Microsoft Office 365

Selasa, 25 Maret 2014

Convert Your VGA Projector into a Wireless Display Using Miracast

03/25/2014

Miracast is a wireless display technology that allows teachers/presenters the ability to “mirror” what is on their Windows 8.1 tablet or Android tablet screen up to the big screen.

It has long been a dream of teachers to have the ability to roam about without being tethered by a device that is connected by wires to a projector at the front of the room. That tether-less dream is now a reality thanks to miracast and other wireless display technologies.

I have been testing out a classroom wireless display solution over the past couple of weeks for VGA projectors that many others may benefit from.

It is often necessary for schools to maintain older generations of technology due to budget constraints and this often leads to compatibility problems over the years as the new tries to replace the old. VGA projectors are a good example of this and are prolific in our schools today. VGA has long been a display standard for over two decades and there are millions of VGA compatible devices that are still in service today.

Note: You can click on an image to enlarge, press the Back button in your browser to return to this page.

In recent years HDMI has gradually replaced VGA as the standard for large screen displays. This is definitely true for HDTVs and if you are buying a new classroom projector today it makes sense to make sure it can support both VGA and HDMI connections. Unfortunately, many schools do not have the budget to replace older projectors so the ideal solution would be to find a wireless display technology that can still work with the older VGA standard AND also support the newer HDMI standard going forward.

I think I have found a solution that does both.

Here is our current problem, only about twenty percent of the classrooms within our college have a projector with built-in HDMI. The good news is that ALL of our classrooms have a connection that will work with a laptop that has VGA output connected to a classroom projector.

Many newer laptops have stopped providing a VGA port and only offer HDMI or a Display Port. We are in one of those transition times where a two decade old standard is being phased out but because of the sheer momentum of its success VGA still needs to be supported. What to do?

I have been using Miracast to wirelessly display Windows 8 tablets for well over a year now. Miracast has become better and more stable over this time and is proving to be an affordable and reliable solution for wirelessly displaying (mirroring) what is on my tablet screen up to the big screen.

Below is a link to a video I did over a year ago that demonstrates miracast in action:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYDg05mJJmE

This is huge for teachers and students as new wireless sharing possibilities can change the dynamics of the classroom environment. Combine this new wireless display technology with Cloud services and we truly have some game changing technologies available to us as teachers.

Usually a new standard means getting out the checkbook and spending large amounts of money to re-tool to the next standard. Schools know it is not that simple and often do not have the funding for completely replacing equipment that is still functional. The VGA standard still needs to be supported along with the new HDMI.

Here is the solution that is currently working for our classrooms on a limited scale:

As mentioned I have been using Miracast for over a year now with great success. I have been using the Netgear PTV3000 miracast receiver that has a street price of approximately $60.

Netgear PTV3000 Link: http://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Push2TV-Wireless-Miracast-Certified/dp/B00904JILO/

The piece that was missing is an HDMI to VGA converter that will convert the HDMI signal from the Netgear PTV3000 HDMI port to a VGA signal.

I have asked many others if they knew of anything that would work and a few mentioned HDMI to VGA converters in the $150 plus range. Some thought that would work with miracast but I found no one that was actually successfully doing this.

Once again my curiosity got the best of me and I found a HDMI to VGA converter for approximately $20 on Amazon that was worth a try to offer a proof of concept.

Below is a screenshot the HDMI to VGA connector I purchased from Amazon.

Amazon link: Note: The link has been removed to Amazon as this unit is no longer available at Amazon 9/29/2014 tg

It is a simple device that takes the HDMI signal from the miracast receiver and converts it into VGA video signal and it also supports sound output if needed.

Here is how I have it connected in combination with the Netgear miracast receiver. I first plug the HDMI cable from the Netgear PTV3000 into the HDMI to VGA converter and on the other side I plug in the VGA cable that goes back to the projector. Next I connect the sound jack to the sound system using a 3.5mm jack.

