Inside this issue:Inside this issue:Inside this issue:Inside this issue:

Important Tech Skills for Students 1

Not for Education Only sites 2

GroupWise Tip 2

Internet Resources 2

SMARTBoard Resources 3

Take a Virtual Field Trip 4

More Internet Resources 5

Tips for iPad Keyboarding 5

Google Image Search Tip 5

Create a Web Clip Widget 6

Canastota Central School’s Technology Newsletter

WELL CONNECTED!WELL CONNECTED!WELL CONNECTED!WELL CONNECTED!

VOLUME 2 ISSUE 5VOLUME 2 ISSUE 5VOLUME 2 ISSUE 5VOLUME 2 ISSUE 5

APRIL 2012APRIL 2012APRIL 2012APRIL 2012

“It's time that we stop thinking that new tools are magical and

revolutionary. The real magic rests in the hearts and minds of teachers who show

students how to use new tools to efficiently master the kinds of essential skills that have defined accomplished learners and influential leaders for generations.”

Bill Ferriter, a 6th grade science teacher

in North Carolina, Solution Tree author,

and education blogger

14 Important Tech Skills Students Need

1. Internet Search - students need to know how to do a proper internet search, using search terms and modifiers. This skill is needed for school, work and life.

2. Office Suite Skills - students need to know how to create, edit, and modify documents, presentations, and spreadsheets. Businesses still use MS Office for the most part, but iWork, OpenOffice and GoogleDocs are all gaining in popularity.

3. Self learning of tech and where to go for help - knowing how to search a help menu on software or hardware, where to go to find user forums for help, and where to find the manual for technology is a huge skill that many of us don’t have.

4. Typing - If you can type proficiently, you can get much more work done, and much quicker, than people who don't. It's a skill that is necessary for any kind of writing.

5. Social Media - how to properly use social media for school and work, how to protect yourself, the issues of cyberbully-ing, etc.

6. Netiquette - Internet/Email/Social Media etiquette - proper way to use the internet, write professional emails, use social media in relation to your job.

7. Security and Safety - antivirus, spam, phishing, too much personal information sharing, stalkers, and more are all issues everyone needs to know about.

8. Hardware basics and troubleshooting - knowing what different parts of technology are called, how to make minor fixes, and how to do basic troubleshooting for WiFi, networks, software, etc.

9. Backup data - with all of the data that students create for school and work, it is important to back it up and have access to it at any time.

10. Finding apps and software - how to find, evaluate, and use apps for school and business. Also, how to find quality, free alternatives to paid software, apps and services.

11. Copyright and Citing Sources - students need to under-stand copyright laws and rules, how to cite a resource, and how to properly integrate someone else's work into their own.

12. Cross OS understanding – It’s imperative to know how to use both operating systems. Especially with iPads entering schools, it’s highly valuable to understand both systems.

13. Protecting against viruses - Students should be familiar with virus protection, what a virus is, what it does and how it does it.

14. Knowing when enough is enough – Our world is becoming increasingly digital and online and one of the most important skills is to realize when it’s time to take a break. Students need to be taught how to recognize the symptoms of being on a computer/device for too long.

Compiled from www.techlearning.com and

staffroomHP.com

WELL CONNECTED! Page 2

GroupWise Tip:

Do you want GroupWise to always start maximized

(full screen)? If so, here’s how:

Manually size the GroupWise client window by

dragging its borders to occupy your full screen. Do

not use the Maximize button.

If you want GroupWise permanently maximized, you

can right-click the GroupWise desktop icon, then

click Properties. In the Run drop-down list, select

Maximized.

Not for education only…

http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/

groups/ivm/ice/ - use your photos to create a panoramic

scene

http://www.senate.gov/vtour/ - take a virtual tour of the

U.S. Capital (more virtual tours on page 3)

http://www.learnsomethingtoday.com/ - Learn something

new about various topics every day!

Have a few spare minutes? This site has over 100 videos and items showing how

to use MS products like Excel, Word, One-Note, etc.

http://www.pil-network.com/ http://openclipart.org/

The Open Clipart Library is the largest collaboration community that creates, shares and remixes clipart. All clipart is released to the public domain and may

be used in any project for free and with no restrictions.

http://kidblog.org/home.php

Librophile gathers audiobooks and e-books from dozens of site. You can browse thousands of

audiobooks and listen right on the site - many for free. If you prefer, you can download them to an audio

device for on-the-go listening. http://www.librophile.com/

"Learning is like rowing upstream:

not to advance is to drop back."

~ Chinese Proverb

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Page

The

Tips for a SMARTer classroom!

http://www.3dtoad.com/

3D animations for everything from guitar chords to animal skeletons!

Take Your Class on a Virtual Tour! Google Earth tour of U.S. Capital Buildings Google Earth tour of castles and palaces Mountain Vernon mansion View from the Top as well as inside the Leaning Tower of Pisa Visit sites in Berlin, including the Wall Tour the U.S. Supreme Court Visit Colonial Williamsburg Go to France and visit the Palace of Versailles via Google Earth See the Ruins in Pompeii via Google Earth

In Smart Notebook, you can

add a shortcut to a website or

file easily by using the paperclip

page tab. You can then open

up the file or website from any

page in your Notebook by

clicking on the paperclip. When

you insert a copy of the file it will save with your

Notebook file.

To do this, click on the page tab with the paperclip.

