Chromebook: 8 months later

I can see definite uses for the Chromebook that I was given to test.  I haven't posted many accessibility issues because, for my students with reading disabilities or Deafness or autism, we have not had many.

The few we have had included:

• An inability to configure a visual alert for the student who is Deaf, which meant she had to keep her eyes on the screen and couldn't also watch her interpreter.  She was happy to use the Chromebook to practice math and science skills in advance of the state testing, however, and felt that it helped.

• Problems with plugins that allowed read out loud that was more appropriate for my students (as I said in my first post, I did not think my students would like Chromevox, and I was correct; they felt it was overkill since they didn't need it to read the entire screen, only the text).

•  Problems with loading MS Word and PowerPoint files so that students could use the Chromebook to view items that were too far away or to use it as a read aloud for a classroom test.

However, the biggest issue we have with the Chromebook is that for this school year, we have not been allowed to add it to the school network.  Our district is having problems with bandwidth, and has limited teachers to one personally owned device  this year.  And, without Internet access, the device is very, very limited.

In fact, without Internet access the Chromebook is really no more than an AlphaSmart; one without even word prediction because all of the apps for the device require Internet access.  So, we're using it for students to take notes.  The students save their notes to a flash drive by doing a "PDF Print".

I did have a concern that the device appears to not back the notes up when I bring the Chromebook home.  I need to explore this more thoroughly, before I say anything, as I suspect this is my user error. 

I suppose the thing that I will never forget from us using the Chromebook these last few months was when a student used curse words to name a file.  Another student found it and was very upset that a peer had broken the rules.  And, because the device wasn't online, I couldn't delete the file.  I had to take it home, sync it, and then delete.  Fantastic.  But, I work with teenagers, so of course this kind of thing happens.

Misfit Shine

I don't often post blog entries about gadgets in my life that haven't been used in my classroom (even the posts from last year's IRLQuests for 3DGameLab had to do with school since 3DGL is something I really want to use in my classroom), but I kind of feel like I should...

I will also certainly post an update if my opinion changes or the company fixes the item without my having to the refund route.

My Misfit Shine arrived today, and its awful. I'm really quite disappointed because I've been researching fitness trackers for more than a year at this point, waiting and hoping for one that would work with swimming since that is my favorite form of exercise, although I also enjoy using WiiFit and work with a personal trainer.  I had just decided to purchase the FitbitFlex, especially when I saw it at Target, and on sale, when a relative told me about the Misfit Shine.  He's definitely an early adopter of gadgets, and researches as well, although looks for different things than I do. I can’t get it to sync with the app or log anything at all. The company says that Android users or iPhone 4 and under users can still have the device track, even if it can’t log, but mine does neither.
I posted a comment on the Facebook site, and was told to email. The company then posted & tweeted all of the positive comments made within 2 hours before and after mine, but have yet to respond to mine. Browsing the Twitter feed and Facebook page indicates answering email is a difficult concept for them. 
I was a little bit sorry 9 days ago when I ordered the item, discovered that my money from PayPal was gone and I hadn’t received a receipt; the discomfort increased when a visit to the local Apple store showed the Shine available there for the same price. If I used credit cards for optional/recreational purchases, I would have bought it then—but I do not, so I came home and posted a comment on their Facebook page. I was told it would soon be shipped, but received no response to my request for a receipt. This morning, I went to get my mail, and it was in my mailbox. Again, no receipt or packing slip in the envelope, but I did get an email with a tracking number; the email was dated for this morning. USPS says the package was mailed two days ago. But, hey–I had it in hand! Exciting! Until it wasn’t, because I received an error saying my Shine was linked to another account, and that user would have to unlink it. Another quick browse of the Twitter stream and Facebook page indicates this is a VERY VERY VERY VERY common error.  Update: In looking on the Facebook page again, another person has commented on my post that they also had the same problem.

If I don’t receive a response in the next 48 hours (since the company clearly responds on weekends), I’ll be returning the device and requesting a refund, so I can buy a tracker that works, even if it doesn't allow me to use it while swimming.

What Should We Be Teaching?

