Fresh Takes 4 Teachers
Headliner – A Slick Online Video Editor
Headliner is an online video editing tool that could challenge Adobe Spark and WeVideo for the top of my recommended video tools list. I just
Editing PDFs and Nine Other Microsoft Word Tutorials
On Wednesday morning I published a couple of tutorials about annotating PDFs and annotating Google Slides. Shortly after publishing those tutorials Mike Tholfsen Tweeted a
The New Gmail is Coming Soon to More Domains and Users
Back in April Google revealed a redesigned Gmail user interface with a fantastic set of features including reply suggestions, message snoozing, and follow-up reminders. When
How to Annotate Your Google Slides
On the heels of answering questions about how to annotate PDFs, I received a question on the Practical Ed Tech Facebook page about annotating Google
Join me on Thursday for Fast & Fun Formative Assessments
Cancelled On Thursday afternoon at 4pm Eastern Time I’m hosting a Practical Ed Tech webinar titled Fast & Fun Formative Assessments. I hosted this webinar
How to Annotate PDFs
Twice in this week, once on Facebook and once in email, I have been asked about how to annotate PDFs. In both instances my response
A New Grammar Checker is Coming to Google Docs
Google Docs has had a spell check tool for years. The grammar check tool has always been a bit rudimentary. That is going to change
Loom is Introducing a Desktop Screencasting Tool
Loom is a screencast recording tool that I started to use earlier this year and have found to be excellent for making short videos directly
23 World Languages Lesson Plans That Incorporate Comics
Storyboard That is known for its excellent storyboard creation tool that can be used for many purposes including making comic strips, creating scripts, making greeting
More Than 5,000 Historical Maps for Teachers and Students
Florida’s Educational Technology Clearinghouse has a collection of more than 5,000 historical maps. The maps are licensed for free download and reuse by teachers and students. The
Promethean Grant – Win an Interactive Whiteboard for Your Classroom
If you have desired to get an interactive whiteboard for your classroom, but budget has kept that wish from becoming reality then you should check
SciShow Kids Answers “Why Do Animals Have Tails?”
My daughters and my dogs’ tails have a close relationship. Sometimes that relationship is tested by a quick grab of a tail and sometimes tested
Join Me on Tuesday at 4pm for a Webinar on Google Earth, Maps, and VR Tours
Tomorrow, July 24th, at 4pm Eastern Time I am hosting a Practical Ed Tech webinar all about Google Earth, Google Maps, and Google’s VR Tour
Feedback, Focus, and Cars – The Week in Review
Good morning from Paris Hill, Maine where today is Founder’s Day. This is an annual event in our historic neighborhood that is highlighted by a
How to Create an Animated GIF
Animated GIFs can be handy for quickly showing a process or sequence of events. Check out Common Craft’s soccer guide for great examples of using
Say Goodbye to Old Google Forms
The current version of Google Forms has been available for almost three years. But change is hard and so there are still people using the
An Easy Way to Find Images for Google Slides Presentations
There are plenty of good places to find public domain and Creative Commons images to use in your Google Slides presentations. The Unsplash photos add-on
ClassTag’s Parent-Teacher Engagement Contest Will Award $10,000 for Classroom Supplies (Kind of)
ClassTag is a teacher-parent communication service that I’ve watched develop for a couple of years now. I like a lot of what it offers including
An Easy Way to Find 360 Videos to View in Google Cardboard
Google Expeditions offers lots of 360 content that your students can explore in Google Cardboard viewers. But Google Expeditions isn’t the only source of 360
Practical Ed Tech Webinar – Google Earth, Maps, and VR in Your Classroom
Next Tuesday I’m hosting a Practical Ed Tech webinar titled Google Earth, Maps, and VR Tours. The webinar will introduce you to how to use
How to Use Blended Play for Classroom Review Games
Last week I published a post about a neat game platform called Blended Play. Blended Play provides five online game boards that you can project
A Great Example of Sharing Stories Through Google’s My Maps
Kevin Hodgson’s blog has been one of my daily reads for the better part of the last ten years. Kevin is a sixth grade teacher
How to Add Music to Google Slides
In my previous post I shared some information about the AudioPlayer for Google Slides Chrome extension. If you need some help getting started with that
Add Music to Your Google Slides With the AudioPlayer Chrome Extension
