Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Animoto for teachers

Christmas is coming and i had a great job to make Christmas calender for #CCglobal Schools. And we all know, that the original Santa lives in Finland, Lapland, so i need to find a Santa. Luckyly Santa was visiting in my Voionmaa upper secondary school and i had lots of pictures fro Santa and our Students.


I need a tool to a Christmas video and thanks for my Greek teacher friend George Panagiotakopoulos @Physiart, i understood, that Animoto is the one for the job. Also yesterday i had some advice from Liam Dunphy and Mr @physiart about taking Education account in Animoto. Instead of free 30 sec. video you get longer videos and password for 50 students. (Thanks for collaboration in Twitter guys!) There are also Animoto for iPhone, witch makes great new elements for mobile learning.
Just check the Animoto features and create a video with music, text, images and video. 


I dont want to present my Christmas calender yet and spoil the surprise, so im going to make from random pictures of my computer a 30 sec presentation starting now. Clock is ticking . . .5 minutes and Animoto is making the video, video embed here under total of 10 minutes. 


For Seasons by @ilotimo and Merry Christmas!






Sunday, December 4, 2011

Guest post by Brian Kotts: How I Became a Pad Teacher



I asked Teacher at Linnaeus University Mr. Brian Kotts to be a make a guest post to my blog and i am really glad he did, so thanks for your effort Brian. We have 6 High school iPad project going on, so i enjoyed this information a lot. This is great collaboration which Twitter community makes possible. 

A recent study showed that the use of iPad in schools is expected to surpass computers in five years. This may seem inevitable considering that children have become more skilled in using computers than activities like riding bikes or swimming.

Noticing that most students owned iPads, it dawned on me that we put them to more productive use. The disruptive nature of the iPad has facilitated in the flipping my classrooms, which has transformed how the students approach their learning.


Here are the apps that weve been actively using in the past two months:

Turned my iPad into a smartboard allowing mirroring of the notes and sketches in multiple colors. These are then separated into topics or projects later emailed to students or posted to a blog in PDF format.

2. Apples iWork suite
Pages for word processing, Keynote for presentation and Numbers for spreadsheet. With the integration of iCloud, its now easier to move docs in and out of the apps. Apples Open In feature works too if one uses DropBox or SugarSync.

Has been excellent for backup as it automatically syncs files across multiple devices, and offers remote file access and sharing. It has also doubled as a PDF- and document-reader,

Great for reseach and archiving. Read Later list, whilst has allowed for better scanning of titles, easy management with Archive and Delete buttons, and faster refresh times.

5. TED
TED talk has 900+ videos from some of the worlds most fascinating people: education radicals, tech geniuses, medical mavericks, business gurus and music legends. Students have been able to bookmark or download their favorite TEDTalk for playback later.

After each student registered for an account, we created individual and collective notebooks for sharing and collaboration especially for research and group assignments.

This has mostly been used for podcasts, lectures with guest lecturers, video conferencing with other classrooms and virtual tours with experts in various fields.

The Perfect iPad Twitter App.

GoodReader has hundreds of functionalities and support for different file types. Not only has it been able to re-format files for easy reading on the iPad, but also access to documents stored online on services like MobileMe, Google Docs, Dropbox and more and downloading of files straight from URLs.

Using this tutorial made creating podcasts quite seamless. The coolest function is to uploading the podcasts to iTunes for students to subscribe.

Wikipedia is the number one site that students go to when they begin researching a topic. Its features are far better than the native wikipedia app. These include smart autocompletion, much like Google search, keeping track of the last one hundred pages, uses geolocation to detect where you are and suggests relevant articles based on that location.
Some one million words and definitions based upon the Random House Unabridged Dictionary are included, while the Roget’s 21st Century Thesaurus boasts more than 90,000 synonyms. 


Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Audioboo

My Twitter friend John putt @wjputt asked me yesterday, if i could do voice file with Audioboo to his Prezi. I havent used it before, so i was curious to know how long time it would take.


In the morning i get the Audioboo app to my iPhone, watched tutorial and then action. First take i had some trouble on voice (my hand was blogging the microphone:) but in second time it went well and i shared the file on Twitter. Total time about 30 minutes (great morning of learning to me. One reason why im blogging.)


First step is to take Audioboo tour and then just record.


My 2 minutes recording how social media helps me on professional learning

Social media in learning (mp3)


Monday, September 12, 2011

5 Visions about Future of Mobile Learning

My journey to understand different sides of mobile learning continues.  This third post presents some great visions of future of mobile learning. Previous mlearning post so far: Mobile Learning Resources and Definitions of Mobile Learning. Welcome to future!





Friday, September 9, 2011

Top Mobile Learning Resources For Teachers

In my first mobile learning post i made couple of Definitions of mobile learning. This post presents some top resources which i have been using in learning more about mlearning. I was inspired to this post after watching this video about mobile learning: 21st Century Learning Mobile Learning Devices. Everything tells me that mobile learning is one of the key elements in future learning.  After that i found fantastic Prezi Welcome to the future . . .today by Simon Crook. If you like taste some learning flow, take this trip. If you are not done yet, check also this Prezi Mobile technology at innovations by George Engel.

