Fresh Takes 4 Teachers
How to Use QuickCite to Create MLA 8 Citations
QuickCite is a new tool that helps students create properly formatted MLA 8 citations. As I wrote earlier this week, QuickCite can also be used
Ed Tech Fitness Challenges for Back-to-School Season
As some of you know, at the beginning of 2019 I started another little blog called Ed Tech Fitness. I started it as a means
How to Use Creative Commons Search
Whenever I talk to students and teachers about creating multimedia projects I always encourage using images that are either owned by them or are in
How to Clear the Ambient Noise from a Podcast Recording
One of the things that can ruin an otherwise good podcast is an annoying hiss or similar ambient noise in the background. Fortunately, there are
The Cost of Owning a Car – Free Lesson Plan
The cover image on my personal Facebook page is currently a picture of my first car. I’m pretty sure I paid $1500 for it which
5 Highlights of Getting Organized With Google Classroom, Calendar, and Keep
This Thursday at 4pm ET I’m hosting a Practical Ed Tech Webinar titled Get Organized With Google Classroom, Calendar, and Keep. It is the first
QuickCite – A Site That Helps Students Properly Format Citations
From the developer of the popular Flippity service comes a new tool designed for students. That tool is called QuickCite and it helps students properly
Create a Directory App for Your School
Last week’s most popular post was Dozens of Apps for Physical Education. In that post I highlighted the work that Kevin Shephard at Support REAL
Phys Ed, Notes, and Updates – The Week in Review
Good afternoon from sunny Paris, Maine. The summer is passing too quickly now as evidenced by the sudden reappearance of “back to school” commercials on
Get Organized With Google Classroom, Calendar, and Keep
The primary way that Free Technology for Teachers stays afloat is through the sale of my on-site professional development workshops and professional development webinars. As
How to Embed Google Docs Into Your Blog Posts
One of the things that makes Google Documents popular is that you can easily publish your documents for anyone to read online even if they
How to Use Flipgrid to Create Whiteboard Videos
A couple of days ago Flipgrid released some new features that all teachers can use in the new school year. Those new features include tools
What is Two-Factor Authentication? – And Why You Should Use It
Last night I had a chat with someone who had her Netflix account hacked. The hacker changed her password and the email address associated with
ClassHook Gets a New Look
ClassHook is a service that I recommend trying when you’re looking for video clips to illustrate a concept and don’t want just another “how to”
Great New Features Added to Flipgrid
Just in time for the start of the new school year Flipgrid has rolled-out new features for teachers and students. I tried them out this
Five Google Product Updates for Teachers to Note
Every month Google pushes updates to all of their products. The ISTE conference is held in June so there were a lot of updates made
Seven Microsoft Product Updates for Teachers to Note
Over the last six or seven weeks Microsoft has rolled-out some notable updates to their products that teachers and students use most. I’ve covered some
Last Day to Get Practical Ed Tech On-demand Webinars
As I announced a couple of weeks ago, at the end of July all of the Practical Ed Tech on-demand webinars from the 2018-19 school
Gmail, Posters, and Quizzes – The Month in Review
Good morning from Maine where it’s nice and cool after a big thunderstorm rolled through breaking the heat and humidity we’d been experiencing. We have
Dozens of Apps for Physical Education
Glide is in my top five favorite new tools in 2019. Glide makes it incredibly easy for anyone who can make a spreadsheet to make
Knowt – Quickly Turn Notes Into Practice Quizzes
Knowt is a free service that students can use to quickly turn their notes into practice quizzes. I recently learned about it from Larry Ferlazzo
Why Do Whales Sing? – A Lesson Prompted by My Daughters
As you may know, I have two toddler-age daughters. So as you might guess, our bathtub is full of bath toys. One of those toys
Google Announces Transformation Reports for G Suite for Education
Earlier today Google announced the launch of a new product called Google for Education Transformation Reports. Through Transformation Reports school administrators will be able to
How to Use the Read-aloud Function in Microsoft Edge
Edge is Microsoft’s web browser that replaced their classic Internet Explorer. Edge has a lot of handy features including a customizable read-aloud function. The read-aloud
Alt Text, Google Keep, and Posters – The Week in Review
Good morning from sunny Paris, Maine where it’s going to be a great day to play outside. Before my kids wake up and and we
Changes Coming to the Popular GeoGuessr Geography Game
GeoGuessr is a fun geography game that I’ve been playing and sharing with others for the last six years. As I wrote back in 2014
Sharks in Street View!
