10 tips for getting started with Google Classroom

http://dailygenius.com/10-tips-getting-started-google-classroom/

One of the biggest innovations in education happened just about a week ago. It wasn’t a new iPad or a new iteration of the Common Core. Sorry to burst your bubble.

No, it was the announcement of a new way to make your Google-based classroom a lot more cohesive. The reason this is such big news is because so many teachers around the world have ‘gone Google’ and are now using Google Apps for Education. With the announcement of a new online learning management platform, Google has officially staked its claim as a powerhouse in the world of education.

Technology Integration Matrix for K-12 Teachers

A Great New Technology Integration Matrix for Teachers ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

I just received this technology integration matrix from a fellow teacher and want you have a look. I have spent some time going through its content and I really liked it. This will definitely help you better leverage the power of technology in your classroom. This matrix is created by Arizona K12  and is available for free download in PDF format from this link. The Technology Integration Matrix (TIM) illustrates how teachers can use technology  to enhance learning for K-12 students. The TIM incorporates five interdependent  characteristics of meaningful learning environments: active, constructive, goal directed  (i.e.reflective), authentic, and collaborative (Jonassen, Howland, Moore, & Marra, 2003). The TIM associates five levels of technology integration (i.e., entry, adoption, adaptation, infusion, and transformation) with each of the five characteristics of meaningful learning environments. Together, the five levels of technology integration and the five characteristics of meaningful learning environments create a matrix of 25 cells.

15 Effective Ways to Use Google Docs in Class

15 Effective Ways to Use Google Docs in Class ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

I spend a considerable time every single day browsing the net tracking new updates in the world of educational technology and, often times, in the midst of this journey I would come across wonderful resources and tutorials that usually end up in one of my posts here in this blog. So after the previous guide on how to be a Google Drive master , today I am sharing with you another awesome guide created by Eric Curts entitled "The paperless Classroom with Google Docs". This guide is available for free in a Google doc format from this link.

How To Stop Facebook From Getting More Of Your Info, In 2 Steps

How To Stop Facebook From Getting More Of Your Info, In 2 Steps

Facebook just announced yet another way it is encroaching on your privacy. Starting soon, the company said on Thursday, it will use information gathered from other websites to figure out the ads that best apply to you

Apps that rise to the top!

Apps That Rise to the Top: Tested and Approved By Teachers | MindShift

th the thousands of educational apps vying for the attention of busy teachers, it can be hard to sift for the gold. Michelle Luhtala, a savvy librarian from New Canaan High School in Connecticut has crowd-sourced the best, most extensive list of apps voted on by educators around the country. “I wanted to make sure we had some flexibility because there’s no one app that’s better than all the others,” Luhtala said. Some apps are best for younger students, others are more complicated, better suited for high school students. Many apps do one thing really well, but aren’t great at everything. Still others are bought, redesigned or just disappear — so it’s always good to know about an array of tools to suit the need at hand.

What do schools need from their Technology Leaders?

What do schools need from their technology leaders? | domnorrish.com

Lucy's Lessons Learned

Just found out this happened to my colleague Lucy Gray - worth learning about.

http://www.lucygray.org/weblog/2014/04/shame-on-slideshare-and-lessons-learned.html 

Web 2.0 Tools that Promote Higher Order Thinking Skills

http://www.guide2digitallearning.com//web_tools/web_20_tools_promote_higher_order_thinking_skills

By Laura Turner

The following listing is an interesting group of Web2.0 sites that support the teaching of higher order thinking skills in the 4 main disciplines of Social Studies, Math, Language Arts and Science.  Grade level varies but most sites can be used at the 4th grade level and up.  Blooms Revised Taxonomy defines HOTS (higher order thinking skills) as those that allow students to create analyze and evaluate - resources, information and concepts.

