Shea Chat and Chew Club -example of pvlearners blog

You might want to check out what students are reading and writing about at Shea. Note that teacher allows students to use an "alias" to personalize it a bit. But the alias is tied to pvlearners account, so monitoring can still be had.

http://sheareads.blogspot.com/

Nice work - kids reading and writing through this media - life is good....;-)

Easy Creation of Class Distribution List

Creating a "Contacts Group" works by putting email addresses in spreadsheet column, then copy and paste column into a "Group" of pvlearners. Column of email addresses can be obtained by period sorting a downloaded spreadsheet from pDAT (My Roster). Don't copy and paste names, just email addresses. Sweet.....;-)

Simple and Simple to Create Web Pages

Short Version: create a "doc", edit how you want, then "publish" the doc (to invites only, pvlearners only, or to anyone on the web).

Have fun with collaboration by "sharing" the "doc", then "publishing" to the web.

You can view the training vodcast on the above by going to ptunes.pvschools.net and searching the "pvlearners" series under "Departments", or by the below link which takes you directly to the training vodcast.

Simple Web Pages

To use blogs, google video, etc. with pvlearners accounts

Very important - if/when you want to start using the other tools in Google (blogs, google video, etc.), there is a little catch you have to do.  For example, you want to create a Google Group (web pages, bulletin boards, etc.) and you go to groups.google.com.  The FIRST time you log in to use the "other" tools you have to in effect "authenicate" your pvlearners account for these other tools.  So, when you say Create a Group (first time), you are prompted with the username/password screen.  You won't be able to use your pvlearners account this first time, until you authenticate your account.  Click on the "Create an account now" and NOW enter your pvlearners info (username@pvlearners.net/password), then fill out the usual stuff, and presto, your pvlearners account is now fully authenticated with the other Google tools.  You can now use groups, blogs, google video, etc. with your pvlearners credentials.

Little interesting side journey, but a small price to pay......

Google Integration Ideas

I recevied the Google Teacher Newsletter today and I wanted to share two sites with you. Google for Educators has teamed up with Weekly Reader and developed activities for Revision Writing with a Buddy, using Google docs. Go to http://www.google.com/educators/weeklyreader.html for more information.

Also, check out Project Spectrum, http://www.google.com/educators/spectrum.html This project foucses on autistic students who use Google SketchUp to tap into their visual and spatial abilities.

pvlearners tutorials on pTUNES

Just to keep all in the loop. While pTUNES is just now getting started with pilot teachers (contact Kathryn Scott if interested), there are tutorials on pvlearners in pTUNES. I just posted one on how pvlearners accounts can be used to create groups and within groups, you can make web pages. Think students making portfolio work, or making web sites that teachers can link to (GenYes model). Anyhoooo....to find out more, go to:

http://ptunes.pvschools.net

pvlearners podcast

I am posting this as Karl may be too modest.... ?

Podcast about pvlearners....


https://deimos.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/BrowsePrivately/asu.edu.1295435447.01373746607.1385496818?i=1897894278

To Catch a Virtual World Thief

To Catch a Virtual World Thief

...... link to an article in Business Week might interest some of our Second Lifers.
;-)

test

"Presentations" now in pvlearners

Google just released the ability to conduct presentations (with their docs and sheets), and it's available in our pvlearners accounts. Sweet....enjoy......

See Our 'Ocean Stories'

This is the link to my ESL General Science classes' podcasts of their stories about the ocean. I had the students watch a Bill Nye video on ocean life, make a bubble map for the story, write the story on a Dana handheld, and then read it into Garageband for the podcast. It was a lot of fun.

http://eslstudentsspeakout.info OR the same link 'in-District':

http://cmweb.pvschools.net/pvhsweb/pvhspodcasters/pvhspodcastergerdin/ESSO


Enjoy.

Distribution List from pDAT My Roster

Karl from PHS asked the question,

"Is it possible to import student emails from pDAT into pvlearners.net?"

Answer: Not directly.  But, here's what I would do.

