Blog Archives - The EdTech Roundup

The Daily Roundup - August 26th, 2013

8/26/2013

Welcome back to the Roundup! I hope everyone had an excellent weekend! To start, a little sad news: The Roundup will be a bit sporadic this week. I've got middle and high school back to school/meet the teacher nights this week, so unfortunately I won't have as much time for the site. But anyway, let's get started with Edudemic's article on "How Blogging Can Help Reluctant Writers." It's a great read and if you have the opportunity to use blogging in the classroom, do it!

Free Technology for Teachers has five new resources up:

Jackie Gerstein at User Generated Education has an excellent new post on using "Photography for Enhancing Social-Emotional Learning." Her article discusses how the use of photography in a variety of subjects (English, Science, History, Art, etc.) can help students increase their social and emotional learning. She also provides links to tons of excellent classroom resources.

Alison Anderson at Getting Smart has a new write-up on "Taleblazer: The New Scratch." If you're not familiar with Scratch, it's an awesome program from MIT that helps teach students the basics of programming. Taleblazer is a web-based platform that will allow students to create location-based augmented reality games that you can play on your smartphones and mobile devices! I'm a huge fan of scratch, and Taleblazer sounds incredibly exciting.

Educational Technology has five new posts to check out:

Kelly Walsh at Emerging Ed Tech has a great new post showing that "Instructional Technologies CAN Improve Learning Outcomes and Help Address the Challenges Education Faces." In the post and video (embedded below) Walsh discusses a variety of examples of Educational Technology Success Stories.

The EdReach Network has five new podcasts for you:

The Lightning Round...

Teach Thought shares 41 Must-Have Teaching Tools from edshelf
Lisa Nielsen covers 5 Back to School Management Tips for Innovative Educators
Getting Smart gives us 30 Apps for Sharing, Showing, and Tracking
Edudemic has a new infographic on Formative Assessment and Technology
They also have a new infographic Visual Guide for Teachers New to Apple iPads

And that's a Roundup! Thanks for reading and we'll be back tomorrow! I hope everyone is having a great back to school week (unless you're starting your third week like we are, in which case, keep it rolling!)

Seriously Teachers, It's Time to Join Twitter

8/24/2013

If you’ve already started reading this post, you might as well accept it: by the time you get to the end of the page you will have a Twitter account and be well on your way to falling in love with the social media site. “But why Twitter?” you’re probably asking. “I already have Facebook, I already Pinterest like crazy, what’s the point?”

Here’s why: Twitter is the easiest way to connect and converse with educators from around the world who share your passions. As one teacher puts it, “Twitter is like having a professional learning superpower” and I couldn't agree more.

The Daily Roundup - August 22nd, 2013

8/22/2013

Welcome back to the Roundup! And, as always, happy Friday-eve! Today we start off with some big news from EdReach. Like some 1970's super-group, EdReach has just announced new partnerships with our friends over at Two Guys and some iPads and the tech company TechSmith. They'll be launching some assuredly excellent new shows as well as a new comic strip!

Next up, Kate Smitty at Emerging Ed Tech has a writeup on "LearnPad - a Tablet Designed Specifically for Educational Use." While iPad and Android tablets have their distinct advantages, they were designed for consumers, not for educators. The LearnPad is a "trialed and tested tabled designed for schools and educators." Check out Smitty's post for more info on the new tablet.

Free Tech for Teachers has 5 new posts to check out:

EduTech for Teachers has a new Guest Post in which "Media Experts Name the Best Technology Skills for Graduates." The article discusses the essential technology skills that students should be learning and discusses why encouraging blogging is an excellent way to support those skills. It's a great read and if you haven't considered having your students blog, this post might change your mind!

David Fife at Perspectives 2.0 has an excellent new post on the "4 Reasons Why You Need to Be a Connected Educator." Social media has made it ridiculously easy for teachers to connect, share ideas, and swap lesson plans and in this article Fife argues the importance of connecting to your own personal learning network (PLN).

Educational Technology has 4 new posts to check out:

Finally, iLearn technology has a new review up, "Fluency Finder App: Updated with New Features!" If you guessed that Fluency Finder is an app to help find out your students' reading fluency levels, you're absolutely correct! It's designed for 1st-8th graders and has some pretty awesome features. If that's your area, check it out!

The Lightning Round...

EdSurge gives us Teachers Favored Web 2.0 Tools
Mind/Shift discusses 4 Essential Principles of Blended Learning
The Ed Tech Review has a new Infographic on How Mobile Apps Influence Childhood Education
LearnDash covers the 4 Downsides to MOOCs

And that, my friends, is all she wrote! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and we'll be back on Monday with the weekend Roundup! Thanks for reading and remember, you can always follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or just subscribe to receive the Roundup by email (box on the right and up a bit...)

-Mike

The Daily Roundup - August 21st, 2013

8/21/2013

Welcome back! Today we begin with... Holograms! That's right, holograms. Awesome. The Ed Tech Review has a new post on the "Potential Applications of Holograms to Engage Learners." In the post they give a little background on the technology behind modern holograms and then dive in to discussing educational possibilities. Are they feasible at this point in time? Absolutely not. Is it exciting to consider the possibilities? Most definitely!

If you're not familiar with South by South West for Education (SXSWedu) it's a annual gathering in Austin, TX where educators, developers, and anyone who has something to say about education can get together, and enjoy awesome presentations. Right now, community voting is going on to determine what projects will be in the festival. Getting Smart has a list of projects to check out and may I personally recommend my good friend and rock-star educator, Saul Heide and his project the Paperless Classroom.

Free Tech for Teachers has four new posts to check out:

Teach Thought has a new post on "Mind-Mapping and the Digitization of Learning." The article outlines the benefits of mind-mapping and discusses how they can be used in the classroom to help organize thoughts and streamline feedback. With the wealth of awesome mind-mapping apps (spicy nodes, bubble.us, padlet, and so on) it's never been easier to start using mind-maps in your classroom.

In education, a lot of focus is given to Apple and iOS apps, mainly because they've got an enormous selection and a relatively easy to implement product. But now, with the recent unveiling of Google Play for Education, that will most likely begin to change. Holly Korbey at Mind/Shift has a new article on the topic in which she compares Apple and Google and discusses the pros and cons of each.

Ed Reach has four new podcasts that your ears might enjoy:

The Lightning Round...

Teach Thought shares 5 Strategies to Resist Googling and Conduct Meaningful Research
Lisa Nielsen covers an upcoming Free Virtual Conference on Alternatives to School
Educational Technology discusses 2 Interesting New PDF Tools for Teachers
Along with looking at Web Tools to Use WIth Bloom's Digital Taxonomy

And there you have it! Roundup complete! Have a wonderful evening and we'll be back in the saddle tomorrow. Thanks for reading!

The Daily Roundup - August 20th, 2013

8/20/2013

Welcome back to the Roundup! Today we start at EdSurge with an excellent article from Michael Levine entitled, "Beyond Good and Bad: Applying Games Research to Action." The post discusses the research behind game-based learning, the reaction from schools on teachers towards GBL, the educational games marketplace, and the barriers that may prevent GBL from reaching its full educational potential.

Next up, Dave Rudey at Emerging Ed Tech has an excellent write-up on the student response iPad app, Socrative. The app is completely free, can provide immediate feedback on student understanding, and it will grade your quizzes and assessments for you. If you've got student iPads in your school, Socrative is definitely worth a look.

Free Tech for Teachers has five new resources to check out:

Jackie Gerstein at User Generated Education has another absolutely awesome post,"Epic Moves as an Integral Part of Education." She discusses the incredible importance of risk-taking in education, for teachers and learners alike. She also outlines the consequences for those students and teachers who avoid educational risks. It's a wonderful post and great reading for all grade levels and subject areas.