Click on the image to enlarge.

Every one of our classrooms has a video switch box that supports a VGA connection to the projector so I just use the VGA laptop connector to make the connection back to the VGA projector that is mounted on the ceiling.

This small twenty dollar converter just converts the HDMI miracast video/audio signal into a VGA signal and separate audio signal. The VGA signal is sent to directly to the projector and the separate audio signal is sent to the sound system. This little box was the missing piece that now allows the wireless miracast signal to be converted to VGA and a separate audio channel.

Here is where the magic happens, since you now have an active Netgear PTV3000 miracast receiver you can pair your Windows 8.1 or Android tablet (the device must support miracast) and walk about the room while wirelessly displaying (mirroring) what is on the tablet screen up to the VGA projector.

Click on the image to enlarge.

If you also want sound you will need to buy a little “pigtail” adapter that allows you to plug in a 3.5 mm sound jack from the HDMI to VGA converter to your sound system. Below is a picture of a pigtail that converts the Red and White RCA jacks to a standard stereo 3.5 mm female adapter that you can plug-in to your speakers or sound system.

Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/C2G-Cables-40424-Stereo-YCable/dp/B001B8QUS6/

Both the miracast receiver and the HDMI to VGA converter require an electrical outlet so make sure electrical power is available near where you plan on connecting to the projector. I have been using a surge bar to plug-in both the Netgear miracast receiver and HDMI to VGA converter power adapters. This way I can turn on both devices using the on/off switch once everything is connected.

I recommend connecting the VGA connector and sound jack first and then the HDMI cable into the Netgear PTV3000 BEFORE you connect the power adapters. I have gotten some feedback (loud buzzing sound) if the Netgear is plugged in and there is no power to the HDMI to VGA converter.

Works on Android too!

I have also tested this on a colleagues Nexus 7 tablet (2013 model) running Android 4.4.2 and it works! Curiously the Nexus 7 did not require you to punch in a number code to connect like I have had to do with Windows 8.1 tablets. I tried it with my Nexus 7 2012 model but unfortunately the 2012 model does not support miracast L

I have noticed some stuttering with the sound, especially in the beginning of playing back YouTube videos, but overall this solution is working well with our VGA projectors. The video looks great and the lag is minimal. This is a very workable solution for classrooms. I am a little concerned if such an affordable converter ($14) will last over time but so far it is performing well. With electronics if something is going to fail it generally does so within a few hours of use.

These are early days for wireless projection systems so more testing is needed to verify the robustness of this technology to see if it can withstand the day-to-day demands and reliability needed in the classroom.

I have a small netbook case that I use to store the components that makes for easy traveling. This kit easily fits into a laptop bag and you now have the capability of connecting to a VGA projector wirelessly on the road.

Note: There are also projectors on the market that offer wireless display technology built into the projector/HDTV. This is an area that is moving fast and the good news is the standards are becoming more mature and reliable.

What was once a stumbling block is now a stepping stone, instead of spending thousands for new projectors this solution will work for those facing budget issues. The good news is that for approximately $80 you can convert a VGA projector to a wireless display and continue using your established equipment until the time comes to replace it with the latest and greatest. 4K displays anyone?

Keep on Learning,

Dr. Grissom

@tomgrissom

http://www.eiu.edu/itc/

http://techtalk4teachers.blogspot.com/

Jumat, 21 Maret 2014

Chromebooks and the Mighty USB Port – Useful even in the Age of the Cloud

3/21/2014

Another benefit of Chromebooks for use in an educational setting is the practicality of the mighty USB port. Those that follow me know I am a huge fan of having options for transferring content on and off devices. This is something I insist on having with the Windows 8 tablets I routinely use. After all, I should be able to easily transfer my content that I create without having to go through an obstacle course of inconvenience.

