K-12 Blueprint - tools, research, devices, best practices and more to support effective EdTech projects

K12Blueprint is a great, free resource for technology in education. There are toolkits with information and resources for developing and deploying technology initiatives, information on choosing the right device for your schools, software and apps, curriculum, news, research, and blogs from educators and edtech leaders. The information and resources are timely, relevant and easy to use.

There are even free downloads of 3 different books on edtech and education:

Here are the list of toolkits:

There are a ton of resources and information on this site - take a look around and see what it has to offer.

It is sponsored by Intel Education, Tech&Learning, and Clarity Innovations.


Related:

Ed Tech Pilot Framework - excellent resources for all schools 

Tech&Learning - free Edtech magazine, website and resources for educators




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Ed Tech Pilot Framework - excellent resources for all schools

Digital Promise has released an EdTech Pilot Framework which provides a step-by-step process to help education leaders and technology developers run successful educational technology (ed-tech) pilots.

It is very simple to use and read and has links for more information on each step.

Here is the link to the original article: http://edtech.digitalpromise.org/

One thing to remember - you don't have to do these projects alone. There are plenty of resources available to help you. In addition, check with your technology vendors to see what they have for planning and support resources to help you.

Here is the Framework:

1. Identify Need
2. Discover and Select
3. Planning
4. Train and Implement
5. Collect Data
6. Analyze and Decide
7. Negotiate and Purchase
8. Summarize and Share

Related:

K-12 Blueprint site updated - resources for planning and implementing EdTech 
Tech&Learning - free Edtech magazine, website and resources for educators












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The Benefits of Educational Technology

Most of you reading this will agree that educational technology can help teachers and students - it provides benefits such as organization, efficiency, collaboration, communication, extra help, virtual experiences and so much more.

But, sometimes it's hard to convince others that the expense of technology is worth it and hard to show the benefits. Not everything in education is quantifiable.

Technology helps students:

• they like it better than paper and pen
• provides multimedia to address all learning styles
• provides interactive, student centered activities
• provides extra support and help resources

Technology helps teachers: 

• organization and efficiency
• paperless
• finding lesson resources
• collaborate with other teachers 
• connect with parents

Here's an interesting article about this: Can tech help teachers teach and students learn?

Here's an older article I wrote about this: The How's, Why's and Value of Educational Technology - some really good info and examples here. 

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What's inside your laptop? Cool infographic

Laptops, among other technologies, are both cool and complicated. The infographic below helps people understand the basics of what is inside the laptop and how it works. It's a good starting point for teaching students about technology hardware.



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Innovating Pedagogy Report released - some great information included

The Open University's annual 'Innovating Pedagogy' report has just been published. 2014 is the third year they have published the report, exploring innovations in teaching, learning and assessment. 

It has some interesting information and insight into some technology trends, including Flipped Classrooms, BYOD, storytelling and more. Take a look at here:

http://www.openuniversity.edu/news/news/2014-innovating-pedagogy-report

Great list of app based on task you want students to accomplish

I found this great list of apps and tech tools that are organized based on the task you want students to accomplish. It was out on  Twitter and I can't find the original tweet. What do you want to do...?There's a tech tool for that. pic.twitter.com/kWFciWylLP

Reuse, update and recycle old technology

Technology changes rapidly and it seems like something you just bought last week is already outdated and replaced by something new. Some people and companies are always buying the latest and greatest technology, but schools, and most people, can't afford to do that. So, what can we do?

One thing is to reuse old technology for new purposes. I use an old Palm PDA as my backup alarm clock. I can set repeating alarms for each day and when it goes off, the screen turns on, adding a visual alarm along with the sound. I use my old Palm Centro phone as a backup remote control for the TV, DVD, and VCR. It has an IR transmitter and an app that has all of the programs in it. I also have an old netbook that I still use. It is my remote back up system. It has Dropbox and Sugarsync on it and backs up those accounts, along with my Google Drive and Google Accounts and Evernote. This means that all of my data is on my main computer, this netbook, those systems, and my mobile devices. Great way to reuse an old device.

You can update old technology and give it new life. With thousands of computers in our district, many are very old. Yet for a small amount of money, we can get them running better and longer. We have been updating hard drives and RAM for a fraction of the cost of a new device and they run great. We also move the older computers for the lower grades student use since the software they use does not need high end devices. We even have very old LCD projectors out there that work fine. We are taking old laptops and updating the RAM and re imaging them. Most of the services and apps that the schools are using are all going web based so these older laptops, using a browser like Google Chrome, will be perfectly adequate and will be used like Chromebooks for web based apps only.