Few more resources for journey to understand whole field of mobile learning.

Top Mobile Learning Pages:

St. Marys City Schools:Mobile Learning Technology
Cybraryman mobile learning page
Mlearnopedia
Mobile Motivation: Mobile Learning Resources by Shelly Terrel
Learning in hand
50 mobile learning resources

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Definitions of Mobile Learning

Summer is over and my school has started about 4 weeks ago. This semester we have a goal to start several pilots of different use of mobile learning devices like tablets and smart phones. My #finnedchat colleague Renkomaki school principal Jukka Manninen teach alphabets to 1. graders with mobile phones Letter A with mobile learning (look the video which is in Finnish but you get the point) and that really inspired me to go deep to my Diigo files. I found there about 300 mlearning tags, most of from real mobile learning teacher @snewco Scott Newcomb. Looks like im going to spent some time in my Diigo library.


Im going to post series of mobile learning posts and try to open the field for me and teachers who are not familiar practical and educational use of mobile learning devices. Im heading from theory towards practice and finally post also our school practical experiences of mlearning.

First there are couple of definitions (there are plenty of more) of mobile learning.  In Upside Learning blog: General Considerations for Mobile Learning (mLearning) i found many definitions on mobile learning:

Wikipedia defines mobile learning  as “Any sort of learning that happens when the learner is not at a fixed, predetermined location, or learning that happens when the learner takes advantage of the learning opportunities offered by mobile technologies”.
In other words, mLearning decreases limitation of learning location with the mobility of general portable devices1.
Simply put, mobile learning is the acquisition or modification of any knowledge and skill through using mobile technology, anywhere, anytime and results in the modification of behavior

What is mobile learning?



Upper: Thoughts on the state of mobile learning

Mobile Learning 1 by


Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Wetoku for online interviews

I was interviewed by Vicky Loras today with help of online tool 
Wetoku which was very easy to use. Check our interview from Vicky Loras blog. My mic was little bit quiet, but you can hear if you put sounds full:) We are going to use this tool later in #finnedchat presentation channel, so thanks Vicky for introducing such a great tool for us to use.

WETOKU tutorial by


Saturday, August 13, 2011

Sunday, August 7, 2011

TweetDeck & 100s of Twitter tools for Teachers

I have posted about Twitter a few times before.  Twitter in Classroom part 1. Twitter in Classroom 2 ; Twitter in Classroom part 3; Updates: Facebook and Twitter in Classroom and Georgia Department of Defense: Tactical Guides of Social Media.
This post share some examples of other available Twitter tools  which gives extra boost on your tweeting.     

My top tool is TweetDeck. Best feature in TweetDeck is that i can see multible columns in one view, very quick look and i know whats happening, like example today i have 15 columns open. First all friends, my top list, my iPad list, mentions, #RSCON3, #finnedchat, favorites, direct messages, new followers, #edtech, #mlearning, #ipadchat, #ipaded, Facebook, Linkedin. 

I also open new columns for daily needs, like follow my new blog post retweeting (for thanking them), follow interesting hashtags, sometimes i follow one person, who has some spesific information, like Scott Newcomb @snewco from mlearning or @web20classroom Steven W. Anderson from everything related education technogy and many others.

Thats enough from my experiences, check out these tutorials, slides and links  from TweetDeck and other hundreds of Twitter tools.

Josh Stumpenhorst @Stumpteacher tutorial: Twitter 102 (using TweetDeck)





Twitter: Top Twitter tools exposed & explaned by lightning speed by Zebolsen




Twitter 102 by Amanda L. Sage

Twitter tools for teachers

Top 100 Tools for the Twittering Teacher
150+ Ultimate Round-Up of Helpful Twitter Articles
99 Essential Twitter tools
Cybrarymans Twitter page
Tips, apps and resources for Twitter
Top 100 Twitter Tools
Top 50 tracking and analytics tools
Top 25 url shortener tools
10 Awesome Twitter Analytics and Visualization Tools
8 free tools visualize information on Twitter
18 best tools to analyze your Twitter hotness
Top 20 Sites to Improve Your Twitter Experience
18 Twitter Tools for Scheduling Future Tweets
27 Twitter Tools To Help You Find And Manage Followers

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

#RSCON3 Reflections and Finnish Education System in Tagxedo Word Cloud

I had my first time in The Reform Symposium in last weekend and what a great experience it was. Great presentations, skillfull speakers, global network for teachers and educators who passionately develop education. What more teacher who likes networking and enjoys Twitter conversations would ask. Had many new interesting contacts and great educators to follow in Twitter.  

Shelly Terrel and Salome Thomas-El presentations touched me deeply, i also enjoyed my good Twitter friend Vicky Loras enthusiastic presentation Multiculturalism in the Classroom and Steve Wheelers had really fireworks in ending Keynote. Great thing is that my Reform Symposium still continues when recordings are ready to watch and i can see all presentations i missed.

