Fresh Tech for Teachers
11,000 People Get Their Ed Tech Tips Here
A few times a week I create new how-to videos on a wide range of tools and topics related to educational technology. Some recent topics
Nine Fun and Challenging Geography Games
Yesterday, I shared the City-Guesser geography game. That game was just the latest in a long list of online geography games that I have tried
Virtual Reality and Black Flies – The Week in Review
Good morning from Maine where we have entered everyone’s least favorite season, Black Fly Season. The sequence of rainy days followed by warm sunshine is
City Guesser – A Challenging Map Game
City-Guesser is a challenging map-based game. The game shows you a section of a map centered over a city. The labels are removed from the
Play Code Fred to Learn About Circulation and Respiration
Code Fred is a free online game developed by the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago. The game helps players learn about the human body’s
How to Include a Discussion Element in Your Google Site
The transition from the old version of Google Sites to the new version of Google Sites has left a lot of people longing for features
The Stillmotion Method for Storytelling
Stillmotion is an award-winning video production company. According to their website they focus on telling stories to which people have an emotional response. How they
A Few Good Videos for Learning About Memorial Day
Memorial Day in the United States is ten days away. Many students associate the day with with barbecues, parades, and a day off from school.
Use These Two Google Slides Add-ons to Create Audio Slideshows
It’s that time of year when I get a lot of requests for recommendations on tools for making audio slideshows. I get these requests because
Three Ways to Collect Video Reflections from Students
As the 2017-18 school year winds down for many of us, it’s a good time to have students reflect on what they learned throughout the
Three Ways to Use Video in End-of-Year Review Activities
The end of the school year is rapidly approaching. If you’re a high school teacher you probably planning for final exams and final exam review
How to Place Videos Side-by-Side in a Google Sites Page
In a post earlier this morning I mentioned placing videos side-by-side in a Google Sites page. Within minutes I got an email from a reader
The Life of a City – Early Silent Films of New York City
The Library of Congress has some neat playlists on YouTube that history teachers should explore. One of those playlists is titled The Life of a
How to Create Staff Notebooks in OneNote
Early this year I was finally convinced that Microsoft’s OneNote is a product that I should be using more often. In fact, I’ve moved all
Get Back to Me – A Wait Time Strategy
The Teaching Channel has a vast library of videos that demonstrate and explain teaching strategies. One of the videos that I recently stumbled upon is
The Science of Cookies
I love cookies! In fact, I just had two warm chocolate chip cookies for dessert tonight. I bet that you have a student or twenty
How Coffee Affects Your Brain
Like millions of people, I start my day by brewing coffee. On those rare days when I discover we’re out of coffee at home, it
How Does the Brain Work? – A Series of NOVA Lessons
How Does the Brain Work? was a NOVA show that explored what scientists currently know about the human brain and the research that will help us
Map-based Stories from National Geographic
GeoStories are short, map-based stories featured on National Geographic Education. The stories combine text, maps, and pictures to tell a story as a series of slides
Google Finally Removes “Next Blog” Link from Blogger
For as long as I can remember people have complained about the “next blog” link that appears by default at the top of Blogger blogs.
Great Journeys and Explorations – Stories Told With Interactive Maps and Timelines
Ever since I was an elementary school student I have loved reading about great journeys and explorations like those of Lewis and Clark, James Cook,
How to Export, Save, and Re-purpose Your Edublogs Posts
As the end of the school year approaches you might find yourself wondering what to do with all of the blogs posts your students wrote
How to Install and Manage Chrome Extensions
From time-to-time the icons in my Chrome browser prompt questions from viewers of my YouTube videos. Usually, the questions are about which extensions I’m using.
New TED-Ed Lesson – What Causes Constipation?
