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Adding Subscribers to a FirstClass Conference October 4, 2007

Posted by admin in : FirstClass, How To , add a comment

To add subscribers to a FirstClass conference:

  1. Right click on the conference icon and select Permissions.
  2. Click on the name above all users and press enter.
  3. Type in the user name of the person you would like to add. Press Enter.
  4. Add users until you are done.
  5. Make sure that the all users group is under all of the new users and that the conference moderators are above all of the new users.
  6. Set the new users permissions as contributers.
  7. To add the conference to their FirstClass desktops, add them to the subscriber list.

Let me know if you have questions.
FirstClass Conference Permissions 2

Basic SmartNotebook April 26, 2007

Posted by admin in : February 2007 Professional Development, SmartBoard , add a comment

Most of this tutorial will follow along with the SmartBoard tutorial on Atomic Learning which can be found here.

We’ll start by opening the Smart Smartboard Tools by clicking on Start -> All Programs -> SMART Board Software -> SmartBoard Tools. This will open a ToolBar Icon (below) that you can click on and launch the Start Center.
SmartBoard Tools

From the Start Center, you can launch SmartNotebook, SmartRecorder, and the Control Panel.

You should start by orienting the board by clicking on the Smart Toolbar Icon and selecting orient. Then put your finger in the center of each target comes up. To see the Atomic Learning tutorial, click here.

We’re going to start with the SmartNotebook. Click on the first icon. There are a number of tutorials on using the Notebook Tools under B. Notebook Tools.

During our Tech 20, we will review using a pen, Using an eraser, Adding text and many other functions.

Editing Word Documents with Tracked Changes April 11, 2007

Posted by admin in : February 2007 Professional Development , add a comment

1. Open U:\Tech20\Functional Word.doc

2. Go to Tools (you may have to wait 10 seconds for the whole menu to appear) -> Track Changes

2. Save your document in U:\Tech20\YOUR NAME.doc and close.

3. Find a partner, ask them to open your document, edit some of the text by deleting and copying and pasting, insert a Comment, and save and close it.

a. Insert comments by going to Insert -> Comment and edit document by deleting and adding text

4. Open the document, and view their changes.

5. Accept or Reject their changes

a. Insert comments by going to Insert -> Comment and edit document by deleting and adding text

6. Now, accept or reject the changes by viewing the Accept or Reject toolbar.

a. Toolbars -> Reviewing

b. Click on Review Next Change icon Next Correction

c. Accept or Reject the Comment using the Accept(Accept) or Reject(Reject) icon

7. Now Save your document one last time.

At this point, you can go to Atomic Learning Word Tutorials:

Intro: http://www.atomiclearning.com/word_2003_intro

Intermediate: http://www.atomiclearning.com/word_2003_interm

Advanced: http://www.atomiclearning.com/word_2003_adv

Browse the topics and see which tutorials interest you and review one. If you have questions, please check with one of the technology department members or students as they circulate the room.

Creating Quiz, Test, Handout forms in Microsoft Word March 5, 2007

Posted by admin in : February 2007 Professional Development, How To, Software , add a comment

Tabs with Leaders Example

In MS Word, the tabs are set to automatically indent on your page at .5 in. You can also use tabs to create many different kinds of forms.

To create a Table of Contents:

1. Type Table of Contents at the top of your page and press enter twice.

2. Click Format - Tabs

3. In the window, make the Tab Stop Position 6.0. (This position is shown on the ruler at the top of your page.) Make the Alignment - Right. Make the Leader - 3. Click SET and click OK.

4. On your paper type Chapter 1 and press TAB. Then type 1 and ENTER.

5. Type Chapter 2 and press TAB. Then type 15 and ENTER.

6. Type Chapter 3 and press TAB. Then type 22 and ENTER.

(Notice that the LEADER is the dotted lines and the numbers are lined up on the right side of the page.)

Let’s try another kind of tab.

1. Press enter 3 or 4 times and type Application and press enter twice.

2. Click Format - Tabs

3. Click CLEAR ALL at the bottom. This clears the last tab that we used.

4. Make the Tab Stop Position 3.5 (This position is shown on the ruler at the top of your page.) Make the Alignment - Left. Make the Leader - 4. Click SET and click OK.

4. On your paper type Name and press TAB twice then ENTER.

5. Type Address and press TAB then ENTER.

6. Type City, State, Zip and press TAB then ENTER.

(You could select this and make it double spaced to allow more room for the person to write in the blanks. This is also a great way to prompt for a Name at the top of a paper.)

For tests, quizzes, or handouts, TABS are a great way to make lines to write answers in.

1. Press Enter a few times and click Format - Tabs

2. Click CLEAR ALL at the bottom. This clears the last tab that we used.

3. Where it says Default tab stops, delete the number there and type 0.

4. Make the Tab Stop Position 6. Make the Alignment - Left. Make the Leader - 4. Click SET and click OK.

5. Press TAB then Enter (repeat this 5 times). If you type a question on any line it will simply make the leader shorter on that line. Double space it for more room to write answers.
Have FUN with TABS!

