Friday, March 24, 2017

Clarify Walkthrough

I've been using Clarify for the last few years whenever I've needed to create a walkthrough. I'm not a big fan of screencasts and personally find it easier to follow along a guide that has screenshots and written instructions when I'm learning something new. Creating these using Microsoft Word or Apple's Pages with a separate screenshot app can be time consuming. Clarify however makes it incredibly easy with it's ability to take the needed shots and automatically embed them. From there you can add arrows, highlights, and the like along with instructions and then export into a professional looking PDF or upload it to the web to share. It's an amazing app that I absolutely love.

A few months ago my supervisor saw something I had created with Clarify and liked it so much that she bought licenses for every ITRT in our group along with a few others in the district. She then asked me to train the group on how to use it.

It's been said that the best way to learn something is to teach it. Even though I've used it to create numerous guides I had only used a fraction of the features available. For example, I've generally only used arrows and the sequence dots to annotate images. But there are numerous other tools available such as highlights, text, and shapes. There's also the ability to use HTML to embed video along with setting up an account on the Clarify website to upload your guide to and share it.

When I was in college I took an English Composition course where one of the assignments was to write a process essay. I ended up writing it on how to write a process essay. As I worked on putting together a training for Clarify I figured what better way to do it than to create a walkthrough using it. The result of which is below. It can also be accessed on my Clarify account here.



Friday, March 10, 2017

Grow Your PLN!


Near the registration desk at the EdTechRVA conference earlier in the week was a notepad to add your Twitter username. Here below is everyone with links to make it easier to find, follow, and grow your personal learning network.

*Edit 3/12/17 - Updated to include GRAETC committee members and conference presenters.

@GRAETCorg
@jeff_rew
@dlcamp007
@tech4mm
@calder_science
@hcausey
@janiceskipwith
@formerlystars
@faycrum
@OliveMyBoston
@TheWright1_
@altheadespina
@foxteaches
@EdTechJoshG
@Pratt_ITRT
@rltoy
@divein2edtech
@techdr
@sw_ITRT
@EdTech_Beard
@tisinaction
@HCPSTinyTech
@KariKuebler2
@bvfeighner
@ErinWest_ITRT
@MrDesando
@jzicari_ITRT
@sctaylorITRT

GRAETC Committee Members: (Includes some duplicates from above.) 
Ann Nash - @amnash
Bea Leiderman - @BeaLeiderman
Beth Sepelyak - @pghstee1er
Carolyn Kaufman - @TechEd4me
Chris Biagiarelli - @ChrisB320
Erin Ford - @erinford429
Heather Causey - @hcausey
Janice Skipwith - @janiceskipwith
Jeff Rew - @jeff_rew
Josh Greesonbach - @EdTechJoshG
Karen Richardson - @VSTE & @witchyrichy
Katie Owens - @amykatie77
Michelle Martin - @tech4mm
Rachael Toy - @rltoy
Sara Butcher - @mrssbutchers
Sheryl Sylvia - @itrt08
Stacie Taylor - @sctaylorITRT
Stephanie Playton - @STEMGal
Susannah Bishop - @wiseowltech
William Waller - @techdr

GRAETC member system ITRT Groups
Chesterfield - @EdTechCCPS
Hanover - @HCPSitrt
Henrico - @Henrico_ITRT
Richmond - @RVAITRTs

EdTechRVA 2017 Presenters:
William Rankin (Keynote Presenter) - @rankinw
Colleen Cassada - @Cbbcassada
Amanda Kinsler - @afkinsler3
Cathy Maher - @camaher
Terri Vernon - @flynnstress
Carrie Hood - @carrie_edu
Jacquelyn Calder - @calder_science
Alicia Broughton - @AliciaBroughton
Gillian Lambert - @GillianLambert
Emily Roberts - @Connor6307
Bambi Feighner - @bvfeighner
Sarah Webster - @sw_ITRT
Natalie Davis - @divein2edtech
Jim Covais - @CovaisTech
Tim Stahmer - @timstahmer
Joy Duncan - @Joyduncan17
Matthew Spears - @matthewlspears
Megan DiGiovanni - @MegDiGiovanni
Kate Kanach - @Teachnologist
Jennifer Axselle - @JAxselle
Rebecca Fox - @foxteaches
Althea Hudson - @altheadespina
Sommer Jones - @sotechcellent
Longwood ITTIP - @ITTIPSTEM
Katie Brockel - @KatieMBrockel
Catherine Tompkins - @cattompkins
Matt Fuquay - @mattfuquay
Susanne Besecker - @SusanneBesecker
Wendy Seger - @WendySeger
Aimee Benner - @aimeembenner
Eileen Malick - @emalick
Andrea Dorsey - @apdorsey

And also check out the EdTechRVA Google+ group with links to the conference presentations and other resources.