Not too long ago I reviewed the Barco WePresent and found it pretty good especially at its price point. Now we are taking a look at the ClickShare. Barco offers a few options with their ClickShare product and this one is the CS-100, the current entry level. This can be …
Tony and Patrick are back talking about distance learning, recommendations about video conferencing (including Zoom) and a lot more. Please subscribe to our podcast from Apple our searching for us on your favorite podcasting app. Happy Easter/Spring Break Zoom Zoombombing Zoom and privacy Zoom alternative Microsoft Teams Google Meet Skype …
Microsoft Teams Better Meeting Management with Attendee Mode # #microsoftteams #o365 #onlinelearning Tony DePrato | Follow Me on LinkedIn Source: IT Babble Blog and Podcast
By Tony DePrato | Follow Me on LinkedIn This video explains how to set up your Apple hardware to stream audio from Youtube and other sources to your Teams Meeting. Get Soundflower: https://github.com/mattingalls/Soundflower/releases/tag/2.0b2 Source: IT Babble Blog and Podcast
Tony DePrato | Follow Me on LinkedIn Source: IT Babble Blog and Podcast
Tony and Patrick are talking the school closures and what schools are doing, video conferences, and so much more. As always be sure to subscribe our podcast on Apple Music or your favorite podcasting app. No school! Distance Learning Plan So much to talk about here Be asynchronous Front load …
I am sure many of you are teaching from somewhere other than your classrooms. If that is the case, then flexibility and leveraging other websites for services and content is something you are keenly aware of and possibly in search of. This list of resources has been bouncing around social …
Like many other schools around the world we have closed due to the Coronavirus. In light of these circumstances I thought I would share our school’s Distance Learning Plan. I’ve embeded it below, but if you would like a link to the Google Doc please click here. From there you …
By Tony DePrato | Follow Me on LinkedIn Source: IT Babble Blog and Podcast
By Tony DePrato | Follow Me on LinkedIn Source: IT Babble Blog and Podcast
Tony and Patrick are at it again. We’re still talking about the Coronavirus about a somewhat dubious story out of China some hardware and how some students were pretty sneaky. Be sure to subscribe to us on Apple Music or your favorite podcasting app. Online learning, biggest issue I am …
The Smithsonian has released nearly 3 million images, 3D models, videos and more into the public domain! What this means is that anyone can search, find, download, use adapt and publish any of these artifacts without asking. So get searching and share this with your kids. Chances are if they …
The Pear Deck add-on is very popular amongst teachers. It allows them to bring interactive elements into their Google Slides presentation. Check out the video above to get a better sense of what Pear Deck offers and whether or not it is right for you. Source: IT Babble Blog …
By Tony DePrato | Follow Me on LinkedIn The scope of all the following arguments is for equipment owned by the school, or equipment approved to use at school. This post is not promoting policies for personal devices used solely at home, nor is this post addressing devices that may …
This week, is a good week. I learned a whole lot about something this week and I thought I’d share it with you my good reader. So let me layout the scenario for you. It is the end of an grading period at my school and like many other school …
This week, is a good week. I learned a whole lot about something this week and I thought I’d share it with you my good reader. So let me layout the scenario for you. It is the end of an grading period at my school and like many other school …
I wrote a review about Airtame back in July of 2018 and I was pretty impressed by it. The price point was fair, the fact that it could mirror most devices (limited with iOS and Android but still not bad) and it could be used as digital signage. Oh yeah, …
Tony and Patrick are back with a pretty important episode this time that is having an impact on some of our friends overseas but could happen to you one day. Also, social media sucks. Be sure to subscribe to us on Apple Music or your favorite podcasting app. Tony’s post: …
A lot of schools offer a Parent Portal. Some portals are more robust than others but they all seem to offer these features: Check their child’s academic progress Check out school events (athletics, groups and clubs alike) Pay for fees Sounds good right? Well, yeah, but sometimes parents don’t use …
By Tony DePrato | Follow Me on LinkedIn Source: IT Babble Blog and Podcast
The journey continues! This time we are looking at the BenQ Instashow. A lot of people may not be too familiar with BenQ in North America, but they have it looks as though they have been making steady inroads into the continent. They may a bevy of products and this …
RIP Kobe Bryant Parent Portals How to get parents to use them more Only use one portal – avoid fragmentation Consistency with the portal for teachers and faculty Survey coming soon (next few months) Tony wants to rant on vendors: Managebac Microsoft’s new Edge browser Based on Chromium Microsoft Chromebook? …
