Oooooooooooh, those Viruses

The Schenk LMC was attacked by viruses this week. Even the circulation computer was infected. While this was certainly an inconvenience maybe there are some lessons to be learned.

1. There is always a risk with checking personal email accounts at school. Not only is there a risk of home / work data contamination, as in our recent experience, if your home email account is compromised it can affect several computers on the network.

2. If you do check your personal email you need to make sure they are safe from viruses. MMSD uses a program called Sophos that checks our computers for viruses. They offer a decent set of security tools for free, please use them.

http://www.sophos.com/en-us/products/free-tools.aspx

3. Most malware starts with a click from an email or Facebook. If you get that email about an Aunt you never knew leaving you loads of cash, don't click the link. Much malware can be prevented with common sense.

4. Gmail recently changed a long held default. If you click the cog and then settings make sure "ask before displaying external images" is checked. This will keep email as it was intended a text only medium. Displaying images or HTML view makes it very easy for malware to be executed without any action on your part.

5. On a recent tech show it was stated that 90% of all viruses or malware were Java exploits. The same show stated that 70% of goverment and businesses were using very outdated versions of Java. As a district we are too dependent on programs that use Java.  It would not surprise me if the LMC viruses found a Java exploit. The first thing I do to secure my computers at home is to turn off Java in my internet settings.

Student Ownership of Resources

I have some Reading Recovery teachers next to me in the LMC. Now and then a funny story is encountered.

A few days ago there was this discussion about animals. The teacher was not clear which animal this student was referring to but wanted to support his interest in non-fiction. The teacher checked out a few books and planned on sharing them with him the next time they met together.

Before she was able to do this at their next encounter, the young man informed her it was a rhinoceros because at home he looked it up on Pebble Go.

Digital Signage

So what is all that activity by the circulation desk. What are students and teachers fighting to take a look at.

The LMC recently purchased a Digital Frame and Signage from Demco and its quite the draw. Students have come up to me in the hall to inform me that they were on the frame.

After I figured it out it was quite simple. I put all of our recent photos on an SD Card and begin the slideshow. We have photos of students, families from recent Schenk events, and even our principal in a wedding dress.

If you have not seen "the big draw" at the circulation desk come by and take a look.

Friendship Claymation

Yesterday, we watched the Friendship Claymation +Leslie Walsh  put together for Schenk's Friendship Assembly. While Leslie spent considerable time in video editing software to make the professional looking video, I would like to focus on some of the technology used by the students for the innitial clamation creations.

A few months ago +Leslie Walsh described the project she was interested in doing. In our brief discussion I explained some of the constraints involved including that the iPads were multi-use devices.  This limitation meant that while the creation could temporary be on the iPads, we needed the videos to saved to the cloud before the cart was returned.

There were two programs that were used for this project; iMotion HD, and Google Drive. iMotion HD allows one to record indivdual frames that can be put together at various speeds to create a video animation. Using iMotion HD students would set up their claymation shoebox, capture a frame, move the claymation slightly, take another frame, etc.  Before the students began we talked about the number of frames needed - lots.

The other program that students needed to use was Google Drive. Since it was very important that after the session all iPads were logged out, I gave a mini lesson before we started. I demonstrated the multiple steps needed to log into Drive on the iPads, how to upload photos and videos, and how to log off when the project was completed.

I spent some time in the classroom as the project started documenting the learning - photos and videos. I was pleasantly surprised at the level of engagement students had in the project. Below is the video presented at our Friendship Assembly. Great job +Leslie Walsh and her class.

Friendship Claymation from The Library Shark on Vimeo.

Assembly

About a month ago I wrote a post on YTO, YouTube Extension, that strips YouTube of ads and related videos.

Today during our assembly was the big test for this extension. Like other schools those related videos can cause quite an unneeded distraction. The extension worked like a charm.

What exactly was stripped from the YouTube video. There was no ad at the beginning of the video, there were no overlay ads during the video, and the related videos at the end were gone.

All you need to do is make sure your Gmail is synced in Chrome and then you can add the extension.

Screencastify

Chromebooks are multi-user, cloud based, computers that can be managed remotely. Looking through the Chrome Web Store there are cloud variants for most things you would do on a desktop. The one thing that has been missing is screencasting.

Screencastify is an app that records your tab. If you have used Google Hangouts or a Chromecast it will feel familiar. Its functionality is simple; choose your resolution, and audio source (mic or tab). With audio from tab it records the sound coming out of your speakers, and mic should be self explanatory.

When you have finished recording you can edit the name, delete, download, or upload to YouTube. That's it, yes it is that simple. Here is a video to prove it.

Super Duper Story Maker

One of the apps we have on our student iPads is Super Duper Story Maker. This and other apps we have on the iPads are listed on the iPad LibGuide.

What does it allow you to do? Well you can pick stickers or icons from various categories such as place, people, animals, and things to construct your story.

Yesterday with a 1st grade class I used the keyboard function to have students write a sentence or two about their picture. The students looked closely at what they constructed and summarized it. The keyboard function can also be used as a title maker.

When a student has completed a page they select save and another
page emerges. When they have completed several pages they select save story.  After they complete their story they have an opportunity to "tell their story". The microphone is utilized and students narrate the story they completed.

While there is a strong tendency to solely use the iPad as a reward, the iPad can also become a great educational tool in the classroom. For example, Super Duper Story Maker could be an engaging way for students to create beginning, middle, end stories.

One word of caution though. When I went to the School of Education the meme was process not product. This app is definitely on the process end, and generally students are fine with that. Making some time for students to share their work can give it a sense of completion.

So the next time you check out the cart give Super Duper Story Maker a try.