Scratch

Learn how to use Scratch.  This site offers self paced tutorial on programming using Scratch.  There are teacher lesson plans available in PDF. It is for ages 5-15.  
Scratch

Blendspace changed from Edcanvas

Edcanvas now has a new name.  It is Blendspace.  Checkout February 13, 2013 post.

Prodigy.....Online math game

Prodigy is a free online math game that features engaging activities.  It has content that is curriculum-aligned. It also features real time reporting with formative and summative assessments.  Teachers can use their accounts to create student accounts.
https://www.prodigygame.com/Canada

Instructables

Instructables is a site where you can explore creations and share our own creations with others. It is a worthwhile site to explore and use.  Click on image for link.

Teaching Ideas

Teaching Ideas is a site that has free lesson ideas, resources and activities.   What interested me in mentioning this site is the Library section that contains ideas and resources linked to children's books and literature. There are ICT and technology ideas as well that you can adapt by using a web 2 tool.

Stupeflix and Flixtime video creation

Stupeflix is a free online video making tool using photos and videos.





You can also try Flixtime

Scrible

Scrible allows you to annotate and organize online information.  This can be used as a collaborative tool and a way of managing web information for yourself and share with others.

1. Add Scrible Toolbar to your browser
2. Annotate web pages
3. Organize, search and retrieve information in personal library at www.scrible.com

Scoop It .......... Curate Articles

Scoop-It is a tool where you can discover content through curation.  You name a topic and search for the content that matters to you.  You can customize it with your own perspective and then share your interests.  View the following video to see how it works. http://www.scoop.it/

Digital Story Telling Tools

Some more Digital Story Telling Tools that are slightly different from the Comic Strip list of tools that I previously mentioned.

Story bird where students can Write, Read, Discover and Share their stories with the world.

http://storybird.com/

Generator is a Storyboard Generator.

http://generator.acmi.net.au/storyboard

Domo Animate is an online tool where students can create animated stories and it provides them with a wide variety of background and characters to use.
http://domo.goanimate.com/studio

Infogram

Another on line tool where you can create FRee interactive charts and infographics.

http://infogr.am/

Piktochart

Piktochart is an infographic and presentation tool for non designers.

Educational Terms

Click here to Trends in order to print poster.

Project Gutenberg for children

I had mentioned Project Gutenberg in a previous post about how you can download free adult ebooks and music.  You can also down load ebooks from Children's Literature Bookshelf from Project Gutenberg.

Programming and Coding Apps.... Bee-Bot, Cargo-Bot and Hopscotch

(Description on itunes)

The new Bee-Bot App from TTS Group has been developed based on our well-loved, award-winning Bee-Bot floor robot. The app makes use of Bee-Bot's keypad functionality and enables children to improve their skills in directional language and programming through sequences of forwards, backwards, left and right 90 degree turns. 

Cargo-Bot is the first game programmed entirely on iPad® using Codea™  Cargo-Bot is a puzzle game where you teach a robot how to move crate

Hopscotch allows kids to create their own games and animations.   


These apps are free to download.                        

Scratch

Scratch is a visual programming environment.  Students learn how to create their own stories, animate and create games; they learn how to code.  They can work collaboratively or on their own.  There is an online community where you can share and remix projects.  It is Free.

Ted talks video about Coding

Pixabay

Pixabay is a public domain that hosts free images.  Once you search for an image that you need, you download the images that are below the row of shutterbox images; these are free. 
 http://pixabay.com/en/

The Future of Glass Technology

A couple of years ago I was introduced to this video.  A good video to use to begin a discussion.

Using Technology VS Technology Integration

I came across a blog where the author created a chart that demonstrates the Difference between "Using Technology" and "Technology Integration".  Click on the link to see chart.
.http://teachbytes.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/techintvstechuse.jpg

Personal Safety ...... Stop Motion Animation

The Following is a Stop Motion Animation created by one of my colleagues, Mike.

