Convert a PDF into a Digital Flip Book

I took a PDF and easily made a free embeddable digital flip book using Yumpa.com.

Digital Citizenship Ready

     Would we put students behind the wheel of a car without first teaching them how to use it?  That is an easy answer, but in a month or so many teachers will do something even more destructive by turning students loose on the internet without any instructions on how to safely use it. Not only do they need to use it at school, but understanding how to be safe and efficient online might be one of the most important skills we can teach students for the 21st century.  There are tons of links and resources on the internet to do this, but most of the time when I check them out I am disappointed or it requires massive amounts of planning time to teach the lessons. The site ThinkB4U is the best I have ever seen. The site is laid out well, easy to use and follow, and very relative to what students are facing today online.

Embed Google Drive Folders Into Moodle

If you already have a bunch of your documents on Google Drive it would take quite a bit of time to upload them all onto a Moodle Server. Another downside is that once uploaded and you need to change something you have to upload it again. Using Google drive with Moodle gets rid of that problem. On his blog Dave Collins described how to do this perfectly.    I ran into a major problem right away, what if there is a test or some other document I don't want students to see all the time? This page by Alice Keeler describes how you would make that individual document private.    I just discovered both of these ideas today as I am taking a Moodle course this summer. This is mostly so I don't forget:)

Web Tools Mind Map

This is such a great Web Tools 2.0 Mind Map from TRIG I had to share it. I mainly wanted to share so I will always have a reference back to it. Find the Mind Map here.

Instructional Moodle Videos

This is primarily for teachers in my district, but others may find them useful as well. Our district is using Moodle Version 2. 5. Below will be a running video tutorial for beginner level tasks in Moodle.

How to create a class  

 

How to have students self enroll in Moodle

How to add a label (use to link to another website)

How to embed a video in Moodle
(Allows students to view videos on your site)

My First Badge

I finally got around to creating my first badge and integrating it with Moodle.  You can create your own badge at Open Badges or use stock badges from Class Badges. Creating a badge was fairly simple and straightforward.  I then just downloaded the image from these sites and uploaded it to Moodle. Go to a class you teach in Moodle, administration, and then badges. You can set the badge to be given manually by you, or you can set parameters to award it automatically to students once they complete a task or meet certain criteria. The bottom picture below is my final badge. The first picture was my draft I awarded to a student. This is their view on their profile page in Moodle. I am looking forward to delving into this digital reward system more this year. Practice and enjoy!!

iTunes U for Primary Sources

I have used iTunes U in the past to listen to a few lectures on history, but it appears they have been doing some innovative work by adding a great primary sources catalog. The best thing about it is the ease of use and search. Most primary document vaults I have seen from government are not user friendly at all! I already got side tracked while writing this blog by one of my favorite writers of the 1800's, Lysander Spooner. You will need to use iTunes to open up the link and I have found that any PDF or book will open in your iBooks. Search and enjoy. Click here or just go to it in iTunes.