By Tony DePrato | Follow Me on LinkedIn I was recently in a conversation with a large group of people who provide IT Support. Many do not work in education, which is why I like the group. One of the members was recently asked in an interview to rank the …
Tony and Patrick are back for 2020 with a new episode. It’s been a while but I assure the wait was worth it. Be sure to subscribe to us on Apple Music or your favorite podcasting app. Happy New Year – Resolutions? TDK12 – Practical advice for expats Tdk12.net Tony’s …
When it comes to screen sharing few names are as renowned or respected as Barco. They have a history of building quality products and delivering solid results. So today, I have been playing around with the Barco WePresent. A streaming box that will allow you to connect your device to …
By Tony DePrato | Follow Me on LinkedIn I have been working with robotics since 2005. I have worked with students from US Grade 4 to students competing in university competitions. As of late, I have been shocked by this trend: remote control. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=2082 Remote control is not the future. …
By Tony DePrato | Follow Me on LinkedIn I have written before about cloud security and file security. I was doing a simple pentesting job for a school recently and found a service they were using called: Edlio. I cannot say if Edlio has a security issue, or if what …
By Tony DePrato | Follow Me on LinkedIn I have been following a few online threads where schools are considering contracting penetration testers. For those who may not know, penetration testing (pentesting) is a security assessment, an analysis, and progression of simulated attacks on an application (web, mobile, or API) …
By Tony DePrato | Follow Me on LinkedIn This video reviews a method to extract staff email and names from the popular Finalsite CMS used by K12 schools. Disclaimer: This video is not documenting any known bugs or issues with Finalsite. This video is demonstrating how Personal Information can be …
I was fortunate to host a webinar on Cybersecurity for members of the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest (ISAS).
I’m on a quest and here is the next forray into that quest. I present to you the Mersive Solstice. On paper this thing looks great! It really does. It can allow many people to connect to a single screen at one time, you can even bridge multiple Solstices together …
By Tony DePrato | Follow Me on LinkedIn How many times have you seen it? You walk into an office or classroom, and a Post-it is proudly announcing a user’s password. Why? Because schools are trusting environments. Maybe the password is not for the computer, maybe it is for the …
Ah yes, the Apple TV. This is currently what we are using in my school and while it is pretty good there are problems I will get into. First, let’s talk about what is, what it does, how much it costs and all that good stuff. Apple TV HD Cost: …
By Tony DePrato | Follow Me on LinkedIn Download the Presentation Here Source: IT Babble Blog and Podcast
Tony and Patrick and talking Cyber Security (more like Cyber Fear) and Patrick’s quest to find a good wireless streaming option for classrooms other than Apple TVs. As always please subscribe to us on your favorite podcasting app or on Apple Music. Tony’s Fired Up about CYBERSECURITY PANIC Connecting your …
I’m on a quest! I’m on a quest to find the best wireless streaming solution for a classroom. 2020 is nearly here and there are more than a few options out there and at a wide variety of price points. Unfortunately, I cannot look at every possible Frankensteined configuration so …
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsVtHqICeKE By Tony DePrato | Follow Me on LinkedIn I have noticed an uptick recently in schools moving resources, money and time, to address cybersecurity concerns. The motivation for addressing security issues is genuine, but the approach and implementations I am reading about are less than effective. Over the …
Tony and Patrick have got law questions. This means that we had to go out and get a real, honest-to-God lawyer in the form of Keith Wurzbacher. Listen to a (mostly) serious conversation regarding schools, email addresses and much more. As always be sure to subscribe to us on Apple …
Not too long ago, Google announced a bunch of really handy short URL’s that will let you create new types of files. I wrote about it here. For a quick refresher, here they are: docs.new = New Google Doc sheets.new = New Google Sheets slides.new = New Google Slides Now …
By Tony DePrato | Follow Me on LinkedIn I am not one to recommend products. However, lately I have come to realize that since Apple removed all the useful ports on their laptops, I am reliant on a single $2.00 piece of hardware: a USB C-Port Adapter. This little piece …
Tony and Patrick are back for another great episode. It is a quick one this week where we talk a little NFL, Google Daydream and swimming in your data. Check out the talking points below and as always be sure to subscribe to us on iTunes or your favorite podcasting …
