Brad Belbas's List: Links for EDUC-360

• One of the examples Milliner gives is adapting a lesson on Civil War battles in Kentucky. "You might assign each student a different battle, and we show how each student can complete that assignment using a different device," he says. "Again, the teacher could have that assignment long before the technology was there to create it."

• In particular, Milliner cites VoiceThread and StudyStack as two of his favorite device-neutral web resources. The former, which he describes as a “good collaboration tool,” allows teachers to upload presentations to a website; it then aggregates student comments on the presentations through voice (via a computer mic or voicemail), text, audio, and video files

• The district has been working with ninth-grade teachers, whose classrooms have suddenly gained a lot more screens, to design “device-neutral” curriculum that can be completed on any device—or with pen and paper.

• Here's how to format the spreadsheet:
• I've been able to successfully create and use a Google Form to enter data into a Google Spreadsheet for TimelineJS.

  
  

  For context: I'm an instructional technologist who works with educators to develop methods of using technology to enhance teaching and learning, so I'm coming at this from a non-commercial and non-technical angle (it has to be something I can explain to any student in less than half an hour). This solution was designed with the intent of allowing multiple collaborators (e.g. students) to quickly add information to a timeline by submitting content through a Google Form. Here are my current test results:
• • Hide the Timestamp column (Column A)
    
  • Select the Start Date column (the new Column A), and choose Format > Number > Date Time
    
  • Optional: Select the Start and End Date columns and create a Data Validation rule for dates
    
  • Optional: Select the Media and Media Thumbnail columns and create a Data Validation rule for text urls
• That's all there is to it. The only weirdness I've found is:

  
  

  A) You have to format the spreadsheet each time you create a new one, even if you copy the form. On the plus side, you only have to do this once and it takes less than a minute if you're very comfortable with spreadsheets.

  B) When the date is entered in the Form, Google Drive is automatically inserting an apostrophe in front of it when it goes into the spreadsheet (so it appears as '05/20/2013 instead of 5/20/2013). This prevents the date from being formatted properly, and you have to manually remove it. Once you delete the apostrophe and hit Enter (or click on another cell), the date will automatically reformat itself.

• The live form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1yHN4C8YlHnGPU26ItUBr5h5ZX27JFD2Ro8SC5tkGQs8/viewform

  The speadsheet (results): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AuiLPq7NknYZdFRfcUgxWTdyTjZOeTFHZC1hYU5nYVE&usp=sharing

  The preview: http://embed.verite.co/timeline/?source=0AuiLPq7NknYZdFRfcUgxWTdyTjZOeTFHZC1hYU5nYVE&font=Bevan-PotanoSans&maptype=HYBRID&lang=en&height=650
• Here's the setup:
  1. Create the Google Form and title each "question" based on the headings in the Google Spreadsheet template: https://drive.google.com/previewtemplate?id=0AppSVxABhnltdEhzQjQ4MlpOaldjTmZLclQxQWFTOUE&mode=public (you can also try and copy mine above, but it will still need the additional formatting I've outlined below). 
     
  2. Set the Response destination to be a new spreadsheet
     
  3. Set the spreadsheet to be published (http://timeline.verite.co/#fileformat)
     
  4. Generate your embed code like you normally would (http://timeline.verite.co/#embed)

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