Yesterday we hosted a Google+ Hangout OnAir to promote the Google Apps for Education California Summit in Santa Clara, July 12 & 13. Our special guests were Day 2 Keynote Speaker Dan Russell, Ph.D. , spotlight speaker Rushton Hurley, and committee members Jim Sill and Molly Schroeder. Each of them shared a brief bio, and then a tip or philosophy from the session(s) they'll be leading at the summit. It was a great Hangout, and I think, a great taste of what it will be like to be at the summit with all of these people - and hundreds more like them. We hope you'll join us. But more importantly, this Hangout was also a great learning experience.For those who need to be brought up to speed... Google+ is Google's new social network (coming up on a year old publicly). A Hangout is a feature of Google+ that lets up to 10 users video chat simultaneously. It also allows screensharing (and other add on "apps"), making it a powerful tool for learning. An OnAir Hangout is also broadcast for other viewers (who can leave text comments to interact with the Hangout participants) and recorded for future use. The OnAir feature is still only handed out to celebrities, public figures, and Google+ users with many followers. I received my access from the Google Apps EDU team.In any case, this was my first true Hangout OnAir, not counting a few "tests" and a conference session I "streamed" at CUE last month. I tested this a few times before the real thing in the afternoon, and lesson one was the reminder that tests are good, but there's no substitute for real experience. Increasingly, I'm of the opinion that this is the best way to learn, though... by doing, playing, failing, and then reflecting and sharing your experience. :)So, I usually do a Hangout on my Macbook (three years old, but recently refit with a solid state hard-drive making it ridiculous fast), but I've had even better reliability with the Chromebooks in my office. So, I tested it out by hosting the Hangout OnAir on a Chromebook... only to discover that I couldn't share my screen! I then joined the same Hangout from my Macbook and was able to share my screen. Initially I thought this was because the host couldn't share his screen, but for the real thing I ran it from two Chromebooks and discovered that you can't screenshare on a Chromebook (right now). I've since tested this... I can screenshare on my Mac regardless of whether or not I'm the host of an OnAir Hangout... and I can't screenshare on my Chromebook no matter what. I read online that this feature was missing on Chromebooks last summer when Hangouts launched, but that by November it was working well on Chromebooks. I suspect the recent UI update to Google+ has sidelined this feature on Chromebooks once again. Hopefully it will be back soon. In any case, I still used my Mac to make my screensharing presentation during the Hangout (I was logged into the Hangout from two machines at a time during the whole event... first two Chromebooks, and later a Chromebook and a Mac.)Unfortunately, we also had other issues - and not just the usual "my mic isn't working, let me rejoin" type issues. Soon after the session started and I handed it off to other speakers, the tab hosting the Hangout on the first Chromebook froze. No big deal. The Hangout persists... but I lost the ability to force focus onto a particular speaker (usually Hangouts do their best to feature whoever is speaking at the time... and having others mute their mics really helps cut down on chair shuffling noises shifting the focus of the video... this is an old school video conferencing problem... but OnAir Hangouts allow the host to click on a particular speaker to force focus onto them). What happened in this case, though, is that the focus got stuck on me, even while Dan and Molly were speaking. Then part way through Molly's talk it jumped to Jim, and I'm not sure why. The focus remained on Jim throughout the rest of the Hangout! If memory serves, the focus was shifting well during some of the live event (for me at least), so I'm not sure why the recording turned out this way. In any case, this is why it's a blog post about learning now, and not something we're promoting more for it's own sake. :)Happily, learning by trial and error (and "lead learning") was something of a theme of the discussion during the hangout. John Hall, a potential attendee at the summit, joined us and let us know he was just learning about Google+ Hangouts, and I assured him that so were we. (I even mistakenly said I'd just learned that you can't screenshare as an OnAir host.) Jim had to pull the "cooking show" maneuver to show off a finished product of a demo he tried live but didn't come together in time (he was sharing Google Calendar . And even Dan tried to show me a trick in Google Books, which wound up not working... but it led us to discover another that did.Incidentally, I also just learned that YouTube's increasingly awesome online video editor is limited to only 15 minute clips, so I couldn't annotate this video, by say, adding this link directly in the video: http://ca.gafesummit.comAlso, JUST NOW I tried to launch another Hangout OnAir (to test something) and wasn't able to until verifying my YouTube account (via SMS). My account is now able to upload clips longer than 15 minutes. Apparently I was able to do that yesterday via Hangouts OnAir, but it appears I can now do that even through YouTube's upload interface. Cool.I hope this post might be helpful to some of you... and I hope many of you might consider joining us at the summit in Santa Rosa this July 12th and 13th.And if you're in the Rocky Mountain region, you might consider joining us for a similar event only minutes from the Google Office in Boulder Colorado on August 2nd and 3rd: http://co.gafesummit.comWe've also got summits planned for 2012-2013 in Mexico City, New Zealand, Hawaii, Australia, Singapore, the UK, and elsewhere around the US and the world. Each of these includes speakers and support from Google - and the potential for touring local Google Offices. Be sure to subscribe to this blog for announcements and updates, or follow us on Google+ and Twitter.More soon...