The Great Soccer Game....... Stop Motion Animation

The following is a Stop Motion Animation created by one of my colleagues, Jamie.

Stop Motion Animation

Stop Motion animation is a method to physically manipulate an object to make it appear that it is moving on its own.
Click on link to access some resources, tutorials and ideas for creating Stop Motion Animation for your classroom. These resources will demonstrate how you can use Movie Maker, iMovie, digital cameras, iPad, or any smartphone to accomplish this task.
Stop Motion Animation Workshop Resources

Edutopia Learning Resource

Edutopia is a website that discusses evidence-based learning strategies which are shared to help improve education.  This site offers Free Classroom Guides and Educational Downloads for Parents and Educators.

These are PDF documents that the website offers:

• How to Thank a Teacher
• Mobile Devices for Learning: What You Need to Know
• Six Tips for Brain-Based Learning
• Ten Tips for Classroom Management
• Top Ten Tips for Teaching with New Media
• Summer Rejuvenation Guide
• Top Ten Tips for Assessing Project-Based learning
• Home-to-School Resource Guide
• Think Green Guide

A Parent's Guide to 21st-Century Learning

The website  “Edutopia” has many free guides and downloads for educators and parents. One such guide is A Parent’s Guide to 21^st-Century Learning”. It is a guide to help parents understand what collaboration, creativity, communication and critical thinking would look like in the classroom.

Register for a free account in order to access the PDF download.
http://www.edutopia.org/parent-21st-century-learning-resource-guide

21st Century Learning

The Next Lesson and The Third Teacher

The board that I work for has changed their IT department name to 21^st Century Learning and AICT. Their focus now is not only on the delivery of software but in understanding of 21^st Century teaching and learning.

The members are focusing on the principles of the NeXtLesson and the Third Teacher.

Teachers are presented with a guide to assist them on The Next Lesson which focuses in

• knowledge construction, 
• Collaboration, 
• Self-Regulation, 
• Real-World Problem Solving & Innovation, 
• Use of ICT for learning
• Skilled communication.  

This guide describes six rubrics that describe each of the above skill for students to develop.

This framework will help educators   “identify and understand the opportunities that learning activities give students “in order to build skills that will better prepare learners for their future in the 21^st Century.

The learning is done in partners.

Click on the image of the guide to read about how to implement 21st century learning in your classroom:

Partners in Learning Network will assist you to connect with other teachers and to a database of 21st Century activities. http://www.pil-network.com/Resources/LearningActivities









The third teacher is the environment the students are in, in order to collaborate, share, and work together. Changing how students learn.
From Capacity Building Series, it outlines what the Third Teacher is and the following video will demonstrate what it would look like:

I had the opportunity to attend a Symposium on 21st Century Learning last December and during my course in January to delve through what the NextLesson is and how to create one with the assistance of my instructor Mario.

Digital Citizenship

http://www.connectsafely.org/

Digital citizenship, briefly from Anne Collier

Book Trailers

The Grade 4 students completed their Book Trailers assignment.  They unanimously chose to use the Movie Maker tool to publish their work. After teaching them how to use the basic tools in Movie Maker, they were able to independently work through the program. The students helped each other when they needed reminders. They used Creative Commons pictures and music. I also had students that preferred to draw their own pictures and use voice over instead of music.  Here are some Completed Book Trailers:

Blogging

The Brain of a Blogger

infographic by Infolinks.

Padlet ideas

●     Creating a Virtual Wall &  Engaging Your Students Blog Post http://catlintucker.com/2013/06/padlet-create-a-virtual-wall-engage-your-students/

●     Lesson lhttp://blog.padlet.com/2013/03/how-to-use-padletcom-in-classroom.html

From this website I found a list of ideas on how to use Padlet:
http://saucontech.blogspot.ca/

○     Create a timeline with videos and images

○     KWL activity. Create one wall for what students know, one for what they want to know, and one at the end of the unit for what they learned

○     Students to comment on videos that they are watching in class

○     Assess student understanding at the end of a chapter/unit

○     Use as a way for students to brainstorm in a group on topics

○     A great place to visually collect group research

○     Create posters on people/places/topics.

