Great collection of charts comparing EdTech tools

Richard Byrne has created some great charts comparing EdTech tools over at his blog, .

He has charts comparing:

Alternatives to Google Image Search
Backchannel and informal assessment tools
Building classroom websites
Building classroom blogs
Creating multimedia textbooks
Creating multimedia quizzes
Audio editing tools
Multimedia timeline tools
Mind-mapping tools
Mobile video creation apps

Head on over and take a look. These are very useful when trying to find and select a tool to use.

iPad Apps 4 Schools - great site with info and resources for iPads in Education

iPad Apps for School is another site from Richard Byrne, author of Free Technology for Teachers and Android 4 Schools. In this site, Richard and his guest authors will be sharing resources and reviews of apps (mostly free) that can be used in K-12 schools, along with ways that those apps can be used in the educational setting by teachers, students, and administrators.


If you use iPads as an educator, administrator, or student, or your school is looking at using them, you should check out this site.


Related:

Android SmartPhone and Apps that I use as an Educator

Android resources - information, news, resources, and more

Technology I use on a Daily Basis - revisited and updated

In September of 2009 I wrote "What Technology I Use on a Daily Basis". Today I was looking at that post and realized how much things change in almost two years. I decided I would update it with what I am using now and why and how I use these technologies.

I'm going to start with how I start my day and then progress through the day and the tech tools I use.

(Click on the links to read more about each technology and how it can be used in education)

1. Smartphone - I have an HP/Palm Pre+ smartphone that I use. In the morning, I use it to check my calendar for the day, emails that came in since I went to bed, lesson plans for the day, and even check Twitter and Facebook. I can make sure I am organized and ready for the day ahead of me. Throughout the day I can check email, check and edit lesson plans, access student information, and so much more.

2. Google Chrome web browser - when I get to school, I start up my desktop computer and launch Google Chrome. I use Google Chrome as my browser for a variety of reasons. It is fast, secure, stable, and works great with all the Google products that I use. It has add-ons and extensions, as well as some of the best tabbed browsing and it syncs my bookmarks and settings with my Google account and across to my Chrome Browser at my home computer and even my Chrome OS CR-48 laptop.

3. Email - I have three email accounts - my personal account, school account, and Gmail account. I have them open in my browser all day, so that when I have a chance between classes or during lunch, I can easily check my email. I use the school account to communicate and connect with colleagues, parents, and students.

4. Google Calendar - I use Google calendar for all of my appointments and scheduling. It automatically syncs with my Pre+ smartphone so I always have an updated schedule. My wife and I share our Google Calendars with each other so that we always know what's going on. I can color code events and activities and even attach files to calendar events.

5. Student Information System - the next tab in my browser is our student information system. My district uses PowerSchool. I take attendance, check information on students, and use the online GradeBook. For teachers, schools, or districts looking for a great free SIS or grade book, check out LearnBoost for a full SIS or Engrade for a great free online grade book.

6. Evernote - Evernote is my next tab and I use it for everything from Lesson Plans, notes from meetings, ideas, resources, and more. I clip web sites and parts of web sites for review and can even upload files and attach them to notes. I can share notes with others. I can access it from any computer and my smartphone.

7. Blogger - I use Blogger for this blog and for blogs for each of my classes. The class blogs contain links to resources for the students and then I post information, lesson resources, assignments, reminders, and much more to the class blog. Students, and even parents, can subscribe to the blog via email or RSS feed and keep up to date with what's going on.

8. Twitter - I use the Chrome app of Tweedeck to access Twitter. Twitter is an awesome resource for educators. I connect, share, and learn with educators from around the world. Twitter is the main source for my Personal Learning Network and is on-demand professional development, resources, and so much more.

9. iGoogle - I use iGoogle as a one page organizational site. I can check gmail, my Google Reader feeds, bookmarks, weather, calendar, Task List, and so much more, from one page. This makes my life easier and more efficient.

10. Google Docs - I use Google docs more than I use Microsoft Office or OpenOffice and have moved most of my class files there. I have class files, presentations, forms, research material and much more in Google Docs. I can save files from the internet to Google Docs with one click and access and edit all of my files from any web browser, and my CR-48 Chromebook, without needing any other software on a computer. I can even share files with others and work collaboratively on files with other people.

