE live collaborative educational technology event. Learn about some of the best educational technology resources that can be integrated effectively into 21st Century differentiated instructional practices. Presenters will demonstrate various Web 2.0 tools and how to effectively integrate them into any instructional area.

Make global connections by joining the Classroom 2.0 Network. Classroom 2.0 is an Open Educational Network with over 10,000 teacher participants worldwide.

By attending the event at the CAIU on Sept. 19th and 20th, you will have the opportunity to join one of the most active and dynamic educational groups in the country.

All are welcome to participate, teachers, administrators, and instructional aides. Bring your laptop if you have one!!!

Things to do:

1. Sign up for the free conference here.
2. Sign up for Act 48 Credit now or when you arrive.
3. Conference Info. http://www.classroom20wiki.com/CR+20+LIVE+Philadelphia+08
4. Join the Classroom 2.0 Network Today!! http://www.classroom20.com/
5. Take a look at the agenda cr20agenda.doc

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YEAH!!!! I am so excited to write this post.

I read this on Digital Passports:

We’re pleased to announce a new service exclusively for teachers. Animoto for Education (http://education.animoto.com/) gives teachers, grades K-12, unlimited access to the full range of Animoto’s services, both standard and premium, for free.

Animoto is a Web 2.0 application that allows users to create professional-looking videos in minutes by uploading photos, choosing those that they want to spotlight, and selecting music from Animoto’s extensive library or uploading their own music. Animoto works its magic adding very slick transitions and professional effects to the video. It’s somewhat similar to the “movie wizard” options on popular video editing programs, though Animoto’s effects are very high quality. Each video has its own unique URL address and embed code. With one click Animoto will post videos to popular blog and social networking sites and, with the plus verision (FREE for educators!), they can also be downloaded as high-quality video files.

Animoto for Education

You can learn more from the Animoto for Education FAQs page. Here are some highlights:

• Yes, children under 13 are allowed to use the service if the teacher establishes dummy e-mail accounts. *
• Students can work on Animoto project simultaneously with the Animoto class option.
• Students will be able to make full-length videos and will be able to download them.
• Videos are not searchable on Animoto. So, student created content is private (although, each video does have a unique URL address and can be embedded if desired.)
• Teachers will be provided with a classroom code to share with their students.

* Here is what Animoto suggests as an option for the dummy e-mail accounts:

You can register at Animoto numerous times using your own e-mail address by doing this:
emailaddress+1@gmail.com
emailaddress+2@gmail.com
emailaddress+3@gmail.com
emailaddress+4@gmail.com
emailaddress+5@gmail.com

All activity at our website under these accounts will be sent to your original, derivative e-mail (i.e. emailaddress@gmail.com). This way, you’ll be able to
give each student a unique Animoto account, while also being able to monitor
their account’s activity.

I used this terrific gmail feature when registering students for Animoto last year as well as for other Web 2.0 applications, such as: Voicethread, Bubbl.us, Pageflakes, etc.

Here is an example of an Animoto video that I created in just a few minutes to share the DEN pre-conference event at NECC this year.

How might you use Animoto with your students? The possibilities are limitless. If you are teaching geometry, why not have your students take photos of all the right angles they can find in their bedrooms and create videos with the images. Or, consider the images a visual vocabulary lesson. They could take photos of examples of specific types of flora they are studying in science or take photos of that illustrate principles of physics in action. One of my friends used Animoto to create a welcome video to post on her class wiki to introduce her students to what they will learn in 7th grade language arts: http://abowman.wikispaces.com/.

I would love to learn how other educators have used or are planning to use Animoto as an instructional tool and/or learning activity.

Thanks to Discovery for partnering with Animoto and, most of all, thanks to Animoto for recognizing the tremendous educational potential of their product and making it available for all teachers and students to use.

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Cross-posted on Cliotech.

I have been asked to share some of the of web applications I suggest to teachers as they incorporate third-party content into their Discovery Education streaming Builders: Quiz Builder, Writing Prompt Builder, and Assignment Builder.

Here is the listing of those resources.

The presentation embedded below details how to embed widgets into the Builders.

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When teachers in my district return to school in late August they will booting up their computers and working with Office 2007 for the first time. To help teachers transition from Office 2000 to Office 2007 my district purchased Atomic Learning licenses for all teachers and students. As many teachers have never used Atomic Learning either, I created a “cheat sheet” of suggested tutorials, workshops, and lesson accelerators that correspond to applications supported by our district.

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I facilitated a workshop on advanced wikis today and thought I would share the list of widgets and Web 2.0 applications that I suggested for my teachers. Please feel free to post comments with some of your favorite wiki widgets.

NOTE: I only selected those applications that were not blocked by my district’s filtering software.

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Here is the Google site for the DEN Regional Conference.  You can use it to access all the resources shared at the DEN Regional Conference in NJ.

http://sites.google.com/site/denregionalinstitute2008/

Here is the master list of Web 2.0 applications for schools that I used at the DEN Regional Conference.

http://www.diigo.com/list/cliotech/web20

Nothing beats microblogs for PLNs, and since Twitter is ubiquitous, it is my favorite go-to for (fast) personal growth. So, early this morning I caught a Tweet about a posting on Jeff Utecht’s U Tech Tips written by Shaun McElroy. People Don’t Change engaged me at several levels because I am a teacher, and because I agreed with Shaun and his first commenter, Michelle Baldwin. Poised to post, I found several new options. I could use Riffly to create a webcam video or audio only comment. I chose the latter, allowed the plugin, and made my first audio blog comment.

The downside of Riffly is its compatability as a widget; it works on WordPress blogs only. The good news: the Discovery Educator Network national and state blogs use WordPress, so if Dorman doesn’t get to it first, I’ll add the Riffly widget to our PA state blog so we can make video and audio-only comments to our best PLN, the DEN.

Here is what I presented in the afternoon of the DEN Regional Conference in Monmouth, NJ.  Enjoy!