Teaching with Technology

Using educational technology to enhance the learning environment and increase student engagement!

EdTech in My Classroom: Google Cast for Education

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Well, friends. I did it. Yesterday, I turned in my Apple TV – my beloved Apple TV that I used during every class period, every day about 5 years ago. I loved being able to use my iPad with my Apple TV to move around the classroom, display fabulous apps like Google Earth, and sketch out concepts and examples for my students. Two Google tools, however, have made my Apple TV an unnecessary tool for my classroom: my new touchscreen Chromebook and Google Cast for Education.

These tools are not brand-spanking new products to the EdTech scene. Google Cast for Education debuted as a Chrome app in 2016, and was updated in July of this year to function as an extension instead of an app.

I played around with the original Google Cast for Education app in 2016 and, while I thought the premise was fabulous -> allowing students to share work with their peers and allowing me to cast information for the class from anywhere in the room -> it was far too clunky for me to use in my classroom. We know that this is the case with many tools … thankfully, many of them improve over time. Google Cast for Education, in its original Chrome app form, just didn’t past the test for me to use in my classroom.

The update for Google Cast for Education is fantastic! It’s an extension – you know I LOVE extensions – and super-easy to use. To get started with Google Cast for Education …
1. Check with your Google admin to make sure you’re good to go!2. Teachers download the Google Cast for Education extension
3. Name the device your students (and you with your Chromebook) will cast to … I named mine “Mrs. Petty’s Desktop”

When you’re ready to share a resource from your Chromebook …
1. Access your Chrome browser settings (three little dots in the top right corner of the screen)
2. Select “cast”
3. You’ll be greeted with a welcome message … just click “ok, got it” … and will be asked what you would like to cast -> your tab or desktop
4. Next, you’ll choose the location you’ll be casting to
5. Voila! You’re casting your Chromebook screen to your projector with no wires!

Students can cast to their teachers desktop as well …
1. Teachers can grant access to groups of students or individual students through Google Classroom or by email
2. When granting access to a group, you’ll be asked how that group will be able to access your casting device -> choose “can request”
3. When students are ready to share their screen, they follow the same steps as the teacher – Chrome settings – cast – select the teacher’s desktop.
4. Voila!

I love using Google Cast for Education with my touchscreen Chromebook because I’m still able to get the feel of writing on my iPad and sharing it with my students. Now, my students can do the same thing!

Download the Google Cast for Education extension and try it out in your classroom!

Thanks for reading 🙂

Nearpod + Google Earth = AWESOME!

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When I present at conferences or schools around the state/region, I take my daughters and my Momma with me for a mini vacation! The girls hang out with Grandma in and around the hotel while Mommy gets excited about educational technology! (We leave Daddy and Papa at home to work!) Last week, I shared the awesomeness of Nearpod with a fantastic group of teachers at Pembroke Hill in Kansas City, Missouri. I LOVED their enthusiasm for teaching and their excitement for using Nearpod in the classroom!

I absolutely LOVE so many features of Nearpod, but my favorite engagement tool is the virtual field trip. I LOVE being able to take my students to places around the world-I think it makes the content come to life in a way that can’t really happen with a video or primary source! As I was sharing this fabulous feature with the great teachers at Pembroke, a teacher asked if the virtual field trip feature was like Google Earth. I said that this was similar to a Google Earth activity, except that the virtual field trip was actually part of the presentation instead of linking to another site.

Then, I mentioned the new updates to Google Earth … have you seen them? Google Earth now works on a Chrome browser! No more downloading clunky software that, let’s be honest, was NOT user-friendly and rarely worked – at least for me. Now, students can access Google Earth and all of its awesomeness on their Chromebooks! Woohoo! Google Earth also unveiled “Voyages” which are great collections of resources and tours for a variety of topics that can be wonderful for use in the classroom.

The new version of Google Earth allows teachers to easily share locations with their students via link. Here’s where Nearpod comes in!

As I was sharing the new updates to Google Earth, I had an ah-ha moment … I was talking about sharing links to locations with Google Earth, and about how Nearpod allows teachers to include websites in their presentations. THE LIGHTBULB CAME ON!

Nearpod (Gold Account and above) allows teachers to include websites in their Nearpod lessons. Nearpod also offers fantastic virtual reality options, but what if you can’t quite find what you’re looking for? Go to the new Google Earth, search for a location (or use Voyages for super awesomeness!), copy and paste the link to your selection in your Nearpod lesson, and voila! Your students are transported around the world without leaving your classroom!

