Help - how can I upload files into the google drive space?

Teachers at PRACE need to store audio recordings from class in a shared online space. Lately we've been using google drive for this. Sometimes you can upload files directly from your iPad to the "Gdrive". Other times you might save them to USB stick or a folder on your computer.

Here's a video showing how to upload from ordinary computer (windows), into the Gdrive space.

Let us know in the comments below if this seems clear or helpful in any way (or not). It moves pretty fast, you may need to hit the pause button a few times. I was trying to keep this to under a minute of your time.




Oh wow, i just watched that back.. it's so fast. Constant pause required. Is it watch-able at all?


(If you see a big red "Create" button, instead of the big red "New" button, then you're using the old version of google drive. Shouldn't be around for much longer.. they've been 'transitioning' for a year now.)

Sharing files from Quick Voice (..when the free version doesn't let you share)

A few teachers at PRACE have been using the iPad app "Quick Voice" to record students talking. Unfortunately, the free version has a limit on the file size you can share via email (and also via google drive i think).

We experimented a bit, and found that you can get around this by sharing the file
1) firstly share across to a different app known as "Voice Record Pro (VRP)"
2) and then you can "Share .. Open in" google drive.

(This will only work if you have VRP installed on your iPad.)

What do you think.. does it work for you?



By the way, if you're looking for a good audio recording app on the iPad, I've reviewed several and put together a list over here.

What's your best iPad (or android) app for audio recording?

Chris Mooney talks about using the iPads with students

A while back, I asked Chris Mooney how she was experiencing the iPads in her English as a second language (ESL) classroom. She replied that so far, they have already been looking at YouTube videos and information texts, and it's been fun.

In future, Chris would like to find ways to:

• play interactive games on the overhead,
• get the group doing gap-fill (cloze) activities together,
• get into reading information texts as a group.

You can hear the whole one-minute conversation here: 

What about you -

• what have you done with an iPad in your classroom, and 
• what would you like to learn next? 

Let us know in the comments. 


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Photo by Per-Olof Forsberg, CC-BY (creative commons at flickr).

Q&A session at Spring St Campus - many many questions!!

So, the session we had at Spring St was more chaotic than the one we had at Reservoir Neighbourhood House. Again, we started with brainstorming questions, but this time we dived straight into responding before the full list had built up.

06 May at Spring Street

Airdrop - what is it and how does it work?

Much of this session focussed on Airdrop, as many of you wanted to experiment and get hands-on with it. We tested out sending photos and documents from one iPad to another. 

• How do we know what number is our ipad? We did work this out .. it's engraved on the back: 
• Yvonne (29) Nilanthi (30) Catherine (73) Anna (Da Young) Chris Mo (24) Anna B (75) - all working 
• Belinda (31) - her ipad is very very slow
• can we airdrop from google drive?
• answer, possibly yes, but it's a bit complex

Evaluating airdrop as a way to share documents with students in the classroom: 

• NB: airdrop is problematic:
• takes a while and not always responsive - is it because the file size is huge?
• you only get a second or two to accept - this could be trouble in a classroom!!
• you need to work out who has which iPad, and then track who managed to save the document. 
• Can we change the settings to make airdrop last longer?
• seems like NO is the answer to this.

Is there a better way of sharing documents? 

What about this:

Q&A session 3 - apps for English

A few teachers got together at Reservoir Neighbourhood House in May, to explore iPad apps for teaching and learning. This was the second session we had at the RNH.

Apps worth looking at:

• Spell better, 
• Dragon dictate, 
• Google translate - lets you add words by handwriting, 
• Park stories (Link??)

Apps we’re not so sure about:

A few apps got the vote of displeasure because of their hidden cost. There might be a free basic version, but if you want the full app, you could be looking at over $150 for a class set. 

• Sound English (.com) is $13 per app. 
• PB phonics is $7.50 for the full 1-7 activities. 
• obook Library (oxford) has only one free book (“Jack and his Jeep”?)
• speak & translate is $13 
• Farmer’s lunch - he won’t speak

Issues here: 

“You get excited because of the novelty”, but once you’ve tested them out, many apps aren’t that suitable."

Copy a presentation file from iPad to laptop

Faye, one of the amazing teachers at PRACE, got her students to make slide presentations using Keynote on the iPads.

• The students showed their presentations on the big screen with Airplay, 
• and then sent their files to Faye via Airdrop. 

