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| Leading a group of 19 ninth graders through a creek on a rainy day three days before Thanksgiving sounds like a daunting task. Assistant Superintendent Vince Condro even made the journey in his wing tips! All this was done without anyone getting wet, and with a great program called Keynote to create a VFT or Virtual Field Trip. In Earth Science, getting students into the outdoor classroom is a wonderful way to reinforce and powerfully illustrate classroom concepts. However, logistical constraints as well as the impracticality of taking nearly 200 Earth Science students into geologically significant areas keeps us from taking many, or any, field trips. Through a partnership with Colgate University’s Dr. Don Duggan-Haas, New Hartford’s own Bob Allers, Chris Cleveland, and Jud Spanneut (pictured below working with a student) have begun developing Virtual Field Trips for Earth Science Students. The VFT concept was introduced to Spanneut during a 2005 summer workshop he attended at the Paleontological Research Institution in Ithaca,  New York that was facilitated by Dr. Duggan-Haas. “Our first VFT was to Chapman Creek. Although many people are not aware of it, there is a small stream behind the Junior High. To create this VFT, we [the teachers of Earth Science] took a real field trip to the creek in order to collect samples and take photographs of the stream and the exposed bedrock.” says Spanneut. As part of developing the Chapman Creek VFT, Jud gained inspiration and skills from Teacher Center training using Keynote, a presentation software package made by Apple that is similar to PowerPoint but with lots of digital pizzazz and polish. PowerPoint users can figure out Keynote in a snap. However, the real benefit of Keynote for presentation development is the ease of integrating audio, visual, and animation elements using many of the software programs commonly used in Mac OS X. This program allows nearly seamless incorporation of other iLife programs such as GarageBand, iTunes, iMovie, and iPhoto as well as quick import of internet images (such as topographic maps) as well as content from Google Earth. A series of digital slides guided the students through the stream valley. Each slide represented a ‘stop’ on the VFT. Audio clips prompted students to answer questions, use reference materials, and even examine labeled hand specimens. Student response to the use of Keynote for the VFT was very positive. Since this was the first VFT the Earth Science department created, input from students is being gathered, evaluated, and modifications will be made for future Keynote-based VFTs. “Ironically, a significant amount of them asked for more paperwork to accompany the VFT. We feel this trial run was extremely successful and look forward to developing more.” Spanneut concluded. If you would like to learn more about Keynote, check it out here or look for more training through the Teacher Center in the Spring.
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|  You may or may not be familar with Mac OS X's Universal Access, which includes features that were designed to make OS X computers accessible to people with physical or visual disabilities. One of these features, Zoom, allows you to magnify your computer screen up to 20 times! This feature may not seem very useful but you may not realize that it can be especially handy when giving a presentation or computer tutorial and you want to highlight a particular area of the screen in large detail. For example, when you're teaching students how to use a piece of software, you can zoom in on buttons and menus, so the whole class can see more closely what you are speaking about. To use this awesome, built-in feature of Mac OS X, there are only a couple simple keyboard shortcuts you need to know!
To start with, the Zoom function can be enabled and disabled by pressing Command-Option-8. Once turned on under your OS X account, you will see no visual indicator that is working. (Trying to zoom in or out will let you know its working.) Also note that once the Zoom feature is on, it remains enabled under your account until you turn it off using Command-Option-8 again. Once it has benn turned on, it even works if you use another computer such as one in the Media Center, not just your teacher computer!
Once enabled, the Zoom feature will now allow you to press Command Option-Equals (=) to zoom in. Each time you use the Zoom In key combination, the screen will magnify slightly larger.
Conversely, Command-Option-Dash(-) can be used to zoom out. Each time you use the Zoom Out key combination, the screen will decrease its magnification slightly until you return to your orginal screen resolution.
- The zooming keyboard strokes can be done at anytime using any program in OS X!
- If you are zoomed in and "lose" where you are or just want to turn off zooming all together, you can return to normal magnification by simply turning the Zoom feature back off using Command-Option-8 again.
One last bonus tip: If you are using an Apple portable that includes trackpad scrolling and are running Mac OS X 10.4.8, you can use the trackpad in addition to keyboard commands, to control screen zooming. To zoom the image on the screen using the trackpad, hold down the Control key and slide two fingers in a forward motion on the trackpad. Holding Control down and using a two finger reverse motion on the trackpad will zoom back out!
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For years, teachers have used PBS’ rich educational television programs to engage their students. Now, WCNY and other public television stations throughout New York State, are providing a new way to use educational videos in the classroom. Using the EdVideo Online website, sponsored by PBS & the New York State Lottery and powered by Power Media Plus, Inc. video services, teachers have access to a digital library of 50,000+ multimedia elements 24 hours a day, 365 days a year—all correlated to New York State Learning Standards. Once you sign onto the system, you can download or stream the video clips, customize lesson plans with selected clips, or share lessons using video clips with your colleagues!
With more than 3,200 educational core-curriculum videos and 15,000 video clips, EdVideo Online content has been created by 30+ nationally renowned producers such as United Learning, Weston Woods, TV Ontario, Environmental Media, and Rainbow Educational Media. Best of all, each video is correlated to NYS Learning Standards by New York State teachers. Additionally, even though there are thousands of videos and video clips currently online, new content is added daily so there is no more waiting until next year to see new titles become avaliable. One of the nicest features of the site is the “This Day in History” calendar with correlating video clips to commemorate events in history. Teachers can simply click a date to view events and video titles for that day. Some of the other useful features of EdVideo Online are that videos can be played in full, or broken down by smaller clips so there is no “fast-forwarding” to the portion you want to show in a lesson and that all of the videos are accompanied by Teacher Guides and Black Line Masters. Ed Video Online also provide an ever growing collection of images, audio clips, and podcast links that can used to supplement instruction. So what are you waiting for? All New Hartford teachers as well as any teacher in New York State have free access to EdVideo Online. To log on here in New Hartford, simply use your OS X username and password. If you already have an account from using the unitedstreaming.com video service from last year, your username and password may still work or simply try adding NH to the end of your username. If you experience any difficulties logging onto EdVideo Online, see your Building Technology Coordinator for assistance. Check out the site today and see what you can do with video in your classroom lessons. To get started, use the QuickLinks above to log in and then explore some of the main areas of this awesome teaching resource.
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 | | SHARE THE NEWS | | |
 Know teachers who would like to read the New Hartford Tech Spotlight but aren't receiving it by email? Send them to the online version of the New Hartford Tech Spotlight to read about the latest technology happenings in New Hartford Schools. |
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| MISSED AN ISSUE? |
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| All the great issues of the New Hartford Tech Spotlight are now avaliable online. Just go here to view the Past Issue Archives and find the issue you missed! Enjoy! |
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| SOFTWARE SIDEBAR |
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Free Ruler is a nifty program that provides floating vertical and horizontal rulers so you measure anything on your computer screen! This is a great little tool when you would like know how big some area onscreen is and can't measure using a ruler found in a computer program (i.e. - the ruler in a Microsoft Word document.) For example, suppose you were placing an image on a web page and wanted to know how big of an area you had to work with. Free Ruler would be the tool to use. Once you measure the area with Free Ruler, you can then know the right measurements to size your graphic perfectly! This little program is a free download and can already be found on all Mac OS X computer in the district. Just take a quick look in the Applications folder and the next time you want to measure something, remember Free Ruler and see what it can do for you! |
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