Fresh Takes 4 Teachers
The Joy of Search – Get a Sample Chapter and Learn a Great Search Strategy
The Joy of Search is the title of Dan Russell’s forthcoming book about search strategies. I pre-ordered my copy from Amazon about six weeks ago
A Brief History of Yellowstone – A Video Your Students Could Easily Create
National Geographic recently published a new video titled A Brief History of Yellowstone. The video hits almost all of the key points in the history
The Best Apps & Sites for Learning According to AASL
While ISTE’s annual conference is the place that all of the big ed tech companies showcase their new developments for the coming year, AASL’s annual
Now You Can Share Kahoot Games in Microsoft Teams
Last week Kahoot released some game creation updates in advance of the ISTE conference. This week Kahoot made an announcement during the conference. That announcement was
Google Expeditions is Now Available on Chromebooks!
Google Expeditions is probably the most popular virtual reality app for use in classrooms today. One of the things that has kept it out of
Two Lessons About Invasive Species and the Threats They Pose
My favorite bike training ride goes through a portion of the White Mountains National Forest on the Maine-New Hampshire border. As you enter the forest
Book Creator Adds New “Magic Ink” and Autodraw Tools for Making eBooks
Book Creator, the massively popular ebook creation tool, has added a new set of drawing tools. A couple of the highlights of the new drawing
How to Use the Math Manipulatives in SeeSaw
Just in time for the annual ISTE conference SeeSaw introduced a handful of new tools for students to use in the creation of their digital
Immersive Reader, Carmen Sandiego, and Fire Alarms – The Week in Review
Good evening from Maine where it was a beautiful summer day. It was perfect for playing outside and that’s exactly what we did. I hope
How to Make Digital Collages in SeeSaw
Yesterday, I shared five highlights from SeeSaw’s update in advance of next week’s ISTE conference. One of those highlights is a new drag-and-drop digital collage
How to Automatically Caption and Translate PowerPoint Presentations
Late last year Microsoft introduced real-time captioning and translation of PowerPoint presentations. At that time it wasn’t available in all versions of PowerPoint. That changed
How to Make Your Font Stand Out on Canva Graphics
Canva is a great tool for creating all kinds of graphics for social media, for videos, for newsletters, for infographics, or for just about anything
5 New SeeSaw Features for Teachers and Students Creating Digital Portfolios
SeeSaw is a digital portfolio tool that I have used and recommended since shortly after its launch in 2014. After initially launching as an iPad
Interactive Maps of Migrations and Changes of Seasons
Over the years I’ve featured Project Noah and the USA Phenology Network’s maps as platforms through which students can track the changes of seasons in
More Immersive Reader News – Thinglink Integrates Immersive Reader
Earlier I shared the news that Microsoft is adding their popular accessibility too, Immersive Reader, to Microsoft Forms. Shortly after I received that news from
Immersive Reader is Being Added to Microsoft Forms
Immersive Reader is a fantastic accessibility function available in many of Microsoft’s most-used products including Word and OneNote. Thanks to a Mike Tholfsen Tweet, this
Adobe Spark Now Has a Collaboration Option
Adobe Spark has been one of my favorite video creation tools since its launch in 2016. It can also be used to make simple web
Timelines as Portfolios
Last month I featured some of my favorite tools for students to make digital portfolios and tools for students to use to create multimedia collages
Sync Google Classroom Gradebook to Infinite Campus and Capita SIMS
Another of the announcements that Google made today concerning Google Classroom featured the news that a gradebook, formerly in beta, is now available for all
Create Rubrics in Google Classroom – Coming Soon!