I was having a discussion with a non-teaching friend today. When I say non-teaching, I mean she isn't a classroom teacher... She kept saying, "This you need to write about. You should write about this." And so, because she usually gives me pretty good advice, I decided to do just that.

I teach students with autism, and have taught students with other significant (also frequently referred to as severe) disabilities. I've been teaching 15 years, not counting student teaching or time spent working as a teaching assistant through a program my high school offered to students in the gifted & talented group. That program allowed G/T students starting in 9th grade, and all students starting in 11th grade, to be mentored by a professional in their field of interest. I wanted to be a teacher, specifically a teacher of the Deaf, so I started working as a teaching assistant in classrooms that had Deaf students as a 9th grader. It was one of the highlights of my high school career. I gave up my study halls to be a part of it.

My discussion this evening centered around what we teach our students, and the reason that some students hate school so much. I've been saying that I hate teaching core content classes. And that really isn't true: I love teaching history, but I don't like that I can't teach HISTORY. I have to cram facts into the heads of my students so they are prepared for a state test at the end of the year. There isn't time to go back and teach them how to think, to let them show me they've mastered skills that are important for after high school. I know teachers who manage both, and I'm insanely jealous because somehow, I just can't manage. It may be because I first have to teach my students the concepts they haven't yet gotten because they are behind coming into my room due to their disabilities.

I wonder why we stopped offering vocational programs in so many schools. There is no reason that a student who does well in vocational programs shouldn't go to college.

I'm not saying that we shouldn't be teaching history. I am saying that maybe we need to look at what and how we're teaching... not just children with disabilities, but all children. Is it truly that ALL children need to be prepared for a university degree? Is there a reason that it is so awful to give the children choices? It makes me sad that my students don't want to be in my classroom, and they aren't excited about learning. I think I could make them excited...
if I could teach history instead of just teaching a test.

Chromebook: First Impression

I signed up as an accessibility tester for the new Google Chromebook.  I was really excited (probably more than I should be, honestly) to get an email yesterday saying that I'd been accepted into the program.  And for those reading this blog for the first time, I'm excited for a number of reasons: I'm a special education teacher for students with autism, and also teach a self-contained history class, and assist in a team taught (special education/regular education pair teaching) history class.  I also believe in using technology in my classroom, and this gives us another tool to try!  At the very least, we can use it for some of the web creation that we do, like Animoto and Blogging (we use edublogs, because its easier for me to keep track of what the students are doing).  I'm also looking forward to trying out the Read & Write extension for Google Drive since we use RWG in our school district for accessibility.

OK...  back to the first impression...

The machine arrived this afternoon, which was really a surprise because I only received a ship notice 3 hours before FedEx showed up at my door!  Good thing I was home, because it needed to be signed for and I didn't relish a drive out to the nearest FedEx overnight ship terminal (Alexandria, VA!).

The cat was, of course, very interested in the box.  He loves technology, and remains a die-hard iPad fan because it responds to his paws as well as my hands.  

Once I opened the box, the directions were right there for me to find...  Except they were in Braille!  A friend helped me find this: Braille Translator site once I connected the Chromebook to the Internet.

Good thing I found English and German directions right under it (and Spanish, French, along with several other languages!).  It turned out that I didn't need them though...

I took the machine out of the box and was very surprised at how light it was.  I actually think its lighter than my iPad with its protective case.  Its certainly lighter than my Sony Vaio S series (I love it, BTW) which weighs about 6 pounds with the add-on battery.  The downside is that the machine feels more fragile, and I'm a little worried about how it will hold up in my classroom.  Most of my students aren't unnecessarily rough with anything, and we often use my iPad without its protective case (I have to take the case off to hook the iPad to our interactive whiteboard; the dongle doesn't fit with the case on) to play group games or practice in my social skills class.  But, we have had a few accidents this year which have involved a broken digital camera and a dropped whiteboard stylus.

The Chromebook does not have a port that will allow me to hook it to the whiteboard in the classroom.

I tried out Chromevox, and was fairly pleased with it.  Mind now, I'm not blind, and I have no reading disability.  I'll have to ask some students to try out the feature and see if they also find it acceptable.  I am thinking they might not because it reads EVERYTHING, including hyphens and "end parenthesis".  However, I will leave it up to them to decide.  I don't think it will be too hard to get them to use it, because they generally like anything new and shiny.  

