Chrome Extensions for Educators

A Principal's Reflections: Chrome Extensions for Educators

Some great extensions to consider if you use Chrome.

Gmail Security Tips: 5 Ways To Backup, Secure And Recover Your Account

Read on for five essential tips for protecting and backing up your Gmail account.....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/23/gmail-security-tips_n_852255.html#s268012&title=Set_Up_TwoStep

 

 

Spaaze

Free Technology for Teachers: Spaaze - Online Sticky Notes and More

Spaaze is a free online sticky note service that offers some handy functions for teachers and students. Spaaze allows you to write notes, edit notes and reorder your notes. Your notes can be simple text notes or you can create notes that contain videos, images, or links.

Cell Phones in the Classroom

Regardless of your school’s cell phone policy, the reality in most schools is that students have phones in their pockets, purses, or hoodies. Why not get these tools out in plain sight and use them for good and not evil?
 
Here are some easy to use strategies to use cell phones in the classrooms.

Digital Media: New Learners of the 21st Century

I just watched this PBS Special - excellent!

Watch the full episode. See more Digital Media - New Learners Of The 21st Century.

A wordle replacement

Free Technology for Teachers: Tagxedo - Word Clouds With Style

I have a confession to make, I struggle to keep up with my email inbox. That is why earlier this week when an email appeared from Hardy Leung I didn't give it the attention I should have. Hardy Leung, as TechCrunch reported this morning, has released a new word cloud generation tool called Tagxedo..........

What Do Kids Say Is The Biggest Obstacle To Technology At School?

What Do Kids Say Is The Biggest Obstacle To Technology At School?

iPads. Interactive Whiteboards. Netbooks. Video games. Although educational technologies are being implemented more and more in classrooms across the country, we don't often stop and ask students - or their parents - what they think their technology needs are. But the newly-released Speak Up 2010 survey has done just that.

The project surveyed almost 300,000 students (along with 43,000 parents, 35,000 teachers, 2000 librarians and 3500 administrators) from over 6500 private and public schools last fall about how they're using - and how they want to be using - technology for learning.

The results are pretty fascinating, as they show great adoption of technology among even very young students, but lingering resistance on the part of school administrators to sanction some of those tools into the classroom.
The two major obstacles that students say they face at school: filters that stop them from accessing the websites they need for homework and bans on using their own mobile devices (namely cellphones) at school.

Droad Apps for Education

Ten of the best Droid apps for education | Mobile and Handheld Technologies | eSchoolNews.com

Public Domain Images

Free Technology for Teachers: Lots of Great Public Domain Images of Nature

See that beautiful bald eagle image to the left? I found it on the site of Ken Thomas. That image and dozens of other great images of animals and other natural beauty are created by Mr. Thomas and released into the public domain. Mr. Thomas releases these images into the public domain because, in his own words, "When it comes to photos, I’m not trying to make art here. I take pictures of things. About 99% of the time, those are things that don’t belong to me. Claiming that I own the rights to a picture of a mountain, or a tree, or a sunset, just seems absurd to me when I don’t own the mountain, the tree, or the sun."

Ubiquitous Learning?

FitFu Turns Your iPhone Into an Exercise-Motivation Tool [VIDEO]

Mobile fitness app FitFu hopes to get you out of your desk chair and on the ground doing situps — through a combination of push notifications, short exercise routines, social features and motivational speeches from a strange blue creature.

A great use of Google Docs

Free Tools Challenge #2: Create A Self Grading Multiple Choice Quiz Using Google Docs | Teacher Challenge

This is the 2nd post in the “30 days to using the best of the web’s free tools for educators” series. Be sure to subscribe to the Teacher Challenge blog by RSS, like us on facebook, and follow us on twitter to keep up with future challenge posts as they are published.

iPad into an Interactive Whiteboard

Turn Your iPad 1 or 2 into an Interactive Whiteboard (Practical Practice)

Everyone is so excited about tethering the iPad 2 to a projector, admittedly very cool, that we have missed something else at least as good if not even better! Go all the way: make the iPad 1 or 2 into a complete interactive whiteboard solution!

If you already own an iPad, computer, and projector, this can be done for less than the cost of Apple's new Digital AV Adapter for the iPad 2. Ok, full disclosure: this solution only costs 2 cents less than the adapter. But for tethering with the Digital AV Adapter, you also have to purchase an HDMI to VGA cable too!

We are all in this together....