Higher order thinking skills also include critical, logical, reflective, metacognitive, and creative thinking.  The teaching of HOTS has become increasingly important as teachers work to prepare students for the future.  Also view additional Web2.0 resources at http://www.bhsu.edu/education/edfaculty/lturner/web_2.htm

By Laura Turner
The following listing is an interesting group of Web2.0 sites that support the teaching of higher order thinking skills in the 4 main disciplines of Social Studies, Math, Language Arts and Science.  Grade level varies but most sites can be used at the 4^th grade level and up.  Blooms Revised Taxonomy defines HOTS (higher order thinking skills) as those that allow students to create analyze and evaluate - resources, information and concepts.
Higher order thinking skills also include critical, logical, reflective, metacognitive, and creative thinking.  The teaching of HOTS has become increasingly important as teachers work to prepare students for the future.  Also view additional Web2.0 resources at http://www.bhsu.edu/education/edfaculty/lturner/web_2.htm
- See more at: http://www.guide2digitallearning.com//web_tools/web_20_tools_promote_higher_order_thinking_skills#sthash.JHsKzxkV.dpuf

By Laura Turner
The following listing is an interesting group of Web2.0 sites that support the teaching of higher order thinking skills in the 4 main disciplines of Social Studies, Math, Language Arts and Science.  Grade level varies but most sites can be used at the 4^th grade level and up.  Blooms Revised Taxonomy defines HOTS (higher order thinking skills) as those that allow students to create analyze and evaluate - resources, information and concepts.
Higher order thinking skills also include critical, logical, reflective, metacognitive, and creative thinking.  The teaching of HOTS has become increasingly important as teachers work to prepare students for the future.  Also view additional Web2.0 resources at http://www.bhsu.edu/education/edfaculty/lturner/web_2.htm
- See more at: http://www.guide2digitallearning.com//web_tools/web_20_tools_promote_higher_order_thinking_skills#sthash.sC0vfIZG.dpuf

By Laura Turner
The following listing is an interesting group of Web2.0 sites that support the teaching of higher order thinking skills in the 4 main disciplines of Social Studies, Math, Language Arts and Science.  Grade level varies but most sites can be used at the 4^th grade level and up.  Blooms Revised Taxonomy defines HOTS (higher order thinking skills) as those that allow students to create analyze and evaluate - resources, information and concepts.
Higher order thinking skills also include critical, logical, reflective, metacognitive, and creative thinking.  The teaching of HOTS has become increasingly important as teachers work to prepare students for the future.  Also view additional Web2.0 resources at http://www.bhsu.edu/education/edfaculty/lturner/web_2.htm
- See more at: http://www.guide2digitallearning.com//web_tools/web_20_tools_promote_higher_order_thinking_skills#sthash.sC0vfIZG.dpuf

40 Android Apps for Teaching and Learning

http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/40-android-apps/55769?utm_content=buffer15dea&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

40 Android Apps for Teaching and Learning

A few weeks ago I invited readers to share their favorite iPad apps for the classroom, and the comments section features several good suggestions. Last week I asked readers to share their favorite Android apps for the classroom, and… well… we didn’t end up with nearly as many suggestions.

The Framework of Essential Skills of the K-12 CTO

The Framework of Essential Skills of the K-12 CTO is comprised of three primary professional categories in the education technology field. These categories include 10 specific skill areas, outlining the responsibilities and knowledge needed to be a viable educational technology leader.

MindMup - A Mind Mapping Tool That Saves to Google Drive

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2013/06/mindmup-mind-mapping-tool-that-save-to.html#.Uw9u7uPViHN

MindMup - A Mind Mapping Tool That Saves to Google Drive

MindMup is a free mind mapping tool that can be used online, with Google Drive, and on your desktop. MindMup works like most mind mapping tools in that you can create a central idea and add child and sibling nodes all over a blank canvas. MindMup nodes can contain text and links.

When you're ready to save your MindMup mind map you can save it to Google Drive, save it to your desktop, or publish it online. If you publish it online, you can grab an embed code for it to post it in a blog post or webpage

10 great books to help you think, create

10 great books to help you think, create, http://bit.ly/AFb1tv, http://bit.ly/AFb1tv 

A Comparison of Five Free MOOC Platforms for Educators

http://www.eduwire.com/software/a-comparison-of-five-free-mooc-platforms-for-educators/

By John Swope, EdTech Magazine on February 27, 2014 10:55 am

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By the end of 2013, most top universities had started to offer some sort of MOOC (massive open online course). Now, we are starting to see the MOOC product move into the corporate and private realm. Companies like Google and Tenaris are using MOOCs for training their employees, MongoDB is educating developers through the MOOC medium and thousands of private instructors are teaching classes on sites like Udemy

- See more at: http://www.eduwire.com/software/a-comparison-of-five-free-mooc-platforms-for-educators/#sthash.DWUDrJmx.dpuf

8 Interactive Video Tools

Five-Minute Film Festival: 8 Interactive Video Tools for Engaging Learners | Edutopia

It's no secret that I am a passionate advocate for using video in the classroom. When used well, videos can help students make connections to people and ideas beyond their usual frame of reference. That's why I've been really excited to see a wave of new (and mostly free or low-cost!) tech tools recently that enable teachers to take favorite clips and make them more valuable for educational use. Whether you use videos to flip your classroom or you just appreciate the power of video to engage kids, maybe one of the tools in my playlist below will help you go deeper in 2014.