By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on LinkedIn Educational organizations are face with the constant influx of seemingly new technology. This creates pressure (even a demand) to review, to compare, to challenge, and often, to change. The business around software is not understood nor recognized by most educational institutions. Schools …
Tony and Patrick are back with more Ed Tech goodness. Check out the talking points below and be sure to subscribe to us on iTunes or your favorite podcasting app (PocketCasts is free now!). PSA: Google Drive and Pirated Movies by Patrick Cauley https://itbabble.com/2019/09/23/psa-google-drive-and-pirated-movies/ Digital Millennium Copyright Act – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Millennium_Copyright_Act …
This is just a quick public service announcement and one not too new. We have seen a number of postings on a local listserv that says that students have been accessing pirated movies on Google Drive. All you need to do is search Google Drive + Popular Movie Title and …
Back in 2014 I reviewed Kahoot! and was pretty harsh on it. I had sluggish performance, connectivity issues and I didn’t care for the teacher/presenter centric nature of the activity. Despite all those issues Kahoot! seems to have gone on to relative success! Just about any teacher I talk to …
ITBabble No Frills Video Series By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on LinkedIn Source: IT Babble Blog and Podcast
Tony and Patrick are back for another great episode. We talk about mice, student information systems and more! Check out the talking points below and as always subscribe to us on iTunes or your favorite podcasting app. Patrick’s new mouse – Logitech MX Ergo https://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/mx-ergo-wireless-trackball-mouse What’s a Student Information System …
By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on LinkedIn NASA has a program for High School Students. Take a few minutes, and see if your students can participate. Be bothered. Be engaged. All details can be reviewed with this link: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/stem/High_School_Aerospace_Scholars.html Source: IT Babble Blog and Podcast
Tony and Patrick are back for an important announcement that could save your MacBook Pro when you travel! Be sure to subscribe to us on iTunes or your favorite podcasting app. Airlines banning certain MacBook Pros https://www.macrumors.com/2019/08/29/macbook-pro-some-airline-restrictions/ Google getting serious about Enterprise https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/26/20832925/google-chromebook-enterprise-dell-laptops-microsoft-windows-challenge-businesses Chrome OS not going anywhere! Amazon Web …
Tony and Patrick are at it again with another great episode. We talk about some NFL news, some advice to homeroom/advisory teachers and much more including what constitutes cheating this day and age? Check out the talking points below. As always, be sure to subscribe to us on iTunes or …
By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on LinkedIn Plagiarism is serious issue for most high schools. It is rare to find a school without a detailed plagiarism policy. Most of these policies have a few tiers, because it is common for students to commit plagiarism more than once in …
We are back! Welcome to the 2019-2020 school year! Today we (Tony and Patrick) talk about a few items, but most noticeably is a kick ass t-shirt printer that is waaay too expensive for either of our schools! Check out the talking points below, subscribe to us on iTunes or …
It is back to school which means there are a lot of PowerPoints, Keynotes, Google Slide shows that are going to be presented to students, parents and staff. I’ve got some tips for making yours better than the most. Keep it short The quote for good old Bill Shakespeare sums …
Folks, this is not new news. In fact it was fist reported back in 2017, but you will start hearing more about soon. Adobe Flash Player is finally dying. All major browsers will be phasing it out and it will most likely stop working all together sometime in 2020. So …
By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on LinkedIn How many documents do you have open to the public? When was the last time you checked to see what anyone with internet access could download from your school website, your PowerSchool or SIS public folder, or even your various cloud services? …
By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on LinkedIn Stress at the start of the school year is normal. I firmly believe that a positive start leads to a positive year. Here are some suggestions I like to give to people at the start of the year. What do you need …
We are back! I know that 166 is not published yet but we are working on some sound issues. In this episode, we tackle scheduling advice, we also talk about the SIM card swap nightmare a journalist had, ambient privacy (neat concept) and finally about the fad of being depressed …
This is a pretty meaty topic so hang on. An interactive whiteboard (IWB), or interactive flat panel, is basically a large TV that ranges 55“ – 88” (139cm – 224cm) that has touch capabilities. They usually come loaded with an Android OS or Windows 10 (some can even swap between …
