Use Google "Sites" as Wikis

You can use Google Sites as Wikis.  Check out a pbwiki site, I just ported over for Tom Warner.

Tom's 4th Grade

Drill down into Science and Animal Reports to see student work - wow - 4th graders!!!!

Just add your students in Contacts as a Group (good thing to have for getting going with this stuff), after you create a site, then add the student Group as "Collaborators" when you share.  Students get an invite to the Site through their email, they click on the invite.  The next time they log in, they will be able to edit, as a Collaborator.

Because the integration of Sites with all the other Google Apps is so easy, the porting was easy.  Tom was having some trouble with the integration in pbwiki of other Google documents, like Presentations.  You can integrate, docs, sheets, etc. in Sites.  Plus, accounts are already created.

Access all Google Docs features from Safari

If you enable the Develop menu in Safari, as covered in this hint, you can fix the problems Safari has with Google Docs. After enabling the menu, just select Develop » User Agent , and select one of the Firefox entries (2.0.x Mac, for instance), you will find that all features are enabled.

What are your thoughts about making this modification to the Big CATS Project new laptops for teachers?

This post from macosxhints.com

Using Google Docs in the classroom: Simple as ABC

Click on the link http://docs.google.com/View?docid=dcdn7mjg_72nh25vq to view a great resource from Google where you will find ideas for using Google Docs in the classroom. There are also steps for getting started . . . although you can skip the section about creating Google accounts since teachers already have pvlearners accounts that should be used for Google Docs.  Information is included on how to create, share, edit and organize Google Docs.

Surveys and Assessments in Shared Sheets

Compliments of GenYes blog, Google has added a new feature to "shared sheets". You can now conduct and compile results from an online survey, online assessment, etc.. Can anyone say automatically-graded formative assessments, or students collecting project data, or in the spirit of GenYes, have the students create, compile, collaborate, on survey/feedback/assessment generation.....;-)

All students and teachers (K-12) will have pvlearners accounts at the start of next school year - current accounts are at 18,000.

GenYes survey announcement:

http://blog.genyes.com/index.php/2008/02/12/google-strikes-again-surveys-collect-data-into-shareable-spreadsheets/

Draper on survey features:

http://drapestakes.blogspot.com/2008/02/surveys-via-google-spreadsheets.html

Detailed survey instructions, including sheet formulas to compile the results, are provided at;

http://howto.xphi.org/survey/

I've also posted this on the pvlearners blog at;

http://pvelearners.blogspot.com

Jeff.....

pvlearners: Enabled Sites

Google has just released a new product called Google Sites, and we've enabled it for you to use.

What is Google Sites?
It's an online application that makes creating a team web site as easy as editing a document. You can quickly gather a variety of information in one place -- including videos, calendars, presentations, and attachments -- and easily share it for viewing or editing with a small group, our entire organization, or the world.

• Anyone can do it -- Building a site is as simple as editing a document, and you don't need anyone's help to get started.
• Share from one place -- Create a single place to bring together all the information your team needs to share, including docs, videos, photos, calendars and attachments.
• Work together -- Invite co-workers, classmates, or your entire organization to edit your site with you to keep it fresh and up-to-date. And let as many or few people view your site as you want.

Take a look at some example sites to see how you might use Google Sites:
• Team project -- http://sites.google.com/a/altostrat.com/project-eggplant/Home
• Employee profile -- http://sites.google.com/a/altostrat.com/jkraus/Home
• Classroom -- http://sites.google.com/a/googleclassrooms.org/mrs-richau/Home
• Student club -- http://sites.google.com/a/googleuniversity.org/ski-club/Home

I've enabled Google Sites, so you can start creating your own Google Sites now (might take 24 hours from this email to actually activate).

To start using Google Sites, go to http://sites.google.com/a/pvlearners.net

If you have questions, visit the Google Sites Help Center at http://www.google.com/support/sites.


Jeff.....

Disabled Start Page

We've had some "issues" with inappropriate gadgets showing up in "New Stuff". As I believe the power of pvlearners is more in shared sheets, docs, presentations, etc.., I have disabled the Start Page. Consequently, to access mail, sheets, docs, etc., you will need to access pvlearners (without gadgets), at;

http://mail.pvlearners.net

Start page is no longer functional. Let's see if this works better......Let me know...

Jeff......

virtual space and NASA's future

The US space agency is exploring the possibility of developing a massively multiplayer online (MMO) game.

you can read more here
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7195718.stm

PVUSD IS! preparing students for future ......

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