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Portfolios, unit previews, self-paced courses, digital notebooks, multimedia lessons, timelines... and much more!

For social studies teachers

The structure of timelines, the simplicity of slides.

Inspire curiosity

The perfect format for inquiry-based instructional strategies. Motivate discussion and spark new ideas.

Critical thinking

Upload primary and secondary sources to train students' eyes to analyze and make connections.

Collaboration

Students work together as they address problems and make decisions as a team to reach a common goal.

Perfect for History, Geography and Sociology

For English, Language and Arts teachers

Writing and multimedia assignments have never been better.

Enhance literacy

Rich-editing features make Sutori a valuable companion for continued reading and writing development.

Creativity

Just the right amount of options to see creativity flourish for all types of learners.

Communication

Sutori's visual nature show the breadth of ways to convey ideas and knowledge.

Templates, lesson plans and more!

For STEM teachers

Showing the process of learning

Structured learning

The canvas to organize content. Set up templates for a cohesive learning experience.

Self-reflection

Students demonstrate their approach, outline their learning and reflect along the way.

Engage

Add formative quizzes, polls and any type of media to build fun activities with your students.

Some ready-made lessons to inspire you

Growing in classrooms across the world.

2,359,762Teachers & students

"With a super-simple design and tons of flexible features, this is an appealing and intuitive way for teachers and students to organize and share class content."

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Education is the key to a better world and we want to play our part in supporting educators.

Check out our ambassador program and the meaningful and impactful learning initiatives Sutori supports.

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Who we are

We're a tight knit team of three friends (including two brothers) who have come a long way from recreating historical events on Twitter.

Learn more about our story and how we seek to empower educators in their teaching and keep students' data secure.

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Sutori is a collaborative tool for classrooms, ideal for multimedia assignments in Social Studies, English, Language Arts, STEM, and PBL for all ages.

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Inbox - melanie.calhoun@sullivank12.net - Sullivan County Schools Mail

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Inbox - melanie.calhoun@sullivank12.net - Sullivan County Schools Mail

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Gmail is email that's intuitive, efficient, and useful. 15 GB of storage, less spam, and mobile access.

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'Madden NFL' makes a play for the classroom

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'Madden NFL' makes a play for the classroom

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Math and science students may soon huddle up with a name familiar to many video game fans: Madden NFL.

Electronic Arts announced Wednesday it is teaming up with the NFL Players Association and Discovery Education on a program called EA Sports Madden NFL: Football By The Numbers, aimed at teaching math and science to students between fifth and ninth grades.

The program will kick off on December 1. It's free to any math and science teacher seeking to incorporate Madden into their curriculum.

"We've always strived for Madden NFL to be a teaching tool for the sport of football, and now we're marrying the art of the video game to the science behind our young fans' favorite sport, teaching them both the fundamentals of the sport and the math that fuels it," says Anthony Stevenson, vice president of marketing at EA Sports.

The plan features several interactive scenarios based around exploring, learning and game play. The program combines football concepts with math and science principles including physics and probability. For example, one lesson involves throwing the football, broken down by the velocity and angle required to complete each pass. In another lesson, players pretend to be a defensive coordinator, using probability to choose the right play and stop an opponent.

"What's really fun about it is whether a student loves football and knows the game, or has never played football before, it's so easy for them to come in to the interactive, to understand the core concepts that drive decisions that are made during the football game, and be able to apply those critical thinking skills," says Lori McFarling of Discovery Education.

Along with the interactive, the program will feature a "virtual field trip" for next spring where students can visit EA Sports' Tiburon studio in Orlando to watch the creation of Madden NFL. The field trip is a 35-40 minute experience where students see what goes into the making of the video game, and ask questions during the trip.

"What we like to do is make the connection for students to not only the science concepts, but the career connection," says McFarling. "What does an engineer do as part of game creation? What do animators do?"

The NFLPA will work with NFL players to help promote the program when it launches next month. "Part of the message we want to deliver is talking about physics and math and science -- that can be fun," says Ahmad Nassar, president of NFL Players Inc. "A lot of kids are football fans, and even the ones who aren't, this is a great alternative way to learn some of the things that they were going to be learning any way."

The program arrives as math test scores in the U.S. dropped for the first time in 25 years, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics. McFarling says keeping students interested in math and science between fifth and ninth grades is critical. "(The interactive) meets a needs for students to help spark that interest in math and making it relevant to their everyday lives."

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.

Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1MyXqWu

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'Madden NFL' makes a play for the classroom

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Math and science students may soon huddle up with a name familiar to many video game fans: Madden NFL. Electronic Arts announced Wednesday it is teaming up with the NFL Players Association and Discovery Education on a program called EA Sports Madden NFL: Football By The Numbers, aimed at teaching math and science to students between fifth and ninth grades.

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Padlet mini allows you to bookmark the best of the web by adding items to a collaborative digital canvas.

WHAT IS A PADLET?

A padlet is a blank canvas.

We give you an empty page and you can put whatever you like on it. Drag in a video, record an interview, snap a selfie, write text posts or upload some documents, and voilà!

Padlet is different from other blogging tools and inspiration boards because it's flexible. Create a grocery list, a Venn diagram, a discussion board, a group greeting card, a portfolio, or a business plan, all in one app. Used by teachers, students, professionals, and individuals of all ages, all around the world, padlets can be selectively shared and edited among multiple contributors.

See an example padlet: http://padlet.com/about/us

WHY SHOULD I USE PADLET?

1. Padlets are shareable. So, instead of collecting links about your next vacation alone, you can collect it together with your better half. Hoard together!

2. You can keep everything in one place. Once you have collected your links, you can add text notes, upload files to the same padlet. An example: upload your train tickets to the same padlet that has an article about the city you'll be visiting. Oh, and maybe write a travel journal as you go.

3. Padlets are beautiful. Make a padlet yours by choosing custom backgrounds, themes, and building your profile.

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Collect and bookmark the best of web for yourself or with friends.

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15 FREE Google Drawings graphic organizers — and how to make your own | Ditch That Textbook

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15 FREE Google Drawings graphic organizers — and how to make your own | Ditch That Textbook

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Ed Tech

Sometimes, we just need some help organizing our thoughts - students AND educators.

Paper versions of graphic organizers can do a nice job of that. But by making them digital in Google Apps, they instantly become customizable. Multiple people can collaborate on them in real time. They can be shared with a link, embedded in a website or downloaded as an image file.

In short, digital graphic organizers are more versatile.

In Google Apps, there's a highly powerful yet highly overlooked app called Drawings. It gives users a blank canvas where they can add text, shapes, lines, etc. When done, they can save their work as image files or PDF files and can add those images to documents, slides and spreadsheets.
Drawings can be the virtual page where students can gather and process their ideas.

I used to shy away from doing a lot of graphic organizers because it's hard to design them in Google Docs; the moment I learned that you could change the page set-up to 8.5 x 11 inches, my world CHANGED. Now I rarely use Google Docs to make *anything*; I use Google Slides by default because I can add more graphics and have better control of the overall configuration. - Amy Nolan, high school English teacher, Commerce, Texas

Creating graphic organizer templates with Google Drawings

As Amy mentioned above, Google Slides can be used to create these as well as Google Drawings. The difference - Drawings focuses on one single page; Slides has multiple slides, which allows for multiple pages.

I've created 15 of them (see links below) that can be copied, saved, changed, tweaked or completely redone to fit your needs and your students' needs. We have added 10 more that were created by the Ditch That Textbook community and shared with us for this post.

It took me about 90 minutes to make 15 of them so that averages out to six minutes each. (Some were more time-consuming than others, and I got faster at making them as I progressed.)

Sharing your Google Drawings graphic organizers
Once you've created a graphic organizer (or have saved one of mine), there are a few easy ways to get them to your students:

If you use Google Classroom, create a new assignment and choose the option to deliver a copy of your graphic organizer to each student.

You can copy the URL (link) to the graphic organizer and deliver it to students via a class website, SeeSaw etc. You can also make a shorter, easier URL to type with URL shorteners like Bitly and TinyURL. (Check your Internet filter to make sure your shortened URLs come through. I've found that TinyURL works in most schools' filters.)

Using the blue "Share" button, click the "Get shareable link" button and set the document as "Anyone with the link" at the top and "Can view" at the bottom. That way, students won't be able to change your original copy and will have to make a copy of their own.

PRO TIP: When you copy a URL (link) to any G Suite file, it probably says "view" or "edit" at the end of it. If you change that word to "copy", it will force whoever opens that link to make a copy of the file instead of opening your file. That's another trick to keeping your original version from being altered. (If you assign it through Google Classroom, you won't need to do this.)

Here are 25 graphic organizer templates that can be used for many different subject areas and grade levels.

Feel free to make a copy of any of these google drawings templates and adapt them for your own use:

Question: What other graphic organizers would be useful to create in Google Drawings? Can you share a link to a graphic organizer you've created so others can use it, too? Leave a comment below!

Looking for even MORE G Suite resources?

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101 Ways to Ditch That Textbook with G Suite, tons of practical, creative ways to use Google tools in the classroom.

For notifications of new Ditch That Textbook content and helpful links: Interested in having Matt present at your event or school? Contact him by e-mail! Is Matt presenting near you soon? Check out his upcoming live events!

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25 FREE Google Drawings graphic organizers - and how to make your own

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Ed Tech Sometimes, we just need some help organizing our thoughts - students AND educators. Paper versions of graphic organizers can do a nice job of that. But by making them digital in Google Apps, they instantly become customizable. Multiple people can collaborate on them in real time.

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Draw, choose, write or say: Fantastic formative assessments | Ditch That Textbook

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Draw, choose, write or say: Fantastic formative assessments | Ditch That Textbook

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Duck Duck Moose educational iPhone iTouch, iPad Android apps for kids

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Duck Duck Moose educational iPhone iTouch, iPad Android apps for kids

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autoCrat is a flexible, easy to use document merge creates PDF or shared Documents from spreadsheet Data.

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The best virtual reality apps for iPhone, compatible with Google Cardboard

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The best virtual reality apps for iPhone, compatible with Google Cardboard

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Before virtual reality headsets become mass-market products, iPhone owners can sample the futuristic technology in a cheap and easy way, thanks to Google Cardboard. AppleInsider offers a rundown of the best VR experiences available to download right now on the App Store.

tl;dr: Buy a Google Cardboard v2 unit and download Vrse on the App Store.