On Friday morning I shared a few good resources for learning about sharks. Another neat way for students to learn about sharks is through the
Lewis & Clark in Google Earth – And Lesson Plans for K-12
This morning while browsing through Google Earth looking for a resource about sharks for Shark Week (I found it) I came across a Google Earth
How to Design Posters and Print Them With a Standard Printer
I got my first “back to school” email this week which was a jolting reminder of just how quickly time flies during summer break. The
Three Good Resources for Shark Week
This Sunday is the start of Discovery’s annual Shark Week. A couple of weeks ago I shared SciShow Kids’ Super Sharks lesson. That’s a nice
Three More Recommended Resources for Teaching Civics and Government
Earlier this week I published a blog post in which I shared the resources that I shared with a reader who had emailed me seeking
Five More Handy Features of Google Keep
Last week I published a video that highlighted ten handy features of Google Keep. Since then a few people have emailed me to point out
Two Alternatives to the New Twitter Interface
If you’re one of the many people who doesn’t like the new Twitter interface, I’m one of them, you don’t have to use it in
Ginger Ale, Stomach Aches, and Placebos
Over the weekend and through the first part of this week I was stricken with a flu-like bug that had me doing nothing more than
Last Week to Get Six Practical Ed Tech Webinars
One of the ways that I’m able to keep Free Technology for Teachers going is through the sale of my in-person workshops and professional development
Three Recommended Resources for Teaching Civics and Government
Yesterday I received an email from a reader who was looking for my recommendation for a few resources for teaching a government or civics course.
Crowdsourcing Civil War Document Transcription
Last fall the Library of Congress launched a new online initiative called Crowd. As the name implies, it’s a crowdsourcing project that anyone who registers
How to Add Alt Text to Images and Videos in Google Slides
Alt text is text that you can add to images and videos to describe what they are and or what they contain. Adding alt text
The 6,000 Calorie Challenge – A Lesson in Sports Nutrition
At the end of June I completed a double century bike ride and in the process ate as much as I possibly could without feeling
Canva Adds New Trifold Design Templates
Canva has been my go-to graphic design tool for the last half decade. It’s a tool that’s easy to use and makes those of us
Quick Videos, Google Keep, and Camp – The Week in Review
Good afternoon from Everett, Washington where we’re attending a family wedding. It has been a busy week as I hosted the Practical Ed Tech Summer
Another Great Source of Ed Tech Tools Tutorial Videos
On Thursday I shared my playlist of more than 300 Google tools tutorial videos. Today I’d like to highlight someone else’s YouTube channel. Brad Dale
Neil and Buzz Go For a Walk – A Tour of the First Hours on the Moon
This weekend marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing. By now you’ve probably seen Google’s Google Earth story about the mission. If
300+ Google Tools Tutorial Videos
In early 2015 I started to make an effort to publish more tutorial videos on my YouTube channel. Since then I’ve created more than 1,000 tutorial
Common Craft Explains How to Craft Clear Email Communication
Love it or hate it, email is a part of our daily work lives. And for our students of middle school age or older it’s
Ten Handy Google Keep Features for Teachers and Students
Google Keep is a great tool that students and teachers can access through G Suite for Education and through Gmail. Google Keep works just as
What’s the Fastest Tire Pressure? – A Science Lesson
Global Cycling Network is a popular YouTube channel that produces high-quality videos about all aspects of bicycle riding. The videos are hosted by retired professional
Quik – Quickly Create Audio Slideshow Videos
Quik is a free app from GoPro for quickly creating videos on your Android or iOS phone or tablet. With the app installed on you
See What’s Behind Any Webpage With Mozilla’s X-Ray Goggles
One of the topics that we talked about during the Practical Ed Tech Summer Camp was digital literacy and critical thinking. To that end, I
Find and Share National Parks Stories
A buffalo I saw while hiking in Grand Teton in 2006. Find Your Park is a U.S. National Parks service website. The purpose of the
Pros and Cons of Using Social Media for School Announcements
Today at the Practical Ed Tech Summer Camp I was asked for my opinion about using Facebook as the primary tool for posting information for
A Chrome Extension That Shows You the Value of Your Time
Time Is Money is a free Chrome extension that can help students see what the expression “time is money” means. Time Is Money will display the number of
How to Use Feedly
I’m often asked how I keep up with what’s new in educational technology. Part of the answer to that question is social media and part
Zip Tapestry – Demographic Data and More, Mapped
Zip Lookup is an interesting use of the ESRI mapping platform. The map allows you to enter any US zip code to discover demographic data about
Green Screens, Posters, and Books – The Week in Review
Good afternoon from Maine where I’m enjoying watching a replay of today’s Tour de France stage after a fun morning participating in a team triathlon.
