• You can enlarge the text on any Web page. In Windows, hold the Ctrl and the plus or minus keys (for bigger or smaller fonts)

• You can tap the Space bar to scroll down on a Web page one screenful. Tap Shift and the spacebar key together to scroll back up.

• You can double-click a word to highlight it in any webpage, document, or e-mail.

• When you’re searching for something on the Web using a search engine like Google, put quotes around phrases that must be searched together. For example, if you put quotes around “multiplication facts,” you will only get pages containing  both words and not just the word “multiplication” or containing the word “facts.”

Did you know?  — Regarding Email:

• When someone sends you some shocking e-mail and suggests that you pass it on, don’t. At least not until you’ve first confirmed its truth at snopes.com, the Internet’s authority on e-mailed myths. This includes get-rich schemes, Microsoft/AOL cash giveaways, or scare-tactic messages about our Presidential candidates.

• When you get an e-mail message from eBay or your bank, claiming that you have an account problem or a question from a buyer, it’s probably a “phishing scam” intended to trick you into typing your password. Don’t click the link in the message. If in doubt, go into your browser and type “www.ebay.com” or your bank’s address manually. 

• Sorry to tell you, but nobody, is going to give you half of $80 million to help them liberate the funds of a deceased millionaire…from Nigeria or anywhere else.  Do not send them any information about yourself.

Video Tutorials

The following are Video Tutorials for individual Office Applications.  Each is less than eight minutes long!  This is a fantastic way to start using each application! 

• Up to Speed with Word 2007 Video Tutorial by Microsoft 
• Up to Speed with Excel 2007 Video Tutorial by Microsoft 
• Up to speed with PowerPoint 2007 Video Tutorial by Microsoft 
• Publisher 2007 Series of Short Video Tutorials by Microsoft
• Access 2007 Video Tutorial by Microsoft 

Self-Paced Courses on Office ’07

The following are also provided by Microsoft.  In this section you can select which content area you would like to view the self-paced lesson for. Each lesson includes audio demonstration, some with an option for visual as well.  At the end is a short test and a quick reference card.     

• Getting  Started with Microsoft Office 2007 by Microsoft
• Word 2007 Courses by Microsoft 
• Excel 2007 Courses by Microsoft 
• PowerPoint 2007 Courses by Microsoft 
• Publisher  2007 Courses by Microsoft    

• Access 2007 by Microsoft

Converting from Office 2003 to Office 2007 

• Word 2003 to Word 2007 
• Excel 2003 to Excel 2007
• PowerPoint 2003 to PowerPoint 2007
• Access 2003 to Access 2007    

Elementary Examples
http://cfbstaff.cfbisd.edu/beyond4walls/TCEA/
podcasts_by_cfb_teachers.htm
 New Teacher Hotline
http://www.newteacherhotline.com/

Ideas on Podcasting use in Education

From http://www.terry-freedman.org.uk/artman/publish/article_610.php
This is not meant to be a definitive list!

• Record lessons for students (and parents!) to access in their own time.
• Enable students to do a presentation about themselves rather than only sticking to PowerPoint!
• Create a short introduction to your school, or the course you run, for potential to access, and to let parents know what they can expect their children to be doing — get student contributions too!
• Create a class radio station.
• Enable students to submit work in the form of a podcast.
• Create audio resources for use by sight-impaired students.
• Find and use podcasts as part of project research materials.
• Use foreign language podcasts to improve linguistic skills.
• Use podcasts to get an insight into another country’s culture, or another person’s daily lifestyle.
• Enable students to create dynamic presentations without the complexity of digital video.
• Subscribe to various podcasts in different subjects in order to provide extra curriculum resources at virtually no cost.
• Provide students with a different way of carrying out surveys in the local area.
• Create an audio blog of a school field trip.
• Create an enhanced podcast entitled “My summer holiday”.
• Subscribe or listen to different podcasts in order to help students develop their critical faculties.
• Ask students to create a podcast to meet a real need, as part of a coursework project, for example for a local business.  

Tutorials:

Podcasting Tutorial: http://www.guidesandtutorials.com/podcasting-tutorial.html
Audacity Tutorial: http://www.guidesandtutorials.com/audacity-tutorial.html
Download Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Free Music for Podcasting:

• Garage Band: http://www.garageband.com/htdb/index
• cNet Free Music for Downloading: http://music.download.com/?tag=navtab
• PodSafeAudio: http://www.podsafeaudio.com/
• The Free Sound Project: http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/index.php - devoted to sounds not songs. Does require registration.

In an article written in 2005, Tim O’Reilly lists on O’reillyNet a sampling of an initial brainstorming of applications that are Web 1.0 vs. Web 2.0 at that time:

• PBS Teachers on Blogs - by Andy Carvin Internet activist, author, Edtech expert
• Blogs in Plain English Video Created by “leelefever” on TeacherTube
  
• 6 & 7 Year Olds Define Blogs– A TeacherTube video titled, “What’s a Blog, Described by 6 & 7 Year Olds”. Students from Nelson, New Zealand educate you about what they think a blog is, how they use them and what they love about them.
  [flashvideo width="425" height="350" filename="http://www.teachertube.com/flvideo/1908.flv" /]

Why should Teachers have a Blog:

• Why Should Teachers Blog?by Chris Lehmann Principal of the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, PA
• Why Every Teacher Should Blog by Darren Draper, Technology Specialist Sandy, UT

Who’s Blogging? Examples of Blogs in Education:

• Elementary Examples
  · http://jhh.blogs.com/webwriters/ Fifth Grade Web Writers
  · Mrs. Wagner’s Class- Eva Wagner’s blog for her Kindergarten Class
  · http://mmiller7571.edublogs.org/ - Willard East Elementary Blog
  · http://mrsolm.blogspot.com/ Fifth Grade Blog, AZ
• Secondary Examples:
  · http://ridgeviewms.org/podcasts/ - Ridgeview Middle School initiative for podcasting
  · http://www.dawnsbrain.com/ High School Web and Graphic Design teacher
  · Durff’s Study Skills Blog A blog for 7th grade Study Skills students in Maryland
• Administrative Examples
  · http://naesp.typepad.com/ ThePrincipals’ Office, NAESP’s blog that connects principals with their colleagues
  · http://almostmonday.blogspot.com/- Almost Monday from Puyallup School District, WA
  · http://blog.core-ed.net/greg/ -Greg Carroll, Principal in New Zealand
  · http://principalblogs.typepad.com/lindaperdaems/ The Woodland Elementary Blog, Linda Perdaems, MN
  · http://mr-ps-blog.blogspot.com/ Leadership Blog from an Elementary Principal, AZ
  · Mrs. Marshall’s Counselors blog - A counselors Blog.

How to get Started: Edublog Guides & Tutorials:

• Edublog Tutorial Video- Video on Creating an edublog account by Mark Wooley posted on TeacherTube
• Upload Images to Edublog Tutorial Video- Video on how qto upload photos into Edublog by ontanstaff posted on TeacherTube

What will I say? Get Inspired Reading: