I recently was told by Jared Ward about a fabulous presentation tool called Edcanvas. If you are looking for a way to make your presentations more exciting then you should check out Edcanvas. If you like having You Tube videos in your presentations but are tired of dealing with all the hassles of downloading, you have got to see how easy it is to add You Tube videos from Edcanvas!

The Edcanvas Search Tool bar allows you to search directly from the following sites:
1.     You Tube,

2.     Google images or web,

3.     Flickr,

4.     Educreations,

5.     Gooru.

In addition you can add content from a variety of sources.

6.     Insert from a webpage,

7.     Upload media/file,

8.     Insert from Dropbox,

9.     Insert from Google Drive

10. Insert a bookmark.

Creating a canvas is easy and fun! You can’t say that about most presentation tools. Some are even frustrating to use. Not Edcanvas! Simply drag and drop the desired content onto a tile. You can create a quiz as part of your canvas and show videos, images, and documents too. The sky is the limit with this new, easy to use tool. Take your presentations to the next level and amaze your students and colleagues too.

For more information about Edcanvas visit their website here. Watch Jared’s Edcanvas on Edcanvas here.
--Bobie Glassett

I recently attended a PTA meeting where a group of parents shared their concerns about the level of safety in using the internet at school.  The parents understood that using the internet was critical to teaching effective research, but were worried about some of the content that could show when students are trying to use a search engine to learn more about a topic.  Teaching and reinforcing safety for young people, in most cases, is a team effort on the part of all interested parties.  Sometimes, in an effort to completely protect children from damaging images, content, and people they could encounter online, some would throw their hands up and decide it’s best to “throw the baby out with the bathwater”.  

Dr. Darren Draper shared an analogy that really spoke to the concerns these parents had in the meeting.  He likened learning responsible internet use to responsible pedestrian practices crossing the street.  The street is an important part of life; it must be traversed in a safe way.  The internet is also an important part of life and must be navigated responsibly.  What I’m learning is that in order for me to be an effective educator who can teach students how to safely utilize the incredible wealth of information available online, I need to be aware of the dangers AND the resources.

Our Canyons Education Technology Department provides some information on online safety that is geared to parents, teachers, and students.  There are real dangers to be aware of, but once they are identified, they are relatively easy to avoid.  Find out more information about our Parent Connections project and download the brochures.  Education of these tools (social media-Facebook and Twitter, search engines, and other websites) for parents and teachers is critical to protecting children from the potential dangers they present.  The Parent Connections online safety literature includes some cautions, but also some academic resources for students to help in projects and other assignments.

Through my experience in the Ed Tech Endorsement program, I have learned about some incredible, free resources that teachers can use to help direct the students’ online activity.  A great hub of safe and credible information is the Pioneer Library website.  This service is provided by the Utah Education Network (UEN) and is available to all Utah students.  For at-home login information, check with the school or contact an Ed Tech.  It includes encyclopedias, copyright-free media(sounds/pictures), videos, and other targeted resources.  For a list of some other resources I have explored and recommend for teachers to use with students, click here!

--Katie Dewey

Nearly two months have passed since UCET 2013, and something I learned from UCET didn't sink in until a few days ago. Over the past few weeks I have helped Mrs. Barton at Crescent Elementary a little with a project she wanted to do. Many others helped much more than I did. The thing I learned from this experience was the power of one. It comes down to how one event can make an impact in one person and that is powerful indeed.

If you asked Mrs. Barton about her tech skills, she would say that they are not very high. However, she took on a project using technology in her classroom and enriched the school experience of the students in her charge.  Mrs. Barton teaches 2nd grade and everyone of her students created a stop motion movie as the culminating project for what they were learning about animals. This project took Mrs. Barton and several volunteers a lot of time to get the videos done. I am so impressed by the way she took this on, and how much time she was willing to devote to it. 

Mrs. Barton was the only teacher from Crescent who was able to take up the district on the offer of a free registration for UCET. She went determined to learn and did she ever. She attended a session on Using Stop Motion Movies as Student Projects given by Lisa Ferrara from the University of Utah. She had a great time during the session and determined she was going to take this back to her classroom. As I mentioned, she took a lot of time to get everything together, including purchasing a camera and the software  from her own funds to pull this project off. 

Last Wednesday, she invited parents, Mrs. Shumard, the principal, and others to attend the screening of these films. Though most are about 30 seconds in length, the kids put a tremendous amount of work into learning about the animals the chose to study. They also made backgrounds and other material for their movies. 

I am so proud of Mrs. Barton and her class for what they accomplished. Again, it goes to show what one person, attending one event can do that impacts not just one, but every student in her class.