Voicethread in Education

Voicethread Examples in Education

View more presentations from Suzie Vesper

The Four Big Steps To Cutting The Cord

The Four Big Steps To Cutting The Cord

Do it! Cut the cord and free yourself from the tyranny of the cable mafia. The movement is slowly gaining traction but the whole task is daunting. What do you do next? Where does your TV content come from? What are the options? So many questions you need answered before you take the scissors to the coax line.

iPad: A Magical and Revolutionary Guide – Free Download

iPad: A Magical and Revolutionary Guide – Free Download — Tech the Plunge

iPad: A Magical and Revolutionary Guide – Free Download

by Jeffrey Thomas on March 10, 2011

iPad: A Magical and Revolutionary Guide was released today by MakeUseOf.com. It is another of their great guides on technology.

This guide is 28 pages long and features their list of the 40 best free apps for the iPad.

Make sure you let all your teacher friends know about this guide to get them started with their new iPad. In addition, it might not be a bad idea to send a link to your favorite administrator!

The guide is a free download in pdf form or you can read it on Scribd.
MakeUseOf.com – iPad Guide

Assessment and Digital Media

Assessment & Digital Media on Prezi

CourseSites - a free online course System

Blackboard Press Releases

Blackboard Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBB) today announced the launch of CourseSites by Blackboard, a free, fully hosted and supported online course system featuring the Company's latest teaching and learning technologies. The offering gives individual K-12 and higher education instructors an innovative, high quality cloud-based option to host online courses or add a Web-based component to traditional ones.

The simple, easy to use system gives educators greater choice and flexibility for online courses in a system with cutting edge features that encourage experimentation. CourseSites is designed to support instructors who may not have access to a learning management system at their institution or school, or who may have access to an older platform system from Blackboard or a competing course management provider. There is no license fee, no hosting fee and no additional setup required for instructors to get started.

Cyberbullying

Typically I post things on here that are technology related - but this video caught my attention.

Supporting 21st Century Learners

The Innovative Educator: 10 Ways Technology Supports 21st Century Learners in Being Self Directed

Life in the 21st century provides a whole-new world of opportunities for self-directed, passion-driven, personalized learning. Educators who are ready to move on from teaching the way they were taught, and administrators who will let them, can begin supporting students using tools and strategies available to the 21st century learner.

Articles on Web 2.0 in Education

Higher Education Teaching and Learning Portal | Advancing the scholarship & practice of higher education teaching & learning.

HETL: a portal for teaching and learning knowledge

Free Learning Mnagement System

Collaborize Classroom - Online Education Technology for Teachers and Students

Collaborize Classroom is a free online learning platform that allows teachers to transcend the boundaries of their physical classroom to engage students in an online collaborative learning environment. Collaborize Classroom offers a variety of compelling and intuitive structures for online discussion that are designed to support innovative teaching and promote higher level thinking skills to produce more powerful learning opportunities.

paper.li – read Twitter and Facebook as a daily newspaper

paper.li – read Twitter and Facebook as a daily newspaper

paper.li organizes links shared on Twitter and Facebook into an easy to read newspaper-style format.

A great way to discover content that matters to you - even if you are not connected 24/7!

Lets Get Teachers Started

How many of these things do you know?  If you don't know how to apply these technologies - which might you learn?

11 Ways Schools Can Be Relevant, Compelling and Effective in the Coming Transformational Years

11 Ways Schools Can Be Relevant, Compelling and Effective in the Coming Transformational Years | Connected Principals

This particular list is intended to present eleven ways schools can continue to be relevant, compelling, attractive, and effective to both students and parents in the coming years. This post, more than most, is an ongoing work in progress, a post I might be choosing to update annually as my understanding and thinking evolves, and as the rate of educational change accelerates.

Web 2.0 Tools for the classroom

Web 2.0 for the Classroom - home

What is Web 2.0? It is the new generation of the Internet where content on the web is created or edited by users like you! If you have written, created or collaborated on the web, then you have used Web 2.0 applications. One example is the free, personalized speaking avatar on the right by Voki. Try it out... click the play button in the bottom left corner to hear an introduction from me.

Using Web 2.0 tools will move your classroom into the 21st Century of digital skills. Students in this digital age thrive on collaboration and engagement which makes its use in the classroom an important learning tool

Qwiki - a tool you'll love

Free Technology for Teachers: Wow! Qwiki is Engaging

In the last 48 hours since they opened up to the world, I've had numerous people tell me that I had to check out Qwiki. I finally did check it out this afternoon and all I can say is "wow!"......