In pDAT under My Roster, select all the information, copy it and paste it into a spreadsheet.  Then, select the email addresses from the column in the spreadsheet, go into pvlearners, add a new distribution list from the Contacts area of the eMail application, and paste all the email addresses into a new list.  Presto, you have one distribution list for all the students in all of your classes.

Now, for MS and HS application, where you probably want a distribution list by class period, it's a little bit trickier (we really need to get a class list roster by period in pDAT - I'll work on that).  For this type of application, well, I would have each of your first period students email a GenYes student (nice little project), their email address.  The GenYes student compiles a spreadsheet for you of each period with the student's email accounts.  Once completed, the GenYes student emails the teacher the spreadsheet, and you can compile the distribution lists.  You might want to make a shared doc with the email addresses, for your students to also use the distribution lists - just make the shared doc only viewable to students of pvlearners.net, not the entire world.  Make sense?  Not perfect, but a nice GenYes project to help the integration of technology into the learning environment.

In the meantime, I'll work on getting the class period as one of the fields in pDAT, so that when you copy and paste from My Roster, things are already broken up by period.

Google Notebooks

I followed the thread in the blog for Google for educators and began playing with Google notebooks. You have to download the app. using a gmail account. It looks like a REALLY cool way to have kids collaborate on line.

I ran into a couple of issues. If anyone knows the answers please post here or email me at kjohnson@pvlearners.net.

#1 To get the app for Google Notebook I had to use a gmail account. My pvlearners.net didn't seem to work. Was I using the wrong password?
#2 Using my personal gmail account I can access the Google Notebook app just fine, but I certainly don't want to be using that account to communicate with students, so that puts me back at issue #1. Is my pvlearners.net usuable in the same way as my gmail account?

Anyone else out there playing with Google Notebook?

Do kids using pvlearners.net have to have a separate gmail account to use the Google Apps and Docs or can they do it through pvlearners?

Google for Educators

Might want to join their forum discussions, or investigate some of the lesson plans.

Google for Educators (http://www.google.com/educators).

Homepage Idea

This is what I was proposing. This Google calendar opens big when clicked on to schedule events....however...now it doesn't. I can no longer get my calendar to do that because I think the default calendar is now on the mail page menu. Hmm.... just wondering about this...Teacher says 'Test on Friday" kids have to breeze into email to schedule it. Will they? Or stay in mail and read that and then forget about scheduling altogether?

The day planner is a big deal to the teachers.... at least that's what I am hearing so far....

What are you guys hearing from teachers? How do they envision students using this ?

As I play around with it I am wondering... hmmm there is no way to default to the above sample pictured homepage. I think its fluid for a reason...to customize the way you want it. It is your home page after all and I bet most kids would rather see the joke of the day or some lava lamp than a calendar. All the stuff in Blue (right 2 columns) are customizable to the user. So my thoughts on an "easy to access" whole day planner thing might be moot....

COULD we put this calendar/day planner on the left default under email?

Sharing a Calendar

You can share your calendar (or make a new classroom calendar) with your students and they can share with you, and/or with other students. After you click on mail, and have the calendar link (upper left hand corner), access the calendar tools on the left side. It's pretty intuitive, lots of options and capabilities. When you share the calendar with someone in pvlearners.net, such as jbillings@pvlearners.net, said person gets an invite to their email account (they can accept at that time and presto it's now part of their calendar list). Try it out with a colleague, a student, and you'll get the idea, if you haven't already.

Calendars and Docs/Sheets

To access your calendar and docs/sheets, after you log in, click on your email icon. You will be taken to a window and in the upper left hand corner is where you (students) can toggle between mail, sheets, calendar, etc.....

WELCOME!

Welcome on board to new PV Learners bloggers!

This month several new admins, teachers and movers/shakers have been added to this happening blog!

As we move forward developing this collaborative environment with our students please feel free to post your thoughts on how we can improve this adventure.

Ideas, problems, solutions, help tips, and future visions... this is the place to share!

PS Put the blogger widget on your dashboard!
Google: Blogger Widget and download! Way cool!



Also check out: Blogthis!*

*Which are the instructions on how to put PV Learners Blogger notification on your browser bar that Jeff mentions in his post.


http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=41469&useful=1&show_useful=1

The Impoverishment of American Culture

This article is "must read" .....

