07.13.08
The iSummit Triple Crown
It’s always great to have completed a technology conference. I leave feeling satisfied and inspired. This year’s iSummit was no different. Of course it didn’t hurt that everyone who attended from my school walked away with a fantastic door prize (an iPod Touch, 2 Higher Ground laptop cases, and Laptop Lojack)! As I looked back through my notes and the projects I started in Nashville, I thought it might be nice to do a quick post about the top three things I learned and plan to use in my classroom as a result of iSummit:
One of the coolest tips that I took away from The Coalition of Lighthouse Schools iSummit this year came from Lucy Gray in a session about all the educational tools that Google offers teachers. Lucy’s class “Enhancing Your Digital Workflow” taught me all about Google Earth, Google Apps for Educators, Google Reads, and Google Sky (the latter two were new to me). In Google Docs and Spreadsheets, there is a function available that allows users to find the answers to questions such as “What is the population of Atlanta?” or “Where was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. born?” simply by entering an “entity” and an “attribute” into a cell in Google spreadsheets. Check it out! Here is a complete list of what Google offers.
Dr. Carl Owens from Tennessee Tech taught us all about “Cool Tools for Classroom Use. Along with various devices and assistive technologies that teachers can use in the classroom, he told us about “Cable in the Classroom,” a Web resource with educational online video, a list of classroom-friendly recordings, parent tips, podcasts, lesson plans, etc. You’ll be impressed by all the information under the Cable Resources for Learning link.
Julene Reed showed us how students can use Photo Booth to superimpose personalized backdrops behind photos and videos. By the way, did you know you can take video through Photo Booth?! In Julene’s session on iMovie ‘08, we were using Photo Booth version 2.0.2 to capture our video, and with it we could drag photos from iPhoto into Photo Booth and apply them as our video backdrops. Be sure you have advanced to the fourth page of the Photo Booth effects if you want to try it; once there, you will see empty cells into which you can drag your own photos. I think it’s awesome–so simple!
Thank you to all the Apple Distinguished Educators who gave of their time to teach us: Julene Reed, Lucy Gray, Ty Richardson, Cathleen Richardson, Joe Morris, Carl Owens, Larry Anderson, etc. We enjoyed every minute, and we’ll see you next year!