A Super Shark Lesson for Kids for Shark Week
Every summer Discovery runs a week of programming all about sharks. They call it Shark Week and it usually has some interesting content even if
The Science of Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Like most toddlers, my daughters love grilled cheese sandwiches. I enjoy a good one too. My daughters prefer the ones mommy makes to the ones
NowComment – A Good Tool for Hosting Online Discussions
NowComment is an interesting tool for creating online conversations centered around shared documents. While you could do something similar in Google Docs, NowComment was designed
A Free Service That Lets You Print Almost Any Poster
Canva is a great service for designing all kinds of graphics for online and offline use. Canva includes a gallery of templates for making classroom
How to Create a Green Screen Video on an iPad
Last night I posted a tutorial on how to create a green screen video in iMovie on a Mac. After I Tweeted that some folks
How to Create a Green Screen Video in iMovie
Creating green screen videos is be a fun way for students to share what they’ve learned through research about a place or event. Making green
Schedule Assignment/ Assessment Windows in Otus LMS
Otus is a learning management system that continues to grow in popularity in part because of some of the tools they offer for free that
5 Ways to Enhance Your Classroom Blog
A classroom blog can be used for so many purposes that it is still one of the things that I think every class should have.
Practical Ed Tech On-Demand Webinars
One of the ways that I’m able to keep Free Technology for Teachers going is through the sale of my in-person workshops and professional development
How to Customize Your Edublogs Favicon
A couple of weeks ago I published a video about how to customize the favicon on Blogger blogs. Since then I’ve answered a few emails
Satellite Observations of Arctic Change
Satellite imagery gives students, teachers, and professional researchers access to lots of information to analyze and interpret. Through timelapses of satellite imagery students can see
Nine Lessons About Recognizing Logical Fallacies
In today’s social media and online news environments it is as important as ever to teach students how to recognize bias, propaganda, and logical fallacies.
Eight TED-Ed Lessons for Music Appreciation
One of my favorite extra-curricular activities in elementary school was learning to play the violin and the trumpet. Three+ decades later I can still read
Twisted Wave – Create and Edit Audio on Chromebooks
When it comes to recording and editing audio Mac users have Garage Band and Windows users have Audacity (it’s available for Mac too). Chromebook users
How to Refine a Search According to Top-level Domain
One of the overlooked search strategies that I often share with students and their teachers is refining Google search results according to top-level domain. Refining
How to Embed Wakelet Collections Into Google Sites and Edublogs
In my previous post I provided an overview of the basics of using Wakelet to create collections of your bookmarks, notes, pictures, videos, and documents.
