Last week I published a blog post about LitCharts. Shortly after that post went live my friend Denise texted me to say how much she loves the LitCharts iPhone app. Until then I wasn't aware that LitCharts offered an iOS app. It turns out that LitCharts is also available as a free Android app. The LitCharts iOS and Android apps offer the same great literature guides that are found on the LitCharts website. The apps are free and advertisement-free. Besides the guides themselves, the best aspect of the apps is that they can be used offline. Students can choose which guides that they want to use offline. LitCharts features background information on a book's author, a color-coded list of themes in the book, a plot summary, a character list and summary, and a theme-tracker. The theme-tracker helps students keep track of literary themes with examples throughout a book. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesLitCharts Offers Guides to Popular & Classic LiteratureHopscotch - Learn Coding Basics on Your iPad or iPhoneShelfie Helps You Find Ebook and Audiobook Versions of Books 

Over the last few weeks I have shared my favorite tools for creating screencast videos on Chromebooks, on Windows and Mac computers, on iPads, and on Android tablets. Many people who read this blog work in BYOD environments or otherwise need tools for creating screencasts on a variety of devices. Therefore, this morning I put together a PDF featuring my favorite screencasting tools and methods. You can view the document as embedded below or you can grab a Google Docs copy here. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesThe Week in Review - The OverseersTechSmith is Ending Support for All of Their Free ProductsHow to Create a Biking or Walking Route Map in Google Maps 

JoeZoo Express is a powerful Google Docs Add-on that can help you more efficiently comment on your students' writing in Google Documents. JoeZoo enables you to give feedback on students' Google Documents by simply highlighting text then selecting feedback statements from a huge menu of feedback statements. You can use standard feedback statements provided by JoeZoo or set your own statements to re-use throughout your documents. It can take some time to understand all of the nuances of JoeZoo Express. The following playlist of videos will walk you through the set-up and use of JoeZoo Express. Applications for Education JoeZoo Express could save you a lot of time when you're giving feedback and grading students' work in Google Documents. Teachers who want to use rubrics to give feedback and grades can do so within JoeZoo Express. JoeZoo offers a free rubric builder tool. You can customize the rubric to meet your specific needs. The rubrics that you create can be saved and inserted into students' documents when you are grading their work. JoeZoo Express does integrate with Google Classroom. You can import your Google Classroom rosters into JoeZoo to streamline the process of returning work to your students. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesThe Week in Review - The Overseers4 Google Apps for Education Updates You Might Have Missed This WeekGreat Tools for Creating Screencasts - A PDF Handout 

On Monday morning Google introduced their latest attempt at building a social network. The new product is called Spaces. Google Spaces is a platform on which you can create small communities of friends and colleagues in which you share links, notes, and pictures. A Google Spaces Chrome extension makes it easy to share links with people in your Space. I created a couple of communities this morning. You can learn how to create a Google Spaces community by watching my video embedded below. Applications for Education Google Spaces could be a good tool to use to create a small community of friends and colleagues to build discussions around shared resources. I can also see potential for using Google Spaces as a place in which you host online discussions for high school and college students taking one of your courses. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesHow to Insert & Modify Charts in Google SlidesHow to Use JoeZoo Express - A Google Docs Add-on for Grading WritingHow to Create a Biking or Walking Route Map in Google Maps 

MinuteEarth is a popular YouTube channel whose videos I've featured a handful of times on this blog. Their short videos provide explanations of interesting science topics like why rivers curve and why it is hot underground. Last week MinuteEarth published a video about the process their team uses to produce their videos. Applications for Education This video could be helpful in showing students the process of creating a good, concise explanatory video. In particular, it is notable that the visual components are the last things added to the video. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesHow to Create Audio Slideshow Videos on Stupeflix (No sign-in required)How to Create an Interactive Series of VideosTry Watchkin for Distraction-free YouTube Viewing 

