Augmented Reality in the Classroom

Augmented Reality is poised to change the way we look at the world, never mind impact education and the way students engage in learning. Connect the world of printed documents to an interactive, 3D environment using Augmented Reality Applications.  Aurasma, Layar, and Daqri AR apps, to name just a few, will allow students to literally interact with books and paper.  Watch the videos below to give you an example of how AR can be used to enhance students comsumption in the classroom.

Test Prep with Varsity Tutors

Let's face it - high stakes tests are a part of our lives and, while we don't want to teach to the test, we do need to prep students for them.  There is nothing that will replace quality instruction for preparing for a major exam, but there are a number of quality online assessment tools out there that are effective at helping students build on that quality instruction and get great test scores.  One tool that we have come across recently is Varsity Tutors.  This site offers free diagnostic and practice tests with feedback that help students prepare for an exam.  All of these tests are free and open to the public and, should you find from taking these assessments that you need extra help, you can sign up for in-home tutoring from them (for a fee).

 Creating an Account:

Creating an account is easy and allows any user to take any of the tests and get immediate feedback. 

Taking Tests:

When you first create an account, you are taken to the list of tests that you can take. You can select from over 100 tests and sub tests for everything from the intermediate and high school level to AP, SAT and CLEP.  

Diagnostic Tests, Practice Tests and Flash Cards,

There are 3 main types of assessments that you can take.  One is a diagnostic test for the major exams that are intended to be an overview of the entire exam to see how you would do.  The practice tests are broken down into different sub categories and the Flash Cards are really individual questions that you can work through one by one.  Your receive feedback on how much time was spent on each question as well as your performance on each question.  They have included an explanation of the correct answer on each question so that you can learn from your mistakes.  

Classroom Tools

• Creating Tests
• Teachers can create their own tests by either adding questions of their own or by choosing questions from the item bank.  

• Sharing Tests
• Once created, you can share the tests with students either individually or as a group

• Viewing Results
• Once students have completed their test, they get a Full report - View an example by clicking here.  
• Teachers can then see an item analysis of those test results for their whole class and can drill down and see how each student did on each assessment.  

Embedding Assessments and Flashcards

If you are interested in having students study and want to keep them on your website you can embed both complete tests and flashcards right into your website or LMS.  Check out the example below:

Powered By Varsity Tutors

Overall, we are impressed with this assessment tool and think it is worth checking out.  Let us know what you think.  

Happy Birthday Albert Einstein & Happy Pi Day

Next to "My Hero Zero", Pi is probably one of my favorite numbers. Though I may be a bit irrational at times, so is Pi, also known by the by the greek letter π. Pi is the ratio of a circle's circumference to it's diameter and is approximately equal to 3.14159.  March 14th (get it 3/14 -- 3.14!) is a day to celebrate the uniqueness of this mathematical constant and ironically it is also Albert Einstein's Birthday.  Below is a collection of websites taken from an Edutopia Article by Matt Davis for you to explore Pi with your students - If you want to celebrate Einstein's Birthday, I suggest a round cake!

• Pi Day Activities from the San Francisco Exploratorium: Without the Exploratorium, we might never have had an official Pi Day celebration. In 1988 Exploratorium physicist Larry Shaw started the tradition, and it was finally recognized by Congress in 2009. The Exploratorium highlights some great hands-on activities, and there is also a great list of Pi-related links.
• Happy Pi Day from TeachPi.org: TeachPi hosts a trove of Pi Day resources, featuring fun classroom activities, Pi Day-inspired music, and other fun learning ideas. There's plenty here to keep students engaged, and learning, on March 14. Check out the activities section for a bunch of great learning ideas.
• Pi Day Teaching Ideas from Scholastic: Scholastic produced these great lesson plans for three different grade levels -- preK-1, 2-3, and 4-6. There's also interesting information about the history of Pi, as well as a link to aWeb application that allows students to explore Pi through music.
• Pi Day Resources from Math Goodies: Math Goodies features some great, free math lessons that incorporate Pi. Check out their circle lessons, as well as links to other online resources and list of questions for students to research the history of Pi.
• What Is Pi, and How Did It Originate?: Scientific American dug deep into the history of Pi in this article, offering an insightful look at the origins of the mathematical constant.
• TeachersFirst's Pi Day Resources: TeacherFirst offers this great roundup of Pi-themed lessons and resources from around the Web focused primarily on high school. Included in the collection are some general math resources, like Simpsons Math, and they all come from a variety of great sources.
• Celebrate Pi Day with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics: There's plenty of great resources here from NCTM. Along with fun activities, there's also an Illuminations lesson plans section with some great standards-based lesson plans for educators.