50 EdTech Resources You May Have Missed–Treasure Chest Jan 23 2011 — Tech the Plunge

50 EdTech Resources You May Have Missed–Treasure Chest Jan 23 2011 — Tech the Plunge Some great resources - take a look, but start with the 2 minute exercise.

Open Courses

Contact

You have probably heard of them, free online courses open to anyone who wants to take them. Some courses have had more than 2,000 students participating. What is it about open courses that makes them the latest phenomenon in online learning? Why are so many flocking to learn without credit?

Wow - A great way to use Google Docs for presentations

I Didn’t Know You Could Do That With Google Docs

If you think Google Docs is too barebones, especially for presentations, take a look at the video above. The animation was created by Tu+, Namroc, and Metcalf Anything using only Google Docs. It was their entry in the Google Demo Slam, which showcases creative videos of Google products in action. The video has already been watched more than one million times.

Google Demo Slam: Epic Docs Animation

10 Cool Web 2.0 Tools for Educators

DIGITAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS: Tools and Technologies for Effective Classrooms

There are many new ‘tools’ or websites that can be used with great success in the classroom. Web 2.0 refers to a supposed second generation of Internet-based services. These usually include tools that let people collaborate and share information online, such as social networking sites, wikis, communication tools, and folksonomies. There are hundreds of Web2.0 sites – here are 10 that can be used easily in the classroom.

20 Technology Skills that Every Educator Should Have

DIGITAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS: Tools and Technologies for Effective Classrooms

The Case for Open Source Textbooks

David Thornburg on Open-Source Textbooks | Edutopia

Teacher Education and 21st Century Skills

Google Shortcuts

Google Shortcuts Extension is a Must for Educators — Tech the Plunge

Google has infused itself within education by offering a ton of web services that make it easy to create and lookup content within your web browser. But, if you are like me, sometimes you discover a great Google service only to forget to use it to its full potential. As great as all the Google services are, navigating about Google is not one of its strongpoints.

SItes I use or will learn

The Pursuit of Technology Integration Happiness: My Top 10 EdTech Resources of 2010

I present what I consider to be the top 10 Tools/Websites/Resources for teachers and students from 2010. These are in no particular order because I believe they are all great, but for different reasons. They might have been around before 2010, but were an important addition to education this past year.

Finding Images and Clipart

Technology Tidbits: Thoughts of a Cyber Hero: Top 10 Sites for Images and Clip Art

Top 10 Sites for Images and Clip Art

Finding images on the internet for educators to use has been a common problem problem for many alike. This can happen for a number of reason such as: copy right privileges, inappropriateness, etc etc.

Have a new e-reader? How about some free books

Free Kindle Books: A Guide

If Google Trends are anything to go by, a fair number of you were fortunate enough to unwrap a Kindle 3 this Christmas (currently, “free kindle books” is trending at number 9).

As such, we thought we’d alert you to some of the following resources for getting free Kindle books on your new device (as well as your smartphone and desktop). For all but the Kindle Store, you’ll need to transfer the books manually using a computer and USB cable.........

Annotating the Web

Top Web Annotation and Markup Tools

Ever try browsing the web and came across some content that you wanted to save for later reference? Yes you can easily bookmark a site, but wouldn’t it be awesome if you can select and save the specific text in the content that interests you? You are at a page where you want to leave a comment or note but u can’t because the page does not provide a comment system, what do you do about it? Better example, what do you use when you are working on a document or website of your own and wanting to get feedback from users or collaborate with a friend or group?

How can you Publish Online?

Free Technology for Teachers: 7 Visually Appealing Ways to Publish Documents Online

Last week after I and ten others released The Super Book of Web Tools for Educators I received a handful of emails asking either how I built the page-turning effects into the ebook or why I chose to use to use a 3rd party to host the ebook. I figure if a handful of people were curious enough to email me about it, there are probably others who are also curious about the same questions. I choose to use 3rd party services to host the ebooks I publish so that I can track how many times they're viewed and downloaded. The other reason I use 3rd party services to host the ebooks is because I like having the option of displaying the ebooks with page-turning effects. Here are the services I've used to host my ebooks and some others that you might consider using.

Sir Ken Robinson - Hammer Lecture Series

YouTube - Sir Ken Robinson, Hammer Lectures

Ken Robinson has written numerous books, most recently "The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything." This talk explores ways to connect peoples' natural aptitudes with their personal passions to achieve at their highest levels in education and business. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2003 for his outstanding achievements in education and the arts.