For Chromebooks that have the reputation of being useless without a WiFi connection a USB port suddenly opens new doors of access to all types of media offline. Of course there are workarounds for using Google Apps offline, but these do need setup ahead of time. The USB port makes it extremely convenient to transfer files on and off the Chromebook.

One of the glaring weaknesses of the iPad is that it is not that easy to get content on and off the device for shared users. Sure you can upload content to iCloud, Google Drive, or OneDrive but that requires a strong wireless connection and a separate userid and password for the other services for each individual iPad account. You could also connect the iPad to another Mac or PC via a USB adapter and copy the files, or email the content to yourself as an attachment. All of these methods will work but this workflow falls apart in the classroom where devices are often shared among different students. The iPad does not support multi-user accounts, the Chromebook does.

One of the biggest deterrents for sharing digital projects is the large file sizes that take time to upload and download during class time. It is difficult enough to do this by yourself but when you have 10, 20, or 30+ students all trying to upload their finished video project to the Cloud at the same time it only exacerbates the problem. Any teacher that has tried class projects knows that the more users there are sharing a wireless connection the slower it will get…. until it is unbearable to even use.

In times like these a simple USB port is worth its weight in gold.

I did a little experiment the other day and thought I would share the results. These are practical real-life examples to give you an idea of the time commitment of uploading/downloading large files to the cloud.

Here is a common scenario, a teacher wants to load a video on a classroom set of 30 Chromebooks so students can have access to a flipped classroom video lesson after school. To explore this scenario I chose a typical 10 to 15 minute video project in the MP4 format that I regularly post up to the ITC YouTube Channel. I chose Episode 33 of ITC Techshare that was 13 minutes and 45 seconds long with a file size of 330 MB.

First, I needed to get the video from my Windows 8.1 Desktop PC to a USB drive. No problem, I connected an 8GB USB flash drive to the USB port of my Desktop and copied the file from the Desktop to the USB drive. This completed in about 65 seconds with an average copy speed of 5.54MBps.

USB Flash Drive (copying from PC hard Drive to USB flash drive)

330MB – 65 seconds

If all students had reliable broadband Internet connections at home teachers could just let students stream directly from YouTube, unfortunately many do not.

I next inserted the USB drive with the video file I just copied using my PC into the Chromebooks USB port. Here you have a choice of ports, the Acer C720P has two USB ports. The one on the left-side is USB 3.0.

I copied the 330MB file from the Chromebook USB port to the “Download” area of the Chromebook using the File Manager.

The total time it took to copy this one file from the USB drive to the Chromebook hard drive was approximately 25 seconds using the USB 3.0 port of the Chromebook. Reading files from a USB flash drive is usually faster than the write speeds to a USB Flash drive thus the reason for the faster copy times to the Chromebook hard drive.

USB Flash Drive (copying from flash drive to Chromebook hard drive)

330MB – 25 seconds

Note: Chromebooks are basic devices and only let you save files to the “Download” folder of the hard drive.

The Acer C720P Chromebook model that I have has both USB Version 2.0 and Version 3.0 – Version 3.0 is about 10 times faster than 2.0 so I always use it, especially for large file transfers. You do need a Version 3.0 compatible USB Flash drive to take advantage of these higher speeds.

Performance details really matter and can add up to a lot instructional time wasted waiting for things to copy so I always choose the fastest and most efficient possible.

One Chromebook done, 29 more to go…

Of course, I would have multiple USB drives and setup a workflow for my students to help with this task in this scenario but this direct method of copying from a USB drive is the most efficient I have found.

In scenario 2 I would like to have my students upload the 330MB instructional video to their Google Drive. Since Chromebooks require a Google account Google Drive is included as part of the account and this makes for a nice workflow as students do not have to login to another cloud service like Dropbox or OneDrive. Other services require yet another userid and password and it is something to consider when weighing the hassle factor of multiple userids.

Since I already had the video file copied to the Download folder of my Chromebook I selected Google Drive from the Apps Launcher on the Chromebook and then selected Upload.

