My brother said that he has to teach a 20 minute lesson on Excel for his job interview on Friday.
He said that, since he has been asked to cover the basics, he was going to teach them how to play Excel Battleship. This activity teaches Excel newbies about rows, columns, cells, cell names, entering text in cells, formatting colors and borders... Fun!
Here's a link to a website from a teacher in Washington state who has done a similar Excel Battleship lesson with her students. Want to set up your own game board in Excel? Here is a handout (PDF) to help you from the Utah Education Network.
This same activity would be great for teaching math students about slope and points on a graph, according to the UEN handout.
You might be asking yourself, "Why is she mentioning this on a blog about distance learning?" It made me think that this could be a fun way for students to interact by video conference.
You could have students in different locations create 2 or 3 game boards and compete by video conference to see who can sink the most battleships. The teachers could set up the templates and the students in each class could plot their own battleships on the Excel template before the connection.
This might be a fun way for students to get to know each other at the beginning of a collaborative IVC project.
Depending on your experience with Excel and your goal for the IVC connection, you could take this to another level by having students use some advanced features of Excel to create a review activity to share during a connection such as a self-checking quiz. As students from the other class answer, your class can type their responses into the spreadsheet to see if they are correct or incorrect.
If you meet with a class, or multiple classes, periodically throughout the year, you could keep track of the weather for the areas where the participating classes are located in a spreadsheet.
What other ways can you think of to use Excel with video conferencing?
Questions? Contact us! DL@gstboces.org
Monday, May 25, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
Internet Safety Session
I did a Web Safety video conference with a 3rd grade class in Alfred-Almond on Friday, May 22. It was the first time I offered this session to students, and they did such an awesome job!
Their answers to my questions showed that they understood how to analyze a variety of situations that might occur while online, and determine what to do to be responsible and keep safe. I was very impressed with the students' knowledge about web safety and the vocabulary they used to explain their answers!
We played a game that I call "Web Safety Net" during our connection. I used the students' names in the questions, so that it would seem more personal to them. They worked in groups to discuss each scenario and did such a nice job explaining what they would do in each situation that I presented to them.
All of this AND it was their very first video conference! Great job, 3rd Graders!!
If you are interested in this lesson (it is geared toward grades 3-5 or 6), please email us: DL@gstboces.org
Their answers to my questions showed that they understood how to analyze a variety of situations that might occur while online, and determine what to do to be responsible and keep safe. I was very impressed with the students' knowledge about web safety and the vocabulary they used to explain their answers!
We played a game that I call "Web Safety Net" during our connection. I used the students' names in the questions, so that it would seem more personal to them. They worked in groups to discuss each scenario and did such a nice job explaining what they would do in each situation that I presented to them.
All of this AND it was their very first video conference! Great job, 3rd Graders!!
If you are interested in this lesson (it is geared toward grades 3-5 or 6), please email us: DL@gstboces.org
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Summer Jazz Training Makes Me Feel Fine....
We are currently preparing for our 5-day summer training called "Jazzing Up Your Curriculum with Interactive Video Conferencing," or "Summer Jazz" for short.
If you are an educator or administrator in one of GST's participating DL districts, and you're looking for an excellent introduction to what is possible with video conferencing, please consider attending this training! It takes place July 27-31 from 9am-3:45pm at the GST Bush Campus, Building 11 Large Conference Room.
We will participate in collaborative projects, content provider sessions, learn about helpful Web 2.0 technologies, and work together to plan collaborative projects to share on the last day of the training.
To register for Summer Jazz Training:
1. Get your district staff development coordinator and supervisor approval to attend
2. Fill in the registration form: http://gstjazz.wikispaces.com/ and click SUBMIT
3. Email ctice@gstboces.org to let me know that you signed up.
Registration Deadline: June 18
Registration Confirmation and Regret Emails: on or before June 19
SPACE IS LIMITED, so please sign up as soon as possible to reserve your spot!
Email us if you have questions: DL@gstboces.org
If you are an educator or administrator in one of GST's participating DL districts, and you're looking for an excellent introduction to what is possible with video conferencing, please consider attending this training! It takes place July 27-31 from 9am-3:45pm at the GST Bush Campus, Building 11 Large Conference Room.