Before you get started

Google Cardboard is compatible with Apple's iPhone lineup, but is best used with the larger screens of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. For the jumbo-sized iPhone 6 Plus, you'll need to own a version 2 of Google Cardboard, which is not as widely available as the original model.

Your best bet is the I Am Cardboard Kit, available from Amazon for $24.99. It's the most widely known brand based on Google Cardboard, and it has version 2 models available in stock with Prime shipping at Amazon.

For a slightly more affordable option, there's the Virtual Reality Viewer V2, also based on Google Cardboard version 2. Unlike I Am Cardboard, this comes with adhesive foam to make the unit more comfortable, as well as a head strap to hold the assembly on your head.

It should be noted that Google Cardboard is not intended to be used with a head strap, because the combination of inadequate screen resolution for VR as well as lag can cause dizziness and nausea. Google recommends that users use Cardboard by simply holding the unit up to their head with one hand.

Google Cardboard version 2 models come with a dedicated button that taps the screen on your iPhone. Apps that take advantage of this can have simple input methods.

For the more crafty among you, instructions to build your own Google Cardboard accessory are available for free from the search giant. There's also an official Google Cardboard app for iOS that will get you started with some basic demos.

Finally, we will again note that while this simple VR kit can be a lot of fun, it will also probably make you nauseous. You've been warned.

The best overall experience: Vrse

Google Cardboard is meant to allow developers and users sample virtual reality in an affordable way, so most of the first apps aren't quite as polished as a top-tier App Store download.

The exception, however, is Vrse.

This free download features a handful of videos within it that users can download and watch on their iPhone with a VR headset. The videos are interesting, funny, and even stunning.

In one 360-degree film from The New York Times, users can watch as an artist paints a massive image in front of New York City's Flatiron Building. Then take to the skies- hanging off the edge of a helicopter- and look down at his creation from astonishing heights.

There's also a 360-degree recording of Jerry Seinfeld's monologue from Saturday Night Live's 40th anniversary special. As the comedian talks, you can see celebrity audience members who are part of the opening bit, sitting and waiting for their turn in the scene.

Vrse also spotlights the limitations of Google Cardboard paired with an iPhone- the screen resolution is too low, and the responsiveness isn't quite enough.

But if you want to be wowed by VR on your iPhone, this is the place to start.

Scare yourself with the quick experiences of Insidious VR and Sisters

These non-interactive demos seat you in creepy rooms where things get very dark, very quickly. Both experiences are best had with headphones.

In Insidious VR, you're in a room with a woman who's talking directly at you before the haunted house-style surprises begin.

Another creepy title is Sisters: A Virtual Reality Ghost Story, a similar experience where creepy imagery combined with jump scares makes for an entertaining experience.

Both of these apps are essentially quick tech demos, but the price is right at free. Definitely worth a download and a try.

Get in the cockpit of a "Pacific Rim" jaeger with Legendary VR

More of a sign of things to come in VR than anything else, the free Legendary Pictures VR app is highlighted by a scene ripped straight from the blockbuster Guillermo Del Toro film "Pacific Rim."

A virtual reality game based on the movie is currently in the works. Until then, you can tide yourself over with this non-interactive cinematic experience, featuring an attack on a jaeger robot from a giant kaiju monster.

The app also features experiences from the upcoming films "Crimson Peak" and "Warcraft."

Entertain your kids with DinoTrek VR Experience

In DinoTrek VR Experience, you can look around you in 360 degrees and see dinosaurs roaming the earth. The graphics of running reptiles are decent enough for a free app that shows some of the possibilities enabled with virtual reality in virtual worlds.

In your trip to the age of dinosaurs, you'll see different species doing a variety of activities, from simply grazing to fighting and chasing one another. The opening scene tags along with smaller dinosaurs fleeing a chasing tyrannosaurus rex.

Kill zombies, blow up tanks, save a brain and more

If you're looking for a little more interaction with your Google Cardboard setup, try out Zombie Shooter VR. It's an on-rails shooter where you simply look at your enemies and the game will automatically shoot at them.

The gameplay is similar, but the setting is very different, in the $1.99 title VR Tank Training. Here again, it's a controller-free interface, where you simply need to look to shoot.

Another on-rails automated shooter with some style is InMind VR. In this free title, you're microscopic and helping to repair a brain with neurons causing mental disorder.

Finally, if you have an iOS gaming controller, download the free "apocalyptic action game" OccupationVR. The open-world title is basic, but it gives an idea of how the combination of a VR helmet and a physical controller could lead to more immersive titles with physical input.

Bring your own 3D movies with these apps

Finally, if you want to watch your own 3D or virtual reality style movies, there are a pair of apps you can try.

Mobile VR Station will take standard moves and display them on a screen, or allow you to watch more immersive titles 3D titles with a larger field of view.

There's also the Homido 360 VR Player app, which offers similar capabilities. Both are free downloads.

Zeiss also makes a virtual cinema app called VR ONE Cinema that will take any video from your Camera Roll or your Videos app, and project it onto a virtual movie theater screen. This basic 3D demo features stadium seating and virtual moviegoers, giving you a sense of actually going to the movies for a matinee.

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The best virtual reality apps for iPhone, compatible with Google Cardboard

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Before virtual reality headsets become mass-market products, iPhone owners can sample the futuristic technology in a cheap and easy way, thanks to Google Cardboard. AppleInsider offers a rundown of the best VR experiences available to download right now on the App Store.

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Tech Tip: Using mobile devices to empower introverted students | SmartBlogs SmartBlogs

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Tech Tip: Using mobile devices to empower introverted students | SmartBlogs SmartBlogs

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Introverts are students who are bright and capable of communicating, but class discussions feel unnatural or uncomfortable for them. Sharing via technology is more comfortable, and it can benefit all students since everyone is heard. Here are a few ideas for using tech tools to draw out these learners:

Backchannel. There are a few platforms, like TodaysMeet and Backchannel Chat that allow your classes to backchannel, or have an online discussion while watching a video or presentation in the classroom. Participation is as easy as typing and hitting "send" so it feels less threatening and unnatural to an introvert. The transcript of the chat can also be saved as collaborative class notes. Here is an example from a 9th grade class that watched a YouTube video on the Whiskey Rebellion recently.

Games and Formative Tools. I often use Socrative, a student response tool, to pose questions to my classes. With Socrative, they can submit their answers anonymously and then, as a class, vote on the best one. Often the introverts are selected as winners because they've put more thought and depth into their answers.

Another fun formative game app is Kahoot!. Either I create activities or students create them for each other. Kahoot gets my classroom energized with music, bright colors and a little healthy competition. Again, participation doesn't require anyone to speak out loud, although they often do end up cheering for the winner at the end.

Digital Bulletin Board. Students can use an app like Padlet to post text, links, video clips, images, or text for crowdsourcing their ideas. Here is a great example of a bulletin board about women in the Civil War that my tenth-grade students made using a combination of quotes, images found online, and their own drawings and words. Again, introverts won't have to speak out in front of the whole class to participate in a powerful way.

Strategies like these do more than engage all learners. They also send a message to introverts that their teacher understands they have a lot to contribute when given the right opportunity.
Kerry Gallagher is a technology integration specialist at St. Johns Preparatory School in Danvers, Mass., a one-to-one iPad school serving 1,500 students grades 6-12. She taught middle and high school history in bring-your-own-device environments for 13 years. Gallagher is well known for her paperless collaborative classroom model which thrived on project-based learning. She also helped her students create Rockets Help Desk Tech Tips is a content collaboration between SmartBrief Education and GreyED Solutions. Have a tech tip to share? Contact us at Miss a Tech Tip? Visit our Tech Tip archive. techtips@greyedsolutions.com , a far-reaching student-driven technology integration program in her previous school district. Gallgher received the 2014 Yale-Lynn Hall Teacher Action Research Prize for her submission on the use of mobile devices for a paperless public school classroom and is a 2015 PBS LearningMedia Digital Innovator. Gallagher has been a conference presenter on the effective use of technology in the classroom at Harvard Law School, Yale School of Management, and Stanford University. In addition to EdSurge, she writes for Smarter Schools Project and ConnectSafely. She holds a B.A. in Politics from Saint Anselm College and J.D. from Massachusetts School of Law.
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Tech Tip: Using mobile devices to empower introverted students

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Introverts are students who are bright and capable of communicating, but class discussions feel unnatural or uncomfortable for them. Sharing via technology is more comfortable, and it can benefit all students since everyone is heard. Here are a few ideas for using tech tools to draw out these learners:

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Add text, web link, video & audio hotspots on top of your image and 360 content.

On thinglink.com, edit images, videos and 360 photos in one place. Explore content created by others.

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Use the ThingLink mobile app to tag images on smartphones and tablets.

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Favorite Chrome Extensions by Kristie Johnson

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Add text, web link, video & audio hotspots on top of your image and 360 content. On thinglink.com, edit images, videos and 360 photos in one place. Explore content created by others. ???frontpage.edu.thirdscreen.apps.second??? Use the ThingLink mobile app to tag images on smartphones and tablets.

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Favorite Instructional Webtools - ThingLink

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Favorite Instructional Webtools - ThingLink

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View the interactive image by Kristie Johnson

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Best EdTech Websites of 2014 | graphite Blog

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Best EdTech Websites of 2014 | graphite Blog

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It's been a busy year here at the Common Sense Education Websites desk! Throughout 2014, we rated and reviewed hundreds of websites for their learning potential, using our research-backed rubric and rigorous process of evaluation. Because it was just too hard to pick only 10, here are 14 fantastic edtech websites we reviewed this year. How about that -- 14 for 2014!

This forward-thinking curriculum blends history, the humanities, critical thinking, and science for a fascinating look at life's bigger questions. In thoughtful and innovative ways, the program offers teachers and students new and unique ways to build an understanding of our world.
Curriculet - This product is no longer available.
This elegant reading tool promotes comprehension with embedded assessments that are easy to use. Teachers can also upload their own texts and set up CCSS-aligned checkpoints.
DragonBox EDU - This product is no longer available.
Essentially a Web-based version of the innovative app, DragonBox EDU helps kids build a strong foundation for algebraic thinking and learning. And this Web version takes it all a step further with teacher tools and resources for seamless classroom integration.

This powerful video-editing tool allows teachers and students to crop, customize, remix, and enhance online videos. What's more, it's great for both in-class and flipped-class instruction.