I navigated to the Download folder and selected the 330MB video file and pressed Enter. Below is a table of the Upload timed results.

Google Drive

Upload Times from Chromebook hard drive to Google Drive

0MB

82.5MB – 1 minute 35 seconds

165MB – 3 minutes 20 seconds

248MB – 4 minutes 49 seconds

330MB – 6 minutes 24 seconds

I also wanted to see what the Download time would be.

Download Times from Google Drive to Chromebook hard drive

0MB

50MB – 25 seconds

100MB – 53 seconds

150MB – 1 minute 25 seconds

200MB – 2 minutes

250MB – 2 minutes 30 seconds

300MB – 3 minutes

330MB – 3 minutes 25 seconds

Downloads are typically faster than uploads on most wireless networks. Below is a screenshot of our on campus wireless network speeds.

17.84 Mpbs Down and 11.68 Mbps up are pretty impressive speeds. At home I am lucky to get 2 Mpbs download speeds.

The time it takes to upload/download large files is directly related to the speed of your network. The faster wireless you have the less time it will take. The other factor is capacity of the wireless connection so the more users you have utilizing wireless the slower the network will become for all users.

OneDrive

I was also curious about the OneDrive Cloud storage option so I also did some time tests for OneDrive. The results are below.

Upload Times from Chromebook hard drive to OneDrive

0MB

82.5MB – 3 minutes

165MB – 6 minutes 20 seconds

248MB – 9 minutes 33 seconds

330MB – 12 minutes 38 seconds

Here is what the OneDrive upload looks like:

Download Times from OneDrive to Chromebook hard drive

0MB

50MB – 1 minute 35 seconds

100MB – 2 minutes 47 seconds

150MB – 4 minutes 04 seconds

200MB – 5 minutes 16 seconds

250MB – 6 minutes 30 seconds

300MB – 7 minutes 47 seconds

330MB – 8 minutes 37 seconds

Overall OneDrive upload/download speeds took about twice as long as Google Drive. Google Drive did give me a status message saying it would not scan the files or check for viruses so that may be the reason it went faster.

So let’s take the best case of uploading the 330MB video file to Google Drive, it took 6 minutes and 24 seconds for me to upload one file from the Chromebook hard drive to Google Drive on a high-speed wireless Internet connection by myself.

If I added ten or twenty plus students to this equation it would bring those upload speeds to a crawl. Thus the problem with Cloud computing at the scale needed for schools. Most classroom teachers want to do uploads/downloads in mass at the same time and the technology is often not fast enough to keep up.

The numbers I have shared are real-world numbers. This is typically what happens with a classroom Cloud project in real life so I always take it with a grain of salt when I hear “sales people” talk about how grand the Cloud is. It is important to know the limitations of the technologies so you can avoid frustration.

It takes experience to determine workflows that will work at the scale needed in the classroom. One-to-one learning environments are wonderful but the entire system must scale in order to be successful enough for all teachers and students to use in a practical manner.

Thank goodness for the USB port on Chromebooks.

Keep on Learning,

Tom Grissom, Ph.D.

@tomgrissom

http://eiu.edu/itc

http://techtalk4teachers.blogspot.com

Senin, 17 Maret 2014

Don't Lose Your Work!

Image from Encyclopedia Britanica
Image Quest

3 Easy Steps to Prevent Lost Files

Avoid the tissue box this semester. When you are working on your important assignments, follow these steps to never end up in tears over lost files

Step 1

Use your OneDrive

Saving files in the cloud is quick, easy, secure and mobile. All Bond students with Office 365 accounts have access to OneDrive, which is 7 GB of free online storage, accessible from all devices

Step 2

Save incrementally. Adding attachments, images or other components to a large document?This is always the point where things can fall down. Save your files incrementally, for example massivepaperv1, massivepaperv2... and so on, so if something goes wrong you can step back to the last saved version

