How to Embed a Section of a Video Into Canvas Courses
On Friday afternoon I received an email from a reader who was looking for a little help embedding YouTube videos into Canvas. Specifically, this person wanted to know if there was a way to share just a section of video into a course page. Fortunately, YouTube does make this fairly easy to do. You can […]
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 other learning management systems don’t offer or charge extra to use. One of those features is an assignment/ assessment window. The assignment/ assessment window feature in Otus lets teachers set […]
Give Video Feedback in the Otus LMS
Otus is a learning management system that I’ve watched evolve from a relatively simple iPad app into a full-fledged LMS that can be used on any device. When I first wrote about Otus in 2014 I wrote, “the possibilities for teachers using Otus seem limitless.” This morning, thanks to an Otus Facebook post, I learned […]
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 bunch of new possibilities for using Flipgrid in your classroom. Now that Flipgrid is free for everyone to use, I think we’ll see more people sharing creative ways to use […]
Otus Adds New Features Including a Lockdown Browser
Otus is a fantastic learning management system (LMS) that I’ve watched mature from its early iterations as an iPad-specific tool to a full-fledged LMS. This week, the folks at Otus announced a new round of updates to their LMS. Included in those update is a new lockdown browser mode that can be activated when students […]
A Conversation With Dr. Keith Westman from Otus
Last month I thought to myself that I didn’t have enough to do so I set about launching a podcast. I failed. It turns out that I don’t really have enough time to do all of the editing that a good podcast requires and still meet all of the other obligations that I have in […]
Three Alternatives to Google Classroom – Best of 2017
As I do during this week every year, I am taking some time off to relax and prepare for the new year. Every day this week I will be featuring the most popular blog posts of the year. Here is one from January. Last week I received an email from a reader who was looking […]
Kiddom Introduces an Android App
Kiddom is one of the learning management systems that I occasionally recommend to folks who are looking for an alternative to Google Classroom. One of the helpful features that Kiddom offers is an integrated search for assignment materials. For example, fourth grade teachers can search for mathematics assignments that are aligned to standards of their […]
Grade Items in G Suite Side-by-Side With Otus Rubrics
Otus is a fantastic learning management system that is steadily growing in popularity in large part because of its easy of use and flexibility. Proof of that flexibility can be found in a forthcoming update that will let you view, comment, and grade any G Suite item (Docs, Slides, Sheets) on the same screen that […]
Three Alternatives to Google Classroom
Last week I received an email from a reader who was looking for an alternative to Google Classroom. This is not an uncommon request. A couple of times a week I get similar questions from folks who don’t have access to Google Classroom. Here are my three recommendations for a free alternative to Google Classroom. […]
Otus – A Good LMS Option for Small Schools
During the weekend I received an email from a teacher who was looking for an LMS recommendation for his small, private school. The school has less than 200 students and a limited budget. Otus was the first LMS that came to my mind. Otus is designed to be a complete LMS (learning management system) for […]
OpenEd Helps You Find Resources to Share In Your LMS
OpenEd (formerly known as OpenEd.io) offers a huge index of educational games, videos, practice assessments, tutorials, and more. One of the strengths of OpenEd is that you can search for resources according to Common Core Standards and Next Generation Science Standards. Another of OpenEd’s strengths is its integration with multiple learning management systems including Google […]
Cloudschool – Create & Distribute a Variety of Multimedia Courses
Cloudschool is a free service for creating and publishing multimedia lessons. In your free Cloudschool account you can create courses of study for your students. Within each course you can create and distribute multimedia lessons arranged in a variety of formats. You can create lessons that are purely text-based or you can create lessons that […]