Fotosketcher Turns Photos into "Works of Art"

When I worked as Technology Coordinator for the legacy Gull Lake School Division, I always carried a Leatherman tool on my belt because I never knew when I might briefly need to enlist the services of a screwdriver, pliers or a knife.  It served me well, but I also always a carried full toolkit in my car for more extended work.  Sometimes you just need a real screwdriver.

The same is true with software.  While powerful do-it-all software suites have their place, there is no denying the value of a software tool that was designed to do one job and do it well.  That's the case with Fotosketcher, a free image altering tool designed specifically to convert regular digital photographs into images that look like they were drawn, sketched, or painted.

Internet Safety

Safety is a common component or unit in many health curricula.  While classroom discussions on this topic have traditionally included safety at home, at school, on the playground, and in the streets, increasingly it should also include safety in cyberspace.  Students need to be taught guidelines for remaining safe while interacting with others online.

There is no sense pretending that we can deal with the situation simply by limiting students' access to the Internet and other communication technologies; that horse left the barn some time ago.  Rather than deluding ourselves that we can keep our kids "retro-safe,"  we need to give them to tools to stay safe in an ever-evolving online world which is - and which will continue to be - an integral part of their lives.

Google Lit Trips

For those of us who have ever taught a piece of literature and struggled to provide students with the kind of background knowledge that will allow the piece to spring to life, Google Lit Trips is an impressive marriage of technology, geography, and culture.

Stop Motion Animation in Movie Maker

A number of Elearning Catalyst teachers have been working with various classes lately on stop-motion animation projects.  Stop-motion is a relatively simple project which can provide some variety within Arts Education or in any course which has story-telling as a component.  Within Arts Ed, students can also record their own a cappella "sound track" to accompany their animation, thereby incorporating another strand.  Because students will need to gain an understanding of the concept of frames/sec, the project will also incorporate some math concepts.

A Teaching Idea: Using Google Maps in SS 30

Google Maps is a rich resource for teaching Social Studies at a wide range of grade levels, but in this Tech Tip we are going to focus on Social Studies 30.  

PowerPoint Tips

PowerPoint is one of the most frequently used applications in education.  Its prevalence can be attributed to its balance of power and ease of use.  However, there are certain functions that regularly cause users grief, and, as Elearning Catalyst Teachers, we often find ourselves answering the same questions to address these frustrations.

This post will provide links to tutorial material which a addresses a handful of these common issues.  These are all video tutorials which walk the user through the process involved.  Some of these tutorials are located on the Chinook SD Student Moodle server.  When prompted for a login, simply click the "Login as Guest" button.

• How to create a entire picture slideshow (regardless of size) in 7 mouse clicks
• How to reduce the file size of a PowerPoint presentation
• Embedding a Youtube video in a PP presentation
• Converting Youtube video and inserting it into PowerPoint
• Combining multiple PowerPoint presentations without losing formatting

If you have your own questions or issues regarding PowerPoint, don't hesitate to contact your Elearning Catalyst Teacher.

Popular Science Archives Online for Free

Fans of Popular Science magazine may be intrigued to know that it has recently partnered with Google Books to provide a complete online archive of past issues for free.  The archive is searchable by keyword(s), although there is no advanced search feature.

Articles appear in full colour as they did in the original magazine, complete with all graphics, and with the user's search terms highlighted.  I would have preferred the choice of popping out an article into a new window to make it easier to read.  As it is, the article appears within the fixed-width framework of the page, so the user is faced with the choice of zooming in within the web page, which pushes some of the article out of view, or zooming in within her browser, which may not be an option for folks with lower resolution monitors.

Nevertheless, this is an interesting development which runs counter to a number of recent corporate decisions, including the New York Times choice to limit the number of articles that users can view for free before requiring a subscription.