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Voice translater

This is great for translating English words to other languages (like hebrew) using your voice. It can only be done using the Google Translate website on a Google Chrome browser, but that's not a problem. The only problem that I can find, is that so far the voice recognition is only in english so far. But I'm sure that will change. This was already available as a phone app, but it can now be done on any computer.

You have to try it, it feels like magic.

Here is a sample of one I just did, (by speaking into my computer's microphone) followed by an instruction video:

Networking in class: Idea 2

I started this as a way to have fun with my kids, but it could be fun for any literature or Bible class.

My kids and I are into H.P. Lovecraft stories, particularly the Cthulhu Mythos. (let's leave my dubious parental judgement out of the discussion, please) We created a Twitter feed for that evil high priest of the elder gods, Cthulhu.

All we do is post a few times a day, things that Cthulhu might say, or think, or comment on. It is fun trying to make them fun and creative in fewer that 140 characters. It can be done by individuals or groups. They would have to create an e-mail ID, (let's say TomSawyer@yahoo.com) and then create a Twitter profile to match.

You could also have two or three teams of students doing different characters in conversations. @TomSawyer could trade tweets with @HuckFinn and @Becky. The kids could show these off at home or with friends. They could be graded on how well they spoke in the character's voice.

It's super fun!

Networking in class: Idea 1

This was a lesson that turned out great. Youtube has a show that they call Worldview, where viewers submit question to world leaders. Then somebody chooses from those questions and Youtube broadcasts the individual answering it.

When Benjamin Netanyahu's turn came up, he received thousands of questions. I turned this into an opportunity for a lesson. Here's what I did with each of my classes:

1) Show the invitation to send in questions
2) Show samples of some questions already submitted
3) Begin a brainstorming session for questions to submit. This led to a great discussion about Israeli politics and current events, and was worth the whole project.
4) Have the students pick a spokesperson to ask the question, with others in the class in the background.
5) I submitted.

That was a great lesson! But now we can watch the answers and discuss them. This will work particularly well since a screenshot of seniors asking a question appears at 1:56, and an actual question is shown at 10:00 into the video, which the P.M. then answers!

This was a great experience for the kids, and got them to ask and answer all sorts of questions. Even if Mizrachi had not been chosen out of the thousands of questions, it would have been worth it, in my opinion.

Check it out! For some reason Youtube moved the video once, but if you click here on my personal blog, it will show you the embedded vide.

Salman Kahn of Khan Academy

As simple explanation of a great resource. See the site for yourself. 

Just so you know...

You might be interested to know that this blog has received hits from around the world. I really wonder how that works?

21st Century Education

I posted a couple of videos on my personal blog that I think are relevant to the discussion about tech in the classroom. They take a little time, but I think they may be worth a look.  Click the link in the first sentence to find them.

Back Flip

Back Flip

Jing all the way!!!

Here's a cool app that Ari and I learned about in Maryland. Its called Jing, and its a free download that lets you "film" whatever you are doing on your computer. It also records what you are saying.

Possible uses:

1) Make an instructional video for your students, teaching them how to use a program. In an earlier post I used it to show how to make an online quiz using Google Docs.

2) Record what you are teaching and projecting on the board. You can then post that part of the lesson, (the limit is about 6 minutes) and the kids can have it. Below is an example of me teaching the 10th grade girls, and using Google Earth to show them the layout of the Auschwitz concentration camp. See how the results look for yourself. (Click on the image to watch it. You may want to pause it and let it buffer for a bit. You may also want to make it full screen. The controls appear at the bottom of the image when scrolled over)



Any other ideas?

Using PollEverywhere in class

Poll Everywhere is a pretty cool free web app that allows students to text answers in class. Since we now have projectors, the results of the poll are instantly on the board. I have tried it in three ways:

1) Multiple choice poll: This allows the class discussion to be built around the percentage of students who made each choice, without identifying them. Cute trigger. I only allowed them one vote per phone, but that can be changed if you want to allow them multiple votes.