My personal philosophy of curriculum lies mainly within pragmatism, with branches into progressivism and reconceptualism. I am pragmatic to the extent that I always saw knowledge as leading to personal growth and development. I am progressive to this extent, because I believe that knowledge for personal growth is more important than learning just to master […]

Scrolling infinite number(s) of pages (if pagination is even on) or creating workarounds like "most recent notes on top" should be a practice of the past if you leverage the bookmarks and TOC features in Google Docs. Hyperlinks with and without formatting rules, with easy step by step supports is important for learners.Here's how the Formatting for Table of Contents works:Add headings to your document by clicking Format Paragraph stylesfor the different chapters, topics, dates, etc. within your document. Next, go to the top of the document, click on insert and then choose table of contents. Voila, you now have hyperlinks to specific headings within your doc. Each item in your table of contents links to the titled sections of your document that use the heading stylesThe bookmark feature is great for getting folks back and forth within a document as well. You may not want to change or alter any of your text and  headings, so the formatting and linkage through the table of contents makes less sense.Inserting bookmarks, allows you to highlight a piece of text and hyperlink it to any particular bookmark. Very useful if you are trying to guide learners through a lesson, or guided sequence of content.  Many digital PLCs, admin teams, coaches, observers etc, need to be abel to capture notes and quickly be able to jump around. Setting bookmarks for each meeting or topic, does that for the user. Another benefit, not often mentioned, is the ability to drop friends, colleagues, students into a particular section of a document as well. The hyperlink will work even when you are not directly inside the document.To create a bookmark in your document, follow these steps:Click where you want to place the bookmark in your document.Click the Insert drop-down menu.Select Bookmark.To learn more about Google Docs and all the Google Apps for Education, join us at a Google Apps for Education Summit! Register now for the CA Google Apps for Education Summit July 12-13th in Santa Clara CA and the Rocky Mountain Google Apps for Education Summit August 2-3 in Boulder CO.Rocky Mountain Google Apps for Education Summit August 2-3 in Boulder CO.

As students embody knowledge, skills and dispositions, then they become enhanced theories of their own experiences. What students do becomes their practice. This prompts me to consider what knowledge, skills and dispostions that we in our ‘school’s’ allow students to embody. Do we give them the knowledge, or do we allow them to build knowledge […]

Google Chrome allows you to personalize and customize your browser experience.  Efficiency is the goal when you are swamped with papers to grade, parents to email, a personal learning network to connect with and have a little fun while surfing the web.Google Chrome browser allows you to install extensions that help your work flow in all your daily web activities.Some of my favorite extensions for Google Chrome are...Instant goo.gl URL shortener and QR Code GeneratorThis extension is now retired. You can still use it, but it is highly recommended that you upgrade to the next version, which is called ShortenMe. It now has the very frequently requested feature of saving links to your goo.gl account!Google DictionaryWith this extension, you can:1) Double-click any word to view its definition in a small pop-up bubble.2) View the complete definition of any word or phrase using the toolbar dictionary.Foreign words are automatically translated to your language of choice.Turn Off the LightsWith one click on the lamp button, the page will be fading to dark. And automatic focus to the video. Click again, the page will return back as normal.Clearly by EvernoteWith one click, Clearly makes blog posts and articles clean and easy to read. Clearly eliminates all distractions from your online reading experience, and even allows you to browse multi-page articles in one, seamless view.Send from GmailThis extension will open a Compose window in Gmail when you click any email address on a webpage. It also provides a button that will create a Gmail message when clicked, using the page title as the subject and selected page text and link address as the message.Amazon Wish ListAmazon Wish Lists are universal. You can add anything from any website to your Amazon Wish List making it easier than ever to keep track of all the items you want in one place. Once you download the Amazon Wish List extension to your Google Chrome browser -- start shopping. When you see something you want on any website, just click the Amazon "Add to Wish List" button. Google TasksEasily add and manage your tasks from Chrome in one of three ways:* Simply type "t Your new task" into the Chrome Omnibar to easily add a task from whatever web page you're on.* Click the Tasks icon to add a task, see your tasks and task lists and mark a task as completed* Highlight text on any web page, right click and add that text to a new task.Recently I presented at the Google Education On Air Conference with more Google Chrome Ninja tips. View the recorded Hangout below.To learn more about Google Chrome and all the Google Apps for Education, join us at a Google Apps for Education Summit!Register now for the CA Google Apps for Education Summit July 12-13th in Santa Clara CA and the Rocky Mountain Google Apps for Education Summit August 2-3 in Boulder CO.

