Book Creator is one of the 8 district purchased tools and a great way for students and teachers to get creative in crafting digital books. In Book Creator you can combine text, images, audio and video to create:
Recently, Book Creator added numerous accessibility improvements in their latest update. A few of their updates are:
Add Captions to video and Transcripts to AudioNow you are able to auto-generate captions for videos that you add to Book Creator. Generate the captions and then manually edit them as needed. When recording audio, you can now add transcripts to your recording. Book Creator developed speech-to-text functionality in November 2017, but now they’ve supercharged it so you can dictate your text in 120 different languages. Directions: Add Captions to Video Directions: Generate a Transcript Directions: Use Your Voice to Type the Words Navigate using the KeyboardThese new features support those with vision impairments. Some people with hand tremors find using a mouse very difficult and therefore usually use a keyboard. Keyboard navigation can help those who have difficulty with the hand-eye coordination required for using a mouse, and also supports those who may struggle locating the pointer on a screen. Improved Color Contrast![]() Updates have been made to make the screen easier to read. Fonts and images have been updated. Read to Me FunctionRead to me is a great feature that allows students to have books that are shared with them. Not only is the book read to them, but students can change the settings to have the speech rate changed, the page displayed changed, and have the book read in different voices and language. For more information: intercom.help/bookcreator/en/articles/2398649-read-to-me-in-book-creator What does this Mean for Education?Equality. Inclusion. Differentiation. These are important considerations as technology becomes more and more prevalent in education, and we want to remain right at the forefront of accessibility in education. ~Dan Kemp, Book Creator Tools for School’s Marketing & Community Manager Other FeaturesAlong with the added accessibility features, book creator has some other great features that add some amazing functionality to your books. A few of these features are autodraw, app smash, embed media, and insert audio to name a few. Let us know what amazing things you've been doing with Book Creator to enhance creativity and provide accessibility for all students! Ed Tech Resources
0 Comments
Best Practices with school-based YouTube accounts![]() School administrators are now able to request a school-based YouTube account (schoolnameyoutube@jeffcoschools.us). Administrators may request the creation of a school-based YouTube account by submitting a work ticket in ESS. Having a school-based YouTube account allows the school’s video content to live with the school, rather than on an individual staff member’s YouTube channel. For security purposes, these accounts cannot be used to log into any other applications other than YouTube. For more information on school-based YouTube channels, please see this best practices document. Trouble Viewing YouTube Videos in Jeffco?![]() YouTube uses a safe-search filter, separate from our network filter, to keep our students from viewing inappropriate content. This can cause issues when users outside of our domain (guests and parents) try to watch videos while on our Jeffco Community network. If you are on our network, but not logged into our domain (@jeffcoschools.us account), videos not approved by Jeffco AND Google will not play. These same videos would play, without issue, at home where YouTube is not restricted. The best way to ensure that your videos will play for all users, on all networks, is to upload them from Drive, rather than link them from YouTube. For more support on this issue, please see this support document. Google Classroom ORIGINALITY Reports & Rubrics![]() Originality reports and rubrics are are two newly available Google Classroom tools. Originality reports support instructors in detecting plagiarism in student work. Students can use the reports to check their work for citation accuracy and for poor paraphrasing before they submit their assignment. This allows students the opportunity to improve their work based on the feedback provided by the originality report. Google allows teachers to activate originality reports on 3 assignments per classroom. The rubric feature creates opportunities for students to set expectations, provide feedback and evaluate student work. Educators might consider using rubrics for complex assignments that require multiple steps and/or criteria. You can attach a rubric to an assignment a way for students to reference when understanding their grades.
Read & Write for Google in Shared Drives![]() In becoming better acquainted with our new digital tools this year, we have discovered that PDFs stored in Shared Drives are not compatible with Read and Write PDF Reader. This is because Read and Write is tied to an individual user's account, and when files are moved into a Shared Drive, they are no longer associated with individual users. If you need to use Read and Write's features on a PDF in a shared drive, the best option is to make a copy and then move the PDF to your individual drive. Please see this help article for additional support. It's been a while since we've had information about Schoology shared out so here are a few quick items to help you stay up-to-date. In case you haven't heard, back in late 2019 PowerSchool purchased Schoology. What does this mean for current Schoology users? Nothing is changing, and we will see enhanced features and options in the future according to our Schoology connections. We will keep you updated as new features become available. If you want to read more about the acquisition, click here. ![]() Digital Assessments in Schoology Assessment season is right around the corner and many teachers and students are working on preparing to share their amazing learning and knowledge. Did you know Schoology can serve as a robust platform for digital assessments providing practice opportunities for students of all ages? Schoology Tests/Quizzes have a wide variety of options for teachers to create customized assessments in a variety of ways. ![]() A few of the customization features for teachers include:
For more information on how to use Schoology assessment features, you can visit the Schoology Help Center. Check out the Course Materials resources or more specifically resources for Tests/Quizzes to get started. Schoology Kiosk for Jeffco Chromebooks ![]() Schoology has a Kiosk available for students on any Jeffco owned Chromebook. The Schoology Kiosk allows students to enter Schoology and work only in Schoology on their Chromebook without having access to any external content such as a web browser. The Schoology Kiosk can be a useful tool for teachers to provide students learning and assessment experiences in a more controlled environment. To learn more about using the Schoology Kiosk on district-owned Chromebooks, take a look at the Schoology Kiosk Google Doc. There is also a link included on the document for access to a quick video demonstration. Course Deletion Issue ![]() Jeffco Schoology is set up to automatically create courses for every teacher coinciding with their class rosters in Infinite Campus. Teachers will see their classes auto-populating the Course Section of their Schoology account. It is asked that teachers DO NOT DELETE these auto-created courses in Schoology. When a teacher deletes an auto-created course, it creates a backlog of Schoology sync issues and also causes students issues with seeing current or future courses they are auto-enrolled in. Once an auto-created course is deleted by a teacher, it cannot be reinstated. It is asked that if teachers aren't using those courses, or they don't want them interfering with current courses, they move them to the bottom of their course list. This can easily be done in the My Course section of Schoology by dragging courses in the order of desired preference. Teachers can delete any courses they have created at anytime without issue, this only applies to the auto-created courses within Schoology. If you have questions or would like further support, please reach out to either Nick Steinmetz or Lisa Summit in the Jeffco Educational Technology Department. More Schoology updates, new features, and opportunities for learning will be coming in the next few months. If you have questions about Schoology you can contact the above supports at anytime or reach out to your Jeffco Ed Tech Specialist.
