Tag Archives: Google Apps

General, School Media Specialist

Six tools for creating videos on Chromebooks

Flaming LightbulbHas your school made a switch to using Chromebooks? Wondering how to get the most out of the video features? This article features six video tools that work well with Chromebooks.

WeVideo is the most recommended tool of the six. It has the most features available, including templates for new users to follow, the ability to upload your own media clips, and an app that allows you to save your video projects in Google Drive. It even has apps for Android and iPhone so students can use their own images and videos in their projects.

Interested in using animation in your videos? Try Wideo or Powtoon. They also include user-friendly templates, slideshows, and the ability to add your own narration.

Finally, the article also includes two helpful how-to videos, one about Stupeflix (where you aren’t required to create an account!) and the other showing audio slideshow creation on YouTube.

If you are looking for classroom video tips in general, check out our earlier post here.

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/q2demy8, licensed under CC BY 2.0
Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

AASL Recommended App: Touch Van Gogh

touch_vangoghThe American Association of School Librarians (AASL) came out with their 25 Best Apps for Teaching & Learning. The apps were chosen because they foster innovation, creativity, active participation, and collaboration.

The Touch Van Gogh app reveals the secrets in and behind the paint on Vincent van Gogh’s canvases. While exploring “the location, history, style and composition of the paintings, students will enjoy rubbing the screen to reveal art hidden under some of the paintings as they discover that Van Gogh recycled his canvases.” AASL recommends using this app for art classes studying composition, color, style, media and Van Gogh’s works.

This award-winning app is FREE for iOS devices and on Google Play. AASL recommends it for Upper Elementary, Middle, and High School students.

Touch Van Gogh App – details & download

Academic, General

Colleges move to the cloud

Cumulus_clouds_in_fair_weatherRecently on EdTech, Tommy Peterson wrote a piece about three colleges and universities sharing advice for a successful cloud migration. Moving to the cloud can mean faculty, staff, and students having a Google Apps account or even a Microsoft Office 365 account.

In our 24/7 always connected world, cloud services allow faculty, staff, and students the ability to access their account, documents, and collaborate with others. Besides being always-on, being in the cloud allows for instant updates. “Cloud apps are agile, designed to evolve much faster than IT can make changes in-house. And colleges need scalability, which is a fundamental element of the cloud.”

Locally, the University of Minnesota has made the move to the cloud too. Jim Hall, IT director at the University of Minnesota Morris campus, pointed out the bonus for IT efficiency. “Google has reduced his campus’s IT costs and the resources required to support multiple email clients, calendaring, and more, which frees his staff to work on supporting faculty in teaching.” Another unique bonus has been the Google phone tool to make free long distance calls. By increasing its use, staff have managed to cut monthly phone call costs from $75 to $9.50 per month.

Special tip: have an exit strategy. “You need an exit strategy from the moment you create the partnership (between the cloud service and your institution), and you need to review it regularly,” says Gartner Research Director Terri-Lynn Thayer. “You don’t want to wait until there’s a problem. Sometimes it’s just a matter of greener pastures — you find a better service for your needs.”