Appy Friday - FLOWBOARD

I have my Google Glass, now what?

First of all, let me say that my Google Glass headset is pretty darn awesome. The fact that I can see this little screen that offers me so much information is incredibly amazing.  I can call, text, Google, take pictures and videos all hands free.  This little computer  has an earpiece that records your voice and transmits audio through the skull.  Glass is definitely revolutionary in every way.  The tasks aren't all fun, they are functional too.  I even have Evernote installed so that if I am walking around and don't want to forget an idea, I just say,"Go Glass, note," and it writes what I say and sends it to Evernote.

 I feel very fortunate to be able to test and work with glass, but my first intention has always been, how can I (and others) use it for learning purposes.  I follow Two Guys and Some iPads and  their last blog post mentioned  how some educators are using Google Glass right now.

They quoted Stacey Goodman who wrote a great piece saying "Google Glass provides the educator a means for "making learning visible" (MLV), and can assist with the "observation and documentation in deepening and extending children's and adults' learning" that the Project Zero researches from Harvard and Reggio Emilia, who developed MLV, identified as key to effective teaching. The paradox of MLV is that documenting one's process within the workflow must itself be invisible if it is to be seamless and not "get in the way" of the actual work." (Goodman Dec. 6)

The Guardian had on article talking about how some doctors are using Google Glasses.   "I immediately thought Google Glass can transform how we perform surgery, " Shah said. "One immediate advantage is I can constantly keep my eyes on my patient.  I don't have to constantly have to move my head up and down looking at an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) or X-Ray or a 'before and after' in my viewer." He continues, "Another advantage is I can communicate directly from the operating room with a patient's friends or family and tell them what is going on."  Furthermore, Shah says he believes the device will enable surgeons to document critical moments during a procedure.  For example, in surgery, both surgeons and colleagues will be able to see the exact position and size of a patient's tumor.  (Editor Jan. 20)

Ellyssa Kroski had some great ideas on how Google Glass can be used in libraries.  1. Enhance library tours 2. Record author talks and events 3. Enhance Maker Spaces  4. Record hands-on video tutorials 5. Provide real time OCR (optical character recognition speech) and text-to-speech 6. Real time translations of foreign text  and 7. Speak to patrons in their own language.  (Kroski April 18)

T          I absolutely love this infographic loaded with ideas.....

Here are some video examples of how things look through Glass:

STEMbite: Bone Conduction Speakers - First Person Video Explanations

I am not sure how many of you out there have had the opportunity to use Google Glasses, but they are definitely the wave of the future.  We need to discover how this tool can help kids and adults learn and transform lives.  I am excited to be part of a group testing different ways on  how use Google Glasses in a productive way.

Editor, The. N.p.. Web. 20 Jan 2014. <http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php/features/science/143604-google-glass-abilities-excite-surgeons>.

Goodman, Stacey. "Google Glass: Making Learning Visible with Wearable Technology." Edutopia. (2013): Dec. 6. Print.

Kroski, Ellyssa. "7 Things Libraries Can Do with Google Glass." Open Education Database. OEDB, 18 04 2013. Web. 20 Jan. 2014. <http://oedb.org/ilibrarian/6-things-libraries-can-do-with-google-glass/>.

Digital Media Academy - Teaching Kids to Code

A couple of months ago, I wrote about the importance of teaching students how to program.  I was a CIS (Computer Information Systems) major in college before I decided to go into education.  As one who enjoyed programming, I believe it is beneficial for students and adults alike. So, I decided to expose my 13 year old son, Sebastian.  He attended the Digital Media Academy at the University of Texas this summer.  He spent 5 days learning to code with Unity3D.  His biggest take aways from the whole experience were:

• Coding is a different language that forces you to thing logically
• 3D figures require you to know density, height, width, length, etc.
• Scripting - nothing moves in your game unless you have scripts
• Making a game on unity requires you start out in a empty dimension. To actually make the game, you must know how to use an XYZ coordinate plane.  
• When coding a script, titles and commands must be uniform throughout the program.

So what does coding with unity look like?  For each type of action, Sebastian had to compose different scripts.  See below:

After getting all the components together - he had enough elements for level 1.  According to him, it takes at least 30 levels to create a small game.  Here is some video of me trying to play his game and getting killed quickly:

Whether we are in the library or in the classroom, our job as librarians is to expose students to effective tools to help them learn.  Coding has so many benefits for students.  Maybe you can host a coding class in library or expose teachers to all the free resources available to students.  You can refer to my earlier blog about coding here:  http://librariansonthefly.blogspot.com/2013/06/coding-have-you-considered-using-it-in.html

Instagram in Education Infographic

After blogging about the uses of twitter in the classroom, I decided to create an infographic of how we can use Instagram in education.  I am a firm believer that we need to use the tools that students are using.  Having students create Facebook (Fakebook) pages of authors or characters is genius.  They can do the same for twitter and Instagram.  Of course, they can just be themselves and post on prompts that teachers assign.  I have given some suggestions below.