These outstanding teaching materials empower students to understand and address difficult ethical choices -- past and present. The site's wealth of resources helps students explore issues of racism, prejudice, and anti-Semitism.
Geddit - This product is no longer available.
In comparison to the many student-response tools available, Geddit has the most potential to boost kids' higher-order thinking and learning skills. The clever confidence-rating scale helps teachers put valuable data into action.

Meet your students right at their level with this unique tool that offers variable reading levels for every text. The wide variety of up-to-date, absorbing news articles is sure to engage.

Part teacher's guide and part resource library, this is an ELA teacher's one-stop shop for reading comprehension resources. Targeted reading instruction starts here with high-quality texts, lesson plans, and assessments.

Watch great teachers in action and discuss what makes their lessons work with this platform for digital PD. As a video library of actual classroom teaching, the site offers opportunities for professional educators to watch, share, and improve their craft.

An invaluable resource for teachers, the site's offerings also help students find concrete ways to reduce prejudice and encourage tolerance in their schools, as well as within society as a whole.

Buoyed by high-interest texts and a clear approach to writing instruction, this program supports students' growth as critical thinkers. Beyond being a solid, CCSS-aligned reading and writing platform, the site serves as a potential springboard for in-class discussions, group work, and extension activities.

This fantastic, comprehensive math program supports teachers in tracking student progress and offering students meaningful rewards. What's more, students have access to stellar learning support, including from live teachers on the site.

Get your kids coding with this cute, colorful coding website. Through playful exploration and a visual coding platform, students will love seeing their skills come to life. The site does a good job of blending the fun and the learning with characters they can customize.
Zamzee - This product is no longer available.
Online gaming meets physical exercise in this kid-centered and fun fitness program. While not entirely designed for school use, the program earns high marks for its flexibility -- teachers will find it easy to adapt. The snappy website and the unique activity meter make exercise fun and motivate kids to keep going.

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It's been a busy year here at the Common Sense Education Websites desk! Throughout 2014, we rated and reviewed hundreds of websites for their learning potential, using our research-backed rubric and rigorous process of evaluation. Because it was just too hard to pick only 10, here are 14 fantastic edtech websites we reviewed this year.

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6 Great Blogs to Get Insights into Flipped Learning - EdTechReview™ (ETR)

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6 Great Blogs to Get Insights into Flipped Learning - EdTechReview™ (ETR)

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Web has become pervasive, it influences people's lives and facilitates partnerships. The process of writing blog posts and commenting is the fine example by which the Internet has allowed people to participate and share their ideas in the marketplace.

Educators have also made the best use of web technologies in form of blogging, to share their ideas, experience and connect with the educators across the world. In fact the educational blogs have become one of the most powerful and effective tool for teacher professional development.

Since the idea of the flipping classroom has gained popularity, a lot of educators have become flipped learning practitioners and they also share their views and insights through blogs with others to help them learn more and avoid mistakes. In this article, you will find six great blogs that you must follow if you a teacher flipping your classroom.
Turning Learning
Turning Learning is a website run by Jon- a teacher, writer, and educational coach. Jon has spent 24 years as a middle and high school educator teaching students science. His blog is dedicated to speaking, writing and endorsing the flipped classroom concept. On his blog, Turning Learning, you can dig out great and useful information related to flipped classroom. The blog has different section naming speaking and training, blog, multimedia.
My Flipped Classroom
My Flipped Classroom is a blog run by Delia Bush. On her blog, you will find out her experiences related to her flipped classroom. Apart from this, there's a lot more in the blog to explore.
Math with McCarthy
Math with McCarthy is an amazing blog dedicated to Maths and flipped classroom. The blog is managed by Missy Cosby. She is a high school math teacher at Okemos High School in Okemos, Michigan. In her blog, she share a lot of practical information related to flipped classroom.
Flipping with Kirch
Flipping with Kirch is another great blog for flipping the classroom. Here you will explore a number of good write-ups reflecting and analyzing on her journey to flipped learning in her high school math classes from 2011-2014.
Video For My Classroom: The Flipped Classroom
Chris Waterworth runs this blog to share his experiences from teaching in primary schools for over 10 years now and how he has used technology in his classrooms since the very beginning.
Flipped Classroom Tag - Edutopia
By combining the flipped-learning model with differentiated instruction, teachers can quickly and efficiently mobilize their students in "right size" learning activities. Check out some great resources here.
Which blog or resource do you follow? Share with us in the comment box.

Like what we do?

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6 Great Blogs to Get Insights into Flipped Learning

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Web has become pervasive, it influences people's lives and facilitates partnerships. The process of writing blog posts and commenting is the fine example by which the Internet has allowed people to participate and share their ideas in the marketplace.

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Bookie Blog: Finding Great Books and Better Writing: Technology in the Classroom: Using Twitter in the Literature Classroom, Part 1

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Bookie Blog: Finding Great Books and Better Writing: Technology in the Classroom: Using Twitter in the Literature Classroom, Part 1

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Many of today's teachers are trying to find ways to incorporate technology into their classrooms in fun and creative ways. Why not? From etexts to school websites to topic wikis to educational social sites like Edmodo, technology and education are becoming increasingly more interconnected.

How can teachers utilize technology in the modern classroom to help students really connect with course content? Social media sites like Twitter can be valuable classroom tools that instructors can easily use to further any lesson, but teachers need to be careful about how they use such tools.

Teach Students to Be Responsible with Technology

Just because today's students are part of the " App generation," doesn't mean someone taught them how to responsibly use technology. Teachers need to make sure students know how to use technology in a safe and professional way if they want to utilize it as a tool in the classroom.

Impart to your students the importance of safety and professionalism when using technology. It is up to you to determine what you consider to be the key aspects of this importance.

For instance, I will help my students understand that while fun, social media can be dangerous, both personally and professionally. Students need to know not to give their personal or private information out and to not post things that are defaming to themselves or others; you never know who is going to be looking at your page/feed, be it a future boss or a potential predator.

To help them remember to be responsible, I will give my students this techno rule of thumb: if you wouldn't want a convict or your grandmother to see it, don't post it.

Why is teaching safety important?

You always want to make sure your students are safe in your classroom, even from potential dangers on social media sites. Also, if you allow students to access social media in your classroom and something happens - they post inappropriate updates/pictures, they make contact with a potential dangerous "friend," etc. - you may be liable for the outcome.

How can teachers avoid this issue?

As part of teaching students to be safe and professional with technology, have them create a new Twitter account that they only use for professional things, i.e. education posts, following potential career feeds, etc. Make it an expectation that they are only allowed to use Twitter during designated instructional time and that they are only allowed to use their "professional" Twitter account.

Twitter in the Literature Classroom?

While Twitter can be a useful tool for teachers in every discipline, it is especially useful for teachers of literature and writing. Below are a few ideas on how you can use Twitter as a tool in your literature classroom.

1. Creating a Twitter haiku

Because tweets have a 140-character count limit, Twitter is the perfect platform to have your students create a haiku or another type of short poem. The character limit makes users really focus on what they are saying and how they are saying it. Here is an example:

"A Twitter haiku/A tiny Internet thought/That people enjoy #haiku"

A creative and fun idea for using Twitter in the literature classroom is having each student pick a different fictional character and pretend to be that character all day. Students could post as much as they do on their private Twitter accounts, but they have to remember to stay in character. Examples for a student who chooses Elizabeth Bennet from Austen's Pride and Prejudice:

"Just met the cutest boy. Too bad he is a snob. #supercute #justmyluck #smarterthanhimanyway"

"So found out today my missing little sister ran off and married my evil, one-time crush #isthisreallife #awkward #awkwardfamilyholidays"

"This man just proposed to me and insulted me in the same sentence. #snob #inyourdreams"

Want a more structured, direct approach for this idea? Check out this lesson plan.

3. Write microreviews of movies and books

Like the haiku exercise, students who write microreviews of movies and books have to pay close and careful attention to style and their use of language. An example of a microreview for Great Expectations by Charles Dickens:

"charlesdickens: Orphan given £££ by secret follower. He thinks it's @misshavisham but it turns out to be @magwitch"

Want to read this and other cool examples of microreviews? Go here.

4. Post supplementary materials

Ever come across information at home that you think your students could greatly benefit from? Share it instantly on Twitter! Have students follow your professional Twitter account so they can see when you post links to awesome supplementary materials for your course.

Remember: encourage your students to only communicate with you on Twitter via public tweets. The private nature of Direct Messages (DMs) makes them a questionable form of communication between you and your students. You want to keep everything out in the open for everyone to see.

5. Tweet reactions to books and movies as they read/watch

Many of us react strongly to the various plot points that come up in books or movies (I often gasp, laugh, or rage very loudly while reading a book or watching a film). Chances are, our students do to.

Have students post their initial reactions to a text on Twitter. Then, after students have finished the text, have them look back at their tweets and discuss how their interpretation of the story line/characters changed as more elements were revealed.

This could be a very useful exercise for a variety of things from teaching students to focus closely on a text to helping students discover how good authors build suspense to showing students how the reader's reaction to various elements can affect the overall reading of a text. This method is only limited by the teacher's creativity in assigning it.

http://www.teachhub.com/50-ways-use-twitter-classroom

Twitter logo: www.muzeumniepodleglosci.poznan.pl/upload/editor/admin/Image/twitter_muzeum_powstania_wielkopolskiego.png

Twitter Jailbird: http://lawrencewray.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/twitter-mistakes.jpg

Darcy meme: http://www.readbreatherelax.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/mr-darcy-meme-2.jpg

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Technology in the Classroom: Using Twitter in the Literature Classroom, Part 1

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Many of today's teachers are trying to find ways to incorporate technology into their classrooms in fun and creative ways. Why not? From etexts to school websites to topic wikis to educational social sites like Edmodo, technology and education are becoming increasingly more interconnected.

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Instructional Fluency: 5 Steps to Make Quizzes with QR Codes

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Instructional Fluency: 5 Steps to Make Quizzes with QR Codes

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Try separating a teenager from their phone. They text and search to solve a variety of problems. Instead of fighting it, put it to good use.

Here's a way to incorporate QR code readers and practice assessments that will get them up and moving.

1. Make a Quiz in Slides

The benefits of using Slides to make the quiz are in the print options. Slides can be printed one per page for a placard activity that will promote more movement in a lesson.