How to Get Started Using Wakelet
In the last year Wakelet has become a popular tool amongst teachers for creating collections of bookmarks, notes, videos, pictures, and documents. Wakelet can be
Deserts 101 – A Nice Nat Geo Lesson
National Geographic offers a good series of more than one hundred YouTube videos designed to provide viewers with concise explanations of the big concepts of
Gmail, Name Pickers, and Forms – The Week in Review
Good evening from hot and humid Paris, Maine. The first week of July has been a busy one as I wrapped-up a couple of online
Mapping Books
Yesterday I published a post about creating multimedia timelines as an alternative form of a book report. Later in the day I was walked past
Multimedia Timelines as Book Summaries
A couple of weeks ago I read a fun history book titled Harry Truman’s Excellent Adventure. The book chronicles Truman’s road trip from Missouri to
How to Use Quillionz – Quiz Questions Automatically Generated from Documents
Quillionz is a new service for quickly creating reading comprehension and quiz questions from passages of text that you provide. As I wrote earlier this
Create Your Own Mobile-friendly Random Name Picker
For many years now Flippity has offered a Google Sheets template that you can use to create your own random name picker. It’s quick and
Plan Safe Running, Walking, and Biking Routes With Strava
Strava is an app that I use to record data about my bike rides and runs. There is a social component to Strava that lets
5 Helpful Gmail Features for Teachers
For many of us managing email is a chore we’d rather not have to do. Fortunately, Gmail offers some helpful features that make managing email
Lee’s Map of Gettysburg – And Tools for Making It Interactive
Today’s featured document featured by the National Archives is a copy of General Robert E. Lee’s map of the Battle of Gettysburg. If you download
Flippity’s Quiz Show Template Has Expanded
Flippity is one of five favorite Google Sheets add-ons for teachers because it provides easy-to-follow templates for creating lots of useful things like progress trackers, spelling
How to Quickly Copy Questions Between Google Forms
This week Google added a new “import questions” function to Google Forms. This is a native feature that lets you view your previously created Forms
Three Ways to Create a Virtual Tour of the Tour de France
Every July the Tour de France winds through the countryside before arriving in Paris. Every year the course takes a different route. One of the
Quillionz – Get Quiz Questions Automatically Generated From Documents
Quillionz is a new supporter of FreeTech4Teachers.com Quillionz is a new service that makes it super easy to have a set of reading comprehension questions
Google Forms Now Has a Native Function to Import Questions from Other Forms
Yesterday I recapped the important Google products updates from June for teachers to note. July is starting out with another noteworthy update. That update is
My Ten Most Watched How-to Videos
Every month I make a dozen or more tutorial videos and publish them on my YouTube channel and on my Practical Ed Tech Facebook page.
Lessons on the Science of Fireworks
The Fourth of July is Independence Day here in the United States. And nothing says, “Happy Fourth of July” like a fireworks display. Watching Fourth
Expeditions, Writing Prompts, and Accessibility – The Month in Review
June has come and gone. At the end of every month I like to take a look back and see which blog posts were the
Seven Google Product Updates Made in June for Teachers to Note
Every month Google rolls-out updates to many of the products that are used by teachers and students. June was a particularly busy month as Google
Three Short Lessons About American Independence Day
American Independence Day, the Fourth of July, is this week. I realize that most of you reading this aren’t in school right now, but I
Resources for Learning About the Tour de France and Science of Cycling
One of these two people has won a Tour de France Green Jersey. The Tour de France starts this coming Saturday. The race always ends
Expeditions, Search, and 202 Miles on a Bike – The Week in Review
Good afternoon from Maine where today I’m recuperating after riding my bike for 202 miles yesterday. The ride was part of a fundraiser for the
How to Use Book Creator’s New Autodraw Feature
At the beginning of this week Book Creator announced the launch of a new set of drawing tools that students can use in the creation
Virtual Reality Smells
Virtual reality tours like those available through Google Expeditions (check out an exciting update) provide students with the opportunity to experience the sights and sounds
How to Change Your Blogger Favicon
Blogger is a popular choice for creating classroom blogs and personal blogs because it can be accessed through your Google account and because it is
How to Create Talking Pictures With ChatterPix Kids
ChatterPix Kids is one of my favorite digital storytelling apps for elementary school students to use. For many years the app was only available in
Why Should You Read Hamlet – A New TED-Ed Lesson
Last year TED-Ed started publishing a series of video lessons titled Why Should You Read…? Each lesson is about a classic work of literature that
A Great Guide to Capturing Oral Biographies
A few years ago I hosted a workshop on recording history with students (slides from that workshop can be seen here). The purpose of the