Step 3

Don't work from an email. We can't stress enough that as soon as you open a file from an email, go to File >Save As and choose a sensible location to save the file prior to making any changes. If you are working on a Bond Student computer DO NOT save to the desktop, C: or D: drives of that machine. Use your network drive instead (the one with your SID) or see above about cloud storage

Bonus Tip:

Image from Encyclopedia Britanica
Image Quest

These things are not indestructible and they do get lost. Only use USB storage sticks for temporary storage, or for quickly moving files between devices. Grab a sharpie and put your name and phone number on it. We get bucket loads of USB storage sticks handed in to the Main Library however we can't reunite you with your work if we don't know whose it is.

Bonus Tip 2:

Still on Webmail? Contact the Service Desk to get upgraded to Office 365

Minggu, 16 Maret 2014

Chromebook Desktop versus Windows Desktop: Can you tell the difference?

03/16/2014

One reason I purchased a Chromebook was to find out first-hand the similarities and differences between the full version of Chrome OS running on a Chromebook versus a Windows computer running just the Chrome browser.

I think many are in this situation as a Chromebook is typically explained as a laptop that uses just the Chrome browser to access everything. In fact, many suggest that if you want to see if a Chromebook will work for you just try living in the Chrome browser while using your regular computer. If you can live 100% of the time in “just the Chrome browser” then a Chromebook may be in your future.

The biggest caveat to this for many is having access to wireless connectivity all of the time. If you regularly are away from reliable wifi access then a Chromebook may not be for you.

Chromebook Desktop versus Windows Desktop

One of the most striking first impressions I had of the Chromebook when I first turned it on was how similar the interface looked to the traditional Windows Desktop.

Below are two screenshots; the first is from my Chromebook Desktop, the second is from the Windows Desktop of my Dell XPS laptop running Windows 8.1.

Can you tell the difference between the two Desktops at first glance?
Note: If you click on an image it will display full size.

I used the same background image and similar apps pinned to the taskbar for both systems so you can compare for yourself. Notice the difference? Not so much.

From a design and layout perspective there is very little difference. I think Google wants to provide as familiar looking interface as possible so that new Chromebook users will be comfortable using the new Chrome OS. Providing a familiar interface reduces the change factor for new users but it is uncanny how close the two interfaces have become.

Let’s take a little closer look

In the image below I show the apps that I “pinned” for the Chromebook taskbar.

Going from left to right we have the “Apps” launch button, Files, Google Chrome Browser, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, Gmail, and finally the Google Play Music icon.

The “Apps” launch button is similar to the Windows Start button where you get quick access to the apps installed on the Chromebook, just like Windows. The Windows OS always located this in the lower left-hand corner so I moved the Chrome OS App launcher there as well.

Next up we have an image from my Dell XPS laptop showing the Windows 8.1 Desktop taskbar.

Going from left to right on the Windows 8.1 taskbar we have the Windows flag (formerly referred to as the Start button in Windows 7), File Explorer, Google Chrome Browser, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Outlook email, and finally Windows Media Player.

I am now regularly switching back and forth between using a Chromebook and my Windows 8.1 laptop daily. Some of the differences are so subtle that I sometimes have to remind myself what system I am using at the time. The differences become more obvious as I do more sophisticated productivity tasks that are limited when using a Chromebook.

The Chromebook is fine for lighter duty tasks but I much prefer Windows 8.1 for heavier editing tasks I routinely complete be it word processing, image editing, audio editing for podcasts, or editing video screencasts for YouTube. When the real work needs to be done I reach for a Windows 8.1 device with the complete power of all the Office applications, not apps.

Part of this may be out of old habits but I do not think so. I have given the Chromebook a thorough testing over the past three months and would say it meets about 80% of my needs. It is the other 20% that I have to find workarounds for or resign myself to switching devices.

