Jesstern.com
Technology + Education
Create a crossword puzzle to review your lessons
Aug 4th
Set aside some time before the end of lesson to break your students up into groups. Hand each group a crossword puzzle sheet with keywords you used in your lesson. If you like, the first team to finish might get a prize.
Here’s how to create your own crossword puzzle. I’ve tried a few and found this one to be the easiest. If you know of any better ones write it in the comments.
Go to the Discovery Education Puzzlemaker and fill up the form and click ‘Create My Puzzle!’
I’ve created this crossword puzzle as an example:
Send SMS to students with Google Calendar
Aug 4th
You will not need to set up your mobile notifications on Google Calendar, but your students (or whomever you intend to have receive SMS notifications) will have to set it up. Get them to go to ‘Calendar Settings’ and fill in the necessary details under ‘Mobile Setup.’ You should do it, too, just because it’s so awesome getting SMS reminders from your Calendar.
Once you’ve done that here’s what you’ll need to do to get the magic to work.
Step 1
Create a shared calendar. On the sidebar, go to Calendars and click on ‘Add,’ follow through and add the email addresses that you’d like to share this calendar with.
If you’re sharing this calendar with a large audience consider making your calendar public so your students can add your calendar with your email address. Another way is to share your unique Calendar ID.
Step 2
This shared calendar should appear on their Google Calendar. Get them to go to the calendar’s settings and then navigate to ‘Notifications.’ Select SMS reminder and set the reminder to 1 minute before event starts (or however long you’d prefer).
Step 3
Create an event and wait for the magic!
Teachers can use this method to send out an SMS blast to alert students of assignments and resources available on the teacher’s blog or simply wish them good luck for a test. Try it out and let me know what you think in the comments.
IMPORTANT: Google does not charge a fee for SMS reminders but you have to check with your telecommunications company if they impose a fee.
UPDATE: As far as I know, telcos in Singapore do not charge a fee. If you’re aware of any charges in your country write it in the comments and I’ll update this article.
Introducing App Inventor
Jul 13th
Introducing App Inventor. A new tool that aims to make it easy for anyone to create mobile applications for Android devices. Educators are excited about App Inventor as a teaching tool (similar to MIT’s Scratch) to introduce programming concepts in a non-technical approach. Programmers not familiar with object oriented programming can look forward to the drag-and-drop interface. Though professional developers may argue that there are limitations to creating an application using WYSIWYG software, I think the most important thing to remember about products like App Inventor is that it builds a bridge for ordinary non-programmers (or aspiring programmers) to enter into a world they’d otherwise never have the opportunity of entering.
App Inventor which was tested in Universities in the United States last year is now available to the public albeit via invitation only. You can apply with this form to request for an invite.
Once you get an invite you’ll need to learn how to use it. Stay tuned for a one-hour long video tutorial provided by the awesome folks at Harvard College’s CS50 in my next post. In the meantime, check out this video to see App Inventor in action.
Back from DevFest Singapore
Jul 10th
Back from DevFest Singapore. Learnt a lot and it has even sparked some ideas for education.
Daniels Lee spoke about Google Maps API V3
I am still trying to get hold of his slides. He used HTML5 slides, which is just wicked! I want to create my own HTML5 slides, too! In the meantime, you can read this excellent tutorial that Daniels gave us. It contains 4 lab exercises and covers the basics of what you’ll need to know to get started on the Maps API.
Jeremy Orlow presented HTML5 / Chrome
Jeremy Orlow also used HTML5 slides to present his topic, which seemed appropriate – naturally. In addition to that you should also check out the HTML5Rocks Web site, cause as the name suggests – it ROCKS! It features some tutorials which I must really find some time to get down to. Another Web site worth bookmarking is Dive into HTML5 by Mark Pilgrim. He works at Google and is perhaps one of the foremost gurus on HTML5. He’ll be coming to Singapore in September later this year.
Timothy Jordan and Bob Aman entertained us with Google Buzz API
Patrick Chanezon introduced us to Google Apps, App Engine and Apps Marketplace
You can follow the latests happenings on DevFest by searching #devfest on Twitter. If you’re interested to learn more about Google technologies I’d strongly suggest joining your local Google Technology User Group (GTUG). The Singapore GTUG holds monthly meetings and events, so sign up and get coding.
