The next episode in the series will be held on May 20th. You can register for it for free right here. If you have a question that you want us to answer, please send me and email or submit it through the Next Vista for Learning contact page. We'll do our best to give thoughtful, practical, and concise answers.
Saturday, May 8, 2021
ICYMI - Two Ed Tech Guys Take Questions & Share Cool Stuff - Episode 36
The next episode in the series will be held on May 20th. You can register for it for free right here. If you have a question that you want us to answer, please send me and email or submit it through the Next Vista for Learning contact page. We'll do our best to give thoughtful, practical, and concise answers.
Friday, May 7, 2021
Google Arts & Culture + Apple Classroom
I still haven't found something that works in the exact same way as the guide mode in Google Expeditions. That said, teachers who have iPads in their classrooms can guide students through scenes in the Google Arts & Culture app through the use of Apple's Classroom app.
Applications for EducationThe downside to using Google Arts & Culture on an iPad instead of on a phone is that the VR experience isn't immersive like it is if you're using a VR viewer. The upside is that as a teacher you can provide more assistance to young students as they use the app.
Knowt Now Offers Public Galleries of Notes, Flashcards, and Quizzes
Now when you sign into a free Knowt account you have the option to browse for notes, flashcards, and quizzes according to subject area. There is also a gallery of notes, quizzes, and flashcards based on popular textbooks. All of the notes, quizzes, and flashcards found through the public galleries in Knowt can be copied directly into your account where you can modify them as you like.
Here's Knowt's promo video for their new galleries of notes, quizzes, and flashcards. And here's my overview of how to use Knowt to create your own notes, quizzes, and flashcards by importing a document into your account.
Applications for Education
The new Knowt galleries of notes, flashcards, and practice quizzes are appearing at a good time for students who are preparing for final exams. Teachers who have Knowt accounts can go through the galleries and pick collections of notes and flashcards to share with their students.
The Question I'm Asked the Most
Screencast-o-matic is the tool that I use to create nearly all of the videos that appear on my YouTube channel. Screencast-o-matic is available in a browser-based version and in a desktop "deluxe" version. I use the desktop version unless I'm using my Chromebook.
The deluxe version of Screencast-o-matic is the paid version that costs $1.65/month. With that version comes the option to crop and resize the webcam view that you can overlay on your screencast. One of those cropping options is to use an oval. That's what I do. Screencast-o-matic also provides the option to have a highlighted circle follow your mouse pointer on your screen. When I'm making longer videos I'll also utilize the clip merging tools, transition tools, and text overlay tools that are available in Screencast-o-matic.
Overviews of Screencast-o-maticLast year March I published a complete video overview of Screencast-o-matic. You can see that video here.
A Comparison of Other Screencasting Tools
Last fall I created a chart and wrote a detailed comparison of free screencasting tools. In my ranking of free options, Screencastify came out on top. That chart and ranking can be seen here.