8 (free) websites to create cool student projects online

Learning Never Stops

Creating an online project is a great way to help students to demonstrate that they have learned something. Below you will find 8 websites that offer great options for any teacher and all are free to use. The first five have screenshots of examples that I created.

Earn some Technology Badges

Librarian Creates Site for Teachers to Earn Digital Badges for New Skills

http://www.thedigitalshift.com/2013/12/k-12/badge-teacher-librarian-laura-flemings-site-educators-earn-digital-badges-new-skills-trend-watch-december-2013/

Even teachers need a little acknowledgment for learning new skills, according to Laura Fleming, a school library media specialist at New Milford High School in Bergen County, NJ.

Through her site, Worlds of Learning, Fleming is offering teachers at her school and beyond the opportunity to earn digital badges—indicators of accomplishment that can be posted online—for mastering digital literacy in a number of areas, from QR codes to video editing.

Create a Flipped Classroom Lesson

TED-ED: Creating a Flipped Lesson

Here is a great post on using TED-Ed to create and use YouTube Videos in your flipped classroom.  Take a look!

From the post ....

I love using TED videos in my classroom to get students thinking about issues related to what we are studying. When I heard that I could wrap video content in an online lesson with TED Ed, I decided to check it out.

The process of setting up my first lesson was refreshingly easy!

Google Online Courses (MOOCs)

Google Online Courses (MOOCs)

Looking to expand your knowledge of Google's consumer, business, and developer products? Google Online Courses are here for you! ;)

• Power Searching:
  http://www.powersearchingwithgoogle.com/course/ps 
• Advanced Power Searching:
  http://www.powersearchingwithgoogle.com/course/aps 
• Mapping with Google:
  https://mapping.withgoogle.com/
• YouTube Creator Academy:
  https://creatoracademy.withgoogle.com/ 
• Introduction to Web Accessibility:
  https://webaccessibility.withgoogle.com/
• Digital Analytics Fundamentals:
  https://analyticsacademy.withgoogle.com/
• Google Developers Academy:
  https://developers.google.com/academy/
• Explore and Master Chrome DevTools:
  http://discover-devtools.codeschool.com/

Additional educational resources:
Google Help articles: https://support.google.com/
Google Developer Live: https://developers.google.com/live/
Learn with Google: http://www.google.com/ads/learn/all-topics.html
#google #education #mooc

New Enhanced MERLOT II

MERLOT, the Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching has been enhanced to facilitate the MERLOT community’s discovery and sharing of its Open Education Resources (OER). Highlights of the new MERLOT II can be viewed on our YouTube Channel.  MERLOT II was released at EDUCAUSE 2013 in Anaheim, CA on October 15th.

The MERLOT OER collection contains more than 42,000 online learning materials including open textbooks, courses, journal articles, and technology-based learning materials. MERLOT II introduces new social networking tools for its international community of more than 116,000 faculty, staff, students, administrators, and librarian members, enabling them to share their teaching and learning expertise across more than 25 academic disciplines.

The California State University’s (CSU) Affordable Learning Solutions initiative incorporates MERLOT services as one of its cornerstones. Since the creation of MERLOT in 1997, higher education and K-12 institutions, nonprofit associations, special interest groups, and corporations have integrated the system into their online education initiatives.

Find out more and become a member at www.merlot.org.

Free Technology for Teachers: EDPuzzle - Add Your Voice and Text Questions to Educational Videos

Free Technology for Teachers: EDPuzzle - Add Your Voice and Text Questions to Educational Videos

EDPuzzle - Add Your Voice and Text Questions to Educational Videos

EdPuzzle is a neat tool that I recently learned about from David Kapuler. EdPuzzle allows you to add your voice and questions to educational videos. On EdPuzzle you can search for educational videos from Khan Academy and Learn Zillion. Once you've found a video you can insert your own voice comments. You can also create a series of questions to go along with your chosen video. Questions are inserted along a timeline that matches the video. That means that your students don't have to wait until the end of a video in order to answer the questions. In that regard the EdPuzzle is similar to Blubbr.tv.