This is a pretty meaty topic so hang on. An interactive whiteboard (IWB), or interactive flat panel, is basically a large TV that ranges 55“ – 88” (139cm – 224cm) that has touch capabilities. They usually come loaded with an Android OS or Windows 10 (some can even swap between …
Tony and Patrick are back with a scintillating show talking about Apple, projectors, Python and more! Check out the talking points below and as always subscribe to us on iTunes or your favorite podcasting app What’s everyone been up to? It’s not TV it’s HBO – seriously? Apple kills a …
In February of 2018 I wrote a review for Anchor. Anchor is a website and mobile app that will let you create and publish your very own podcast! I had a lot of very nice things to say about and you can read my review here. I did warn that …
Tony and Patrick after a long and much deserved Spring Break. This episode promises to be another classic as Tony and Patrick talk about some upcoming Windows news, some great advice about STEM/STEAM skills and even a bit of comic book movies and Game of Thrones. Check out the talking …
OK – to be fair, you need Google Sheets and the Flippity add on, but still, this is pretty handy, easy to do and works really – really well. I’ve seen a couple of articles about this on the web but I’m going to go a little deeper and walk …
I know I’m not the first (not even close!) to do this but I figured it would be a good post anyway. We now have a self-checkout station in our library, so our students can check out books on their own. This post will show how we set it up …
By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato Developing STEM and STEAM programs (Science Technology Engineering/Art Mathematics) is very exciting, but I have noticed recently there is a lack of cohesive standards to measure progress. Like many people, I am working on building a set of standards. …
Tony and Patrick are back for another outstanding episode. Tony’s travel tips, why Momo is just stupid and all the other talking points are below. You can subscribe to us on iTunes (please do) or your favorite podcasting app. Tony’s travel tips Carry ons – …
I had teacher walk into the IT office with a good question. She wanted to make a slideshow about a topic and have each student in her room create one slide to add to the slideshow. Here is what you need to know. She is using Google Slides This is …
Tony and Patrick are back with another great episode. The talking points are below but know this CAPTCHAs suck Tony’s holiday Finally – displays are moving in the right direction by Patrick https://itbabble.com/2019/01/29/finally-displays-are-moving-in-the-right-direction/ Not overthinking it CAPTCHAS suck BUSES! FRICKING BUSES!! Filling in an online form for an event at …
I’m not a fan of interactive whiteboards. My opinions on interactive whiteboards have not changed. Basically I felt that it forced teachers to change how they taught in order to use the technology. I always felt that a teacher should use it as a way to enhance how they teach …
Tony and Patrick are back! We talk about snow and other important topics and there is the first ever Story Time with Uncle Tony and it is a good one! Check out the talking points below and as always please subscribe to us on iTunes or your favorite podcasting app. …
By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato Imagine you have had to evacuate your high school. Could you facilitate your classes and business processes without physically being in your building? If most of your infrastructure is in a cloud based environment, odds are you can maintain business continuity …
I recently wrote a post titled I Played with Virtual Reality. In that post I review the Mirage Solo – A standalone (no wires) Google Day Dream device. I did not find it super impressive and it got me thinking. Is the virtual reality done for right now? Is it …
Tony and Patrick are back to wish you a Happy New Year and to spread a little ed tech love your way. This show is a good one to close out 2018 so check out the talking points below and as always, be sure to subscribe to us on iTunes …
By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato Many schools are still self-hosting the majority of their information systems instead of using cloud-based solutions, co-location solutions, or data centers offering more traditional hosting. The question has to be asked, are these schools taking the proper steps to protect …
Only a few more days until the winter break and the end of 2018 so I thought that some teachers might like some holiday movies that they could show some of their students. Here you go! How the Grinch that Stole Christmas Yep – it’s a classic and no I …
In the not too distant past there was a promise that virtual reality and/or augmented reality was going to be the “next big thing.” Well both are here and there is less buzz around them than ever before? I have played around with a virtual reality headset and was less …
At my school, we are trying out Chromebooks instead of iPads for our 1:1 program. I’ve written about it here and here. I still feel it is too early to see how Chromebooks fair and so I’ll reserve those observations for another time. Today, I’d like to point out a …