Last year Google added a comment bank option to Google Classroom. That feature, demonstrated here, can save you a lot of time when giving your
Kahoot Adds New Game Creation Options
In advance of next week’s ISTE conference, Kahoot has unveiled some new features that teachers have been asking for. Now when you create a Kahoot
The Third “Where on Google Earth is Carmen Sandiego?” Game is Now Available
Back in March Google launched “Where on Google Earth is Carmen Sandiego?” for use in the web and mobile versions of Google Earth. Then in
Coming Soon! PowerPoint Will Coach You Through Presentation Rehearsals
Thanks to a Tweet from Mike Tholfsen this afternoon I learned about an exciting new feature that is coming soon to PowerPoint. That feature is
Writing Prompts, Beakers, and Fables – The Week in Review
Good morning from Maine where we’re hoping that the sun will peak out for a trip to the playground. Maine is known for moose and
Turn Blog Posts and Newsletters Into Videos With Lumen5
For the last few weeks I’ve been posting on Twitter and on Facebook videos based on blog posts that I have written. To do that
500 Creative Writing Prompts
Back in April I featured a neat creative writing tool called The Most Dangerous Writing App. Since then The Most Dangerous Writing App has changed
How to Set a Vacation Responder
For the last week my Facebook feed has been filled with posts from friends who are celebrating the last day(s) of the school year. This
5 Time-savers for Teachers Using G Suite for Education
Whether it’s to indulge our favorite hobbies, to get some chores done around the house (my lawn can stop growing any minute now), or to
66 Lessons on the Chemistry of Food and Beverages
Reactions is a YouTube channel that I’ve mentioned in a handful of posts in the past. The channel is produced by PBS Digital Studios and
How to Use WorldCat to Locate Books in Libraries Near You
Over the last couple of days I’ve seen a lot of summer reading lists floating around on Twitter. If you’re starting to acquire your summer
Teaching With Historical Newspapers – An LOC Webinar Recording
There are two sites that often refer people to when I’m asked about locating copies of old newspapers. The first is the Google Newspaper Archive.
Beaker – Virtually Mix Chemicals on Your Phone or Tablet
Beaker is an iOS and Android app that lets students virtually mix chemicals. In the app students can select chemicals to mix to see how
An Update to Five Directions for AR in Education
Lately, I have been spending quite a bit of time digging into research and academic writing about the development and evolution of many of the
Interactive Versions of Aesop’s Fables – And Dozens of Other Classic Works
The Library of Congress has tons of fantastic resources available for teachers and students, if you know where to find them. One of those great
DocsTeach Adds Good Artifacts for Teaching About the Transcontinental Railroad
DocsTeach has long been one of my go-to recommendations for teachers of U.S. History. DocsTeach provides a wealth of digitized primary source artifacts that can
Geocaching, Green Screens, and Gmail – The Week in Review
Good evening from Maine where it was a perfect early summer day. It started with a bike ride which was followed by a trip to
FAQs About Working With Me
Last week I published a list of my ten most popular professional development workshop topics. That post generated a handful of emails from folks who
This is Clickbait – A Lesson on Being a Discerning News Consumer
A couple of weeks ago TED-Ed released a video about spotting misleading headlines. I quickly added that lesson to my list of resources for helping
Moving From Google Drive to OneDrive
In response to yesterday’s post about moving files from one Google account to another, this morning I woke up to three emails from readers wondering
How to Archive Google Classroom – How to Remove Google Classroom Materials from Drive
As I mentioned in my previous post, I recently received an email from a reader who wanted to know what to do with Google Classroom
Moving Files From One Google Drive to Another
This week I received an email from a reader who asked about what how to move Google Drive items from a school account to a
Veescope Live – A Free Green Screen App for Your iPad
Veescope Live is a free iPad app for creating green screen videos. Of the free iPad apps for making green screen videos that I’ve tried,
5 Things You Can Teach Through Geocaching
Geocaching is one of the things that I spend a good bit of time talking about in both my workshop and in my webinar 5
Try Mentimeter for Classroom Quiz Games
Mentimeter is one of the tools that I regularly feature when talking about gathering realtime, online feedback from students. It’s a great platform for quick,
How to Measure Distances in Google Maps
A couple of weeks ago in the Practical Ed Tech newsletter I featured ten ways to use Google Earth in your classroom for more than
7 Helpful and Convenient Gmail Settings You Might Be Overlooking
Last week I published a post about using Gmail’s confidential mode and a post about automatically forwarding G Suite email to a personal Gmail account.
