Free computer science resources for teachers and students

My school has an award-winning computer science program and the teacher, who is also the school's webmaster, has a great list of resources for computer science students and teachers.

The site has links to lessons he uses plus external links on everything from HTML to Java to CSS.

If you teach computer science or are a student of it, this is a great resource for you.


Related:

Learning HTML Code - some resources to get started

Google Code University - free computer science classes

Most Popular Posts from the past week

Here are the most read posts from last week:

1. 10 Tech Skills Every Student Should Have

2. Differentiator - free web app to help teachers differentiate using Blooms Taxonomy

3. Infographic on the digital divide - interesting data

4. Essay Tagger - grade essays easier

5. Ten Sites Supporting Digital Classroom Collaboration - great article

6. Report on State Science Standards - my thoughts on state curriculum

7. #PBLchat - Twitter chat for Project Based Learning

8. 20 Innovative Ways High Schools Are Using Twitter

9. Literature-Map - the tourist map of literature - find authors similar to one you like

10. Discovery Educator Network - great resources and great addition to any PLN



What was your favorite post from the last week?


Don't forget about the permanent pages at the top of the blog also. There are some great tips, ideas, and resources there in a variety of subjects.

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Helping Educators Get Started with Educational Technology

Edudemic has a great article entitled "The Must-Have Guide To Helping Technophobic Teachers". It explores ways to help non-tech savvy teachers get started using educational technology to improve teaching and learning. It has some great tips and points.

Over 2 years ago, I wrote an article entitled "Getting Started with Educational Technology" that also offered tips and ideas on how teachers could get started using educational technology successfully.

Many teachers are afraid of new technology, set in their ways, or just overwhelmed with what is out there. Those of us that use educational technology on a regular basis need to help them use it based on their needs.

Find out what they want to do and then share a technology resource that can help them do that. Show them how to use it, and then provide support for them as they implement it.

Start off with one or two tech's at a time so that they don't get overwhelmed.

Educational Technology can engage students, expose them to new things, allow them to do different things, get teachers and students organized, differentiate teaching, learning and assessment, improve communications and so much more.


How do you help newbies to tech get started?


Related:

10 Tech Skills Every Student Should Have (and every educator too!)

My Favorite Resources for Students and Teachers

The How's, Why's and Value of Educational Technology

Aviary for Facebook Released - image editing app right in Facebook

I posted two articles today about free image editing apps and services and then I just got an email from one of them. Aviary, a great, free online image tool, is now available in Facebook. I use Aviary's image editing tool and screen capture browser extension on a daily basis.

Aviary has announced that their simple photo editor is now available as a Facebook app. It features photo effects, stickers, auto enhancers, tools for brightness, saturation, contrast, red-eye, whiten, blemish, and more.

This means that you can edit and enhance your photos right in Facebook.

This is a great tool for schools that use Facebook, whether for communication or for class projects.

Two More Free Image Editing Resources

Earlier today (actually wrote the article yesterday and had it post today) I wrote about some free Image editing sites and software. Google Picnik is shutting down in April, so many people are going to be looking for alternatives. In addition to the three (Aviary, Paint, and iPiccy) I wrote about this morning, I have found three more alternatives:


Pixlr - Pixlr is a free, online image editing tool that is very powerful, yet pretty easy to use. It has a lot of great features and the menu and icons are similar to other services, so the learning curve is small.



Google+ Creative Kit is a full-featured image editing system built into Google+. It is basically what Picnik was, now on Google+. Edit, crop, add effects, and much more, all through Google+.

So, that's five alternatives to Picnik.




What do you use for image editing?


Sources:
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Obama wants all students using digital textbooks - I ask where the $$ are coming from

"Obama administration wants all students using digital textbooks in five years" - headline from the Verge. Read the comments as they are very interesting. 

My reaction: " we don't even have money for the basics, like paper textbooks, computers, lab equipment, paper, teachers!, etc. So where does the money come from for 1:1 computing devices for every student, the digital textbooks (which have to be purchased again every year), support for the devices, replacement devices for damage, loss, and theft, etc." Many of my students don't even have a computer at home, let alone a portable device like a smartphone, laptop or tablet. How are they going to access the digital textbooks without a digital device? Will they really all have a device in 5 years? Paper textbooks offer an option for students and districts without digital resources. 

It's a lofty idea that will cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Education budgets are being cut left and right and then this. Not sure how this idea can work.

I've already discussed my reaction to Apple's iBooks announcement and how I don't use textbooks with my physics students anyway, but this article got me going again. Are digital textbooks really a worthwhile use of shrinking education budgets? I don't think so. Let's look more at project based learning, free online digital resources and teacher created resources instead. 

What do you think?