I do like the Chromebook for light duty tasks, is boots lightning fast (7 seconds) and the updates are much smaller and faster than Windows updates. I do however have equivalent Windows devices that boot nearly as fast and offer more functionality. Given that my Windows 8.1 devices also run the Chrome browser I am not really giving anything up when using Windows, in fact, I gain functionality while still having access to all the Google goodies via the Chrome browser.

It is still early days for Chromebooks and I am sure improvements will be made in the future to address current Chrome OS shortcomings. I have long used Linux and know it to be capable of handling the more heavyweight applications that I am still in search of while using a Chromebook.

A browser is just a browser

The other enlightening experience I have had while using the Chromebook over the past three months is that instead of exclusively using the Chromebook in the silo of Google apps it actually makes for a very good device for accessing other cloud services like the free Microsoft Office Online apps and OneDrive cloud storage.

Since I still regularly need the power of Windows 8.1 switching my cloud usage from Google Apps to Microsoft Office Online apps completely turns Google’s intent of the Chromebook on its head. This may seem sacrilege to Google purists but it works very well. I can still use Google Drive on both operating systems if I choose but since more of my files are stored in OneDrive they can be accessed more seamlessly when switching between Chrome OS and Windows 8.1. I have now switched to OneDrive as the primary cloud drive in my daily workflow even when using the Chromebook.

So, I have now come full circle from the beginning of this post. What started out as an experiment with the Chromebook has evolved into more of an “OfficeBook” experience for me. I use both ecosystems regularly and as described the two look so similar that it is easy for me to pick and choose the cloud tool of my choice that makes the most sense for the purpose at hand.

One of the unintended consequences of this similarity in products between the two ecosystems is that users still have a choice, and choice is good. What is ironic is that Microsoft’s free Office Online apps (and others that can be accessed via a browser) now have an equal footing in the Chromebook universe that was designed as their replacement.

to the Cloud…..

Keep on Learning,

Tom Grissom, Ph.D.

@tomgrissom

http://eiu.edu/itc

http://techtalk4teachers.blogspot.com

Sabtu, 15 Maret 2014

Chromebooks: Updates and Reboots Required

03/15/2014

As I continue to explore the Chromebook ecosystem I am learning more about the inner workings of Chrome OS. One of the commonly repeated phrases I often hear is that Chromebooks do not need to be updated. What others really mean is that Chromebooks have an automatic update system that is advertised as a key benefit over other traditional operating systems.

This week I dug a little deeper and found that my Chromebook was not up to date so I forced a manual update. You can do this by going to the “Hamburger” icon then selecting “Settings” and finally click on the “Help” menu as illustrated in the screenshot below.

Here is a link to a little more detail about the Chrome OS automatic update system:

https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/177889?hl=en

This entire update process took between 5 and 10 minutes to complete and most surprisingly required a “reboot” of the system to complete the updates. Compared to the Windows or OSX operating system this Chrome OS update was a much faster process.

There has been a lot of talk surrounding Chromebooks and about the hands-off approach required of the IT department but my first experience with an update seemed all too familiar. Both Windows and OSX do automatic updates that can be scheduled to happen in the background. Not so different than the Chromebook approach, after all Chrome OS is based on Linux and it should come as no surprise that Linux updates also need to happen regularly.

Perhaps it is my old age that causes my skepticism when I hear “sales people” make promises about ease of use, magical self-updates, and promises of no intervention will be required of the IT department. Similar promises were made when the iPad burst onto the education scene and many IT departments are still struggling with the management aspects of iPads 4 years later. In the end it is the users that turn to the IT department to "fix it" and to do their best supporting the end users based upon the promises made on the front-end, planning upfront can alleviate a lot of headaches down the road. Asking the right questions and establishing a working pilot project first can expose areas of concern before going all out on an untested solution.

The wireless infrastructure alone required of “always connected” devices like Chromebooks must be dealt with at the beginning of a project in order to have a successful rollout. It should come as no surprise that additional funding will be required to fortify wireless infrastructure so plan accordingly.

