Google Slides

Google Slides is a presentation program included as part of Google Drive service. It is an online

presentation app that lets you create and format presentations and work with others. It has the ability to

format text and add images to the ability to use layouts and themes. It also includes more advanced

presentation tools such as the ability to publish to the web and great collaboration features. With the

collaboration features, you are allowed to share your presentation with others and they are allowed to

edit it, view it, or give feedback on how they are doing. This gets in handy when you think that

something doesn’t look right or just want to know if it makes sense. 

How to use google slides? First off, you want to go to the websitehttps://www.google.com/slides/

about/, and click the blue button that says “Go To Google Slides”. Once you click that it will take you

to a page where it asks you to pick an email to save the slides to. Then you sign in the one that you

would like to use. After picking one, it will show you a page that has different templates or previous

presentations that you have already done. To start a new one, pick the blank template, which is the very

first one. From there, you get to pick which type of theme you would like for your background and

what type of color for the background. Lastly before you start typing, you can decide how many slides

you want and which type of template. By clicking the plus square button, you will add the same type

of presentation layout as before, but if you want something different pick the down arrow next to it

and click on the new template that you would like or picking the color, click the background button

and select a color. The rest of the tools is similar to google docs where you can change the font, colors,

sizing of words or insert pictures. 

Google slides will help teachers create presentations and learning resources for the students. While

google slides integrate naturally into google classroom, it will make it easier for teachers to upload the

slides. Also, google slides are free of charge, which is a big plus, and it helps teachers give feedback

easier by putting it right on the side of the presentation, so the student can read it. For students, it gives

them the great tool of allowing to share it with classmates or teachers, can access it anywhere with

Internet access, and easy to add drawings, images, and videos. It makes projects for the students go

easier and faster rather than trying to find an alternative way to do it. Also, saves their work

automatically without pressing the save button, which is good if the device they are working on goes

down and they won’t lose all the hard work they accomplished. Google slides make work go more

efficient and faster.

Google Translate

 Although this online tool is not considered very new, I thought I would share some of my thoughts on Google Translate. Google Translate is an app that was created April 28th, 2006. Many people use Google translate as a means of understanding other languages, and as a way of properly communicating. 

    There is a wide variety of 109 languages to translate to. A few languages you may choose from could be; Spanish, German, English, French, Danish, Dutch, and many more. You can translate almost any language into another, not just from English; For example, you could translate Dutch to Spanish, and vice versa. I have used Google translate constantly in the past, especially in any of my foreign language classes. I have even used Google Translate to check my terms before communicating with a close friend of mine, who happens to be a fluent Spanish Speaker. While in my Spanish classes, I would often have trouble with a few term, and words, and would often turn to Google Translate for assistance, since I couldn't exactly take my teacher home with me. This tool is very good for not only translation, but communication as well. 

    Google translate can even be used to learn a language. Instead of enrolling, or using money to engage in a foreign language class, you can use Google Translate to educate yourself on foreign languages. You can take a list of words or phrases that you want to learn and translate them for practice. Not only can you translate phrases into words, but you can also use a voice feature, and listen to how a word would be pronounced in your primary language. 

 Evernote is a free app that you can add to pretty much any computer, tablet, or phone. Evernote allows you to take notes, upload documents, create voice memos, and file everything all in one app. You can also access it anytime, anywhere. This app is also secured so that everything you file is private so only you can see your document. What is awesome about Evernote, is that you can share your documents with anybody, even if they don’t have the app. Evernote is ideal for the everyday user but can be exceptionally helpful to teachers, so they can easily organize their documents, lesson plans, ideas, etc. and even share their thoughts with other educators, or students. This app is really unlike any other app because of how many features it has. The closest app is probably Google Docs, and in Google Docs you can do a lot of the same things, however, you can edit documents on your phone easily without the app, and they don’t have a voice memo feature. You also can’t save website information, such as pdf files, images and articles like you can with Evernote. However, I wouldn’t replace Google Slides or Prezi for presentations, just because they are nicer to look at and easier to use. Overall, I believe everyone should use Evernote because it is so helpful in organizing anything you need from files to to-do lists, to images, to voice memos. You no longer need to search through your google drive, notes, camera roll, and web pages to collect all your information, now it’s all in one place! 

https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-disadvantages-for-using-evernote

https://evernote.com/basic

Educational YouTube Videos: Amoeba Sisters

If you have had any recent involvement in elementary or middle school science classes, you have probably watched your share of videos from the ever-growing YouTube channel “Amoeba Sisters.” This channel makes kid-friendly science videos taught by two cartoon-style amoebas.  The lessons are colorful, engaging, and even humorous, making them a popular choice for younger students. However, I am here to argue that secondary science teachers should start embracing this blessing of a channel. 

See, though these videos are likely aimed at younger learners, they are not below the content or interest levels of older students. Yes, they break objectives down to simple forms and leave out the excess information, but as far as teaching students general scientific concepts, the Amoeba Sisters are a win! 

This is because videos such as these, with lots of images and examples that represent different concepts, make even tricky ideas way easier to remember. I am sure it comes as no surprise that research, such as this study, has proven that it is much easier to remember information from images rather than words. When the images are entertaining, easy to understand, and eye-catching (like those in the Amoeba Sisters’ videos),  the potential to remember their content increases even more.

