Accessing Files on the School Server From Anywhere

NetStorage is now available for students and teachers. It allows you to access your files and folders on the school’s server from any Internet connected device, from any location, using a browser or app.

For example, you are working on your lesson plans at home and need to access the slideshow you saved on the school server while at school. Just start your browser (Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox, Chrome, etc.) on your computer, and access our NetStorage site by clicking the link on the High School website. Log in with your Novell username and password. You will see all the same folders and files on the server that you see when you are at school, logged into your station. You will not be able to see any files that you have saved locally to your school computer, such as on the Desktop.

You can also access your files on a smart phone or tablet using a DAV client app. I’ve used WebDAV Navigator on my iPad, which is also available for the iPhone and Android devices.

I’ve created a handout that leads you through accessing NetStorage, uploading and downloading, and managing your files and folders. It also shows you how to set up access to NetStorage in the WebDAV Navigator app. This handout is available on the High School website homepage for student reference.

RSS Reader App for the iPad

It’s been an ongoing search for the perfect RSS Reader App for my iPad. I’ve tried several including: Reeder, Flipbook, Pulse, and Google Reader through the Google app.

Features that I look for in a Reader

• sync with Google Reader
• tag articles in Diigo
• tag articles in Evernote
• email articles
• view articles in condensed form (title only) for scanning, or in long form (complete article)
• automatically mark items as read while scrolling
• option to mark a folder of feeds read, even if I haven’t scrolled through them
• access article through web browser
• maintain folder structure I’ve used in Google Reader to organize and prioritize my feeds
• manage subscriptions: add, delete
• manage folders: add, delete, arrange
• hide read items

Mr. Reader is very close to being my perfect iPad Reader App. It meets all the criteria above. I like that I can select a folder of feeds to scroll through, scanning titles and choosing which ones to open and read in depth. In my Tech folder I have placed subscriptions to general tech sites, not educational tech. I read just a few of these articles in depth. In Mr. Reader I can process this folder more quickly than I can on my computer using Google Reader because it marks the articles read that I have scrolled past while skimming titles and start of the article, (this is a setting in preferences).

For my Edtech folder I tap the first article to open it RSS view. I use the next arrows in RSS view to jump to the next article. If the RSS view shows just a portion of the article, I can tap Web at the top to view the full article on the website.

I also have the option of viewing the feeds in a folder and selecting a particular feed to read. If I’m behind on my reading this lets my prioritize the sites I really need to check and mark all the others read with one click.

Sharing and Saving

It provides access to variety of services for saving and sharing articles. You can choose which ones to display and in what order.

• Open with Safari, Atomic Web, Grazing, iCab Mobile, Mercury
• Post to Twitter (multiple accounts supported)
• Post to Facebook
• Save to Delicious, Pinboard, Zootool, Diigo
• Send to Instapaper, Read It Later, Readability
• Send articles to your Kindle by using Tinderizer, SENDtoREADER
• Create task/note in OmniFocus, Things, Evernote
• Post to Tumblr, Posterous (multiple blogs supported)
• Send to “Send2Mac” (multiple Mac’s supported)
• Send article or just the link by mail (predefine multiple recipients)
• Copy link
• Copy Short URL (URL shortener: goo.gl, TinyURL, is.gd, bit.ly or your custom one)
• Print articles

I would like the service Pinterest to added, and the Create a Task services to include Google Tasks.

Evernote

I don’t like that when I choose to send an article to my Evernote account, it doesn’t allow me to choose which notebook or add tags. When setting up the Evernote service in Mr. Reader I can specify a default notebook and choose to send a link or the entire article, but I can not change these options for each article. Instead I can choose to use the Email Article option entering my Evernote email address, and in the subject field specifying a notebook (@Tech), and including tags (#ipad #reader #rss). But the Email Article option is only available on the RSS screen.

If I choose to view the Web version of the article, Email Article disappears from the Send options.

Diigo

When I choose to send an article to Diigo, I can add a description, tags, mark it as private, or set it to Read Later. I wish it would show suggested tags like the browser bookmarklet does. This helps me consistently use the same tags (utility or utilities? GoogleApps or Google.Apps?).

Personalization

This reader offers a lot of personalization options. You can choose to show only folders with unread items and set sorting options to chronological or grouped by feed. There are four themes, with the option to download an additional four. You can reposition the actions toolbar to left, right or bottom; and choose a font family and size. There are several Mark as Read options including those articles older than a certain number of days/weeks.

I’ve been using Mr. Reader for several weeks now. It is not free, but definitely worth the cost of $3.99. What reader do you use on your iPad?

BYOD Pilot Readying for Takeoff

We are preparing to pilot a BYOD Program here at our High School. It is our goal to facilitate the implementation of 1:1 access for our students. This should allow teachers and students to use technology on a full time basis, more ubiquitously, since they won’t have to rely on access to class sets netbooks or laptops, or access to a lab. It will make the use of technology more transparent and authentic. We hope that our current inventory of netbooks and laptops will meet the needs of students not bringing their own devices.

Research has shown that one-to-one programs that bring technology into the classroom:

• increase student engagement
• complement project-based activities
• help increase the quality and quantity of students’ writing
• promote the interpersonal and teamwork skills required for collaborative work
• allow teachers to more easily monitor students’ mastery and application of skills and concepts
• lead to higher overall interaction with classroom material from students

A committee has been researching, discussing and planning the project for several months now. After attending conferences and online webinars, visiting with schools about their BYOD programs, and researching online, a timeline was developed to guide the program implementation. Here’s a summary of what we are doing to implement a BYOD program that allows laptops, tablets, netbooks, and ereaders (not cell phones or gaming devices.)

• The Tech Dept has researched and developed a plan to provided sufficient infrastructure and security to support the program, including a new wireless system installation to replace our current one and a separate “guest network” for student devices.
• Meetings have been held to gather input from PLC leaders and Core Department Chairs.
• The Student Super Committee was formed and meetings held to gather student input, generate interest and a sense of empowerment. We will continue to gather feedback from this group after the pilot begins.
• We surveyed our students to gather data on what hardware they have available for their use, and if they were interested in bringing their own devices to school.
• A Personal Device Usage Policy is being written that will most likely be included in the High School Handbook. This is still in the rough draft stage.
• FAQs documents for Students, Parents, and Staff have been or are being developed to inform all stake holders about the the program.
• A plan for staff professional development has been formulated. With a significant focus being put on tech integration the last couple year, this program should not be a major change for our staff.
  • There will be some minor classroom management and instruction changes, which have been outlined in the Staff FAQs, as well as modeled in a couple example lesson plans. A File Formats Reference was created for teachers to refer to when specifying a file format for digitally submitted assignments.
  • The staff will be reviewing and discussing these BYOD documents during their Professional Learning Committee meetings.
  • Following that we will have a faculty meeting to field questions and discuss the pilot.
  • During our upcoming professional development day, staff will have time to further reflect on the implications of this program in department meetings, making notes about how it will affect their instruction.
  • As a followup to the department meetings, a BYOD Open Discussion will  convene that same day to share questions or suggestions.
  • The instructional coaches for the building will be available to assist teachers in planning and teaching lessons in which students use their own devices.
• Dependent on the updates to the infrastructure, we hope to start with Juniors and Seniors in early March. If all goes well, we will proceed by allowing all high students to bring their devices at the end of March.
• Data will be collected to evaluate the success of the pilot. We are in the process of determining what data to collect and how best to do so.

This is just a pilot program this school year. I’m sure there will be kinks to work out. We are hoping by running the pilot at the end of the school year, we can ensure a smooth full implementation in the Fall of 2012.