By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato Every year I take a few minutes to express slight annoyance at “The Hour of Code”. In my professional life, I will support any teacher wishing to participate. However, if anyone does happen to ask my opinion, I would explain to …
Tony and Patrick are back and right before the US Thanksgiving holiday. It is another great show where we talk about the confusing Apple hardware lineup, a virtual reality headset and Google’s news of getting into the LDAP game. Check out the talking points below and as always be sure …
Apple just unveiled a new MacBook Air, Mac Mini and iPad Pro. Much of this news should get schools excited. I want to be excited so why am I not excited? To oversimplify my issue is price. I am not sure the new MacBook Air is worth $1200 and I …
Tony and Patrick are back for another great episode. Check out the talking points below and be sure to subscribe to us on iTunes or your favorite podcasting app. Apple, Microsoft and Amazon’s events Apple – https://www.macrumors.com/2018/09/12/everything-apple-announced-2018-iphone-event/ Microsoft – https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/2/17923080/microsoft-event-2018-announcements-news-surface-laptop-windows-10-updates Amazon – https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/20/17882582/amazon-event-september-2018-echo-alexa-speaker-news https://aws.amazon.com/deeplens/ https://www.samsung.com/global/galaxy/galaxy-tab-s4/ New Apple Event – October …
Well, sort of. You see if you wanted to create a new document you could that out of Google Drive or go to Google’s respective Docs, Slides or Sheets website. Those individual websites seem a little silly to me but hey, I just chose to only use Drive. Now if …
By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato I am often shocked and amazed at the prices people are paying for subscriptions/services. Believe it or not, schools pay different prices for the same products. There is usually a deal to be made, and here are a few simple tips …
I saw this article by Jamey Keaten in the Huffington Post titled Automation In The Workplace Means Machines Will Handle Half Of Tasks By 2025: Report. It basically says that automation will replace people at their jobs. So schools need to adjust right? I mean the future is happening right …
By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato If your phone battery is not at 100%, would you still use it? Or, would you sit and wait for it to charge? If your water bottle is 50% empty, would you continue to use it, or …
Tony and I kick off the school year in style with a fantastic podcast. Check out the talking points below and as always subscribe to us on your favorite podcasting app or on iTunes. School’s back in session! Goals for this year? New tech for this year? Amazon App Stream …
It’s been a spell since I’ve sat down and wrote a post, but now that the school year is officially going, I thought it was time to brush the dust off the keyboard and jump back in. Oh yeah – you can expect some podcasts flying your way in September …
I normally do not review hardware. Primarily because it costs a bunch of money and I don’t feel comfortable receiving products from companies to review – it just feels weird. Anyway, our school needed a way to stream from a computer to a display or projector for outside people who …
My apologies IT Babblers – I should have posted this a while ago. At any rate check out the latest episode of the IT Babble podcast. Tony and I discuss imaging difficulties with Mac OS High Sierra, AirTame and what it means to be Tech Savvy. As always you can …
By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato There are many uncomfortable situations people in technology leadership have to endure annually. Normally, uncomfortable situations are created because someone did not understand the far reaching ramifications of a single bad decision. Often, these are not isolated incidents. Too often, in meeting rooms or …
Tony and Patrick are back in another awesome episode of IT Babble. The big news here is Amazon Workspaces and the game changing opportunities it offers education. Check out all the talking points below and be sure to subscribe to us on iTunes or your favorite podcasting app. In 2018, …
By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato After reading Patrick’s recent post about iPads and Chromebooks, I decided to wrap-up an article that follows along those same lines. The problem is, right now, (and how do I put this) our options for EdTech SUCK! In 2008, I would have said Apple …
In the Part 1 I surveyed teacher to see how they feel about the 1:1 program. overall the teachers are still very enthusiastic about it, but when asked if the iPad was the best device based on what and how they teach many felt that it wasn’t. They thought that …
Tony and Patrick are back and what an episode! Check out the talking points below and be sure to subscribe to us on iTunes or on your favorite podcasting app. The best gadgets are the ones you know how to use by Dieter Bohn https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/2/17302680/best-gadgets-tech-gear-liveblog-bag This applies to schools: hardware, …
