Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Canvas Instructor Getting Started Guide
From: http://guides.instructure.com/m/8472
Get Started with Canvas
- Where can I find a list of Canvas terminology?
- How do I sign up for a Canvas account as an instructor?
- How do I log in to Canvas?
- How do I use the Dashboard? (Legacy UI)
- How do I view my Canvas courses?
- How do I use the Course Home Page as an instructor?
- How do I start a new course?
- Will Canvas work on my mobile device?
Customize Canvas
Organize a Course
Add Course Content
- How do I upload a file to my course?
- How do I create a new page in my course?
- What is the Rich Content Editor?
- How do I create a new Module?
- What are the different Assignment types available to instructors in Canvas courses?
- How do I create an Assignment shell in an Assignment Group?
- What quiz types are available in Canvas courses?
- How do I create a quiz with individual questions?
- How do I create a Discussion as an instructor?
- How do I use the Syllabus as an instructor?
- How do I use the Calendar?
Work with Grades and People
More Help
Friday, June 10, 2016
Teachers Can Try-Out New “Minecraft Education Edition” For Free This Summer
June 9, 2016 | 0 comments
I’ve never tried Minecraft, and don’t have a clue about how it works. However, I know a lot of kids love it and some teachers use it (I’d love to hear in the comments about their experience).
Now, any teacher – including clueless ones like me – can experiment with a new Minecraft Education Edition for free over the summer. Check it out here.
I heard about it at TechCrunch, which shared a number of details, including saying that the cost per student come fall will be between $1 and $5.
For others who are equally uninformed, you might want to read The Minecraft Generation, a big New York Times article that came out a couple of months ago.
I’m adding this info to The Best Sites Where Students Can Work Independently & Let Teachers Check On Progress.
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
6 Steps to Transition to Digital
Looking to go digital in your classroom in a meaningful way? Here are the six core steps to making it happen. (Public domain image via Pixabay.com)
A paperless classroom can …
- promote discussions at any time in any place.
- bring in information, perspectives and experiences from all over the world.
- give classrooms great efficiency.
- boost the creativity factor in new ways.
- help students become creators instead of just consumers
However, this all only happens when the paperless push happens in a meaningful, purposeful way. Sometimes, teachers, administrators and school district leaders will push technology for the sake of technology. That’s to the detriment of the schools, teachers and, ultimately, the students.
For well-meaning teachers, administrators and leaders who want to do it the right way, the questions is often “How?”
We may know some tools in our digital toolbox. We may know that there’s power in harnessing technology in education. We may even have some great activities that use tech to help bring out the best in our students.
But to create that real, meaningful, purposeful digital dynamic in the classroom, it’s helpful to have a framework.
Alice Keeler (@alicekeeler / AliceKeeler.com) and I are co-writing a book called “Ditch That Homework” about how to break our fixation on meaningless, ineffective homework and replace them with solid pedagogical strategies. (Click here to join our free VIP Club to get updates and submit your own ideas to possibly be included in the book!)
Technology isn’t the silver bullet to our homework problem. (In fact, as Alice and I discuss and look into the homework issue, it’s more and more apparent that it’s a multi-faceted issue with no easy answers.)
However, technology can unlock great, effective, engaging learning. And when that happens, the need for at-home practice is diminished.
Alice and I brainstormed a framework for making the transition to digital activities, digital teaching and learning … a more digital classroom.
Click for full-size graphic. (Infographic by Alice Keeler and Matt Miller) Click here to tweet this infographic!
Here’s what we came up with:
1. Communicate. Giving directions in person in class has been somewhat ineffective for years. Students forget. Or they write them down incorrectly. Having those directions available online, through a class website, Google Classroom or a learning management system is a solid step in the right direction.
Also, there’s a distinction between putting materials online and having the tasks live there. Uploading the same files and same activities as before going digital doesn’t change the task. It’s the same assignment. The same experience. Going digital without transforming learning leads to an “expensive pencil” mentality. If you did it before with paper and pencil, why use expensive technology to do the same task?
2. Ask. Meaningful technology use requires us to ask some key questions of ourselves:
- “Does this make learning better?” It sounds simple, but this step is often overlooked or brushed aside. If learning doesn’t improve based on changes we make, we should go back to the drawing board. (I’d even say if learning is the same after making change, it isn’t worth making the change. Learning must improve.)
- “Will students be engaged in this task?” Some will argue that it isn’t our job to engage students. They’ll call it “entertainment” instead of engagement. It’s quite the opposite. Why have many students dreaded going to school for years? Because it didn’t interest them. If students are bored and aren’t paying attention, teachers might as well not teach. The disengaged student might as well not be in the classroom. Because that student isn’t learning anything, despite what the teacher is doing. Engagement is key to deep learning. If we can strive to achieve true engagement, we’ll eliminate our perceived need for excessive homework.
3. Interact. When I started teaching, I was isolated. I was the only teacher of my subject matter in my school. I craved other like-minded educators to collaborate with. Today, we don’t have to be alone. And we don’t have to be the sole creator of new ideas and new resources. We can borrow ideas and activities and units from others. We can put our own twist on them. Customize them for our students’ unique needs. And if we struggle, we can reach out to others for support or help.
