Google Earth Voyager

 Google Earth Voyager are like Google Earth projects, but they are exemplary curated (also created?) collections by Google. The project are presented under a few themes, such as 'Education', and 'Culture'. 

Creating a Google Earth Project

 To create a new placemark: 

1. You can of course just click on a named place on the Google Earth map, and then click on 'Add to Project' on the right. 

2. But if it is not a place which is already named on the map, then you can do 'Capture this view', or click 'Add placemark', both appearing at the bottom left corner of the map itself. The left-hand pane will then ask you to 'Name this place'. After that, it will be included as a 'Feature' in the project.

3. The 'known/named' places on the Google Map will, by default, come with a Knowledge Card (top right corner). To use your own description or images, click 'Replace' on the left-hand pane. You can then use your own description and images. 

 

One difference between Loom and Screencastify

 Loom has a more generous (25 videos) quota under the free plan, while Screencastify allows for 10 free videos only. 

But with Screencastify, you can export the screen-recorded video directly to Youtube, while with Loom you have to download it to your computer first. 

Taking a photo sphere image with my mobile phone and viewing it in Ricoh Theta

 I'm using the mobile app 'Go Street-view Camera' to take 360 photo spheres with my mobile phone.Ｉcan then open it for viewing with the app Ricoh-Theta, a desktop app as well as a mobile app. 

The result is not bad even though I'm only use a mobile app, not a 360 camera like Ricoh Theta. 

Gearing up for the 33rd, or 37th, year

 是時候收拾心情，開展在中大教育學院第33年的教學。(如果加上先前在羅富國教育學院的4年，這便是第37年從事教師教育。)能夠這麼長期從事自己喜愛的工作，這工作又可以讓我不斷學習和不斷進步，我真的非常非常幸運啊。

Padlet's 2023 summer release

 This summer, Padlet has released some new functions. The following seem particularly useful to me: 

1. Create a poll on a Padlet wall which viewers can respond to. 

2. AI-generated images. (To me, I'm not sure whether the images are really AI-generated. Do they already exist on the Web?)

3. I can create Sections in all templates (except Canvas). 

4. I can embed a Padlet slideshow in another app. 

5. I tried the 'Export slideshow as PDF' function. The resulting PDF does not look great. Maybe OK if I just want to keep a record. 

I have also rediscovered that I can present a Padlet wall as a slideshow. 

https://padlet.blog/the-2023-summer-release/

The most rewarding compliment

 The most rewarding compliment a teacher educator can ever receive from a former teacher student.

教學是一個很獨特的行業

 昨天和當年初為人師時教過的學生午膳敍舊，她們有快將退休的，有甚至已經提早退休的。

感嘆歲月流逝之餘，也覺得教學是一個很獨特的行業；其他人對人的專業，例如醫生，社工，臨床心理學家，服務完結後便不能，或不宜，和服務對象繼續有接觸；但當教師，分分鐘可以和舊學生保持數十年的聯繫！

Thinglink add-in for Powerpoint

 Just realised that Powerpoint has the Thinglink add-in. After inserting the Thinglink add-in, while creating a PPT, just paste in the link to the Thinglink you want to show in the PPT. All the interactivity will appear in the PPT. 

Jigsaw Planet for creating free jigsaw puzzles

https://www.jigsawplanet.com/  is a free app for creating jigsaw puzzles. Just upload a picture, tell the app how many pieces you want to break it down into, and click 'create'. The resulting puzzle can be shared with students via a share link. 

Thinglink, 360 image, Escape Room

 In an Escape Room game, players are expected to explore the different parts of a place (on their own). It follows that these different parts should not appear in a linear fashion. 

The objects of exploration may provide the clues to the over-riding question, or sub-questions during the game. 

The above make Thinglink a suitable app for creating an Escape Room: 

1. the starting point can be the image (flat or 360) of the inside of a room; 

2. interactives are inserted into different parts of the room for students to explore. These interactives may provide information, or clues to certain questions. 

How students present their answers to the questions embedded: 

In the following example, the teacher puts (a) the Thinglink 360 image, and (b) a Google Form on one Google site. 

https://www.thinglink.com/blog/escape-rooms/

(I think the Google Form can also be inserted into the Thinglink image for students to download?)

Students explore the image to find the answers, and provide answers on the Google Form. When they are done, they submit the Google Form. 

In sum, Escape Rooms with Thinglink have the potentials of: 

1. gamifying a series of quizzes; 

2. promoting multimodal reading (the information inserted can be multimodal);

3. nurturing students as self-directed learners (as self-paced learning units). 

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One challenge for the interested teacher, on top of the technical skills and the time needed, is to think of a storyline to make the Escape Room feel 'real'. 

Converting a panorama pic taken with my mobile phone to a 360 image

 Just learnt that: 

1. I can convert a pano(rama) pic I've taken with my mobile phone to a 360 image using the Thinglink link: https://www.thinglink.com/pano-to-360

2. When viewed using a 360 image viewer app (such as Ricoh Theta), I can view the panorama pic in a full circle. But then of course because the original pic was not taken with a 360 camera, the top and bottom parts of this 360 image will be just blurred shades. 

Downloading a street view image from Google Maps

 Just found out that: 

1. I can download an app for downloading and saving a street view 360 image from Google Maps to my computer. The one I've downloaded is called Street View Download 360. 

2. I can also download an app for viewing 360 images saved. The one I've installed is Ricoh Theta. 

3. With downloaded 360 images, I can go ahead to find out how to create interactive 360 tours within Thinglink.