Happy February!

Just a quick little "did you know" segment today to start you off on the right foot for February.  SMART has recently streamlined it's communication process, making it easier for you to get to the right person, at the right time who will be able to help you with your questions.

Simply go to smarttech.com/contactsupport for any and all of your SMART questions.  Make sure that you select which country you are in from the drop down menu at the top, then choose from a specific list of areas your question may fall into:

Voila! Have a question about your SMART Board? Easy.  Wondering about some glitches with SMART Notebook? No problem.  Looking to get parts serviced, projector support or training opportunities? Check, check and check.  Once you've clicked on the link, fill out a little form, and someone will be in touch.

Just a reminder, if you are teaching in school division that prefers that you contact division office FIRST, please continue to do so.  Many school districts have internal support that can help you on the spot, and prefer to be able to track the issues that their staff are having with techie products. 

Other than that, ask away!

Vanessa

As most of you know, I'm a big advocate of teachers joining the Twitterverse and connecting with other professionals.  I find that so many valuable discussions happen (whether formal through #edchat or informal at your leisure), and TONS of teachers use this medium to get ideas, share frustrations, garner support and just reach out to like-minded individuals.

If you ARE already on Twitter, then you've probably seen the hashtag "#TeacherTuesday" pop up in tweets roughly...every week...on Tuesday.  This is generally a way to show pride in the teaching profession, either by acknowledging the hard work these folks do day-in and day-out, or by recognizing individual teachers who are making a difference in their children's lives.

You may also know that many ideas that show up on blogs are not necessarily the original brainchild of the poster, but rather an adapted version of something someone else posted.  That is the case with my post today.  Last week, @USCTeacher posted a blog on Thursday entitled Thank A Teacher Thursday, then proceeded to list mini-bios on educators on Twitter to give them some exposure.  I've decided to borrow steal adapt this idea and create a series of blog posts for Teacher Tuesday, basically giving exposure to some of the wonderful people I follow and learn from on Twitter.

What better place to start than with those in my own backyard? Some of the following I've had the pleasure of meeting in person; others are only known to me via the virtual realm, but I truly admire and respect their efforts in education.

In Alphabetical Order (lest I get called out for playing favourites!):

James Aitchison is currently the Director of Educational Technology for Foothills School Division just south of Calgary.  He is an energetic and enthusiastic educator with a passion for implementing technology in the classroom.  I've had the great pleasure of knowing James for the past 7-ish years and have marvelled in his forward-thinking-ness (if that's even a word!)  James was dreaming up ways to use cell phones and iPods in the classroom while the rest of the world was hellbent on punishing students for showing such devices in schools.  Follow him on his blog or on Twitter @kjamesa to get lots of great tech ideas (and a few fitness centered tweets too!

Melina Akins is a fantastic teacher and a lovely woman.  I have had the pleasure of getting to know her at various conferences in and around Calgary, where we continually gush about how wonderful Twitter is for building a professional network (and stalking celebrities, but that's a whole other story!)  Melina is a HUGE advocate of sharing tech tips for the classroom and demonstrates her passion for education on both Twitter and her blog found here.  Follow her at @MelinaAkins for great conversation and wonderful ideas.

Derek Keenan is a High School English teacher in Airdrie.  Known as @MrKeenan on Twitter, he is passionate about the use of mobile learning technologies (ie: iPads in the classroom).  His tweets are extremely useful for anyone interested in venturing down this path and I highly recommend taking a look at his blog if you have time.  Not only does it put the rest of ours to shame with its professionalism, but there are lots of truly thought-provoking posts that are sure to spark a conversation in your staff room.

Kirk Linton pops up on my Twitter feed from time to time (@krlinton), and while I've never met him personally, I can say that he is a valuable member of my Twitter PLN.  He is an assistant principal in Cochrane, and was previously a band teacher prior to this new gig.  Kirk's tweets are often centered around kids, technology, education and conferences, so I highly encourage you to check him out.  If you want to see more of the wonderful things that he has to share, head on over to his blog here.

Greg Woitas is another member of my PLN on Twitter (@gwoitas) whom I haven't met in "real life", but whom I value his insights and information sharing. I don't know that much about Greg, other than I'm pretty sure he used to be a Math teacher and is currently an Ed Tech Consultant for Calgary Catholic.  What I DO know is that I see lots of his tweets centered around technology in education and am certain that any educator interested in technology in the classroom would be wise to follow him.

These are just 5 of the amazing educators found in and around Calgary (and on Twitter).  I'll be featuring more over the next weeks and months as I continue with Teacher Tuesdays on a semi-regular basis!

Vanessa

Another Friday, another edition of Fresh Look Fridays.

Our focus turns to a great interactive website -- Algodoo -- that encourages exploration and experimentation within the world of Physics.  But don't be fooled - this isn't simply a high school appropraite site...your middle schoolers and elementary students will find it intriguing as well.

I thought about trying to explain this website in my own words, but then I realized that I really wasn't going to do it any better than the "about" section on their website:

ALGODOO is a unique 2D-simulation software from Algoryx Simulation AB. Algodoo is designed in a playful, cartoony manner, making it a perfect tool for creating interactive scenes. Explore physics, build amazing inventions, design cool games or experiment with Algodoo in your science classes. Algodoo encourages students and children’s own creativity, ability and motivation to construct knowledge while having fun. Making it as entertaining as it is educational. Algodoo is also a perfect aid for children to learn and practice physics at home.

It really is a fun simulator.  You can download a free trial that allows you to try ALL the features of the full version, but with a 15 hour time limit.  More than enough time to become proficient and decide whether or not it's a good investment for your classroom or school.

Play around and see what happens when you build different shapes out of different materials such as wood, rubber, helium and steel; add hours of more fun with hinges, axis, motors and water; take it to the next level for your secondary students by graphing your simulation and viewing its velocities and momentum. Of course, all of these activities work really well as a center for a small group of students to work on on your SMART Board.

Clearly, by the scene I managed ot make above, I'm not a Physics teacher.

I highly recommend checking out YouTube for the hundreds of videos that show what people have done with Algodoo.  In the meantime, here are two:

Vanessa

You knew it was coming.  

There was no way I could make it through my first month back in the blogosphere for Sharp's without having some sort of baby-themed post.  C'mon - my days are pretty much spent chilling with my 6 month old, dressing him in cute clothing and adventuring into the land of baby food/talk/diaper changing.  

One thing my family jokes about is how likely our son is to be a bit of a techno-geek.  Currently, I have to put the remotes and iPhones out of his reach, and the TV needs to be off if I have any chance of getting his attention. *Sigh*  And so it begins.  I can't even imagine the world that he's going to grow up in.  For the record, I didn't have my first cordless cellphone until age 19.  Yes, I'm that old.

Since it's almost the end of the week, I thought I'd ease you into the weekend with a couple cute YouTube videos.  First up? Baby masters iPhone:

Next, I give you "Baby Gives Tutorial on Mac Computer":

And finally, a word of warning about letting your little one mess around with your phone.  See what happened to these parents, and why I would HIGHLY recommend you always put your phone in "airplane mode" before letting them get their grubby little hands on it:

Vanessa

The blog title for today accurately reflects what I'm asked to talk about, teach and work with every day.

I love my iPad, I literally don't go anywhere without it. I love it's possibilities for education - certain a 21st Century Learning too that kids already instinctively know how to use it!

I get asked about 2 things: how to I get my iPad content on the SMART Board. Vanessa just posted about using the Mac HDMI adapter/dongle. There is also the VGA dongle, if you have an older projector. A few weeks ago, I posted a video about how to use Apple TV to mirror, and what I love about that option is that the iPad is now wireless & you don't have to be tied to your projector with a cable. As with all Apple products, usually the newest, coolest feature means having the newest operating system (i.e., sync those bad-boys with you iTunes for your free update, if you haven't synced since November). Here's the Apple TV video:

As previously discussed, the mirroring just displays your content - your SMART Board won't have touch. (as there is no way to get your SMART Board connected through the USB cable...soon, I hope, there will be a way to have touch on the board!) The advantage of this option, though, is that you don't HAVE to have a SMART board to show the iPad content - just a projector. 

This is particularly useful with the new iTunes U, iBooks 2 that went along with the big Apple Education announcement in "the big apple" last week (yes, pun intended). Almost all of the discussion on the Apple page about iBooks 2 is that there are currently no textbooks being offered in Canada through the iBookstore. I'm hoping that changes SUPER fast...I'm sure our Canadian publishers are all over it!

The second thing I get asked about is: how can I see my Notebook lessons on the iPad. There are lots of apps out there to 'take control' of your computer & use inking features, like Splashtop & Doceri (search whiteboard in the app store...ahhhh!) lots of 'VCN clients'. (VCN - Virtual Network Computing)

Having played around with many - I still feel the SMART Bridgit iPad app is the best option. Especially looking to even a school-wide implementation - this is cheaper than buying a whole lot of iPad apps & the desktop versions of the apps, it's pricey in comparison to a Bridgit license & the app is free & so is the desktop version. Here's a video on how to use the Bridgit app so you can see your SMART Board content on your iPad & 'take control' of the board from the iPad:

I was reading through my way too long list of Ed Tech articles to catch up on & there was an article saying exactly what I've been talking about with districts & schools: the inking feature isn't a replacement for student interactivity on the board.  There could be potential for the kids to be back at their desks all day, instead of up at the SMART Board. Inking doesn't equal interactivity, but it's sure a wonderful sight to see my SMART content on the iPad. 

While none of these solutions are perfect, yet, we still have come a long way in a few months. Who knows what tricks SMART and/or Apple has up there sleeves to give us all we want - Notebook on the iPad and iPad apps to be used on the SMART Board. Ah, a girl can dream.

Here are some links for using iPads in the Classroom...I could add a million a day! - 

As always, it's just fun to bring this type of learning into the classroom, no