Let's Talk EdTech: Recent Episodes
Elkhart Professional Development
Elkhart Instructional Coaches discuss their favorite topics, have hot tip throwdowns, and bring their insight to teaching and learning using technology. Beth, Billie Jo, Holly, and other special guest hosts dive deep into how to best use technology in our schools.
You can see more from Elkhart Instructional Technology by visiting on the web at https://pd.elkhart.k12.in.us.
Our intro and outro music is "Cherryblossom" by Raptorface licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.
It's easy to get overwhelmed with all of the new technology coming out each year and many of us spend most of our time learning (or trying to learn) those new tools. In Brian's last summer soapbox, he argues for a different approach on choosing what to learn.
Timestamps
0:00 Intro
0:50 TPACK Framework
- Technology, Pedagogy, and Content Knowledge
2:00 Visualize the Venn diagram
- How does technology influence pedagogy?
- How does your pedagogy change based on the content you're teaching?
- What technology do you have to support your content?
2:40 Your technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge
3:00 Identify your "small circles"
- Seek out information to help you grow in small circles
- Find resources to help you balance out your knowledge domains
4:05 Use TPACK to decide what you need to work on this year
- Stop chasing "stuff"
- Look for people, videos, podcasts, or books which can help you grow your smallest circle
6:05 The team is back soon!
The Chrome browser has 65% market share in terms of usage. In other words, six out of 10 people use it every day as their only tool for the web. If you're a Chrome user, Brian has some power tips for you to become a true wizard.
Links
Four ways to be a Chrome power user
The super shortcut cheat sheet
Timestamps
0:00 Intro
1:44 What is Google Chrome?
- Also, Brian was wrong about the usage stats in the audio
- Vivaldi browser if you want to check out a cool alternative
2:27 Tip 1: Bookmarks
- Add a bookmark
3:13 Tip 2: Re-open closed tabs
- Control + Shift + T (Windows)
- Command + Shift + T (Mac)
- Related: Reopen a closed window with all of its tabs
4:13 Tip 3: Search your open and recent tabs
- Control + Shift + A (Windows)
- Command + Shift + A (Mac)
- How to search open tabs in Chrome
5:12 Tip 4: Using Chrome Profiles
- Set up profiles in Chrome
6:25 Tip 5: Name your Chrome windows
- Organize Chrome with named windows
7:22 Tip 5: Open the search in a sidebar
- Using Chrome's new search sidebar
- Related: What are Chrome Journeys and why should you use them?
Have you ever felt frustrated with another department, in particular, your IT department? That relationship can cause friction, especially if you're in edtech and running into roadblocks. Today, Brian shares some ideas on how to work better with your IT department.
Timestamps0:00 Intro
2:13 Tip 1: Get to know your technicians
3:25 Tip 2: Ask follow up questions
- Use non-confrontational language: "Please help me understand...", "Can you explain why...?"
4:28 Tip 3: Be as specific and detailed as possible when asking for help
- Never send "No subject" emails!
- Explain what you've tried
- Include screenshots or error messages
- Taking screenshots on Windows
- Taking screenshots on Mac
Brian is all alone this summer and needed to keep the podcast recording moving. In this episode, Brian talks about the best productivity tool for anyone trying to be efficient in their work.
LinksThe BEST Productivity Tool for your Team
Timestamps
0:00 Intro
1:02 The best tool is the calendar1:35 Don't use email to coordinate meetings
1:55 Share free/busy time on your calendar
- How to change your calendar settings
2:45 Attach documents to your calendar events
4:10 Use Find a Time to schedule large groups
- See calendars side by side to find a time to meet
5:30 What tips do you have?
Beth and Holly get together to talk about how to use translation tools to make text more accessible to your students. Brian also makes an appearance.
Timestamps
0:00 Intro
1:10 Snap & Read
- Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
- Take a photo of text to have it read aloud
- Translate text found using OCR
- Text-to-speech, translation, and text-replacement in Safari
5:05 Google Translate
- Use the camera to translate print text live
5:55 Conversation mode in Google Translate
- One on one translating between two people
- Fast & easy to open
- Can be slow to translate
7:12 Microsoft Translator
- Conversation mode with multiple devices
- English is shown along with translated text
- Multiple languages available in the same session
- Open a session on your phone so you can move around
10:30 Immersive Reader in Canvas (and other places)
- Images included for words (hover to show)
- Does not display images!