2) Tested answers: This allows students to list various answers on the board in real time. I chose here to allow them to submit as many answers as they liked, and after they explained what they meant we discussed them.

3) Question bar: I used the same setting to keep an open bar on the side of the board so that students could submit questions to the teacher during class. They hardly used it.

It isn't essentially different than a regular class discussion. But it has a coolness factor, and its much harder for kids to stay anonymous and opt out. All in all, good for an occasional lesson plan. You can also embed the poll into a powerpoint that you are using in a given class, which makes the flow easier to handle.

This is really worth playing with.

Below are the actual ones that I used in class, corresponding to the numbers above. If you would like to try it, fell free to submit the appropriate code answer in a text to 22333.

1)

Create your own sms poll at Poll Everywhere

2) Here are the results of my PollEverywhere question in class, "What are the differences in style between the Mishna and the Gemara?"

Make a live audience poll at Poll Everywhere

3)

Create your own sms poll at Poll Everywhere

Texting is easy!!!

It Worked!!!

My first forays into the world of modular smartboards have met with success! I can connect my laptop to the projector, then run it from my iPad! It works pretty smoothly from my "TeamViewer" app, and even better from "LogMeIn".

The bad news is that LogMeIn cost me $30. It is also useful for checking into my desktop at home when travelling.

Now I have to figure out how to use the smartboard software, and I've made my modular one complete!

Anybody wanna try?

Below is a screen shot of my laptop running on my iPad! (if you look closely you can see that it is me making this post!)

Actual screen shot from my iPad. Cool, no?

How to make a quiz or survey on Google Docs

Check out my instructional video that shows how to make a quiz or survey using Google Docs. 

I used Jing to make the video.

This is just a picture. You must click the yellow hyperlink above. 

Quizlet

Lisa Beer to Mizrachi

show details 7:40 PM (1 hour ago)

 

Quizlet.com is a really interesting option for (hopefully?) replacing
vocabulary books by creating a fun and educationally cohesive way to
study vocabulary. The teacher (and/or students) can make "flash cards"
using words taken from the context of the in-class reading.

I haven't spent much time playing with it, but I like that it allows
the teacher to pick words out of context instead of being tied to a
list of random words that the kids cram into their heads five minutes
before the quiz...

Play around with it- it's fun!

quizlet.com

 

 

iPod, iListen, iRead

Oh, here you go:

iPod, iListen, iRead: "

In 2006, the iREAD (I Record Educational Audio Digitally) project started as a pilot program in Escondido, with six teachers of English language learners working with low-performing readers, content experts, and IT staff. This year, more than 100 K–8 classrooms are using 1,300 iPods, and the program has expanded to include readers at all levels. Students use the iPods with external microphones to record their reading practice and assessments. The iPod Touch, with its larger screen, Internet access, and applications, enables a better multimedia experience, as students download audiobooks and songs and read along with the text of stories and lyrics.

Teachers are trained to use the iPods, microphones, iTunes, GarageBand for audio production, and other digital tools. Student and teacher recordings are uploaded to iTunes, where teachers create playlists for each student. Students, teachers, and parents can then review progress, creating a powerful learning loop between all three.

Continue reading at http://www.edutopia.org/ipod-technology-improving-reading-skills.

"

Don't tell my son I told you this, but...

I know its a small thing, and I know it was as a parent not a teacher, but I still wanted to share an idea that I had.

My son Akiva, a fourth grader, had to make a book report on the BFG. It included a posterboard with images and captions, and also an oral presentation. This last part shut him down. He didn't feel he could do it. Worse, he was even afraid to practice and get better at it. He loved making the posterboard, and then he was done.

It was like the old Marx Brothers routine between Groucho as Capt. Spaulding and Chico as Signor Rivelli:

Spaulding: What do you fellas get an hour?
Ravelli: For playing, we get-a ten dollars an hour.
Spaulding: I see. What do you get for not playing?
Ravelli: Twelve dollars an hour.
Spaulding: Well, clip me off a piece of that.
Ravelli: Now for rehearsing, we make special rate. That's-a fifteen dollars an hour... That's-a for rehearsing.
Spaulding: And what do you get for not rehearsing?
Ravelli: You couldn't afford it. You see, if we don't rehearse, we a-don't play, and if we don't play (he snaps his finger) - that runs into money. 

