The Keyword: Google’s Very Own One Stop Resource for All Things Google

This Week’s Topic in Focus:

Each month our Digital Learning Team will feature a connection that we feel exemplifies and supports our mission and goals. Our hope is that you find so much value and worth in that resource that you decide to add that resources to your own Personal Learning Network. Check out this month’s featured item:

Image acquired from: GoAndroid

The Keyword: Google’s Blog

Finding out updates, releases and all other types of Google related news used to be quite a chore.  The outlets for this sort of information never seemed to be consistent and it was difficult to know what was Google generated and what was being produced by non-affiliated sources.  All of that changed last year when Google launched its new one stop blog: The Keyword.  

Any time Google has something cool it wants to tell the world, they post it to this blog!  

• Did you know that Google Earth has just received a massive facelift, and is now entirely web based (yes, you can now use Google Earth on Chromebooks!).

• Have you had an opportunity to explore the Google Arts and Culture site?  Google has created vignettes packed full of rich super high definition images, video, and map integrations accompanied with textual information and links that thread information together in a manner that fosters inquiry and exploration all on an aesthetic but simple web canvas.  Check out the Made in Italy Project as an example. To get an understanding of what I mean by super high definition images, check out The Starry Night by Van Gogh and zoom in.  Notice the violent brush strokes that make his work so distinct as well as the minor cracks that present themselves due to over a century’s worth of aging.

• Did you know that Google Maps, now automatically translates all reviews in your native tongue? If you travel abroad, you will now be able to search for restaurants and other attractions and read reviews from those in the area translated in the English language.

                Image acquired from: The Next Web

• Autodraw, a new tool that uses artificial intelligence to guess what you are trying to draw and then makes a suggestion of related drawings for you to choose from, has not officially launched!  Drawing on your phone or computer has been a slow and painful process, until now.  

All of these tidbits were gathered from the homepage of Google’s blog at the time I published this post.  Because it is a blog, every post is archived by date so that I can easily search and retrieve it for later use.  

You can also surf blog.google by product.  See what Google has to say about Google Docs or YouTube.  Products are not only limited to the icons shown above. Finally, you can surf by topic.  One of those topics is education. 

Regardless of how frequently you visit or what products or topics might interest you most, there will always be some new resource or artifact of inspiration waiting for you at The Keyword, Google’s Official one stop resource for all Google News.  

Would you like to integrate something you see on The Keyword but need some help?   See your DLS to kickstart a conversation - Cheryl, Kyle or Melanie.

Contributed by Kyle Mack @ProfKyleMack

Setup your Classes in Schoology Now for Next Year

Setup your Classes in Schoology Now for Next Year

This Week’s Topic in Focus: Transitioning Schoology Courses

I know that most of you are super excited to start thinking about next year already! You have hopes! You have dreams! You have BIG PLANS! And now, you can begin creating your Schoology course for the next school year RIGHT NOW! Oh, happy day!

Acquired Image From: atomiclearning.com

Creating Your New Course

The required fields for creating a new course are

• course name (remember to title this according to the FHSD Schoology Common Agreements),section name (automatically defaults to section 1 if you do not edit)
• subject area
• grade level
• grading period

In order to select the proper grading period you will need to scroll down to the bottom of the list and select from the following options:

High School / Middle School

• HS/MS 2017-18 SY -  If your course is year long select this box
• Quarter 1
• Quarter 2 - Select Q1 and Q2 for Semester 1 courses
• Quarter 3
• Quarter 4 -  Select Q3 and Q4 for Semester 2 courses

Elementary

• ELEM 2017-18 SY - If your course is year long select this box
• Trimester 1
• Trimester 2
• Trimester 3

Additional Grading Period Info:

• You might notice that some grading periods are gray while others are black. You can still build a course within a grayed out period, but students can only access those grading periods that are in black because they are within the current date range. Gray grading periods will become black once they catch up to the current calendar date.
• “Summer Lead In” - This is a new option for those teachers who want to work with their next school year’s students during the summer months. This feature has been requested by several AP teachers who would like to assign work prior to our September 5th start but it is not limited to just them.

If you want to use some or all of the material from your current course in next year’s course, remember these following steps:

1. Create new course with correct grading periods.
2. Copy materials from 16-17 course to your new course.
1. Move all material by copying to “Resources” and then adding to your new course from your resource page.
2. Copy individual items or folders directly from the 16-17 course to your newly created course .

In both scenarios only materials are copied over; not due dates, students or student submissions.

*If you need assistance please see your DLS or view our previous blog post titled: Saving Course Materials to Resources and Using Archived Courses.

3. Unpublish any materials that you do not yet want the students to have access to.

Would you like to explore features in Schoology in preparation for next year?   See your DLS to kickstart a conversation - Cheryl, Melanie or Kyle.

Contributed by Cheryl Kemper @CherylLKemper @ Kyle Mack @ProfKyleMack   Melanie Zolnier @libary_techer

Quiz Games in the Classroom

This Week’s Topic in Focus: Quiz games in the classroom

Each month our Digital Learning Team will feature a tool that is super cool while also super beneficial to your classroom. This week, we are featuring quiz programs that allow you and your students to create, play and share learning games.

There are many online quiz programs out there, but today let’s take a deep dive into Kahoot, Quizizz and Quizlet. As you will see in the table below, each program is unique with specific purposes for your classroom.