Then we wondered how to get all those presentation files from Faye's iPad to her laptop.

One way to do this is to share the Keynote file with google drive.. you can then get to the files on your laptop or desktop, at drive.google.com in the web browser.

This is the first video screencast I've attempted with only visual cues, no voiceover. What do you think?

• Too fast, too slow? 
• Is it clear, or too obvious?

Many apps on the iPad allow you to share your files somehow, eg:

• via email
• via a cloud storage thing like dropbox, google drive or skydrive (microsoft)
• between different apps.

How could you extend this knowledge to different apps? 

How would you use presentations in class with your students? 

Great session at RNH - many iPad questions!!

We had a terrific session down at the Reservoir Neighbourhood House the other week (21 April).

Four teachers, 4 iPads, 1 windows laptop and one projector.

Here are the questions & topics we started with. So many questions, some still unanswered.

PD register on the google drive, and other forms

• People were having trouble with the PD register, but we found out that Peter has put iPad-friendly link on the intranet. Thanks Peter!! *

The TV and the iPad 

Yes, we do need the appleTV to broadcast to the TV. We're not sure if people at the RNH will have access to an appleTV. So, what are the alternatives?

• A long HDMi cable and an iPad-to-Hdmi adaptor
• or plug the iPad into a data projector using this cable / adaptor option
• Let's find out more about the appleTV option.. Fraser? 

Looking for some teaching suggestions for very low level language and literacy

Pairing remote control with classroom television

Recently teachers at PRACE have relied more and more on the big classroom televisions to broadcast what's on their iPad or laptop screen.

Unfortunately we've had a weird situation at Spring St where the remote control for the TV doesn't work. Last week I visited Jan down at the new campus, and this was one of the issues arising.

So we called Fraser and discovered the solution. 





Here's what you need to do if this happens to you:

1. Find the small USB dongle marked "RF" - attached to a cable - hanging off the back of the TV
2. Unplug it from the cable
3. On your remote control, find the RF button on the back (the horizontal keyboard side)
4. Push that RF button on the remote, and watch the red light on the remote
5. When the red light stops flashing, and goes constant red, plug in the USB dongle where it came from. 

If it doesn't stop flashing, you may need to power off/on the remote control first. 

Let us know how you go, in the comments below. Did this work for you? 

BTW, Fraser is also looking into ways to make sure this doesn't happen. 

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Photo by User:FA2010 (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

What's the deal with copyright photos?

..or: "learning to love the Creative Commons license".

Photos can be so useful in class - images get people talking and writing, and can help to find common ground quickly.

These days, teachers are expected to reference and cite every image, especially if used in an assessment task.

However, photos on the internet are copyright the photographer - unless otherwise marked. Probably.


To use an image legally, you either need to

• get permission from the photographer or author (if "All Rights Reserved"), or
• find an image that is licensed under "Creative Commons"(you must credit the author), or
• find an image that is in the Public Domain (totally free, no need to cite source - usually very old works)
• find images from a place like Morgue File, where photographers have donated photos from previous projects (copyright-free!!).

You can search several places for creative commons licensed images: for example:

Students and teachers embrace the new iPad experiment

This year has been full of technological excitement at PRACE, as teachers and students have embraced the new iPad gadgets.

VCAL students began the experiment, being the most likely to explore new things. They are now sharing files via a combination of google drive and showbie, submitting their work via airdrop, and more. Teachers broadcast polls and surveys straight to the big screen wirelessly, and any student can also share their work with others via the big screen.

Thanks to the heart-warming success of the initial iPad explorations in the VCAL classroom, ESL and literacy teachers have also begun to explore new territory.

• Yvonne pushed the innovation at one teacher moderation session, when she shared documents for validation via the airdrop technology (files travel directly from one iPad to the others, in the air). 
• Barb has been making stop-motion animation videos with her "Making Connections" group, as they work with images and vocabulary relating to food - particularly pizza. She has also found that her students respond much more positively to the challenge of taking photos on excursion, when an iPad is involved. 
• Rohan has been challenging students to discover apps that would suit their interests and working lives. 

What have you been doing with your iPad in the classroom? Leave a comment and let us know, thanks. 

Video interview with Sia Gazis

Fiona introduced Sia and Michael, and suggested they create an interview-style promotion together for the introductory massage course. Using some footage and photography shot by Lauren, Michael shot and edited 15-20 minutes of additional footage down to 4 minutes.

