ActivInspire - Creating Containers

At the training on Monday, I asked the presenter to provide us with details about creating containers in the new ActivInspire. I want to share my notes with you.
Step 1: Create the container shapes. You can use premade designs or use the shape tool to draw your own container shapes.
Step 2: Select the shape (container). Open your Properties Browser window. Scroll down on the browser window until you see Containers. Make sure you choose: Can Contain and change this to keywords. Type in your keyword in the Contains Word field. Don't use phrases, stick with one word as you keyword choice. Choose completely contain for the Contain Rule. This should be all you need to select for the container shape.
Step 3: Create the words or add the pictures that will be put into the containers.
Step 4: Select each word or picture and again go to the Properties Browser window. You need to set up the following properties for each word or picture you want to go into your container.

• Keywords-type in the same word (exactly) that you used for the container
• Make sure to change Return if not Contained to the True option

If you have issues, check the following things:

1. The words or pictures when selected(includes the selection dots) must be a size that will completely fit into the container. If not these items will not work correctly.
2. Check your layers. If all the items are on the same layer, you have to make sure the container is at the bottom of all the other items in the list. If they are on separate layers make sure the container is in a layer beneath the words or pictures.

I hope this helps! If you need one-0n-one instruction, let me know! Have Fun creating containers!

RSS

What is RSS?

RSS stands for Real Simple Syndication. RSS makes it possible for readers to "subscribe" to the content that is created on a particular Weblog so they no longer have to visit the blog itself to get it. Here is an excerpt from the book, "Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms" by Will Richardson. (From page 71) You can access book excerpts at this site:
http://books.google.com/books?id=6PFjF9BQe2AC&printsec=titlepage&dq=blogs+wikis+podcasts+and+other+powerful+web+tools+for+classrooms&psp=1&source=gbs_toc_s&cad=1#PPA36,M1
"For instance, say you're a political science teacher and you've found twenty or thirty Weblog and media sites on the Internet that are consistently publishing interesting and relevant information for you and your students. Finding the time to click through to those sites and keep abreast of any new information on a regular basis would be nearly impossible. but what if you only had to go to one place to read all of the new content on all of those sites? Wouldn't be so difficult, would it? Well, that's exactly what RSS feeds allow you to do by using a type of software called an "aggregator" or fee collector. The aggregator checks the feeds you subscribe to, usually every hour, and it collects all the new content from those sites you are subscribed to. Then, when you're ready, you open up your aggregator to read the individual stories, file them for later use, click through to the site itself, or delete them if they're not relevant. In other words, you check one site instead of thirty . . . not a bad tradeoff for a typically harried teacher."

Look at this website for more detailed training on RSS and some good examples!

http://webtools4u2use.wikispaces.com/RSS

This link provides information on how to use RSS in education.

http://www.rss-specifications.com/rss-and-education.htm

ActivExpressions

Happy Friday!
The ActivExpression voter set has been configured and is ready for classroom usage. Please do not rename the devices as I have numbered them on the back and these numbers correspond to how they are registered on the Activhub.

If you would like to use the ActivExpressions in your classroom, let me know. I will reserve them for you and help you with the presentation. I would be glad to work with you at anytime.

The ActivExpressions are a little more quirky than the ActiVotes.

Karns City Wikispaces

As most of you now know, we have created our own personal wikispace domain for Karns City High School. I wanted to clarify the steps you need to take to transfer your existing wiki or to become a member and create your own wiki on our KC domain. I also want to let you know how to get your students joined as members to your wiki when you are ready.

Step 1: Joining our Domain
You need to access the site at http://www.karnscity.wikispaces.net/. Once you are on the main page, look in the top right corner to see the link titled JOIN. Click on this link to create a log-in name and password for your membership to our wikispaces domain. You may use the same information you already use for the general wikispaces site. Once you submit this request, I will receive an email to which I will give you approval as a member. You will then receive an email telling you that you have been approved. I will also make you an organizer in your permissions. This will allow you to create and manage wiki's on the KC domain.

Step 2: If you already have a wiki on the main wikispaces site (Out in the real world!)
You need to send me the address for your wikispace. I will then inform the company that we need this wikispace transferred to the Karns City Domain. When this is completed I will make you the organizer for this wikispace so you have all rights to work with the wiki.

Step 3: Adding students as members
If you would like to add your students as members of your wiki, I can use the User Creator feature to upload a file with multiple student information. Please don't have your students request membership! I get an email for everyone that asks permission. It is much easier for me to upload the students as a whole group. Currently we have all the seniors and juniors added to the our wikispace domain. Right now the seniors are members of Mr. McFarland's wikispace and the juniors are members of Mrs. Bell's wikispace.

Step 4: Permissions for students
Depending on what you want your students to do on the wiki site we can vary their permissions. Talk to me about what kind of access you want your students to have.