The other favorite print option is to set two on a page. This places the question and content on one half and the answer choices on the other, which works well when students are seated at tables or desks.

I made these two images in Google Drawing. This application is simple to use and provides a variety of file formats.

Download a png file and place it in your Google Drive. This allows you to get a link to turn into a QR. When students scan the code, they'll know whether they chose correctly or not.

To ensure that the link will open, set the link to the png file to "Public on the web" (see image below).

3. QR Code

You can use whichever code generator you want. Test the QR to make sure your file in Google Drive opens.

I use a Chrome extension that generates a QR. Some of the extensions require you to copy the shared link, paste it into the omnibox (where you type URLs), and generate the QR from the loaded page.

4. Incorporate QR Codes as Response Choices

Remember that you only need two codes - one for each image. I arrange the codes in a four-corner layout because it provides space needed to avoid an unintended scan.

Print these in color (if you can). We like to post them in the hallway so other classes can get involved. If you have three other teachers in your PLC, that means each can contribute different questions.

I don't use this as a score in the gradebook, but it works well for practice and review.
Tip: Try different QR readers before you make a recommendation to your students or staff. Some of them are trying to make money, while others have slow browsers.

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Try separating a teenager from their phone. They text and search to solve a variety of problems. Instead of fighting it, put it to good use. Here's a way to incorporate QR code readers and practice assessments that will get them up and moving. 1.

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10 Useful Educational Apps and Tools for 1:1 Classroom ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

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10 Useful Educational Apps and Tools for 1:1 Classroom ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

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Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

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July 10, 2015
If you happen to teach in a 1:1 classroom then you will definitely be concerned about the educational apps to use with your students. There are tons out there for sure, but many of them are not worthwhile. To this end we curated this selection of some of the most popular apps and tools among 1:1 classroom teachers. Browse through the suggested titles and see what you want to adapt in your class. Enjoy

Socrative is a smart student response system that empowers teachers to engage their classrooms through a series of educational exercises and games via smartphones, laptops, and tablets. Socrative is designed in such a way to help teachers make classes more engaging and interactive.It also helps teachers initiate activities and prompt students with questions to which students can respond using their laptops or smartphones. The good thing about Scorative is that it can run on any kind of device with internet connection: iPads, iPods, laptops, smartphones so students will never miss out on any learning acidity.

TodaysMeet is a great web tool for creating backchannels with your students. It is very easy and simple to use. You can use it in your class to engage students in sideline discussions and chats around a given topic. The process to set up a backchannel via TodaysMeet is very easy: first, create a room and given it a name and a duration then share the URL of that room with your students and start the chat.

Tellagami is a mobile app that lets you create and share a quick animated video called a Gami.A Gami can be an exciting tweet or status update. It can be a fun way to tell a story. It can be a thank you message or a vacation postcard. It can be a birthday greeting, party invite or cool way to share photos. The possibilities are endless!

Haiku Deck is the simple new way to create inspired presentations - whether you're pitching an idea, teaching a lesson, telling a story, or igniting a movement. Featured on the iTunes "New and Noteworthy" and "What's Hot" lists!

Educreations turns your iPad into a recordable whiteboard. Creating a great video tutorial is as simple as touching, tapping and talking. Explain a math formula... Create an animated lesson... Add commentary to your photos... Diagram a sports play.

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10 Useful Educational Apps and Tools for 1:1 Classroom

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July 10, 2015 If you happen to teach in a 1:1 classroom then you will definitely be concerned about the educational apps to use with your students. There are tons out there for sure, but many of them are not worthwhile.

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23 Tools For Students To Publish What They Learn

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23 Tools For Students To Publish What They Learn

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by Nadya Khoja, venngage.com

It's no surprise that's no surprise that there are so many tools available for students to publish their ideas to in the year 2015.

There was once a time when publishing thoughts to the web required considerable knowledge of HTML and CSS, however with the surge of online blogging and publication systems, the power of expression has never been easier. Students now have a well of opportunity to express their thoughts and ideas with the added chance of getting global feedback on those insights. Here is a list of some of the best online publication tools that students can post their creative impressions on.
23 Tools For Students To Publish What They Learn
Medium is a new blogging tool created by, Evan Williams, a co-founder at Blogger and Twitter. Medium is a great tool for those who wish to share their stories with the world. It is a very easy to use tool because unlike a lot of other blogging platforms, it doesn't require much knowledge of implementing advanced widgets. There is also the added benefit of an annotation feature that lets students cite their source with ease. Although Medium does not allow for much customization, its clean and classic appearance makes for a simple navigation of the tool.

Blogger, formerly known as Blogspot is publishing platform owned by Google. The registration process makes it easy for students to get started as it only requires a Google account to sign up. The drag-and-drop features allow for quick and frictionless design and customizations so that students can have the ability to be creative, without hassle.

WordPress is certainly one of the most popular blogging platforms on the web. It's great for students because it offers a wide range of functions and widgets. There are plenty of layout themes to choose from, and the registration process is quite seamless. The platform is very widely used and many web servers feature WordPress as a simple to install plugin. The top 10 blogs on the web all use WordPress as a host. It is perfect for new bloggers, professional bloggers and businesses small and large.

Edublogs is a blog created for educational purposes and is ideal for students and teachers alike. This is an ideal tool for teachers who wish to assign writing projects because it allows them to review posts and add comments where they find errors. Essentially, this is the WordPress for educators. Some extra features include calendars, discussion tools and video embedding widgets to name a few.

Quora is a question-and-answer website and is perfect for inspiring students to push their curiosity via a web-based platform. Site users can create and curate questions and answers to a variety of topics, making it a great tool for teachers to develop practice quizzes and assignments for their students. The blogging platform of Quora does not, however, allow for much customization.

Exposure is a photo-based blogging website. Due to its visual nature, the site is a great way for students to share photographs of projects or experiences, and promotes creative, visual expression. It is also very easy to register with Exposer, and user can sign-up with their Facebook accounts as well.

Not too long ago, LinkedIn announced a new blogging feature for their site, which allows writers to publish original content. Published content is automatically added to the user's profile and is therefore a great way for encouraging students to develop their LinkedIn presence while young.

Postachio is another a microblogging tool that is linked with Evernote is designed for notetaking and archiving. It will allow students to create a "note" which can be a piece of formatted text, a full webpage or webpage excerpt, a photograph, a voice memo, or a handwritten "ink" note. These notes can be done by just using a smartphone and can easily be shared to postachio.
Infographic Creation Tools for Students
Venngage is an easy to use online infographic maker. It's drag and drop interface makes it an ideal tool for individuals with minimal design experience. There are a vast variety of templates, themes, charts, fonts, maps, icons and images that make it simple to create infographics. Schools can take advantage of the Venngage Education package, an affordable alternative for educators who want to implement infographic use in the classroom with access to all of the premium features.

Vizualize.me is a tool that students can use to create infographic versions of their resumes. The tool is very easy to use since students can just sign in with LinkedIn. Their profile information will automatically populate the infographic, producing an aesthetically pleasing representation of their professional experiences.

Google Developers is an infographic tool that depicts live sets of data. The tool is free and simple to use, but certainly doesn't lack in power. Students have plenty of options to choose from with charts and can easily use the featured generator to visualize their research faster.

Easel.ly is another infographic tool that offers a range of customizable templates. Similar to Venngage, the tool makes use of a drag-and-drop widgets. Easel.ly is a very user friendly and intuitive tool that students young and old can successfully navigate the site, and design infographics independently.

Visual.ly is both a tool and a community dedicated to data visualization and infographics .It is another awesome tool where students can create and share infographics directly to Social Media. Visually covers a wide range of different topics students can also learn from. Topics range from Education, Business and Politics.

Get about is a Microsoft Windows app that is for free. It can make life easier for students to monitor their Social Media account activities. It can also easily generate infographics to aid in visualizing their network.
Social Media for Students
Facebook is now the most popular and widely used social network site on the web. The ever-expanding site offers note-making and sharing features, photo album creation features, twitter and Instagram integrations, and the ability to create groups. Groups are a great way for students to collaborate on assignments and share their ideas online with their classmates.

Tumblr is another microblogging tool. This popular platform is mostly used by younger individuals and the sign-up process is very frictionless. There is also a Tumblr app which students can install on their smartphones making it very convenient to blog anywhere, anytime. Since it is a microblogging site, students can have their content posted to the web in just a matter of seconds.

Instagram is a mobile-based photo and video sharing app. The app can easily be synced to Facebook, Twitter and Flicker, making it very easy to share content with the world. Instagram is a great tool for featuring visually-based student assignments such as: photo essays, campaign projects, and video assignments. There are also a number of surprising ways that Instagram can be used to promote cognitive learning.

Twitter is an online social networking service that allows students post 140-character tweets. US News stated that Twitter improves learning in college classrooms since it promotes feelings of global involvement and connectivity. The 140-character limit also pushes students to share their thoughts clearly and succinctly.

Vimeo is a video-sharing website where students can view videos by users, or share and upload their own productions. Vimeo Video School also offers video creating tutorials for students to learn some of the skills required in the art of production. Their creations can be easily shared to other social media sites like Facebook and Twitter as well.
20. Google+
Google+ is a social network by Google Services where students and teachers can create group circles to discuss important issues, lessons and where reminders for upcoming assignments can be privately posted. Students can also use the platform to share their ideas and to bring up any questions they may have. It is a great social media tool for managing the art of virtual communication.

Pinterest is a web and mobile-based image-sharing site. Students and teachers can create specific subject boards that can be used to curate pictures, posters, infographics and other visual learning resources. Middle-school and high-school students can like, share and pin images and infographics that they find on their own board. The Pinterest interface also promotes organization and content management for classes.

Youtube is another video-sharing website where students who love to create videos can publish their work. Youtube also features a wide range of tutorials on a plethora of subjects. Not only does this make the platform a great promotor of participatory culture, but it also promotes the advancement of learning. Youtube is now the second top used search engine after Google.

Deviantart is an online community that showcases multitudes of original user designed artworks. Students can use the site to share their own digital art, whether it be drawings, infographics or other images. Deviantart promotes artistic creativity for all age groups.