Kahoot	Quizizz	Quizlet/Quizlet Live
https://getkahoot.com/	https://quizizz.com/	https://quizlet.com/
Kahoot is multiple-choice game based system that is designed to be played by the entire class in a synchronous environment.	Quizizz is a multiple-choice game based system that can be played individually or in a classroom setting. When played asynchronously, a Quizizz can be assigned as homework or individual work.	Quizlet is a program that allows students and teachers to create study sets and then practice their sets through flashcards and mini-games. Quizlet Live lets the teacher take study sets and turn them into classroom games that require group participation.
Features multiple choice quiz style games ordering and sequencing games with Jumble create surveys for quick feedback or polls Use Kahoots to drive class discussions add videos, images or diagrams to each question create your own Kahoot or select from 13 million Kahoots created by fellow users	Features multiple choice quiz style games Quizizz can be played in class or assigned as homework games include fun avatars and memes quick access to student performance data in an easy to read table format add images to each question create your own Quizizz, use a Quizizz made by someone else, or find already created individual questions to add to your own Quizizz	Features flashcard creator that allows teachers and students to create study sets independent practice within Quizlet in a variety of ways including matching, spelling, and rapid fire recall study sets can then be opened in game format by using Quizlet Live collaborative /social learning within Quizlet Live randomized team creation allowing for flexible grouping use your own study sets or search for sets created by fellow users
Game Play designed to be played as a competition the faster the answer is given, the higher the point value top three finishers for each game can be highlighted in “podium” mode students play on their own devices: computer, laptop, phone or tablet (download the app) best played as teams within the classroom fosters social learning students do not need accounts to play but do need accounts to create	Game Play designed to be played as a competition, but those elements can be removed from game play relation of point values to speed can be eliminated from the game students play together but each at their own pace students can play on their own devices: computer, laptop, phone or tablet (download the app) students can play in teams fosters social learning students do not need accounts to play	Game Play quiz style game can only be played in Quizlet Live students must play in collaborative groups because correct answers are dispersed amongst all group members game requires 12 unique terms game requires a minimum of six students students are randomized into teams each student must have their own device: computer, laptop, tablet or phone teams race to match all terms with definitions incorrect answer resets the entire team score back to zero first team to match all 12 (or more) terms, wins
Tools save Kahoot results to Google Drive in a spreadsheet format individual results recorded by self selected screen names podium to highlight top three finishers	Tools include your own memes in quiz games to give it a personalized feel detailed reports for each quiz includes overall percentage and breakdown of individual questions removable leaderboards	Tools classes can be linked to existing Google Classrooms study sets can be shared directly to Google Classroom classes can be created within Quizlet so that all student names are preloaded for easy group creation
Quick Start Guide	Video Tutorials	Quizlet Basics

Pedagogy - The why behind online quizzing.

Now that you are familiar with the three different programs, let’s focus on why you should consider using them in your classroom. At the most basic, these game-based programs offer your students the opportunity to review for a quiz or a test. The content can be curated or created in a very short amount of time and the results are recorded for formative use.

Online quiz tools enter the pedagogical conversation as they can be leveraged to develop highly engaged classrooms.  If engaged learning is driven by learner success, curiosity, originality, and relationship (Strong, Silver and Robinson) we should design our trivia style quiz environments in a manner that builds into the learner. With these four principles in mind,

• Success - the need for mastery
• Curiosity- the need for understanding
• Originality - the need for self-expression
• Relationship - the need for involvement with others

the learner should recognize his/her successes and understand where to strive toward next (S), use the automatically collected digital data to provide formative feedback that will drive further inquiry (C), proffer learner identity and recognition via gamification principles (O), and do so within a learning community where everyone has some opportunity to interact with one another through collaboration (R).

As mentioned earlier, the four critical components of developing engaged learning are learner success, curiosity, originality, and relationship.  These four components were first recognized and expounded upon by Strong, Silver and Robinson back in the mid 1990’s. Their contributions provide us with the factors that drive engagement while Schlechty’s work provides us with what evidences of engagement we can easily observe within in our learners which are best summarized in three parts:  (1) <Learners> are attracted to their work, (2) <Learners> persist in their work despite challenges and obstacles, and (3) <Learners> take visible delight in accomplishing their work.  

Schlechty also designated 5 different levels of engagement in the classroom.  Once these levels are fully understood, educators can then begin to understand the type of learning environment they are cultivating based upon the percentages of each level of engagement each learner manifests from one lesson to the next.  As you will notice, in the infographic above, the highly engaged classroom does not consist of only engaged learners.  Instead the overwhelming majority of learners reside within the engagement and strategic compliance levels.  Likewise, the Pathological Classroom does not consist of only rebellious learners.  

It is also important to note that engagement is not the final destination for our learners nor should it be the pinnacle of our learning environments.  “Engaging students means getting kids excited about our content, interests and curricula.  Empowering students means giving kids the knowledge and skills to pursue their passions, interests and future” (The Innovator’s Mindset, p.96). Engagement is on the path to empowerment.  It is a critical and difficult step and requires attention and development, but it is by no means the ultimate goal.

Resources Used in Research for this Post:

The New E’s of Education

The Innovator’s Mindset

Strengthening Student Engagement: What Do Students Want

Successful Gamification Case Studies

Engaging Students: The Next Level of Working on the Work

Contributed by Kyle Mack @ProfKyleMack and Melanie Zolnier @libary_techer