Earlier this year I excitedly shared the Google Slides Add-on called AudioPlayer for Google Slides. The video tutorial that I made for about it has
Formatically Offers a New Instant Citation Tool
Formatically is a service that was designed by college students to help other students create properly formatted works cited pages. Last year I published a
Three Ways to Record and Share Video Notes in Real-time
Tools like EDpuzzle and TED-Ed are good for creating questions that you want your students to answer about videos that you share with them. But
How to Protect Student Privacy With Blurring Effects in Videos
On Monday morning I had the privilege to give a presentation about classroom video projects during the TechSplash conference in Abingdon, Virginia. One of the
10 Tools for Gathering Real-time Feedback From Students
Chat rooms and polling services provide good ways to hear from all of the students in a classroom. These kind of tools allow shy students
7 TED-Ed Food Science Lessons
Like many people, I probably drink more coffee and eat a few more carbs than I should. That combination can lead to some serious swings
Ten Common Challenges in 2018
This morning I had the privilege to give the opening keynote at the TechSplash conference in Abingdon, Virginia. When I was invited to the conference
These Chrome Extensions Can Help You Stay On Task
In my previous post I shared a few tools that can help you save time on routine tasks. A related challenge is managing your time
Three Tools That Can Help You Save Time on Routine Tasks
Time is the one thing that we want more of. We can’t create more time for ourselves but we can be more efficient on some
An Easy Way to Create a GIF from Google Slides
A simple animated GIF can be useful for things like showing how a simple system works, illustrating the steps to solving a math problem, or
Forms, Games, and Timers – The Week in Review
Good morning from Maine where we have a busy Saturday ahead of us. Our little Tinkergarten class starts up again this morning. It’s a fun
13 Great Drawing Lessons for Students
ShowMe is a popular app for creating whiteboard style instructional videos on iPads, Android tablets, and Chromebooks. ShowMe users have the option to publish their
How to Add a Timer to PowerPoint Slides
I recently received this email from a reader who was looking for help adding a timer to her PowerPoint slides, “I need your help adding
Flippity Fun With Words
In my excitement about Flippity’s Google Sheets Add-on working again I forgot to mention that they have new template available for all Google Sheets users.
Making Your Teaching Something Special – An Online Book Club With Rushton Hurley
Rushton Hurley, founder of Next Vista for Learning, published Making Your Teaching Something Special. If you picked up the book to read this summer or
A 360° Video That Shows You How to Find the Summer Constellations
NPR’s Skunk Bear YouTube channel has recently become one of my favorite YouTube channels. The latest video published on the channel is a 360° video
Blended Play – A Blend of Online and Offline Review Games
Blended Play is a service for creating educational games to use in your classroom. Unlike the game creation tools featured in my previous post, all
7 Places to Create Your Own Educational Games for Students to Play at Home
The Internet is not lacking for websites that offer games that students can play online. Despite that fact, there are still occasions when you can’t
Flippity’s Google Sheets Add-on is Working Again!
Back in May I started to get a bunch of messages from readers who were experiencing trouble with the Flippity Add-on for Google Sheets. The
Text2MindMap is Back – Outlines and Mind Maps on the Same Page
For a few years there was a popular mind map tool called Text2MindMap that enabled you to create mind maps from typed outlines. It was
How to Share Specific Google Earth Views in Google Classroom
The development of the browser-based version made Google Earth accessible to students who use Chromebooks as their primary classroom computers. One way that I like
Rye Board – An Online Corkboard for Your Ideas
Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo’s This Week In Web 2.0 I recently learned about a new online corkboard tool called Rye Board. Rye Board provides you
Kami – Annotate and Collaborate on PDFs
Disclosure: Kami is an advertiser on FreeTech4Teachers.com Kami is a neat service that makes it easy to annotate and comment on PDFs. The folks at
5 Google Forms Features You Should Know How to Use
Google Forms received a couple of updates that teachers have requested for years. Those new features let you create a custom look for your Forms.