I have discovered that PowerPoint slides don't transfer as well to Google Drive, but I'll explore a bit more and see if that improves.

The battery life is advertised at 6 hours, which isn't bad for a laptop, although my Sony is 14 hours with the sheet battery, and 5-7 hours without depending on the settings.  The battery life may have something to do with the screen.  The screen resolution, frankly, was amazing.  It is REALLY sharp.  Again, sharper than my Sony. I didn't realize that the screen resolutions had advanced so much in the 2 years I'd owned my Sony.

I believe the Chromebook will fit in the old iPad zippercase I have, which is nice.  The only reason I don't bring my laptop to school with me more often is because I am not supposed to lift more than 15 pounds: the backpack with the laptop (6 pounds with the sheet battery, give or take a pound), plus the iPad and assorted  school supplies is over 15 pounds.  And the wheeled backpack I bought is a pain in the rear.  Yes, I bring the iPad to school with the laptop because in my team classes, one of my jobs is to make a set of notes for students who have trouble copying from the board.  I can stand in the classroom or move around with the iPad, and cannot do that with the laptop.  However, I can't access the school grading system (web based) or our IEP writing system on the iPad.  I will be testing those out; allegedly both work in Chrome because the district installed that on the desktop machines just after winter break.  

As a side note, I wasn't able to find a Skype client for the Chromebook, and I already know that the Red Cross web-based applications won't work in Chrome.  I've been told the latter by other Red Cross volunteers.  I'm hoping there is a Skype client, because I use that regularly for another group I volunteer with.

For now, this is enough...  

Tech Sweatin'

OK... I promise this is my absolute LAST IRL Quest for the day... 

Its just that I started these in August, never got a chance to finish, and had most of the "bits and pieces" already, so it was easy to blog them.

Well, except this one.  This is a new one...  I just discovered Daily Burn in January when I was looking for a new food tracker and exercise tracker.  I'm way more motivated to workout if I can post it, or earn points for it or ... or ...  I really want to get a Jawbone Up tracker that will track sleep, weight, calories, etc.  I want the Up! because its currently the only waterproof tracker available on the market.  Despite all the noise about swimming being a fantastic form of exercise that anybody can do, none of the weight/fitness trackers are available for those that swim. 

I guess that makes me very much like my students and their video games (check back to see if I think this is a good thing...)

Fill in the Blank with Pixlr

Something Soft:

Something Red:

City Walk with Pixlr

This for the I Love to be IRL (In Real Life)! series of quests on 3D Game Lab. I used some pictures from a trip to Seattle. I love Seattle; I think along with Boston, Seattle is probably my favorite city in the United States. I can't say they are my favorite cities in North America because I've only been to Winnipeg (and that for a conference with precious little time for exploration)as other cities in North American but not within the United States. Of course, I'll readily admit that the two cities could be my favorites because they are among the few cities that I've traveled to for reasons outside of my volunteer work with Red Cross Disaster Services. There is something about seeing cities during disasters that tends to make them "not favorite", even if the people living and recovering from the disaster are amazing. Picture #1: I took this from the hotel room I stayed at during the Microsoft Innovative Teacher conference. Pixlr made it VERY easy to get rid of the one part of the picture I hated, which was the reflection from the plate glass window. I'm so glad I was able to get rid of it, because it is a gorgeous photo.

Picture #2: This picture was taken from the base of the Space Needle (if that wasn't obvious already!). I'm terribly scared of heights, which has ruined several opportunities for awesome picture taking, including from the top of the Berlin TV Tower and the St. Louis Arch (although this was achieved thanks to the students who were with me on that trip who grabbed my camera when it was clear that I was only up there because I felt it was my duty to make sure they weren't killed while that far up in the air!).

Picture #3: This was supposed to be a good photo, but wound up misaligned and far too orange. Pixlr allowed me to rotate it, put a dark frame around it, and tone down the orange... now its a great example of "good bye" and "thank-you" in different languages!