The Impoverishment of American Culture
http://www.opinionjournal.com/la/?id=110010352

Project Based Learning

I thought this article might interest you all....
"The Story-Centered Curriculum" -
looks to me like project based learning.
anyway - it's just preaching to the choir here,
but a good article to share with anyone who
might need to be introduced to such an approach.

Leanne

PowerPoint in gmail

You folks may have already known this, but I just learned about it yesterday. What a treat. If you send someone a Powerpoint in gmail, they can open it right in the email. The prompt asks whether you want to see it in html or a slideshow. Choose the slide show and the pages start to appear.

Cool!

Technology Camp 2007 Podcast

This is the link to the enhanced podcast that I made as part of the Arizona K-12 Center's technology Plug and Play camp in June, 2007. It takes about 4 minutes, but you will see some familiar faces.

Enjoy.

http://biologyclasscasts.info/

GMail and Calendar Notifier

Get notified when you have GMail or a Calendar event - sits on your Menu Bar - I really like it.

And Judi Makes Three

This is posted from a widget. Way cool.

Jeff, FYI - I leased the domain name "biologyclasscast.info" and directed it to my PVHS webpage. (i.e. http://biologyclasscast.info)

I also started a blogger.com blog with the same name. However, I had one last year that I used to post makeup work. It was blocked by the District filter. Any idea if this one can be allowed? (i.e.
http://biologyclasscast.blogspot.com/)

Thanks in advance as always.

This is a test post from the blogger widget for OSX - direct from desktop to this blog - from Jeff....

pvlearners.net & pTUNE

Well, we've made the techno connections between "pvlearners.net" and "pTUNE". "pvlearners.net" is the online learning community/interface using Google Apps, currently being piloted between PVUSD students and teachers. "pTUNE" is the online interface for pod (audio) and vod (video) casts for the PVUSD community. Both represent significant technological and partnership feats, wherein we have the potential to help shape 21st century learning in a big way. Please explore pTUNE (pvlearners.net is a whole 'nuther gig) and begin processing on next steps.

I've added a few pod and vod casts to pTUNE to give you a sense of the possibilities - please don't consider the examples as permanent content. How we want to organize (tabs, albums, chapters, episodes, etc.) for optimal use is now up to us.

• Launch your web browser and go to http://start.pvlearners.net
• On the right side, you'll see a link to pTUNE, click it.
• This should launch the iTunes program on your computer.
• You'll be into PVUSD's area of iTunes U.
• Horizontal tabs let you scroll between Administrative, Curriculum, PD, etc. (we can change/add/delete, as needed)
• There are files that you can "Get", by clicking on them.
• Once clicked, downloading occurs and you are put into another holder within iTunes and can play the file - learning iTunes is beyond the scope of this email.
• If you want to go back to PVUSD's area within iTunes, click on the "iTunes Store" on the left pane.
• If you click on a video file, it will play in a small window in the left corner - click on the window and it "grows" to a larger size.

These resources (storage, applications, use and presence) are provided free to us. The techno world wants to engage with us and see how K12 puts these tools to use. Enjoy....more to come......Jeff.....

Google Maintenance - April 26th

Hello Jeff,

We wanted to inform you that we are planning to conduct routine maintenance to Google Calendar between 8AM and 9PM on Thursday, April 26th, 2007 . During this time, this service may be unavailable to some of your users. Please inform your users about this planned maintenance appropriately. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience as we work to improve Google Calendar.

If you have any questions, you can contact the Google Apps Support team through the Google Apps Help center (http://www.google.com/support/a/).

Sincerely,
The Google Apps Team

Please do not reply directly to this message. Please contact us through the Google Apps Help Center (http://www.google.com/support/a/) if you have any questions.

Google Apps - Online Tutorials

Some nice online tutorials for Google Apps can be experienced at

http://www.google.com/support/a

Go to the online tutorials in the lower left hand corner. Might be good for your students - quick and to the point.

You Already Knew: But What Do You Do?

A little take on "Did You Know", but with at least some ideas of applications we may begin exploring in pvlearners.net (such as video, RSS, etc..). I'm enjoying this, almost as much fun as blogging - anything is better than email....;-)



Jeff.....