Soft Fruit, Mold, and Sour Milk – A Lesson on Food Safety
At one time or another we’ve all opened a milk container and noticed that something wasn’t quite right or picked up a piece of fruit
Elementary School Rocks
K-5 GeoSource is a great resource produced by the American Geosciences Institute. On K-5 GeoSource you will find free lesson plans, science fair project ideas, links to virtual activities,
Create Your Own Search Engine
Last week I saw some folks on Twitter sharing a link to a site called Kidy that advertised itself as an “intellegent, safe search engine
Socrative Has a New Owner – Not Much Changes
Before there was Kahoot or Quizizz there was Socrative. Socrative was a pioneer in the area of quiz-style student response systems that incorporated responses from
TypingClub’s Typing Jungle Offers Hundreds of Typing Lessons
Disclosure: Typing Club is an advertiser on FreeTech4Teachers.com TypingClub has been providing excellent typing instruction for many years. I’ve watched as the service grew from
Math, Forms, and Images – The Week in Review
Good morning from Maine where the steamy weather has finally cooled off a bit. While it’s still cool we’re going on one of our favorite
New Metaverse Tutorials – Build Your Own Augmented Reality Games
Over the last year Metaverse has become a popular tool for creating your own augmented reality games. Many teachers have used it to create digital
Share Flipgrid Topics Through Otus
Last month Flipgrid made the huge announcement that all features were going to be made available to all users for free. That opened up a
Monster Heart Medic – A Game for Learning About Heart Health
Monster Heart Medic is a free iPad app produced by the Lawrence Hall of Science with funding from the National Institutes of Health. The purpose
A Great Place to Find WordPress Tutorials
Creating a classroom or personal blog on hosted services like Blogger, Weebly, or Edublogs is rather quick and easy process. Services like these provide easy-to-follow
Learn About Lake Ecosystems on DIY Lake Science
For the Fourth of July holiday I took my daughters to play at a little beach on a local lake. My older daughter enjoyed gathering
A Lesson From the Evolution of My Bookmarks
One of the questions that readers ask me on a fairly regular basis is, “how do you keep track of everything?” The answer to that
My Ten Favorite ClassTools Templates
There are dozens of great game builders, writing templates, and handy classroom tools on Classtools.net. I’ve tried nearly all of them over the years. My
4-H STEM Lab – A Good Place to Find Hands-on STEM Activities for K-12
The 4-H STEM Lab is a good place to find hands-on STEM activities for students of all ages. Activities in the 4-H STEM Lab are organized
Videos for Learning About the Tour de France and the Science of Bicycling
The Tour de France begins on Saturday. What started out as a promotion to boost the sales of newspapers in France is now one of the biggest
NRICH – Another Good Place to Find Math Activities
In response to yesterday’s post about MathsLinks a handful of folks reminded me via email and Facebook of another good place for teachers to find
How to Create a Virtual Tour of the Tour de France
The Tour de France starts on Saturday. Unlike in recent years, this year the race is almost entirely within France. The riders will only be
A Crash Course on Independence Day
Tomorrow, July 4th, is Independence Day in the U.S. In the video below John Green offers a short overview of the history of Independence Day
The Chemistry of Fireworks
Tomorrow is Independence Day in the United States. Cities and towns all over the country will feature fireworks displays to celebrate the day. I’m sure
25 Topics for Whiteboard Videos
Apps like ShowMe and Educreations make creating whiteboard-style instructional videos a relatively simple process. These apps let you draw on a white screen on your
110 Videos About Careers
For nearly a decade I have been referring folks to Next Vista for Learning as a place to find and to share educational videos made
MathsLinks – A Good Place to Find Resources for Math Lessons
MathsLinks.net is a great site created by a mathematics teacher for mathematics teachers. On the site you will find collections of games, interactive demonstrations, and
How to Use the New Google Forms Customization Options
A couple of weeks ago Google announced that new customization options would be added to Google Forms. Those new options appeared in my accounts over
June’s Most Popular Posts on Free Technology for Teachers
Good morning from hot and steamy South Paris, Maine. As the calendar flips from June to July the weather flips from pleasantly warm to hot!