Sharing ideas has never been as easy as it is in 2015. Within just a few clicks and a few taps, students can publish their work for the entire world to see. These tools do not only empower students to express their own thoughts, but also motivates them to explore their creative potential.
23 Tools For Students To Publish What They Learn

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23 Tools For Students To Publish What They Learn

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by Nadya Khoja, venngage.com It's no surprise that's no surprise that there are so many tools available for students to publish their ideas to in the year 2015. There was once a time when publishing thoughts to the web required considerable knowledge of HTML and CSS, however with the surge of online blogging and publication systems, the power of expression has never been easier.

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Eastman Chemical Company Foundation Inc. | The Grantsmanship Center

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Eastman Chemical Company Foundation Inc. | The Grantsmanship Center

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Find funders who support your cause.

Check out this foundation but don't stop here! Take advantage of all the tools and resources on this website-lots are free, some for a fee.

Thinking of submitting a proposal to this funder? If so, increase your chance of success by learning how to write a compelling proposal. Work in teams on real proposals. Learn powerful skills and take a wealth of resources back to work, including a stack of real proposals developed and reviewed in class, or key proposal components crafted for your own organization.

Get the textbook, Grantsmanship: Program Planning & Proposal Writing, a powerhousewith lots of examples, check-lists and easy to follow guidance. It's the best single book to help you win grant funds. Use the article, "How to Find the Right Funders-A Strategic Approach," to figure out who's most likely to give you a grant. "Where's the Money? Find the Right Funding," is FREE and a great way to get started.

GrantDomain, our database of grantmakers, helps you focus your time and attention for optimal results. GrantDomain contains much more than the free info below and access is included with many of our trainings.

Here's the foundation information you're looking for:

The Grantsmanship Center is a training, publishing, and technical assistance organization. We help you learn to find funders and win grants-but we don't award grants so please don't send us your grant proposals.

Attend our training. Bring our training to your community. Read our publications. Enjoy and learn from our free resources: blogs, archived articles, and videos. Join us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter. Check us out on YouTube. Read our Executive Director's articles published regularly in the Nonprofit Times, a national media source for our field.

Get what you need to succeed through The Grantsmanship Center. Let us help!

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Eastman Chemical Company Foundation Inc.

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Check out this foundation but don't stop here! Take advantage of all the tools and resources on this website-lots are free, some for a fee. Thinking of submitting a proposal to this funder? If so, increase your chance of success by learning how to write a compelling proposal.

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A Lever and a Place to Stand: I Got a Kick out of ClassKick

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A Lever and a Place to Stand: I Got a Kick out of ClassKick

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This week I read about ClassKick, an iOS app that allows you to simultaneously watch your students' work as it is created. It was my favorite combination -- free and easy -- so I quickly installed it on my class set of iPads to try it out today. Verdict: awesome! I can't wait to try it again.
The app setup is very intuitive. You create classes that students join by entering a class code on the login screen. No accounts are necessary. If students are old enough to recognize and type in a 6 letter/number code, they can join a class with this app.
Creating assignments is also simple. You start with screenshots of any kind of file and grab the text you want on each page of the assignment. It took just a couple of minutes for me to create my 4 question assignment for today's class. After students join the class, they automatically receive the assignment that you have prepared. The teacher taps the "View Student Work" button and can see screenshots of each student's work. Excellent.

Students see each page and use their finger or a stylus to work on the task. My students were solving chemistry problems. The default color is black, but they quickly discovered, to their delight, that several others colors were also available.
When in the Student Work view, the teacher can scroll through to see the work of class members. Pages are shaded green to show which question a student is working on. Pages turn grey when a student logs out.
Tap a page and you can see it full screen to get a better view of the student work. The teacher can create a set of custom stickers with phrases to praise or help students. The teacher can also write on the student page (with default red ink) to show corrections or compliments. Students receive a notification that they have gotten feedback.

I already loved the app at this point, but there are still so many great features.
When a student is finished or confused, he can ask someone to help or check his work by raising a virtual hand (tapping the hand button). Hands appear on the teacher dashboard to show who needs assistance. Wow. Even better, with a click of a button, students can help each other. Now it's collaborative too. Soon my students were eagerly asking for and providing help to each other.

In the teacher dashboard, it is easy to see with a color-coding system who needs help, who has gotten feedback, and who needs to have an answer checked. From the teacher perspective, I loved that I could see how every student was doing as they were working and I could provide instant assistance if needed. The teacher can see all the students by name and they can see that it is the teacher who is offering help.

I loved the app and I am looking forward to trying it out again. I am adding it to my
As great as that was, and it was great, the best part was how my students embraced collaborating with each other. As the problems got progressively more challenging, they became more and more willing to pitch in and help each other. From the student perspective, they can see that an anonymous student needs help, but they can't see who it is. When a student is being helped, however, she can see who is helping her. I liked that one-way anonymity and I think it made more students willing to ask for help. That and they liked the silly anonymous phrases the app uses, like "a baffled bear needs help."
I had planned to do this for about 15 minutes just for practice. In the end, we worked on these problems for the better part of class because the students were demonstrating so many great work habits. We did have some technical glitches -- app freezing and crashing, long waiting for some image loading -- but even with some frustrations, it was still the best part of my week.
Apps page of the blog too. It will definitely become one of my standards.

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This week I read about ClassKick, an iOS app that allows you to simultaneously watch your students' work as it is created. It was my favorite combination -- free and easy -- so I quickly installed it on my class set of iPads to try it out today. Verdict: awesome!

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Learn Lead Grow: 3 Excellent Math Tools for the Classroom #UDL_HGSE

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Learn Lead Grow: 3 Excellent Math Tools for the Classroom #UDL_HGSE

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I am privileged to have been invited to serve as a facilitator at Harvard University's Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Institute. My posts this week will focus on the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework.

Several participants at the UDL Institute have asked me for some tools to help support students in the math classroom. Let's take a look at a few:

#1: Desmos Graphing Calculator

Graphing equations can often pose difficulties to students in the math classroom. Remember when we had to buy those expensive TI-80 calculators? This can cause an extreme disadvantage to students living in poverty; however, there is a free alternative for students.

If you have never seen Desmos Graphing Calculator, it provides students with access to an online graphing calculator is available as a website, App, and Chrome Extension. It provides students with the ability to interact with and understand equations in new and interactive ways.

If you are not familiar with Screencasting, it gives you the ability to record anything on the screen of your laptop or Smart device. It can be used for teachers to "flip" their classroom or have students teach important concepts. Some of my favorite tools are:

Screencasting provides students with the scaffolds and supports they need to do homework, understand important concepts, or flip your classroom. In the past, I have used screencasting as a way to solve FAQ's to help students complete homework or provide the support's they need to complete assignments. It can be even more powerful when used by students because it gives us tangible insight into our student's thought process.

#3: Annotation Tools

Annotation is a powerful tool and can serve a purpose in the math classroom. Several weeks ago, I had mentioned that you could use Skitch to solve math problems. How would this work? Students take a picture or screenshot of a math problem and annotate (or solve) it with Skitch, which is a great way to see all of the work.

Students are not limited to hand writing because they can add shapes, arrows, and text to diagram their drawings. I like the fact that this tool provides students with another option for demonstrating their knowledge of how to solve math concepts.

What tools are you using to help students in the math classroom? I'd love to hear from you!

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3 Excellent Math Tools for the Classroom #UDL_HGSE

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I am privileged to have been invited to serve as a facilitator at Harvard University's Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Institute. My posts this week will focus on the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework. Several participants at the UDL Institute have asked me for some tools to help support students in the math classroom.

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Twitter For Newbies - Mr. Dearybury's Class Page

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Twitter For Newbies - Mr. Dearybury's Class Page

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8 Apps That'll Make High School A Little Easier

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8 Apps That'll Make High School A Little Easier

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This is Helena Merk, a 16-year-old coder. She makes really cool apps like this one that helps animals find homes.

Courtesy of Helena Merk

She told BuzzFeed Life that she "wanted to give animals a voice." Helena also made this epic interactive app to guide students through Homer's Odyssey.

YOU GO GIRL!

Courtesy of Helena Merk

Helena knows SEVEN different programming languages (wut). All lady coders should apply to that WWDC scholarship, BTW.

So, we trusted her to tell us about the apps every high school student needs. Here are Helena's recommendations.

"This task-managing app actually helps with time management. It is easy to set up and sends helpful reminders to keep you on task towards your goal."

"A great study tool with simple yet effective features that help with memorization."

"The best way to relax after a long stressful day, or even to binge way after midnight."

Alright kiddos, YOU GOT THIS.

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8 Apps That'll Make High School A Little Easier

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So, we trusted her to tell us about the apps every high school student needs. Here are Helena's recommendations. "This task-managing app actually helps with time management. It is easy to set up and sends helpful reminders to keep you on task towards your goal."

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A leader's guide to technology implementations | eSchool News | eSchool News

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A leader's guide to technology implementations | eSchool News | eSchool News

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A leader's guide to technology implementations

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Establishing a shared vision around a technology initiative is one of the most important success factors for that initiative, according to a panel of administrators from around the country who gath...

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Genius Hour - Where Passions Come Alive - Genius Hour

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Genius Hour - Where Passions Come Alive - Genius Hour

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Edutech for Teachers » Blog Archive » Top 10 Tech Tips for Teachers

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Edutech for Teachers » Blog Archive » Top 10 Tech Tips for Teachers

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There's no doubt that technology can have a significant impact on our students and their learning environment; however, as much as the use of edtech tools can be beneficial, like anything else, they can also be a detriment if not utilized effectively.

It's all about the... Nope not that! Wait for it..... It's all about the way in which technology is integrated into lessons, activities and projects. Is it meaningful? Relevant? Real-world? As you probably are aware, a lot of people have a lot to say about what constitutes best practices when it comes to incorporating various tools and apps into the classroom.

Of course, that's all well and good, but honestly-it's not rocket science like "they say". Actually, in my humble (and experienced) opinion, much of what needs to be done involves exercising some good ol' fashioned common sense-similar to the tips shown on the infographic below. Check em' out! I bet you'll be nodding your head in that "yep" motion as you read them-just like I did!

A shout out to Kasey Bell for creating and sharing this useful reminder for teachers. For many more really swell edtech ideas, visit her awesome web site- Shake Up Learning!
Classroom Connection:
Educators can use these tips to help them make better use of technology tools for instruction and to assist students with improving their technology skills within the context of the regular curriculum.

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There's no doubt that technology can have a significant impact on our students and their learning environment; however, as much as the use of edtech tools can be beneficial, like anything else, they can also be a detriment if not utilized effectively. It's all about the... Nope not that!

