win a FREE copy of Adobe’s Digital School Collection

The Adobe Digital School Collection (ADSC) is a bundle of software for K-12 students and educators and is available for Windows and Mac OS.

Included in the bundle is Adobe Photoshop Elements 10, Adobe Premiere Elements 10 and Adobe Acrobat X Pro. The “Elements” versions of the software are easier to use than the “Pro” versions. They have less features than the Pro versions but most of the missing features are very advanced and rarely used in the K-12 arena. The new version of Acrobat can include audio and video in a PDF file making PDF Porftolios easy to create. It can also be used to create web sites.

With this software, students can create projects and presentations that combine photos, movies with effects, and multi-media documents. They can also use the ADSC for media rich ePortfolios.

Adobe is also providing resources for educators to help them use the ADSC in their classrooms. The Adobe Education Exchange is a great resource for educators and has curriculum and lesson plans for using the ADSC in class along with teacher resources and a community of users. There are 23 lesson plans, tech guides, user guides, teacher guides, and completed examples to view. There are over 36,000 members in the community and that number continues to grow.

Now, you can enter to win a FREE copy of Adobe’s Digital School Collection in the @AdobeEdu, #ADSC Tweetaway!


Adobe’s Digital School Collection is a key mechanism for augmenting classroom instruction while helping students learn lifelong communication skills for the digital age. Be sure to pay attention to the @AdobeEdu twitter account for your chance to Retweet & win!

Just jump on your Twitter account between Tuesday, April 9th and Thursday, April 19th and tune in for a series of helpful tips & ADSC facts – all you have to do is Retweet posts with the #ADSC hashtag to enter! The winner will be randomly drawn and announced on April 20th.

Learn more about the latest new features such as new photo & video editing tools and easier ways to find objects & share content with others: http://adobe.ly/adSC3 

The contest opens 9 a.m. PT, Tuesday, April 10, 2012, and closes 2 p.m. PT, Thursday, April 19, 2012. The prize drawing will occur on or before 5 p.m., April 20, 2012, with the winner announcement occurring that day as well. The drawings are open to residents in North America only.

52 Google Docs Secrets for Students

Google Docs is one of my favorite resources for myself, other teachers, and students. I use it constantly and when I share it with other teachers, friends, or my students, they are usually impressed and start using it too.

There are tons of features and functions in Google Docs that make using it extremely useful and effective as an educational tool. The fact that it's free, online, and collaborative make it great for students. Word Processing, Presentations, Forms, Drawings, and Spreadsheets. Google keeps adding more features too.

The folks over at OnlineColleges have come up with a list of 52 Great Google Docs Secrets for Students. Each tip has a link to another website, sometime's Google's, that explain that tip in more detail. Tips include adding videos, formatting, converting to other formats, creating graphs and equations, and much more.

If you use Google Docs, or are planning on using them, this is a great list of resources and tips.



Related:

Google for Educators Resources - tips, using in education, resources, training, apps, and much more.

my other favorite resource: Evernote for Education - resources, tips, ideas and more

Presentation on Google for Educators

Why I use Google's Products as an Educator (and how)

Google Resources - Resources to highlight various ways to use Google Apps for instruction and student use
http://its.leesummit.k12.mo.us/google.htm

Google Apps for Education Training Center - http://edutraining.googleapps.com/Training-Home - great resources to learn how to use Google Apps in the classroom.

Google for Educators- Resources for using Google in School: http://goo.gl/4rEZd

Wix - easy to use free website builder

Wix is a website builder that allows users to easily create a free website using drag and drop methods instead of needing to learn how to code or learn new skills.

The Wix websites are great ways to quickly create a website to use as a presentation, project or class site. There are free templates available for different types of sites based on industry/business and type of site. Templates can be modified and edited as needed. It has lots of features and the sites are mobile friendly for iOS and Android.

The free accounts have ads and some limitations, but are still very useful and you can create some stunning websites.

I see this as a great tool for creating quick sites for presentations or projects. I'd still stick with other services, like Google Sites, for full class web sites.

It's a quick and easy alternative to other web site builders.

Excellent program on DNA and Human Genome

I recently found a great video about DNA and the Human Genome from my PLN on Twitter (Thanks @dmcdonald92). PBS, a great resource for teachers, has a great program "NOVA" that has some excellent video programs for education. "NOVA: Cracking Your Genetic Code" is a great program that explores how having DNA and the Human Genome decoded is leading to some exciting breakthroughs in health and diseases

This is another great, free resource for educators. The program can be viewed online for free.



Related:

PBS Teachers - Excellent Resources for Educators
DNA - great resource on DNA from PBS

Tips for More Effective Google Searches

ZDNET has a great article with 10 Google Search Secrets that can help you and your students search more effectively and efficiently.

Knowing how to do effective internet searches is a very important skill for all of us to have, so share these resources with your students and help them learn this valuable skill.

Google - free posters with search tips for teachers

Google for Educators - Resources for using Google in school

Tips on better searches on Google, from Google

Infographic on better searches using Google

10 Tech Skills Every Student Should Have

SparkNotes app available for Android -teach students responsible use

I remember in high school when ever we had a book report due, we'd head off to the library or bookstore for Cliff Notes. Now students have SparkNotes website and now an Android App. SparkNotes provides guides and chapter summaries of books. The app is free and their is an iOS version.

While some students misuse this and use this instead of reading the actual book, teachers could show these kinds of resources to their students and how to use them to help them understand what they are reading. Show the students that these are help resources, not something to replace the actual reading of the book.

The app has 50 study guides pre-loaded, you can download more and it has a built-in social networking feature to connect with other users.

This is one more resource that students have available to them. One way or another they are going to use it. As educators, we need to show them how to use the resource properly.

Get the SparkNotes app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.com.sparknotes.sparknotes

Related:

Android for Education resources and apps - app reviews, apps for education, news, tips, resources, and more.

Litcharts - free, downloadable alternative to Cliff Notes

Resources for 9-1-1 Education Month

It's National 911 Education Month (the emergency phone number) and April 8th - 14th, 2012 is National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. In honor of these two things, we should be sharing the proper use of the 911 system with our students.

While many people understand the importance of the proper use of 911, many don't. It is vital to our society to have 911 used properly and not abused or misused. It is also important for people to understand that while that dispatcher is asking you questions, they are already sending help, so don't hang up, don't get frustrated, and answer their questions to the best of their ability.

As a paramedic, I've seen the misuse and misunderstanding of 911 first hand and this is a very important topic.

The National Emergency Number Association has a great web site with more resources and information for teaching about the proper use of 911, including links, brochures and handouts and more.

911.gov also has a great site on when to call 911 and how to answer the questions.

Take some time to learn more about 911 yourself and then teach your students.



Related:

Free resources for emergency preparedness education and planning