The Best Tips & Tricks for Fall Semester

Fall semester is in full swing and if your teachers are already feeling overwhelmed, implementing some of our favorite edtech tools and techniques from our partners could be the answer.

Boost Productivity 

When there’s not enough time in the day, get more done with tech hacks designed to simplify your life. 

• Microsoft Outlook offers productivity and time management tools in its Calendar features. Use it to set appointments, reminders and even organize your schedule by day, week or year. Block out times when you’re unavailable – lunches, personal development time and vacations – to keep your staff updated about your schedule.  

• If your school uses Google and Gmail, Google Tasks is the equivalent to Outlook. Google Tasks allow you to create multiple task lists, organized by grade, department, team, however you choose. You can reorder tasks, add subtasks and notes and even switch between multiple accounts (like your work and personal accounts) if you need to take some work home with you. But probably the biggest time saver is being able to create tasks from a Google search. Google “t your task” and press enter. Google will add whatever you type after “t” as your task, like “buy new Chromebooks.” 

Improve Communication 

Eliminate the need to run down the hall every time you need to connect with a staff member.  

• Microsoft Teams can keep everyone on the same page. Microsoft Teams, which comes with Office 365, allows your staff to instantly message each other and even set online meetings. The chat threads can be grouped so the administrative staff and the English department can all have their own thread. You can even set alerts so you know when someone has added a new comment or reached out to you directly.  

• Take Teams one step further by using Flipgrid and OneNote. Flipgrid is a video discussion platform that allows students to share their ideas, wonderings, projects and questions in new and creative ways. This social learning app is supported by OneNote, Microsoft’s digital notebook. Teachers add the topics, students respond with short videos, and everyone engages. The grids are communities built by educators and each has its own special code, which teachers can share with students. Educators can prompt students to engage with discussion topics or questions and also allow students to respond to their peers. 

Save Time 

It takes massive amounts of coordination, not to mention time, to plan field trips and even professional development outings. Save the hassle by using the classroom and staff room as home base. 

• Skype in the Classroom’s guest speakers bring learning to life for your school’s students. There are hundreds of volunteer guest speakers from around the world that are available to speak to your classrooms about an endless amount of topics from ancient Greece and desert exploration to the science of mosquitoes. These guest speakers are experts in every subject area you can imagine as they are authors, scientists, engineers, zookeepers, etc. Experts can also be virtually “brought in” for professional development. 

• Immersive technology, like virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) use software to help students see through time and space. Scholastic has an entire curriculum dedicated to integrating VR into STEM lesson plans that allow students to travel far beyond our solar system or down to a cellular level.  

At Arey Jones, we partner with the best in the edtech business to provide the latest and greatest in software and educational services for K-12 educators and administrators. Contact us to see what solutions we can provide for you.

How OneNote Enhances Memory in Students

Technology has improved education in many ways, from immersive learning through augmented and virtual reality to improved communication between teachers, parents and students. But there are a few “old school” methods that have no substitute and one is handwriting. There was a study published in Psychological Science in 2016, authored by Pam Mueller of Princeton University and Daniel Oppenheimer of UCLA, that showed handwriting is the best way for students to recall what they learn. With Microsoft OneNote, your students can have the best of both worlds. 

OneNote is Handwriting-Friendly

It has been shown that hand-note takers tend to digest, summarize and capture the meat of the information better than typing it, leading to improved understanding and recall. In relation,  when we type, we try to notes every word we hear instead of what they mean, leaving our comprehension of the subject matter more shallow. Using OneNote’s stylus (or a fingertip) is like putting pen to paper so note takers get the recall advantage.

While using OneNote gives the traditional benefits of pen and paper, it goes above and beyond by giving you the ease of being digital.

OneNote Quickly Transfers Handwriting to Digital

Once you’re done taking notes you can convert your handwriting to text by choosing the Lasso Select button on the Draw tab. And, unlike the set pages of a notebook, there’s no limit on how many notes you can take in OneNote, except for how much storage you have. And with cloud storage options, you should be free to take a lot of notes!