12:00 First contact should be text, images should support the text
12:35 Anyone remember "app smashing?" Anyone?
13:20 AI tools can be used to do quick translation
In Elkhart, we use iOS for our student device and Google for all of our cloud productivity tools, but which one is better? Beth and Billie Jo break down when to use what and why you shouldn't discount iOS tools when it comes to your technology use in class.
Links
We have a summer conference!
Sign up for your Canva Education account
WATCH: Using Numbers as a template creator
USE: Billie Jo's Great Lakes Numbers activity
Timestamps
0:00 Intro
0:55 Distracted by docs.new
1:40 Google Docs vs Pages
- Creating nice-looking templates
- Embedded media (video/audio)
- Placeholders for inserting their own media
5:45 Google Slides vs Keynote
- iOS tools are the same across all apps
- Create templates for students on your iPad
6:35 Google Sheets vs Numbers
- Delete the spreadsheet grid in Numbers
- Use tabs to scaffold activities in a template
8:40 Okay okay, Google sharing is better
9:00 AirDrop templates through Apple Classroom or Schoolwork
9:30 We still love Canva
10:13 What's making us happy?
- Beth is still waiting for a library book
- Beth is also super excited about the Speak Now re-release
- Billie Jo is happy our office furniture is finally arriving
The amount of technology in schools can be overwhelming, especially if you have a different device than your students for classroom use. In this episode, Beth and Billie Jo explain why they tried to use student devices more than their teacher device in the classroom.
Links
Join us at our summer conference!
Timestamps
0:00 Intro
0:50 Our technology tools
2:45 Ask yourself, "What's possible with the student device?"
3:50 Start simple: timers!
- Set a timer on iOS
5:28 Use Apple Classroom for transitions
- How to use multitasking on iOS
7:20 Take advantage of the camera
8:15 Organize the home screen with widgets
- How to add widgets
10:00 Use iOS Shortcuts for quick actions
- Find and create shortcuts
10:25 Share resources with a QR code
The school year has come - or is coming - to a close. Beth and Billie Jo talk through their top tips for closing out your year so you're ready to jump back into teaching with technology in the fall.
Links
Filtering Gmail in 40 seconds
Join us at the DOT Conference - August 7-8, 2023
Timestamps
0:00 Intro
1:45 Clean up Gmail with filters and labels
4:00 Don't mark things as read when you filter
5:20 Filter emails by date to separate summer stuff
6:38 Delete "Untitled" stuff from Google Drive
7:00 Sort files by size and remove big stuff
- Click on "Storage" in the bottom left corner of Google Drive
8:00 Color-code folders for critical stuff
8:35 Use Gmail's vacation responder
9:15 In general - if you don't use it, delete it
9:40 Set up annual Google Drive folder archives
10:30 Brainstorm one way to learn something new for the fall
There is more than one way to send a message in Google. Google Chat is built right into Gmail and allows you to get in touch with someone without having to send an wait for an email to come back.
Billie Jo and Beth go over where to find Google Chat and then why you would choose to use Google Chat over email. You'll also hear Beth get excited about names you can give your Chat Spaces with your PLC team.
Tips:Where to find your chatCreating groupsCreating spacesSearching for everything in spacesBeth's space name suggestions for all situationsGoogle Chat conversation summaries are pretty slickWhat's making you happy?Billie Jo: 99 MathBeth: Gimkit 2D assignments modeLinksGooglify your PLC processesElkhart PDElkhart Instructional Technology blogFind us @ElkhartEdTech on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook
Billie Jo and Beth share their four favorite tools within IXL. IXL QuizzesLive Classroom activitiesAssigning skills for studentsAdding audio support (check out Teaching Settings on your account)Beth and Billie Jo take time to discuss why each of these is important for your classroom.