Alright! The day of the big event has happened and here is how it shook out. Overall the day was great due to the awesome planning from the PE department. So the day went well but how did the Google Form and Google Sheet hold up? In short it did …
Tony and Patrick are back for another great post. We all wish Tony a quick recovery with his knee surgery. Check out the talking points below. As always please subscribe to us on iTunes or your favorite podcasting app. Tony’s knee surgery http://www.davincisurgery.com/da-vinci-surgery/da-vinci-surgical-system/ Apple’s MacBook Pro recall Battery Recall https://www.apple.com/support/13inch-macbookpro-battery-replacement/ …
By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato Recently I have been discussing multiple new security measures for academic networks. From these discussions with other schools, engineers, and suppliers, I have created set of goals to help keep the development of network security on track and within budget. Physical Access Physical access …
It has been a long road and we are finally at the finish line. This post will talk about how to total everything so you can see who wins without calculating anything! We will also talk about limitations to this form and how it is not perfect. If you are …
Please check out Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 to get caught up. If you are just jumping in now and have little spreadsheet experience you may feel a little lost. Last post we made all the worksheets for all the eventa. In this post we are going to …
The journey continues and this marks the hump point of this series. Just a quick recap. In Part 1 I wrote about how I was using Google Forms and Sheets to create an auto calculating scorebook and the services and skills I used. In Part 2 I talked about how …
Google Forms & Sheets – Olympic Scoring – Part 2 In Part 1 we talked about the broad strokes of creating a scoring system for my school’s Olympics games. We talked about the services to utilize, how it was basically set up and what skills I used to make everything …
What is with me and “multiple part” posts? OK and just a fair warning this series is going to get a little technical with formulas and linking multiple worksheets together to get a scoreboard of sorts for an “Olympic” event our school is putting on. I’ll do my best to …
Here is another extension that I like a lot in Chrome. Now Chrome can view PDF’s and I have never really like the way they handle it. Check out the picture below to see what I mean. The image is not quite large enough for me to easily read and …
Tony and Patrick are back! After a quick go around about pheasants on Tony’s campus they get going talking about some exciting ed tech talk. As always subscribe to us on iTunes or your favorite podcasting app. Amazon WorkSpaces https://aws.amazon.com/workspaces/ Pricing – https://aws.amazon.com/workspaces/pricing/ Don’t buy Nintendo Labo – by Patrick …
By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato A while back I took the ISTE NETS Standards and decided to create a grade level based layout for what students should be able to do at different grade levels. As the students continue to progress through their education, the grade …
I thought I would put the year on the title of this post just to give it some search relevance. I don’t know how many posts I’ve seen that are 3–4 years old and while some of the arguments are still relevant others are not. This short series will detail …
I’ve been meaning to write this ever since I heard about this product. First, let’s get something out of the way. I like to game. I am not a huge gamer but I really enjoy the time I get to plop down and dive headfirst into a video game. I …
Tony and Patrick are back after spring break! What better way to return than with a great podcast. Check out the talking points below and be sure to subscribe to us on iTunes or your favorite podcasting app. Apple’s education event New iPad New software Does this make the …
By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato Recently I was reading a Technology Directors’ forum, and noticed that a few very well established schools were explicitly looking for people to assist them in improving their technology support system (Help Desk, Help Tickets, etc.) Reflecting on how I design and implement such …
Use Drupal? Patch it now Drupal is a popular and free open source CMS that a number of schools use. For the average person it is not too difficult to set up and run and since you can assign roles and permissions to different people you can allow for a …
I posted my review less than a week ago and already there is an update! One item I did take notice of but forgot to mention in my post was the fact that Kaizena cannot Resolve comments like the standard commenting system in Google Docs offers. If you are unfamiliar …
Kaizena is an Add-on for Google Docs. What it does is allow a teacher or another person to give audio feedback for a Google Doc that has been shared to them. The owner of the doc can then listen to that feedback and improve their document further. Sounds pretty sweet …
Episode 150 is HERE! For the special occasion we have brought back Mr. Omar Ghosn (cofounder of IT Babble) to talk ed tech once again. The episode is a little longer than normal but certainly a great one. As always you can find our podcast on iTunes (please subscribe) or …
