eARNING TRICK: Surface Pro

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OfficeMix-Off to a Great Start in 2015

I trust you had some time to rest and recreate during the holidays and that you are now refreshed and rearing to go. As I start to plan for the semester ahead I am generally excited with all the possibilities and how I can engage my students in their learning. For the past couple of years I have taught many of my courses as a hybrid-meeting on campus for half the semester and teaching the rest online, which has worked out really well. Last semester, I experimented using <a href="http://mix.office.com/" target="_blank">OfficeMix </a>an new plug-in for PowerPoint that makes the creation of digital assets extremely easy. For teachers who have wanted to flip the classroom, but are still looking for a <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUaEyuj9wtEzP_nQvW8nBuFtoMGVEIN8-qjutJE6tf9zXBY105gupEKaZsPF-SXuOcPOdHh_5Qyuc8HnypVGwHnvVNZHpkRmUJSt5gWzZwwPGUAYq8pi0FgDs_hWln-CUwv7AFgbCl7AY/s1600/officemixtoolbar.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="73" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUaEyuj9wtEzP_nQvW8nBuFtoMGVEIN8-qjutJE6tf9zXBY105gupEKaZsPF-SXuOcPOdHh_5Qyuc8HnypVGwHnvVNZHpkRmUJSt5gWzZwwPGUAYq8pi0FgDs_hWln-CUwv7AFgbCl7AY/s1600/officemixtoolbar.png" width="640" /></a></div>tool to help in the creation of material I would recommend that you install the OfficeMix plug-in which is available on the Windows platform for PowerPoint 2013 or Office 365.  OfficeMix adds the ability to add digital ink (great if you are using a Surface Pro 2 or 3) , videos (Khan Academy, You Tube), simulations (PhET Simulations), quizzes, screencasts, screen captures-complete with user analytics. OfficeMix works great on a Surface Pro 3 because you can take advantage of the webcam and record audio as well as video and include it in your Mix. Likewise, having access to the digital ink on the Surface Pro 3 lends itself to marking up slides or for white boarding directly on a slide.   One of the more challenging aspects of flipping the classroom for teachers is figuring out how to publish the material and where to publish it to. OfficeMix remedies this problem by hosting your Mixes in the Cloud-at no cost. With a click on the Upload button your Mix heads to the Cloud, making your last mile to publishing effortless. Once you have published your Mix you can get the link or embed code and set the permissions making it easy to restrict who has access to your material. If your Mix includes a quiz you can view your students responses in your Mix Dashboard on the web or download the results to an Excel formatted file. Working with Mix is easy and students who are using a Windows or Macintosh computer can access the Mix with all of the interactivity. So for example if you insert a science simulation students will be able to interact with it when they open the Mix. If you will be viewing your Mix's on a tablet you can always export or publish them as a video-but your students will lose out on the interactivity. Teachers will find using OfficeMix to be straight forward and easy to use with lots of possibilities.  The OfficeMix Team is constantly updating the plug-in and bringing more functionality with every update. Looking ahead I would really like to see that OfficeMix can publish in HTML 5 so that we don't lose out on any of the interactivity when view a Mix on a tablet. Likewise, I would like to see the OfficeMix Team add a way to insert Close Captioning when publishing a Mix. Despite these minor things, give OfficeMix a try- I know you will find it a very formidable authoring tool in your content creation! Happy Mixing! Here is an example of an OfficeMix I used with my students: <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="505" src="https://mix.office.com/embed/ukhz5w8ghsrn" width="608"></iframe> If you will attending the <a href="http://njecc.org/" target="_blank">NJECC Conference </a>next week I will be doing a session on using the Surface Pro 3 & OfficeMix in the flipped classroom. Likewise, I will be doing a session at the <a href="http://bit.ly/1HuRb69" target="_blank">ATIA Conference</a> in Orlando later this month on using the Surface Pro 3 with OfficeMix- so join me if you can and please drop by and say hello!

OfficeMix-Off to a Great Start in 2015

I trust you had some time to rest and recreate during the holidays and that you are now refreshed and rearing to go. As I start to plan for ...

January 04, 2015

Cleanstylus for the Surface Pro 3- the Perfect Add-on

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-XJYFwFdZ0AHsdH7rmWNVZnayp5Yrx7NWXo6KFQaKH7WoX65wnRuZ6GsT92j3zF5o1_VrBWX0nJxDYWrdVy5YkDkFn_iWkHzwBBpLlmJeqiXikpB5lashfAYemhM2QxSQGHfGU9CSDUU/s1600/cleanstylus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-XJYFwFdZ0AHsdH7rmWNVZnayp5Yrx7NWXo6KFQaKH7WoX65wnRuZ6GsT92j3zF5o1_VrBWX0nJxDYWrdVy5YkDkFn_iWkHzwBBpLlmJeqiXikpB5lashfAYemhM2QxSQGHfGU9CSDUU/s1600/cleanstylus.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cleanstylus for Surface Pro 3</td></tr></tbody></table>As much as I enjoy using my <a href="http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/Surface-Pro-3/productID.300190600?tid=sNGC4HeGs_dc&cid=5250&pcrid=38987230253&pkw=surface%20pro%203&pmt=e&WT.srch=1&WT.mc_id=pointitsem_Microsoft+US_google_5+-+Surface&WT.term=surface%20pro%203&WT.campaign=5+-+Surface&WT.content=NGC4HeGs&WT.source=google&WT.medium=cpc" target="_blank">Surface Pro 3</a>, especially for the digital inking-it is just a matter of time, before I know I will eventually lose my stylus. So when I came across the Cleanstylus for the Surface Pro 3 from <a href="http://www.cleanint.com/" target="_blank">Cleanint </a>I knew I had to take it out for a test run. I had a chance to speak with Tuan from Cleanint and he was kind enough to send me out one to review. If you are looking for an elegant and effective way to store your stylus then take a look at the Cleanstylus for the Surface Pro 3. The Cleanstylus for the Surface Pro 3  comes in matching keyboard cover colors and uses a a reusable adhesive technology that lets you re-position the stylus/pen holder as you see fit. I decided to adhere the Cleanstylus for the Surface Pro 3 to the top right corner of my Surface Pro 3 and installing it was a cinch. The holder really grasps the stylus and you can either snap it in or slide it into the holder -which ever way you prefer. The Cleanstylus for the Surface Pro 3 retails for $19.95 and is a great solution for securing your stylus and giving you the peace of mind knowing where it is when you need to use it. If you are interested in purchasing the Cleanstylus for the Surface Pro 3 please contact me via <a href="mailto:brian@assistivetek.com" target="_blank">email</a>.

