Subtext in your Classroom or Library

Subtext

"Subtext is a free iPad app that allows classroom groups to exchange ideas in the pages of digital texts.  You can also layer in enrichment materials, assignments and quizzes - opening up almost limitless opportunities to engage students and foster analysis and writing skills."   I see so much potential with this app!  See what teachers say here and I will walk you through how easy it is to get ePub documents on Subtext. 

I collaborated with 5th grade teachers on a series of great tools for students to respond to the book Wonder, by R.J. Palacio.  I want to make some cross-curricular connections by bringing the disease that August had; as well as, bringing in some math and social studies.  The first thing I had to do was build my library with some articles.  You can see my library below.  

You will also have to set up your class groups.  Subtext works with Edmodo, so if you have Edmodo, it will populate your groups for you.  When you create a group, you are given a code that students will need to access their Subtext group.

When you first get subtext, it will ask you to save a link to your bookmarks bar so that you can easily convert articles.  

Next, begin searching for articles you like on the web.  I loved this article.

 When you find an article that you like click the "Save to Subtext" link and you should see this....

 When you click the Save to Subtext, you will see this next prompt asking if you want to save to one, two, or all of your groups.

Then, when you go to your library, you will see your article in ePub format.

Then you have an option to create questions for discussion.  You are given options for True or False, Multiple Choice, Polling, or Paragraph responses.  I chose a poll to bring in some math statistics.

 After a group has been given instructions to read an article, they would choose the discussion link to respond to the literature.

I found this tutorial - so I am going to include it here....

 Can you see the possibilities of this platform?  My mind hasn't stopped spinning since I have come across it.  Please share your ideas for using Subtext in your library or classroom by leaving a comment below!

Apps for the Inquiry Process

Our school just unrolled the first phase of our 1:1 iPad program tonight.  In preparation of this big event, I spent some time this summer looking into how I could support and guide students through the research process using apps.

It was tougher than I expected to build a list like this....  

Apps come and go.
Opinions vary.
And upgrades can leave a favorite app on the bottom of the heap.

But it was also a lot of fun to read through suggestions, try new apps, and build a chart that includes all phases of the research process.  You are welcome to take it, use it, and share it:

At my school, we follow Kath Murdoch's Inquiry Cycle so I have grouped the apps according to the steps of that model.  But I think they can easily be adapted to other models. 

My simple hope in sharing this is that I get you thinking about which apps you use with students during the research process.

And let's keep the conversation going...

Because apps come and go
Technology evolves.
But the need to be able to locate, evaluate, and use information will continue.

What would you add to the list?

Personal Learning Progress - Part 2...Chopping Onions

My mom once bought a food processor.  And while it chopped an onion into uniform pieces in nothing flat, it was a pain in the backside to clean.  It had to be taken apart and washed and all those little trapped bits of onion fished out.  I decided right then I would NEVER own one of those.  Chopping onions with a knife and cutting board works just fine.  There is something satisfying about persisting at the task until the pieces are exactly the right size.  And clean up is a snap.

I tend to look at most objects, including webtools, with a critical eye to see if they are really a tool that will help me, or a toy that, while it may be a lot of fun to use, really doesn't move me from point A to point B.

My to-do list for the past couple of weeks was laden with new apps to take a closer look at.

So I started with a closer look at Symbaloo, leftover from my previous blogpost...

I even created an account.  And added two links.  I am supposed to be able to access my bookmarks anywhere, but that means I need to find them all first.  I realized I didn't have enough time to build a webmix of all the bits and pieces I use, although I can see its usefulness and efficiency once it is built.  I will add to it over time.  I will use it to create webmixes for teachers who ask for resources.


And then I moved on...


In the past two weeks, I have signed up at over a dozen sites.  Most of them have been free.  And most of them I just entertain the idea of using "later".


Like Symbaloo, Pearltrees is a site to organize your online stuff.  This feels like Scoop.It meets Del.icio.us.

I love the eye-catching graphics available here.  This looks like another way for this perfectionist to spend kill a lot of time.  Again, I think I need to add to it over time instead of cram everything onto it at once.  But Symbaloo or Pearltrees?  Anybody have a preference?  How have you used these with teachers.


Speaking of trees, check out InstaGrok, which looks useful for teaching research.  But I wasn't doing research or teaching, so I'll save that tool for another assignment, and let teachers know about it.

But will we use it?  Do we need it?  You can get nearly the same results using our Destiny Quest catalog... with print, website, and database results.  These can be filtered by grade level, subtopics, domain, etc.  The format just isn't a colorful graphic organizer.



While I was trying to organize my online stuff, I found Hojoki, a site to bring all of your cloud apps together.

I signed up, but then I didn't like the idea of sharing all my passwords for my Google Docs, Dropbox, Cloud app, Twitter, Delicious... The concept is great, but I just felt like I was sharing too much information with them.  I would love to hear from others that use this app.



Speaking of organizers, I found ThreeRing.  This app is still in beta format, but I am trying it out.  It is a place for teachers' to create digital portfolios of student work.

It is easy to set up and easy to use - especially with my iPad - and it is free for teachers.  I could see this being a great mom tool - a way to uploaded those early works of art, organize it, and eliminate the paper clutter.



Finally I decided I should stop and share all of this information with you before there was too much to report.  Trying to keep up with current technology, I thought I ought to put it in an eye-catching, graphic format...
So I signed up with Piktochart, Visual.ly, and got the Visualize app.  But I didn't really have statistical data to share and learning to use these tools was taking too long.  (My Infographic journey will be the subject of another post soon.)

Instead.... you get a plain, wordy blog post.  Because my goal was to chop onions, or in this case, share what I have learned, not wash more dishes.