SIRS Researcher

In a previous post, I did highlight the use of SIRS researcher as a tool for major research topics, in particular research papers. I compared this to the new “Point of View” that was added to EBSCOhost this year. This can be accessed through AEA11 www.aea11.k12.ia.us under the resources area. It also can be accessed through Iowa AEA online www.iowaaeaonline.org.

Last time I blogged about this resource I mentioned that SIRS can help in the development of a thesis topic in addition to providing pro/con articles to give both sides of an argument.

When you first get to the information on a specific topic there is a Yes/No box. There are links to articles showing support and opposition of this controversial topic. There are also research tools to the side including: Timeline, Global impact, Statistics, Research guides and note taker. The Timeline, Global impact, and Statistics tools can be helpful in gathering information for the information, project, or report. The research guides and note taking tools are helpful in the organization of material. Below these aids are the list of articles and additional information.

Additionally, SIRS like EBSCO and Worldbook allow students to email any articles. SIRS also has the read aloud feature that many of the other AEA resources also have.

Task feature on the Google Apps Calendar

This is a great way to keep a running to do list for your self. It is easy to add to the list items to do. There are no sticky notes stuck to your monitor that might fall off. Besides the basic “Task” List, you can create an unlimited amount of to do lists. (Like everything else with Google Apps this can be accessed at home or here at school).

To create the to do list (if you have not opened up “Tasks” or if you have closed it previously) click on “Tasks”. This will add a task box to the right of the calendar. Under you default list you can simply click and start typing. If you are wanting to add additional information or a due date so that your task will appear on the calendar, you can go into “edit details”. To edit details in a task click on the task, and you can go down to “Actions” or click on the small “>” arrow to the right of the task. You can enter a due date. By doing this it will appear on your calendar. It will appear different than other calendar items. It will appear in the all day area and will have a check box by it. Also you can enter notes to give your self additional information or reminder about the task.

If you want to create multiple Task lists and you are wanting items to appear on the calendar, note that they will not appear on the calendar unless you have selected that task list.
At this point I do not see a way to share task lists, so if you are wanting students who are working on a project to share a list, or for coaches or departments to share lists of things to do, at this time, other than to have everyone enter it into their own calendar, I don’t see a way to do this.

Using the calendar feture in google apps

As teacher’s many of us wish that students would write down assignment, tests, project and other events in a planner or a calendar. You can use the calendar feature to do this with the students in your class. When you go to the “Calendar” feature on the left hand side it list the calendars that you can view. To create a calendar click on the “create” link below the calendars you are currently viewing. All you then have to do is create a calendar for each class. Those of you that are coaches or group sponsors could also make calendars for your groups. You can then share the calendar with all of the school district or specific people (like just the students in a class- or grade or part of a group). Like google docs and the email, all you have to do is start tying names of students and it will add them. You can manage if they can view the calendar or if they can also edit the calendar. This is a great way to communicate assignments, especially long term assignments and tests. For groups and sports teams it is a great way to easily have them have the calendar of games or other events. If you are consistent about adding or updating the calendar, it can be a great communication tool. Even if you don’t use this for your classes, it is a great feature to point out to students to teach them to use to be more organized.

** FYI** For a future note, I am probably planning to use the google calendar feature next year, especially if we will be moving to this as our main or only email. While I still need to play around with things, what will most likely happen- each item that can be signed up on the current calendar, will be a separate calendar (i.e. LCD 1, Mobile Lab, multimedia cart). So for those of you that are a little unsure of technology, this is the time to ask questions, learn, and try things. Please don’t freak out about this yet, I will give trainings not this at the beginning of next school year.

Taking notes from an article in a google doc

If you decide not to email an article you also can copy and paste an article into a Google document. This can allow you are students to use a highlighter and comment feature. This can be an additional way to take notes, practice study techniques and note taking- students can share articles they are looking at and their comments can be what use to be “note cards”

Using this highlighter technique can be a great way to demonstrate, use and check for understanding for learning strategies like selective highlighting. By doing this in a document, students have the option to do multiple colors in their highlighting. For example they can do big topic in once color and supporting details in a second or third color.  

Additionally, instead of handing in current event article in print as an email attachment they can copy and paste and have it all in the shared google doc and write their summary at the top. You also could ask them to high light important information from the article that would help them write their summary. The teacher can then use the comment feature when grading.

I copied and pasted an article in from EBSCO. I have highlighted information and added a comment to demonstrate this. This type of document could also be shared with students from teachers. Teachers could add comments about pictures or additional items in an article that could help supplement a lecture or activity.

Emailing articles to google apps email

After learning about Google Apps during our all day professional development, I thought it would be helpful to remind everyone that you can email many articles that you read to an email account. Now that all students 6-12 will have an email account, this is a great way for them to have access to articles that they are using for research. It is a great way for them to have access to them regardless if they print it off or send it as an email.

If you are able to email through the resource there will be an icon. Typically this is on the top of the screen or at the top or bottom of the article. For many of the databases, this simply involves clicking on the icon or the link. This will bring students to a screen asking them to type in the email address, subject and message. Some of the databases will have additional options with regards to how you send it and the format in which you send it.