Sir Ken Robinson, Hammer Lectures

Video Games Boost Brain Power, Multitasking Skills : NPR

Video Games Boost Brain Power, Multitasking Skills : NPR Worth taking a look and a listen to - from NPR

Fun ways to make Cards

Digital Tools for Teachers: Word Cloud Christmas Card Ideas

Being the festive season and if you are like me haven’t organised Christmas cards yet. Here is a quick and fun way you can make them. It also gives you the chance to try out a few websites at the same time.

5 Tasks to Teach Yourself to Teach with Technology

From Nik Peachey
Nik's Learning Technology Blog: 5 Tasks to Teach Yourself to Teach with Technology

Some months ago I had a plan to write a book of tasks to get teachers using technology. As with so many of my plans and ideas, time and circumstances over took me and I never got further than the first 15 tasks. When I went back to do some more I noticed that I was taking so long doing these that some had gone out of date, so to try to get some use from the tasks I've decided to revise them and start publishing them here so anyone can download them and use them either to do teacher training or to develop their own ability to use technology........

10 Tips for Starting an Education Blog

Written by Michael Zimmer
The Pursuit of Technology Integration Happiness: 10 Tips for Starting an Education Blog

It was about a year ago that I really started to get into the idea of blogging. I was hesitant, unsure, and fairly new to the whole idea. I spent most of the initial stages of blogging just learning how to use the site to benefit myself, understanding widgets and embedding, and learning how to write for an audience. Below are tips that I would offer someone based on my own experience.......

Using QR Codes in the classroom

How to Use QR Codes in Student Projects – SimpleK12

Scannable bar codes may be just what you need to spark some student interest in your classroom - read on to learn how to use them to showcase your student work and give some life to your classroom's infographics.

Opt Out of Google

Have you worried about privacy? Here is a solution
Google Opt Out Feature Lets Users Protect Privacy By Moving To Remote Village

The Super Book of Web Tools for Educators

From Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne

Free Technology for Teachers: The Super Book of Web Tools for Educators

There are many teachers who want to start using technology in their classrooms, but just aren't sure where to start. That's why I got together ten prominent ed tech bloggers, teachers, and school administrators to create The Super Book of Web Tools for Educators. In this book there introductions to more than six dozen web tools for K-12 teachers. Additionally, you will find sections devoted to using Skype with students, ESL/ELL, blogging in elementary schools, social media for educators, teaching online, and using technology in alternative education settings.

100 Inspiring Ways to Use Social Media In the Classroom

100 Inspiring Ways to Use Social Media In the Classroom | Online Universities

Social media may have started out as a fun way to connect with friends, but it has evolved to become a powerful tool for education and business. Sites such as Facebook and Twitter and tools such as Skype are connecting students to learning opportunities in new and exciting ways. Whether you teach an elementary class, a traditional college class, or at an online university, you will find inspirational ways to incorporate social media in your classroom with this list......

A great use of HTML5 and a learning source

20 Things I Learned About Browsers and the Web

Learn about Storify

From Tech the Plunge

Storify for Educators–Tell a Story with Social Media! | Tech the Plunge

The Process

I knew I remembered Storify but couldn’t really remember much about it. I went to the site and it looked like you had to have an invite. I checked my old e-mails and found that I had already applied and received an invite so I decided to log in.

Storify in its most basic form is an information curator. As I thought about it, isn’t that exactly what teachers do each and every day? So let’s see if Storify helps me curate information or simply offers another way to curate that doesn’t really save me time.

Special Education - best Technology Blogs

From Special Education Masters

50 Best Education Technology Blogs You Aren’t Reading Yet

Technology and teaching — two words that seem to fit together perfectly today for most teachers and learners. So much so that a slew of new blogs have come on board to talk about education technology — or, edTech. This list of the 50 best education technology blogs are not inclusive, as there are so many new blogs available; however, if you look at links provided by many of these blogs to other edTech blogs, you may learn about even more blog that you aren’t reading yet.

Using SMS in the classroom

From  The Pursuit of Technology Integration Happiness

The Pursuit of Technology Integration Happiness: 10 Tips for Using SMS in the Classroom

There is an increasing use and ease of access to cellular technology in the classroom. Our students are pros at using text messages to communicate with friends. Why not turn this into a proactive solution to communicating with students in and out of the classroom. Remember to get your students information at the beginning of the year. Do they have an unlimited plan? Can they accept and send MMS messages?

