Year: 2012

tech q & a

Dear Otto: PowerPoint or Publisher?

tech questions

Dear Otto is an occasional column where I answer questions I get from readers about teaching tech. If you have a question, please complete the form below and I’ll answer it here. For your privacy, I use only first names.

Here’s a great question I got:

Hi! Question for you…I know the difference between Power Point and Publisher. I focus on teaching Power Point, but maybe I should teach more of Publisher.  My question is should I stop teaching Power Point and only focus on Publisher? Any suggestions? Thanks, Alex

Publisher provides options for students who want to publish material in a more visual way. I get 2nd graders on it with greeting cards, 3rd graders with a simple magazine, 4th graders with a trifold, 5th graders with a newsletter. Once created, projects are easily converted to pdf and added to class websites, emails, etc. I love it and haven’t found a free version or a widget that successfully accomplishes what it does.

The downside is that Publisher is an expensive program that most students don’t have access to. If your school is OK with that, I’d say add one Publisher project a year that ties into a classroom theme.

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How to Thrive as a Digital Citizen

Thanks to the pervasiveness of easy-to-use technology and the accessibility of the internet, teachers are no longer lecturing from a dais as the purveyor of knowledge. Now, students are expected to take ownership of their education, participate actively in the learning process, and transfer knowledge learned in the classroom to their lives.

In days past, technology was used to find information (via the internet) and display it (often via PowerPoint). No longer.  Now, if you ask a fifth grade student to write a report on space exploration, here’s how s/he will proceed:

Understand ‘Digital Citizenship’

Before the engines of research can start, every student must understand what it means to be a citizen of the world wide web. Why? Most inquiry includes a foray into the unknown vastness of the www. Students learn early (I start kindergartners with an age-appropriate introduction) how to thrive in that virtual world. It is a pleasant surprise that digital citizenship has much the same rules as their home town:

Don’t talk to bad guys, look both ways before crossing the (virtual) street, don’t go places you know nothing about, play fair, pick carefully who you trust, don’t get distracted by bling, and sometimes stop everything and take a nap.

In internet-speak, students learn to follow good netiquette, not to plagiarize the work of others, avoid scams, stay on the website they choose, not to be a cyber-bully, and avoid the virtual ‘bad guys’. Current best practices are not to hide students from any of these, but to teach them how to manage these experiences.

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Tech Tip #33: My Desktop Icons are Messed Up

As a working technology teacher, I get hundreds of questions from parents about their home computers, how to do stuff, how to solve problems. Each Tuesday, I’ll share one of those with you. They’re always brief and always focused. Enjoy!

Q: I have several kids/students who share the same computer. Kids being kids loving moving the icons around on the desktop. Sometimes they create the first letter of their name in icons. It’s cute, but makes it difficult for the next student to find the shortcut they need. What’s the best way to handle this?

A:  I’ve tried everything. Refusing to allow them to play doesn’t work and asking them to undo their play at the end of their time doesn’t either. The best solution is to teach all students how to organize their desktop:

  • Right click on the desktop
  • Select ‘arrange icons’
  • If you’re in Win &, pick ‘sort by’ and ‘type

This can be part of their start-up maintenance when they sit down to begin their class. They’ve learned a new skill. They feel empowered to solve their own problems. Life is good.

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Subscribers: Your Special is Available

Every month, subscribers to Ask a Tech Teacher get a free/discounted something to help them with their tech teaching.

This month:

K-5 Technology Curriculum S&S

This 9-page K-5 technology curriculum Scope and Sequence itemizes over 250 tech ed skills taught to complete a technology curriculum based on ISTE National Standards. It’s organized by standard and grade level, showing for each grade level what is introduced, worked on, mastered, and completed. It’s in a convenient Word format so users can edit and format as needed for their unique school needs. Additionally, it:

  • Aligns with ISTE National Standards
  • Shows you what skill and standard is addressed at which grade level
  • Denotes each grade level as Introduced, Working on, Mastered, Completed
  • Includes a variety of tools, from software to iPads

Price: $6.95 (+p&h) (until November 30, 2012)

Digital delivery within 24 hours.
  • Click the PayPal button.
  • Let us know in the message box what your subscriber email is

How to Teach Digital Citizenship in 6th Grade

Understanding how to use the internet has become a cornerstone issue for students. No longer do they complete their research on projects solely in the library. Now, there is a vast landscape of resources available on the internet.

But with wealth comes responsibility. As soon as children begin to visit the online world, they need the knowledge to do that safely, securely, responsibly. There are several great programs available to guide students through this process (Common Sense’s Digital Passport, Carnegie CyberAcademy, Netsmart Kids). I’ve collected them as resources and developed a path to follow that includes the best of everything.

Here’s Sixth Grade (all of these links may not work. Check here for updates):

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Tech Tip #32: My Taskbar Got Moved to the Side

As a working technology teacher, I get hundreds of questions from parents about their home computers, how to do stuff, how to solve problems. Each Tuesday, I’ll share one of those with you. They’re always brief and always focused. Enjoy!

Q: The taskbar at the bottom of my screen got moved. I liked it at the bottom. How do I move it back?

A: It’s easy to move, intended to move. Click on the bar and drag it back to the bottom. If you don’t want it to move (maybe you have precocious children), right click on the taskbar and click on ‘lock taskbar’.

To sign up for Tech Tips delivered to your email, click here.

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book review

Weekend Website #116: Google Street View Locations

Every Friday, I share a website (or app) that I’ve heard about, checked into, been excited to use. This one covers anything on your mind and uses the quintessentially-popular Google Earth. I know you’re going to enjoy this review.

[caption id="attachment_9802" align="aligncenter" width="614"]Google street view--inside Google Street View goes inside locations[/caption]

Age:

3rd-8th

Topic:

Academic

Address:

Google Street View Locations

Review:

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Be Featured on Ask a Tech Teacher

I get thousands of visitors a day–three-quarters of a million since I started. The most common reason why you-all drop by is for resources. I have lots of them–leson plans, tips and tricks–but one area I have little of is tech ed book reviews. I thought we could build a community library, right here on Ask a Tech Teacher!

I’m looking for:

  • reviews of technology-in-education books or ebooks
  • essays on tech ed topics
  • White papers on tech ed topics
  • Education pedagogy

Here are a few examples:

These will be collected and offered as a resource to readers on my blog under Great Books.

If you’ve written a review and posted it on your blog, please send the link to me.  I will provide a link back to your blog and we’ll develop a Book Group right here on Ask a Tech Teacher.

I look forward to hearing from you!

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