Welcome back! I hope everyone had an excellent weekend. Today we start with a wonderful article from The Atlantic, "Go Ahea, Mess with Texas Instruments." The post focuses on "Why educational technologies should be more like graphing calculators and less like iPads." I'd definitely recommend setting aside the next 20 minutes to check the full article out.
Free Tech for Teachers has five new posts to check out:
Next up, Jamie Forshey at EduTech for Teachers has a new write-up of the free web-app OhLife which is a platform for online, confidential, journal writing. The tool promotes "writing fluency, technology use, and typing skills" plus it sends students a daily reminder to update their journals. It's an excellent tool to help motivate students to write, and, unlike a blog, all the writing is saved privately.
Katie Lepi at Edudemic has a new article on "How to Build Powerful Tech-Infused Lesson Plans." She offers some great suggestions like incorporating technology into already existing lesson plans, so you're not reinventing the wheel (just improving upon it). She also reminds us of something that I have to constantly remind myself of, "you can't be afraid of failure" when integrating new tech in the classroom.
Educational Technology has five new posts to check out:
This one goes out to all the biology and life science teachers our there, The Ed Tech Review has a new write-up on "Labster: Virtual Labs for Biology and Life Science Teachers." The site offers a variety of "cases" that include 3D animations, interactive quizzes, open-ended learning environments and more. It's a little pricey, but if you can cover the cost it looks like a great resource.
Next up, Dave Guymon at Getting Smart (and also the host of the excellent PD Podcast Take 5) has a new article entitled, "All Must be Shared" Google+ Takes Your Class Into the Future." Guymon discusses how teachers can use Google+ to build digital classroom learning communities as well as "provide teachers with a medium to deliver timely and authentic feedback." If you haven't considered Google+ in the classroom, it's definitely worth a thought.
EdReach has five brand new podcasts to give a listen to:
And last but not least, Drew Minock over at Two Guys and Some iPads has a new article on how to use "Augmented Reality to Inspire Creative Writing." He discusses using the awesome app ColAR Mix to help inspire excitement and imagination in creative writing. Minock shares his classroom experiences with the lesson and it sounds like a pretty enjoyable and tech-filled lesson!
The Lightning Round...
- Lisa Nielsen covers 3 People & 3 Ideas for Using Twitter to Connect with Students
- Getting Smart lists the Top 125 Blogs on Blended Learning
- Getting Smart also has their weekly news roundup EdTech 10: We Heart School
- Kelley Walsh from Emerging Ed Tech is releasing his Flipped Classroom Workshop as a Book
- Edudemic has a new infographic on how to make infographics (infograph-ception?)
- And finally, Edudemic also has an infographic on the Myths and Realities of Online Learning
And there you have it! A weekend in review! And if your year is just starting and you're looking for some new tech tools to try in the classroom, check out our post from last month on 8 Classroom Apps to Try This Fall. Thanks for reading and see you tomorrow!
RSS Feed
