Dear Otto: What Can I Use Besides PowerPoint?

Do you have a tech question?

Dear Otto is an occasional column where I answer questions I get from readers about teaching tech. If you have a question, please complete the form below and I’ll answer it here. For your privacy, I use only first names.

Here’s a great question I got from Kellie:

I want to teach my younger students how to make a slide show with photographs.  It needs to be free!  I have already taught them how to add photos to PowerPoint, but I want something a little more fun and flashy.  I have seen mixed reviews about SmileBox. All tips are appreciated.

The first one that comes to mind is Animoto. It will take pictures as well as music and creates a beautiful–albeit quick–presentation. Here’s my review of it. Then there’s Photostory–software, but a free download. That allows for longer slideshow-type presentations that also include sound. We use it with Windows 7 despite what the website says.

Here are a few others that might work for your purposes:

Dear Otto: Should I stick with age limits on websites?

Do you have a tech question?

Dear Otto is an occasional column where I answer questions I get from readers about teaching tech. If you have a question, please complete the form below and I’ll answer it here. For your privacy, I use only first names.

Here’s a great question I got from Leanne:

I am a Middle School teacher. Many of the teachers in my school want to use websites that state you need to be 13 or above. So far we have avoided them but as technology becomes more pervasive in our school and cooler and cooler websites become available, this is getting harder to stand by. How do you approach using websites that require 13 or above access?

Thank you, Leanne

And my answer:

What a great question. It is getting pervasive and kids are so comfortable on the internet, they find these sites and don’t understand the age restriction. Here’s what I do: I stick with the guidelines. It is too convoluted to get students to understand why it’s OK to break the rule in Case #1 and not in Case #2. Plus, parents don’t understand when our pedagogic judgment is it’s OK This Time and not That Time. It comes out as a subjective decision rather than an objective determination based on facts. As a result, I follow posted rules and find a different website that accomplishes what I need to.

Is there a particular website you’re trying to work around? Maybe I can help with that.

Dear Otto: What Are Good Guidelines for Younger Bloggers?

Do you have a tech question?

Dear Otto is an occasional column where I answer questions I get from readers about teaching tech. If you have a question, please complete the form below and I’ll answer it here. For your privacy, I use only first names.

As we roll into a new year, recommitting to goals of improved writing and collaborating on learning, here’s a great question I got from Chaya:

I’d like to help my teachers start class blogs, but would love some kind of document on policies such as what to post/not to post, what needs passwords, etc. I’d like to get the student work out there while continuing to protect their safety and privacy.

Thanks!

I spent some time digging into what most people are using. Turns out, there’s a list that seems pretty good adapted from Academy of Discovery wiki wiki. Everywhere I checked, this is the list I got (often, personalized to the school’s unique situation):

Dear Otto: What’s a good student email program?

Do you have a tech question?

Dear Otto is an occasional column where I answer questions I get from readers about teaching tech. If you have a question, please complete the form below and I’ll answer it here. For your privacy, I use only first names.

Here’s a great question I got:

I am fairly new to teaching technology ~ the previous computer teachers at my school did not set up student email accounts ~ I have about 200 students, PreK – 8. Is there an easy way to accomplish this?

Thank you!

We use Google Apps for 6-8, nothing for younger. I wondered what others were doing so I polled my PLNs. Overall, most schools use Google Apps if they have students emailing.

I used to teach grades 3-5 how to email (and probably should do so again in 5th grade–I’ve put that on my ToDo list). Here’re the screen shots of that lesson (available in Book II of the Toolkit).

Note: Links are active in the digital copy only.

Dear Otto: What Online Images are Free?

Do you have a tech question?

Dear Otto is an occasional column where I answer questions I get from readers about teaching tech. If you have a question, please complete the form below and I’ll answer it here. For your privacy, I use only first names.

Here’s a great question I got:

I am having my kids create websites that will not be shared publicly. They are “Googling” images and I just want to know what are the copyright rules for such images? Should I limit their images only from certain “free” graphic sites? Just confused by all the rules like creative commons, public domain, copyright etc.. They asked if they can use pictures from Microsoft and I honestly don’t know what the rules are or how to explain them in 4th grade terms.The kids are not trying to sell anything, just creating a site as a way to share their research. They know how to site online resources that contain facts but not sure what to do with images. Is just providing the URL from the website that the image was on acceptable?

Maybe, if those images are copyright-free. If they aren’t, you just can’t use them.

A couple rules of thumb apply:

• Online images are fine (including Google):
  • if the images themselves don’t show copyright notices. Some do and those must be avoided. Others have easily-identifiable sources like NASA or Hubble. Many are copies of copies with no origination trail.
  • if a single copy is required for scholarly research or use in teaching or preparation to teach a class.
  • if the image has fallen into the ‘public domain’
• But don’t assume online images are fine without verifying that conclusion. Show students how to look for evidence of copyright protections (see below), watermarks, and any notifications about fair use.

Before using these images, take time to introduce students to the ideas of copyright protections and privacy issues. I explain what those are, demonstrate how to use best practices to avoid infringing. I teach this unit every year, making the details age-appropriate and more thorough as students mature in their understanding of the process.

Here’s a good list of copyright-free image/clip art websites: