Instructional Technology & Digital Learning Andover High School Week of January 13-17

Instructional Technology & Digital Learning Andover High School Week of January 13-17

Daniel Downs

During a week in which most teachers are preparing for the end of semester exams many teachers are still working at integrating a variety of tools into the classroom. I had a chance at the last faculty meeting to present some of the components of using Google Docs with files and some of the benefits of collaboration with these tools. Being able to share these tools has opened up a variety of conversations with teacher’s which has extended from just creating Gmail accounts and exploring the collaboration features to developing Google Forms for Assessment in the classroom.

Teacher Highlights:

Teachers in Foreign Language are integrating variety of podcast tools in the foreign language department to help students learn language. Students can participate in lessons driven with native speakers and deep embedded vocabulary.

For the purpose of improving her connection to her students with web based content a teacher is developing a blog using the Blogger format from Google. She has developed a variety of lessons and media to support her existing curriculum. She will be rolling out the website in the new semester. I have had the benefit of working with her to develop the technology which supports her teaching methodology.

Teachers in the Social Studies department are in the process of reviewing web based tools in which to store and share links of curriculum content to share and collaborate with. Teachers were introduced to tools such a Wikispaces (http://www.wikispaces.com/), Portaportal (http://www.portaportal.com/), Urlist (http://urli.st/) and https://delicious.com . These tools can add layers of productivity and collaboration between teachers. For the document outlining these tools click here.

Teachers are beginning to integrate Apple TV into their classroom environments either by projecting their desktops to their class or using the built in applications. Apple TV is an additional piece of hardware which enables “sharing“of Apple devices (IPad, MacBook’s, and Phone’s) to the projector. This technology is particularly beneficial to classrooms in which has access to the IPad or MacBook carts so that students can project their device as well. To learn more about this technology check out this page from Apple.

Co-Teaching Experiences

I had the opportunity to go back into Karen Stevens-Mazmans' class and teach a web design lesson using HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) for a marketing webpage assignment she is giving to students. Students are creating promotional websites based on a product. Click here to see her lesson write up. Going into her classroom is a great opportunity to share my skills and deepen the skills learned in the Marketing curriculum. It’s great to see the student’s interest grows as they learn how to code and change the appearance of websites.

Andover Innovation Lab/Help Desk

Students are in the final phases of their independent technology driven projects at the Innovation Lab. We currently have a student creating a mobile application (Eli Gukovsky), researching Minecraft in Education (Viabhav Patel) and learning the programming language Lua (John Makiej). These students will be presenting their final projects during the finals week in an online platform. For more information visit:

http://www.andoverstudentrunhelpdesk.blogspot.com .

Teachers are well into the swing of adapting to all the new technology provided to enhance their teaching and learning. Wireless projection and understanding the intricacies of their new MacBook’s  is beneficial to student engagement but we also want to continue a deeper level of integration of a variety of web tools such as Google tools, Workspaces and a variety of Ipad applications which enhances student understanding of core concepts. In the Science Department a recent influx of new applications for their Ipad carts has enabled them to demonstrate Physics, Engineering and core Physical Science content online.

These updates are just some of the continual evolvement that is going on with technology driven initiatives at the high school across curriculums.

The Hour of Code Experience at the Andover Innovation Lab / Help Desk / Zachary Griffin

     When I first heard about the Hour of Code, I wasn't quite sure what to expect from it. I assumed many of the students would be working on something that they may find overwhelming and it would turn out to be a very uneventful week. However, I couldn't have been more wrong. The Hour of Code proved to be a much more important experience than I would have anticipated. Our first role at the help desk was to assist Mrs. Reidy with creating a shared Google Form so she could communicate with all students efficiently. We also created the bit.ly link (bit.ly/ahshourofcode) so students could access the document with friendly URL. 

