50 new tech tools you should know about

New App Tells Teachers When Students Are Confused Much has been said about how connected devices, whether in college lecture halls or elementary school classrooms, can distract students. GoSoapBox aims to show how such devices can also help keep class on track. The startup, which is launching Tuesday, makes a web-based app that serves as a constant back-channel to classroom discussion. Students can use it to post questions about the lecture, vote up questions their classmates have already submitted, set their statuses to "confused," and contribute to polls and questions posted by the teacher. "With the app, students are less likely to get distracted because they’re staying engaged with the material," says GoSoapBox co-founder and CEO John Pytel, who says he got the idea while attending large lectures at Michigan State University. To use the service, teachers pay $15 per month or $90 per year, and 1,300 of them have already enrolled in the free beta program. Is GoSoapBox viable for all classrooms?

The 20 Biggest Differences Between British and American English Much humor and academic insight can be wrung from the little linguistic quirks existing between the English spoken in the Commonwealth, the Republic of Ireland, and the United States. Although geographic differences and the influence of other cultures obviously accounts for quite a bit of the departures, dictionaries themselves played a significant role as well. Noah Webster and his seminal 1828 publication An American Dictionary of the English Language, which reflected his desire to split from the previously standard Dictionary of the English Language (Samuel Johnson, 1755), obviously swayed how the Yanks wrote and spoke their mother (Or secondary! Or tertiary!) That whole "u" thing Reading "color" versus "colour" might clue one in to whether or not the literature in question hails from the United States or one of the Commonwealth nations. "Through" vs.

Common Core: Seven Opportunities to Transform English Language Arts Curriculum Brenda Overturf is a member of the International Reading Association's Board of Directors. You can reach her at boverturf[AT]reading[DOT]org. This is part two of a three-part series that examines the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Part One introduced CCSS and provided context for those new to the standards. Part Two will review the key features that offer opportunities for educators to transform their teaching. In Part Three, we will take a look at how various states are starting to implement the standards. As educators start to understand and implement the CCSS, many are forming professional learning communities and statewide development teams, as well as regional and national consortiums of state representatives. 1) Interdisciplinary Learning 2) Argumentation When writing and reading, persuasion and critical literacy are key factors in how students read and respond to text. 3) Text Complexity 4) Text Exemplars 5) Close Reading of Text 6) Technology

7 Technology Tools Every Educator Should Use A big part of my job as technology teacher is IT coordinator, which means I must keep up with tech ed widgets and tools so I know what to recommend to the teachers at my school. I have a robust PLN that constantly shares what they are using in their classrooms, programs like PowToon, Dipity, Tikatok, Yacapaca, Glittertools, Chart Gizmo, Noteflight--you get the idea. Still, there are more than any one teacher can test properly. In a perfect world, here’s how I determine which of these hundreds (thousands?) of tools are student-ready: • I try it myself. • Next, I query my social networks. Here are a few ways to make sure we can find a nice balance between using and... Believe it or not, Halloween is just around the corner. Classroom activities to get kids excited about the future – like college or... Use these test prep teaching strategies that experienced teachers have... We look at some classroom management tips you can use to engage your... BigHugeLabs Jing Nanoogo Polldaddy Tagxedo Voki

Stellarium - StumbleUpon Sweet Search The 10 Most Dangerous Gangs of the 21st Century Gangs have been terrorizing communities and fighting for turf for as long as street crime has been around. Today’s gangs have evolved into more powerful and sophisticated groups that will do just about anything and kill just about anyone for a quick buck. According to the 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment, there are approximately 1.4 million gang members roaming the streets and operating in prisons in the United States. The Latin Kings The Latin Kings is one of the largest and most dangerous Latino street gangs in the country. Wave Gang and Hood Starz The Wave Gang and their rivals, the Hood Starz, have been terrorizing the neighborhood of Brownsville, Brooklyn for years.

Demystifying ICT4E Terminology: 10 Acronyms and Names You Should Know Last week, amidst reading the various blogs and tweets for Open Education Week , I came across several acronyms that were unfamiliar. Terms like Edupunk and Aakash are just a few of the terms that you simply have to “be in the know” in order to know. Anyone new to the field of information and communication technology for education (ICT4E) might be a little overwhelmed at first by the plethora of acronyms, terminology, and program and developer names that pervades internet searches and tweets. Whether you’re an education professional looking for new opportunities to use technology in a development project, or a seasoned ICT4D veteran exploring the new advances being made in open education, there’s usually a new term that pops up, sometimes coined at a recent conference, that might be unfamiliar. So to offer some clarification, here are some ICT4E terms you should know: ICT4E: Information and Communication Technology for Education BYOD: Bring Your Own Device OCWs are a type of OER.