OneNote Keeps Notes in One Place

Once you’ve recalled information you can easily reference it. Keeping track of scraps of paper and multiple notebooks is a thing of the past as OneNote is searchable. Took a note about ordering a new shipment of Chromebooks? Simply search by “Chromebook” and OneNote will pull up all your options. You can even pull up content from OneNote if you’re offline. And because you can create multiple tabs in each notebook and pages within tab, organization options are endless.

OneNote Allows You to Save and Store

Gotta run out on a lecture? No problem. OneNote allows you to stop, save and open your note at a different time, so you write some additional notes. Since OneNote goes with you, it’s always in the palm of your hand when inspiration strikes.

What do you love about Microsoft OneNote? Let us know.

Combine OneNote And Flipgrid To Make EdTech Magic

Learning today is digital, interactive and even 3D, so why shouldn’t it be social as well? Microsoft Teams, the digital hub that brings conversations, content, assignments and apps together in one place, has integrated Flipgrid into its Microsoft Teams for Education.

Flipgrid is a video discussion platform for educators and students. It allows students to share their ideas, wonderings, projects and questions in new and creative ways. This social learning app is now supported by OneNote, Microsoft’s digital notebook. Teachers add the topics, students respond with short videos, and everyone engages.

Why is this a magical match made in learning heaven?

Utilizing both Flipgrid and OneNote allows educators to use fun, engaging ways to help students retain and care about the information being presented, all in one place. It’s like throwing the best learning products into a cauldron to brew up the best edtech tools.

Flipgrid works like this:

• Grids are the communities built by educators. Once created, you receive an automated Flip Code which is shared with students. The students don’t create their own accounts, giving educators the ability to control what’s being posted and seen.

• Topics are discussion questions or prompts. These can be text-based or include images, videos, emjoi, attachments and more. Educators can add unlimited Topics to their Grids.

• Student-to-Student Replies allow students to respond to their peers within a Flipgrid Topic and participate in ongoing dialogue. Replies-to-Responses is controlled by the educator and can be toggled-on when the creating the topic.

• MixTapes can be created for student portfolios, semester showcases, project highlights, school yearbooks and student TED talks. You pick what goes on your MixTape (any Response from any of your Topics in any of your Grids) and you set the order you want the Responses to play. Your MixTapes are view-only and can be shared anywhere.

• Students can use the camera to capture and share their ideas, reflections, projects, creations, environments, experiments, imaginations and more. The app grants the user the ability to trim video, plus they work on every device, including desktops.

Because Flipgrid is supported by OneNote, all of the grids, topics and videos created will automatically appear as soon as an educator or student posts a link into OneNote. 

Since Flipgrid joined Microsoft Education, it’s completely free for every educator and student in the world. Try it out today and let us know what you think!

Why Administrators Should Use OneNote

Microsoft OneNote is changing the way students learn and teachers stay organized. But, did you know it is also ideal for administrators who need to keep everyone on the same page and make sure processes run smooth?

 OneNote has a lot of moving parts, but its main purpose is organization. It keeps everything in its place and has a place for everything. Once you use it, you’ll wonder how you ever worked without it.

Staff Notebooks Are Where It’s At

Throw the binders away. OneNote’s Staff Notebooks have everything you need to improve your school’s efficiency. It streamlines communication, keeps tracks of meeting agendas and minutes, and allows you to post faculty teaching assignments and professional development trainings.

Staff Notebooks contain three parts: a collaboration space, a shared content library and a personal workspace for every staff member.

• Collaboration Space: Everyone in your school or on your team has access to view and edit the content found here. This is a perfect place for to post staff meeting agendas, discussions and brainstorming. You can ask faculty to work together on initiatives and projects and to post their ideas for guest speakers and events.

• Content Library: Here you can add content for the staff leader to view. Add pages for professional development, data analysis workshops, school calendars and schedules - basically any information that would normally be sent out over multiple email attachments. It’s also organized and searchable.

• Personal Workspace: Use this space for communication between yourself and staff members. Parent communication notes, student support team information, lesson plans and evaluation and observation reflections can all be organized and kept here. You can also search and find multiple documents over multiple years.

OneNote’s Tools Make It All Come Together

Not only are OneNote’s features, like Staff Notebook and Class Notebook, awesome for educators, but the practical tools built into the design are mind-blowing.