 Let me know what you think and whether you can see yourself using Instagram in the classroom!

SMORE - Make online flyers for your library for free!

I just discovered SMORE today.  WOW.  You can easily create an online flyer for free.  Of course, like most online services, you can upgrade, but I think my flyer looks great with the free options.   After signing up you are encouraged to try your first flyer- here is what I did, step by step.

I chose the Event flyer.  Then I was prompted to fill in a Title:

 After I filled out the title, subtitle, wrote a short paragraph and added pictures, I deleted the other options and had the option to add the following:

You can see the flexibility of your choices.  I opted to add a video to my online flyer.  When you click on the flyer below - you can scroll through my whole flyer with the scrolling tab on the right side.


Here are some other examples of flyers that I was able to embed from the SMORE website.



I see SMORE as a great way to embed flyers on your blogs and webpages; as well as, mass emailing a flyer to people.  When you finish your flyer, you are given an option to share by emailing, tweeting, posting on Face Book, etc.  What other ways do you see using SMORE?

Please note:  I wish R. J. Palacio was returning to the valley, but I just made up the flyer that she was returning to use pictures and video that I already had access to!

THINGLINK has some new features!

Cindy and I have been using THINGLINK for a while now and I just realized that they have added some new features that they didn't have before.  It was always possible to include video and links to make your images interactive, but now you can add sound and even a polling option.  Scroll your mouse over the images below and see all the ways you can make your images interactive.




I would like to thank all the creators of these interactive images: Heather Hiser, Agustin, ThingLink front and J Kern.

Social Media Influence

I ran across this infographic on social media influence. How much social media are you using? Are you using professionally and/or personally? I read an article today by Mashable that stated an employee who actively uses 5 social networks is a better employee. "That's one conclusion that can be drawn from new data on the workplace by Evolv, a startup that monitors hundreds of metrics from Fortune 500 companies. Not only has Evolv determined that hourly employees who use social networks are more productive in general, but it seems the more social networks you use, the more productive you are,"according to Chris Taylor. Interesting information to say the least - I wonder if employers will agree!
 
DashBurst – Your Guide to the Web & Social Media

Sources Cited:

Taylor, Chris. "Use 5 or More Social Networks? You're a Better Employee." MASHABLE. 03 Apr 2013: n. page. Web. 8 Apr. 2013. <http://mashable.com/2013/04/02/social-networks-workplace-study/>.

YAPP - App Yourself!

Yapp is an app that you can use to create events, then share with a group of people via web or tablet.  

Yapp gives you a variety of options to choose from when choosing themes....

Once you have chosen a theme - you can personalize your YAPP with a photo like below:

Then you add invitation information and twitter feed hashtags like: #clockworkprincessbookclub

Then you can add group photos, book cover photos or any other photos you choose:

And last, but not least - you have the ability to add personalized pages:

Once you publish your YAPP -  you can share with other via email or URL.  If you want to customize your URL - you can do so for $5.00.  There might be benefits for that but I am not willing to pay $5.00!

I see so many uses for this app - don't you? Think about it - group meetings, book clubs, vacations, hangouts, and sports events - a lot of ways you can utilize YAPP.  Let me know what you use it for!

The New Symbaloo

I received an email this morning letting me know that Symbaloo was new and improved. I headed over to Symbaloo to check it out and this is what I found out:


 1. You can add a background to your mixes now (If you were able to do this before, I had no idea!)






  2. You have a menu on the side to edit - I found myself switching back and forth from the old version to the new version because I wasn't really sure how to use the new version. I caught on after a while and will probably stick to the new version the next go around.

 3. Better customization of tiles and a better way to search - this definitely seemed easier in the new version than the old version.

4.  When I embedded this updated version, I noticed the background didn't appear - but embedding is simple so that is okay.  Notice I put some of the social networks I use.  Unfortunately Vine doesn't have a web version available just yet.  I like that I can check my Twitter, Pinterest, and Instragram accounts online, don't you?!!


Overall, I like the new Symbaloo - I suspect you will too!

WEVIDEO - free and easy to use!

WEVIDEO

WEVIDEO is a free web resource that easily allows you to create videos online.  I wanted to test this resource out today and found that I was able to create a list of this week's top ten best sellers according to The New York Times in less that 4 minutes.  I am not kidding.  After finishing the video, I published it directly to YOUTUBE.  I usually choose YOUTUBE since I can use the URLs for blogging purposes.  The whole process was simple.....

With WEVIDEO you can choose from a multitude of themes and music.  You can easily upload pictures and  movie clips from your desktop or  WEVIDEO easily uploads from  these social media networks.

