EdTech Cheat Sheet Infographic - Boundless Gamification, digital storytelling, virtual classrooms…it’s not easy to keep track of all of the new buzzwords in the booming edtech sector. At Boundless, we’re confronted with these terms and technologies every day, and we do our best to keep all of the lingo straight. We put together a little cheat sheet to help you master some of the most important words to know in edtech. Brush up on your terms to make sure you’re not scratching your head at the next conference, meetup or debate about the future of education! Use Twitter in PowerPoint Your audience is tweeting How do you draw them into your presentation? By asking for their opinion, and displaying their tweets directly in your slides. With Poll Everywhere, you can invite people to tweet a short comment directly to your slide in real-time, while still blocking inappropriate or off-topic tweets. You can also ask multiple choice questions and watch a graph evolve as people vote. Try it now: chart How does it work? If people tweet and include "@poll", we'll pick it up as fast as Twitter allows. If you defined a confirmation message, @poll replies back to them.
Scholr.ly Search Engine Takes An Innovative Approach To Research The web is cluttered. There’s a pantload of information out there and it’s hard to sift through. Google does a fabulous job at being your virtual Swiss Army Knife for finding what you’re looking for. But even the likes of Google Scholar and Google Books are not perfect. That’s where Scholar.ly comes in. Personally, I love the dual column approach. One interesting side-note is that, when faced between results that are either behind a paywall or free, Scholr.ly ranks free papers and books above those behind a paywall. The beta is expected to launch later this summer and we’ll be sure to bring you more as it’s opened. 10 Interactive Lessons By Google On Digital Citizenship 10 Interactive Lessons By Google On Digital Citizenship Added by Jeff Dunn on 2012-07-22 YouTube has a firm place in the current classroom. From Khan Academy’s videos to YouTube EDU and beyond, there’s a reason all these videos are finding a home in schools. In an effort to help keep the ball rolling, Google just launched a set of 10 interactive lessons designed to support teachers in educating students on digital citizenship. Google (which owns YouTube) built the lessons to educate students about YouTube’s policies, how to flag content, how to be a safer online citizen, and protect their identities. Below is a list of lessons, and the recommended flow for delivery. Or you can download the Full Teacher’s Guide or the Full Set of Slides in PDF . The killer feature for this curriculum is the extra features that come with each video. Category: Videos Tags: digital citizenship , guide , How To , presentations , Videos You may also like Second Grader Shows How She Uses Evernote For Fluency 4 Comments
You Need to Use Technology the Wrong Way I don't think I've ever known anyone else who uses a spreadsheet as a calendar. For me, it works, though. I have the date, the day, the task or event, the type of task and the location. For recurring events, I simply write "every week" or "every day." Then, I use the sort function to see what I need to do each day or to see the timeline of a particular project (sorting by category). I like being able to ask, "When is Galileo testing?" I'm not suggesting everyone should use a spreadsheet for a calendar. Too often, students learn a rigid definition of how a particular technology tool should be used. I want students to be hackers. The following are some examples of using tools in ways they weren't originally intended to be used:Vocabulary Tumblrs: Tumblrs allow students to create and to curate. Those are just a few examples and many people would say, "Well, why don't you just use ______ instead?" photo credit: scottwills via photo pin cc
Connected Educator Month | Connected Educators How Twitter can be used as a powerful educational tool Think Twitter is just a waste of time? Think again. Its organizational structure makes it an effective tool for connecting with students and others online By Alan November and Brian Mull Read more by Contributor July 13th, 2012 Learning how to filter through tweets will bring clarity and meaning to Twitter and will get you past the mosh pit of random thoughts and lackluster chitchat. (Editor’s note: This is part three in a series of articles about how to build students’ web literacy and research skills. On Feb. 10, 2011, the world was transfixed on the protests raging in Egypt. What Mubarak might not have known is that while he was trying to maintain his iron grip on power, thousands of Egyptians were tweeting about their frustration with the dictator. If you are a middle or high school social studies teacher, and you wanted to provide your students with a close-up view of the events unfolding in Egypt, you could turn to a traditional news service.
Why Symbaloo is an excellent iGoogle alternative. Were you using iGoogle mainly to keep track of the latest headlines? Then you are going to LOVE Symbaloo as iGoogle alternative! Symbaloo is a visual way for you to link to your favorite online news sources and sites and therefore the best iGoogle alternative. With Symbaloo it is easy to create your own personal Internet "webmix". iGoogle has been commonly used by many as a way to keep track of the latest headlines. RSS-Overview – All your news on one webmix. One option for keeping track of your news sources on Symbaloo is by creating an RSS webmix. A second option is to mix it up. Your Symbaloo preferences are stored in the Cloud. • Is completely free to use • Will never stop service • Free of advertising • Available on any desktop, laptop, smartphone and tablet. "Symbaloo makes managing bookmarks easier - across all your devices" The Next Web "Symbaloo is a popular visual organizing and sharing tool" Mashable Symbaloo is founded in 2007 and has over 1 million users. YouTube Facebook Twitter
21 Map Creation Tools for Students and Teachers Yesterday, I published a review of MapFab which is a fabulous, free, and simple tool for creating maps online. Writing that post got me thinking about all of the other free map creation tools that I've reviewed over the years. Google Maps and Google Earth are my favorite tools for creating maps, but not every school allows teachers and students to download it. And creating Google Maps does require you to have a Google account which is an obstacle to use in some schools too. Animaps is a service that was built for the purpose of allowing users to create animated Google Maps. Tripline is a service designed to enable anyone to record a trip they've taken or to plan a trip itinerary. Build A Map is a service that allows you to build layers on top of Google Maps. Scribble Maps is a fun and useful application for drawing and typing on Google Maps. UMapper is a custom map creation tool that allows you to create maps from just about any JPG, PNG, or GIF file.