As schools got computer projectors and streaming video, TV's with VCRs and DVDs have been sitting idle. We just found some converters that allow you to connect your computer to a TV. Since we have some great, large TVs, we can use these converters to allow teachers who do not have a computer projector to share their computer image with their class.

You can also recycle your old technology, and even get some money for it. We have lots of old computers that need to be disposed of, along with printers, fax machines and old monitors. There are a variety of companies out there that will not only take away your old technology, they will pay you for it. They even certify that the data is securely erased. The only thing they don't pay for is the old monitors, but they also don't charge to hall them away and properly dispose of them.

Don't just throw away your old technology, find new uses, new lives, or at least get some cash for it.


How do you reuse and recycle your old technology?

Do I own too many gadgets? Nah!

I was looking at all of my gadgets and I was wondering if I have too many. Here's a list of what I personally own and how I use them.

1. Android Smartphone - I use it every day for everything from email, to web browsing, Evernote, calendar, phone calls, Netflix, Kindle, accessing files, and much more.

2. Nexus 7 Tablet - email, web browsing, Evernote, Netflix, music, Kindle and more. Use it for travle and conferences. Love the 7" form factor - bigger screen than smartphone, but easier to hold than a full size tablet.

3. HP TouchPad Tablet - pretty much everything I use 1 and 2 for, but in a larger form factor. My wife also uses it alot. I have Android dual booting on it, but mainly use the webOS boot. It was a great tablet that had a lot of promise before it was cancelled.

4. Laptop - my full size laptop serves as my home computer. It has Windows 7 and I can do anything on it. It is also the main place my files are stored. All the files are also backed up through SugarSync and Dropbox, Google Drive and to an external drive. They are also backed up to my Netbook (see #7 below)

5. Livescribe Pen and notebook - I use this to take notes at meetings. It automatically syncs the notes via WiFi to my Evernote account. I can then access the notes anywhere. I take notes very quickly with a pen and can add symbols and drawings with it. Much better than using a keyboard or tablet and stylus.

6. Chromebook - I have a CR-48 Chromebook that I use as a lightweight laptop. The keyboard makes content creation and data/writing things much easier than on a tablet. I also use it to test out apps for our district's Chromebook initiative.

7. Netbook - I used to use the Netbook as my travel device. Now it is a great backup device for travel and portability, but it is also a data backup device. All of my files and data are backed up to Sugarsync and Dropbox and Google Drive and then they are also synced to the Netbook. I also have my Evernote account backed up here. Great way to use an older device.


So, what do you think? Too many tech toys, or just enough, or not enough?

Center for Digital Education - great, free resource on education and technology

The Center for Digital Education, formerly known as Converge, is a great site with lots of information about education and technology, including news, grants, product reviews, case studies, examples of digital education and much more.

You can subscribe to the site RSS feed and/or to email newsletters to keep up to date. There is always good  information and resources that can be of use to educators.

Infographic on Technology in the Classroom - What Teachers Want

An interesting infographic from PBS on what teachers want for technology in the classroom:

Related:

10 Essential Educational Resources for Teachers - my list

Great cheat sheet on Ed Tech topics and terminology

Edudemic has a great infographic and cheat sheet on educational technology terminology from Boundless. This will help new and veteran teachers with some of the terminology being used in education.

Check it out:

4 Ways Technology Helps To Diversify Education

Written by Jonathan Trent— Writer for NextUC.com, providing expertise in everything from Microsoft Lync to video conferencing to online collaboration software.

As technology advances, a greater number of countries are embracing the use of it in classrooms. While the U.S. is moving in that direction there seems to be some hesitation in deciding what technology should be used. Other countries are focusing on how to integrate it while we determine if we should. Here is a list of four ways technology is changing the face of education.


More Accurate Assessment

Traditionally assessments are given to determine a student’s proficiency in a subject. The problem with previous assessment styles is they are dependent on a students testing ability. Some students can retain enough information to answer questions accurately while not fully understanding the meaning of the information or lacking a working knowledge of the concept. While others who may understand fully lack the skills to explain their knowledge effectively. New technology allows teachers to give assessments where students have to work through multiple steps of a problem so the teacher is able to see their thought process rather than just coming up with an answer. This way, teachers can access a child’s full understanding and see clearly where the breakdown in understanding is.


Clear, Realistic Simulations and Models 

While some things can easily be explained in a classroom or by using textbooks, some concepts are easier to understand if the children can see them. When explaining things like DNA structure or how molecules interact with other molecules technology can give you a visual that we have never had before. Digital simulations are most useful in explaining concepts that are too big or too small, or processes that happen too slowly or too quickly to demonstrate in a traditional classroom.