4. Iterate. The education system is like a barge. It’s slow to move. Slow to change. Takes forever for significant evolution to take place. However, if education is like a barge, classrooms are like jet skis. They’re nimble. Turn on a dime. If something fails, teachers can learn from it quickly and make necessary changes immediately. Because we have that flexibility, we can be confident in trying new ideas, even if they don’t work perfectly at first. Plus, students will appreciate our willingness to try something different.
5. Collaborate. A great digital activity (or digitally-rich classroom) doesn’t force students to work in isolation. For years, students have worked silently on their own. At their own desks. The best companies don’t force their great thinkers and doers to do that. Google didn’t force one employee to imagine and code its greatest products. We’re better together, as teachers and as students. Teamwork is — and will continue to be — a crucial workforce skill. So many digital tools let students work in shared spaces to create a product that’s better than they could create on their own.
6. Feedback. One of the fatal flaws of homework is the feedback loop. With traditional homework, students do an assignment and turn it in. Even when the teacher grades it that evening and returns it the next day, students are often disinterested. They’re not in that moment of cognitively wrestling with the problems or concepts in the activity anymore. “That’s so yesterday!” they would probably say. If we can provide timely, in-the-moment feedback, they’re more likely to internalize that. We can use comments in Google Apps and tools like Formative and game show-style review games to provide feedback in the moment of need.
Sunday, June 5, 2016
10 Ways Google's Philosophy Can Guide Teachers
Matt Miller at Ditch That Textbook
Google sums up its philosophy in its “Ten things we know to be true.” There are great lessons for education in most (but not all!) of them. (Sketch by Matt Miller)
Google has become a household name and has infiltrated almost every part of our lives.
Need to find information? Google it.
Want to see a music video, documentary or other videos? Find them on YouTube (owned by Google).
Need to create files that you can share with anyone? Google Drive does that.
Have to pay but don’t have your credit card? Google Wallet will pay for you.
Google has its own cell phones (powered by Android), its own interactive glasses (Google Glass) and its own computers (Chromebooks), among many other products.
Obviously, Google is doing something right. The company has its priorities straight (well, in many ways …) and is succeeding. So, a look at its corporate philosophy could shed some light on how the world can succeed in this new technological age.
At Google Teacher Academy a couple weeks ago, I heard about Google’s “Ten things we know to be true.” They’re a collections of statements and rationale for each that are supposed to guide everything that Google does.
These things that Google knows to be true have some great guidance for us in the education realm. Some advice is more relevant than others because great education is fundamentally different in many ways from great business (even though politicians and the general public disagree sometimes). But there are some great maxims to follow in education based on Google’s philosophy.
Here are all of Google’s “Ten things we know to be true,” with some thoughts about how the connect to education:
1. “Focus on the user and all else will follow” — Teachers know their students better than almost anyone. They’re in a great position to make the best decisions for their education, and that’s not a power that should be taken lightly.
2. “It’s best to do one thing really, really well” — As educators, we often don’t have the luxury of being good at just one thing. But we do have our strengths, and if we can use those strengths to shine, they can outweigh our weaknesses.
3. “Fast is better than slow” — There are times when this is totally wrong in education, especially when those actions leave students totally confused or jeopardize their safety or comfort. But the education system — and individual classrooms — could learn from Google’s prototype and refine strategy. We’re too slow to make change sometimes. Jumping in to try new ideas and modifying as we go is much better than waiting until everything’s perfect. (And everything’s never perfect.)
4. “Democracy on the web works” — Democracy in the classroom works, too. The Internet is a powerful medium that threatens to make school irrelevant if we don’t help students learn what they need and want. Student voice is crucial. They know what they want and need (to some degree, at least) and should be able to weigh in. (By the way, this is a real weakness of mine. I know the immense value in it but have struggled in making it happen in my own classroom.)
5. “You don’t need to be at your desk to need an answer” — Students don’t need to be in classes to need an answer. These days more than ever, we need students who are lifelong learners who have the skills necessary to find answers to their questions.
6. “You can make money without doing evil” — I really struggled to find an educational connection to this one! This one’s a bit of a tenuous connection, but here goes — Google follows a high set of standards regarding its searches, including identifying what’s an ad and what’s a search result. That way, everyone benefits. (OK, I’m not totally buying this one … help me out and write me a better No. 6 in the comments, would you?)
7. “There’s always more information out there” — Google found that it’s worth the extra work to identify the hard-to-find information out there and help people find it through searches. This sounds a lot like the challenges we can provide students in our lessons. The easy answers usually aren’t worthwhile in the end, and they won’t develop that grit and determination that will serve students after graduation.
8. “The need for information crosses all borders” — Google has found the benefits in going international. Tomorrow’s world will be a global one — even more than it is now! The more multicultural and worldwide we can make our classes, the better prepared our students will be for the future. Technology makes connections to almost anyone all over the world possible. Find ways to harness them!
9. “You can be serious without a suit” — Much of the traditional culture around schools is focused on obedience and formality. Students are told to sit quietly. Stay in your seat. Do your work without interruption. Don’t talk. Don’t share. You can do serious learning without school uniforms, straight desk rows and quiet classrooms. In fact, most students are wired for that kind of non-traditional learning!
10. “Great just isn’t good enough” — Imagine if Google had developed a great search engine and then became complacent. It would generate great profits and still be a leader in its field, but so many of its best products would never have existed. Even though it isn’t easy, everyone in every field can benefit from thinking bigger, newer and different. You’ll never know how far you can go unless you jump!
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