By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato It is spring time, and once again I am planning a new network security plan for a school. The same issues as always, and the same questions. All questions usually have answers with a price tag attached. Value in such planning …
Earlier this week I wrote about viewpure.com and I am genuinely pretty impressed with what this service does. Above is a quick video showing it in action and how you can customize YouTube videos of your own choice to safely show to your students. Source: IT Babble …
Hello IT Babblers! I know that this is supposed to be episode 150 but Omar had another commitment and couldn’t make so rather than record 150 without him we decided to record 149 1/2 and save 150 for later when Omar can join us. Check out the talking points below …
Let me lay out a scenario and see if you can relate to it. You have found a great YouTube video (like the one below :)). You want to show it to your class. It has a great explanation, it simplifies it and since it is on YouTube you can …
As you know I read Free Tech for Teachers and I saw this post that Richard wrote about recommending two blogging platforms for teachers. I got to thinking that there are other options out there and in my opinion better options! In his post he recommends EduBlogs and Blogger. So …
Mobile devices for 1:1 programs I saw this on the Eduro blog. This isn’t an article though, it is a YouTube conversation. I just realized that their YouTube link doesn’t work so here is the correct link. So they discuss whether or not 1:1 programs should be built with mobile …
Yes – this is fun. You may not be aware but Google Chrome has a team that makes something called Chrome Experiments. This thing is just thinking outside the box of what Chrome can do. Most of it is interactive fun artsy stuff which isn’t all that bad. Their latest …
This is a quick post and I hope you find a helpful one. Our school, like many I suspect, do deep cleaning in classrooms throughout the year – especially during long breaks such as winter, spring break and of course the summer break. Whether you have carpet or not in …
I normally don’t talk about phones and which one is better than the others on IT Babble. I’ve certainly got my opinions but I am intrigued with the Galaxy S9. No, not its camera or Bixby or it display. I’m interested in the Samsung DeX. This device connects your Samsung …
Patrick and Tony talk about a bunch of great stuff not just useless tech. As always subscribe to us on iTunes or on your favorite podcasting app! Wikispaces is going away https://blog.wikispaces.com/ Did you ever use Wikispace Anchor – A review by Patrick https://itbabble.com/2018/02/23/anchor-a-review/ Podcasting service Useless technology https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/2/21/17036762/tap-wearable-keyboard-mouse-price-availability What …
Anchor says it is “The easiest way to make a podcast. Ever.” Well we will just see about that and also see if it is a good fit for you in the classroom. There are three things that make Anchor a bit different than its competition. One, there is no …
Wikispaces is closing down after more than ten years of service. You can read the sad news here on their blog post. I never used Wikispaces in my teaching. I tried to set some events and units up using the service but just couldn’t get past some of the user …
This episode Tony and I make some big statements about the Olympics, talk about Gmail extensions, what ed tech really is and a whole lot more. You can subscribe to our podcast on iTunes or your favorite podcasting app. Check out the talking points below. Happy Olympics and Valentine’s Day! …
If you use G Suite or Office 365 with your school – those students must have a password. If you work with high school students it is easy – they can manage their own password. Heck even middle school students can manage their own passwords (most of the time). What …
I saw ClassHook on Free Technology for Teachers and thought to myself Hey! That looks interesting. So, here I am writing a review of the service and trying to determine if it is worth your or my time as educators. What is it? In it’s own words: ClassHook is the …
I’m a part of a Listserv that works pretty much just in the state I live in. It is often helpful, sometimes funny and in this case a little though provoking. This morning I came across this entry (below) and it got me thinking about devices in the school. Quickly …
My Three Gmail Extensions Gmail is pretty great and when you couple it with Google Chrome you can make it even better. There are a bunch of extensions out there for Gmail. Chances are you can find what you are looking for. I’ll highlight the three that I use. Just …
My good friend and fellow IT Babbler Tony wrote a piece called Mobile Phone Shutdown about how his school is banning students from using their smart phones during certain hours of the day. It’s good (please give it a read). In the post he identifies some problems that his school …
I really like making tutorial videos. I don’t do it as much now that I’m not teaching but whenever there is an opportunity I like to jump at it. You know what? I’m not bad. I try to make it as professional as possible. I use Screenflow, which allows me …