Symbaloo ........... Bookmarking

Symbaloo lets you gather web links and copy them into a webmix.  You can access your bookmarks from any computer because it is on the web.  Educators can use Symbaloo to create a resource for students to access without difficulty and alleviate the worry  typing the long URLs correctly.

I was introduced to Symbaloo back in February and found it to  be very convenient and a great way to share resources with other colleagues.  Thank you to Mario for sharing this on line tool.

33 Ways To Use Blogs In The Classroom

Click on link to read a list on using Blogs in the classroom.
http://web20intheclassroom.blogspot.ca/2008/10/ways-to-use-blogs-in-your-classroom-and.html

Zite ..... Keep up with current issues

I downloaded the Zite app to help me search for articles that are of interest to me.  This handy tool allows me to keep up to date with current issues.

For Android






For IOS

The Digital Classroom

Online Universities.com Blog has the following Infograph that I found to be interesting.

Know The Net ...... powered by nominet

Know The Net is an information site that will guide you on surfing the net safely.  Below is an inforgraph on 10 Digital Citizenship Tips From Your Mother.  http://www.knowthenet.org.uk/

Knowthenet presents Manners Matter the online Netiquette Do's and Don'ts infographic.

Today's Meet

Today's Meet is a back channel for class discussions without student disruption.  They can connect with the audience in real time.  It is similar to Twitter but not made public. The teacher provides a link to the room that was created so that students can begin a discussion.

ThingLink

ThingLink helps you create a story from images by linking web content to each image.  The images become interactive and creative.  Thinglink help students develop 21 Century skills and inspire them to be creative.
Thing Ling Education is free for sign up.  http://www.thinglink.com/action/store/education


What is ThingLink Youtube Tutorial.

Nearpod Free App

I came across the Nearpod app. I haven't tried it yet, but I read many positive reviews for using this app in the classroom.
What is Nearpod?
On the itunes preview page it states that "Nearpod enables teachers to use their ipads to manage content on student iPads, iPhones or iPods. It combines presentations, collaboration, and real-time assessment tools."
Teachers share their slides with students and are able to control the pace of the lesson and monitor student responses.

1. Teachers can create content using various features available.
2. Share content with students to mobile devices.
3. Multimedia content engages students.
4. Teachers can see all student activity in real time.
http://www.nearpod.com/how-it-works/   or https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/nearpod/id523540409?mt=8

Sound, Earth and Animals...... Science Apps

My daughter showed me the App, Sound Uncovered which helps you discover, explore and experiment with sound. This interactive app is great to use with your sound unit.  This Free App was developed by Exploratorium.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sound-uncovered/id598835017?mt=8

EarthViewer is an App that helps you explore the science of earth's history. Supporting materials included are video tours and classroom ideas.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/earthviewer/id590208430?mt=8

WWF Together is developed by World Wildlife Fund. It consists of animal stories with activities, videos, etc.  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wwf-together/id581920331?mt=8

View PowerPoint from an iPad

My daughter purchased Quick Office app to do PowerPoint presentations from her iPad.  I decided to search around for an app that can produce PowerPoint presentations for Free.  Slideshark is such an app that a PowerPoint can be shown from an iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.  https://www.slideshark.com/

Text Message Generator

With the age of text messaging, why not incorporate the idea in the classroom. SMS generator is an online tool that was introduced to me during my course.  This tool allows you to create a conversation through messaging. Below is an image that explains this generator well.  http://www.classtools.net/SMS/28_Q5H4KE

Socrative .... Edcanvas ...... Quiz Taking

Socrative is a student response system that allows teachers to create games and quizzes.  "Students interact real time with the content."  Socrative runs on laptops, smartphones and laptops.  Very easy to register and login.

