As a history teacher one of my favorite yet challenging things to do was introduce my students to primary sources. It's great because it reveals to them a whole new world of research opportunities. There's nothing better than a student saying, "wow! Mr. Byrne, look at this!" At the same time learning to read, evaluate, and utilize primary sources can be long process with some students. The following are some of the online activities incorporating primary sources that I've done with my students over the years. 1. Compare textbooks, primary sources, and Wikipedia. This is a rather simple activity that I've done over the years as an introduction to the value of primary sources. In the activity I provide students with a textbook entry, a Wikipedia entry, and a primary source document about the same event or topic. I then have them read all three and compare the information about the event. The outline of questions for students is available in this Google Document that I created. 2. Guided reading of primary sources through Google Documents. One of my favorite ways to use the commenting feature in Google Documents is to host online discussions around a shared article. Through the use of comments connected to highlighted sections of an article I can guide students to important points, ask them questions, and allow them to ask clarifying questions about the article. All the steps for this process are outlined in Using Google Documents to Host Online Discussions of Primary Sources. 3. Historical Scene Investigations. Historical Scene Investigation offers a fun way for students to investigate history through primary documents and images. Historical Scene Investigation presents students with historical cases to "crack." Each of these thirteen cases present students with clues to analyze in order to form a conclusion to each investigation. The clues for each investigation come in the forms of primary documents and images as well as secondary sources. HSI provides students with "case files" on which they record the evidence they find in the documents and images. At the conclusion of their investigation students need to answer questions and decide if the case should be closed or if more investigation is necessary. (Once you have done a couple of these with your students it becomes easy to craft your own HSI activities or have them craft HSI activities for each other). 4. Create videos and posters featuring primary sources. The National Archives Experience Digital Vaults is one of the resources that I almost always share in my workshop on teaching history with technology primary sources. The Digital Vaults offers good tools that students and teachers can use to create content using images and documents from the National Archives. In the video embedded below I demonstrate how students can create digital posters and movies in the National Archives Experience Digital Vaults. 5. Layer old maps on top of modern maps. In Google Earth your students can layer images of old maps on top of current maps. This is a great way for students to see how early cartographers saw the world. It can also provide some insight into how and why early explorers chose the paths that they traveled. The David Rumsey Historical Map collection is my go-to place for historical maps. Learn more about these activities and many others in my online course Teaching History With Technology.  This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesA Short Overview of Workflow in Google ClassroomHow to Use Facebook to Bookmark LinksHow to Distribute Add-ons to an Entire Google Apps Domain 

There are three basic types of searches that students conduct on the Internet. Those types of searches are navigational, transactional, and informational. Navigational searches are conducted to find something specific like a website or physical location. Transactional searches are conducted for the purpose of trying to purchase something. Informational searches are conducted to discover information about a topic. Of these three types of searches informational searches are the ones that students struggle with the most. Five strategies that help students conduct better informational searches. 1. Create a list of things that you already know about the topic. This helps students pick better keywords and helps them more quickly identify information that may not be relevant to their searches. 2. Develop of list of ways that other people might talk about your topic. I will let students poll their peers for ideas about how they would describe the topic. 3. Search by file type. A lot of good information is hidden way inside of PDFs, Word files, KML files, PowerPoint, and spreadsheet files. Unfortunately, those file types generally don't rank high in commercial search engines so students will need to search by file type to find those files. 4. Try a different search engine. Contrary to what a lot of students think, Google is not the only search engine. Your school library probably has a subscription to a database or two that students can search within and find resources that a Google search won't find. Students can also try Google Scholar, Google Books, Bing, Choosito, or Yahoo. 5. Search within webpages and documents for clues that can help you form your next set of search terms. As they read through webpages and documents students should be taking note of things like how the author is describing a topic. Students can then use that description to help them form their next search queries. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related Stories10 Important Google Search Strategies for Students - A PDF HandoutHow to Find Google Earth Files That Aren't in the Google Earth GalleryHow to Refine a Google Search By Domain 