Welcome back to another awesome episode of the IT Babble podcast. This week Tony and Patrick discuss cell phone bans and some solutions, screen time and much more. Check out the talking points below and as always please subscribe to us on iTunes or your favorite podcasting app. Mobile Phone …
Autoplay sucks! Let me explain. Autoplay is when you open a site and a video automatically starts playing. Annoying! This just happened to me. I was in a meeting, looking for an article on CNN and I opened a page and all of a sudden a reporter’s voice starts flowing …
Howdy IT Babblers – I’m back with another review. This one is of http://www.mysimpleshow.com. It is a website that lets you make a presentation explaining something. Now, please don’t go confusing this with a way to make tutorial videos. This is more for about explaining concepts, ideas and other …
Tony and Patrick are back for 2018 with another incredible episode! Check out the talking points below and be sure to subscribe to us on iTunes or your favorite podcasting app. Happy New Year and Welcome Back It’s not just Logan Paul – the moral compass of social media is …
By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato During the first few weeks before my new campus opened, many people wanted to know what the mobile phone policy would be for students, especially those students living on-campus. A decision was made to allow teachers to set their classroom norms, …
The World Health Organization has released its newest list of classified diseases and, as the title suggests, gaming disorder is among them. You can read what it says from the WHO website by clicking here. It explicitly points at video games and has three characterizations to what behaviors determine if …
I’ve written quite a few times about podcasts and how I like them. My opinion has not changed, I still think podcasts are an incredibly flexible tool for students to plan, produce and publish projects that demonstrate their knowledge. This post is going to be a crash course, why and …
Patrick and Tony are back! This episode they talk about cheaper iPads, cell phone bans and the Chrompocalypse that happened. Oh and Patrick’s kids stop by to say hi Much Cheaper iPad Expected in 2018 by Henry T. Casey of laptopmag.com https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/ipad-2018-specs-price Will this help vs the Chromebook in schools? …
So I saw this on FreeTech4Teachers and thought that this would be a good site to review. The service is called GradeProof and you can get there by going to https://gradeproof.com/ . Here students can write their own paper right from their editor, upload a document, import from Dropbox or …
Good day everyone and welcome back to another scintillating episode of the IT Babble podcast. This episode is pretty darn good. Check out the talking points below. As always be sure to subscribe to us on iTunes, follow us on Podomatic or subscribe to us using your favorite podcasting app. …
Happy Thanksgiving listener! IT Babble is back and better than ever. This week Tony and Patrick talk about a whole bunch of good ed tech topics. Check out the talking points below. As always be sure to subscribe to us on iTunes. The Push for Education Programs that Pay People …
Early October I wrote a post about why your school should have an inventory and I talked about using MAMP and GLPI to create your own on an older MacBook that you may have in storage. I thought the post was good but it could use a little more detail …
Recently I posted about Google Sheets and how awesome the query function is. I thought it was so cool that I would make a little video about how to do it, in case my instructions were not super clear. Watch it below and leave comments about how you would use …
By: Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato The Class Size Issue in Project Based Subjects The relationship between class size and project based subjects is inverse compared to studies that look at traditional courses where instruction is rote, and the differentiation needs to be very focused. Of the …
For the past three weeks I’ve been putting together an inventory for our school. We’ve never had one here before so I thought it was time to make that change, but this post will explain why we did it, how we did it and how we will use it going …
A few weeks ago I stumbled upon something that has got my a little excited. I mean did you see the exclamation mark in the title? That is not to be trifled with people. At any rate, I have stumbled upon the QUERY function from Google Sheets and man this …
Clarify – Today is a dark day As a professional, there are those magical moments when you come across a system, technique or app that just works. It doesn’t just works, it works exactly as expected. It crushes those pesky expectations and everytime you produce a product using it, you …
Tony and I were in Cincinnati together and took in a Reds game (they won by the way). No, that is not us on the jumbotron. While there we also had a chance to sit down together and talk Ed Tech, which is what we love to do anyway. Check …
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