Alison Anderson at Getting Smart has a great review of a new educational service called Nutmeg, a "New Teacher Tool on the 'Horizon.'" The app is designed to help teachers individualize instruction and assist with assessment. Teachers can use the app to design assessments that are aligned with the CCSS as well as access an enormous bank of open educational resources (OER) to make creating assessments even easier.

Edudemic has two excellent posts up on the edtech front, the first of which is from Holly Clark on "How to Tackle Digital Citizenship During the First 5 Days of School." This is a great article for any computer science teachers or elementary teachers who have to handle technology instruction themselves. She has some wonderful ideas on how to quickly get all students on the same page as far as netiquette, online safety, and digital citizenship are concerned.

Edudemic also has a new guide on "How to Pick the Best Device for your Grade Level." If your school is considering purchasing new devices this year, this article is a good place to start getting some ideas.

Educational Technology has five new posts to check out:

Drew Minock at Two Guys and Some iPads has an awesome post from 2 weeks ago that I missed the last time around, "5 Free Tech Tools for this School Year." It's a great list that includes some augmented reality, some programming, and a whole lot of other goodness. He covers iOS and Android apps, so all your bases are covered!

Ed Reach has five new podcasts to check out:

The Lightning Round...

Teach Thought shares 25 Common Core-Aligned Math Apps for Middle School Students
Getting Smart has a new Smart List of 20 Great Learning Platforms
Edudemic covers 10 Digital Resources for New Teachers
Edudemic also has a new infographic on How to Give Your Online Class an In-Class Feel
Edutech for Teachers has a review and write-up on theiOS Book Creator App (Now Free!)

And that's all for the Roundup tonight! Thanks for stopping by! We'll end today with a new infographic from Open Colleges on some future possibilities for using Google Glass in Education. See you tomorrow!

google

Courtesy of: Open Colleges

The Daily Roundup - August 15th, 2013

8/15/2013

Welcome back! And happy Friday-eve! We've got a pretty short Roundup for you today and we'll start over at Getting Smart with Alison Anderson's new post, "Back to School: Ten Tech Tips for Team Building with Parents." In the article they cover ten excellent and easy ways to use technology to connect with parents. Host a website, write a blog, create podcast newsletters, send texts, and so on. Plus they've got links to great resources to help get your ideas off the ground!

Emerging Ed Tech has a new discussion and review of three "Educational Apps that Teach Young Students about Money Management." These apps are awesome for home use or for in a business, accounting, or even an elementary or middle school math class. They review iAllowance, Savings Spree, and P2K Money.

Free Tech for Teachers has five new posts to check out:

iLearn Technology has an excellent review of "Rewordify: Help Kids Understand What They Read." Rewordify is an online app that is designed to help struggling readers and ESL/ELL students "improve their reading comprehensions and vocabulary development." It's an excellent app to check out if you're looking for something to help struggling readers.

Educational Technology has four new posts to check out:

Finally, Beth Holland at Edutopia has an excellent new post entitled, "Didn't Your Mother Tell You Not to Google." In the article, Holland discusses the educational problems that can arise from "googling" or "siri-ing" everything we have questions about. There are tons of educational resources that are better at finding age and subject-appropriate information and Holland discusses quite a few in her write-up.

The Lightning Round...

Getting Smart shares their new Smart List: 30 Next-Gen Literacy, Language & Math Resources
Teach Thought covers A Really, Really Well-Written Set of Classroom Rules
Ed Reach has a new podcast on Haiku Deck and Your iPad 1:1
Mind/Shift gives us 10 Ideas to Get Those Back-to-School Juices Flowing
Edudemic discusses Every Gmail Shortcut You Never New Existed

And there you have it! Roundup complete! Thanks for reading and we'll be back either on Sunday night or Monday afternoon with the weekend Roundup. See you then!