The World At Their Fingertips

Technology is providing a way for students to experience the world in ways that where previously not available to them, without expensive travel. They are able to visit historic sites virtually and learn about how people live in other parts of the world. Foreign languages can be learned from a native speaker by way of an easy video chat.


Class Size

The use of technology in classrooms may be the answer to the problem with class size. As more classrooms move towards fully integrated technology programs, teachers are able to help more students. When children are actively engaged in what they are learning through online programs, the teacher is not the only source of information in the classroom. Parents also have greater access to their child’s progress and are better able to support the schools efforts from home.

Related:

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

My Favorite Resources for Students and Educators

Differentiating with Web 2.0 Technologies

Technology I use Everyday as an Educator

Unfettered by Stuff - or "Why I don't lug stuff home every night"
Google for Educators

Evernote for Educators

EdTech Magazine's 50 Must Read EdTech Blogs & my additions to list

EdTech Magazine is a great, free website that has tons of articles, resources, product and service reviews, information and more about edtech topics and products. It is a great resource for any educator, educational technology specialist or director, or technology personnel.

They just published an article "50 Must Read K-12 IT Blogs" that is a list, with short description and link, of 50 different edtech blogs. I was surprised, and honored, to find myself on the list. There are some great blogs on there, like Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne, David Warlick's Blog, Vicki Davis' Cool Cat Teacher Blog, David Pogue's tech blog on the NY Times, Tech&Learning Magazine's blog section, and many more.

I would have also included the following blogs in the list:



1.  Cybrary Man's Educational Web Sites - Jerry has created a one-stop-find-everything resource for educational topics and edtech resources. If you can't find it here, it doesn't exist. Period.

2.  Technology Tidbits: Thoughts of a Cyber-Hero - David Kapuler's blog is a great place to find tons of great educational resources and apps.

3. Connected Principals - a great blog for ideas and resources on edtech, and education, from an administrator's viewpoint.




4. Discovery Educator Network Blogs - great resource with links, ideas, resources and much more - not just on Discovery Education materials either.


Remember, if you weren't on this list and are an edtech blogger, don't worry. These lists, like all lists, are fun, great to be mentioned on, but don't mean your blog isn't an awesome resource too!

Tips to Extend Computer Projector Lamp Life

Tips to Extend Projector Lamp Life is a nice infographic from Project Lamps World that has some really good tips for helping you extend the lamp life of your computer projector. Most teachers now-a-days use a computer projector in their classroom (I think it is an essential tool for all classrooms). The projectors can go for $500-$3000 dollars with replacement lamps costing 30-50% of the original projector cost. Extending the life of your lamp is a very good thing to do.

I would also add another tip to this - do not wrap the video cable tightly and make sure it is not bent or stretched too much when being used. Many of the projector "failures" I deal with are actually issues with the video cable.

10 Essential Education Resources for Educators 

10 Technology Skills Every Educator Should Have

This past January I wrote "10 Tech Skills Every Student Should Have" and I have decided to modify it for the "10 Tech Skills Every Educator Should Have". Here's my list.

Overall, educators need to understand some basics about technology and that it is not a be-all-end-all solution to everything in a classroom. Technology can help teachers differentiate and provide new experiences for their students. Technology can also help students better understand a concept and provide extra help for them. Educators need to start with good pedagogy and lesson objectives and activities and then look for technology that can enhance those lessons, improve teaching and learning, and help students learn.

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

1. Internet Search and Research - educators need to know how to do a proper internet search, using search terms and modifiers. This skill is needed for school, work and life in general. They also need to be able to teach proper internet search skills to their students, no matter what class they are teaching. They need to know where to find scholarly and peer-reviewed materials to use.
Tips on Better Searches (from Google)
Infographic on Better Searches
Common Craft Video on Web Search Strategies

UPDATED thanks to a great comment below.
2. Office Suite Skills Productivity Apps - Word Processing, Spreadsheets, Presentation Tools, Note taking and organization apps- educators need to now how to create, edit, and modify documents, presentations, and spreadsheets. They need to know how to use different productivity tools as an educator and how to show students how to use them. Businesses still use MS Office for the most part, but iWorks, OpenOffice / LibreOffice, and Google Docs are all getting more popular. They all work similarly so the learning curve when switching isn't that big. Most teachers know the basics. but many don't know about the alternatives to MS Office or some of the really great features (like charts and graphs in Excel) that are helpful to them and their students. Teachers should also know how to use things like digital calendars, to-do lists, note taking apps, and more to get organized and get digital.
Evernote for Education - take notes, clip from the web, upload files, and much more
Google for Education - Docs, calendar, tasks, email, and much more