(Thanks John and Mario)

Edcanvas now allows a teacher to "Add Quiz" on an empty canvas tile, and add questions and answers.  Then it automatically grades the quizzes for you.  I mentioned what Edcanvas is in my March 22nd post.

Socrative and this section of Edcanvas create, "Formative assessments and it helps you guage student understanding after a lesson."

Infographs ..... easel.ly

Easel.ly is a free online tool that allows you to create and share visual ideas.  All that it entails is to create a canvas, drag and drop a theme, edit and customize.  Then save and share your work.  http://www.easel.ly/
(Thanks Sandra)

Wordmover for Poem Creation

Wordmover allows students to manipulate words on their ipad. It is a Read Write Think app created by the National Council of Teachers of English. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/word-mover/id572997152?mt=8

Read Write Think has some lesson plans on using this app. http://www.readwritethink.org/search/?sort_order=relevance&q=using+word+mover+app&srchgo.x=-323&srchgo.y=-484&old_q=

Evolution of Music... video mashup

This youtube video is called Evolution of Music.  It has a medley of songs throughout history.  It begins with an 11th Century song right through to 2010.

What a great idea to use as part of a biography lesson, demonstrating music through the ages or asking the kids to do their own video mashup as a project.

Text students with ...... Remind101

My daughter knows that I am always looking for free web tools, so she brought Remind101 to my attention because her teachers are using it as well.  Remind101 is a safe way for teachers to text students, keep in touch with parents and keep phone numbers anonymous. If there is something school related that you wish to remind your students to complete, just text them the information.  (Click on image.)

Thanks Sandra M. for verifying that this is the site.

Kodu Game Lab...... Game Creation

What I found interesting about Kodu Game Lab is that students can create games without the worry of having design or programming skills.  This is good for creativity, collaboration and problem solving.

Teachers and students can take part in a Skype Lesson
labshttps://education.skype.com/projects/2428-microsoft-kodu-game-labs

Unfortunately it is not a web based program but a download.
http://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/download/details.aspx?id=10056

This is a Youtube video that demonstrates how to use program in 1 of 4 tutorials. You can go to youtube to  view all 4 tutorials. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg_jeN5AcPs

Skype in the Classroom

Post revisited from Dec/12:

Bring the outside world to your classroom using technology!! You can request to invite an organization, author, classroom.... to visit your class through Skype. This virtual technology brings experiences to the classroom where perhaps some students may not be able to experience otherwise.

Connect your classroom with teachers from around the world.  Post a request for someone to visit on a certain topic.

https://education.skype.com/

BBC Teachers Teaching Resources

I  have many times visited BBC Teacher for games, videos,and  lesson ideas. I had posted this link on my student blog back in April, 2011 and forgetting to add it here.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/teachers/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/

BBC Bitesize ....... video clips

There is a  link within BBC Teachers called Bitesize with videos, activities and lessons.

 It is a section for teachers on various topics from ages 5 - 11 that have very short video clips.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/index_flash.shtml

This Bitesize link shows topics on Science,  Math and English.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/

Class Dojo....... Real time behaviour management tracker

An AQ colleague uses Class Dojo for his class.  It is a behaviour management program to make it easier for teachers to keep students alert and on task. It awards and records real-time feed back. Parents can keep track of their children's progress for the day and month.  This encourages student ownership of behaviour.
Click on picture for link.
You can view video on how to set an account up.
Thanks Jamie.

Dogo news

Dogo news is an American kids site that empowers students to safely work with  digital media.   Teachers create a class page and invite students to work on lessons created using current events, news and non-fictional articles written for kids from this site.

Click on picture.....

Powerpoint games

Two more sites that have powerpoint activities.

http://teach.fcps.net/trt10/PowerPoint.htm

http://teach.fcps.net/trt14/Power%20Point%20Games/power_point_games.htm

Thanks Mario.

