Quizlet for iPad

If you haven't discovered it already, Quizlet is a great app as a tool for studying.  Quizlet had been out for awhile, however from my experience it offers a decent amount of capability for being a FREE app.

Not only is this a great tool for general study of facts and concepts, but it, also, works well for learning languages.

Starting off, a student can easily Sign-up and Sign-in via their school Gmail account.  Making it very easy and secure for a student to register for an account.  Once started, a student can create a data bank of terms and definitions grouped in what Quizlet calls study sets.  Below is a video demo of using Quizlet.

The New Empower 2.0

If you haven't seen it already, Empower's (formerly Educate) site has had an overhaul on its layout and design.  Very new; and very different.  However, much more user friendly and much simpler to navigate through.  It's designed to allow the user to have most everything they need without having to look to hard for it.  I think the one feature that many will appreciate is you have immediate view and access to your classes and class data right on the homepage when you login to your account.

Before, the homepage was the messaging service (which, you can still access in the top right-hand menu) and you had to look around for you class data.

I have embedded below a string of tweets I posted yesterday during workshop loaded full of helpful tips and demos of the new Empower site design.  Be sure to peruse through these posts to help you learn how to navigate and use Empower.

You can access our SAD1 Empower Site by going to:

sad1.educatek12.com

If you have any questions, please contact me.

Happy Safer Internet Day

Accessing Other Calendars on Your Mobile Device

In our digital-age, calendars have a completely different view than they used to when we pinned our favorite yearly calendars to our wall, or placed it on our desks.  Today, having multiple calendars on one account is standard.  The advantage to having multiple calendars is having the ability to accommodate many different events, shifts, programs or even lifestyles; have the ability to isolate the view of these events; and the ability to share these with others.

There are times when you need access to a calendar that someone else created on our mobile device - smartphone or tablet.  For example, our Middle School has their own events calendar, and faculty have the ability to add the Middle School calendar to their own Google Calendar for viewing.  I have had some faculty approach me wanting to be able to access this same Middle School calendar on their iPad.

Unfortunately, there is no simple, one-step for this procedure (that I know of).  However, it is still easy to do.  Through this method you will be able to access other calendars on your mobile device's calendar.

To begin, you will have already needed to add a calendar created by someone else to your own Google Calendar by a link shared to you by the creator of that calendar.  Then, you will have to add your Google account to your mobile device's settings (i.e. on an iPad: Settings; Mail, Contacts and Calendars).

Then go to Google's Calendar Sync Settings on any web browser.  Here you can select (or deselect) the calendars you wish to have available on your mobile device. When you view your mobile's calendar, the newly added calendars from others, should be accessible.

Meeting Strangers Online

In my Digital Citizenship classes I have been holding in our 7th and 8th grade classes, I talk about the dynamic of meeting strangers on the street and meeting strangers online.  When we grow up, we are taught not to talk to strangers.  Parents know that there are malicious people out there and they want to protect their children.  My daughter is very much a social butterfly, and we have to instill in her not to talk to strangers.

In my classes, we discuss how the rules change when meeting strangers online.  The average part of an online lifestyle is meeting strangers.  It is one of the best parts of being online.  Sharing, collaborating, strategizing, meeting, communicating, learning - many careers require the ability to do this with strangers online; and students can learn a lot from strangers online.

The main element I try to capture with the students is that meeting strangers online can be a great opportunity, however we have to learn when the relationship (and I do not mean romantic relationship, but any kind of communication or transaction with a stranger is referred to as a relationship in the class) gets uncomfortable, or private information is being asked for, then red flags should go up and we should reconsider the value of the relationship.  I teach students how to deal with situations like this - logging off, leaving the conversation, changing the subject, not revealing your real name, and especially not giving out personal information.

How To Set-Up and use iCloud Drive On The iPad

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