How to Automatically Send G Suite Email to a Gmail Address – And How to Filter Your Email
The end of the school year is here for many of us. It is at this time of year that I am often asked about
Copyright, Ethics, and Gmail – The Week in Review
Good morning from Maine where it almost feels like summer. The sun is trying to poke through the clouds and it’s supposed to be 70F
Six Google Product Updates Made in May Impacting Teachers and Students
Google is constantly making updates to the services that they offer. Some of the updates are only affect the administrative side of G Suite for
8 Good Resources to Help Students Develop Spelling Skills
Last night the Scripps National Spelling Bee ended in an eight-way tie! In honor of the eight champions, here are eight resources that can help
Copyright, VR, and Summaries – The Month in Review
It’s the last day of May. Congratulations to those of you who have just finished the school year! And to those who still have some
Ten Workshops I Can Run For Your Next PD Day
Over the last ten years I’ve had the good fortune to run workshops and give presentations at hundreds of schools and conferences. I’m frequently asked
How to Use Gmail’s Confidential Mode
Yesterday, Google announced that beginning on June 25th confidential mode will be available by default in all G Suite domains. The confidential mode will allow
Quick Key – Quickly Score Paper-based Quizzes With Your Phone or Tablet
This morning I answered an email from a reader named Eric who was looking for an alternative to GradeCam. His school district is possibly not
The Ethics of Making Copies of “View Only” Google Docs
Last week I published a blog post about how to make copies of Google Documents that are shared as “view only.” In that same post
How to Use the Google Dictionary Chrome Extension
The Google Dictionary Chrome extension is a handy little tool that lets you highlight a word on any webpage to quickly find a definition and
ClassHook Adds Pause Prompts to Personal Clips
ClassHook is one of my favorite alternatives to searching on YouTube for educational videos. A few months ago ClassHook added a feature called Pause Prompts
Three Lessons to Learn from the $9.2M Copyright Ruling Against Houston ISD
Thanks to an email from Jay Schwermer over the weekend I learned about a federal court’s ruling against Houston ISD for violating the copyright of
Where to Find Public Domain Pictures and Video Clips
In my previous post I shared the news that Canva has acquired Pixabay and Pexels. Both of those sites are popular places to find pictures
Canva Has Acquired Pixabay and Pexels – Five Ways to Use Canva
Canva has been my go-to graphics creation tool for the last five or so years. It is incredibly easy to use and makes it possible
Educational and Moving Memorial Day Videos
Tomorrow is Memorial Day here in the United States. Students often confuse the origin and purpose of Memorial Day with those of Veterans Day. The
Four Ways to Show & Share Videos Without Distractions
At this point I think we can all agree that YouTube can be a great place to find educational videos to share with students. Of
AR, VR, and Bowling – The Week in Review
Good morning from Maine where the sun is shining to start this Memorial Day weekend. We’re going to Maine Wildlife Park, riding bicycles, and playing
Three Good Resources to Help Students Become Discerning News Consumers
Earlier this week TED-Ed published a new lesson titled Can You Spot the Problem With These Headlines? The short video lesson walks students through dissecting a
An Overview of Fishbowl – A Professional Discussion App for Teachers
Last week I published a post about Fishbowl that generated some good questions from readers about how the app works. Fishbowl is more than an
How Make Copies of Google Docs Marked as “View Only”
On a fairly regular basis I’m asked some variation of the following question, “is it possible to duplicate a Google Doc if it wasn’t shared
Five DIY Virtual Reality Projects for Students
Google’s VR Tour Creator offers an excellent way to create virtual tours that can be viewed in your web browser and or in the Google
How to View the Moon and Mars in Google Earth
This morning I answered an email from a reader who wanted to know how to view the solar system in Google Earth. While you can’t
How to Add Formative to Your G Suite Domain
Formative is one of my favorite online assessment tools. I’e been using and and featuring it in my workshops about formative assessment for many years.
Four Ways to Create Your Own VR & AR Experiences
Observing and interacting with augmented reality and virtual reality content is nice, but after a while students will get bored with the pre-made commercial content.