Once you have everything uploaded, you create a title on the beginning slide, then you can manipulate how long you want each photo or video clip to be.  It automatically set slides to 7 seconds and I decreased each clip to 3 seconds.  Here is the simple and easily created video that shares the top YA best sellers according to The New York Times.

Here is another example that took me less than 5 minutes uploading photos from my Instragram Account.  I like keeping evidence of my photos on social networks because it acts like a diary for me.  Here is another quick sample of a WEVIDEO product.

How do you think you can use WEVIDEO?

#adivineday - A Vine Daily Challenge

I posted this on my personal blog, but I am excited to get started using Vine - so I am going to post it here on our Librarians on the Fly Blog!

I am a social media nut - I use  Instragram, Twitter, and Facebook daily and I am convinced that it is what keeps me abreast on what is new in the world of technology.  One of the things I love  about Instagram is the daily #fmsphotoaday using the iPhone Instagram App.  With the daily #fmsphotoaday I find myself planning ahead and really being on the lookout during the day for the perfect shot. And now, I have just started using the new #VINE app.  VINE is like twitter in that you really have to think about what you are posting because it has a limit.  Twitter challenges you to get your point across in 140 characters or less, Vine challenges you to create a video post in just 6 seconds.  When I joined Vine this week, I looked around at what people were using it for.  One of my favorite librarians ever, Jon Schu, already has 44 followers and 85 posts.  He is sharing books that his students are reading, author visit preparations, and displays.  Because I have just started using Vine yesterday, I am looking for innovative ways to video.  I think using social media can be powerful for librarians, teachers, students and really anyone who enjoys learning, but having a prompt makes it more purposeful.  On the daily prompt I have set for myself (and anyone else who might want to try it) I have chosen words that work for anyone.  Take Day 1 for example - fooling around - (it is April Fools Day) can apply to a student, a teacher, a mother, a librarian, an attorney - anyone.  How a person interprets the word and finds a way to photograph it or explain it with a 6 second video can be insightful.  Can you think of ways to use Vine?  If you don't have an account yet - you should.  I think it is going to be big - it is after all owned by Twitter.  If you do get a Vine account - you can follow me at @annvega.

My beginning Vine posts with no purpose – but I am excited to start the challenge above!

#Kool - My Crazy Dog and First Subject

Cruising with my husband

Book Trailers... Who is Doing the Learning?

Thursday was one of those days that, despite the busy-ness, I was invigorated at the end, rather than exhausted.  The teachers and students I work with inspire me!

Once again, Mr. R, a Grade 6 English teacher, and I teamed up for a collaborative project: student-made Book Trailers.  Up to now, I had learned how to make trailers, promoted books via trailers, and offered to teach trailers, but the opportunity to actually TEACH how to make book trailers to real students had eluded me.  Making trailers takes TIME, of which no one seems to have enough.  But Mr. R decided his students needed this opportunity to use their 21st Century skills to share their recreational reading, and he took me up on my offer.

Using resources I have gathered from Teresa Schauer's workshop at TxLA as well as Mrs. H's website, I consulted with our Tech Coordinator to better understand with which software applications most grade 6 students are familiar.  Mr. R and I discussed how designated classtime would be used, and when I asked about evaluation criteria - to make sure I addressed what was necessary - he told me he had not planned to evaluate this assignment, since it is part of the students' recreational reading.  Can you believe that!?!

Our Plan

Monday

Before he brought his students to the library, Mr. R instructed his students to begin thinking about which book they would like to use, to select a partner if they so wished, and to watch a few trailers to identify what they liked and didn't like.

Wednesday

Students were given a story board outline to help them think about the sorts of images they would like to use.

Friday

Class was held in the library, where we reviewed the definition of copyright and plagiarism.  Students were shown two sources for copyright clear images and how to properly cite them.  They created folders in their EDU2.0 accounts to hold the images as well as the Word document with the citations.

Tuesday

Serendipity brought the same students to the library with another teacher to research images.  Students are in the process of desgining and creating robotic bugs, and used their library time to find inspiration for the color scheme and overall design of their insects.  Although royalty-free images and proper citations were not necessarily REQUIRED for the specific project they doing in Design Technology, their wonderful teacher seized the opportunity to have students practice their searching and citing skills.  I introduced Google advanced search, and how to select "free to use or share" under usage rights, as a third source of images.

Thursday

Students returned for a double period.  The Tech Coordinator joined us to help with trouble-shooting issues, so there were three teachers on hand to assist.  It was suggested to students to use Keynote, since they are all familiar with this program, but they were allowed to use any software application of their choice, such as Animoto or iMovie. What could have been disastrous was a wonderful informal assessment opportunity for me.

Four students were able to complete their projects by the end of class, with many others very, very close.