Look at the bottom of the open window. Click on

INSERT, select “copy of file” or “hyperlink. Browse

and find file that you want to insert or type in

address of website that you want to link. You will

see a link pop up in the window. When you want

to access it all you have to do is click the paperclip.

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http://www.accountkiller.com/en/

“Technology literacy is the ability to responsibly use appropriate technology to

communicate, solve problems, and access, manage, integrate, evaluate, and create information to improve learning in all subject areas and to

acquire lifelong knowledge and skills in the 21st century.”

~ From the SETDA National Leadership Institute Toolkits

Student publishing couldn't be easier than this!

☺ no editing choices

☺ no layout decisions to make

☺ no agonizing over finding the perfect

font in just the right color.

PenCamp allows students to create a password-protected page and simply begin writing. The unique page url and password can be shared with teachers,

collaborating peers and family.

http://pencamp.com/

http://www.telescopictext.com/

Click on a shaded word and watch how the language can be expanded in a telescopic manner to enrich the

message. If you click the arrow after Joe's name, you'll learn more about the

project.

http://edu.prezi.com/

Have you created accounts on many different websites? Facebook, Skype, Windows Live, Hotmail, Twitter,

Google and many more sites require registration. Deleting these accounts can often be difficult and confusing.

Account Killer will locate links and deletion instructions to make the process easier.

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Tips for Typing on Your iPad

Typing on the iPad is not as easy as using desktop keyboard. Touch screens make using the iPad fun, and they’re great for some things, but typing definitely isn’t one of them. Finding a rhythm on your touch screen takes a while. Here are five tips to improve your typing and writing experience on the iPad: 1. Keep Keyboard Clicks Enabled – Though the sound effects can be annoying, they’re also one of the only forms of feedback you can get from typing on a touch screen. Keeping this enabled helps to type more accurately, that’s probably why Apple enables it by default. If you disabled the keyboard clicks, here’s how to turn it back on in Settings:

Tap on “General” and tap “Sounds, ”Switch “Keyboard Clicks” to ON

2. Trust in Auto-Correct – Autocorrect can be a source of frustration, but it’s actually very intuitive, and learning to trust it a bit can speed up typing on your iPad. While you’re typing and you see a disaster of letters that isn’t even close to what you intended to write, just keep typing, chances are good that it’ll autocorrect to the proper word. To make sure autocorrect is enabled:

Open Settings and tap on “General” then tap “Keyboard,” Switch“Auto-Correction” to ON

3. Use the Split Keyboard – Splitting the keyboard is by far the most useful typing tip for when you’re holding the iPad in your hands. It’s also very forgiving, because there are 6 hidden keys that let you type the letters directly across from each other if you accidentally tap in that direction. With the keyboard visible, tap and hold the keyboard icon in the lower right corner, raise it up to split the keyboard and move it to a comfortable position 4. Use a Bluetooth Keyboard – If you’re planning on typing anything of length on an iPad, do yourself a favor and just connect an external Bluetooth keyboard to the iPad. It’s very easy to do, turn on Bluetooth and find the keyboard:

Open Settings and tap “General” then “Bluetooth. Select the keyboard to pair

5. Use a Mac Keyboard – Don’t have a Bluetooth keyboard? No problem, you can use a Mac keyboard to type on the iPad itself with the help of an app called Type2Phone. Type2Phone costs $4.99 on the Mac App Store (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/type2phone/id472717129?mt=12.) Another terrific feature of Type2Phone is that you can copy and paste from your Mac directly to the iPad.

Quick Google Image Tip: Did you know that you can search Google

Images with a picture you already have? And it’s super easy! Simply

navigate to images.google.com and rather than typing in your search,

just drag and drop an image into the search bar. Google will do its

best to find a match.

Wondering how this can enhance your class? What about a local plant comparison? Have your students

investigate their local plant species by snapping images of the plants in their backyard. Back in the classroom,

they can use Google to identify the plants and begin their research.

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Feed your mind. Get the best content from your favorite websites delivered to your iPhone and iPad. Powered by Google Reader, Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Instapaper and Read it later. Feedly is a news reader for creative minds, a simple and elegant

way to read and share the content of your favorite sites.

Create a Web Clip Widget

Do you regularly visit some websites just to check one section of a web page? Maybe a “Most Popular Now”

list, a local weather forecast, or news site? Wouldn’t it be great if you could easily keep tabs on those sections

with a single keystroke? Safari and the Mac Dashboard makes this easy with a feature called Web Clips. You

highlight the web page section that interests you and Safari can place it right on your Dashboard as a new

widget. Then, every time you view your Dashboard (usually with the F4 key), the widget you made will

display an always updated view of that Web Clip.

To create a Web Clip widget:

1. Open Safari and go to the webpage you want to make into a widget.

2. Choose File > “Open in Dashboard.”

3. To select the portion of the webpage you want to make into a widget, move the highlighted rectangle

around.

4. When the portion you want to make into a widget is highlighted, click it.

5. To reposition the highlighted portion, drag it. To resize the portion, drag the round handles on its edges.

6. When you’re done adjusting the widget outline, click Add.

7. Dashboard appears, with the web clip displayed.

8. To customize the widget, move the pointer over its lower-right corner. Click the Info (i) button when it appears, and then select any of

these options:

Quick Delete Tip: Quick Delete Tip: Quick Delete Tip: Quick Delete Tip: The Delete key will delete one character at a time. But hold down the Option key and press Delete and it will delete the previous word. Hold down the Command key and it

will delete the whole line. Using FN+Delete will delete the next character. And

FN+Option+Delete works too.