20 Must-use Education Technology Tools Educators may feel sometimes like they’re on an island with little help in sight. But as technology teaching resources go, it may encourage you to learn that there are a number of online solutions available to help promote education from teaching reading basics to organizing classroom activities and encouraging civic involvement. Here are 20 of the most promising new apps, websites and online education technology tools or services every teacher should be using to help improve classroom learning: Collaborize Classroom — A free online collaborative platform designed to complement classroom instruction with additional activities, assignments and discussions that can be accessed online. Cool Math — A collection of games that are designed to be safe to use in the classroom, covering a variety of math subjects as well as reading, science and geography. DoSomething.org — With a new call-to-action every week, DoSomething.org encourages teens to band together and work for positive social change.

Oddity Archive & 20 interesting human body facts - StumbleUpon The Blue Fugates Troublesome creek in the state of Kentucky, U.S.A was not famous for any trouble as the name suggests, but for an odd family that lived in this wilderness. Troublesome Creek is known worldwide for the Fugates family that dwelt there. The Fugates were known as the ‘blue people’ and were an oddity because they were ... Sphinx Known fruit of the unknown; Daedalian plan; Out of sleeping a waking, Out of waking a sleep; Life death overtaking; Deep underneath deep? – the Sphinx by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1841) A creature of immense beauty and curiosity, Sphinx has held the fascination of people around the world. She does not belong to selective ... Goddess Saraswati Goddess Saraswati, fondly known as Saraswati Maa or His Shakti, is the Goddess of music, science, arts and technology.

Future U: fear and loathing in academia Future U is a multipart series on the university of the 21st century. We will be investigating the possible future of the textbook, the technological development of libraries, how tech may change the role of the professor, and the future role of technology in museums, research parks, and university-allied institutions of all kinds. "What I would have had to do to access original sources 15 years ago!" "Education is in the process of changing," agreed Jonathan Rees, professor of History at Colorado State University at Pueblo. Technology has made the job of the professor, both teaching and research, easier and more exciting. "As an historian," said McClurken, "I see it as a shift from scarcity to abundance, in information. The need for information fluency The immediate access that students have to millions of results for every question or keyword has created a real challenge for teaching. McClurken believes it is more a matter of quantity than quality. How to survive a robot uprising

Iran's uranium enrichment is escalation, says US 10 January 2012Last updated at 17:12 Satellite images showed the Fordo site under construction in 2009 The US has said Iran's enrichment of uranium at an underground site is "a further escalation" of its violation of UN resolutions. The UN's nuclear watchdog confirmed that Tehran had begun enriching uranium up to 20% at its northern Fordo plant. Analysts say 20% enrichment is an important step towards making uranium weapons-grade, but Tehran says it is for purely peaceful purposes. The UK and France - and later Russia - also condemned the move. 'Provocative act' State department spokeswoman: "We call on Iran, once again, to suspend enrichment activities" "Moscow has with regret and worry received the news of the start of work on enriching uranium at the Iranian plant," the Russian foreign ministry said. In Washington, state department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said on Monday that enrichment works at Fordo, near the city of Qom, raised further doubts about Tehran's peaceful intentions. Analysis

Three Essential Tips for New Online Training Designers One of the biggest challenges online training developers have is that they often have no background in online training. Online training is very different than face-to-face training, yet many classroom trainers inherit the online learning developer role simply because their organization has decided to begin offering online training. This is further complicated by the various reasons that many organizations venture into online training, such as scalability, cost savings, and optimized resource use. These are decisions of budget, not of learning and performance. Is it any wonder that many online learning developers are metaphorically taking the square peg of traditional classroom workshops and trying to fit it into the round hole of online training? So where does someone new to the field of online learning design begin? Read. I can’t emphasize this enough. I also recommend reading relevant articles and blogs. Connect with Other Online Learning Designers That’s not design.

321 Free Tools for Teachers - Free Educational Technology Jacob Lund/Shutterstock.com Summary: Would you be interested in the ultimate list of free tools for teachers? At the following post you will find 324 Free Tools for Teachers separated in 18 educational technology categories. Enjoy! Free Educational Technology for Teachers Do you support Free Technology for Teachers? I am a great supporter of Free Educational Technology. 19 Free Tools To Create Infographics For Teachers amCharts Visual Editor This editor allows you to use amCharts as a web service. 19 Free Text To Speech Tools For Teachers AnnouncifyListen to your web. Listen Text-to-Speech Voices with the Right Authoring Tool Vendor Find, choose and compare the top eLearning Authoring Tool Companies featuring Text-to Speech Voices! 21 Free Digital Storytelling Tools For Teachers AnimotoUnlimited Videos For Educators. 15 Free Podcast Tools For Teachers 28 Free Survey, Polls, and Quizzes Tools For Teachers addpollThe easiest way to create polls, surveys and html forms... on the web.