Creating an Effective Online Portfolio

Tech Tip:
Converting Google Presentations to PowerPoints




Photo Credit

Creating E-Portfolios With Web 2.0 Tools
Dr. Helen Barrett has created a list of the best Web 2.0 tools for online portfolio creation. Also included are instructions and examples of sample portfolios using a wiki, Googledoc, Google pages, and a blog.

Sample Organization: Instructor Portfolio
The staff at Penn State University provides a graphic organizer to show the organization plan for an exemplary professional portfolio. See also numerous examples of completed professional portfolios.

Five Reasons Why You Need a Portfolio and Seven Reasons Why It Should Be Online
Michele Martin describes why e-portfolios are highly effective career-building tools, and then explains the nuts and bolts of setting up a professional online portfolio.

San Lorenzo High School Senior Eportfolio Description
San Lorenzo (CA) High School has developed a detailed description of the essential items for a senior portfolio. Also included is an
exit portfolio rubric.

Here are samples of exemplary senior portfolios:
Mission (CA) High School Senior Portfolios
Senior Digital Portfolio

Rubric for Electronic Portfolio
Joan Vandervelde of UW-Stout has created a useful rubric to evaluate seven aspects of electronic portfolios.

Tech Tip – Converting Google Presentations to PowerPoints
You can now
convert your Google presentations to Microsoft PowerPoint format.
In Google Docs’ file menu choose "Save as PPT" or “Save as PDF”. You can also
embed your presentation on a website or blog (Video – 1 minute, 18 seconds)

Summer Courses are Filling Quickly – Don’t Delay
Register online
Participate from your home computer; no travel to campus is required. Select university billing, and no payment is due until summer session begins.

Final Call for Courses Beginning on June 9 and June 11
EDUC 744 958 Teaching Art for Non-Art Teachers
EDUC 744 962 Poverty in Schools
EDUC 744 911 Effective Classroom Management
EDUC 744 924 Inclusion—Strategies and Assistive Technologies for Special Needs/ESL Learners
EDUC 744 940 School Library and Classroom Collaborations
EDUC 761 Collaborative Communities in E-learning
EDUC 763 Instructional Design for E-Learning
EDUC 744 966 Implementing Instructional Technology Innovations
RDGED 704 Young Adult Literature in the Reading Program
RDGED 705 Instructional Techniques for Assisting Students with Reading Difficulties
RDGED 706 Assessment and Evaluation of Reading and Language Development


Additional courses begin on June 16 and June 23.
Review the
list of courses including reading in the content areas, teaching with ipods and handheld computers, teaching information literacy with primary sources, bullying in schools, mentoring, educational leadership, teaching English language learners, teaching elementary math and middle school math, teaching writing with the 6-traits, web design, creating digital media (videos), elearning and online teaching, assessment, workforce development, differentiation, building better instruction with technology, Inspiration and Kidspiration.

Labels: ,


Collaborative Revision with GoogleDocs

Tech Tip:
PowerPoint Design/Copyright Do’s and Don’ts



Photo Credit

Google Docs in Plain English (video)
The Common Craft staff members have created an excellent short video to illustrate how Google Docs facilitates collaborative projects.


Google Docs
The Tech Learning staff provides tips on getting the most out of Google Docs and includes examples for collaborative use in the classroom.

Google Docs and Spreadsheets: Collaborating in the Classroom or Library
Christopher Case describes how Google Docs & Spreadsheets has transformed his classroom, and offers tips for veteran users as well as first-timers who want to make the most of these tools.

Teach Collaborative Revision with Google Docs
The Google for Educators site contains helpful articles from Writing magazine with student-friendly tips and revision techniques. Also included is a teacher’s guide with ideas for using Google Docs to create innovative lesson plans about revision.

Google Docs Tutorials
Atomic Learning provides a series of free tutorial mini-movies showing how to use Google Docs’ main features, with special sections on publishing and collaborating.

Tech Tip – PowerPoint Design/Copyright Do’s and Don’ts
Is it legal to copy music from a public library CD into a PowerPoint presentation? What about transferring music from an LP record to an iPod? Alvin Trusty’s humorous video illustrates key points about copyright and effective PowerPoint design.

How to Create a Great PowerPoint Without Breaking the Law (video 44 min. 51 sec.)


Announcement: Register for Summer Session
Are you looking for graduate courses that support your professional development goals for learning new skills, changing salary lanes, licensure renewal and advanced certification?

The e-learning and online teaching certificate courses and reading teacher certification courses are filling quickly. Sign up soon to reserve your spot!


Search/Browse Online Courses Starting in June

http://www.uwstout.edu/soe/profdev/courses.shtml

Participate from your home computer; no travel to campus is required. Select university billing, and no payment is due until summer session begins.

Labels: , ,




Teaching the Effective Use of PowerPoint






Tech Tip: Copy a PowerPoint Template Design

PowerPoint Extreme Makeover
Dean Shareski’s excellent “must see” video demonstrates common PowerPoint design mistakes, as well as tips on how to teach and model the effective use of PowerPoint in the classroom.

Scoring PowerPoints
Jamie McKenzie describes how to avoid “PowerPointlessness”, and shows how teachers can structure the effective use of PowerPoint to promote high-level thinking skills.

PowerPoint Magic
Pamela Lewis provides a quick list of important guidelines for teachers to follow in order to develop the full learning potential of PowerPoint.

9 Tips for Student Presentations
Wendy Russell lists nine critical tips for students to keep in mind when designing their presentations including: limiting the number of slides, choosing fonts carefully, and limiting the use of special effects.

A+ PowerPoint Rubric
Joan Vandervelde of UW-Stout has created a useful rubric which provides clear-cut guidelines for the evaluation of student PowerPoint presentations.