In late March TED-Ed answered “why isn’t the world covered in poop?” Last week they published a lesson answering the related question, “what causes constipation?“
How to Add Points of Interest to Virtual Reality Tours in Google’s Tour Creator
Last week Google introduced the new Tour Creator for making virtual reality tours. I published a tutorial last week that shows you how to create
What To Do When a Website Doesn’t Work the Way You Expect It To
On a fairly regular basis I receive emails from readers who are experiencing frustration with a site, app, or add-on not working for them the
Twelve Tools for Building End-of-year Review Activities (That Aren’t Kahoot Games)
The end of the school year is quickly approaching. At this time of the year I start to get a lot of requests for suggestions
Forms, VR, and Animations – The Week in Review
Good morning from Maine where the sun is shining and flowers are blooming. It’s looking like it is going to be great weather for Mother’s
A Fun Game for Learning About Physics
Simple Machines is a fun game from the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago. Simple Machines is a game that is designed to help students learn about
A Google Maps and Earth Activity for Art Classes
When I conduct workshops on Google Maps and Google Earth I always point out that the uses for those tools extend beyond the realm of geography and
Video Guides to Common Fallacies
The Guide to Common Fallacies is a resource that I wish I had back when I was teaching ninth grade students to recognize bias, propaganda, and
Dozens of Online Games Kids Can Play to Learn About Engineering
Try Engineering is a site that hosts lesson plans and games designed to get students interested in engineering. The lesson plans are arranged according age and engineering topic.
Six New Features Coming to Google Forms
Google Forms has long been a go-to tool for teachers to create surveys and give quizzes online. Today, Google announced six new features that are
Microsoft Teams for Education Gets Five New Features
This week Microsoft announced the release of five new features for Microsoft Teams for Education. The two of the more significant of the five new
Changes Coming to the Google Drive User Interface – Web Version
Earlier this week I posted the reminder that the Google Drive desktop app is being phased out this month. Yesterday, Google announced that there’s another
Animaker Edify – Easily Create Animated Videos In an Online Classroom
Disclosure: This is sponsored content. Animaker Edify is an excellent service for teachers and students who want to create animated videos. In reviewing Animaker Edify
How to Use Google’s New VR Tour Creator
A few hours ago Google announced the launch of their new VR Tour Creator. This free tool lets everyone create their own virtual tours to
Lensoo Create – Create Whiteboard Videos on Your Phone or Tablet
Lensoo Create is an app for creating whiteboard videos on your phone or tablet. The app is available in an Android version and in an
Three Ways to Collect Registration Information for School Fundraiser Events
This evening I answered the following email from a reader who is organizing a fundraising event for her class: Our class will be doing a
Reminder – The Google Drive Desktop App Is Being Phased Out
Last month I posted an explanation of the pop-up notice you might be seeing in your Google Drive account regarding the end of the Google
Weebly vs. Google Sites
Twice in the last few I have chatted with a school technology coaches who wanted my opinion about which platform their teachers should use to
G Suite Admins Can View Site Ownership & Request Edit Access
I don’t know why this wasn’t already a feature of G Suite, but as of last week administrators of G Suite domains can now view
Share This Letter With Students to Show Them the Cost of Copyright Infringement
Getting students, and some teachers, to understand the importance of honoring copyright restrictions can be a challenging task. You’ll often hear comments like, “it’s no
Capsure – Share Collections of Images With Audio Notes
Capsure is a photo sharing service that lets you create private and public collections of photographs. Lots of other services do the same thing. What
What’s Going On With Flippity? – I Found Out for You
A few weeks ago I was giving a presentation that included a demonstration of Flippity’s Google Sheets Add-on. A few minutes after the presentation a
History and Literature Text Messages
ClassTools.net is one of my favorite places to find templates for online activities for middle school and high school students. One of the templates on
Easy Accents for Google Slides
For the last couple of years I have recommended the Easy Accents Add-on for Google Docs. It’s a free Add-on that gives you access to
Create a Video Lesson Completely In PowerPoint
One of the easier ways to get started making your own video lessons is found within a tool that some of us have been using
Headlines and Heroes – A New Resource from the Library of Congress
The Library of Congress offers many excellent online resources for teachers and students. Even just following the LOC’s Twitter account will provide you with fun
Certificates, Quests, and Comics – The Week in Review
Good morning from Maine where the sun is shining, my lawn is turning green, and we’re all going to play outside today. I have a
GeoGebra for PowerPoint – Access and Insert GeoGebra Within PowerPoint
GeoGebra is a favorite ed tech resource of math teachers all over the globe. PowerPoint is the default presentation tool on millions of computers in
Sourcera for Google Slides – Historical Images to Use In Your Slides
Sourcera is an Add-on for Google Slides that lets you search for historical images and insert them directly into your slides. Sourcera pulls images from
Three Free Webinars About Assistive Technology
At the beginning of this year I made a decision to spend more time and effort getting to know all of the free tools that
Docs Teach Adds New Primary Sources About WWI
Docs Teach is a fantastic resource for US History teachers that I have shared many times over the years. I like it so much that
Glue vs. tape – A TED-Ed Science Lesson
The back windshield in my truck is currently being held in place by some clear packaging tape. There’s a big crack in it and my
The Science of Spring!