This was one of those "Hollywood" lessons, where the students were completely absorbed in their work, they were teaching each other, and the teachers spent a lot of time observing... and learning from the students.  Students would ask questions of us, all the while looking around at their classmates, and ending their questions with, "X knows how to do that... I'll ask him!"

What I Learned Today

• Where to locate royalty-free music (see below)
• How to access and save on our school's groups drive
• I knew this was possible, but had never actually done it.
• How to embed music on a Keynote presentation as a soundtrack
• I have been a PowerPoint girl for years.  But I am at an all-Mac campus, so I have committed myself to learning Keynote this year.
• What my students need from me.  Students here are well-equipped with tech skills, so I found that what they needed instruction with was:
• The books they choose.  We suggested they choose a book they could picture in their minds as a movie.  Many chose books that had already been made into movies, and therefore wanted to use movie images and video clips... which, as a plus, did create teaching moments about copyright issues.  In the future, I would make it a requirement that books that are already movies not be used for their first projects.  
•  The types of photos they choose.  Often, a LOT of time was spent finding the "perfect" photo of someone/something that precisely matched the book's description, rather than accepting a representation.  Helping students focus on one or two details (the feathers on the wings) rather than the whole scene (a girl with a 14-foot wingspan soaring over a cityscape) was a frequent conversation. 
• Proper MLA format.  There is a great variety of citation formats in this first batch of trailers.  While credit is given to sources, we still have some work to do to get it right.
• Application of visual bookmarking program:

This was also the class for which I built my first Symbaloo.  While not outstanding, I am comfortable sharing:

Next Steps

Students are expected to polish and upload their trailers to the groups drive in the upcoming week.  I will be reviewing trailers, uploading them to our YouTube channel, and then embedding them in our Digital Hub.  The Tech Coordinator is going to take students through the process of creating QR codes, and my assistants will attach the codes to the books.  A blurb will go out in our weekly newsletter to our greater school community.  And then it will be time to begin the process again...

Grab the Popcorn

Here's a sneak preview...

Haiku Deck - Free iPad App

Haiku Deck

Haiku Deck is a free iPad app that allows  you to create wonderful presentations easily.  Haiku Deck allows you to choose from different styles and themes and then gives you access to free Creative Commons licensed photos.  It is so easy - kids can use it too!  On February 15th, the Haiku Deck blog written by Claire, gave some great ideas on how to use Haiku Deck in the classroom and iTunes gives a list of great ideas too.  Suggestions?  Science lab presentations, homework assignments, summarizing discussions, book talks, sharing books, reports, visual resumes, poems, highlights of lessons and pitching ideas.  Teacher presentations are always the key to how student's are going to listen - this tool can definitely make the difference.  On the Haiku Deck web site - they have a gallery of different presentations that students, teachers and other professionals have produced.  Here are a couple:

Catherine Carr created this presentation on Mobile Learning using Haiku Deck....

Ken Shelton created the presentation below.....

Can you think of great ways to put Haiku Deck to use?

Aurasma in Action!

Sherri Kushner and I trained a group of librarians on the many uses of Aurasma Augmented Reality.  Aurasma allows educators to using image recognition to access videos, pictures, and 3D models.  Follow the instructions that Sherri's students have provided and follow the Chute Middle School Channel, the TCEA2013 Channel, and the IDEA Public Schools Channel and you will see engaging Aurasma Auras are.

I am including some of the target images you will need to see some of the Auras on my TCEA2013 Channel and IDEA Public Schools Channel.

RJ Palacio visited IDEA Public Schools in September.  Her book WONDER is amazing - after following the guide above, aim your device at this image and see what happens.

This is the second book TEACH TWICE has come out with.  Scan this image to see another book trailer.

When you scan my business card, you can see that not only can you have one overlay or option, but several.  You can program your buttons to make calls, go to websites, or view pictures and videos.  

Can you think of all the different ways you might be able to use this APP in your library or classroom?

LET ME GOOGLE THAT FOR YOU....

Do you ever wonder why people ask you questions that can easily be found on Google?  And, don't you wonder why they just didn't search Google to find it?   Google has a site called, let me Google that for you, the URL is: http://lmgtfy.com.  The best part of this site is,  after you Google what ever they were asking about, the site gives you a link to a short video of how easy it was to find the answer.  Scroll over the image below to see....




Since this site does take a short video, it lends itself to mini tutorials that you can use with students.  Can you think of other ways you might use this site?

TCEA 2013 - Using Augmented Reality in Education

Who out there is going to TCEA 2013?  I am excited that I will be presenting with Sherri Kushner, a middle school tech/production/art guru I met at iPadpalooza this last summer.  Here is one topic we will be discussing during our presentation!

Sherri and I will be presenting on Thursday, February 7, at the Library Academy at TCEA.  Having talented and innovative teachers like Sherri make a librarian's job and student's life so worthwhile!