3. Self learning of tech and where to go for help - knowing how to search a help menu on software or hardware, where to go to find user forums for help, and where to find the manual for technology is a huge skill that many do not know about. I am amazed at how many educators don't know where to go for help, outside of asking another teacher. This goes along with internet search also - being able to find what you need to help you figure out how to do something.
Free Tech Tips and Help
TechEase - technology tips
Online Tech Tips - hardware, software, and more
Tech Support help


4. Finding Free Resources and Sources of Funding for Technology - budgets are constantly shrinking and teachers need to make due with less. Knowing how to find funding for technology or find free technology is very important. It's also important to look at different ways of providing technology in schools, whether it is through computer labs, 1-1 laptops, or Bring Your Own Device (students bring own tech). This skill can help teachers, schools, and districts save money in certain areas (apps and services) to have more money for other areas (hardware).
Why do schools still pay so much for software? Free alternatives to paid software and services.
DonorsChoose - get materials for your classroom project funded
Tips for saving money and finding free resources for school



5. Social Media - how to properly use social media for school and work, how to protect yourself on it, the issues of cyberbullying, connecting with others in your profession (PLN). Many educators are use social media for their personal life, but not enough are using it in their professional life. I learn so much from Twitter and Google+ because of the people and web sites I follow there. This goes along with number 3 - self learning. I get more "professional development" out of a week of participating in social media than I have in 10 years of traditional professional development. Educators need to get online as part of their profession.
Twitter, Google+, Facebook comparison
Twitter, Facebook, RSS, Email, Google+ - tips on use
Facebook and Google+ security and privacy
Common Craft Video on Social Media
Create a Personal Learning Network


UPDATED thanks to a great comment below.
6. Netiquette  Digital Citizenship - Internet/Email/Social Media etiquette - proper way to use the internet, write professional emails, use social media in relation to your job (not complaining about the boss). Using the web and social media with students, share proper use with them.
Netiquette - Wikipedia


7. Security and Safety - antivirus, spam, phishing, too much personal information sharing, stalkers, and more are all issues they need to know about. Educators need to be aware of this for their own protection, and to teach their students these important topics.
Internet Safety Resources
Google Family Safety Center
Google Good to Know online safety and internet data
Common Craft Video on Secure Passwords


8. Hardware basics and troubleshooting - knowing what different parts of technology are called, how to make minor fixes, and how to do basic troubleshooting for WiFi, networks, OS won't load, etc.
Free Tech Tips and Help
TechEase - technology tips
Online Tech Tips - hardware, software, and more
Tech Support help


9. Backup data - with all of the data that educators create for school and work, it is important to back it up and have access to it at any time. I deal with educators all the time who have lost their flash drive or had a flash drive die and never backed up their files somewhere else. The era of the flash drive is gone. Cloud computing it where it's at.
Backup your Data - tools and resources
Google Takeout - export your Google data


10. Finding apps and software - how to find, evaluate, and use apps for school and business. Also, how to find quality, free alternatives to paid software, apps and services. Part of this for educators includes not only finding apps and software, but making sure that they aren't using these just to use technology. The lesson objectives come first and then you can look for technology that can enhance the lesson or help students.
Quixey - Search engine for apps
Free Alternatives to Paid Software
Google Apps Resources
Free Apps
On device apps/software vs. web apps
SmartPhone Experts - apps, reviews, tech tips, and more for all smartphones


Bonus:

11. Copyright and Citing Sources - educators need to understand copyright laws and rules, how to cite a resource, and how to integrate someone else's work into their's properly. This is pretty timely considering that some educators have been stealing my blog work (along with other blogger's work) without following proper copyright procedures.
Taking the Mystery out of Copyright
Citation Help



What do you think are the top tech skills educators need to know?





Related:

My Favorite Resources for Students and Educators

Differentiating with Web 2.0 Technologies

Technology I use Everyday as an Educator

Unfettered by Stuff - or "Why I don't lug stuff home every night"
Google for Educators

Evernote for Educators

25 Free Resources from Discovery Education

Technology has Helped During Absences and Injuries

Tools to Go Paperless in School

InTechsWeTrust - community of educational technology coordinators - join and network

InTechsWeTrust is a community of educational technology coordinators. The site is a forum with different categories and discussions about educational technology issues, news, ideas, and more.

The forums are a great place to learn, share, collaborate, and network with other educators.