My Hometown in Singapore
Jul 6th
For this year’s National Day celebrations, the Straits Times has asked Singaporeans to tell their stories about what makes their neighbourhoods uniquely theirs. Entitled, “My Hometown in Singapore,” you can showcase anything from a friendly bus driver who greets you each morning on your way to work to the cosy ambience of your local library. You can tell your story in a poem, a song, a photo collage, video or any other digital media format that you like. Read the original Straits Times article here.
I’ve chosen to use Glogster Edu for my digital poster collage of my neighbourhood and I think it’s a great way to introduce Glogster and other ICT tools to my students. First I introduce them to the Glogster platform and then I show them a host of ICT tools that can be placed onto their digital posters or glogs as they are called.
Students can create videos using Windows Movie Maker, upload them to YouTube and place them on their glogs. They are introduced to Pixton which is another great Web application for creating comics. I educate my students on the importance of respecting copyright and intellectual properties by introducing Jamendo, a community-driven music portal that features free and legal songs for non-commercial use.
Here’s my glog on My Hometown in Singapore:
Going to DevFest
Jul 2nd
I’ll be attending the Google DevFest 2010 in Singapore this 9 July. You can still register, but attendance is subject to their approval.
Agenda:
08:30 – 09:00 – Registration
09:00 – 09:15 – Introduction/Welcome
09:15 – 10:15 – Maps
10:15 – 10:30 – Morning break
10:30 – 11:30 – Chrome/HTML5
11:30 – 12:30 – Social
12:30 – 13:30 – Networking Lunch
13:30 – 14:30 – Apps
14:30 – 15:30 – Demos
15:30 – 15:45 – Evening break
15:45 – 16:45 – Code Lab 1 – Google
16:45 – 17:45 – Code Lab 2 – Google
17:45 – 18:00 – Closing
Speakers line up:
Jeremy Orlow
Daniels Lee
Patrick Chanezon
Timothy Jordan
Bob Aman
I’m going to London!
Jun 30th
Woah! I’ve been selected for the Google Teacher Academy in London. I’m absolutely thrilled to be among the first 50 international candidates to attend the Academy and to join the ranks of Google Certified Teachers.
I’d like to thank my family and friends who played a role in one way or another in helping me to achieve my dreams. Google is my Disneyland where dreams do come true.
Here’s a video I made using YouTube Search Stories Video Creator.
Google DevFest and Google Developer Day 2010
Jun 30th
Google DevFest 2010 will be held in Singapore on 9 July. If you haven’t registered yet do it soon. The event will have talks, coding, demos and (according to their Web site) fun. It will be a full day event, from 8.30am to 6pm. They’ll be covering Chrome/HTML5, App Engine, Social APIs and Maps API.
If you’ve missed the registration or can’t make it on that day, you can consider registering for the Kuala Lumpur event which is on 16 July. Visit the official Web site here to learn more and register.
The venue for this year’s DevFest in Singapore is:
Genexis Theatre & Lounge
Level 5, Connexis Tower
1 Fusionopolis Way
Singapore 138632
I only just learnt about this event today when reading about the Google Developer Day 2010, which will be held in several countries.
This is a really exciting time for me. With the acceptance into Google Teacher Academy in London, I’m sure I’ll be able to learn a lot from DevFest and meet developers and experts in Singapore. I’m also considering scheduling a trip to Prague or Moscow for the Google Developer Day event this November.
HTML5 Rocks!
Jun 23rd
I’m very excited about HTML5 and I can’t wait to get my hands on some tutorials to try out. But this technology is so new that few tutorials are available online and books are not yet available in libraries and bookstores. Luckily, both Apple and Google are here to guide us through this wonderful new technology.
- HTML5 Rocks by Google: http://www.html5rocks.com/
- HTML5 and Web standards by Apple: http://www.apple.com/html5/
Apple has done an outstanding job in showcasing some of the capabilities of HTML5 but their main drawback is that you can only view it in Safari Web browser. What’s the point in calling it open Web standards when it’s closed? Google’s on the other hand can even be viewed in Internet Explorer with Google Chrome Frame.
Both parties provide source code and other resource files for you to experiment which is great for those of us who have been waiting for a good tutorial guide. And HTML5 Rocks is also open sourced so you can even contribute back!
Video Application for Google Teacher Academy
Jun 18th
Here’s my video for the Google Teacher Academy application on “Classroom Innovation.” Do leave your comments and suggestions for improvements here on my website or on my YouTube page.