Google Sites can be a good platform on which to develop your school, library, or classroom website. It's a flexible platform that you can use for a variety of purposes including creating blogs, portfolios, and wikis. All that said, if you're accessing a Google Site on a mobile device you may have trouble navigating it unless the site administrator has made it mobile-friendly. In the video embedded below I demonstrate how quickly you can make your Google Site mobile-friendly. You can learn more Google Sites tips and tricks in my online course Getting Going With GAFE or by browsing through my YouTube channel. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesHow to Change Your Google Profile Image & Why You Should5 Online Activities for Teaching With Primary SourcesHow to Distribute Add-ons to an Entire Google Apps Domain 

This week Kahoot, the wildly popular quiz game platform, released a new team mode. The new team mode is designed to be used with students who are sharing computers, tablets, or phones. In team mode students arrange themselves in teams around a shared computer or tablet. When you start a Kahoot game you'll now choose "team mode." With team mode selected your students will be prompted to enter a team name and a list of the team members. After the teams have entered their names you will be ready to start the game. One of the nice features of team mode is that students have time to discuss their answer choices before they are allowed to submit a response. From there the game is played and scored as any other Kahoot game is. Applications for Education Kahoot's new team mode could be a great option for teachers who have wanted to try Kahoot but didn't have enough devices for all of his or her students to play along. Even if you do have enough devices for every student the team mode could still be a good way to promote collaboration and a little less competition in your review activities. Take a look at Socrative's Space Race mode if you are looking for a review game that students can play in teams with individual devices. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesHow to Create a Vocabulary Sorting Game on ClasstoolsHow to Make Your Google Sites Mobile Friendly5 Online Activities for Teaching With Primary Sources 

Last November I featured a series of videos from PBS Learning Channel that contained eight concise explanations of logical fallacies. This morning, thanks to Larry Ferlazzo, I learned about another series of video explanations of logical fallacies. Wireless Philosophy offers a playlist of twelve videos on logical fallacies. The playlist is embedded below. The fallacies covered in the PBS videos are Strawman, Ad Hominem, Black and White, Authority, and No True Scotsman. I have embedded the playlist below. Your Logical Fallacy Is is a website that provides short explanations and examples of twenty-four common logical fallacies. Visitors to the site can click through the gallery to read the examples. Your Logical Fallacy Is also provides free PDF poster files that you can download and print. Applications for Education When teaching current events courses, I always begin with lessons about about recognizing bias, propaganda, and logical fallacies. All three of the resources featured above can help students recognize logical fallacies and hopefully avoid using logical fallacies themselves. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesVideos and Poster Explaining Logical FallaciesWhy Are Airplane Engines so Big? - How Jet Engines Work #STEMAnimal Migrations in Yellowstone National Park 

Next Friday is Earth Day 2016. Discovery Education has a great Earth Day resource for you to use with your elementary and middle school students. Expedition Earth Day is a free set of resources for teaching students about the world's coral reefs. A 30 minute is the central aspect around which the lessons are designed. Through Expedition Earth Day students can learn about the biodiversity of oceans, ocean biodiversity preservation efforts, and threats to fish in the Atlantic Ocean. Students will also learn about the differences between coral reefs in the Caribbean and the Pacific. Register on Discovery's Eventbrite page to receive all of the Expedition Earth Day resources. Disclosure: Discovery Education is an advertiser on this blog.  This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesApply Soon for the Discovery Summer InstituteWhat Are You Doing Tomorrow? - Check Out the Discovery Virt ConDEN Fall VirtCon - A Great, Online PD Event 

This week Google rolled-out updates to Google Calendar, Google Drive for Mac & PC, and Google Drive for Android & iOS. The most exciting of the three updates this week is the addition of a goal setting and tracking feature in Google Calendar for Android and iOS. Earlier this week I wrote an extensive overview of this feature. The highlight of the goals feature in Google Calendar is that Calendar will help you identify times to work on your goals. The Google Drive desktop app for Mac & PC was updated this week to allow you to sync sub-folders instead of just top-level folders. You can now choose which sub-folders to sync so that you don't have to sync the entire contents of a folder if you don't need everything else that is within its parent folder. The Google Drive Android app had a couple of updates this week. First, now when you upload a file from your phone or tablet it will appear in your chosen folder instead of just a generic "uploads" folder. The second update added support for inserting Google Drive files into Whatsapp and or Yahoo Mail on your Android phone or iPhone. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesSet and Track Goals in Google CalendarHow to Make a Copy of a Public Google Drive FileHow to Use Google Slides to Crop and Filter Images 