The Daily Roundup - August 14th, 2013

8/14/2013

Welcome back to the Roundup! Before we start I just wanted to let everyone know that we've added a few new lessons to the secondary lesson plan section of the site. They're mainly aimed at computer science class, but if that's your subject, you might find something you enjoy! First up, Ed Tech Magazine has a new article entitled, "Schools Face Tech Overhauls in Preparations for Common Core." The article discusses the many changes and improvements to tech that K-12 schools are making in order to get ready for Common Core adoption.

If you've got iPads in your school, Edudemic's new post will probably be of interest. If you're not familiar with the Guided Access feature, it can be used to limit students to only one app while they're using the ipads. It's a pretty great feature and you can read more about it in their new post, "A Step-By-Step Guide to Keeping Students Focused While Using Tech."

First up from Getting Smart (and Compass Learning) is a new post about the "Top Ten Challenges of Implementing New Technology." For any teacher, integration specialist, or district that is considering new technology, this list is an excellent place to start before diving in and buying whatever looks flashy and new. The article offers some excellent tips for finding, affording, and implementing new technology.

Getting Smart also has a new review aimed at Science Teachers of the MasteryConnect App. The iOS app is an excellent resource to help science teachers align their content with the NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards) and it's completely free!

Finally, Tom Vander Ark has a new post/idea entitled, "DIY High" about a "new high school where students create the job they want." The basic idea is that when students finish high school, they'd graduate as blossoming entrepreneurs with a business plan already well underway.

Free Tech for Teachers has four new resources to check out:

Lisa Johnson at Tech Chef has an excellent new post entitled, "Teacher iPad Orientation Toolkit: 6 Tools Every Teacher Should Master." What I really like about this post is that it's essentially a guide to running your own PD session on iPad basics. Johnson has suggested apps and activities to help teachers become more familiar with some great iPad apps. For those schools with teacher iPads, it's worth a look!

Christina Quattrocchi at Ed Surge has a new post on the online marketplace ePals, "A Lesson Plan Marketplace with 11.5 Million Potential Customers." This summer, ePals (a K-12 social network) announced that they will begin allowing teachers to share and sell lesson plans. This means sites like Teachers Pay Teachers will have some new competition and it could be a great resource for teachers looking for new lesson plans!

Educational Technology has four new resources to check out:

The Ed Tech Review has a new article discussing how "MOOCs Help Teachers in their Flipped Classroom." They talk about how MOOCs (massive open online courses) can be used to provide instruction outside of the classroom while leaving more time to focus on assignments and projects in the classroom. If it's a topic you're interested in, I wrote a recent article for MOOCs.com discussing some similar ideas.

Finally, Lisa Nielsen at the Innovative Educator has a wonderful article on how to "Get Back-To-School By Engaging Families Right From Their Cellphones." She discusses some great apps and tools for connecting to parents to send reminders, grades, and just to keep in touch. She covers twitter, QuizU, Poll Everywhere, and a whole lot more!

The Lightning Round...

Edudemic covers 6 Simple Ways to Have a Green Classroom
Teach Thought has 5 Tips for Using Flipboard in the Classroom
Learn Dash discusses the 4 Stages of Integrating Technology into Learning

And we are all Rounded up! Thanks for reading and we'll be back tomorrow! Halfway through the week!

The Daily Roundup - August 13th, 2013

8/13/2013

Welcome back! I hope everyone is having a great start to the school year! Today we'll start at Edudemic with a post on "The 5 Best Social Media Tips For Teachers." The post offers some great advice for connecting with other teachers and educators. If you still haven't given Twitter a try, it can really be an awesome resource for professional development and connecting with other teachers. So, if you're looking for some new ways to connect with social networking, check out the post!