11. Google Sites - I use Google sites to create a free website for my classes. I have one website that I use for all of my clases - www.physicsmedic.org. On the site I have class rules, reference information, links, and files from class (presentations, handouts, etc.). I also have sections for new teachers and about educational technology.

12. Discovery Education - Discovery Education has a huge amount of resources I use, from the DEN Blog Network to Streaming Videos, to STEM Resources to lesson plans.

13. Cloud file sync and storage - I use Dropbox and Sugarsync to backup and sync my files between my school computer and my home computer. I can also access these files from any computer. No more worrying about where my flash drive is or if a hard drive crashes. All my files are safely backed up and in sync. 

14. Other software: our school computers run Windows XP. I also use the following software on my school computer: Stardock Object Dock (a great dock to launch programs from), Picasa (photo organizing and editing), GDoc Backup (backup my Google Docs to the hard drive), PowerCalc (Microsoft Scientific/Graphing Calculator), OpenOffice (office suite) and CutePDF writer. All of this software is free.

I have also switched to using Aviary's clipping extension for Chrome to clip graphics from the internet and edit or modify them.

Hardware: I have a teacher station computer in my classroom, along with 8 student desktop computers. I have a printer for the student computers and a printer for my computer along with a scanner. I also have an LCD projector connected to my computer, and a VCR and DVD player connected to the projector. I also use a Keyspan remote to wirelessly control my computer from anywhere in the room. Auxillary speakers are also a must. I also use a Mimio to turn my whiteboard into an interactive whiteboard and also to capture anything that I write on the board. This way, I can share it on the class site for any students that were absent. 

I can project videos, presentations and demonstrations using the projector. The students use the computers during labs, to do online-virtual labs and simulations, to do research, and to work on projects for class. 

That's the main technology I use on a daily basis. If you are just starting to get into using technology as an educator, don't feel overwhelmed. I didn't start using this all at once. Start with one or two things, get good at using them and integrating them into your classroom, and then go from there.

20 Technology Skills that Every Educator Should Have - with resources and help

Digital Learning Environments is a site sponsored by HP and Intel that offers resources and ideas for teachers on how to use technology in education. There are some great ideas and lesson resources for all teachers on the site.



This page on it has 20 Technology Skills that Every Educator Should Have. The list is very extensive, including skills like Google Tools, Wiki's, Blogging, Social Networking and more. 


What's nice is that each skill listed has links to resources related to that skill and how-to sites. 


This is a great place for all educators to use as a place to find resources and tips on how to use them. 

Bloom's Taxonomy and Technology - great resources for teachers

I just saw this on http://techtoolsforschools.blogspot.com:

University of Southern Indiana has created a great page that has an image of the Bloom's Taxonomy triangle with  links to different technology tools that you can use in each area of Bloom's Taxonomy. It's really great as a way to find some new tools to use when creating lessons.

21 Things for the 21st Century Educator

21 Things for the 21st Century Educator is a site based on the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers. It has a huge amount of resources that help teachers learn about technologies and how to use them in their schools to improve teaching and learning.

It includes information, links, resources, tips, and how-to's about collaboration tools, differentiated instruction, blogging, productivity tools and much more (21 categories!).

There are also some links to NETS and other Ed Tech resources for teachers.

I've found some really great resources and ideas on this site and highly recommend it to all educators.

The site was recently updated and contains even more great resources.

Adobe Education Exchange

Adobe, like many other technology companies, has an educational component to their website. The Adobe Education Exchange, is a place where educators can find and share resources, lessons, and collaborate on projects. Not everything posted on it has to do with Adobe products and services.

The site is free to sign up for and easy to use. The site is divided into three sections: Find a Resource, Share a Resource, and Collaborate. Search is also available.

I have found some great resources on the site and will be adding some shortly.

Jonathan Bird's Blue World

Jonathan Bird's Blue World is an Emmy award winning educational program that explores the wonders of the world's oceans.