Let's leave his psychology and our parenting out of the discussion for now. On a purely practical level, how could we get him out of this shut down loop? Dara got him permission from his teacher to present only to her instaed of the whole class. That was better, but we were still stuck.

I pulled out my iPhone, and said, "Why not make a voice recording of your presentation. Then you can see how it is."

I have no idea why it worked. Not only did he do it, he did it four times till he got it the way he wanted it. Well, I do have an idea why it worked. He later said he thought that maybe we could send the audio file to the teacher and he wouldn't have to present at all.  (I did consider this as a worse case scenario) But in the end he did it.

I don't know why the technology helped, but it did. I guess it made it really fun, fixable and not scary. In the end he did present to the teacher. But even if he didn't, he would have gotten a lot out of the assignment. Frankly, it would be a cool assignment. Kids could post their audio of video reports, and other kids could comment.
He would have loved that.

I'm just saying.

The end of textbooks as we know them?

Not that there's anything wrong with that. Open source textbook makers may be the wave of the future. Imagine using a textbook that is not only custom made for a particular school, but even for a specific teacher.

The pitch made here seems pretty compelling to me. I'm pretty sure that if this development dovetails with the tablet revolution, we are indeed looking at a new model.

Of course, I've never loved textbooks to begin with. People debate the suggestion of one of my personal intellectual heroes, Neil Postman's suggestion that we'd be better off without them. But his arguments resonate with me.

Why don't they get it?

If we really do want to experiment with using tablets and bluetooth projectors next year, we should probably already start thinking about what we'll want to purchase and do it before the school year ends.

Projectors seem about the same, although we'll need to get ones that will work in rooms without shades.

For some reason, it looks like the tablet options are going to be few. Aside from the now classic style of tablet PC, there seem to be few successes in and attempt to compete with the iPad.  

So far, the attempts are either  crazy expensive, or are receiving terrible reviews like these bombs.
What mistake are they making? It seems to always be the same one: using a laptop OS. iPad is using a version of the iPod/iPhone OS. The reviewers are quite explicit about this, yet nobody seems to be listening.

Where does this leave us? What should we buy? When should we buy it? Any thoughts?

Mizrachi Tech Proposal

Mizrachi tech proposal

Office suites.

I'd like to compare and contrast 3 possible options for teachers and students to create documents, presentations and spreadsheets. Microsoft Office seems to be the default that most people use. The other two I'd like to consider are Open Office and Google Docs. Let's start with a chart: (which I made using Open Office, by the way)

	Microsoft Office	Open Office	Google Docs
1. Universal compatibility	x	/	/
2. Full Features	/	/	x
3. Cloud storage	x	x	/
4. Cloud collaboration	x	x	/
5. Free to all	x	/	/
6. Needs Online connection	x	x	/
7. Download	x	/	/

Now to address the differences.
1. It seems to me that since staff and students use Macs and PCs, and we may be introducing Linux netbooks next year, cross operating system capability is really advantageous. Strike one for MS.
2. Google docs only has really basic features, which is what we use 98% of the time. But the other two do leave it in the dust.
3. Is it better to store docs on your hard drive and the school network, or let Google store it? That's the choice here. 
4. Only Google docs allows teachers and/or students collaborate in real time. Anywhere on the planet. 
5. Free and works without local tech support beats expensive and glitchy. 
6. The biggest downside of Google docs. If your offline, you can't work.
7. Yeah, anyone anywhere can use it. 

It seems to me that depending on specific need, Google and Open office are the best options. Other than inertia, I see little advantage to MS office. Perhaps the best option is working in Open office and storing docs on Google for backup.
Can you guys experiment with these two free resources, please, and post your comments below?