Emerging Ed Tech has a new review up of "Lucidchart - Excellent Web Based Diagramming and Charts." The web-app is free for teachers and students and is an excellent resource for creating online charts, diagrams, graphic organizers, and mind maps. If you use any of those organizational tools in your classroom, I highly recommend checking out Lucidchart!

Educational Technology has four new resources to check out:

The trend of online learning is continuing to grow and with it, tools like Mozilla's Open Badges are being used to certify students' learning. And, with sites like Degreed helping students create digital resumes that include online learning courses, the potential for digital learning to "mean" something more tangible is growing as well. Alison Anderson at Getting Smart has more on the topic with her new post, "Mozilla Open Badges to Show Career Readiness."

John Hardison also has a new post entitled, "Ordering a Teacher: Suggestions from Students Part 2." In the post, Hardison discusses 5 characteristics that students believe exceptional teachers possess. It's an excellent article and provides some great insight into what our students would like to see more of.

Education Week has a new post on the growing trend of students using social media to improperly post photos from standardized tests. The article focuses on California but this is an issue that affects schools across the globe. Last year, a total of 212 schools in California were flagged for improper social media postings. Check out the article for more.

Ed Reach has four new podcasts to check out:

The Lightning Round...

Free Tech for Teachers has a new guide on How To Use Google Drive in School
Free Tech also shares 43+ Alternatives to YouTube
Teach Thought covers 45 Design Thinking Resources for Educators
Getting Smart has 20 Coding, CS, Assessment, & Data Resources

And that's a wrap! Thanks for reading and we'll be back tomorrow! If you'd like to have the daily roundup emailed to you, you can always subscribe in the box on the right. Plus, you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter for updates as well. See you tomorrow!

The Daily Roundup - August 12th, 2013

8/12/2013

Welcome back! My first day with students is officially over and it's time to do some round-upping. Today we'll start with Katrina Schwartz at Mind/Shift and an incredibly interesting and important article about the business of educational technology, "Tech Companies Angle for Big Bucks in Education" It's a wonderful article that chronicles the ever-growing business interest in ed tech.

Next up, Mary Jo Madda at Ed Surge covers "How Good Ideas in Edtech go 'Viral'" The article relates a recent New Yorker article, "Slow Ideas by Atul Gawande," to educational technology and discusses why some great innovations in ed tech seem to spread incredibly quickly while others take longer to catch hold (if they catch on at all). She closes by discussing what the most successful edtech start-ups have in common and by offering some advice to new start-ups.

Jessica Slusser at Getting Smart has a great new article about a new online resource from Pearson and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21). The new learning resource is home to some wonderful case studies and examples of successful 21st century schools. Their goal is showcase examplar schools so that others can learn from what works (and what doesn't) at these organizations.

Winifred Kehl also has a writeup on "An Amazing Experience for K-12 STEM Teachers." In the post she discusses a recent experience with 19 K-12 Teachers and a group of paleontologiests from the University of Washington. Together, the group traveled to the badlands of Montana to dig up dinosaurs! Pretty awesome stuff.

Free Technology for Teachers has 5 new resources to try:

Wesley Fryer at Moving at the Speed of Creativity has a new article entitled, "Managing Distractions: Maintaining Focus and Creating Media." The post discusses great ways to help students avoid getting distracted in a technology-rich environment and focus on creating products. He ends with an awesome list of projects that students can create with classroom programs and apps.

Educational Technology has 5 new posts to check out:

And for those teachers who are in a 1:1 or BYOD (bring your own device) iPad environment, Teach Thought has you covered with, "How To Create A Paperless Classroom with your iPad." The post centers around using Google Drive and Google Education apps to manage the distribution and collection of assignments, thereby creating a completely paperless environment!

Finally, the Ed Reach network has 4 new podcasts up:

The Lightning Round...