Migrating to ActivInspire

I am currently in a webinar on Migrating to ActivInspire and thought it would be a good idea to put some of my notes into this blog for my fellow CFF teachers. So here goes:

Editing Profiles--There are options now to create different profiles for your software. One note is that the "At the Board" profile is designed to use when you are presenting at the board. It makes the flipchart full screen size.
ActiveInspire has a different approach to adding tools to your toolbar. You now do this through the Editing profiles options. Click on the Commands option. You will see all the tools available and you can add them to the toolbar for this profile.
Settings in the Profiles equate to the studio settings or preferences options in ActivStudio 3.0.

Resources--Resources are now available from your Browsers windows. You will notice that your shared resources do not transfer automatically from ActivStudio 3.0 to ActivInspire. You will have to manually import them. Please be aware that it is possible that you will lose the resources in ActivStudio 3.0 when they are transferred.

Browser Windows:
Page Browser--You can drag pages to another flipchart by clicking on the page and dragging it to the flipchart name in the menu bar that you wish to place it in.
Property Browser--You can see all the properties for each object on the page or your actual flipchart page. Using the properties allows you to make many adjustments to your page and objects. It is much easier to make Containers now with this browser. You click on the object and look at its properties. Go down the list to Container. Complete the option choices. Make sure to pick the objects themselves from your flipchart and set them to Return if not correct. You can do all of these at once by drawing a box around them. You can also set your Restrictors from this Property Browser window.

Another new feature is the Setting Labels feature in the Property Browser. Click on your object, or example a line to a drawing, and set your options under the Label section. You can have them visible all the time or by marquis selection only.

All pages in a flipchart now have a grid on them. By default this grid is not visible. You can make it visible and change its attributes in the Property Browser. Grid Designer will allow you to change the size, shape and position of the grid.

Action Browser--You can add an action to an object just by clicking on the Drag and Drop option. Drag your action onto the object and let go. One thing to remember is that you no longer have the Enable/Disable Actions button. You have to switch to In Design Mode to disable your actions.

These are just a few of the things I jotted down as I was listening. I plan to give you more of an overview in a training session. There are a lot of differences and we will learn as we keep exploring! If you have and "A Ha" moment as you work, plan to share it with your colleagues at a training session!

Blog or Wiki?

March is definitely going out like a Lion! What a snowy cold morning to begin the week. As I was driving to school today I was thinking about how I can explain to my teachers what the difference is between a blog and a wiki. Which should you use and when? Should you use both? I have included a link to a blog with a good description of each type of Web 2.0 tool.

As we begin to look at all of these new emerging technologies, you can be overwhelmed. Do I use Glogster or Nota? Do I have my students create a PhotoStory or use Animoto? Do I blog or wiki? Should I be using all of these at the same time? You can be overwhelmed by the number of choices that we now have in education. I find that I am learning more and more new technologies as I go to my CFF coach trainings. Some people can do it all, I find that I work better by picking out one or two new technologies and focusing on them.

My advice is don't jump on all the bandwagons at once! Think about what you want your students to accomplish. What do you want for the final product? Think about what you want to have for your students in your lesson. You don't need to blog and create a wiki if the technology doesn't suit your plans. Just because the technology is available doesn't mean you have to use everything. You need to make the technology a tool in your instruction. You don't use the technology to say you used it in a lesson when it might not be the best tool to complete the task at hand. If a blog suits your needs then blog. If a wiki better suits your needs then wiki! You aren't a bad teacher if you aren't doing both applications.

It is better to learn one application and master it than to spread yourself to thinly in your curriculum. You will get burnt out and wonder if any of this change is worth it!

I'm Back--What's been going on?

As you can see from the date, I haven't used this blog this year! I created it in a training class our first year of the CFF program. I'm now ready to use blogging as a tool for the Karns City CFF program. So what has changed? What have I learned since beginnning the blog in 07? What can I share with this blog? The answer to all of these questions is A LOT! I plan to expound on all of our changes and how we can continue to change in these blog postings.

The CFF program at Karns City is in full swing. I'm so excited about what the teachers here have accomplished with the new technology and more importantly how they are using it to move from a 2oth century classroom into a 21st century classroom. You know it is widespread when I walk into a classroom to help a teacher and I hear comments from the students like, "Not another WIKI!". We have expanded from basic usage of our new technology and Web 2.0 tools to imbedding them into our curriculum. They have become tools in student learning at KC!

As I walk through the halls I see laptops everywhere. Last week as I was assisting a teacher with a wikispace, we had several students and teachers stop by the classroom to see if all the laptops in the cart were being used and could they borrow one. I see laptops moving down hallways in the student's arms. I see students sitting in the hallway using a laptop. Have we created a monster? If so it is a good one, kind of like the guys from the movie, Monsters Inc. If all of our technology was removed tomorrow, could we survive! Of course, but would we like it? NO!