Related:

Resources to Replace Textbooks

What I use with Physics classes instead of textbook

Apple Announces iBooks2 E-Textbooks - my initial thoughts

CK-12 Free Digital Textbooks 

150 Free Textbooks 

The How's, Why's and Value of Educational Technology

10 Important Skills Students need for the Future 

NASA views dark side of the moon - students to be able to study soon

NASA's Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) program (Ebb and Flow), which is creating a high resolution map of the moon's gravitational field, has also captured footage from the dark side of the moon as part of the MoonKAM (Moon Knowledge Acquired by Middle school students) program. MoonKAM will allow US students to study different parts of the lunar surface using imagery from the Ebb and Flow satellites.

Schools that signed up to participate in MoonKAM will get access starting in March. There are plans to open it up to more schools in the future also.

This is another great resource from NASA that schools can use to engage and educate students in science.

You can view a video at the source link below.

Source: NASA Grail News Release

Related:

NASA Resources on Ed Tech Guy

STEM Resources for Educators

February 2012 Google Educator Newsletter

I'm a huge user of Google's resources for both myself and my students and classroom. 

Here is my Google for Educators Resource page: http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/p/google-for-educators_22.html

Here is why I use Google's resources as an educator:

http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2012/01/why-i-use-googles-products-as-educator.html

Here is the Google Educator Newsletter for February.

February 2012 Google Educator Newsletter
Hello educators,
We're excited to kick off 2012 with new competitions for students (Doodle 4 Google, Google Science Fair) events for educators (Google Teacher Academy, NY/NJ Google Apps Summit), and education resources (new Google Education site and YouTube for Schools). 
Also, you can now stay up to date with the Google Education Google+ page for the latest news and upcoming events - http://goo.gl/kTnnE 
Best regards,Dana NguyenGoogle Education Team

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Google Teacher Academy in London - 4-5 April 2012-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------We're hosting our 14th Google Teacher Academy next spring at our Google London office on 4 April 2012 with an optional half-day unconference on 5 April 2012 2012. We are accepting applications from all over the world, so polish up your writing and video skills and apply by 11:59 PM PDT on 16th February 2012.  For more information, please visit our site: http://www.google.com/educators/gta.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------US Doodle 4 Google 2012 is open for submissions!-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Doodle 4 Google invites K-12 students to express the theme--”If I could travel in time, I’d visit...”--as creatively as possible using Google’s logo as their canvas. This year’s winner, along with having his or her doodle featured on our homepage for a day, will take home a $30,000 college scholarship and a $50,000 technology grant for their school. And as an added bonus, the winning Doodle will be featured on a special edition of Crayola’s 64 box! We hope you’ll get everyone in on the fun (but please -- just one doodle per child!). All submissions must be postmarked by March 20th and received by March 23rd so there’s not a moment to wait! Check out www.google.com/doodle4google for more details.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------NY/NJ Google Apps for Education Summit Mar 22-23-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The Google Apps for Education East K-12 User group (k12east.appsusersgroup.com) is hosting a 2 day summit on March 22nd and 23rd. This two day event, lead by Google Certified Teacher, Google Apps for Education Certified Trainers, administrators, and members from the Google Apps team will focus on deploying, integrating and using Google Apps for Education to promote student learning and achievement.  This event will take place on March 22-23 at Kean University in NJ. Cost for the event is $200.  Registration and information for the summit: https://sites.google.com/site/nynjgs12
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------New Google Education Website, Google+, and Booklet-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------We launched 3 new Google resources we launched today for educators and education-enthusiasts:(1) A newly-improved website, google.com/edu, which is a one-stop-shop for Google in Education.(2) A Google in Education Google+ page, which has news, tips, and  discussions http://goo.gl/G42c3. (3) A booklet, "Google in Education: A New and Open World for Learning,” which describes how people are using Google’s education resources - google.com/edu/about.html .
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Google Science Fair 2012 now open!-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The Google Science Fair is in its second year in partnership with CERN, LEGO, National Geographic and Scientific American. The competition is open to students between the ages of 13 - 18 from all over the world. Students will have the opportunity to compete for over $100,000 in scholarship funds, an expedition to the Galapagos, life changing experiences at CERN, Google and LEGO and a new Science in Action Award courtesy of Scientific American. This year we also have some great educator resources to help you bring the Science Fair into your classroom and encourage your students to explore their scientific passion. Visit www.google.com/sciencefair for more information.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------YouTube for Schools, now available!-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------YouTube for Schools lets schools access free educational YouTube videos while restricting access to other YouTube content. Students can learn from more than 400,000 videos, from well-known organizations like Stanford, PBS and TED, and from up-and-coming YouTube partners with millions of views, like Khan Academy, Steve Spangler Science and numberphile. Schools can also customize their YouTube for Schools experience, adding videos that are only viewable within their school network. Visit YouTube.com/Schools to learn more and sign up today!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Chromebook Classroom Special Offer-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Chromebooks for Education give students, teachers, and administrators a simple solution for fast, intuitive, and easy-to-manage computing. Buy 30 or more Chromebooks and receive a Chromebook charging cart and a Google Cloud Print printer.google.com/chromebook/education