The program airs on public television, but the website also has webisodes on the site for you to view. They also have an educators' section with study guides for each episode, sea stories and web links. You can even book him to come to your school and do a presentation (for a fee). He is very dynamic and you can see an example of one of his presentations.

Some of the episode topics include: Sharks, whales, airplane graveyard in the sea, tropical fish, manta rays, and much more. There is also a section with videos describing the SCUBA gear that they use when filming and exploring the oceans.

There is also a blog, http://jonathanbirdsblueworld.blogspot.com/, where they post information and news.

I found the program to be well done and very interesting and the resources on the site for educators were great. Definitely a great resource for your classroom.

On a side note, I actually went to college with Jonathan at WPI. He was two years ahead of me, but was in a band with a friend of mine. He's a great guy and it's great to see another engineer doing educational work.

some of the episodes:

PDF Online - free PDF Services

PDF Online is an online service that has both fee and FREE services relating to PDF files.

One of the free services is "Doc2PDF" that will convert a document to a PDF file. You can only convert files up to 2GB (to convert files up to 10GB you need to subscribe to the premium version).

This is good for people who don't convert many files to PDF. If you want to convert a lot of files to PDF, I suggest CutePDF.

The other free service is "PDF to Word" which converts your PDF documents to RTF Documents for viewing and editing Word. It works very well and fast. After uploading your file, it will convert it and then leave a link for you to download with the converted file.

Another way to do this is with PDF2Word.

PDF files are very handy for sharing files and posting files online. The ability to create them or edit them is very useful for teachers.

Interactive Engineering for 9-11 year olds

Engineering Interact is a great site with interactive lessons for 9-11 year olds that help them explore and learn science and engineering concepts.

The activities fall under the following topics: Light, Sound, Forces and Motion, Earth and Beyond, and Electricity.

The activities are in game form and are well done. I played with two of them and had fun myself.

There is also information about how engineers use the science of that particular topic which is a great way to show them why the topic is important.

I was very impressed with these games and I can actually see them being used for older students up to freshman in high school as a fun way to learn or review the topics.

It was created and is supported by the University of Cambridge Department of Engineering.

The games and activities require FLASH, so you won't be able to use these on an iPad or iPod Touch.

Nat Geo's Traveler's Guide to the Planets

National Geographic's Traveler's Guide to the Planets is a wonderful, fun, visually spectacular resource for students learning about our solar system and the planets. When you first arrive at the site, it has a stunning, exciting opening animation and then it gets to the main page.

The main page, seen above, has two panels. The left side panel allows you to select which planet you want to learn about (Pluto is still listed, Earth is not since we live there) and what you want to know about each planet. The site is set up as a true traveler's guide and includes info such as history, trivia, sites, advice, climate, and luggage. This is a great way to get students to learn about the planets in a new way.

I had a lot of fun going through the site and learned some new things about the planets. It is appropriate for grades 5-12 (and maybe even younger with some teacher help).

CSI: The Experience Web Adventures

CSI: The Experience Web Adventures is a great web site that teaches students about forensics and then gives them virtual cases to work on and apply their knowledge. It is supported by the National Science Foundation and partners Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, American Federation of Forensic Sciences, CBS, and Rice University Center for Technology in Teaching and Learning. Some pretty big names!

There are three different cases for students to solve ranging from beginner to intermediate to advanced. Each case has the student learning new topics and concepts in order to solve the case. The cases are very well written and designed and I had fun trying them out.

The site also has a reference section for help with the cases, topics and characters and the "fun stuff" section has an educators guide with lessons and activities, family guide and more to make the experience even better.

This is a great site and experience for any science student. It is definitely appropriate for grades 9-12 and I think 7-8 could do very well too.

Microsoft Research Worldwide Telescope

Microsoft Research has created Worldwide Telescope.

WorldWide Telescope (WWT) enables your computer to function as a virtual telescope, bringing together imagery from the best ground and space-based telescopes in the world. Experience narrated guided tours from astronomers and educators featuring interestingplaces in the sky.

