ExamTime, a great tool for mind mapping, and more

A good friend of mine recently mentioned how he's been using mind maps in his classroom, with great success. He was using an iPad app, which was not available for Android. Oh well, their loss. I once used Inspiration, but over time, it fell out of favor. I figured that there have to be dozens of web based mind mappers out there that could work on multiple platforms. I crowd sourced Twitter, and was given several recommendations, of just a few apps. Xmind, Mindmeister, and one that I found, called ExamTime.

     All three have no cost options, and I have only tried out the free versions of Xmind, and ExamTime to this date. I liked what Xmind offers. It has a slightly higher learning curve than ExamTime, and offers a few more options for details, and style. Xminds mind maps are probably the best out there. I recommend that you give it a try, if you're only dealing with mind mapping.
But, if you want great mind maps, plus several other high quality tools, give ExamTime a try

     ExamTime does do a great job with mind mapping, and it brings so much more to the table. The learning curve isn't too steep, nor is it long. Once you pick up on the page organization, it's easy going. They have a blog with useful information and instructions, or you can do what I did and jump right in to trial and error your way to true understanding. This is still in Beta, and may change from what you see below as they make improvements. The following contains several images. 

After you sign in, you can add a subject. I started working on a class, called Evaluating Environmental Systems, that I'll be teaching next school year

Once you added a subject, you can click on it and develop the study aids for it. You can add a new topic, in my case, it will be units of study. You can then create and share engaging study aids for each unit. 

I decided to test ExamTime by developing the same unit that I did while testing Xmind- Geomedicine

Adding a topic was as simple as clicking "Add new topic" and entering a name. I eventually added the other units because it looks like this app will be a useful addition to my course

Now you can add study aids, aka the fun stuff, to your topic. All you need to do is click the down arrow

To add a study aid, just press the highlighted arrow.

Now you have to decide what you want to do first. This is what separates ExamTime from the rest

Lots to choose from. You can't wrong with any of the options

The first option I chose to add was a Mind Map. It's simple to create, and has easy to understand icons, with a nice selection of text, and color options.

In just a few minutes, you can create a map, either by yourself, or you can collaborate with a friend. Once it's done, you can share it several ways, including as a web page, or a blog post. Click the link to see a small example

For  more engagement, you can add notes to your map. I will use this primarily to add media that supports the concepts, or links to websites. This is a dynamic interface that can be easily changed in the event a site goes down-404

I use flashcards, and have students generate their own to share with me using Study Blue. Now students can collaborate to build them here. Having one less login is always good, especially if you're getting a better option. Again, this is easy to share with anyone, even if they don't have an ExamTime account. However they'll will have more options if they sign in.

Easy to make, and use, with the ability for a student to self evaluate their confidence

Try the flash cards for yourself by clicking here or below

Adding notes, and as important, updating notes, is another strength for ExamTime. Very simple interface. You can add traditional notes, as well as options for adding media like videos, and images. The video sources are numerous, and includes YouTube.

Want to add a self graded quiz? Another simple way to increase student learning, engagement and accountability. The multiple choice quiz is simple to make and has options for adding explainations to questions that a student misses. Immediate feedback is provided in a clear way.

Quiz building is a breeze, and well designed. This image is of the quiz creating tool

The student will see the following quiz interface

Student View

 The student can revisit questions once the quiz is complete. Once he/she is satisfied with their answer, all the do is Submit the answers.

Instant feedback!

I intentionally missed the questions, so please, no emails

The student can revisit the questions to see the correct answer

And, if they missed the answer, they can compare their choice with the correct answer. If I added an explanation to this question, the student would see that as well

And it's share-able. Give it a try by clicking here or below

The file management is clear, though the icons are easily confused. I suggest you title each aid with its style,ie geomedicine quiz, geomedicine map etc.

ExamTime is very user friendly, highly engaging, multifaceted web app. It's packed with some of the most useful student learning tools, that until now, was available as stand alones on other sites. A single log-in give a teacher a variety of ways to reach students, increase their engagement and accountability as well as providing several options for collaboration.

It's still in beta, and should continue to build upon an already powerful platform. The staff is responsive to user questions (I use twitter) and keeps up to date on changes via a blog, and through Twitter. But don't my word for it, try it..It's free!

Keep looking up!

Social Media and Earthquakes

Social media is a powerful tool that should be used in the classroom. And, in case you weren't aware, your students are already using it, so you should try to harness the power for good. Below is an example of how I use it for an earthquake lesson. Of course, this can apply to any topic

 This is a map from the USGS. It identifies the locations of recent earthquakes

USGS Map of Earthquakes in the past 24 hours

Here is map of Twitter conversations about earthquakes. I like using Trendsmap for this visualization. Each one is clickable, and the size of the textbox represents the number of tweets.

Twittermap of #Earthquakes (Trendsmap)

Twitterfall is another favorite of mine. I really like it when showing a video. I ask that the students tweet info that they find interesting. It really adds an increased level of participation, and engagement. Some are concerned that students will use their phones inappropriately during the activity. Some do, but no more than the number that use their pencils to doodle instead of jot down notes. The teacher needs to actively monitor the class. Their tweets also serve as a record of their participation.