How to Start Blogging? February 28, 2007

Posted by admin in : How To , add a comment
How can I found out more about using blogs in education? Do you recomend any websites/books?

I suggest you start here: http://www.weblogg-ed.com/

Will Richardson is a professional blogger, but this is his first year out there. Before that, he was a tech coordinator at a high school in New Jersey. He also has a book that I can lend you.

Blogging is interesting. I’m still getting my head around it. It is definitely a transformative activity.

We have a blog server at school if you would like to experiment. Here are a few examples:

http://sg.collegiateschool.org/ (password protected: collegiate networkusername and password)
http://tech.collegiatecreatel.org/ (You’re here!)
http://davidallen.intranet2.collegiateschool.org/weblog/ (password protected: collegiate networkusername and password)

You can learn a lot more here: http://supportblogging.wikispaces.com/

I’d be happy to discuss the possibilities — but if you watch weblogg-ed for a while, you’ll start to see the linking and conversations developing.

There are also a number of other education bloggers out there. Here’s a list:

http://supportblogging.wikispaces.com/Links+to+School+Bloggers

When you’re ready, we can set up a blog for you if you. Here are two tutorals, Wordpresss Intro and Posting to Wordpress.

Facebook: Deactivating Your Account February 22, 2007

Posted by admin in : Internet Safety , add a comment

To deactivate your Facebook account:

  1. Log in
  2. Click on the My Account link toward the bottom of the left hand links
  3. Scroll to the bottom and click the the link that says Click Here under Deactivate Account.
  4. Follow the instructions.

This is not a permanent deletion of your account, but will stop people from posting on your wall and accessing your account.

Getting the Most Out of Your SmartBoard February 16, 2007

Posted by admin in : February 2007 Professional Development, SmartBoard , 2comments

Getting the most out of your SmartBoard

Smartboard Room Instructions

Parts of a SmartBoard Room:

Projector

Projector 

SmartBoard

SmartBoard

Amplifier and DVD/VCR

DVD-VCR<!–[endif]–>

Wires (VGA, Audio, and USB)

VGA-AudioUSB

Hooking your computer up Help Sheet

To use, just cut out and tape to your laptop:

FN/F7
Open:

  1. Turn on Projector/small remote—power
  2. Plug in computer
  3. Switch to #2 (right side)
  4. Function/F7
  5. Presentation on projector, etc. (2nd setting)

Close:

  1. Switch back to #1 (left side)
  2. Turn off projector (push power twice)

SmartBoard Troubleshooting Scenarios

Smartboard Lessons on Atomic Learning:

User Help Breakouts:

Everyone should try to hook up there computer once.

45: Basic Smart Notebook – Hooking up Laptop Practice, Pens, Gallery, Smartboard basics…

42 or 43: Using Media in a SmartClassroom — (Rubin on PPT, Chisolm on French Web Sites)

41: Advanced SmartNotebook (inserting screenshots and web pages)


Internet Search with Google February 15, 2007

Posted by admin in : February 2007 Professional Development, Information Literacy , add a comment

Parts of the Search result page

http://www.google.com/help/interpret.html

Basic Google search rules:

You need to choose search terms for your topic: One that is broad, one that is narrow, synonyms for term, and a meaning of the word you would like to avoid.

1. Choosing the right search terms

a. Start with the obvious

b. advisable to use multiple search terms

c. You might also ask yourself if your search terms are sufficiently specific

2. Google searches are NOT case sensitive. All letters, regardless of how you type them, will be understood as lower case.

3. By default, Google only returns pages that include all of your search terms. (There is no need to include “and” between terms.)

4. The order in which the terms are typed will affect the search results.

5. Google ignores common words and characters.

a. Google will indicate if a common word has been excluded by displaying details on the results page below the search box.

b. If a common word is essential to getting the results you want, you can include it by putting a “+” sign in front of it. (Be sure to include a space before the “+” sign.)

c. Another method for doing this is conducting a phrase search, which simply means putting quotation marks around two or more words.

6. Google uses stemming technology. It will search not only for your search terms, but also for words that are similar (root words) to some or all of those terms.

7. If your search term has more than one meaning, you can focus your search by putting a minus sign (”-”) in front of words related to the meaning you want to avoid.

 

 

Advanced Search

 

A new tool for searches: within certain topics, you’ll notice links at the top of the search results page that help you quickly narrow your search.

Cheat Sheet: http://www.google.com/help/cheatsheet.html

 

Site: The word “site” followed by a colon enables you to restrict your search to a specific site.

Date: Search only a range of months

Info: Find information about the website

Link: linked pages

Intitle: word in the title

Author: author of the article

“I’m Feeling Lucky” button, which takes you straight to the most relevant website that Google found for your query.