Here in Maine it finally has felt like spring for the entire week. We’ve had hot and sunny days as well as warm and rainy
The Economics of Seinfeld – Lessons Based on Seinfeld Clips
The Economics of Seinfeld is a neat concept for teaching economics lessons developed by economics professors from Eastern Illinois University and Baker University. The Economics of Seinfeld is
300+ Printable Comic Templates
Make Beliefs Comix is a great multilingual comic strip creation service that I’ve featured many times in the past. One of the features of Make Beliefs
Only Five Openings Left
Over the years I have been fortunate to visit hundreds of schools to help teachers use technology to create better learning experiences for their students.
17 Audacity Tutorials for Beginners
Audacity is a free, open-source program for recording and editing audio. It’s available for Windows, Mac, and Linux computers. For classroom podcasting projects or other
Create Your Own Geography Game With Mission Map Quest
Mission Map Quest is a free tool for creating geography games. The concept is simple, you create a series of clues that your students need to
MOOO – Museum of Obsolete Objects
Do you remember using the end of a pencil to dial your rotary phone? Did you have an answering machines that used cassette tapes? Do
Dotstorming Announces Change to Free Plan
Dotstorming is a tool that I have recommended for a few years for group brainstorming and informal assessment activities. It allows you to gather ideas
Padlet, Spark, and PhET – The Month in Review
Good evening from Maine where the snow that coated my yard on many mornings in April now all gone. Another sign that spring is here
Today’s Blogging Q&A Recording
This afternoon I hosted a live Q&A session about blogging. I used YouTube’s relatively new desktop livestreaming tool for the broadcast. If you missed the
How to Automatically Issue Certificates When Students Pass a Quiz in Google Forms
The quizzes setting in Google Forms makes it easy to quickly score quizzes and return quiz scores to your students. The Google Forms Add-on called
Old Google Sites vs. New Google Sites
Last week I published a video about converting old Google Sites to the new version of Google Sites. That post prompted a lot of emails
TodaysMeet Is Shutting Down – Six Alternatives to Try
TodaysMeet is shutting down. James Socol, the creator and only developer of TodaysMeet, has announced that he’s shutting it down on June 16th. I’m going
PhET, Grasshoppers, and AR Creatures – The Week in Review
Good morning from Maine where spring is in the air. Lately, we’ve had some rainy days mixed with wonderfully warm and sunny days. That’s a
Book Creator Now Offers “Read To Me” Mode Online
Last summer the Book Creator team launched a web-based version of their popular iPad app. The web-based version, called Book Creator for Chrome, has been a
Watch Live – Bison Calves in Yellowstone
A few minutes ago I was browsing Facebook when I noticed that the Yellowstone National Park page was livestreaming images of bison and their new
TED-Ed Lessons About Every Element on the Periodic Table
For years I have referred readers to the University of Nottingham’s Periodic Table of Videos. That table provides a video about every element that is
A Convenient G Suite Update
On Thursday Google announced a small update to G Suite that could prove to be convenient and reduce confusion for folks who have more than
From the Catbird Seat – A Poetry Podcast
Just in time for the end of National Poetry Month the Library of Congress has launched a new podcast series about poetry. The podcast is
Join Me On Monday for a Blogging Q&A
After more than a decade of daily blogging I’d like to think that I’ve learned a thing or two about what works and what doesn’t.