The editing was done in a free, professional-grade software called Lightworks (free for a mildly limited version). There’s a learning curve, of course, but michael would definitely recommend this software to anyone who doesn’t have access to iMovie.

If you have iMovie.. use that instead. 

Future suggestions:

Any teachers who are interested in creating video with their students, to suit any kind of language or literacy learning activity, please come and talk with Michael.

“I would love to work with teachers & students to make video,” he says. This could suit genres such as explanation, instruction, personal narrative or recount, or even conversation. 

Have fun with photos at photofunia

I found this "photofunia" site via Vivian, one of the teachers at Glenroy Neighbourhood Learning Centre. She uses the site for students when they first join a class there. The idea is that students upload a photo of themselves and do something fun with it, for example turn themselves into the Mona Lisa, or a design on top of a cappuccino.

It's kind of an ice-breaker, but people are also learning basic skills in web browsing and file management (upload, download files, remember where you saved it etc).

At first, I was talking with Barb about using the site with her students in the Making Connections class. However for that group, this would be extremely challenging. They're still learning about files and folders on the student drive.. Barb said she might re-visit the idea next year.

In the meantime, Tina said that her level 3 ESL students might be open to it, so I finished building this help file. Latest update: they might use it as an end-of-year activity.

Otherwise, the help file is still there if you'd like to use it. Let me know how you go, in the comments below.


Links:

1. photofunia dot com
2. the help file (in pdf format - stored in google drive)

By Michael Chalk

Looking back: the last 12 months at PRACE

People often ask, “Why e-learning?” 

For me, it’s about providing a strong balance of flexibility and access. Ideally learners (and teachers) can connect with their peers and explore the learning materials outside of set class times and independently of location, in ways that are simple and straightforward. Wherever you are, at a time that suits you. 

At PRACE, people continue to explore these themes of flexibility and access in more and more practical ways.

Here's the quick overview of what's happened at PRACE in the last year. Please tell us in the comments... which of these stories below would you like to hear more about?

1. Online forums with "Moodle"
   In 2012, people working on their Advanced Diploma of Community Sector Management stayed in touch with each other and with the learning resources using “moodle” - a web-based system for conversation and sharing. Our Committee of Management members began using the same system to improve ways of working together between face-to-face meetings.
   
2. Shared files in "wikispaces"
   People in the VCAL program continued their investigations into wiki technology (wikispaces) for the young mums program. This extended at the end of the year into a new wiki for the main VCAL group. (A wiki is a web page you can edit in the web browser.) Also both groups have been experimenting with the use of facebook as a discussion method.
   
   We also put some audio interviews with teachers and learners on our "Learn at PRACE" wiki.. from one of the popular Morning Tea events last year. Have a listen and tell us what you think. There's also a music playlist on that page - songs relating to employment.
   
3. Blogs & email
   The e-learning co-ordinator continued working with teachers to support classroom strategies. ESL teachers supported their to develop skills in basic email, both at the Reservoir Neighbourhood House and at Merrilands. Some ESL and literacy teachers also began using blog technology to engage their learners, with video listening and web-based conversation.
   
4. Strategic conversations
   Across the organisation, we have begun a more in-depth conversation about strategy, inviting several co-ordinators and teachers to form a small committee examining how technology is affecting PRACE at all levels. One discussion focussed on cloud-based document sharing, leading to a comparison of Dropbox and Google Drive applications.
   
5. Google Apps for education
   We continued to improve and expand our organisation-wide use of Google Apps. Now we have a range of ways to share and communicate information between different locations, including spreadsheets for booking equipment, online documents for reporting to the IT support crew, shared calendars for events, and internet folders for sharing documents.
   
6. Websites with Wordpress
   We've also continued to improve the PRACE website, as well as building websites for Branch Out and West Preston FC, as part of our web of strategic partnerships. These sites are built with the sophisticated  content management system known as “Wordpress”.
   
7. Like our new Facebook and Google+ pages
   We are still working on the strategy here, but we've set up our store-front in both Facebook and Google Plus. Social media is said to be a great way of connecting with customers, students and potential audiences.. however we need to make sure we have the best approach.

Sign in, Sign up. The challenges of email in an ESL class

Last week, i spent one session working with Chris at Reservoir Neighbourhood House, in her "very beginner" English as a second language (ESL) class. One of the English students was having a terrible time trying to sign up for a gmail account. They had tried to connect week after week, and kept getting some kind of "verification code" message.