Just last week, I took a science test that covered several (in my option, too many) different concepts, and when I had an essay question covering genetic drift vs natural selection, how did I remember their definitions? It certainly was not my dry textbook that always seems to blur together in my mind—it was the image of two cartoon frogs representing each idea from the Amoeba Sisters video I watched that week. 

If the fact that students are more likely to remember things from images is not enough to sell you on my idea, how about this: students love watching YouTube videos in class. Yes, even the boring ones. I was a high school student, myself, just a few months ago, and every time my teachers turned on their projectors, I was thrilled! And it is not just myself, but almost all of my classmates. I always saw the majority of a class become much more engaged when we were watching a video, regardless of its content. I even remember classmates who had classes before me excitedly tell me that I will get to watch a video in Mr. So-and-So’s class. 

Why this excitement for learning through videos? I must admit, I am not certain. My unprofessional opinion is that many young adults watch YouTube as a leisure activity. It is something fun and relaxing and what they want to pay attention to. So, when a YouTube video is shown in class, even if it is not in their interest range, they will likely pay attention because they have conditioned themselves to think videos are enjoyable. And, with the frequent (but not overused) humor mixed into Amoeba Sisters videos, they actually are!

With that, I am asking secondary science teachers to mix things up and throw an Amoeba Sisters video into your lesson plan. Of course, they probably will not get as in-depth on topics and you will, but when you are introducing a new topic, these videos are a great place to start students!

Prezi

                               

    Prezi is a presentation tool commonly used among students, teachers, and those in business.  Prezi presentations can be used in replacement of programs such as PowerPoint and offers a different, more unique look to the world of virtual presentation.  Prezi utilizes one screen in which all slides are presented on however, in order to get to the next slide function such as zoom in and zoom out are offered.  Presentations are often boring and bland, but with Prezi, varying templates that are appealing to the eye are offered and can spice up any presentation.  Teachers and school administration are slowly but surely pushing the use of Prezi because it is a way for students to be more engaged and it also is rather easy to access.  You are able to view other's Prezi's through searches on the Prezi website and or copying the link to take you directly there.  Prezi is also a free presentation site that anyone can use.  

As a future teacher I would use Prezi over PowerPoint because of the aesthetic appeal and because students are more engaged in what they are learning because it is different than what they have alway seen.  The way in which a Prezi powerpoint is presented is eye catching in and of itself as stated before.  The arrows at the bottom of the presentation will let you go from section to section on the Prezi or you are able to click on the specific slide/section you want to view.  In a traditional classroom setting, students tend to zone out and get bored with lectures, so as a solution presenting a Prezi powerpoint that has interactive slides and other interest catching aspect, will help to make students become more engaged.  Overall, Prezi seems to be the new, more popular form of presentation that will allow teachers to better connect with their students in ways that PowerPoint presentations have not before. 

 

The piece of educational technology I will be reviewing is a website called CNN10. It’s a website that delivers current events via video in 10 minutes. I find it very classroom friendly, and have seen in used in social studies curriculums. It’s also something that could easily be lesson planned around. For example, a teacher could watch the CNN10 prior to a class and have questions prepared following the video. You could also have students answer questions after, or even pause the video at different times and engage in a classroom conversation. It’s a great way to keep a social studies journal, or to just have a class discussion. The material is conducive for upper middle school, and high school.

CNN 10 is free, and doesn't require a subscription. If you google What is CNN10?, they state that one of their goals to report controversial topics "neutral." I feel like it does a pretty good job with that. It reports all types of news, and even has a trivia question part way through the segment. I like that it lets students participate in discussion about current events. It’s not a bad way to start off each class. While it’s not a game, I feel like the engagement is there, and it can be virtual friendly if you’re teaching online. Pausing the video and getting feedback online is something to consider with teaching these days. A teacher can share their screen and see what students have to say. It’s a nice way to start off a social studies class, and expose students to current events that they might have not have been exposed to.

Goodreads

 

It can be difficult to foster a love of reading in students, however, the website Goodreads could help to change that. Goodreads is basically social media for books. There are many things that students can do on the website.

When you first make an account, you create “bookshelves”. You create a “read” shelf with all the books you’ve ever read. Then you create a “want to read” shelf with books you want to read in the future and lastly you can add books that you are currently reading to a “currently reading” shelf. You can also rate the books and leave your thoughts on it in a review. This data helps the site to give you book recommendations.

So, after setting up the account, students can “friend” each other and see each other’s bookshelves. They can also send each other book recommendations. Students often don’t know what to read, so they can help each other. They can also find classmates that have similar tastes with them. I think that kids are more likely to listen to each other than anyone. I don’t think a recommendation from a teacher would go as far as one from a peer. Students can also comment and “like” each other’s status updates.

The status updates on the site are a really cool feature because it basically functions like a reading log. Students can add a book as “currently reading” and then update their progress over time with their thoughts. 

 

Additionally, teachers can create a private classroom group on the website where they can add the books the class is reading and create discussion threads. Teachers can also have the students write and post a book review on a classroom book for an assignment.

Overall, I think that Goodreads would be a great resource for English teachers. I’ve been using it since I was 12 and I know that the second I joined I started reading double what I read before. However, I never thought about how it could be used in a classroom before until I found it as a suggestion on Common Sense Education. It’s a great way to get kids excited about reading books because it integrates reading with something that they already love, social media.