Twitterfall

Other ways to show tweets are numerous. I run VisibleTweets like a screen saver, while the students are working.

VisibleTweets

And, if you wish to add a writing component, I recommend using Storify. Your students can find relevant tweets, and other media, including images. The media acts as an eyewitness account, and adds a great dimension to their writings. I ask that they add media, and then respond to it based on the content we have discussed.

No matter what you may choose to try, I think that you will find a higher level of student engagement. They use social media, and like it. They don't go home and print off worksheets to do for fun. Take advantage of the amazing tools available.

A Little AR Fun with Aurasma

     I am really excited about some of the new technology that is just around the corner, but I am also a little impatient. After watching a promo of the upcoming GoogleGlass...

     I wondered if there is anything that can approach that type of augmentation of reality, and I have found that there kind of is.

     While not nearly as sophisticated as the Glass promotion, it is certainly worthy of high praise, and it eliminates the potential humorous abuses uncovered in the Google Glass parody that I am not linking to, but you can find on YouTube and it's pretty funny.

     I think that augmented reality is a fun and engaging way to breathe life into printed media, and will be great for advertisements, and especially welcomed in education. AR can bring print to life, and now that smart phones are common and have pretty good computing specs, it has evolved into a tool for mass appeal. I tried two free services. One is called LAYAR, and the other is Aurasma. After playing around with both, I decided on Aurasma. It has a few more features that I can grow into, and they gave me a partnership and an upgraded account at no charge. I am planning on using my students to develop content as a way to differentiate by interest, and engage them in higher thinking and abstraction. I will keep you posted.

The Aurasma App is a free download for iPhones, and Android

Once installed, play around with the menu at the bottom. That's the best way to figure it out. It's very user friendly, and you can make a great Aura in minutes. In order to streamline things, Aurasma has channels that creators make. Ours is Fox Chapel Astronomy/Geoscience. You can search, using the looking glass, for us. Just type Fox Chapel and you'll find us, and our Auras that we create. If you want to test out a few, just follow us, then scan the images using Aurasma

Crowd Sourcing Ideas for new GIS Course

Sadly, my district has eliminated the teaching of the Geosciences. While it's easy to point out the vast negative consequences of this action, I will try to keep this post very positive. Just know that this is Western Pa.
Home of coal mining, past present and future (and it's environmental concerns, reclaimation etc)

Coal Mining

 The Saudi Arabia of Natural gas production, and processing for the next 100+ years

Gas Drilling. Notice Allegheny Co has banned drilling

The home of three major drainage basins, the Mon, the Al, and the O

Pa drainage basins

Credit: CMU

A landslide capital

Plenty of Radon gas

Red=Bad

Loaded with agricultural regions

With valuable mineral resources

And lots of cleaning up to do

And the list goes on and on!

Because I feel it's important to educate our students in Earth Science, I've developed and ES focused GIS elective course. So, if you're interested in adding ideas about how we can organize a geoscience focused environmental GIS class, please contact me. Here is the basic framework

Corporate Partnerships Encouraged!

Our interview with George Privon at the V.A.T.T

Yapp your own Class App

     I was listening the Wall Street Journal report on the radio yesterday, and there was a discussion about a free mobile app builder designed around events. It's called Yapp, and I figured it could work as well in the classroom community. I love technology, and I can create apps for Android phones easily enough, but the iPhone users in my class (about 50%) were left out of all the fun. (In case you didn't know, iPhone app making is expensive, and cumbersome, which is why I don't do it.)
     Yapp offers a nice work around the Apple fee, and time consuming app approval process, so you are ready to go instantly. In about 20 min, and with no experience in coding, you can have a class app worth bragging about. The set-up is amazingly easy, as long as you have a Facebook account. There used to be an account creation tool on Yapp, but it may be gone. Feel free to look around though.

Once your in, this is what you see, minus the apps that I already made. You click to create a new Yapp, and you're on your way. The first thing is to pick your template

There are a fair amount of templates, and I expect that more will come online as the app receives feedback. I picked Corporate, then simply filled in the blanks

These are the basic tabs for your app. You can add more, or subtract a few. You can also change the name by double clicking the tab. When you click on a tab, you will have options to fill in. I also added a new tab and named it VOTE!

     The news feed is a great option, and you can choose to link it up to your Twitter feed, or your hashtag. Your community can also post messages through their smartphones, or tablets. I find that some students avoid posting science related tweets to their profile out of fear of looking "too nerdy". So this is great for them
     The best thing about the feed, is that you can broadcast a message and it goes out to your community as a notification. It actually pops up on their screen like a text message. They will need to opt in to receive  notifications though, so be sure they do that. No more collecting cellphone #s!

You can also add images to a gallery

I also added Voter cards (Gallery of images). They are a great way to engage students in a lecture

If you don't know how they work, watch the following video

Once you create the app, the students will need to download the free companion app YappBox (that's how you get around the Apple fee) The students will be prompted to do so when that get your new class app.

Enjoy!