Edmonds Digital Learning

If you want to see a playback of your Google Doc writing and revisions in an easy to view format, give the extension Draftback a test drive. Draftback allows you to play back everything you’ve written in a Google Doc and view it as a movie. With a Google Doc, the revision history tracks every keystroke and the history is available to anyone you give “Edit” permissions to. As a teacher, you can easily play back and analyze the process a student used on a piece of writing. Draftback can be found in the Chrome Web Store in Extensions. Unlike other extensions, this one appears in the document on the upper right-hand corner. After selecting the Draftback button you can see a playback of your writing that looks similar to this: Document data and a stats summary are also available and can be found in the document graphs and statistics link. Once Draftback is installed, it will work in any Google Doc no matter when it was created. Draftback is great way to peer over the sh...

Do you wish there were more technology professional development classes available? Do you want to create technology infused activities to use with your classes next year? Do you wish you had time to play around with some technology tools? Are you wondering how to make the best use of the devices appearing in your classroom? Register for the First Technology Summer Camp!  Check out all the details on the website .  Complete challenges of your choice, apply them to curriculum you teach, and work on them at your own pace. Summer is about having fun and taking time to explore.  Why not make Technology Summer Camp part of your adventure?  Earn cool badges and clock hours! Register by June 26, 2015

Class blogs can serve many different purposes including opening a new venue for teachers and students to share their ideas, work, and discussions.  Few teachers take advantage of this online resource, but it is a perfect fit for the classroom for all ages. Here are 5 reasons why every teacher should consider creating a class blog: 1. Use Blogs to  Teach Common Core State Standards Writing standards expect students to write for a variety of purposes and audiences.  Yet, most writing instruction revolves around how to write essays.  Why not teach students writing through blogs as well?  Technology has made it easier to communicate through writing via text messaging, emails, social media, and blogs.  However, little time is spent teaching students how to communicate appropriately with this type of writing.    Try this… Students write a summary or share their opinion on an topic.  Classmates read what is written and post comments...

Summer is a time for recovering from a stressful school year, relaxing, and rejuvenating.   Summer is also when teachers have time to participate in some unique learning opportunities.     https://goo.gl/nbpLa0 Washington state is hosting 2 different Eduro Learning Institutes this summer that you might consider checking out.  Visit the Eduro Learning Institute site here  to learn more about the type of learning to expect at these events.  Participation is limited to 150 people. Seattle Institute July 2nd The Seattle Institute is a one day institute held in downtown Seattle at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center.  For more information about the Seattle Institute click here . Walla Walla Institute July 6-8 This event is a twist on normal professional development. It is a multiple day event that mixes learning about using technology in the classroom with students while taking time to explore the wine region of Wa...

Technology continues to grow rapidly.  As a result,  more people are connected electronically and are communicating regularly through social media, texting, and emails.  News agencies, businesses, and politicians readily advertise their email addresses or social media pages as a means to contact them. However, the ease of communicating through email or any other form of technology can create some issues if not done carefully. Has someone you know hit "Reply All" with a response that only applies to the person sending the message? Has someone you know accidentally sent an email to an unintended recipient? Has someone you know hit send before the message was completed?  Maybe they forgot an attachment or left out important information. Chances are you have either been the recipient or sender of one of these types of emails.  Accidents happen right?   In order to help prepare students for their future, they need to be taught how to communicate u...

One of the benefits of using Google Forms is the fact that it automatically creates a summary of the data in an easy to read format.  Pie charts, bar graphs, and percentages that provide an overview of the information.  This works great if you are a collaborator or own of the original form.   What happens if you want to share the summary of results, but don’t want to provide other people with editing privileges to your original form?    Don’t worry!  There is a way. Scenario 1:   The class takes a survey.  You then decide that it would be great if the students were able to view and analyze the results.  Is this possible?  Yes! Go to the the summary of results page.  (From the Form this is under the Responses Tab , from Sheets this is under the Form Tab ) Once you are on the Summary of Results page, select Publish Analytics at the top of the page.   This action will allow the people who responded ...

Common Sense Media have launched a new game that allows you to check your Digital (Moral) Compass.  Called Welcome to Anywhere , it allows students to explore real-life issues with social media, online peer pressure, self-image, and more. Using simple story paths, players take each character through a dilemma and see how their choices affect them.  Each "level" ends with a game of some sort (e.g. sorting statements into positive and negative online behaviours). It's a great way to look at consequences of online/offline decisions, and to show students how the divide between the real world and digital world is being eroded rapidly. The cute animation and overly moral tone will likely be a turn-off to high school students, but could always be used as a springboard for a project for students to design their own "choose your own adventure" story and game to teach younger students about issues they may face in high school.