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Google+ ideas for teaching & learning-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Although Google+ is not yet available for under 18s, there are still a number of ways you can harness it for learning in and out of school. Here are a few ideas we have seen from teachers:(1) Universities- Tking or teaching university classes? Visit the new Google+ community page for universities: http://www.google.com/+/learnmore/universities/(2) Lesson resources- Looking for a lesson starter? An image to illustrate a difficult concept? Current events? Within Google+ you can now search public posts and web results. For example type [supply demand] into the bar and find news articles bringing the concept to life, images, etc.(3) Guest speakers- Looking for a guest speaker but can’t afford to bring them to your class or Career Day? Consider having them join via a Hangout, projecting them into your class.(4) Holidays- Looking for easy ways to edit and create images for the holidays? Within Google+ Photos you can choose “Edit” and then “Creative Kit” to access fun editing tools. Add a Christmas hat, a birthday present, and other fun edits
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Google Code-in-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Google Code-in is a contest designed to get students interested in open source software. Students complete tasks in one of eight categories: coding, translation, outreach, documentation, quality assurance, user interface, research, and training. Completion of just one task will get the student a t-shirt and a certificate of participation. More tasks earn the students cash prizes and possibly a grand prize trip to Google’s headquarters with a parent or guardian. You can learn more about the contest and register at www.google-melange.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------App Inventor is Moving to MIT-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------App Inventor was started and incubated in the Google Research Group and now that it is well established it is time for App Inventor reach new heights at MIT!  At the end of December 2011 Google will end support of App Inventor and make the code base open source.  MIT has already begun making plans to run an open source instance of App Inventor and looks forward to furthering the momentum of App Inventor among educators through its newly established Center for Mobile Learning.  To learn more about MIT’s work and get updates on the MIT instance of App Inventor visit: http://mitmobilelearning.org/-- Google for Educatorshttp://www.google.com/educators

Great, free Image editing sites and software

Google is shutting down Picnik soon, so everyone is looking for an alternative for online image editing.

Aviary offers a suite of online image services that include screen capture, image editing and much more. It's free to use and very powerful. Read more here: Aviary image tools




Paint.net is not online, but it is a free download that is easy to use and extremely powerful tool for Windows. It has layers, special effects and much more and the keyboard shortcuts make it very fast to use.


iPiccy is a service I just learned about from Steve Dembo over at Discovery Education. iPiccy requires no login, is easy to use, and has tons of features. You can upload pictures, enter a URL to a picture or import a picture.

So, even though Picnik is going away, there are some great, free options for image editing.

NASA Space Science Education Resource Directory - lots of great stuff

The NASA Space Science Education Resource Directory is a one-stop-shopping site to find NASA space science resources for education. You can search by grade/subject, topic, or do a custom search by keyword.

The searches bring you to a listing of NASA resources including web links, downloadable materials and more.

This is a great way to easily find some of the excellent resources that NASA has for education.


Other resources from NASA for Education

Great LiveBinder on Differentiation for High Ability Users

Differentiation is a very important part of education. Students are different, learn differently, show their learning in different ways and have different abilities.

I recently found a great LiveBinder on "Differentiation for High Ability Users" that has some great ideas, links, resources and lesson resources for differentiating lessons, assessments, and more for high ability learners. The ideas are also great for differentiating for every learner.



Related:

LiveBinders - organize any materials in an online binder

BioBuilder - informative animations and activities for synthetic biology

BioBuilder is a free resource with animations and activities about synthetic biology. The animations are about the interactions between a lab scientist and a learner as they brainstorm about topics and issues in science, engineering, technology and even community. There are also lab activities available.

There are also "bioprimers" which are one page curriculum resources to go with the animations for high schools and early college.

Synthetic Biology: "Synthetic biologists apply engineering principles and extend genetic engineering techniques to construct new genetic systems". This is a new field with lots of implications. 

There is also another website that has some other great resources and ideas for using BioBuilder. 

http://openwetware.org/wiki/BioBuilding:_Synthetic_Biology_for_Teachers

Zumodrive shutting down - here are some alternatives for file backup and sync

I just received an email this morning from ZumoDrive stating that they are shutting down. The email had information on how to save your files and also talked about Motorola moving the service to MotoCast in the future. For more information on the shut down: http://support.zumodrive.com/kb/general/zumodrive-shutdown-faq. 

I have already moved all of my files out of ZumoDrive and will be just using Dropbox and Sugarsync as my main backup and sync services.