We, The Team Mates, Timo Ilomäki  and Aki Puustinen had huge honour to be the first Keynote speakers in conference. We are proud of possibility to be part of such inspiring community. We talk about elements about Finnish Education System. Audience was really active and supportive - thank you for that, relaxed us even little nervousness was in the air, thats why the team mate is so important support. Thanks also Muurame student Arttu for courage in presenting live. Thanks also for Finnish principals Esa Kukkasniemi and Jukka Manninen your expert knowledge in our presentation. In Vanessa Alanders blog post We Need A Trust Revolution had some mention about our presentation themes and i agree -
                        
                    Trust Is Everything

My last blog post was Word Clouds for Teachers so i continue that theme and made from our presentation words Tagxedo hand.


Finnish Education System In Global Eductors Hand


Our Presentation in Reform Symposium Conference 29.7.2011 (removed some pictures of presentation)


Monday, July 25, 2011

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Prezi part 4 - cool ways to use Prezi

I have posted about Prezi three times before.  

1. How to make a Prezi - rookie to pro in 20 minutes
2. Prezi in Classroom
3. New features of Prezi and Prezi for iPad

This post present some couple of amazing award winning Prezi presentations and other cool ways to use Prezi.

Check this 6 hours (or some of it:) lasting Prezi presentation The Astronomy Masterclass by Andrew Jackson, a teacher who won British national award that celebrates the best in teaching. After that it is easy to understand what to do with your next presentation.

Second presentation won Prezi contest and its good example of Curriculum vitae, how to present yourself with Prezi, from Philippines, Charity Jayne Temple


Third a tutorial from Drawing Tool, new ways use Prezi 






Fourth: Grouping with frames




More video tutorials:

Update: Create shapes
Prezi meeting
Prezyfi Keynote or Powerpoint
Insert a Video
Insert images
Colour and fonts




Monday, July 18, 2011

Blogging in the Classroom


This post present some ways to blog with your students. In my school we have used Blogger, because it is so easy to create. In 10 minutes students are ready to post for the first time.
In my opinion there are many benefits blogging in school. Students work and skils become visible, students gets feedback from classmates and also other maybe international schools and also learn to give open good ctitics for each other, student can use mobile for images, shoot their own videos or embed videos from Youtube - so there are many good reasons to start blogging in the classroom.

First video is great tutorial how to create easy and quick Blogger blog. In Livebinders link end of this post there are other blogs like Wordpress and Kidblog. Slideshare presentations give good reasons and ideas to blog in classroom and blog resources links fulfill your hunger of information. There are more than you need to start blogging with your students.

How to Create a Blog on Blogger



Blogging in the Classroom by Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano


A classroom blog and classroom wiki by Fiona Beal



More great blog resources to get you started:


NEW: Reform Symposium Presentation on Student Blogging! by Alfonso Gonzales
Livebinders: Blogging with Students
Cybraryman students blogs 
Kidblog.org
Edublogs.org
100 classroom blogs for teaching ideas & inspiration
The Whiteboard blog: Starting a blog: a guide for teachers
7 reasons teachers should blog by Steve Wheeler
65 interesting ideas for class blog posts by Tom Barret
14 steps to meaningful student blogging
Blogging tactical guide
100 reasons why educators should use blogs
The ultimate guide to getting started with blogging! 
Blogging in Education: Prezi
Beginner Blogging



Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Friday, July 8, 2011

iPad in Classroom

We are starting two year mobile, iPad and tablets project in six Finnish upper secondary schools in August. Project is funded by Finnish National Board of Education, learning enviroment development projects. 

Project goals are: 
  • iPad use in history and economics class and language teaching
  • iPad use in entrepreneurship project teams and all kind of project based learning
  • iPad use in part of our school athletes learning and training.  
We will post lot of examples of this project during next two years, but before that I give some Youtube examples of iPad use in classroom.

If you have not used iPad before, check Apples guided tours.

Using the Ipad in Classroom



Kindergarden and second grade students use Ipad



Ipad for every Lakewood Park Student



Seton Hill students with Ipad

Monday, July 4, 2011

Skype in Classroom

Thanks to Twitter I have lots of new teacher colleagues around the world. Im starting next year cooperation project with one school from Australia and one from Greek. We try to do online projects with a help of  Skype. 

I hope this post help students and teachers use  Skype videocalls  collaboration with countries around the world.  First part of post presents basic use of Skype and second gives some  examples how to use Skype in Classroom.


Making easy Videocalls with Skype

How to use Skype





Skype in Classroom

After basic manual instructions check Skypes program Welcome to Skype in classroom. Video tutorial in Vimeo show  How to create a project on Skype in classroom.


Example of Skype in Classroom





Example of Skype in Classroom






Ways to use Skype in Classroom:


Educators guide using Skype in classroom
50 Awesome Ways to use Skype in Classroom
Boost your Skype
How to Use Skype at School
Virtual author visits in your library or classroom
Skype around the world project
LiveBinders: Skype in School
List of examples
Skyping in classroom (Slideshare)
Skype in the K-12 classroom (Slideshare)
Skype for Interviews - slidecast