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Top Social Networks & Apps Your Kids are Using | Gaggle

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Top Social Networks & Apps Your Kids are Using | Gaggle

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Described as "Tinder for teens," Yellow allows young users to make new friends based on swiping. Yellow app users create a profile by syncing their Snapchat accounts, picking an age and gender, uploading a few and then they begin connecting.

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Top Social Networks and Apps Your Kids are Using | Gaggle

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Described as "Tinder for teens," Yellow allows young users to make new friends based on swiping. Yellow app users create a profile by syncing their Snapchat accounts, picking an age and gender, uploading a few and then they begin connecting.

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What do you want leaders to do with technology?  http://t.co/IsmOWyssoA Art by @plugusin http://t.co/32ZfABnbSP

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What do you want leaders to do with technology?  http://t.co/IsmOWyssoA Art by @plugusin http://t.co/32ZfABnbSP

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What do you want leaders to do with technology? http://t.co/IsmOWyssoA Art by @plugusin pic.twitter.com/32ZfABnbSP
— George Couros (@gcouros) July 2, 2015

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What do you want leaders to do with technology?  http://t.co/IsmOWyssoA Art by @plugusin http://t.co/32ZfABnbSP

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What do you want leaders to do with technology?  http://t.co/IsmOWyssoA Art by @plugusin http://t.co/32ZfABnbSP

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What do you want leaders to do with technology?  http://t.co/IsmOWyssoA Art by @plugusin http://t.co/32ZfABnbSP

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Cybrary Man's Educational Web Sites The internet catalogue for students, teachers, administrators & parents. Over 20,000 relevant links personally selected by an educator/author with over 30 years of experience.

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Create a Computer Lab on the Cheap with New Intel Compute Sticks | EdTech Magazine

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Create a Computer Lab on the Cheap with New Intel Compute Sticks | EdTech Magazine

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Technology Solutions That Drive Education

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Technology has a way of getting smaller as it gets better, and Intel has taken this idea to a new level with a device about the size of a thumb drive that can transform any high-definition monitor into a fully functioning computer.

The Compute Stick, which Intel unveiled early this year at the Computer Electronics Show and will make available this spring, is just 4 inches long and 1.5 inches wide. When you plug it into the HDMI port of any monitor, you get a computer powered by a quad-core Intel Atom Z3735F processor, which powers many Android tablets.

128GB

The storage capacity that the Computer Stick's micro SD slot can support

SOURCE: Intel

Cost-Conscious Option

Intel believes this pocket-sized, plug-and-play device could be an attractive option for schools looking to add computing power on a budget.

Just plug the devices into a room of monitors and "you've got a lab full of PCs that are consuming a lot less power and are less noisy than traditional PCs," says John Deatherage, Intel's director of marketing for channel innovation and solutions.

Trevor Shaw, director of technology for the Dwight-Englewood School in New Jersey, says he's intrigued by the concept, especially for creating a low-cost computer lab.

But he worries the Atom processor might limit the types of things that students can do with the Compute Stick. "If I had to supply every kid with a computing device on a shoestring budget, I might look at Chromebooks before I considered a device like this," Shaw says.

A Little More, a Little Less

Intel has two versions of the device: The more robust stick runs Microsoft Windows 8.1; the less expensive one runs Linux Ubuntu. Both versions come with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, along with a USB port for adding a mouse and keyboard.

The Compute Stick also can be used to power digital signage, Deatherage says, and its portability makes it a draw for the roving student, who could take the device home and plug it into an HDTV to continue working on their files.

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Create a Computer Lab on the Cheap with New Intel Compute Sticks

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Technology has a way of getting smaller as it gets better, and Intel has taken this idea to a new level with a device about the size of a thumb drive that can transform any high-definition monitor into a fully functioning computer.

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10 EdTech Quotes to Inspire Summer Learning >>https://edtechdigest.wordpress...

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10 EdTech Quotes to Inspire Summer Learning >>https://edtechdigest.wordpress.com/2015/06/30/on-edtech/ - Jessica Sanders - Google+

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3 New Resources for Science Teachers ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

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3 New Resources for Science Teachers ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

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Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

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June 27, 2015
Here are three more resources for science teachers and students. These resources are featured here for the first time. The first one in the list, Mystery Science, is particularly helpful for elementary teachers seeking science lesson plans and activities to use with students in class. The rest are iPad apps students can use to enhance their science learning in different aspects that include: vocabulary, games, quizzes, hands-on activities and many more.

1- Mystery Science

Mystery Science is a cool website that provides elementary teachers with with a variety of lessons to inspire kids to love science. Each lesson starts with a short video, followed by comprehension questions and a hands-on activity.

2- DIY Human Body

'Includes over a dozen easy to use, hands-on activities to learn about the human body and your health. Each activity includes step-by-step instructions that have been tested by educators, kids, and families. The activity materials are widely available and inexpensive-you probably have many of them in your home.'

3- Science Facts

'Carefully worded, straightforward questions make this a great tool for English language learners (ELL/ESL) acquiring basic science vocabulary, as well as young English-speaking readers. Our specially designed quiz engine not only shows you the correct answer when you make a mistake, it randomly selects and occasionally repeats questions, just to make sure you're paying attention.'

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June 27, 2015 Here are three more resources for science teachers and students. These resources are featured here for the first time. The first one in the list, Mystery Science, is particularly helpful for elementary teachers seeking science lesson plans and activities to use with students in class.

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Blended learning emerges as a leading trend in education technology, report says - The Hechinger Report

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Blended learning emerges as a leading trend in education technology, report says - The Hechinger Report

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PHILADELPHIA - The use of blended learning in schools has increased the adoption of educational technology as the public has grown fond of online learning, according to a new report.

A closely-watched report that provides insight into digital learning trends - both in and out of school settings - named blended learning as a key topic to watch in the next two years.

The annual New Media Consortium Horizon Report's K-12 2015 Edition was released Monday at the ISTE 2015 conference in Philadelphia, a conference devoted to educational technology that's expected to draw about 18,000 attendees. The trends included in the report were selected by 56 experts from 22 countries, and they collaborate online to discuss the topics on a public website.

"There is a very strong description of blended learning [in the report]," said Matt Harris, of the British School Jarkarta in Indonesia, the chair-elect of the ISTE board. "And it's something you will find all over this conference."

Blended learning generally means the combining of technology with teacher-led instruction in the classroom.

The Horizon report tracks worldwide trends, not just those in the United States, and it is meant to gauge changes in educational technology. The report includes research on six significant challenges to the adoption of new technology, six teaching and learning trends that are expected to accelerate technology adoption in schools in coming years and six trends in emerging technology use in schools.

Two teaching and learning trends expected to accelerate the use of educational technology in classrooms in a year or two, the report said, were the use of blended learning and STEAM (an acronym for science, technology, engineering, arts and math) education.

The rise of blended learning comes as the public's perception of online learning has grown more favorable, according to the report. Sometimes called hybrid learning, it enables educators to pursue a variety of instructional models. Ideally, the technology allows the teacher to make the most of face-to-face time with students, leaving some more routine learning tasks to the computer. Teaching methods supported by blended learning include personalized learning, which gives students more choice and the ability to move at their own pace through lessons.

"Progress in learning analytics, adaptive learning, and a combination of cutting-edge digital platforms will continue to advance this trend toward integrated online learning and keep it compelling," according to the report.

The New Media Consortium produces several other versions of the Horizon report, including digital trends at higher education and museums, but the K-12 report is its most popular download. The entire report is available online for free.

The report is not a prescriptive list of technology that school should follow. Instead, supporters say, the document is best used as a way to have informed conversations about how schools and communities can improve and enhance teaching and learning.

"The key to use it powerfully is to start off with what is the problem we are trying to solve, and do any of these trends help us solve those challenges," said Keith Krueger, CEO of the Consortium for School Networking, a membership organization for education technology professionals.
This story was written by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for our newsletter to get a weekly update on blended learning.

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Blended learning emerges as a leading trend in education technology, report says - The Hechinger Report

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PHILADELPHIA - The use of blended learning in schools has increased the adoption of educational technology as the public has grown fond of online learning, according to a new report. A closely-watched report that provides insight into digital learning trends - both in and out of school settings - named blended learning as a key ...

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10 Helpful Apps Students Should Get Right Now! - I'm Programmer

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10 Helpful Apps Students Should Get Right Now! - I'm Programmer

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6 Ed Tech Tools to Try in 2015 | Cult of Pedagogy

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6 Ed Tech Tools to Try in 2015 | Cult of Pedagogy

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While doing research for my upcoming e-book, The Teacher's Guide to Tech, I have come across dozens of tools with pretty awesome potential for teaching and learning. These six are the ones I think are the most interesting and most useful right now. Wherever you fall on the technology spectrum - from newbie to experienced user - there's probably something here you haven't tried yet.

Although most of these tools aren't brand-new, they are all steadily growing in popularity, and each one can enhance teaching and learning in a unique, time-saving, or engaging way. For every tool, I provide a brief overview, my personal rating of its difficulty, a video that demonstrates how the tool works, and a list of suggested ways you can use it.
Turn Hand-Picked Content into Your Own Online Newspaper

Difficulty Level: Medium
Prerequisites: It helps to be familiar with Twitter.

Teaching students to curate - to carefully select content and build a collection around a particular theme - engages some of the high-level thinking skills and standards that are hardest to get at: Consider the Analyze and Evaluate levels of the Revised Bloom's Taxonomy, or the Common Core's Reading Anchor Standard 7, which asks students to "Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words."

Curation digs into all of this. Plus, it's a real-world skill that takes your students far, far away from multiple-choice land. But it's a skill most teachers rarely bother with.

A tool like Paper.li is a fun, visually appealing, tech-savvy way to teach curation. It lets the user choose online content around a specific theme, then place it into their own online "newspaper," displaying individual items as stories. The newspaper then gets its own unique link which can be shared with others.

Here's a quick demonstration of how this tool works:
Suggested Uses:

For a lesson on research skills, assign students to produce their own Paper.li newspaper on a topic related to your content area.

If your students are on Twitter, assign a unique hashtag that connects to a whole-class newspaper. Individual students' tweets (which could be given deadlines and grades) would be selected for each edition.

Teachers or whole schools could create a school-wide Paper.li on a weekly or monthly basis to share with students and families.