Cleanstylus for the Surface Pro 3- the Perfect Add-on

Cleanstylus for Surface Pro 3 As much as I enjoy using my Surface Pro 3 , especially for the digital inking-it is just a matter of time, bef...

November 21, 2014

ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition from Actiontec

As a professor of education, I am always looking at new technologies that can enliven my classroom and give me and my students tools to share ideas. When I purchased my Surface Pro 2 and Dell Venue 8, I learned about an Intel standard called Wi-Di (Wireless Display) which allows you to stream the contents of your tablet or computer to a HDMI  device without cables or wires. Many educator often refer to Wi-Di by using the term Miracast to describe a peer-to-peer wireless screencasting standard formed via Wi-Fi Direct connections in a manner similar to Bluetooth. Having access to Wi-Di would be great for the classroom because it would enable me to move about the classroom without the need to be tethered to the projector. Since I had half the solution in the Surface Pro 2 and Dell Venue 8 running Windows 8.1, all I needed was a Miracast receiver to enable me to use this technology. Researching which Miracast receiver would be best, I came across the <a href="http://www.actiontec.com/325.html" target="_blank">ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition from Actiontec</a> which got great reviews from many educators on the web. ScreenBeam Pro for Education sells for $99 dollars and comes complete with everything you need to get started and also includes a HDMI to VGA converter which is ideal since many classrooms still have older projectors without a HDMI port.  <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZnjvawy80VvCIAzckRr0we-oKilU77pawFF_1tztuY8hnQJyzlbQxnb0a-pBIQDkl5CJGFeErr12u1TDpSdkpOYdUqDRMVTVdhBWTKYQq-KJLDB9bX4gASmVMNed2__zLP02afOh3Kd4/s1600/Actiontec.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZnjvawy80VvCIAzckRr0we-oKilU77pawFF_1tztuY8hnQJyzlbQxnb0a-pBIQDkl5CJGFeErr12u1TDpSdkpOYdUqDRMVTVdhBWTKYQq-KJLDB9bX4gASmVMNed2__zLP02afOh3Kd4/s1600/Actiontec.JPG" width="320" /></a>The <a href="http://www.actiontec.com/325.html" target="_blank">ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition from Actiontec</a> is a small 2 inch square receiver that plugs into a HDMI device. In my case I plugged the VGA cable from my classroom computer into the HDMI to VGA converter and plugged it into the Screenbeam Pro. Since VGA does not support wireless audio out, I was able to plug it into the supplied RCA audio cable from my computer into the ScreenBeam Pro. Once I powered the ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition the instructional landing screen was displayed and prompted me to enter the PIN. Once I entered the PIN, I was able to swipe in from the Charms menu click on Devices and select Project and select Add a Wireless Display.  Within a second or two the Actiontec ScreenBeam Pro device comes up and I simply clicked on that and within seconds my Dell Venue 8 Pro screen was projected on the screen in my classroom. I now opened OneNote and began writing write notes which were automatically displayed in my classroom. It was that simple.  One of the benefits of Miracast is that it does not require you to use the school's wireless network to set it up. Since ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition creates an ad hoc network it will not require IT support to get started. I was really excited with the out of the box experience and everything worked exactly as it should. If you have a Windows 8.1 tablet or computer that supports W-Di you really should take a look at ScreenBeam Pro for Education as a solution for giving you more flexibility when teaching in the classroom. I didn't have a chance to test it out but using the ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition in the classroom will enable students with Miracast supported devices to project the contents of their screen to the entire class. The ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition enables teachers to secure the device and give permission to students to project their screen to the class.  If you are looking for an inexpensive way to cast your screen from your Windows 8.1 tablet or computer then you need to take a look at the ScreenBeam Pro for Education. ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition offers educators a great way to share the contents of the screen using Miracast technology. If you are trying to source the ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition or are looking to implement ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition in your classroom <a href="mailto:brian@assistivetek.com" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">email </a>me for the details.  Unboxing the ScreenBeam Pro for Education <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/0U67Qlb3cJ4" width="560"></iframe>

ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition from Actiontec

As a professor of education, I am always looking at new technologies that can enliven my classroom and give me and my students tools to shar...

June 26, 2014