Web 3.0 Component - 3D Web

You might want to think about something I've been studying a bit - some are calling it part of "Web 3.0", or "Second Life". The 3D web....

3D Web

Jeff.....

pvlearners.net Ideas

I have started this thread to get a list of ideas or ways that this technology opportunity can be used in the classroom. I am describing how I have tweaked existing assignments to incorporate the use of technology. Please add to it as you come up with ideas. Even if you are at a different level or teaching a different subject, your ideas may help me come up with some of my own.

1. Students are submitting homework by email. I will also correct it and return it in the same manner.
2. For a classification activity students generally draw a chart to show relationships of shapes. I am giving them the option of using the google spreadsheet to do the same thing or use the SmartBoard software. I made the 'shapes' on a template and will email it to them. They can them create their chart using the shapes with the smartboard software and print it or show it on the screen for assessment.
3. I am providing a template for some class worksheets. Students will be able to use the template to type and electronically submit their work instead of writing it out.
4. I have created a pvlearners webpage as a portal. One of the links is a calendar of the homework assignments to which they can subscribe and add to their pvlearners page. I also have a link to the vodcasts I have created explaining some of the assignments.

That's all I have been able to think of in 4 days! Please add a comment with any ideas you have for your classes so I can get some more ideas. I am all thunk out at this point.

Parent Permission for email

Here is a draft of a "Parent Permission" letter for student email. In that the newest use policy language I found was in the 2007 Student Handbook, I used that for reference. Of course you should change this for your own school/needs...if you elect to use it...


April 18, 2007

Roadrunner School

RE: Student email Accounts at “pvlearners.net” Permission

Dear Parent/Guardian:

In the ongoing quest to promote the success of our students technology skills, PVUSD has allocated school email accounts for Roadrunner student’s grades 8 - 12. We are very excited to be part of this pilot program and are confident our students will learn valuable life, social and workplace skills at Roadrunner School while developing computer proficiency in transition beyond high school.

The PVUSD network is provided for students to conduct research and communicate with others in academic pursuits. Access to network services is given to students who agree to act in a considerate and responsible manner and in accordance with the PVUSD Student Handbook; “Electronic Devices” use policy. (http://cmweb.pvschools.net/siteweb > Parents > Student Handbook; page 5)

Student email accounts have been established through Google Services and are subject to the terms and conditions of Google. (http://start.pvlearners.net > Google Terms of Service)

Documentation for both PVUSD and Google use policies are available at Roadrunner Schools front office.

Students will be responsible for their own conduct and will agree to act responsibly. The PVUSD Technology Department will provide and maintain all student accounts and its administrators will have access to student content. Should any suspicion of this account being misused occur, it will be investigated and subject to the findings; access may be suspended or terminated at the discretion of its administrators.

Please feel free to contact me, if you have any further questions or concerns. We are delighted to provide this opportunity for your child and look forward to expanding their horizons into the 21st Century of Learning!

Sincerely,




--------


I, ___________________ grant permission for online communication for my student:

_______________________________
Parent Signature Date



Please return this form to ----- School. Thanks very much for your consideration.

Firefox Browser is Better

Just to make the pvlearners.net experience the best it can be, I suggest using the Firefox browser. This is especially true for docs/sheets, as Safari is not yet compatible with this particular tool. Jeff....

podcasting by phone

It's free and easy - podcast by computer or phone - mine below was made tonight using my cell. Folks can subscribe through iTunes if you want. Hmmh, kids giving instant data back on their field trip from their phone, digital literacy stuff, add the RSS feed to one of their gadgets in pvlearners.net. You could have a class podcast site, where all students could podcast through their cell phone and pick everyone's cast up through pvlearner account. Have fun at;

www.gcast.com
(get an account and pod away)

My first cell phone pod cast....


Subscribe Free
Add to my Page

To Add my phone podcast as a gadget in your pvlearner account, do the below (you can delete it later - this is just an exercise):

• Click on the Subscribe Free button,
• then on the Add it to Google,
• copy the url of the feed and go into your personal Start Page of pvlearners.net,
• click Add Content Button,
• then Create a Section,
• paste in the URL and 'viola, it's on your personal Start Page of pvlearners.net.