Gorgeous, Web-Based Alternative to PowerPoint
Difficulty Level: Easy
Prerequisites: It helps to know some PowerPoint.

I'm going to assume you're already familiar with PowerPoint. And if you've also been wowed by what Prezi can do, with all its moving around and zooming in and whatnot, you'll want to get to know emaze. It's a web-based presentation tool, which means that, like with Prezi, you create your presentations online, store them there, and can share them from anywhere with internet access. No more flash drives to carry around!

But what I love the most about emaze is their templates. They're just gorgeous and cool. The Gallery template is set up like an art museum, and with every click you sort of walk around the gallery in 3-D, looking at the stuff on the walls. The Infographic template is sort of like a living, breathing infographic you can move around on.

Take a look at emaze here:
Suggested Uses: Discussions Any Place, Any Time
Difficulty Level: Easy
Prerequisites: Smart phone or iOS or Android device for all users.

I am completely in love with Voxer. I have only been using this tool for about six weeks, but I really can't get enough of it. Voxer is an app for any Android or iOS device (iphone, iPad, iPod) that allows users to have voice chats. Imagine any message board you'd find on a website, where lots of people contribute to a discussion, except it's all voice recordings. Just press play on the first one and they will all play, one after the other, in the order they were put there.

Why is this so great? Because of time. Because sitting at a computer and typing gets old after a while and sometimes it's just faster to say it. Even faster than texting. And to be able to have a lot of people all in the same discussion at once, participating whenever they're able to rather than trying to find one exact time when everyone can be there? That is just so good for busy people.

Right now I am in a Voxer group with about 12 other teachers, where we share ideas, books, etc. I have an ongoing Voxer chat with another blogger, where we swap ideas and try to solve each other's problems. I even conducted a complete interview for a recent article I wrote on ESL strategies. Every single quote I got from Melissa Eddington came to me through Voxer.

If you never add Voxer to your teaching repertoire, at least try it for personal use, because you and I both know you never have enough time for anything.

This video shows Voxer in action:
Suggested Uses: Scan a Little Picture, Take Students Anywhere.
Difficulty Level: Medium
Prerequisites: Teacher needs to download a free QR creator; students need hand-held devices (phones or tablets) with free QR readers. Can work even if class has a limited number of devices.

QR codes - short for quick response codes - are those funny little black-and-white pictures that have popped up everywhere in the last few years. I saw my first one in a real estate magazine about three years ago. The agent in the picture told me to scan it. I had no idea what she was talking about.

I do now. I actually just made my first QR code the other day (it's the one right above this section). It took about five seconds to make it on my laptop; I used this QR Code Generator. Then I installed the QR Code Reader onto my phone. I held my phone up to my laptop screen, scanned the QR code, and instantly, my phone was sent right to the site I had assigned to the QR code. I was so surprised I jumped up out of my chair.

Technology does that to me sometimes.

This article from Getting Smart describes some really practical educational uses for QR codes. For a thorough list of code creation tools and readers, plus a long list of ideas for using them, take a look at Kathy Shrock's Guide to QR codes in the classroom.

If you're still having a little trouble picturing how QR codes work, watch this:
Suggested Uses: Voice Feedback on Student Assignments
Difficulty Level: Medium
Prerequisites: Set up a Google Drive account first.

If you and your students use Google Docs to compose and store student writing projects, there's a tool built into that platform that will allow you to give feedback more easily, more quickly, and with much more depth. With Kaizena teachers can go into student documents and add written or voice comments. It's the latter that's the real game-changer, because with voice, you can provide feedback with much more depth, in less time, and with more clarity: Compared with writing, there's less chance of a student misinterpreting your meaning when you convey it with your voice.

To learn more, read this in-depth discussion of Kaizena's capabilities from John Hardison at Getting Smart, and this overview from Free Technology for Teachers.

Then watch this video to see how Kaizena works:
Suggested Uses: Instant Formative Assessment with Only ONE Device
Difficulty Level: Medium
Prerequisites: You must have at least one iOS device (iPhone, iPad, iPod) or Android device.

It would be great if all of our students had their own devices, and all of those devices worked all the time, and we could conduct seamless formative assessments all the time, just like in our dreams. But in many, many schools, that is not a reality.

With Plickers, you can still take advantage of high-tech capabilities, even if your classroom has only one device. Even if that one device is your personal phone. Really.

Here's how Plickers work: You sign up for a free account. You create a class, assigning a number to each student. Plickers gives you a unique scannable image for each student that you print on a piece of paper. They look like this:

Each student's image means something different depending on how they turn it: Facing one way, it means "A." Facing another way, it means "B." And so on, allowing for four possible answers. This lets you ask an endless, flexible amount of multiple-choice questions, and students can answer every one with that same sheet of paper, depending on how they hold it up.

To gather responses, you simply hold up your smartphone or other iOS or Android device equipped with a reader, scan each student's card in one smooth flow, and the results are immediately collected in one spot on your device.

Take a closer look at Plickers in this video:
Suggested Uses:

Conduct formative assessments while you teach.

Use Plickers like exit slips, to find out what students learned after a lesson, or as an anticipatory set, to provide a jumping-off point for a lesson.

Poll students (or if you are an administrator, poll your faculty) as a way of conducting a vote on a change in policy, where to take a field trip, or even what kind of pizza to order.

Want more tools?

The Teacher's Guide to Tech

If you're not yet familiar with the Teacher's Guide to Tech, let me introduce you: It's my encyclopedia of educational technology, a 265-page PDF you can keep on your home computer, work computer, or any device that will read a PDF.

The whole purpose of the guide is to make it fast and easy for you to navigate the world of ed tech. Once you start using it, you won't believe how much you'll learn, or how FAST you'll learn it!

Where to Get It

Single-User Licenses:
If you just want a copy for yourself, you can get a copy atTeachers Pay Teachers or on Teachable.

Multi-User Licenses:
To get the guide for your team, school, or even district, you can save a lot by getting multi-user licenses. Although these are available onTeachers Pay Teachers, I am offering deeper discounts for multiple licenses on Teachable.
Purchase on Teachable Purchase on Teachers Pay Teachers

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While doing research for my upcoming e-book, The Teacher's Guide to Tech, I have come across dozens of tools with pretty awesome potential for teaching and learning. These six are the ones I think are the most interesting and most useful right now.

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Favorite Tech Tools For Social Studies Classes | MindShift | KQED News

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Favorite Tech Tools For Social Studies Classes | MindShift | KQED News

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ClassTools.net is a good tool for high school. One of the resources on the site is Fakebook, a made up version of Facebook that allows students to change the profile picture, name, info and post as the character they've developed. "Very quickly you can take this fake Facebook page and turn it into something that seems as if it was created by a historic figure," Langenhorst said. It requires research to prepare a page like that and has the added benefit of allowing different students acting as historical characters to post on one another's walls. "It's a great way for kids to show they understand different interactions that may have happened in history," Langenhorst said.

In a space race, students are randomly assigned a color, and as they answer the questions in the quiz, rockets in those colors advance. Kids are working as a team, but they don't know who else is on their team. "It is such an easy, phenomenal way to get kids excited about their learning," Langenhorst said. "I've got 12th graders who are still excited about space race." Student responses with Socrative can go directly into a gradebook, or just offer some insight into whether students are picking up on the key ideas.

Educreations is another presentation tool that can aid in flipping the classroom or letting kids explain their thinking. "Educreations allows students to record their voice, draw and import pictures," Langenhorst said. She often uses this tool to spot-check understanding. The free version limits how many Educreations can be made on one account, but teachers in Rock Valley just change old ones. They don't pay for the premium version and still get a lot of use out of what's accessible free of charge.

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Favorite Tech Tools For Social Studies Classes

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ClassTools.net is a good tool for high school. One of the resources on the site is Fakebook, a made up version of Facebook that allows students to change the profile picture, name, info and post as the character they've developed.

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Instructional Fluency: 5 Steps to Make Quizzes with QR Codes

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Instructional Fluency: 5 Steps to Make Quizzes with QR Codes

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Try separating a teenager from their phone. They text and search to solve a variety of problems. Instead of fighting it, put it to good use.

Here's a way to incorporate QR code readers and practice assessments that will get them up and moving.

1. Make a Quiz in Slides

The benefits of using Slides to make the quiz are in the print options. Slides can be printed one per page for a placard activity that will promote more movement in a lesson.

The other favorite print option is to set two on a page. This places the question and content on one half and the answer choices on the other, which works well when students are seated at tables or desks.

I made these two images in Google Drawing. This application is simple to use and provides a variety of file formats.

Download a png file and place it in your Google Drive. This allows you to get a link to turn into a QR. When students scan the code, they'll know whether they chose correctly or not.

To ensure that the link will open, set the link to the png file to "Public on the web" (see image below).

3. QR Code

You can use whichever code generator you want. Test the QR to make sure your file in Google Drive opens.

I use a Chrome extension that generates a QR. Some of the extensions require you to copy the shared link, paste it into the omnibox (where you type URLs), and generate the QR from the loaded page.

4. Incorporate QR Codes as Response Choices

Remember that you only need two codes - one for each image. I arrange the codes in a four-corner layout because it provides space needed to avoid an unintended scan.

Print these in color (if you can). We like to post them in the hallway so other classes can get involved. If you have three other teachers in your PLC, that means each can contribute different questions.

I don't use this as a score in the gradebook, but it works well for practice and review.
Tip: Try different QR readers before you make a recommendation to your students or staff. Some of them are trying to make money, while others have slow browsers.

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Try separating a teenager from their phone. They text and search to solve a variety of problems. Instead of fighting it, put it to good use. Here's a way to incorporate QR code readers and practice assessments that will get them up and moving. 1.

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Top 4 Presentation Tools for Teachers ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

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Top 4 Presentation Tools for Teachers ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

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Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

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June 9, 2015
Fed up with the traditional way of presenting through Keynote or Google Slides? The four tools below are definitely great alternatives to use to create engaging presentations to share with students. We particularly divided the tools into two main categories: tools for creating slideshow presentations and tools for creating document/poster based presentations.

I- Tools for creating slideshow-style presentations:

Prezi is a powerful web tool that allows you to create visually appealing presentations. You can start with a professionally designed template from Prezi's library then use images, text, videos and zooming features to enhance your presentation. You can also collaborate with colleagues to build presentations. Prezi is available on iOS and Android so you can create or edit your presentations on the go, then auto-sync across all your devices with ease.

