Learning in the Lou

 Review this information to make sure your email signature is up to date. Be aware that you will need to make changes separately on your laptop, iPad and phone.  Laptop Open Gmail in Chrome. 1. Click the gear icon in the upper right. 2. Click See all settings Scroll down until you see the Signature section. 1. Click this if you DO NOT already have a signature. 2. Make sure your signature matches the samples below. Your signature cannot have any images at all as they are not ADA, Americans with Disabilities Act, compliant. 3. I always recommend clicking this. If selected, your email signature will be more noticeable and it helps to maintain a professional look in your communications. Scroll to the very bottom and click Save Email Signature Examples Pro Tip I added an extra space, that way my signature is separated from the body of my email helping it stand out. Android/iPhone/iPad Android and Apple are nearly identical, the differences are highlighted below. Open the Gmail app....

 Today OpenAI, the parent company of ChatGPT, showed their newest version called ChatGPTo. Much of this new version will be free! Here are two demonstrations that I have watched a few times and I am in shock.  What hooked me was the AI helping them little by little to find the solution. I wonder what else it can do, could it help with difficult chemistry or a social studies topic? I would imagine it could as these models can pass any AP exam with a 5. This is fantastic! What really got me was how the voice is pretty realistic and the questions were really good.

We have been investigating many different types of prompts to see which gives us the best results. The other day we were in a 4th grade classroom at Long talking about types of poems. What do you see and notice about these two prompts? Prompt 1 Prompt 2 In prompt one we told the AI who we were and what we needed help with. For prompt two we added who we needed the AI to be.  One take away, we need to help the students who are using AI to not only prompt it with who we are but who we want it to be.

 If videos and movie clips do not play correctly or Canva isn't loading, this tip is for you. Open Chrome. Click the ice cream cone, three dots, in the upper right corner. Click Settings. Start typing acceleration in the search window NOT the address bar. Toggle off from video, toggle to blue for Canva. Relaunch to save changes.

This tip comes from Sherri, one of our Apple specialists we have been working with for years.. There are times when you try to click the trackpad and things don't go right. Issues you might encounter range from things not clicking to a dictionary popping up.  To avoid this, you will need to turn off haptic feedback by following these directions. Open Settings. There are multiple ways of finding settings, one way is on your dock. Search Track, then click Trackpad. Toggle off Force Click and haptic feedback.

 IMAGE  In this post we will describe how to create a Crash Course style video using WeVideo. We will show you how to: create a storyboard setting up your surroundings controlling for sound adding different types of graphics to your video adding text layering in sound adding stock media publishing What is a Crash Course video? These videos are designed to be quick, informative breakdowns of various subjects, offering concise and easy-to-understand explanations of complex topics. The aim is to educate viewers on a broad range of subjects from science to humanities and beyond. Example Watch this video. What do you see and what do you notice? Now, watch it again with these things in mind - What is the speaker doing throughout out the film? How does her voice sound? How did they use audio, music and sound effects, to help tell the story? How was B Roll used? What about text and popup images? Storyboard+Setting Up+Editing This is the trifecta for a successful Crash Course video. St...

I had a question about using AI to create images. There are a few options, but Canva is a district tool that has a number of AI features built in. In this video you will learn how to create AI generated images in Canva.

I have been working with AI for some time now and have a few new ideas to share. My current AI tools I use are: ChatGPT Gemini Claude Copilot Some of you will ask why tools like magic school AI are not on the list. What I recommend is getting to know how AI works before moving into the other resources. If you want a longer explanation, let me know. Prompts I Start With How I explain AI to students, staff and family: Think of AI as a new friend, you need to tell them a little about yourself so they get to know and understand you. To do that, you need to build a good introduction and save it somewhere. When using AI, cut/paste this intro to help speed up your prompting. Examples : I am a 2nd grade teacher with 24 years of experience. I teach in St Louis, MO and have 24 students in my classroom. My strengths are using technology and connecting learning to the outside world. I love reading great stories to my students that have deeper meanings. I have a macbook air and an ipad. My students...