Tech Tip: Copy a PowerPoint Template Design

To copy the color scheme and formatting of an existing PowerPoint into a new presentation:

1. Open a presentation containing the design that you wish to use in your new presentation.
2. Create a new PowerPoint presentation file.
3. You will need to see both presentations at the same time. In order to do this, choose Window - Arrange All. This will show open presentations side by side on the screen.
4. To copy the color scheme, click on the title bar of the original presentation to make it active, then click on the slide whose formatting you wish to copy in the Outlines/Slides pane.
5. To apply the color scheme to your new presentation, click on the Format Painter button on the toolbar, then click on the title bar of the new presentation.
6. Next, click on the mini-version of a slide in the Outline/ Slides pane. This applies the formatting to a new slide.
7. To apply the color scheme to several slides at once, double-click on the Format Painter button, and follow the rest of steps 5 and 6 above.

*View Wendy Russell’s
animated video of these steps.


What Our Students Are Saying…

About the
Building Better Instruction With Technology class:

The biggest "aha" was how much I learned about things I already thought I was doing well – setting objectives, questioning, non-linguistic representations, group work, homework, etc. There wasn't a single module where I didn’t have to think more deeply about how and why I do things and also come up with new ideas to do things differently. ~ Sue Francis, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia


You gave me so many opportunities to better my teaching. I never thought I wanted a Smart Board, but now I will be writing a grant for the department. This has really gotten me out of my trench and into the battle.”
~ Margorae Freimuth, Naples, Italy


Sign up soon for: EDUC 744 956
Building Better Instruction with Technology

Begins October 1
Instructor: Becky Mather


Sign up now for the fall classes in the Elearning and Online Teaching Certificate program.
For more information, contact Dennis O’Connor, program advisor at oconnord@uwstout.edu Phone: (530) 318-1145
Register online at:
http://www.uwstout.edu/soe/profdev/register.shtml

Labels: ,

Must-See Websites for Educators

Today’s Topic:
Must-See Websites for Educators
Tech Tip: Powerpoint Attention-Grabber

  • What are some of the most engaging and innovative K-12 Websites?

  • How are the best new Websites using multimedia to create rich, interactive learning experiences?

(Most of these sites will require the free Shockwave and QuickTime plug-ins to view, as well as a broadband Internet connection.)


Sound Junction
This incredibly rich multimedia site is bursting with information about all aspects of music –- styles, musicians, world music, and instruments. A special feature is the excellent Composer Forum where students compose and play music.

Make Beliefs Comix
Bill Zimmerman’s creative and interactive website where ELL students and other learners can write printable comic strips and improve reading, writing and language skills as well as practice sequencing and predictions.

Can I Have a Word?
Barbicon’s Education’s innovative and visually appealing site, a 2006 Webby Award winner, provides amazing new ideas and resources to inspire creative writing including poems by leading poets, video animations, and classroom activities.

If These Walls Could Speak
This stunningly-designed Atlanta History Center site provides a virtual tour of four historic homes in the Atlanta, Georgia area and the people and lives connected with them. Take your students through each home to view pioneer farm life, the emerging black middle class, rural pottery making, and the grandeur of Atlanta’s early suburbs.

Invention at Play
This engaging and playful Smithsonian site focuses on the link between kids' play and science, and explores the role that toys and play have had in invention. Included are interactive games that teach problem solving, visual thinking and exploratory learning.

Tech Tip – Powerpoint Attention-Grabber

Here’s a quick and effective way to get your audience’s attention when showing a Powerpoint presentation with a multimedia projector:

1. Go to the View menu and choose Slide Show.

2. When you come to a slide where you’d like to draw attention to you, the speaker, simply press B to make the screen black, or W to make it white. Then when you want to resume the slide show, simply click B or W again to reveal the slide where you stopped.

Announcements

Are you looking for a graduate course to meet your recertification requirements in 2007? Sign up today for a summer online course. No travel to campus required.

June 4 EDUC 744 957
Differentiated Instruction
June 5 EDUC 763 960
Instructional Design for E-Learning
June 7 RDGED 701 960
Developmental Reading K-12
June 8 EDUC 761 960
Creating Collaborative Communities in E-learning
June 11
EDUC-744 958
Teaching Art for Non-Art Teachers
EDUC 744 914
Teaching Middle School Math with Technology (Grades 4-8)
EDUC 744 924
Inclusion—Strategies for Special Needs/ELL Learners
EDUC 744 956
Building Better Instruction with Technology
EDUC 744 962
Poverty in the Schools
RDGED 702 960
Reading in the Content Areas K-12
EDUC 744 927
Emerging Issues for Media Specialists
June 12
EDUC 744 929
Web Design for Educators
EDUC 744 939
Intermediate Web Design

Registration closes ten days prior to the course start date to allow time for assigning user name, password, university email account and online orientation practice activities.

Register online at:
http://www.uwstout.edu/soe/profdev/register.shtml

Additional courses begin June 13-25th and are listed online at:
http://www.uwstout.edu/soe/profdev/courses.shtml

What Our Students Are Saying…

About the
E-Learning for Educators course:

“It was a great first experience with online learning! I would, I have, and I will, recommend the course to colleagues with whom I work. I couldn't have asked for a better experience!”
~ Middle School Librarian, Los Angeles, California

“Dennis was a patient facilitator who cares about his students. This class has been an eye-opening growing experience and a foundation for teaching online classes.”
~ Corporate Trainer, Franchise Restaurant Co. Green Bay

“Using Moodle was very helpful, as well as becoming familiar with the survey and quiz programs.”
~ Middle School Librarian, Bechtelsville, Pennsylvania


Call University of Wisconsin-Stout Online Professional Development (715) 642-0209 if you have questions.

Labels: , ,