A web-based version of WorldWide Telescope is also available. This version enables seamless, guided explorations of the universe from within a web browser on PC and Intel Mac OS X by using the power of Microsoft Silverlight 3.0.

Note: The web-based version will ask for more local storage (about 40MB), but that shouldn't be a problem for anyone.

You can just explore the skies by location, constellations, planets, stars, and more. You can select from digitized skies, ultra-violet, and more. You can even look at earth!

There are also guided tours available. These were set up by astronomers and researchers and are very well designed and informative. The guided tours include galaxies, planets, stars, Apollo missions, Mars missions, and much more.

The earth at night view is great to use to show students where the most lighted areas are. The United States and Europe are the brightest areas at night (Japan is pretty bright too).

I had way too much fun playing with this today. I think that this would be a great resource for science classes to show our solar system and galaxy.

50 Free Collaboration Tools That Are Awesome for Education

image from http://www.digitalstrategy.govt.nz/Resources/Publications/digital-strategy-2-draft/draft_collaboration/

This site has a list of 50 free collaboration tools that can help with distance education, group projects, homework collaboration, or working with other schools. The tools allow for group papers, file sharing, communications, and much more. The resources are listed by topic for easy searching.

Some of my favorites: Google Docs, Zoho, Skype, drop.io, Blogger, and Twitter.

I already use some of these, but I found some really good new ones too.

CoSketch.com - Online Whiteboard Collaboration

CoSketch.com is a free service that allows you to create online sketches and share them with other people, in real time.

You can also save your sketch as an image. The sketch tools include text, colors, lines, curves, shapes, and more.

It is completely online and runs in any browser without the need for plugins.

You can also import images and Google maps images.

This would be great for teachers to use with their students, or for student groups to use while at home for collaboration.

one word. so little time.

One word is a simple, free site. It will display one word and give you 60 seconds to write about it.

This is a great resource for helping students write and communicate their thoughts. Simple and easy.

The site also has a blog and podcast.

HP Learning center - free classes

HP's (Hewlett Packard) Learning Center offers free, 24 hour available, online classes on software and technology.

Courses include: Photoshop, digital photography, Microsoft Office, website design, small business tips and technology, PC basics, maintenance, and security, graphic arts, and more.

Three courses I found interesting where "Technology and your elementary school/middle school/high school student"

I took a look at the one for high school students and it provides parents with information about technology that their high school student may be using and ways to keep them safe online.

Many of the courses are great for teachers and students.

WiZiQ Free Online Teaching and E-Learning with Web Conferencing

WiZiQ is a site that provides free hosting for online classes and learning.

Teachers can create free virtual classrooms, create and share online tests and content, and teach live with Moodle.

This would be a great resource to keep resources online for students, create distance learning courses, or provide a learning system for homebound students.

PBS Parents: Your Resource for Parenting Tips & Parenting Advice

PBS Parents is a great site for teachers to use with their own students and to share with parents of younger students.

The site contains information and resources on early childhood development, fun and games, education and your child, and much more.

There are games and activities to help young children learn and develop properly.

The education section has tips on finding appropriate books for different ages and gives parents (and teachers for that matter) tips on helping children learn math and science. Some of the science activities are really well designed and can be done at home. The science concept is related to everyday things, like cooking, and can stimulate their interest in science.

Free Book - Amazing Web 2.0 Projects

Terry Freedman has put together an excellent, free, book entitled "Amazing Web 2.0 Projects." This book has links, resources, tips, and examples of projects to do with your students using Web 2.0 technologies.

Some of the features of the book:

• 87 projects.
• 10 further resources.
• 52 applications.
• 94 contributors.
• The benefits of using Web 2.0 applications.
• The challenges of using Web 2.0 applications.
• How the folk who ran these projects handled the issues...
• ... And what they recommend you do if you run them.
• What were the learning outcomes?

This is a great resource for any teacher. The projects can be easily modified and there is so much other information and links to help educators come up with their own projects. I recommend this to any teacher, especially teachers who are just starting to use Web 2.0 technologies.

It is available for download, for free, as a pdf file. http://www.ictineducation.org/free-stuff/

PS - my blog is listed in the book as a resource.