How to Convert Old Google Sites to New Google Sites
Google Sites users who want to switch to the new version of Google Sites have two options. The first option is to create an entirely
Caring for Comics – And Other Ideas for Video Projects
Earlier this week the Library of Congress Twitter account posted a link to the LOC’s reference page about the deterioration of paper. From that page I
Google Tasks – A Very Simple Task Management App
On Wednesday Google announced a bunch of updates to Gmail. That story was covered by every blog under the sun and garnered lots of commentary
A Quick Guide to OneNote
Over the last few months I have come to appreciate all of the things that OneNote does that my trusty old Google Keep can’t do.
How to Embed Flipgrid Topics Into Google Sites
One of the good things about the new version of Google Sites is that Google has made it much easier to embed content from third
New to New Google Sites? 5 Features You Should Know How To Use
The new (current) version of Google Sites is easier for new users to start using. But with that ease of use comes fewer features and
Join Me Tomorrow for 5 Ways to Blend Tech Into Outdoor Lessons
As the winter fades and spring begins to bloom here in New England, kids and adults are itching to get outside more often. This is
WikiWhere – A Challenging Map Game
WikiWhere is a neat map-based trivia game. The goal of the game is to identify cities based on their descriptions. The descriptions come from Wikipedia
Hurricane Webinar 2018!
Thanks to a teacher at Sigsbee Charter School in Key West I learned about a free webinar for fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students. The
Inspiration From an App That Didn’t Work as Expected
In preparation for a webinar that I am hosting on Thursday I tested a new app that is supposed to help users identify trees. The
New Scenes and Characters Added to Storyboard That
Storyboard That has been one of my favorite digital storytelling tools since I first tried it many years ago. Many readers of this blog have
Record and Share Observations of Nature on iNaturalist
iNaturalist is a community website for sharing pictures and observations of plants and animals. To enable easy sharing of observations, iNaturalist offers a free Android app and a free
Dig Into Mining – Virtual Field Labs and Field Trips About Copper Mining
Dig Into Mining is a free resource from Discovery Education and Freeport-McMoran (the world’s largest copper mining company). The purpose of Dig Into Mining is
PhET PowerPoint Add-in – Add Science & Math Simulations to Slides
PhET is a free resource that has been popular with science and math teachers for many years. PhET provides free interactive math and science simulations
Storyline JS – Turn Your Spreadsheets Into Stories
In yesterday’s Practical Ed Tech Tip of the Week I featured the storytelling tools produced by Knight Lab at Northwestern University. One of those tools
5 PowerPoint Features Often Overlooked by Students and Teachers
About ten years ago I started to notice a lot of alternatives to PowerPoint popping-up on the web. Some of those presentation tools like Google
Coming In May – The Complete Guide to Classroom Video Projects
Back in March more than 100 people participated in my one hour webinar titled 5 Video Projects for Almost Every Classroom. If you missed it, you
Slides, Forms, and Novels – The Week in Review
Good morning from Maine where this morning it actually feels like spring! It’s a nice contrast to the snowy mornings that we had twice this
A Fun App That Helps Kids Learn How Animals Adapt to Their Environments
As the weather warms students start asking, “can we have class outside today?” If you’re an elementary school teacher who has heard this recently and
Grasshopper – Learn to Code on Your Phone
Grasshopper is a free app that teaches you to Javascript coding through a series of easy-to-follow tutorials. The free app, available for iOS and Android,
Open Explorer – Follow Along on National Geographic Expeditions
Open Explorer is a new offering from National Geographic that is designed to let anyone follow along on exploration expeditions around the world. When you
5 Ways to Improve Your Next Video
Today we have more tools to record, edit, and share videos than ever before. With the tap of an app or the click of a
The Origins of the London Underground
Fun fact: I once got terribly lost in London when the Tube line that I was on unexpectedly (to me, anyway) went out of service
Guides and Rulers for Google Slides
If you’re like me, you might need a little help making things line up the way they should in your presentations. If you’re a Google