You can also follow them on Twitter @intechswetrust 

The Death of Worksheets - guest post

The Death of Worksheets

Educational technology has the power to dramatically transform classrooms and enhance learning for students of all ages.  This blog alone contains links to hundreds of amazing apps, websites, and tech tools.  But what is it that those online resources should be replacing in schools?  

I hereby nominate... the worksheet.  “Death by worksheet” has become a common occurrence in schools, so much so that some teachers (and even students) can no longer imagine learning taking place without them.  Yet worksheets are static, unable to adapt to individual students’ answers as they work through a lesson.  Worksheets are also fake: students’ work on them is generally not spent solving real problems or communicating with real audiences.

It’s time for a new vision.  With the help of technology, we can replace the worksheet with the following:

• Adaptive, differentiated content:  The work we ask students to do should always be in their zone of proximal development.  Adaptive technologies exist that can give students harder or easier math questions, for example, based on their previous answers.  This should be the new norm.

• Project-based learning:  Turning the whole model of student work on its head, project-based learning allows students to learn through real-life, hands-on, complex projects instead of worksheets.  Which task is more genuine: having a middle school class run a government simulation where they actually take on governmental roles and work to pass laws and govern fairly, or having that same class complete a collection of worksheets covering that same government information?

• Multimedia content:  Students should given the opportunity to learn content by watching engaging videos, looking at photos, and listening to podcasts instead of simply reading from worksheets.

• Genuine audiences:  Student work should have real value and be directed to real audiences.  Instead of completing worksheets, students should be doing things like writing blog posts, creating podcasts, and designing artwork for others to actually enjoy.

What if you weren’t allowed to use any worksheets with your students for one week?  Completely banning worksheets from your practice for a set period of time will force you to find other methods of instruction, practice, and assessment for your students.  Who knows?  You might find that a short no-worksheet experiment leads to the end of “death by worksheet” in your class, perhaps even replacing it with the death of worksheets.

About the Author:
Neven Jurkovic’s interest in teaching mathematics with technology developed while pursuing a Master of Science degree at Southwest Texas State University. Apart from publishing a number of papers on the application of artificial intelligence in elementary mathematics problem solving, Neven is the creator of Algebrator, a widely used math tutoring software.  Currently, he lives in San Antonio, TX and is the CEO of Softmath: http://softmath.com/  

Education Eye - mapping innovations - find some cool new things

Education Eye is a unique site that curates new innovations and ideas to make it easier to find them. There are articles, links, resources, and much more. You can browse or search for items and if you create a free account you can bookmark and track your history. You can also suggest innovations.

The site curates new, relevant and useful innovations from around the web each day. You can view the top ones for each day or search.

This is a great way to discover, explore and share new ideas. It tracks educational websites, blogs, forums, case studies and more.

Teachers can use this to find ideas for class or to enrich themselves and students can use it for research and inspiration.

Google - The Story of Send - what happens to an email after "Send"

Google Green is a site about how Google is working to decrease it's impact on the environment. There is some great information on there about it's initiatives like goats instead of lawnmowers, wind power, efficiency, and more.

One of the really interesting pages on the site is the "Story of Send" which gives you a behind-the-scenes look at what happens to an email after you hit send through animations, videos, and photos.

It details how data travels from your device, through the internet service provider, to Google's data centers and then onward. It explains how they filter for spam and scan for viruses and even how they are minimizing their impact on the environment.

There are videos and photos, along with descriptions, on the site.

This is a great resource for students to learn more about the internet and data, as well as environmental issues.

Check it out: http://www.google.com/green/storyofsend/desktop/ 

Penveu - turn any surface into an interactive display

Penveu is a new device that allows you to turn any surface into an interactive display. It's a small, handheld device shaped like a teardrop. It has four buttons, a scroll bar, and a toggle switch for changing between pen and mouse modes.

It can be used up to 40 feet away from the screen. There is no other hardware required and it doesn't require any drivers or software installation and works on any platform. You can also use it to store screenshots on it's internal memory.

It seems like it's a combination of a presentation remote control and interactive white board pen. Ti's wireless and interacts with the image on a flatscreen or a projection on a wall. You can draw directly on the screen or surface, just like on a tablet or IWB, and even gesture in the air to control things and add notes and annotations.

There is a table top box that doubles as the connection and a storage area. It connects to the screen or projector using a VGA connection.

It's less expensive than an IWB and portable. It will be available this coming July. The 8GB education version starts at $500.

This could be very useful for educators and conference presenters who want to have an interactive display without needing other equipment.

Here's a video showing how it works:

Related:

MimioTeach system - great tools for teachers - IWB, CRS, Doc Camera, and more