Tech Tip Tuesday #2

As part of my new position this year as Educational Technology Coordinator, I have decided to jump on the "Tech Tip Tuesday" bandwagon.  Although some of my colleagues think that I am brilliant for coming up with this idea, I am not the first one to think of this alliteration.  Just google "tech tip Tuesday" and you will find hundreds of examples on the internet. 

Here is my 2nd Tech Tip Tuesday that I sent out today.  It is just under two minutes and explains how to save a google doc to an iPad so that it can be accessed later.  (Note:  It is a read only file and can't be edited.)

If you are curious to know how I made my screencast on my iPad, here is a short summary:

• I used the Reflector app on my computer to mirror my iPad to my computer screen.
• I screencast (record my screen) using the Google Chrome extension Snagit.  
• I upload my screencast to Youtube, which is an option when you have created a video using Snagit.

For Next Year!

Thinglink
This application is fun to use and looks like it has a lot of potential for both teacher and student use.  Right now teachers are invited to participate in the Thinglink Teacher Challenge this summer.  I have decided that one of my professional development goals would be to use at least two new applications to integrate into the teaching next year, and this will be one of them.  Here are the two Thinglinks that I made so far for the Thinglink Teacher Challenge:

American Mahjong
 

Blue Ribbons for Meg


 
I am looking forward to the next group of challenges so that I can maximize Thinglink's potential.

AppleTV, Reflector App & Minecraft

The other day my daughters were both playing Minecraft.  They are obsessed!  (Did I mention that my girls are 9 and 5 years old?!)  Anyway, they like to play on their iPods or my iPad and then project their worlds on our family television using the AppleTV, but you can only project one device onto the AppleTV.  Then the wheels in my brain started turning!  I can have them both mirror their devices at the same time.  Even better, I can have them be in the same world, project both to the AppleTV to see each other's perspective.  Here is what I did:

1. I mirrored my Macbook Pro onto the AppleTV.
2. I used the Reflector app so that my girls could then mirror to my computer.
3. Both screens then pop up on my computer screen which is mirrored through the AppleTV onto our TV.

Here's a picture of what it looked like:  (Sorry that it isn't a great picture.)

So cool!  Except, it was a bit glitchy and it crashed.  We will try again soon.

I should also mention that I have used this same set up in my class of 16 students with iPads.  I was looking for a way to get all of my student's screens onto my computer screen.  Reflector seemed like the perfect app.  It worked for a few minutes but once again, it crashed.  Maybe too many iPads logged on at once?

Well no matter what, this is an interesting concept to explore.