Google Classroom, Flipgrid, and SeeSaw – The Week in Review
Good morning from Maine where the sun is shining and it is a perfect day to play outside with daughters and my dogs. Before they’re
How to Find Free Images to Use in Multimedia Projects
Earlier this week I received an email from a reader who was seeking clarification on the meaning of “not filtered by license” in the Tools
ABCya’s Number Chart Is a Fun Math Activity for Kids
ABCya’s Number Chart is a simple but fun online activity for elementary school students. The chart offers “beginner” and “challenge” activities. In both activity levels students
Last Day to Get Five Practical Ed Tech Webinars in One Package
As many of you know, Practical Ed Tech is the site through which I offer professional development webinars. I host those webinars on a regular
Three Random Name Selectors
If your students are like mine, at one point or another you’ve asked for volunteers and not had any students raise their hands. In that
5 Ways to Blend Technology Into Outdoor Lessons
By the time that many of you read this, I’ll be fly fishing on one of my favorite rivers in Maine. Where I’m going there
This RWT Template Helps Students Craft Persuasive Essays
Developing persuasive writing skills is a process that students start in elementary school and continue to develop through high school and beyond. Read Write Think
Measuring Worth – A Lesson on Inflation
Do you remember when a cup of coffee didn’t cost $3? Or when ten dollars bought you enough gasoline to drive for a week? How
82 Math in Real Life Lessons
Years ago TED-Ed started a playlist of video lessons called Math in Real Life. That playlist that started out with just a couple dozen lessons
Lessons to Help You and Your Students Become Better Researchers
If you’re looking to improve your search skills this summer or you want to find new ideas for teaching search skills, check out Power Searching
Why Sheep Don’t Shrink in the Rain
It’s a rainy day here in Maine and after a little trail run with my dogs, my feet were soaked! My Smartwool socks keep my
How to Create, Use, and Embed Lino Boards Into Blog Posts
This morning on the Practical Ed Tech Facebook page I had a question from a reader who was looking for an alternative to Padlet. My
Photo Roulette – A Library of Congress Game
Photo Roulette is a fun little game from Library of Congress. The game shows you a randomly selected pictures from the LOC’s digital collections and
5 PD Webinars in One Package
Throughout the year I offer many professional development webinars on PracticalEdTech.com. The sales of those webinars help to keep this blog running. This week I’ve
What is a Storyboard? – History and Use Cases
Over the years I’ve written many blog posts about using storyboards in a variety of classroom settings. I’ve even hosted webinars on the topic. But
How to Use SeeSaw’s New Activity Library
Earlier this week SeeSaw unveiled a new activity library for teachers. The new library contains more than 1500 activities that you can assign to your
More Ways to Add Content to Book Creator Projects – Coming Soon!
Thanks to Amy Burns I just learned about a great, new feature that is soon to be available in Book Creator. The new feature will
Five Key Updates to Microsoft’s Education Products
During the ISTE conference this week Microsoft showcased many features of their varied education products. If you, like me, were not able to attend the
How to Save Bookmarks Using OneNote for Android
In 2018 I have been using OneNote as my primary tool for saving bookmarks and quick notes. Previously, used Google Keep for all of my
Five Google Classroom Improvements Announced During ISTE
The week of the annual ISTE conference is when many of the biggest purveyors of technology products unveil their latest and greatest offerings. Google is
A Complete Guide to Making Videos in Microsoft Photos
Windows Movie Maker is no longer available for download and Microsoft now recommends using the video creation tools that are built into Microsoft Photos. In
How to Use Flipgrid to Publish Instructional Videos
In Sunday’s Practical Ed Tech Tip of the Week I mentioned three ways to use Flipgrid now that all features are free for all users.
How to Measure Distances in Google Earth
The addition of a measurement tool in the Chrome (browser) and Android versions of Google Earth was one of the many things that Google announced
Beautiful AI – Create Better Slideshows
Beautiful.AI is a neat service that helps you design better PowerPoint presentations. Beautiful.AI provides more than fifty slideshow templates that automatically adjust when you type
How to Create a Virtual Tour That Includes Audio Narration
One of the many things that Google announced to coincide with the ISTE conference was the addition of an option to add audio to virtual
SeeSaw Unveils a New Activity Library – 1500+ Activities to Use Now
SeeSaw is a great digital portfolio tool that students can use on Chromebooks, iPads, Android tablets, and on any computer that has an updated web
Google Forms Will Have a “Locked” Mode This Fall (For Some Users)
Last week Google introduced some long-awaited style customization options. This morning Google introduced another long-awaited feature. That new feature is “locked” mode. Locked mode will
A New Look for Kahoot – Coming Soon
Two weeks ago Kahoot added a new game creation capability to their free mobile apps. This week at ISTE they’re previewing a new user interface