We will participate in collaborative projects, content provider sessions, learn about helpful Web 2.0 technologies, and work together to plan collaborative projects to share on the last day of the training.
To register for Summer Jazz Training:
1. Get your district staff development coordinator and supervisor approval to attend
2. Fill in the registration form: http://gstjazz.wikispaces.com/ and click SUBMIT
3. Email ctice@gstboces.org to let me know that you signed up.
Registration Deadline: June 18
Registration Confirmation and Regret Emails: on or before June 19
SPACE IS LIMITED, so please sign up as soon as possible to reserve your spot!
Email us if you have questions: DL@gstboces.org
Friday, May 15, 2009
CAPSpace 3000
Hey! Who will be the 3000th person to create a CAPSpace account?? Could it be you? As of 3 hours ago, they only needed 6 more accounts to achieve the 3000 mark.
Create an account today and find some awesome teachers with whom to collaborate and some great ideas for ways to use video conferencing!
Go to CAPSpace website | click CREATE A NEW ACCOUNT | follow the wizard and fill in your info.
Questions? Contact us: DL@gstboces.org
Create an account today and find some awesome teachers with whom to collaborate and some great ideas for ways to use video conferencing!
Go to CAPSpace website | click CREATE A NEW ACCOUNT | follow the wizard and fill in your info.
Questions? Contact us: DL@gstboces.org
Monday, May 11, 2009
Tech in General...
A colleague of mine sent me this blog post this morning and I thought some of you might find it interesting... http://www.techlearning.com/blogs/20320
It is a response to a teacher who said, "I hate technology."
The response is (very) sarcastic, but if you can get past the sarcasm, there are some excellent points in this article that could be raised with those who shy away from technology. If the reasons were restated in a more positive light, technology-shy teachers might begin to see why the use of technology is so powerful, and a necessary part of teaching...
Instructional support for the use of technology is key. When teachers have someone available to walk them through the use of technology in the classroom, they are more apt to experiment with it. True for video conferencing, Microsoft PowerPoint, Kidspiration, Web 2.0 tools...
Remember, we are available to support you as you investigate the use of video conferencing with your students. Contact us if you want to practice using IVC equipment, or if you need help finding content providers or collaborative partners: DL@gstboces.org
It is a response to a teacher who said, "I hate technology."
The response is (very) sarcastic, but if you can get past the sarcasm, there are some excellent points in this article that could be raised with those who shy away from technology. If the reasons were restated in a more positive light, technology-shy teachers might begin to see why the use of technology is so powerful, and a necessary part of teaching...
Instructional support for the use of technology is key. When teachers have someone available to walk them through the use of technology in the classroom, they are more apt to experiment with it. True for video conferencing, Microsoft PowerPoint, Kidspiration, Web 2.0 tools...
Remember, we are available to support you as you investigate the use of video conferencing with your students. Contact us if you want to practice using IVC equipment, or if you need help finding content providers or collaborative partners: DL@gstboces.org
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
CAPSpace Project - Getting to Know IVC Equipment
Title: Getting Started with Video Conferencing:
Status: Idea
URL: http://projects.twice.cc/?l=collaboration&id=289
Connections: H.323
Grades: 9
Subjects: Technology/Information Science
Dates: Between May 5 and May 25 from 10:30 to 11:30 EDT
Description: We are just learning how to use the video conferencing equipment and would like to connect with another classroom to gain some proficiency with the system. Once we've become proficient with the system, we'll be eager to explore other joint projects to work on with another group of students.
Status: Idea
URL: http://projects.twice.cc/?l=
Connections: H.323
Grades: 9
Subjects: Technology/Information Science
Dates: Between May 5 and May 25 from 10:30 to 11:30 EDT
Description: We are just learning how to use the video conferencing equipment and would like to connect with another classroom to gain some proficiency with the system. Once we've become proficient with the system, we'll be eager to explore other joint projects to work on with another group of students.
This project seems like an excellent way to establish a collaborative partner for a secondary classroom to try out the equipment and get familiar with video conferencing before jumping into a big project! For more information, please log in to CAPSpace or contact us at DL@gstboces.org!
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