![]() Nearly any content area unit at any grade level involves learning important academic vocabulary to help students understand and articulate their knowledge in a manner that shows their newfound comprehension. Vocabulary comprehension is a critical skill when it comes to demonstrating understanding on the CMAS assessment, as well. Students are not able to comprehend vocabulary without picturing, and technology is able to engage support students in that task. Pear Deck’s Flashcard Factory is a little-known feature that helps engage students in this work in a new, game-based way! Pear Deck explains, “In the Flashcard Factory, students work together to create the best example sentences and illustrations for your vocabulary terms. At the end of the game, you can review and choose the final flashcard set as a group. Finally, print the final set or export it to Gimkit for free. Students can play review games with their cards at home, and all of the fun examples they created will help them remember and better understand the terms.” Getting started with Flashcard factoryStep 1 - Create a vocabulary list Go to peardeck.com and log in as a teacher (use your jeffcoschools.us email address!) to open your Pear Deck Home. Please note: You must use a Google account to play the Flashcard Factory game at this time! When you reach Pear Deck Home, click Start a Vocab List: Step Two: Add Vocabulary Terms to your List Teachers can find a Vocabulary List by Subject, paste in their own list, or type in terms. Merriam-Webster is on call to help you fill in definitions as you go. You get to choose whether or not to provide students a definition. Learn more about creating a list. Step Three: Play the Flashcard Factory Game When you're ready to begin, click the blue Play Flashcard Factory button (see the image above). Pear Deck displays instructions on your screen (the Projector View) telling students how to join the game. Just like they enter a Slides Session, students need to go to joinpd.com, log in with their Google Account, then enter the code to join. Students' names will appear on the teacher’s screen as they join. Students are automatically assigned a partner to create example sentences and illustrations for the new terms during the game. Once they have joined the session, teachers will click Clock in to enter the Production Phase. Students can then start creating their cards. As a class, students can review the cards on the Projector View and choose the best examples to be included in the final Flashcard Set. Learn more about how the game is played. Step Four: Choose the final Flashcard Set When you are ready for students to stop working in the Production Phase, and you want to decide which cards to send to the final set, go to Quality Control. In Quality Control, you can approve cards for the final set (or dismiss them). The students can get in on the fun here as well! After completing the Quality Control phase, click on the Shipping Phase button. Step Five: Export, Print, and Review In the Shipping Phase, click on Print or Export Set. A new window opens. Click on Print Flashcard Set or Export to Gimkit. If you choose Print, the Print menu opens. If a Flashcard does not have a definition, example, or image, we provide space for students to fill in their own copy or image after printing. You can also play fun study games on products like Gimkit! We hope you find a way to utilize this secret gem of a game/instructional tool soon! As always, if you have questions, please contact your EdTech Specialist to get started. Resources:![]() One of the digital tools purchased for all teachers and students this year is Discovery Education. You may remember this tool for its amazing video collection, but it is so much more. Discovery Education (DE) contains standard-aligned, digital curriculum resources for staff and students. ![]() With the easy interactive search features, teachers have the choice of searching for content by Trends, by Subject, and by Colorado Academic State Standards. ![]() One of the most surprising resources in DE are the Professional Development teacher resource tabs. Teachers can join DE’s lesson sharing and social network in the Educator Network and Professional Learning tabs. Teachers share lesson ideas, find instructional strategies, located Discovery Ed learning opportunities around the country, and ways to become a DEN Ambassador. The Instructional Strategies tab offers cross content teaching strategies. ![]() The last section is the heart of creation and workflow. Teachers can create Studio Boards, “favorite” videos & channels, and much more under the My Content tab. This is a place where everyone in the same school can also share resources; both teacher or student created material. Studio is really where content creation lives. Teachers can create Studio Boards to share with students much like a multimedia text set or a traditional poster board (see Studio features image). Students also have Studio. They can create their own content and then share it back to their teacher through the Classroom feature. DE has workflow built right into the program. ![]() So far this school year, students have created over 2,000 Studio boards. Students are typically creating science and social studies boards to demonstrate their learning and share with others in their class. The sample below is a middle school student’s board. Your EdTech specialist is excited to share more about this amazing tool. |
Connect:Categories
All
Archives
May 2022
|