Good morning from Maine where the sun is shining and the forecast calls for temperatures above 60f for the first time this year. One of the great things about Maine in the spring is that I can ski, bike, garden, and walk my dogs all in the same day without having to wear a heavy jacket. It's the end of the ski season here and we're going to close out the season with a tailgate party at the mountain. I hope that you too make time for something fun this weekend. This week the PracticalEdTech.com newsletter welcomed the 10,000th subscriber! That newsletter is sent out only once per week on Sunday evening. It contains my favorite tip of the week and a summary of the most popular posts of the week from Free Technology for Teachers. Subscribers to the newsletter get discounts on my online courses and in-person workshops too. Here are this week's most popular posts: 1. A Short Overview of 12 Tools for Creating Flipped Classroom Lessons 2. 5 Ideas for Using Google Sites in Your Classroom 3. Three Google Apps Updates You Might Have Missed Last Week 4. New Polling Feature Added to Google Classroom 5. Mozilla Releases an Interactive Web Literacy Map 6. How to Change Your Google Profile Image & Why You Should 7. Six Tools for Creating Videos on Chromebooks Spring and Summer PD Opportunities With MeDiscounted early registration for the Practical Ed Tech Summer Camps is available through the end of the month. If coming to Maine isn't an option for you, take a look at the online workshops I'm hosting throughout the spring and summer. Would you like to have me speak at your school or conference?Click here to learn about my professional development services.  Please visit the official advertisers that help keep this blog going.Practical Ed Tech is the brand through which I offer PD webinars.BoomWriter provides a fantastic tool for creating writing lessons. Cloudschool is a great online LMS and course creation tool.  Storyboard That is my go-to tool for creating storyboards and cartoon stories.Discovery Education & Wilkes University offer online courses for earning Master's degrees in Instructional Media.PrepFactory offers a great place for students to prepare for SAT and ACT tests.FrontRow offers adaptive online ELA and Math practice activities.  Teach n Go is a comprehensive platform for teaching online courses. The University of Maryland Baltimore County offers graduate programs for teachers.Boise State University offers a 100% online program in educational technology.EdTechTeacher is hosting host workshops in six cities in the U.S. in the summer. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesKahoot Adds a Team ModeThe Week in Review - A Walk in the WoodsThe Week in Review - The Most Popular Posts 

It is a beautiful spring day here in Maine which has me thinking about summer. The highlight of my last three summers has been hosting the Practical Ed Tech Summer Camp. This summer I'm hosting two of these events. Discounted early registration and discounted early group registration is available until the end of the month. Contact me for information on group rates richardbyrne (at) freetech4teachers.com The Practical Ed Tech BYOD Camp is on July 11-12. This two day event is for people who work in schools that have BYOD programs and 1:1 laptop programs (Mac or Windows), iPads, Android tablets, Windows tablets, or who have shared computers in a classroom or lab setting. The Practical Ed Tech Chromebook Camp is on July 18-19. This two day workshop is based on my framework for using technology, specifically Chromebook-friendly tools, to help students discover new information, discuss their ideas, and demonstrate their knowledge. Additional attention will be given to Chromebook specific topics like Google Apps for Education, workflow, and data management. 16 hour professional development certificates will be given to participants at both events. Learn more about both events on the Practical Ed Tech Summer Camp homepage. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesWhat is BYOD? And Why Do Schools Opt for It?9,500 Teachers Get Their Ed Tech Tips This WayFAQs About the 2016 Practical Ed Tech Summer Camps 

Plickers is my favorite student response tool for classrooms in which not every student has his or her own tablet or laptop. Plickers makes it easy to semi-anonymously gather feedback from students. Students simply hold up a card with a QR code to vote and you scan the cards with your phone or tablet. You can scan the whole room in one swoop and have results instantly appear on your screen. I've used the Plickers iOS app on my iPad for years now even though it wasn't optimized for iPad. Last week Plickers updated to be optimized for iPad. This is not a major update, but it is convenient for teachers who use Plickers on their iPads. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesHow to Make Your Google Sites Mobile FriendlyThe Hardest Type of Web Search for Students5 Online Activities for Teaching With Primary Sources