20 Must-See Teaching Tools Coming To Your Classroom Very Soon It’s hard to find a field that hasn’t been radically changed by technology, and education is no exception. Few classrooms these days operate without digital tools, gadgets, or applications that have made it easier for teachers to track student progress and tailor lessons to student needs and interests. While the tools of today are great, there are even more great technological teaching tools and practices on the horizon, many of which are just starting to be adopted in the classroom or are just making it out of the developmental stages. (Click the title of each tool to visit their respective website) ClassConnect ClassConnect is a startup founded by teen entrepreneur Eric Simons (who spent months living on AOL’s campus while he worked on the project). 19Pencils 19Pencils is another great up-and-coming tool for teachers that allows them to more easily manage and share class content. Augmented Reality Glasses Online Learning Exchange Prentice Hall Writing Coach Three Ring Class Dojo Fast ForWord
Learning and Growing: Keynote, Socrative, Simple Circuit App, BrainPop Back from a nice long weekend, I know that I have to reactivate my students memories from our Lego circuit lab from last week. So, how to do this? My objective is to review the necessary parts of electrical circuits, illustrate the difference between series and parallel circuits, and review how electrical energy can be transformed into other energy forms. All this in 45 minutes... ;) Ok, so I know that there will probably be carry over. But, these are the resources and iPad integration for one lesson. Ready, set, go! Start off class by showing the lab video (from above). Enter, Keynote... Here are a few slides... Sorting circuit parts Comparing various circuits Traditional circuit question The students will also have them available through Dropbox. Enter, Socrative app... Information on the Socrative app can be found at Our lesson will really ramp up with the use of the Simple Circuit app that some student explored in our lab last week.
New Social Collaboration Tool Helps Students, Professionals Work Together Keyware, Inc. recently announced the launch of its social collaboration tool, SafeShare, which allows gamers, students and even business professionals get together digitally and do what they do best – collaborate and help. The SafeShare application allows for up to 20 users share a computer screen, offering up a real time close-up of what their friends are seeing, whether it’s a game view, tutoring session, or meeting proposal, by clicking on thumbnail views displayed on the side of the screen. The application’s launch is rather timely as we gear up for back to school. SafeShare allows students who can’t meet in person to collaborate online for group assignments, tutoring projects or homework. There’s no worry of tying up phone lines, either, as SafeShare relies on VoIP technology. SafeShare has the potential to make information sharing and teamwork so much simpler and more efficient,” said Keyware CEO John F. Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology?
For 'Connected Educator Month,' Tips From 33 Educators We Admire Stacy BrownErin Olson, an English teacher in Iowa who is featured in our post, uses Twitter-like technology to enhance classroom discussion. Go to related 2011 article » The U.S. Department of Education has declared August Connected Educator Month, and since we’d be nothing without the teachers we’ve connected with over the years, we’re enthusiastically on board. To celebrate, we asked every educator who has written a guest post for us, been featured in a Reader Idea, or collaborated on one of our features to answer two simple questions: What is one important thing you’ve learned from someone in your Personal Learning Network (P.L.N.), however you define that network? Reading their responses, below, is a crash course in how to be a “connected educator.” So read what they have to say, follow the links to their work both within and outside The Learning Network, and, when you’re done, tell us how you’d answer those two questions yourself. Aliza Aufrichtig | Flocabulary The Year in Rap Contest
Top 12 Ways Technology Changed Learning In the 21st century, technology has changed the ways in which we communicate and go about our lives. Very few educators would disagree with the notion that technology has dramatically changed the teaching and learning process. With the help of some fellow teachers, here is a short list of the top 12 ways how technology has changed education: Communication Evolution Because we text, our students have learned a dialect that we don't always understand. Expanding Audience Students' sense of audience is completely different. Effective teachers are always on the prowl for new and exciting teaching... As December rolls by, the holiday hype has most likely invaded your classroom.... Restorative justice has been helping educators entirely rethink the way they... Teachers should try out some of the following 21st-century technology in the... Here are a few signs that will ensure that you, through your teaching... Poster Boards: A Thing of the Past Bye Bye to 3-Ring Binders Interactive Textbooks