Fortunately we managed to resolve that issue, and she could sign in for the first time. First task was to send Chris a message. After that, send a message to one of her classmates.

I was so impressed by Chris' patience as the student struggled with the basics of navigating the screen and its functions. Not even a glimmer of impatience or irritation. 

So what does this group need to learn next in the world of email and computers?

• Send an attachment (for example send a narrative or recount to Chris via email).
• Work with folders on the student network drive.
• Work with documents and formatting.

Language issues

How do you explain this with your students?

• The difference between "Sign IN" and "Sign UP".
• Login is the same as "Sign in", but we don't say "Log Up" do we?

Photo by [auro] (creative commons at flickr: cc-by-nd). Thanks.

Blogging for English as a second language (ESL), with "intro to blogger" (visual guide)

Kate M, one of the brilliant English as a second language (ESL) teachers at PRACE is thinking about using a blog to connect with her students. We talked about a few different ways to approach the idea:

(NB: You can find these ideas also in a larger document over here at google docs.)

• Start with a single blog in broadcast mode. Put the teaching and learning activities up and send students to read or listen there. Dale Pobega's ESL Club is a great example of this.
• Embed a video into one post, with an activity where students post a reply via the comment form - Kate's doing recipes and cooking in the class, so she thought it would be good to embed video from one of the SBS cooking shows.
• When you start, you can make commenting open to any anonymous visitors, to save students from having to log in. 
• (Later on, you could get them to sign in to comment.)
• As you get more confident, you could add a form under the video where students answer questions and you get the feedback automatically (eg using google forms).
  
  (..more after the break, including the PDF document..)
  

Email with students - Help File!!

I wrote before how Chris Mooney was trialling some email activities with her English as a second language (ESL) group. And i'd promised to make an easy-to-read visual guide to creating a google / gmail account.

So here it is:

• Link to the PDF document in google docs 
• (..where you can download and print a copy - i've printed it in booklet form on A3 paper).
• The guide is licensed creative commons (cc-nc-sa)
• feedback very welcome. 

I tried to embed the file directly here: it works, but then the page loads directly on the embedded file every time, instead of at the top of the page. So, dis-embedding now.

More email tips - using the gmail "labs" settings

It's always challenging to learn your way into a new software tool.


You know how the old application behaves - its shortcuts and folders. 


The new application might confound your expectations, with different models of behaviour^^. 


At PRACE, we are now using the google-owned gmail to send and receive messages in-house**. And while using the PRACE gmail account to send messages, you may be interested in the more experimental side of things. 


Did you know you can set up a default text styling, for example?
That you can have your text looking a particular way in each message you send, without having to re-format every time...? 


(more after the break)

How to manage your contacts in the gmail

A few people around PRACE were asking about how to create groups of contacts in the google-based PRACE email system. (Also known as gmail.)

So Michael's written a help guide for managing email contacts.

You can create a list of people, for example language and literacy teachers, and then use a shortcut to send a message to all these teachers in one go.

Here's the help file. It's in PDF format (Link), and it's in the google docs system - meaning you'll need your PRACE login to get a copy. Sorry about that, but there's a few teachers' names in the document.. so i thought i should protect the document behind the login.

"e-learning - why?" Come to a showcase in June

Registrations have closed now (22May) as it's completely full. A very popular day. 

Looking for ways to integrate technology more easily with your classroom activities? 

This could be the event for you. 

"e-learning - why?" A showcase for LearnLocal people and organisations. 

Hold the date: 22 June 2012 for your diaries. Come and meet your colleagues face-to-face, share ideas, build your networks, ask questions and learn more about the worlds of e-learning. 

This day is free of charge. 

• To register please follow this link.
• Here's the showcase wiki being developed: eshowcase12.acfe.vic.edu.au/

..and if you'd like to post your experiences of this day, or any kind of e-learning at PRACE here, please let michael know. 

Copy files into multiple folders (How To)

Barb and I were working together one morning, looking for a way to copy the same file into all the student folders. There are many ways to do this, but perhaps the best is a combination of keyboard and mouse action.

Essentially, you need to
1) Hold Down the Ctrl Key, and
2) drag the file across the screen, from one folder into another.

Here's a video screencast by Michael Chalk, where he shows one way to do this:



What about you - how would you share files with your students?