2- Haiku Deck

Haiku Deck is another wonderful presentation tool for teachers. You can use it to visually narrate stories. It provides a variety of pre-made themes and templates to choose from. You can use Haiku's image library to search for images to include in your slides or upload your own. One powerful feature of Haiku Deck is that it automatically resizes images and shrinks text to fit in the slides so you will not have to bother with editing and resizing images. Stories created on Haiku Deck can be shared on popular social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter, or be exported as PPT files or embedded in blog posts.

II- Tools for creating poster based presentations

ThingLink is an excellent web tool that allows you to create interactive images online. The images you create come alive by adding to them text, videos, music, and links. ThingLink has also recently rolled out a new feature, which is still in beta, that allows you to add interactive pinmarks to YouTube videos. These pin marks can be links to other videos or websites.The ability to enrich images with different media content makes ThingLink an ideal tool to incorporate in your instruction. 2- Glogster

Glogster is a web tool and mobile app that allows users to create free interactive posters, or Glogs. A "Glog", short for "graphics blog", is an interactive multimedia image. Glogster empowers educators and students with the technology to create online multimedia posters - with text, photos, videos, graphics, sounds, drawings, data attachments and more. Some of the features Glogster app offers to its users include:

Combine images, graphics, audio, video and text with a simple yet powerful Glog canvas

Start with some predesigned templates, allowing you to quickly create impressive glogs

Add flair to your glog with 10,000 unique educational graphics, categorized by subject

Delete elements, close and preview glogs with simple gestures

Edit photos and graphics with Aviary effects

Follow us on : Twitter, Facebook , Google plus, Pinterest .

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June 9, 2015 Fed up with the traditional way of presenting through Keynote or Google Slides? The four tools below are definitely great alternatives to use to create engaging presentations to share with students. We particularly divided the tools into two main categories: tools for creating slideshow presentations and tools for creating document/poster based presentations.

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50+ Ways to Use Technology in the Classroom

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50+ Ways to Use Technology in the Classroom

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Looking for new ideas for using technology in the classroom? Trying to figure out what's next?

Well, recently I had to record a video just in case the weather wasn't so great in Pittsburg, Kansas for my virtual keynote. I thought that some of you might be looking for a little summer PD and would take the 45 minutes or so to learn something new. I also share my simple 2-step strategy of innovation.

If you want the links to be clickable from the presentation, you can use the 50+ Ways to Use Technology in the Classroom Slides from Slideshare below.

I think that the most critical take-away is the strategy of innovation that works for anyone. Let's also dispel the myth about age and innovation in education by talking about one of my heroes!

You can use technology in the classroom. Take time for some personal PD today by watching this or the countless tutorials you can find on YouTube and throughout the web. Level up a little every day!

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are "affiliate links." This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

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50+ Ways to Use Technology in the Classroom [Video]

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Looking for new ideas for using technology in the classroom? Trying to figure out what's next? Well, recently I had to record a video just in case the weather wasn't so great in Pittsburg, Kansas for my virtual keynote. I thought that some of you might be looking for a little summer PD and would [...]

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16 Little-Known Teacher Tools | Learn2Earn Blog

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16 Little-Known Teacher Tools | Learn2Earn Blog

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Find new ideas and tips for teachers who use technology in the classroom.

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Seven Tech Tools for Fast Formative Assessment

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Seven Tech Tools for Fast Formative Assessment

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By Curtis Chandler

You and I would be hard-pressed to find a teacher who's against formative assessment. We would have better luck finding someone who hates whales or pizza.

In theory, every teacher is regularly designing and deploying a variety of outcomes-based learning activities that help the teacher determine where students are in the learning process. And then adjusting their instruction accordingly (Greenstein, 2010).

But in practice, formative assessment is more like proper diet and regular exercise-just another one of those things that we all know is important, but few of us have the time and focus to achieve. So what's a teacher to do?

In education, there is nothing-not even technology-that is a silver bullet. But technology does have a reputation for making difficult, time-consuming tasks like formative assessment a bit more efficient.

That's why I'm always on the hunt for free tech-tools that help me engage students, track their individual achievement, and provide them with opportunities for improvement. Below are seven tech options for educators hoping to do the same.

1. Geddit

Self-assessment and other metacognitive strategies are some of the most effective ways to improve student learning (Hattie, 2012). The only problem is that many of us-including students-tend to either over or underestimate our ability and knowledge. It often proves difficult to verify our own confidence levels in the context of actual understanding. That's where Geddit comes in.

Geddit is a free, powerful tool that works on any web-enabled device. It encourages students to privately communicate to the teacher their level of understanding of the topic being taught, or how well they 'geddit.'

The best part, though, is that teachers can do quick checks for evidence of understanding with built-in multiple choice or short answer questions. As a result, you're able to engage your students in instant, real-time feedback and to identify learning needs as they occur.

2. Kahoot

When it comes to checking for understanding, Kahoot is by far one of the most popular options right now with both teachers and students. During a recent conference presentation, I jokingly referred to it as the 'Trivia Crack' of formative assessment tools.

The site is fun and easy to use, and it allows teachers to turn objective-based learning tasks into 'Kahoots,' or games that students can play from any device with an Internet browser.

Teachers will appreciate how simple Kahoot makes it to combine questions, images, and videos into self-grading quizzes and surveys. Students seem to really enjoy the gamified features of the site - including individualized feedback, leaderboards, and the chance to compete against other students.

In addition, Kahoot recently added features that allow students to complete activities for homework and to play in ' ghost mode ' where they work to improve and to beat their previous scores.

3. The Answer Pad

In many ways, The Answer Pad (TAP) could pass for Kahoot's more serious, dignified cousin. TAP offers many of the same features as Kahoot, but without any real attempt to gamify learning activities.

TAP allows teachers to create and administer self-grading questions and quizzes to students, quickly gather their responses through the web, and offers several reports to help guide instruction.

But what TAP lacks in flare, it makes up for in functionality. TAP reports come preloaded with Common Core standards and are easy to customize. One of the coolest features is the 'scratch pad' that can be used by students just like scratch paper to solve problems, doodle and sketch, or fill in diagrams.

For a few bucks, teachers can take advantage of premium features that include a template gallery, additional questioning features, and the ability to upload their own custom diagrams or images for students to annotate.

4. Padlet

Some of the best tools for assessing student learning weren't originally designed with formative assessment in mind. Padlet is just one example. It was built to be an online, collaborative bulletin board for people to share messages, web-links, and documents.

But because Padlet is accessible from any device and is so user-friendly, teachers are adapting it to gauge student learning through "bell-ringer" activities, "exit tickets" and the like - and to pose open-ended questions to their kids.

Padlet makes it easy for teachers to upload questions and pictures as prompts for students. You can customize each Padlet's appearance and privacy settings and even moderate student posts. One of the coolest features, however, is how it can be used to share student drawings and mental models.

For example, I recently worked with science students to help them develop models that described the cycling of water through Earth's systems. Before they began, I asked them to sketch out their ideas on paper. They did so, then snapped a quick picture of their work using a smartphone or iPad, and then shared it on the Padlet. It was one of the quickest, easiest ways to gain insight into student thinking and understanding.

5. Nearpod

Another powerful, accessible, and easy to use tool for informal assessment of student learning is Nearpod. Teachers are using it to transform their presentations, learning activities, and questions into a ping-pong-type exchange of ideas with their students. Teachers start by downloading existing presentations or creating interactive slides that combine content with open-ended questions, surveys, quizzes or drawing activities.

The questions and activities can be accessed by students through any web-connected device using a unique session code that auto-generates from the Nearpod site. Teachers use their own device to control the pacing of the activities, as students interact with the content and then submit their responses to either the teacher or the rest of the class.

Built-in reporting features make it easy to monitor and measure student results individually and collectively.

6. Blendspace

Blendspace is another fantastic tool for designing learning activities, assessing student knowledge, and tracking student progress. The dashboard is a huge time saver and makes it easy to 'blend' videos, images, websites, and quizzes into lessons for students. There is also a gallery of existing lessons created by other educators that can be sifted by content area and topic.

Unlike Nearpod, Blendspace is designed to allow students to complete activities at their own pace or from home. There are built-in features that permit students to comment on learning activities and to indicate their level of understanding. There is also a fairly robust lesson-tracking feature that allows teacher to monitor student progress, engagement, and assessment results.

7. Google Forms

As I work with schools around the country, I can't help but notice how many are using Google Apps to gather formal and informal data on their students. One way they are doing it is through Google Forms.

Teachers start by working independently or collaboratively with colleagues to create 'forms' to share with their students. These forms can employ virtually any type of open-ended or close-ended question and can also include pictures, videos and other multimedia.

Teachers can easily share the form with their students through their social network, their email or a simple web link. The best part, however, is that student responses are immediately recorded on a spreadsheet. A built-in summary of responses feature allows teachers to instantaneously view and graph class responses and statistics.

Google also offers a variety of 'Add-ons' like Flubuaroo and Doctupus that grade assignments, deliver feedback to students, and monitor student progress.

Make Time for Formative Assessment

I would wager that most teachers are pretty cognizant of the level of their students' overall knowledge and understanding. The power of incorporating formative assessment, however, is that it helps us to take our classroom one step further-to really find out how each of our students is doing, and then adapt our instruction accordingly.

Education has long been plagued with far too much to do and far too little time to do it. We should be on the hunt for technology tools that can speed up the formative assessment piece of our work.

In the process, we are likely to uncover ways to better engage students, to improve our feedback, and to help expand and deepen their learning.
References
Greenstein, L. (2010). What teachers really need to know about formative assessment. Alexandria, Va: ASCD.

Hattie, J. (2012). Visible learning for teachers: Maximizing impact on learning. London: Routledge.
Dr. Curtis Chandler (@CurtisChandler6), the 2011 Kansas Teacher of the Year, is an education specialist and staff developer with the Kansas education support agency . "I am a middle school teacher through and through," he says. "My teaching has been 90% grade 6-8." At his personal blog, Better Learning for Schools, Chandler often writes about "capacity building tools for educators and administrators."

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Seven Tech Tools for Fast Formative Assessment

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By Curtis Chandler You and I would be hard-pressed to find a teacher who's against formative assessment. We would have better luck finding someone who hates whales or pizza. In theory, every teacher is regularly designing and deploying a variety of outcomes-based learning activities that help the teacher determine where students are in the learning process.