Nearpod + Google Earth = awesome!

Thanks for reading 🙂

Sanity Saving EdTech Apps

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Well, friends, back-to-school insanity is in FULL swing! I decided to totally redo my bulletin boards this week … and I have had ZERO time to work in my room! Ha! I thought this would be a perfect time to share my favorite sanity-saving EdTech apps … because as teachers, our sanity levels are probably dropping at this time in the year!

As you know, I teach in a 1:1 environment with Chromebooks … and I LOVE it! Student access to Chromebooks has allowed me to completely rethink my teaching styles and (try!) to create a more student-centered learning environment. In addition to the Chromebooks, I also am so lucky to have an iPad that I use in instruction. I love Chromebooks, but sometimes it is just easier to carry around an iPad than a laptop. Sorry, laptop/Chromebook fans. Just my personal preference 🙂

So, let’s play “What’s On Bethany’s iPad! (Part One!)” Here are my favorite iPad (and iPhone) apps to use in my classroom to aid in instruction and to prevent me from totally losing my mind!

Google Classroom
You’ve no doubt realized my love for Google Classroom. It is simply fantastic … and simple … and has done wonders for managing assignments in my classroom. The Google Classroom app is a must for your phone/tablet! Create and manage assignments, announcements, and student work directly from this fantastic app. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to frantically grab my phone because a student emailed me because they couldn’t find the assignment. Why couldn’t they find the assignment, you ask? I forgot to assign it. *facepalm* The Google Classroom app is probably my favorite sanity-saving app … download it! Word of caution – the Google Classroom app features are sometimes found in a different spot than they are on the web!

Remind
Remind, formerly Remind 101, is a FANTASTIC app for your device. Easily send announcements to classes, and even participate in individual and group conversations with students. Remind has recently added some pretty fabulous features, including the ability to organize events and collect fees through the app. Remind has saved the day many times in my classroom. Maybe I’m hosting a before-school study session, and I’m running a tad late – please tell me that happens to someone else! Sometimes, I read a great article and want to share it with my students quickly. Maybe I’m watching a presidential debate or press conference … I’ll send my students a Remind message. If my students need to contact me quickly, I always tell them to send me a message through Remind simply because it pops up as a text message on my phone – I look at my phone much more than I check my email 🙂

Google Earth
Google Earth is a fabulous, wonderful, awesome, amazing (and tons of other adjectives) tool for classrooms. Are your students learning about the construction of the Great Pyramids? Instead of reading about it in a textbook, why not take them to the Pyramids? Learning about the Sun King, Louis XIV? Go inside the Palace of Versailles! Learning about American Government? Why not go inside the White House – this never gets old! Perhaps you’re learning about the attack on Pearl Harbor … take your students to Pearl Harbor where the USS Arizona is still visible – even on Google Earth! While you’re in Hawaii, make sure to “visit” Waikiki Beach … just because I was there the summer after I graduated from college, and it’s just gorgeous 🙂

Nearpod
Are you looking for ways to engage students in presentations? Please check out Nearpod! This fantastic tool allows teachers to bring students into the presentation with “on the fly” features such as multiple choice and short answer questions … which can be interjected in the presentation in real time. It’s super! Why do you need the app, you ask? One of the beautiful features of Nearpod is that teachers do not need a projector in order to share their presentation! Simply open the Nearpod app, launch a lesson, share the code with your students and you’re ready to go! The Nearpod app allows teachers to be mobile in their classrooms, and can really save the day if your projector bulb blows in the middle of a lesson 🙂

Schoology
As my LMS of choice, the Schoology app is a fabulous addition to my iPad and iPhone. It allows me to quickly provide feedback for my students on tests, discussion boards, etc., while still allowing me to be mobile in my classroom. I’m not tied to my desktop computer grading or fumbling around the classroom with my laptop. I grab my iPad, open the app, and I’m a feedback giving machine! The Schoology app is also incredibly helpful when I’m out of the classroom. I may not have access to my computer or laptop, but I most likely have my phone! Easy grading on the go!
Sanity Saving EdTech Apps

Part Two of “What’s On Bethany’s iPad” is coming soon … after the craziness of back to school subsides slightly 🙂

I hope your back-to-school transition is smooth and that you remember that huge influence that we as teachers have on our students … and the future!!

You don’t hear this enough … but YOU ARE AWESOME and YOU ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE!

Thanks for reading 🙂
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