     Dan Downs and I worked in the Library and several other classrooms supporting large amounts we were assigned to during the Hour of Code. Our role was to provide students with the link to the Google form and to begin students with specifically assigned activities for the Hour of Code website. When working with these students, we had our students from the Help Desk like Eli, Viabhav and John assist us in guiding students through the various tutorials. Our Innovation Lab/Help Desk students provided pointers to student on how to use the code games effectively and provided necessary support to code newbies.

     Many of the students did not quite understand HTML, Javascript or CSS, so it was generally expected that they were going to struggle a bit. However, the links to the Hour of Code website that Mrs. Reidy provided made the lessons much more entertaining for the students. Some of these videos included navigating an Angry Bird character through a field using pre-built HTML that players would move over into a drop box. Indeed, the lessons were simple, but informative enough for anyone inexperienced in code to understand.

     Overall, the Hour of Code is something anyone should take a part in. It's both a great way to learn how to code and a good way of having a little bit of fun. All the students did an excellent job in providing students in working with the tutorials chosen for the Hour Of Code. Many of the Teachers around the school did a wonderful job proving support in teaching their students during the Hour Of Code.

If you are interested in seeing the Andover High School Google Doc used for the classes, click on the link below:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1z34BsGqwdS9fFEeOaXKsLEMmnWsm6vaNlbjYMIo3RaY/edit

If you would like to learn more about the Hour of Code, click here:

http://csedweek.org/

If you learn the Hour of Code, you may also even be awarded with a certificate that you can add to your portfolio!

Experiences In Using Recording And Editing Software For Online Video Production - Vaibhav Patel

Creating videos is a really resplendent experience, but there is a lot of research that goes into it. The first steps that go into making a video are making a script and researching about the content that will be put into the videos. After researching and finishing the script, it’s time to record the video. While recording, there will be times when you mess up, and do it over again. Once done with the video recording, comes the editing part. Basically, this process takes a lot of time, especially the rendering part. The most frustrating parts are researching and editing (rendering).

I use programs like fraps or Dxtory to record, and after effects and sony vegas to edit the videos. Editing is what makes the videos look really good. Fraps and Dxtory export the video file as a .avi file, so I import them into vegas/after effects and make the video better by adding text, related images and adding effects to make the videos look cool and then finally i render it as a .mp4 file. These programs are not free, they do cost quite a good amount of money. There goes a lot of grammar content while creating scripts, such as making sure everything is structured in a easy to understandable way and spelled correctly. After everything is done correctly, watching the final product is fun!

Continued Development On An Adroid App / Eli Gukovsky

I have been spending a month here doing a lot of fun things. When I started doing this class, I expected a strict programming course, which I would smile and nod with, then go home and experiment with. Instead, I found that I could do all of my experimenting here, and I could get a feel for the technology that I wanted to learn in the same environment that I was actually learning it in. Mr. Downs and Zach have been nothing but kind and funny, with each of them having a very outgoing personality.

Early on, I decided to create a trivia game for Android, where the questions that are asked have no realistic answer that the user might know. This came as a combination of ideas from me and my friends. I love Android Design, so Android vs. iOS wasn't even a question for me. I've watched a lot of Android Design in Action (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWz5rJ2EKKc8j2B95zGMb8muZvrIy-wcF), so the design itself wasn't a problem for me. I created a design using a Google Slides designer I found online a while back, and I finished designing the app. The next stage for me is to actually code the app.

So far, I'm really enjoying this class, it's the thing I look forward most to during my day.

Coming Back After Vacation / Zach

     After two long weeks of not being at the Help Desk, I developed ways I could improve my skills in Multimedia and be able to share that information with our students. After receiving Minecraft as gift from my girlfriend, I will be in a better position to critique Viabhav's Minecraft mod project, as well as promoting Minecraft as a useful teaching tool for future students that participate in the Help Desk.

    My first week back from vacation has certainly been an eventful one, between the teacher conference after school on Monday with Dan's Google Doc's presentation and the adjusting to getting back into the School schedule, I am more than prepared for what it to come going forward at the Help Desk. I would like to approach this month with an ambition to teach our students new and innovative ways to learn critical thinking when applying themselves to modern technology.