5 Useful Webtools You Don’t Know Exist

Written by Kimberly at I <3 EdTech

5 Useful Webtools You Don’t Know Exist – SimpleK12

Have you ever learned about a new (or new to you) tech tool and thought, "Wow -- how did I not know about this?". Saturday I attended EdCamp Citrus, and experienced this during one of the sessions. Here is a list of my favorite free lesser-known webtools, all mentioned at EdCamp Citrus' Web 2.0 Smackdown.

17 free eBooks for Teachers and Parents

From Richard Byrne on Free Technology for Teachers

Free Technology for Teachers: 17 Free eBooks for Teachers and Parents

Over the last eighteen months I've created and offered seven free ebooks for teachers. In those ebooks I've covered Google tools, web search, video creation, blogging, and other resources of interest to educators. All seven of those ebooks are available in the right hand column of Free Technology for Teachers. This morning I'd like to highlight some other free ebooks created by others for teachers and parents....

Great resource for learning more about Google and education

Google Tutor: Tutorials and Tips for Google Users

Google tips, tricks, and tutorials...

K12 Technology Scope and Sequence

My eCoach Pre-K-12 Technology Scope and Sequence

Generic version developed by My eCoach and aligned to ISTE Standards and Performance Indicators for Students

Basic Computer/ Technology Use	File and Resource Management	Social and Ethical Use	Word Processing	Graphics and Publishing
Presentation Tools	Spreadsheets	Databases	Email	Internet Use
Video	Multimedia	Web Authoring	Electronic Collaboration	Integration and Projects

Google Teracher Academy

Free Technology for Teachers: Google Teacher Academy Sydney

Google recently announced that applications are now being accepted for the next Google Teacher Academy. The next GTA will be held on March 10, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. Applications are due by January 27, 2011. As always only 50 applicants will be accepted. You can learn more and apply here. If you're interested in knowing more about the purpose of GTA, watch the video here.

100 Best (and Free) Online Learning Tools

The 100 Best (And Free) Online Learning Tools | Edudemic

We’re always excited to find the next best thing. But how does one actually find this supposed next best thing? Let EduDemic and it’s sister site EduDatum do the work for you! For example, ever wanted to spend zero dollars but have some of the most bleeding edge technologies at your disposal? Fear not!

In the vain of C4LPT, we bring you many other resources that are not as well-known as those featured on their site. (Be sure to check out their list though as it also has some great stuff!) Below you will find a dazzling number of free (open) resources to learn, engage, and just make learning more fun. Enjoy!

Sharing and Collaborating

These sites offer a place for educators to find open educational resources as well as provide a place for those who want to share their ideas or work collaboratively on projects......

More ways to share slideshows

Slideshow Maker, Free Online Slideshows, Edit Photos

Create Amazing Slideshows, Edit Photos, then Share!

Googlios

Googlios

Welcome to "Googlios" where free Google tools meet ePortfolios.
This site is intended to be a collection of resources for those interested in using ePortfolios in Education.

More ways to share slideshows

Slideshow Maker, Free Online Slideshows, Edit Photos

Create Amazing Slideshows, Edit Photos, then Share!

100 Best (and Free) Online Learning Tools

The 100 Best (And Free) Online Learning Tools | Edudemic

We’re always excited to find the next best thing. But how does one actually find this supposed next best thing? Let EduDemic and it’s sister site EduDatum do the work for you! For example, ever wanted to spend zero dollars but have some of the most bleeding edge technologies at your disposal? Fear not!

In the vain of C4LPT, we bring you many other resources that are not as well-known as those featured on their site. (Be sure to check out their list though as it also has some great stuff!) Below you will find a dazzling number of free (open) resources to learn, engage, and just make learning more fun. Enjoy!

Sharing and Collaborating

These sites offer a place for educators to find open educational resources as well as provide a place for those who want to share their ideas or work collaboratively on projects......

Google Teracher Academy

Free Technology for Teachers: Google Teacher Academy Sydney

Google recently announced that applications are now being accepted for the next Google Teacher Academy. The next GTA will be held on March 10, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. Applications are due by January 27, 2011. As always only 50 applicants will be accepted. You can learn more and apply here. If you're interested in knowing more about the purpose of GTA, watch the video here.

Mobile Learning Resources

ADL Mobile - home

This site was created and is maintained by the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Mobile Learning Team. Additionally we provide a weekly newsletter to the military and government agencies. The archives for the newsletter are publicly available here.