Imagine students and project based learning with this technology - iPBL (21st Century Project Based Learning). Teachers giving homework through their phone to their podcast which each student has on their personal Start Page of pvlearners.net. Jeff......

Adding Powerschool

Since Bryan, Julie and I use Powerschool...what are the chances of adding that to the list over by pOGB, pIGB gang... this way kids could logon to their grade jazz too.... (yikes what am I saying then I'll have to keep my grades current...maybe)

Google and Video

Summary

With your Google account, you have unlimited storage to Google Video - sweet....;-) Students do as well - can anyone say digital portfolios of videos/podcasts? How about teacher lectures/lessons? Similar to where we're heading with pTUNE, but differences described below.


Directions

• video.google.com
• click on video and/or upload your video link
• log in with google credentials
• browse button to find your ".mp4" file (use QuickTime Pro [need Pro version] to open ".mov" file made from Keynote, iMovie, etc. and converted to ".mp4")
• give title, description, genre, language, select view access (I chose unlisted to avoid searches finding it, but ??)
• accept terms and conditions
• upload file (time depends on file size, network speed, server busy times, etc.), but a few minutes
• takes from a few minutes to several hours to convert the ".mp4" to Flash, but you can wait a few, or log back in with above instructions, and if your video is ready or being processed, you'll see what's up in the administration area of this process.
• if "Live", then email the link to yourself, others, copy the link and paste it on a web page, etc.
• the real cool part is click the "embed code", copy and paste the code right into a web page in ConnectMe (see below examples)
• publishing with "embed code" on a ConnectMe web page avoids wandering student eyes that could be triggered by the google interface to view the video.

My Examples

http://cmweb.pvschools.net/~jbillings/videos/monopole.html
(video shot with a camera phone and uploaded)

http://cmweb.pvschools.net/~jbillings/videos/HTHlecture.html
(made with QuickTime - I need to remember bigger font sizes)


Issues

• Conversion to Flash lacks some video quality, so we will continue to pursue pTUNE (which can upload higher quality), but Flash is network friendly and quicker downloads.
• Please don't introduce to students yet - want to see all of our postings herein, discuss with OC3, TAC, Cabinet, etc..
• Eventually, I will put a link straight to the login of video upload, on the Start Page of pvlearners.net. This would at least avoid having to pick up some thumbnails of any potentially inappropriate videos during this process. I've found some good stuff on Google Video - a lot less inappropriate stuff than what is on YouTube, so it might be a little safer to explore this application.

Potential is big, so try a few and let me know how I can help and give me feedback here with a post, please....Jeff.....

Changing Password

Much to my disgust, Debbie found a way that students can change their password - bummer. However, students should note, and be told, if they find out they can change it, that the technology department can still grab their account, override any password they entered and see what's going on with their account. Teachers won't be able to grab the account if students change the password, but the technology department can.

Now, what we're going to have to do in the meantime, is I will upload our pilot accounts about once a week, so if they change it, it will be changed back to their external password. Hopefully, the more industrious little munchkins will get tired of messing with it, if they find out.

If this pilot is promising, the technology department will start digging deeper into SSO (Single Sign On), like what we're doing with IDEAL - from ASU, the authentication is passed back to our server and we control the process. I'm just trying to avoid messing with that right now. For more techno information on this process, feel free to study the below link a bit.

http://code.google.com/apis/apps/sso/saml_reference_implementation.html

This will have the effect, that students can change it all they want - the next time they log in, guess what, still the external password.

Additionally, I have tested the following to verify things are okay with overriding, updating, etc..

• I logged in with our student test account and added an event to the calendar.
• I then logged out, logged in as the administrator and uploaded the student test account again - override the previous username/password with the same username/password.
• Logged back in as test student and the event to the calendar was still there - makes sense as each account is unique.
• Then I logged in as the test student, entered a second calendar event, and changed the password while logged in as the student.
• Logged out and tried the old password for the test student - it didn't work.
• Logged in with the changed password and the 2nd calendar event was there.
• Then I logged in as the administrator and reuploaded the credentials for the test student.
• Logged in as the test student with the original password, and the 2nd calendar event was still there.
• This updating/reuploading of student account login credentials appears to not mess with the information that's there - so, this looks like a good thing. We'll be doing this several times over the next months, so we'll have plenty of time to verify as we go.
Jeff.....