Edudemic shares 5 Educational Websites Older Students Should Be Using
Getting Smart has a list of "Remix" Apps from EdShelf
Edudemic also has a post (and prezi) on 5 Flipped Classroom Issues and Solutions

And that's it for today! Thanks for tuning in! We'll end with a new infographic from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and Edudemic on The Role of Business in Education Reform...

business

Courtesy of: Edudemic

The Weekend Roundup - August 10th, 2013

8/10/2013

Welcome back to the Roundup! My internet is up and running again (hopefully for good) and it's time for some tech news! First up, Mind/Shift has a new post on "How Video Games and Social Media Fuel Students' Passion for Art." The post discusses the growing trend of interest driven art creation can offer an artistic outlet for students in districts where art programs are lacking or nonexistent.

Over the past month, the HP Catalyst Academy has been offering free STEMx professional development courses online. Two days ago, they announced that they will be releasing a second round of free classes geared towards middle and high school. Each of the classes takes 6-12 hours and teachers who complete the classes will earn a certificate of completion (or digital badges!) You can check out their online catalog to see some of the awesome classes they have available.

Special thanks to Aronne Watkins for this news; the Tennessee Library Association has just released a formal study on "Tablets and Children: Intuitive Technology and New Literacies." The paper "discusses the intriguing opportunities that tables offer for children to interact with technology, and how those opportunities translate for librarians and young patrons." It's a good read, especially for all you library media specialists out there!

Free Tech for Teachers has five new resources to check out:

Best of the web june 2013 copy from Richard Byrne

Curt Rees at I Know This Much is True has an awesome post entitled,"Wow! Augmented Reality Sandbox." And he's right, "Wow" is definitely the right word. In the post he shares the video below which covers an upcoming museum exhibit that uses augmented reality, a Kinect sensor, and a projector to do something pretty outstanding with a normal sandbox. Just check out the video, it's awesome...

Jamie Forshey at EduTech for Teachers has a new post on "Writing with Web 2.0 Tools." In the post she talks about her recent Writing with Web Tools Workshop from Techapalooza 2013. Forshey covers how to "help students make meaningful visual connects to content through writing and technology" and she covers web-apps like Wikispaces, Edmodo, Edublogs, Google Docs, and a ton more!

Ed Reach has four new podcasts to check out:

Tablets (and especially iPads) often steal the classroom tech spotlight, but Google Chromebooks (running only $250) can be an awesome alternative. If your school is thinking of adopting Chromebooks (or you've already got them!), Edudemics new post, "How To Get Started with Chromebooks in the Classroom" will be right up your alley!

iLearn Technology has a new review of "Snap! Digital Reading Program." The program is a collection of interactive books that are organized by reading level and can be printed or viewed on a PC or tablet. Plus, all the books are aligned with the Common Core Standards. It's not free, but for $89 you do get a ton of interactive content. Check out their site for more.

Finally, Getting Smart opens with a piece on "Finding New Professional Development at Edcamp." For those unfamiliar, Edcamp is a relatively new form of PD in which passionate speakers and teachers organize free events to share ideas. The organization is now worldwide and over 100 events have already happened this year. For more information, here's a a good page that covers the basics.

Getting Smart also has two new reviews up. The first is over BloomBoard which is an awesome app for managing professional development, teacher observations, and teacher feedback. You can also check out the Roundup's review of BloomBoard here. Finally, theyreview iAnnotate, a "fantastic productivity tool that engages users directly with various text documents." It's great for teachers who want to grade and be able to write on digital papers.

The Lightning Round...

Educational Technology share The 7 Killer Skills every 21st Century Student Should Have
They also reviewApraxia - A Great Speech Therapy App
Edudemic has the 9 Best Web Tools Teahcers Will Use This Year
And they also discuss 4 Ways to Showcase your Learning Online

And that's it for our weekend edition! Thanks for reading and we'll be back on Monday! We'll end today with a new infographic from Edudemic and Spinx Web Design on the Most Awaited Technology Devices of 2013. See you Monday!

apps

Courtesy of: Spinx