The ADL Mobile Learning Team’s vision is to be the source of information and support for DoD mobile learning initiatives. Effective usage of handheld devices can bring us closer to improved personalized learning—the right learning resources and performance aids, to the right person at the right time and place.

Why Use Google Spreadsheets?

Why Use Google Spreadsheets?

There are lots of reasons that you might use Google Spreadsheets instead of Microsoft’s Excel or SPSS. As a teaser for this week’s Faculty Friday, here are a narrow set of the benefits you’ll find with Spreadsheets.

A great demonstration of Creative Commons by Darren Draper

Drape's Takes: The Educator's Guide to the Creative Commons

As not every teacher understands how to implement the Creative Commons into their curriculum, I thought I'd take a minute to explain how I would use it if I was in their shoes.

Th ebattle between Schools and Web 2.0 tools

Schools still conflicted over Web 2.0 tools | Communication and Collaboration | eSchoolNews.com

Many school systems have discovered that Web 2.0 tools such as blogging, social networking, and collaborative authoring software can help create participatory learning environments—but the gap between schools that have embraced these tools and those that have not is still large.

A new monograph from the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) profiles six school districts—Birdville Independent School District in Texas, New Canaan Public Schools in Connecticut, Michigan’s Westwood Cyber High School, Georgia’s Forsyth County Schools, Barrington 220 in Illinois, and White Oak Independent School District in Texas—and examines how those districts are using Web 2.0 tools to align school policies and practices with global education goals.

“Web 2.0 as a Force for School Transformation: A Tale of Six Districts,” part of the 2010 CoSN Compendium, contains profiles of each district, an overview of some of the Web 2.0 tools that each uses, and a librarian’s perspective on the role that school media centers play in adopting Web 2.0 strategies. The profiles also address filtering policies as they relate to Web 2.0 content.

Classroom Management Tools

5 Innovative Classroom Management Tools for Teachers

Few teachers are drawn to the profession for its administrative duties. But the reality of attendance taking, lesson planning, grading and parental communications is that they’re a big part of the job.

These tasks, however, need not take over. With help from the many online services and mobile apps designed for teachers, it can be easy to efficiently organize and complete classroom management responsibilities.

Here are five of our favorite virtual tools for tackling some of the most common classroom chores.

Moving forward with Google Apps

Blogging About The Web 2.0 Connected Classroom: 6 Nifty Ideas For Using Google Apps In The Classroom

Over the past few weeks I have collected some great classroom resources surrounding the use of Google for various classroom activities. Here are a few of my favorites. (In no particular order. I don't want to make anyone jealous or anything...)

Using Twitter for professional development

How Twitter can help teachers connect with students — and each other | SmartBlog on Social Media

Hundreds of educators from international schools around the world came to Nice, France, for the European Council of International Schools annual conference from Nov. 17 to 21. Teachers everywhere are grappling with how to integrate social media into their lesson plans, and many seem skeptical of the appeal of Twitter, let alone how it could be used for educational purposes.

Using Twitter to stay on top of education news

28 Education and Technology Keywords Or Hashtags To Follow on Twitter | Tech Academy

Tired of being the last to hear about education news? Try using Twitter to listen and learn!

Stories and Poems in mp3 format

Lit2Go: MP3 Stories and Poems

Lit2Go is a free online collection of stories and poems in Mp3 (audiobook) format. You can:

• Download the files to your Mp3 player and listen on the go,
• Listen to the Mp3 files on your computer,
• View the text on a webpage and read along as you listen,
• Print out the stories and poems to make your own book.

Great List of Hashtags For Educators

Supercool School: Great List of Hashtags For Educators

I just read a post on Karlana's World regarding #hashtags for education - it's a great article and I encourage everyone to read it who is an active educator on twitter. You'll learn how to use #hashtags and how to monitor the most useful #hashtags for edcucation and learning.

Questions about how technology is changing learning

Resources | Teaching With and About Technology - NYTimes.com

What are the potential benefits and drawbacks of using technology for learning? Are tech tools essentials, distractions or somewhere in between? How are other teachers using technology? What tech skills do today’s teachers need to use digital tools effectively?

We present a collection of Learning Network resources, Times multimedia and articles and useful outside links to help both digital immigrants and digital natives think through these questions.