When you have a fleet of hundreds or thousands of devices these update cycles need to be managed and the IT department will need a plan to roll out updates just like traditional operating systems. Fortunately Chromebooks have basic functionality and use a much simpler OS philosophy. Updates therefore are much smaller and faster to download and install.

We are at the beginning of the new era of cloud computing with Chromebooks and it remains to be seen if they continue keep their current streamlined functionality or if they gradually become more bloated as new functionality is added to match todays other mature operating systems.

Keep on Learning,

Tom Grissom, Ph.D.

@tomgrissom

http://www.eiu.edu/itc/

http://techtalk4teachers.blogspot.com/

Rabu, 05 Maret 2014

St. Patrick’s Day Themed Bulletin Board

03/05/2014

March is upon us and everyone has Spring fever, nothing like a little green to get you in the mood for Spring :)

In this blog post the ITC Graduate Assistants put together a posting about making a St. Patrick’s themed bulletin board. Here is how they did it.

To make the St. Patrick’s Day themed bulletin board for the ITC, we first started with the background paper. Measuring the height and width of the bulletin board gave us an estimate of the size we needed for the background. We decided to go with green for the background to go with the St. Patrick’s Day theme. Next, we chose a border to put around the bulletin board. We decided to go with white again, so we were able to reuse the border from our Valentine’s board last month!

Then, we searched for pictures of a Leprechaun to use as an example to make a copy onto a transparency. Now we were ready to use the overhead projector to project the image up on the wall for tracing and to modify as needed. The ITC has a Plexiglas wall and overhead projector set up for use anytime! This setup allows you to enlarge images for creating your own bulletin boards.

Once we traced the outline of our Leprechaun, we cut him out and started coloring. We used colored pencils, which are available at the ITC, along with crayons and markers. After we finished the coloring, we hung him on the bulletin board. Once he was in position, we added out MP3 player with ear buds and plugged into the Leprechaun’s ears for listening to Dr. Grissom’s TechTalk4Teachers podcast. Including the MP3 player has become a running theme for our bulletin boards in the ITC.

Next, we started working on the pot of gold. We used some of the black background paper to free hand a pot for the gold. Then, we used some of our pre-laminated paper and our Ellison die cuts to out gold coins to add to the pot. Finally, we added our pot of gold to the bulletin board. We stapled it loosely to give it a little 3D effect.

We placed the pot on the bulletin board tilted, which allowed us to make it look like the gold coins were falling out the side of the pot. Once we had all the coins on the bulletin board as well, we wrote things the ITC has to offer on some of the coins. Some of the things we wrote include “IPAD,” “Lamination,” “Copies,” “Die cuts,” “Computers” and several other options available at the ITC.

We used the Ellison die cuts to cut out the phrase “The ITC is like a pot of Gold” to go with the St. Patrick’s Day theme!

Next, we started working on the rainbow. We used red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple construction paper for the rainbow. We cut the construction paper into small strips and started linking them together into chains. Once we finished linking all the paper strips together, we put them on our bulletin board to give us a 3D rainbow coming out of our pot of gold! Finally, we used some construction paper to free hand some clouds to put at the top of our rainbow.

Keep on Learning,

Dr. Grissom

Twitter: @tomgrissom

http://www.eiu.edu/itc/

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Convert Your VGA Projector into a Wireless Display Using Miracast

Chromebooks and the Mighty USB Port – Useful even in the Age of the Cloud

Don't Lose Your Work!

3 Easy Steps to Prevent Lost Files

Avoid the tissue box this semester. When you are working on your important assignments, follow these steps to never end up in tears over lost files

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Bonus Tip:

Bonus Tip 2:

Chromebook Desktop versus Windows Desktop: Can you tell the difference?

Chromebooks: Updates and Reboots Required

St. Patrick’s Day Themed Bulletin Board

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