DT With Mrs B

  Kia ora! In today's post, we'll unveil the versatility and practicality of Google Lens, a tool that has the potential to reshape the learning landscape for both educators and students. What is Google Lens? Google Lens is a remarkable visual recognition application that harnesses the power of your smartphone's camera to identify objects, text, and landmarks. This technology has the potential to revolutionise the classroom experience by providing instant access to information, fostering curiosity, and promoting interactive learning. Features for the Classroom Google Lens offers a plethora of features that can be leveraged to enhance teaching and learning in a variety of ways: Text Translation: Google Lens can seamlessly translate text from one language to another in real time, offering students a dynamic way to explore languages and broaden their horizons. Plant and Animal Identification: In science classes, Google Lens can act as a botanical and zoological guide, facil...

Technology is always evolving, and it brings exciting developments. Here are five significant technology trends in 2023 and how they affect the emerging workforce: 1. The Rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) AI is already making a significant impact across various industries, and its influence is expected to continue growing. AI-powered systems are now capable of automating a wide range of tasks, from customer service to manufacturing, freeing up human workers to focus on more creative and strategic endeavours. Impact on the emerging workforce: The emerging workforce needs to be prepared to work alongside AI systems and leverage them effectively. This involves developing skills in areas such as data science, machine learning, and ethical considerations in artificial intelligence. 2. The Growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) The IoT, consisting of interconnected physical devices that collect and exchange data via the internet, is enabling innovative applications across multiple industr...

Utilising Google Chrome's Reading Mode for Educators Kia ora, fellow educators! Today, let's delve into a handy tool that can significantly benefit both teachers and students: Google Chrome's Reading Mode. This feature allows you to strip away distractions from web pages, making the content more accessible and engaging, which can be particularly advantageous in an educational setting. Why Should Educators Embrace Reading Mode? 1. Enhancing Accessibility Reading Mode enables educators to customise fonts, font sizes, line spacing, and text/background colours. This flexibility makes it easier to cater to students with dyslexia or other learning needs, ensuring that reading materials are tailored to their specific needs. 2. Focusing on Core Content Reading Mode helps students concentrate solely on the essential text by eliminating distractions like ads, images, and sidebars. This proves invaluable for easily distracted students or those struggling to stay on task. 3. Boosting R...

In an era defined by rapid technological advancement and innovation, the traditional approach to education is evolving. Teachers increasingly recognise the importance of equipping students with skills beyond rote memorisation and standardised tests. One such essential skill is computational thinking, a problem-solving approach that involves breaking down complex problems into smaller, manageable steps and using algorithms to solve them. This foundational concept of computer science is not limited to the tech world; it permeates various fields, including business, engineering, and medicine.  In New Zealand, the incorporation of computational thinking into the digital technologies curriculum is a significant step towards preparing students for success in the 21st-century workforce. In this blog post, we explore why teaching computational thinking is crucial and provide practical tips for educators. Bridging the Gap Between Education and the Workforce In today's dynamic job market, su...

Google Smart Chips Unveiled Google Smart Chips are like the magic glue that effortlessly connects all your teaching resources in one place. They're all about simplifying your life as an educator and making teaching a breeze. Imagine this: You're planning a unit, and you want to link a relevant document without all the fuss. Google Smart Chips got you covered. They allow you to embed links to Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms right in your lesson plan. No more endless searching or copying and pasting links. It's as easy as mentioning the document's name, and the chip does the rest. YouTube Clips Integration YouTube is a treasure trove of educational content, but finding and incorporating clips can be time-consuming. Google Smart Chips come to the rescue again. By simply mentioning a YouTube video's title or keyword, these chips embed the video directly into your plan or document. It's like having a personal YouTube curator at your service. Google Apps Harmon...

Remove.bg: A Powerful Tool for Teachers I'm a big fan of remove.bg, a website that uses artificial intelligence to automatically remove backgrounds from images. It's a great tool for teachers, and I use it almost every day - in fact, I have it bookmarked. Remove.bg has a number of features that make it a valuable tool for teachers. First, it's very easy to use. Just upload an image, and remove.bg will automatically remove the background in a few seconds. Second, the results are usually very good. remove.bg is able to remove even complex backgrounds with a high degree of accuracy. Third, remove.bg is free to use for up to 50 images per month. There are a few flaws with remove.bg. First, it doesn't always work perfectly. If the background is too complex, or if there are objects that are similar in colour to the background, remove.bg may not be able to remove the background completely. Second, remove.bg doesn't allow you to save the original image with the background r...