Pens and Pencils should be banned from classrooms

10 Reasons to Ban Pens and Pencils in the Classroom | MindShift

10 Reasons to Ban Pens and Pencils in the Classroom
November 26, 2010 | 10:01 AM | By Katie Stansberry

According to a recent MSNBC article, 69% of high school currently ban cell phones. But you’d be hard-pressed to find a school anywhere that has enacted a blanket ban on pens and pencils. Here are 10 reasons to reconsider the widespread acceptance of these distracting and potentially dangerous implements.

Learning about how to blog - check out these great blogs

Online Degrees: 100 Best Blogs for the Classroom Teacher

Graduating college is just the first step in a teacher's education. From required continuing education units to the learning you want to do to keep your teaching fresh, you probably find yourself on a continual quest for new information. This list of blogs for the classroom teacher is just one more way to find that ever-important knowledge. Read these blogs to find ways to bolster your lessons, learn how you can use technology in your classroom, stay on top of current education news and policy, or get resources for a specific subject.

Web Pased presentation ideas

Hate PowerPoint? Here Are 5 Web-based Alternatives

Whether they're for clients, customers or colleagues, visual presentations are an unavoidable part of doing business. For years, Microsoft PowerPoint has been the standard bearer of slide presentation applications, but several Web-based alternatives have emerged.

For the most part, the alternatives offer similar functionality to PowerPoint, sometimes more, sometimes less. One obvious advantage to Web-based presentations is that they're stored in the cloud, eliminating the potential for nightmare scenarios involving lost or corrupted thumb drives.

Free Presentation Videos from Tech-Ed

Tech·Ed 2010 - Download the presentation videos free - Microsoft UK Schools blog - Site Home - MSDN Blogs

If you've ever been lucky enough to get to Tech·Ed, you'll know that some of the best technical presenters are there, presenting some of the most useful technical content for IT managers. Each year over 100 people from UK educational institutions travel out to it (this year, it was in Berlin), but I know that many, many more people want to attend, but simply can't get sign off for the costs.

A dropbox manual

The Complete Dropbox for Educators | Tech the Plunge

Dropbox is a very useful tool to store online files, sync your computers and mobile devices and share files. With all those capabilities it makes it a natural tool for educators!

Going Google

The Benefits of Google Apps for Education in Schools

Getting Google Apps accounts for your school is an increasingly attractive proposition. This free, online suite of tools offers schools the chance to centralize all their academic efforts under one school-managed online domain. It is highly interactive, and positively encourages collaboration. It has benefits for both staff and students and is instantly familiar and easy to learn. Here's what you can expect to get if your school signs up for this versatile online solution.

Videos and lectires - why leave home for school?

Free video lectures, Free Online Courses, Video Lessons, Lecture Videos, Tutorials, free Download from top colleges and universities

750+ Online Courses, 18400+ Videos from Top 30+ Universities on 35+ Categories

Mobile Learning - a hot topic

Survey: Mobile learning at a tipping point | Mobile and Handheld Technologies | eSchoolNews.com

According to a recent national survey, access to mobile technology in the classroom has more than tripled among high schools students in the past three years—and even more interesting, parents say they are more likely to purchase a mobile technology device for their child if it’s for classroom use.

Ten Top Technology Tools for Teachers

Ten Top Technology Tools for Teachers | Why did the Chickenman cross the road?

These tools are all free, easy to use, easy to access and can be used in any subject at any age to enhance the learning experience.

8 Awesome Utilities for Extending iCal | Mac.AppStorm

8 Awesome Utilities for Extending iCal | Mac.AppStorm

Planning ahead and scheduling events is a key step toward enhancing productivity, and ensuring you don’t miss appointments! That’s where calendar apps come to our rescue, to chart our day-to-day tasks and routines. For an app that comes bundled with your Mac, iCal does a remarkable job.

Social Learning Tools for the School Classroom (ages 5-18)

Social Learning Tools for the School Classroom

This is a new page of the Directory showing SOCIAL tools particularly targeted at (or very useful) for the primary, junior, middle and secondary school classrooms.

A Teachers Guide to Facebook

Every Teacher’s Must-Have Guide To Facebook | Edudemic

You can’t swing a stick in social media without hitting something on Facebook. Same goes for education. You can’t talk about how technology is revolutionizing education without mentioning Facebook. It’s a simple service to figure out but what about once you become a regular user?