• Add Any Content: Text, images and video can be added to any page and can be enlarged and minimized while presenting live, with a pinch and zoom. Plus, OneNote is an infinite canvas that expands at-will.

• Digital Inking: This is just one of the many ways you can add content to a page. You can project the device and annotate text, including highlighting words and lines. Plus, there are handy “Ink to Text” and “Ink to Math” options.

• Available On Everything: OneNote can be accessed on a variety of devices – PC, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android and even Chromebook. It updates in real-time, so multiple devices, i.e. a phone and laptop, and can used simultaneously.

• Saving Is Automatic: Everything is always saved when you work in OneNote. There are no buttons to click; ideal for teachers and staff who need to refer to the information later.

Do you love OneNote as much as we do? Tell us in the comments!

16 Hashtags Worth Following (and Tagging!)

We do a lot of Twitter outreach at Arey Jones because we love to be in on the educational technology conversation, and there is always something to new going on in our industry. Whether you want to contribute to the discussion or learn something new every day, these hashtags will put you--and your followers--in the know.

By Platform

• #OneNoteEDU

• #MinecraftEDU

• #Skype2Learn

By Software

• #GoogleSheets

• #GoogleSlides

• #GSuiteEDU

By Company

• #MicrosoftEDU

• #GoogleEDU

• #AcerEDU

By Broad Reach

• #edtech

• #education

• #digcit 

By Teams

• #GTT

• #MIEE

• #GoogleEI

• #edtechteam

Obviously, this isn’t an extensive list, but it is a great start to learning just how connected educational technology is to how we work, learn, and share advancements. The next time you share a cool teaching-with-technology moment, add these hashtags to your post. You could inspire others with your ideas, and you also may learn a thing or two in the process.

Ready to learn more? Follow us @AreyJones, or feel free to contact us traditionally.

Five Onederful OneNote Tips for Teachers

Microsoft’s OneNote is basically today’s version of a Trapper Keeper; it organizes topics by subject, has a place to store the pictures, videos, and freeform ideas may otherwise fall through the folds, and, bonus, it can be duplicated, shared, locked, and loaded anywhere. For teachers, it means being able to pull every component of a lesson plan together, from quizzes and writing prompts to resources, reading lists, and class notes.

One thing is for certain, the more you learn about OneNote, the easier it becomes to teach. 

Make Note-taking a Team Sport

OneNote gives teachers the ability to frame out a lesson and let their students fill in the gaps with the note-taking. By sharing a note with the entire class, students can access, contribute, and collaborate in real time--and long after the class bell rings. Password protection for notes makes it all the more secure.

Go beyond typed notes.

OneNote allows you to “make a note” of something in almost any medium. Video, images, audio, digital ink--all of it can be noted, recorded, linked, saved, and shared in the OneNote platform. You aren’t limited to an 8.5” x 11” sheet, either; its infinite canvas ensures you’ll run out of ideas long before you’ll ever run out of room to put them on. Creating new sections is easy--and you can even color code them by subject, note type, or student.

Teach in the moment.

Have you ever had an “aha!” moment in class and wished you could share it more readily with your students? Enter OneNote. With its immediate syncing capability across devices, you can take a picture with your mobile phone and add it instantly to your presentation, allowing you to teach and collaborate with your students in real time, just in time.

Embrace your own teaching style.

One of most empowering aspects of OneNote is that it’s not just one thing, nor does it confine its use to one tool. “Learning is messy,” says Tom Grissom, the Director of the Instructional Technology Center at Eastern Illinois University and contributor to the Microsoft Education blog. “OneNote provides the free-from tools to help you--and your students--think through it.” he notes that OneNote excels at “gathering artifacts for learning” while also allowing the information to be redistributed and assimilated. 

Get it all down and get it all done.

OneNote is the perfect bucket in a brainstorm. It speaks Google tools as a first language; you can toggle between Google Docs, Google Sheets, and even Google Forms as part of your lesson planning and classroom management practices. And, since you can take it with you wherever you go, you never have to worry about losing a great idea or missing an opportunity to interact with a student because you aren’t at your desk. OneNote lets you check notes, grade papers, send assignment reminders, share videos, and inspire a new generation of learners with a few clicks. 

How do you use Microsoft OneNote in the classroom, along with other Microsoft technology? We've got a few ideas.