Chromebook Keyboard Shortcuts

The Google Chromebook has a keyboard shortcut overlay that can be very helpful if you're feeling like you are missing the capabilities to use Accessories you may previously have used on a desktop.  This was particularly helpful recently when we found something similar to the "Snipping Tool" that we used so often to create tutorials with screen images, but goes far beyond CTRL-V and CTRL-C for copy and paste.


Click CTL-ALT-? to open the keyboard overlay.

Hold down the CTRL key to view the first level of shortcuts.

Using the image below as an example, CTRL-d is "Bookmark current page".

Hold down CTRL-ALT for a view of more keyboard shortcuts.

Using the image below as another example, CTRL-ALT-t is "New Terminal"

Hold down CTRL- SHIFT to view the last of the keyboard shortcuts.

Using the image below as a final example, CTRL- SHIFT-w is "Close Window"

It's Your Turn to Change the World - Google Science Fair 2014

On February 12th Google along with Lego, Scientific American, Virgin Galactic and National Geographic launched their 4th annual international online science & technology competition for teens ages 13-18. Past winners have tackled some of today’s greatest challenges, like an anti-flu medicine, more effective ways to beat cancer, an exoskeletal glove, a battery-free flashlight, banana bioplastics and more efficient ways of farming.  What is your idea to change the world?

There are resources for parents and teachers to help kids get involved and ideas and guidance for students to get their creative juices flowing.  

If the desire to do great things doesn't motivate you perhaps the prizes will!  Scholarships of $25,000 and $50,000 plus trips to the Galapagos Islands, the Lego Factory and more...

Students have until May 12th to finalize their submissions.  But don't wait till then to start building your project site and get started.  Here is a short video overview of the submission process and and here is a link to the Google Science Fair site - Just click on the Get Started Icon at the bottom of the page.  Good Luck!

Doodle For Google Art Contest 2014

If you are an avid Googler, you know that the giant search engine frequently surprises the world by doodling the Google logo based on famous birthdays, holidays or events. What you may not know is that Google launches an annual contest which invites k-12 students in the U.S. to use their artistic talents to redesign Google's logo. 

This year, the theme is "If I Could Invent One Thing to Make the World a Better Place...". The winning artist will see his or her own artwork on the Google homepage for 24 hours, win a $30,000 scholarship, a trip to San Francisco, and $50,000 technology grant for his or her own school.

All submissions must be received by Thursday, March 20, 2014. Visit the Doodle for Google homepage for contest details.

Details and Rules
• All submissions must be received by March 20, 2014.
• You can mail in applications or upload right on the website.
• Submissions must be accompanied by a completed Entry Form.
• Instructions, mailing addresses, official entry form, and official Contest Rules are all available at
www.google.com/doodle4google 

We highly encourage you to share this opportunity with teachers and students in your schools. We hope to share their doodles here on the Orange-Ulster BOCES Model Schools blog after the winner is announced. 

Happy Doodling!! 

Getting Started with Animoto

One of the great opportunities provided educators with the cornucopia of technology tools available today is more easily moving from students as consumers of knowledge products such as worksheets, videos, lectures from their teachers and others, to producers of their own knowledge by creating videos, animations, concept maps and more.  This is an important 21st Century Learning Skill and enables students to become more active participants in their own learning.

Animoto is a useful tool for students and teachers to create videos that demonstrate their understanding of a concept and communicate their ideas from pictures and/or video clips.  What we would like to do here is help you get started using this awesome site.  When you first set up your account you will have a free account that only allows you to create web quality videos up to 30 seconds long and have access to a limited number of video styles and 300 music tracks to choose from.  As an educator you can have access to an Animoto Pro account for 6 months and for up to 50 students.  Below are the steps to get signed up and create your first video.

1.  Sign up for Animoto

2.  Click on the Education link at the bottom of the page.

3.  Click on the Learn More button where it asks if you are a teacher.

4. Select the Apply Now button and fill out the form.

5.  While it says it may take weeks to get you a code, we have found that you get it automatically.  This is the code that the students need to also get a pro account.  One suggestion, since it is a long code, either create a google doc with the code on it as well as the directions for signing up that you share with them, share it on your LMS like Edmodo or Schoology,  or simply email the code and directions to them.   You may use this sample directions Google Doc for sharing with your students on how to get set up and get started.  Simply past your promo code on the line.  Here is an example of a confirmation page with the code:

Here are the steps in none other than an Animoto Video:

If you want to learn more, attend Christine's Workshop on Tuesday February 18th.  Find out more and sign up on MyLearningPlan.Com