A Good and Free Summer Activity for Rainy Days
This afternoon I was talking with my childcare provider about activities for kids to do on rainy summer days. One of the things that I
7 Good Apps for Getting Started With AR & VR
One of the components of this year’s Practical Ed Tech Summer Camp (a few seats still available) is time to explore how augmented reality and virtual
Two Online PD Courses I’m Hosting in June
The primary support for Free Technology for Teachers comes from folks like you who enroll in my Practical Ed Tech webinars and workshops. This spring and summer I’m
Nine Tutorials for Making Your Own Mobile App
Glide is a service that anyone can use to create a mobile app without doing any coding. Glide lets you take one of your Google
5 Places to Find Summer Math Activities for Elementary School Students
Summer break will be here soon (for those of us in the northern hemisphere). As evidenced by the popularity of last week’s article about the
Summer Reading, Portfolios, and Animations – The Week in Review
Good evening from sunny and windy Paris Hill, Maine. It was a great day for playing outside and that’s exactly what my little family did
How to Make an Animated Timeline in Google Slides
Eighteen months ago I published a video about how to use Google Slides to create a timeline. Yesterday, that video hit 50,000 views. I watched
How to Find Games & Quizzes in Google Earth
This week Google added a new round of Where in Google Earth is Carmen Sandiego? The new game follows up on the popularity of the
Fishbowl – A New Professional Network for Teachers
This week Fishbowl joined Free Technology for Teachers as a new advertiser on the site. Fishbowl is a professional networking service for professionals in many
Common Craft Explains URLs
We enter URLs into our web browsers every day, but have you ever wondered what all the parts of those URLs mean? The URL can
An Overview of the New Creative Commons Search Tool
Whenever I talk about using media in videos, slideshows, podcasts, or any other media, I always emphasize the importance of using media that is either
Wikispaces Alternatives
Almost a year after it ceased operations, Wikispaces and “Wikispaces alternatives” are still two of the most frequently searched terms on this blog. If you
ReadWorks Offers Free Summer Reading Packets
Summer will be here soon (in the northern hemisphere) and ReadWorks has free summer reading packets that you can send home with your students. The
5 Google Drive Tips for New Users
Google Drive is the core of many aspects of G Suite for Education. There are lots of little features of Google Drive that are often
How to Use the New Version of Google Books
On Monday I published a list of my ten go-to tech tools for social studies teachers and students. Google Books was one of the tools
5 Ways for Students of All Ages to Make Animated Videos
Making animated videos is a great way for students to bring their written stories to life on screen. Those could be fiction or nonfiction stories.
Easy Notecards and Flashcards
Easy Notecards is a free study aid that Vicki Davis introduced to me eight years ago. This post is an update on what I wrote
Ten Great Tech Tools for Social Studies Lessons
Over the last decade I’ve written about a lot of excellent resources for social studies lessons. Over time some of those tools have faded away
Rivet – A Reading App from Google
Rivet is a reading app from Area 120 (a Google property). The free app offers more than 2,000 books for students to read independently. The
5 Good Options for Making Digital Portfolios
In yesterday’s Practical Ed Tech post I mentioned that if you have been using a service like SeeSaw all year to have students create digital
How the Stock Market Works
Playing a stock market simulation game is one of the popular ways to teach the basic concepts of stock markets. I played one when I
Adding Audio to Google Slides When Your Domain Doesn’t Have the Native Audio Feature
Six weeks ago Google announced the introduction of native support for audio in Google Slides. Unfortunately, the roll-out of that feature seems to be taking
Digital Maps, Collages, and Legends – The Week in Review
Good morning from Maine where this week the weather was finally nice enough for bike rides, flip-flops, and lots of yard work. And this weekend’s
Now You Can Re-use Questions in Your GoFormative.com Activities
Formative is a one of the tools that I regularly feature in my workshop on Fast & Fun Formative Assessments. I like it and use
A Quick and Easy Way to Create Comic Strip Templates
YouTube, like many social networks, has a little for creators that notifies them of old video postings and significant moments for their older videos. This
A Great Google Sites Feature That I Missed This Week
As many of you know, I’ve spent the bulk of the last two weeks dealing with a slew of copyright issues and technical issues. Those
How to Use the Photo Slideshow Add-on for Google Slides
Last week I published 5 Ways to Quickly Create Audio Slideshows for End-of-Year Events. In that post I mentioned using the Google Slides add-on called
Lots of New Videos Added to One of My Favorite Alternatives to YouTube
Back in January I learned about a great alternative to YouTube called BoClips. BoClips offers millions of educational videos from well-known producers. In the last
Five Ways to Collect Registration Information for Summer Events
This time of year always feels exceptionally busy as the end of the school year nears while at the same time many of us are