Video Web Sites for Teachers

Top 40 Video Web Sites for Teachers

Learning can come from books, or it can come from streaming TV interviews about books and authors. Video produced by universities, major television networks and organizations all provide entertaining and enlightening shows, lectures and films that can enhance learning experiences for students of all ages. The following top 40 sources for open courseware videos (meaning they are no charge and educational) are categorized and listed in alphabetical order within those categories.

Mobile Tools for Teachers

100 Mobile Tools for Teachers | Cellphones.org

It is a common-known fact that teaching is a labor of love for most educators. They are overworked and under-appreciated and many of them spend their own money, time and energy to improve their students’ education. With all of the new mobile tools on the market today, teachers can more easily work from satellite locations, share educational resources and access school-related data directly from their cell phones. Here are 100 mobile tools for teachers that make the grade.

Xtranormal | Text-to-Movie

Xtranormal | Text-to-Movie

If you can type. you can make a movie.

Do Podcasts Help Students Learn?

Do Podcasts Help Students Learn?

Before George Washington University renewed its iTunes U contract, the administration wanted to know how the podcasts impacted student learning and engagement.

In fall 2009, the university's Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning studied a world history class of 262 students to find the answer.

But the answer isn't yes or no — the answer depends on the student's learning style, gender and motivation.

“If your goal is to find a magic bullet that makes all students better, this isn’t it," said Hugh Agnew, a professor from the Elliott School of International Affairs who taught the course. "But If your goal is to reach some students better that maybe you aren’t reaching so terribly well, then I think this is worth trying.”

6 Free Sites for Creating Your Own Comics

6 Free Sites for Creating Your Own Comics

In the days of cold, hard newsprint, only people who could draw were successful comic strip authors. In some cases, this resulted in comic strips that had very nice pictures, but weren’t all that funny (cough, Blondie). Thankfully, the Internet has taught us not to accept an inferior form of comic artistry, but a more flexible one

Survey: Mobile learning at a tipping point | Mobile and Handheld Technologies | eSchoolNews.com

Survey: Mobile learning at a tipping point | Mobile and Handheld Technologies | eSchoolNews.com

According to a recent national survey, access to mobile technology in the classroom has more than tripled among high schools students in the past three years—and even more interesting, parents say they are more likely to purchase a mobile technology device for their child if it’s for classroom use.

12 videos to spark educators’ thinking | Dangerously Irrelevant

12 videos to spark educators’ thinking | Dangerously Irrelevant

If you’re like me, you have trouble keeping up with all of the great videos that are out there. I love it when others help me separate the wheat from the chaff.

Twiducate.com - Social Networking For Schools

Twiducate.com - Social Networking For Schools

twiducate.com is a free resource for educators. Developed in 2009, our goal is to create a medium for teachers and students to continue their learning outside the classroom. We attempt to fill a need for a more educationally focused, safe venue for teachers, schools, and home learners in a social networking environment.

Blecko - a new search engine

 

http://blekko.com/

 

blekko is a better way to search the web by using slashtags. slashtags search only the sites you want and cut out the spam sites. use friends, experts, community or your own slashtags to slash in what you want and slash out what you don't.

Schoology Aims to Fix One of the Greatest Pain Points of Education

Schoology Aims to Fix One of the Greatest Pain Points of Education

A free LMS system - Schoology - with a twist, looks like it should bec checked out.

100 Ways You Should Be Using Facebook in Your Classroom

http://www.onlinecollege.org/2009/10/20/100-ways-you-should-be-using-facebook-in-your-classroom/

Facebook isn’t just a great way for you to find old friends or learn about what’s happening this weekend, it is also an incredible learning tool. Teachers can utilize Facebook for class projects, for enhancing communication, and for engaging students in a manner that might not be entirely possible in traditional classroom settings. Read on to learn how you can be using Facebook in your classroom, no matter if you are a professor, student, working online, or showing up in person for class.

101 Ways to Use Twitter on Campus

http://www.onlinecolleges.net/2009/09/14/101-ways-to-use-twitter-on-campus/

Twitter is known as a great networking and self-promotion tool, but it’s also a useful service for your campus community. Teachers, administrators and students can all use Twitter for study help, group projects, catching up on news around the world and on campus, public relations and recruitment, library announcements, and a lot more. Here are 100 ways to use Twitter on campus.

6 Free Sites for Creating Your Own Animations

 

  http://mashable.com/2010/10/27/create-animations-online/

The long and illustrious history of moving pictures all started with the zoetrope. Then there was the thaumatrope, the flip book, and my personal favorite, the phenakistoscope. And now we have (drumroll please): The Internet......