We are going to Sign on to Atomic Learning and watch: Refining A Google Search With Specific Key Words

Phone Numbers:

 

Google book and Google Scholar

More More Page or http://books.google.com/ and http://scholar.google.com/

Google Scholar

Google Book

Few short excerpts to the entire book

What is possible?

Google Scholar

Google Scholar aims to sort articles the way researchers do, weighing the full text of each article, the author, the publication in which the article appears, and how often the piece has been cited in other scholarly literature. The most relevant results will always appear on the first page.

1. Title – Links to the abstract of the article, or when available on the web, the complete article.

2. Cited By – Identifies other papers that have cited articles in the group.

3. Related Articles – Finds other papers that are similar to articles in this group.

4. Library Links (online) – Locates an electronic version of the work through your affiliated Library. These links appear automatically if you’re on campus.

5. Library Links (offline) – Locates libraries which have a physical copy of the work.

6. Group of – Finds other articles included in this group of scholarly works, possibly preliminary, which you may be able to access. Examples include preprints, abstracts, conference papers or other adaptations.

7. Web Search – Searches for information about this work on Google.

8. BL Direct – Purchase the full text of the article through the British Library. Google receives no compensation from this service.

Great Presentations with Powerpoint February 15, 2007

Posted by admin in : February 2007 Professional Development , add a comment

What’s Wrong With This Slide? Modeling the Good and the Bad.

· Slide show of slides with good and bad elements. As a group we can say what we like and dislike. What is effective? What is distracting?

· Distribute good practices document.

Rotating Slide Show
Scenario : You have a camera full of images that you took of your class. It is curriculum night and you want to create a slide show that automatically rotates through the photos.

· Take a folder of images that you want to rotate through continuously

· Create slide show.

· Set to Repeat.

Lesson in PowerPoint
Scenario: You want to show your students a sample PowerPoint for their upcoming presentation.

Part 1: Create your slide show

· Title Slide

· Insert a new slide

o Hint : Insert Menu

· Choose a template for your presentation (aka. Slide Design)

o Hint: Format Menu

· Customize the background color of your slides

o Hint: Format Menu

· Change text colors

o Hint 1: Look on your toolbar

o Hint 2: Format Menu

· Change text size

o Hint 1: Look on your toolbar

o Hint 2: Format Menu

· Change slides on clicks versus by time

o Hint: Slide Show Menu

· Animate the title (Custom Animation), using dissolve (More Effects)

o Hint 1: Slide Show Menu

o Hint 2: Microsoft provides instructions about Custom Animations.

· Text Animation

· Use a table to show data summary

o Hint: Insert Menu

· Use the shapes (Auto Shapes) and clip art catalog

o Hint: Insert Menu

· References Slide

· Insert Sounds (from the Clip Organizer)

o Hint: Insert Menu

· Hyperlink some resources in your reference slide

o Hint: Insert Menu

Part 2: Review your slide show

· View Slide Show

o Hint: Slide Show Menu

· Use arrows to navigate slides

o Us e the left and right arrows

· Commenting

o Hint: Insert Menu

Part 3: Printing slides to take notes

· Printing multiple slides per page.

o File à Print à Print what? Handouts

· Printing slides with note taking lines

o Hint: 3 slides per page

If you finish early, or you need more instruction please look for further assistance at Atomic Learning.

Getting the Most Out of FirstClass February 15, 2007

Posted by admin in : February 2007 Professional Development, FirstClass , add a comment

Goal: First Class Competency.

Have them log into First Class.
Change their password.

Basic Messaging
Create and send an e-mail message
Read and reply to e-mail message to sender
Read and reply to e-mail message to a group
Forward an e-mail message
Reply to all with quote
BCC

Demo/Activity: Bounce an email around the class (forwarding, replying, etc.)

Attachments
Send an e-mail with an attachment
Save an attachment to another location

Demo/Activity: Send an attachment to the group.

Mailing Lists
Create and send a welcome email to the group with an outline of the class.
Show them how to see who is on the mailing list.
Create a mailing list for each of your classes using Collegiate Connect. [ http://blogs.collegiateschool.org/tech/2007/02/02/how-to-send-an-email-to-your-roster-from-collegiate-connect/]

Demo/Activity: Redo the previous activity, but instead using the mailing list.
Activity: Create mailing lists for each of their courses.

Conference & Search
Read, Send to, and Reply to messages in News and Division Conferences
Post a support request to Technical Support
Find an e-mail

Demo/Activity: Show the different results using the different search options

Organizng Your Messages
Sort Mailbox by Name, Size, Subject or Last Modified
Show different views - splitting panes.
Organizing your messages - File management.
Create a New Folder
File messages in a folder
Delete old/unwanted messages
Mark messages as read/unread
Undelete
Full Inbox: 1500 messages

Activity: Start to sort and organize your files

First Class Chat
Initiate a Chat

Activity: Participate in a Chat

Accessing First Class at Home:
Access FirstClass from home using the client
How to download and install the client
Setup the client
Access FirstClass from any web browser