Friday, March 27, 2015

Personalized Learning

Here's an interesting read about the role of the teacher in the personalized learning environment. With "81% of college students using a mobile device, technology has played an integral role in allowing students to learn in and out of the classroom. Teachers can use these tools to create a personal learning plan for each student. The article breaks down the teachers role in this personal learning environment into separate sections including student cohorts, teaching methods, parent engagement, testing/evaluation, and lesson plan/teaching cadence. It's definitely an interesting read from TeachThought.

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Free Virtual FieldTrip (April 8th)

The Nature Conservancy offers another online field trip through their Nature Works Everywhere program. The virtual field trip occurs Thursday, April 8th using Google Hangout. Students will explore the functions of water in the Washington State temperate rainforest and the Arizona desert. Read more at Emerging EdTech.

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Drawing Apps

Educational Technology and Mobile Learning released a post about 10 great iPad apps allowing you to draw or sketch. I've used Draw for iPad and Brushes, which are good for basic drawing, but I'd really like to try ASKetch, which allows users to draw using charcoal, and You Doodle allows users to draw on top of uploaded photos. Any apps you would add to this list?

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Chrome Apps

Here's a list of Chrome Apps, from Educational Technology and Mobile Learning, every teacher should know. I personally love RealTimeBoard, EDPuzzle, ClassDojo, but there are a few on this list I really need to try. Would you add any Chrome Apps to this list?

Monday, March 23, 2015

Turn any doc into a signable online form

Here's an interesting tool: Chalk. It allows users to upload any document and turn it into an online form to be signed or filled out. Chalk allows the owner of the document to set the rules for how the forms are completed, tracks when a form is viewed or completed, sends reminders to people you've sent the form to, and allows users to download and print the completed forms from any computer. Here's a complete review from Educational Technology and Mobile Learning.

Friday, March 20, 2015

Video Games for Learning

TeachThought just released 50 of the best Video Games for learning. They conducted their search using the following criteria: playability, cognitive load, and innovation. Would you add any to this list?

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Dinosaster

Culture Street, who creates numerous online activities for education, has created a game about Dinosaur extinction called Dinosaster. The object of the game is to gather all the dinosaur bones, and with each bone collected, a card is revealed about why the dinosaurs became extinct. Read a full review with lesson plans on Richard Byrne's Free Technology for Teachers.

Monday, March 16, 2015

WriteReader App

WriteReader is an App allowing young learners to develop literacy skills. It basically teaches them how to read by creating their own books through the App. Here's a full review from Richard Byrne's Free Technology for Teachers.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Classroom blogs

If you're wanting to setup a classroom blog, here are a few mistakes many teachers make when creating one (this list is according to Richard Byrne's blog, Free Technology for Teachers):
  1. Making it optional -- few students will do it if it's optional and parents won't buy in
  2. Inconsistency -- start small, like one post a week, and be consistent with the expectations
  3. Lack of purpose -- have a reasons for your students to blog (example: weekly learning reflections)
  4. Running before walking -- set realistic blogging goals for your students like once a week
  5. Creating too many blogs too soon
 Anything you would add to this list?

Friday, March 6, 2015

FREE Google Apps webinar (3/31)

Richard Byrne and SimpleK12 are hosting a FREE webinar on the ways to use Google Apps in your classroom. The webinar starts at 11am MST and ends at 3pm MST on March 31st. Also, they will keep the webinar available for register attendees for an extra 2 weeks after the live viewing. Even if you can't attend, sign up and view it at your convenience! Register HERE and read more about it on Richard Byrne's blog, Free Technology for Teachers.

Thursday, March 5, 2015

Google Chrome tips

Educational Technology & Mobile Learning posted some helpful tips for working with the Google Chrome web browser. They include a helpful lists of extensions to make using the browser a little more user friendly. Also, they have embedded videos showing users how to translate web pages, work in "incognito" mode, use Chrome on other devices, spot malware, change your settings, and keep the browser updated.

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Google Extensions

Another Google post! I love using Google extensions with my Google Chrome web browser. Mainly because I use Google Drive religiously, but I also appreciate all the extensions for web browsers. TeachThought created a list of their favorite Google Extensions for teachers. A few of my favorite extensions are:

1) Google Drive -- allows you to transfer web pages to your Google Drive & turn them into Google Docs (or images, HTML format)

2) CleanPrint -- allows you to remove all the unnecessary ads, images, or content from a web page when printing.

3) Save as PDF --allows users to turn web pages into PDF files.

4) Evernote Web Clipper -- allows users to transfer any web page into a document, bookmark, or screenshot into a notebook on your Evernote account (great for saving ideas)

Monday, March 2, 2015

Google Tools

Edudemic released a post about Google Tools available for teachers. Whether you're creating a Google Hangout, Google Sites, or a specialized Google search engine, Google provides outstanding tools for teachers to use. Also, within our district, students have Google accounts so they can take full advantage of all these excellent tools.