Todd's Tuesday Tech Tip #9: Fact Checking (Using the Internet to Mine the Truth

Dear Colleagues,

How many times have you 'heard' something from a friend, or read something on the internet and wondered, "Is this true?" 

These are often referred to as 'Urban Legends.' 

There are a variety of excellent resources available on the internet to help you determine whether something is true or not. 

My favorite is snopes.com

Here's a great example of the kind of story you might have heard:

Claim:   Facebook's "Graph App" makes your private Facebook content visible to strangers.

FALSE

For those of you who are interested, click HERE to read the detailed explanation about why this is in fact FALSE

Another good site is truthorfiction.com

You probably remember hearing about factcheck.org during the last election.  This site is a fantastic way to figure out what is and is not true regarding all things political.  For example, the day after a big speech, you can read about details about all the numbers and claims.  This site does a good job of remaining impartial while giving you the facts.  It lets you decide on the political ramifications.  I find this particularly beneficial considering all of the controversy regarding health care, etc.  It's nice to get the 'facts' and be able to decide for myself.

I hope this tip is one that you can use.  Feel free to let me know what you think of this or any other tip.  Got an idea for a tip, but no time to research it?  Let me know and I'll write it up for both of us!

Todd's Tuesday Tech Tip #8: Computer Lab Favorites (50 Fun Activities for All Ages)

Hello Colleagues,

Happy Tuesday!

This week's tip is awesome!  

You know those times when a student finishes early and wish you had a 'go to site' to have them work on something productive while everyone else finishes their work?  Or, you might want to use your stand alone computers as a 'center' for a few students during a math, literacy or free choice time.  Well, then this site is just what you need.

Scholastic bills the site as 50 activities that last between 15 and 30 minutes each.

Simply click on either K-2 or 3-5, spin the wheel and make a great choice!  It's just that easy!  Just FYI, this site is on every grade level's page on the HWRC website, so you can have your kids get there that way too!

Here is a direct link

How do you think you would use this resource? Please be sure to leave a comment on theT4 webiste so that all of us can learn from your ideas!

Thanks,
Todd

Todd's Tuesday Tech Tip #7 Virtual Keyboards

Hello Colleagues,

Happy Tuesday!

Have you ever wanted to play the piano, pan pipe, saxophone, guitar, steel drum, double bass, pan pipe, flute or organ, but you only have a computer?  Well, with incredible websites like:  Virtual Keyboard you can do just that!  I can't believe how cool this is and I thought I was on top of all things cool that had to do with computers!


Below are the instructions for how to use the site Virtual Keyboard:
INSTRUCTION
To play single notes on the keyboard:
Click the mouse pointer on one of the ‘piano’ keys to hear the sound (Make sure you have your computer’s sound system switched on!) You can also press the letters on your keyboard to play the notes (see the diagram below). To use this feature make sure CAPS LOCK is off . 

Diagram of keys to press:

The selected instrument is shown by a green light above its name (the default instrument is a piano). The name of the instrument will also be displayed in the LCD panel to the right.

To change the sound, click on one of the nine different instruments. The screen will refresh and the button for your chosen instrument will light up green and its name will be displayed in LCD panel. Click the mouse pointer on a key to hear the new instrument.

The piano keyboard goes from ‘Middle C’ to ‘Upper F’ – one and a half octaves (18 different notes). The double bass is pitched lower but still tuned to ‘C’.

Drum Beats:
There are six different drum beats. Clicking on one of the drum beat buttons will turn on and off a ‘looped’ drum pattern. Clicking a different drum beat changes the pattern. The keyboard is still active so you can play along with the drums in either single or chord mode.


Chord Mode:
Clicking the ‘Chord Mode’ button turns on and off the chord facility. The chord mode allows you to select sets of notes by clicking on the piano keys. Clicking a note once turns it on and clicking it again turns it off. Once you have clicked on all the notes you want to make up your chord, click the ‘play chord’ button to hear it played. Clicking the ‘Chord Mode’ button resets all the keys and returns you to single note mode. Even in chord mode you can still activate the drum patterns.

Here is another site, it is called:  Kisstunes  It allows recording and playback, but only one instrument, the piano.


I found the attached song sheets on Tammy Worcester's tip blog.

HERE IS THE LINK TO THE SONG SHEETS



The next time you have a student birthday party, you can have one of the kids play Happy Birthday for them!  How do you think you might use this tool? Please be sure to leave a comment on the T4 site so that others can learn from you too!

Thanks,
Todd

Todd's Tuesday Tech Tip #6: Fuzzmail

Hello Colleagues,

Happy Tuesday!

This week's tip is one I have a hard time categorizing.  Is it useful?  I'm not sure.  Is it cool?  Indeed!  How will you use it?  I'm not really sure, but with all the creative energy in our staff, I'm sure someone will find a neat way to use it.  Please share how you might on our blog, where all of the tips are stored for your use in the future.

So, without further ado, let's see what Fuzzmail is.

Fuzzmail is an animated e-mail program.  Yes, you read that correctly.  It is an animated e-mail program.  Have you seen a movie in which they showed an e-mail created in real time?  It sort of shows up, exactly as the person created it, complete with typos, erasures, copy and paste etc. 

Here's what the creators of Fuzzmail say about it: 

WHAT IS FUZZMAIL? Fuzzmail records the act of writing and lets you send it as an email. Dynamic changes, typoes, pauses and writeovers are captured and communicated. We created fuzzmail because we wanted a more emotionally expressive alternative to email, so that an emailed love letter does not have to look the same as a business letter.Here is a short video of someone creating a Fuzzmail:  Example

So, how do you think you might use this interesting tool?  Please be sure to leave a comment on the T4 website so that others can benefit from your idea!

Thanks,
Todd

Todd's Tuesday Tech Tips #5: Thematic Pathfinders

Hello Colleagues,

Happy Tuesday!

Is the term 'pathfinder' a new one for you?  If you, like me, have visions of a backpacker making his or her way through a thicket, then this is a new word for both of us.  A pathfinder is, in fact, a sort of guide to the world wide web. 

Let me introduce you to a sight called 42Explore.  The name is kind of a hint about the site.  This site allows you to pick a theme, from general to applied arts. 

The following is from their website:

Why start with a search engine, when you can find a pathfinder to fit your needs at 42eXplore? When learning something new, it's nice to have more than one resource to explore. This web project provides "four to eXplore" for each topic. On each page you'll find definitions, activities, the 4 good starting points, and many more links and resources for the thematic topic. Go to the About Site page for more information about the website.

This is year five of our 42eXplore project. We now have over 200 themes in this topic archive! We frequently update projects in our Topic Index as well as each of the subject areas above. Go to What's New? to learn about recent changes. 

So, they give you four good starting points and you can explore from there.  I really like the part on their site about not just starting with Google when you already have some great resources on this site!

How would we use this in our classrooms?  Well, to begin, if a child has an interest in a particular topic, send them here.  In fact, I placed 42explore on the various grade level pages on our Resource Center Web Site.  Just about all grade levels can access these 4 starting points.  If a student wanted to do a "How To" assignment, exploring some of these links might help them learn more about their topic.  If a child is interested in exploring a specific animal, the 42eXplore site might be able to guide them in the right direction.  If the child wants to do an expert report on a topic and they are just sort of 'testing the waters,' this would be an outstanding place to begin their study. 

What about you?  Have you ever used pathfinders?  How might you use this site in the future?  As always, please post your comments on the T4 website so we all can benefit from your insight!

Thanks,
Todd