Citation Machine

Citation Machine is an interactive on line tool to help create reference information for school essays. It will help students cite any of their sources without difficulty.
Evelyn from my AQ course introduced this site to me.
http://citationmachine.net/index2.php

Kidblog...... Blogs

Kid blog is an alternative to Blogger for kids.  Teachers can sign up and create a secure classroom blogging community for their kids.  Teachers have total control of the blogs and user accounts. It is for K-12 students.

●     Step by step instructions, including video tutorials, on using Kid Blog. The link also includes teaching ideas http://integratingtechnologyandwriting.wikispaces.com/KidBlog

●     Ways to use blogs in your classroom  http://blog.simplek12.com/education/15-awesome-ways-to-use-blogs-in-your-classrooms/

ThumbScribes

ThumbScribes is a community for creating collaborative pieces of writing.  You can create privately, invite friends or leave it open for anyone to join. Contributions can be submitted through IM or Twitter as well.

https://www.thumbscribes.com/login.php?l=signup

CommonSense Media

Common Sense Media is a site that has cross curricular units that address digital literacy and citizenship topics in an age appropriate way.
http://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/scope-and-sequence

Youth Privacy.......... Social Smarts

Like Media Smarts, Youth Privacy is a site from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada where students can learn to become better informed about safety and proper use of Social Media and the Internet. There are lessons and tools to help students with privacy when using digital technologies.
http://www.priv.gc.ca/youth-jeunes/index_e.asp

Caine's Card Board Project

The 4 Cs of 21st Century Learning are: Creativity, Communication, Critical Thinking and Collaboration.  "Project Based Learning emphasizes creative thinking skills by allowing students to find that there are many ways to solve a problem."  One of my peers from night school introduced this phenomenal video which sparked a wave of cardboard creativity in kids around the world.  This video was also the start of a new foundation called, "Imagination Foundation" to foster creativity in more kids.



Thanks John.

Edcanvas

Earlier I posted a lesson using Edcanvas.  Edcanvas allows you to gather information and resources into one place to make lesson delivery easy.  I visited it again and I noticed that there is now improved options in the text editor.  They have also launched a new feature that allows you to add audio to your canvas. Teachers can also set up a class and  Edcanvas can tell you which students viewed your lesson and give you detailed reports about their participation.
View an Edcanvas lesson on an earlier post.....

 For Educators:  
In the Edcanvas Blog post, the Edcanvas team write the following:
Many teachers have asked us to add the ability to annotate their canvases with sound, and others have asked us to give their students the same ability. Now, you can add audio clips anywhere in your canvas! Use audio comments to

1.       Read out material to make it easier for auditory learners to understand concepts.

2.       Add another level of instruction on top of your canvas.

3.       Require students to voice their opinion or speak aloud translations instead of just writing it in a comment.

Google Docs, Google Drive

Five years ago I was introduced to Google Docs.  Just recently I was re-introduced to it and I was impressed at the upgrades made since.  It is offered by Google which is found within Google Drive.  Google Docs offers:  Document, Presentation, Spreadsheet, Forms and Drawing.
Google Docs allows users to create documents online while collaborating in real-time with multiple users. Each person you give permission to can edit or view document. There is a chat box that would allow you to communicate with other collaborators.  A history of work is saved.  You can have access anywhere and store files safely.  Just sign in with a gmail account to Google Drive and begin.

Thanks Mario for reminding me of Google docs.

Padlet

Post Revisited:  On an earlier post I mentioned Wallwisher.  This online tool is now called Padlet.

Padlet can be used for teaching, noticeboards, discussions, quizzes, lists, watching videos, etc.  You can share, export, email and print your wall.
There is an app available for this site.

Definition Poem

My Special Ed and ESL students wrote a Definition Poem.  Once they completed their draft they published it and learned to add an image from Clip art behind their text.  They were very happy and pleased with their finished product; that they learned something new on the computer. 
(All images are from Microsoft Word Clip Art)