Hour of Code

Coding is a popular activity and skill. The “Hour of Code” is an international program aimed at sparking interest in computer science and the concept of coding. The “Hour of Code” week is December 7-13 and encourages teachers and students to try coding, with the tagline “an hour of code for every student.”

Here at Heathcote coding isn’t an hour, or a week. We’ve been using coding platforms for the past few weeks, as we did last year, and plan on to continue well beyond the “Hour of Code.”  Coding is available, and used, throughout the year.

Since this week is the “Hour of Code” week I wanted to share our approach as well as the resources we have available to students. We have multiple avenues for student coding experiences:

3rd Grade Google Slide: The Year Long Reflection

The Project:

Using Google Slides 3rd grade students will create a 13 slide presentation, one month at a time, over the entire school year.

The Why?

It is never too early to start building a digital portfolio and not every portfolio will look the same. But one great way to show true growth and progress is not to publish the best of the best, as most portfolios tend to be, but rather show real, individual progress and growth though the eyes, and words, of the students themselves. It's important for students to think about, and voice, the things that stand out to them the most, their "a-ha" moments of clarity, their personal triumphs. It is also important for students to keep a record of such things and look back on them. It's one thing for us as teachers to say "you've come so far" but it's far more powerful for the student to look at a body of work and say "this is how I've grown."

The How?

Student portfolio sites - Site Maps

All 4th and 5th graders are given web spaces to create, and curate, their own digital portfolios.

These sites are built, and maintained, by the students using Google Sites. These sites are initially only visible to the student and their teacher.

The goal of student portfolio sites is to give students a space to develop on their own, creating their own digital presence and self-directed portfolio, that they can then use throughout their years in Scarsdale. This website stays with them as long as they are students in Scarsdale, and can eventually be transferred to a personal account so students can keep, forever, a catalog of all the work they are proud of.

The first step in building anything is the blueprint...

Chrome's multiple users update

Yesterday Google updated Chrome.

One of the best features of Chrome is the ability to multiple Google accounts logged in simultaneously (previous tutorial post here)

The feature is still there, Google just tweaked the visual...


You no longer see the icons like this:

It now looks like this:

HeathcoteTech's nameplate

The lab @HeathcoteTech has a new name...

Before I explain I would love to hear guesses as to the meaning.

Everything on the sign was done very specifically and intentionally and references both what happens in the lab and with technology throughout Heathcote. There is even a nod to a genre students are very familiar with...

As the guesses come in I'll give more clues.

Thanks!

Updates to HeathcoteTech!

As you can see HeathcoteTech has been updated!

• The page color scheme has changed to better align with the school colors (big thanks to Mrs. Mangan and the Heathcote Herald for visual inspiration)
• HeathcoteTech is now on Google Plus! The content on the Google+ page will mirror this blog, but since some people prefer Google+ as their news and information source, you can now access HeathcoteTech on both platforms
• HeathcoteTech has a YouTube channel! Resource and tutorial vidos will be corss posted here and on the YouTube channel

I hope these updates will help make HeathcoteTech more useful and user-friendly.

Thanks!

The only 2 things on the internet

I have long told my students "there are only 2 things on the internet."

Two.

Nothing more, nothing less.

I use this, especially with elementary school students, as a way to explain, simply, the tenets of safe web use.

The only two things on the internet are

Google Chrome - setting up multiple users

As the year gets underway one of the things everyone has heard me say a lot is "Google."

I am a huge fan of Google Apps as a platform. It does wonders for collaboration, communication, and efficiency. One of the biggest perks is that with our 4th and 5th grades on Chromebooks we can all interact within the same digital environment, just as we interact in the same physical environment.

One of the things that makes the full Google Apps platform work to its fullest potential is Chrome. Chrome is a web browser available, for free, on all operating systems.

The follow is an overview of Chrome and a tutorial on setting up one of Chrome's most powerful features, multiple users. No more need for Safari for personal Google use and Firefox for Scarsdale Google use. Chrome lets you sign in to multiple Google accounts in separate windows without needed to log out when switching between them.

I hope you find this useful...

Why Chrome? The basics:

• free
• supported on Windows, Mac, and Linux (full specs here)
• Google suite fully integrate (ie: search from address bar, sign in to all services once, etc)
• Multiple users

To paint a picture...

Heathcote Network Update

As the 2014-2015 gets underway I wanted to give the Heathcote community a status update on technology, and when students will begin to access the resources (lab, Chromebooks, iPads, etc).

We are in the process of re-imaging and configuring all Mac desktops in the building, so that they all have the latest available software and access to printers. This process should be complete by Tuesday morning, if not Monday afternoon. Currently, students do not have access to their network accounts (district-wide). Typically, students are not allowed to log into their network account until they have been presented with the Acceptable Use Policy (which I will do) or for the youngest students, a lab orientation. This year there will be a slight delay in allowing student access, even after the AUP presentation, all in the name of progress.

In a nutshell, we (the entire elementary tech team, district-wide) are creating new student user accounts and we are re-organizing our network structure and management practices. Planning for this began last spring and was implemented through the summer. The traditional method of saving network files on a remote server and shuttling them back and forth between classroom, lab, and library computers had become outdated, and no longer supported by Apple. This setup became increasingly faulty as more and more students received login errors or had their connection crash, preventing them from saving their files. Moving forward is our best option and we are confident that these changes will result in more reliable network performance.

We are having a soft opening of the computer labs in the week of September 15. This is a week later than planned, but we need the time to hammer out final network issues. The soft opening will involve a handful of classes who are willing to take the new network setup for a test drive. If all goes well, we'll then roll out the lab calendar for open scheduling.

A great deal of planning, coordination, and technical effort have gone into a number of technology improvement projects over the last few months. Too much to write about in a single blog post. More details to come. 

Thank you for your patience and cooperation.

Welcome to HeathcoteTech!

Welcome!

This blog is centered around technology here at Heathcote.

This is very much an extension of Mr. Casal's computer lab but will also strive to encompass far more than simply "the computer lab."

HeathcoteTech will:

• post updates about technology at Heathcote
• cover topics both in and out of the computer lab
• provide resources and tutorials for reference beyond lab time
• house the "Heathcote TechHelp" form for easy submission of technical assistance requests
• house the "PD Surveys" for submitting ideas, wants, and needs for technology-centric professional development 
• be open to all areas of technology, for staff, students, and parents alike

It will also

• have opportunities for student authors, creating original student-written blog posts 
• have opportunities for staff authors, creating original staff and teacher written blog posts about how they are using technology at Heathcote
• post examples of technology projects students have created

Welcome to this new endeavor, we hope you enjoy the updates!