Put Learning on the Map

My wife, Anna, and I spent a few days of our honeymoon in London last summer.  On the long flight across the Atlantic I read a book called The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson.  The book is the true story of London's great cholera outbreak in the mid-1850's and the quest to find its source and resolution.

As Anna and I explored the streets of London, I recognized some of the neighborhoods referred to in the book.  It made the history I learned in the book come alive and feel more real. 

Although we cannot transport ourselves or our students everywhere we read about in our studies, we can explore those places virtually.  Anyone can create customized, annotated maps using Google Maps' My Maps.

For example, Mr. Daniel Miller at Jordan High School created a My Map for his students documenting the London sites of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations.  Check it out below (click on the blue placeholders for details and zoom in and out)!



View Great Expectations - Settings in a larger map

How can Google's My Maps be used in your classroom?

Wikis- Teaching Skepticism

Wiki is a Hawaiian word meaning, according to Dictionary.com, quick.  There is an interesting Wikipedia article about the origins of the wiki web application created by Ward Cunningham in the mid-1990s.  Cunningham's simple idea of allowing users to collaborate online has mushroomed and is a major component of today's Internet.  Users now expect the ability to create knowledge, not just be consumers of it.  On the other hand, sites like Wikipedia create an enormous amount of controversy.  Many disregard Wikipedia as a database of inaccurate information.  Others see it as the democratizing of knowledge.  Take a look at the trailer of the documentary, Truth in Numbers? Everything, According to Wikipedia.  In just a couple of minutes you get a glimpse of both sides of the argument.

So, how as educators should we deal with Wikipedia?  When students do research on the Internet, a Wikipedia link is often one of the first search results when Googled, no matter the topic.  Many students will click on the Wikipedia link and take the information in its article to be fact, no questions asked.  Depending on the article, it could very well be.  However, it could just as well be opposite.

The problem is not Wikipedia, however.  To me, the problem is the lack of skepticism.  And this is not just a problem in the K-12 student population.  Many of us are guilty of it. 

Gone are the days that we can assume that any information from any source is definitively true unless we can verify it.  You can argue that there was never a time when the consumer could assume that any source provided absolutely true information without verification.  When I was student in K-12, I cannot remember my teachers teaching me to be skeptical of fact givers- textbooks, encyclopedias, nightly news, etc., but they should have been.  What I like about Wikipedia is that it forces teachers to teach their students to be skeptical.  I hope that skepticism transcends sites like Wikipedia and students find it when using any source.

So how do you start a lesson in skepticism?  Use Wikipedia, ground zero for supposed inaccurate information.  Whatever you are studying your classes, find out what Wikipedia has to report on it.  Have your students fact check the articles in Wikipedia.  Cross-reference the sources cited in its articles.  Where there are inaccuracies and missing information, have the students edit the article.  It is incredibly easy and incredibly empowering!  And then take that skepticism and empowerment and verfiy other sources of information- the omnipotent textbook, encyclopedia, nightly news, etc.  Have students create their own textbook by creating a wiki with PBWorks.com (click here for our EZ Guide) or Wikispaces.com.

Google Forms and Automatic Responses

Say you have a Google Form.  And say you want someone (you, him, her, someone else) to get an email with the submissions automatically when the form is submitted.  Would that be nice?  To me it would.  And fortunately, it can be done!  Here is one way to do it.

1.  Create your form like always.  Make sure to add a field for an email address if you want to send an automatic reply to the submitter.

2.  Go to your docs and open the spreadsheet of the form.

3. Open another window or tab in your web browser and go to http://sites.google.com/site/formemailer/updates for the Google Script for Form eMailer by Henrique Abreu.  Open the newest .js file (version 3.5 as of this post) and copy all the text.  Or you can download and copy the text from the version here. 

4.  Back to the spreadsheet, open up the Script editor... under the Tools menu.

 5.  Click on Untitled Project at the top of the page and rename it Form eMailer.  Click OK.

6.   Erase all the text in the code body and paste in the text you copied in step #3.  Click the Save button.

 7.  Click on the myFunction drop-down, choose onInstall, and click on the Run button (looks like a play button).  You will be asked to autorize the use of the script.  Click Authorize.

8.  Click on the myFunction drop-down again and choose install and then click the run button again.

9.  If you are still in the Scipts editor, go to Triggers > Current script's triggers...

10.  Add two new triggers as follows and save it.

11. Return to the spreadsheet. You should see a new worksheet titled FormEmailer and new menu titled the same. (Note that the running automatically cell may read "no" for a little bit.  It will turn to a "yes" once processed fully.

 12. Now, go to the FormEmailer menu at the top of the page and click Settings.  You will see an email editor.  Here is where you will create the email that will be automatically sent when someone submits a form.

• Use the Insert placeholder link to have the information submitted in that field in the spreadsheet (from the form) inserted into the email (either in the To: line, Sender name: line, or Subject: line).
• Type your email like you would want the submitter to see it once received.  
• Use basic HTML code to make text bold <b>, text go to the next line (line break) <br>, or skip a line (paragraph break) <p>. 

13.  Save and Close and you are ready to send out via email or post online!

Some ideas for use:

• Principals love this tool for observing teachers and sending them instant observation data.
• I love to use this tool to confirm that I received a form submission in regards to the Technology Challenge, the DPS Technology Showcase, and workshop evaluations.

How could you use it?

On the go? There's an app for that!

I just recently purchased my first "smart phone" (an iPhone).  I was very familiar with what the iPhone could do and how it worked because of my experience with iPod Touches and iPads.  However, I was not sure how much use I would get from its "smart" capabilities- would I end up with just an expensive cell phone?  I am on my computer quite a bit during the work day and have always felt about as "connected" as one could be.  To my surprise I have found myself opting for the smart phone in many cases before my computer, especially when I am on the move or want to accomplish something simple and quick (i.e. email).

The advantage the smartphone has over the computer is that it is very mobile while always being connected.  I often write my blog posts while I have a few extra minutes going from here to there using an app called Blog Press.  It cost $2.99 on iTunes.  It makes blogging more spontaneous.  Rather than making mental notes of what I want to blog about when I get to my computer, I can actually write a few lines and post it or save a draft for later (Blog Press allows me to save the drafts online so I can finish on my computer if I want).  I also really like blogging on the smart phone because I can access pictures I have taken with the phone's camera quickly and easily (no having to connect to a computer, download the images, etc.).    

I have also been following all of my favorite blogs, including those of the Technology Challenge participants, using an app called Feeddler.  It is synced with my Google Reader account.  Feeddler is free on iTunes.    

Another of my favorite apps of late is iMapMyRun (there is also an iMapMyRide for bicyclists).  I downloaded this app for a recent trip to Chicago so I could log the distance and time of my daily runs (also to rescue me if I got lost!).  I have used the Map My Run web site a lot for the last few years.  The web site allows you to click the points of your run on a Google map.  It calculates the distance for you.  The app uses the GPS capabilities of the phone to automatically record the points of your run on a map, calculating your distance, speed, etc.  You can also choose to see the elevation of your run, calories burned, and other statistics.  In terms of education, I think the app and web site can be integrated in physical education, mathematics, geography, and other courses. 

Smartphone users, what are your favorite apps?