Hidden Curriculum There are 3 factors that are embedded within the contexts of schools (Ahwee, et al., 2004): Crowds Praise Power Each of these factors serve to promote cultural values that collectively form a hidden curriculum. They are quite reflective of the dominant ideologies, and serve as the sources of reinforcements for acceptable ‘cultural’ behaviour […]

As an educator you want your students to add images to their writing for a variety of reasons. Whether to add visual support to the writing, add context, or just to break up a text heavy page. But that usually means asking your students to do an image search which can be a scary proposition even with safesearch on or leads to a lesson on digital citizenship and copyright. Or, perhaps, the worst case scenario - clip art! Google Apps for Ed to the Rescue!If you are a Google Apps for Education school and have your students using Google Docs there is a solution baked into Google Docs to help teachers and students find engaging and copyright friendly images. From the insert menu choose image - At the bottom of the option window that opens you can select search which brings up this -From here students can search Google Images, the Life magazine archives, or Google stock images. So...What’s that mean? If nothing else this makes a Google image search that much easier for students since they can complete their search inside the document rather than opening a web browser. But more importantly they can choose high quality and interesting images from the Life archives with permission to use those images. The last option is to browse the stock images gallery. This gallery of images is licensed for use by anyone. By choosing this option you are introducing your students to proper digital citizenship by using copyright friendly media. All right, but what does it look like?No problem! Watch the quick video below to see this in action! For more in depth tips, tricks, and to learn more about what Google Apps for Education has to offer, be sure to come to the California Google Apps Summit July 12th and 13th in Santa Clara California. More information and registration here.

One of my favorite search tools to share with educators and students is Google Books, a powerful free service that allows anyone with an internet connection to... search the worlds great libraries.I'm not kidding, and this is no exaggeration.A part of Google's mission to "make the world's information accessible and useful," development on Google Books was formally begun in 2002. The service launched in 2004 with new volumes added ever since. (The history of Google Books makes good reading itself.) Now you can search the full text of tens of millions of volumes. Access to view the contents depends on the level of access publishers and authors have granted Google users in the wake of a groundbreaking agreement in 2008, but many books are available in full view or preview (which is fantastic for research). Others are available in snipit view, or simply as citations with links to locate the physical book in a bookstore or library (or to purchase the eBook on Google Play if available).HINT: There are ways to access only full-text books on Google Books, and there is an easy to use "Full View" option in the left-hand column after performing an initial search. Public domain books (and some other full view books) can even be downloaded as a PDF in their entirety or as "clips" (images taken from the book). See The Tragedie of Hamlet for an example of these functions.My favorite feature of Google Books is the ability to search the content of a book for any word or phrase. Google Books finds every instance of the search term throughout the book (using optical character recognition, or OCR), provides simple links to each page, and highlights the term in the text on each page. Visual markers on the right side of the screen identify other places in the book where the same terms appear. Imagine the applications for a student searching for direct quotes to back up their thesis... or for your own research - as part of your graduate work, a grant writing effort, or any research-based decision making.Another of my favorite features is the embed feature, available for any full view (or preview) book. This allows you to embed the book right into another site (such as a Google Site). The embedded version of the book is also searchable and can be used to find every instance of a search term within the text. So, a teacher can setup a site dedicated to the study of a particular book (or topic) and embed the book (or books) directly into the site for easy student access.The video below illustrates the search and embed features of Google Books for a hypothetical final project for a unit focused on Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky. Google Books has a number of other powerful features, particularly if you're logged into your Google Account, in which case you can save books to custom "shelves" in your own online library (called "My Library"). Shelves can then be shared with students and colleagues as a way to disseminate curated resources... and shelves can then be searched.You might also appreciate the 3D viewing option. (But, um, you need 3D glasses.)To learn more about Google Books, start here or join us for a Google Apps in Education Summit in your region. I'll be leading a search workshop at each event. :)

Originally posted on Sharing Simcoe:The Simcoe County District School Board (SCDSB) hosted an informative professional development session about social media with an amazing lawyer, Nadya Tymochenko, and Superintendent Chris Samis. We learned about some of the legal issues regarding how schools and school boards use social media. As educators, we need to consider some…

Google Calendar is probably one of the handiest applications out there to help organize our busy lives. But what some of you may have not had time to explore is the additional add-ons that are available to take advantage of.  There are hundreds of user-created add-ons as well as those found in the Calendar Labs itself.  If you open your calendar and navigate under the settings icon to labs you can enable or disable some helpful features.Some of my favorites include the ability to Add Event Attachments so you can do things like add an agenda to a meeting date or Automatically Decline Events which lets you block time out in your schedule where you will not accept invitations and can get some work or family time in.  You will also find that browsers like Chrome and Firebox have additional extensions and add-ons you can put to work for you. A simple search will glean many options.The functionality of Google Calendar is immense and more tips and tricks can be discovered while attending the Google Apps Rocky Mountain Summit located in Boulder, Colorado on August 2 & 3, 2012.