Here are some other cloud file sync and backup services:

Dropbox is a service that allows you to sync your files on your computer with their system as a backup. This also allows you to access the files anywhere. You can also sync the files across multiple computers. This means that you have automatic backup of your files and 24/7 access to your files. There are apps for iOS, Android, webOS and Blackberry. You can even share files and folders with others. 

SugarSync - Sugarsync is another powerful sync and backup service. You can have it back up your files on their server, and sync the files among multiple computers. You get 5GB for free and there are fee based plans with more storage. You can access your files through any web browser and there are mobile apps and a mobile site. 

The Websync feature is also nice. If you are accessing your files through the website, you can select "Edit with websync" and a Java program will download a temp copy of your file, allow you to edit and save it and then upload the new version. You can also share files with others through email or the web.

Box.net, an online data storage service, is offering 50GB of free online storage for iOS users in an effort to compete against iCloud. If you sign up using your iOS device before December 2nd, you'll get the 50GB account for free.

Box also gave out free 50GB accounts to all owners of HP TouchPad webOS tablets. I found it to be a bit cumbersome to use. It doesn't sync files like Dropbox or Sugarsync and it is a pain to upload files. However, 50GB of free online storage is pretty cool.

Google Docs - you can upload any type of file (up to 250MB each) and you get 1GB of storage free. You can purchase additional storage at $0.25/GB/year, which is a good deal. There is no automatic sync built in. There are some 3rd party applications that you can use (like GDocBackup, which I use.) It doesn't sync to your desktop or backup automatically, but it is still very useful. 

Amazon Cloud Drive is Amazon's version of online file storage. It comes with 5GB of free storage and you can upgrade to 20GB of storage by purchasing an Amazon MP3 album. There are also other levels of storage that you can pay for (up to 1000GB for $1000/yr).

The service does not mention anything about file syncing, just that you upload your files to their servers and then you can access the files from any computer. You can upload documents, musics, photos and video and download and preview them from any computer.

You can stream your music files from the service and any music you purchase from Amazon are stored on the Cloud Drive for free and don't affect your storage capacity.

CX is a new file sync, share and backup service, similar to Dropbox or Sugarsync that I just learned about from the Education Technology Blog.

CX allows you to backup your files, sync them across multiple devices, share your files and collaborate on them with others, and even discover new ideas and friends.

A free account starts off at 10GB of storage, which is more that the other services offer. Like the other services, you can earn more storage for referring others to sign up (to a maximum of 16GB). There are also paid plans with more storage (50GB, 100GB and custom amounts).

It is currently available for iOS and Android is coming soon. No mention of other mobile OS's.

What is unique is that every file you share has a comment system so you can share it and collaborate with others on it.

Pogoplug, a company that already has streaming and sharing devices, announced a new service: Pogoplug Cloud.

The Pogoplug Cloud service provides 5GB of free storage and allows users to store their files online. They can then access, share, or stream the content from their mobile device. You sign up directly from any mobile phone, web browser, or tablet. You can purchase additional online storage also. 50GB is $9.95 per month and 100GB is $19.95 per month. Pricing is similar to many other cloud storage systems.

One thing that is different is that you can host a private, unlimited cloud for no monthly fees by purchasing a Pogoplug box ($99) and connecting it to your network.

Pogoplug will automatically upload photos and videos from your mobile phone to your Pogoplug cloud with no syncing required. (I have Sugarsync set up to do this on my Android phone). You can share anything in your cloud through email, Facebook, Twitter and Google+ and even create shared folders. You can also stream videos, photos, and musics to your phone.

There are free apps for iOS and Android.

SpiderOak is another free backup, sync, sharing and storage system. It works on Windows, Mac OS and Linux.

There is a free 2GB account and you can earn up to 50GB of free storage by referring friends.

It's another great way to make sure that your files are backed up and available to you any where.






How do you backup, sync, and store your data?

Mind the Gap - Google encourages women to enter Computer Science

It's a well known fact that engineering is dominated by men. A group of women at Google in Israel is trying to change that through a program they started in 2008 called "Mind the Gap!". This program encourages girls to pursue math, science and technology education and careers. Girls visit Google's office and tech conferences to talk to female engineers and get more interested in engineering. Data shows participants are more likely to go into STEM fields than those who didn't participate.

You can read more at the projects homepage: http://cse.proj.ac.il/index_units.htm 

This is a great program and I hope more companies will look at doing this to help encourage STEM education and careers.


Source:

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/mind-gap-encouraging-women-to-study.html

Infographic on the digital divide - interesting data

All educators know that students have different access to technology, internet access, prior knowledge and experiences etc. The infographic below has some interesting data on the digital divide including lack of computer and broadband access by poor students, by race and around the world.



Created by: Online IT Degree