Forwarding your email

One thing that some like doing with multiple email accounts floating around, is to forward them all to one account. This might be handy to do with pvlearners.net for your teachers. Send emails to pvschools.net, so that they have one location, but can interface with email from many accounts. You may or may not like it, but just an idea. Check out "settings" when in mail interface and then "POP and Forwarding".

iTunes and Age Appropriate

We have not allowed students to download from iTunes. Are we going to let them download the free music? Are we sure it is ALWAYS elementary appropriate?

The question of iTunes being on the Start Page is a good one. Yes, we have the ability to customize the Gadgets on the Start Page. But, as soon as the user is in, they can change their own interface anyhow - so they can add it back. My thought is many times music, and art, and language, and video will not be age appropriate, nor appropriate period. That is in fact, part of what we have to teach them and the challenge on the web, digital literacy. I can certainly take that gadget away, but bad words are in Dictionary.Com, bad things are on the web, bad things are in YouTube, so ??? I hope this logic makes sense, it is certainly critical to embracing digital literacy in my mind. However, the dialog is good to have - none of us have a crystal ball, so feel free to counter any of the above - I'm just trying to learn – learning helps all of us….

My First Blog

I agree with the "teach them the good " part. We have a good start with the lectures about KidBiz email, if they hear it enough and know that they are using the district and school pages and know that we can see everything they do (basically) they will be more careful. The kids are becoming more aware of right and wrong. They do not want to lose the privilege. I know we have had some issues, but I'm getting the mindset of let them explore and not be so uptight. Being a liberal conservative is making me crazy. I want to protect the children from bad but know as soon as they walk out the door they are exposed to more than I can imagine and there is nothing I can do about it. If we can start opening the world to the good things maybe that will outweigh the need to explore the bad stuff. A great example for me was when I let the GenYes kids download Google earth and Sketchup. They are in awe and it has been wonderful to see some of the work they have done. The down side is that they want to do it instead of their classwork.
In regards to iTunes: The educational podcasts are great. Will we use iTunes for the podcasts? Still trying to get a handle on everything.

Adding Content

How do I add a tab and add stuff to this page? I have several items on my personal google page that I think we might want students to have available like, daily history, top stories, dictionary.com.

Each user can actually add whatever "gadget" content they want (so long as the web filter doesn't block them while at school). Once you're logged in, you'll note a little "Add Content" link in the upper left, but this has to be done by each user. The "Start Page" is customized by the Administrator (Jeff), and it's for all users. Once users learn how to add RSS, XML feeds through this "Add Content" link, then anything that provides a feed using that technology (and it's growing quickly) can be added. This "customization" ability is built into Google Apps, nothing I can do about it. I thought long and hard about this, and came to the realization that we can try to control all we want, but if we don't engage them online with tools they are or will be accustomed to having, then we'll lose them. They will simply go to their "more preferred and customized" portal/interface. The fact is they can get to this "other stuff" with about two clicks anyhow, no matter what we try to control.

Does this concept make sense? What Google, MySpace, You Tube, and others have learned with Web 2.0 technologies is that the ability to engage is what gets people coming back. If we water it down too much, then students will know it, won't engage, and what difference will it make then? The trick then becomes how do we get them to put the technology (same technology can be used for good or bad) to use for the good. Make sense?

I will go ahead and add the "dictionary.com" gadget to "Custom" - users can add it to their customized panels (middle and right column - I control the left side) by going to Add Content, selecting Custom and then selecting Dictionary.com.

Can we import student gmail addresses?

Yes, there is a contact import link when you're in the contact management portion of gMail. System supports CSV (comma separted value), so you can have a student (think GenYes project) enter them in his/her online "sheet" or offline in Excel, and export as CSV file. Then share and import file appropriately (with other classmates).