As the end of the school year approaches you might find yourself looking for a way to create an audio slideshow of highlights of the school year. YouTube's photo slideshow tool, Stupeflix, and Animoto all offer easy ways to create audio slideshow videos. Wideo does that too and also allows you to add interactive elements to your video. On Wideo you can insert interactive buttons into each frame of your video. The buttons can be hyperlinked to any webpage that you like. When people are watching your video they can click the buttons to be taken to the webpage you want them to land on. My video embedded below shows you how to create interactive videos on Wideo. Applications for Education With Wideo you could create a video to showcase highlights of the school year that include links to examples of students' work, links to information about places visited on a school field trip, or a link from a closing slide to information about summer learning programs for students. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesHow to Create Audio Slideshow Videos on Stupeflix (No sign-in required)How to Insert & Modify Charts in Google SlidesGet Inspiration for Video Projects and Help a Non-profit at the Same Time 

This morning I received an email from Remind (formerly Remind 101) that reminded that I can download my message history. The history option lets me choose a range of dates in which messages were sent and then save those messages in PDF format. In the video embedded below I demonstrate how easy it is to download a history of Remind messages. Applications for Education As I mentioned in the video above, downloading a message history can be a good way to keep a physical record of messages sent and received. For teachers and or student teachers who are trying to demonstrate their efforts to communicate with parents, a copy of Remind message history could be useful in that endeavor. This video is one of more than 200 practical ed tech tips and tutorials that you can find on 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 Insert & Modify Charts in Google SlidesCreate an Interactive Video Summary of the School YearHow to a Create Google Spaces Community 

Over the weekend I received an email from a reader who requested more pictures of my dogs. The email simply read, "more dog pictures, please! Are you on Instagram?" Yes, I am on Instagram. My Instagram profile is public so that everyone can enjoy pictures of my dogs, scenery around western Maine, and any other random things that I photograph. Other places that you can find me online: Twitter - I Tweet my blog posts, links to the blog posts of others, and answer questions as best as I can. Occasionally, I'll share a picture or two on Twitter. Facebook - The Free Technology for Teachers Facebook page has about 428,000 likes right now. I have a personal Facebook page that I use only for friends and family. My rule of thumb on accepting friend requests on my personal Facebook page is that we have to have shared some kind of meaningful in-person experience like working together, eating together, playing sports together, or being from the same gene pool. YouTube - My YouTube channel now has more than 300 tutorial videos that I've created. LinkedIn - I'm on it, but I'm rarely on it more than once a week. Pinterest - I have some Pinterest boards. Admittedly, I stopped using it for a while and now I'm back on it. Email - you can always email me at richardbyrne (at) freetech4teachers.com I do my best to respond quickly. I do appreciate being addressed by name in an email instead of just "hey" or "hi" (pro tip for PR people, using an spelling my name correctly drastically increases your odds of me opening and reading your email). Let's connect offline: In June I'll be at a bunch of events, please say hello if you see me. Or Tweet me to meet up with you. This is where I'll be in June in this order: Glendale, AZ Abilene, TX Amarillo, TX Topeka, KS Flagstaff, AZ St. Joseph, MO Nashville, TN Denver, CO - ISTE Conference This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesConnecting Educators Who Are Nervous About Being Connected - #ce15PBS LearningMedia Seeks Digital InnovatorsSkip the "Say Hello" Tweet 

A few years ago I wrote a post about searching through the Digital Public Library of America to locate primary source documents to use with students. At that point the DPLA had relatively few, loosely organized collections. Yesterday, I received an email from DPLA informing me that they now have more than 100 primary source document sets for students. The DPLA's primary source document sets are organized by subject and time period in United States history. Depending upon the time period the DPLA primary source sets include documents, drawings, maps, photographs, and film clips. A list of points to consider accompanies each artifact in each set. Teachers should scroll to the bottom of the page on each artifact to find a teaching guide related to the primary source set. Applications for Education The DPLA's primary source sets provide teachers and students with a convenient way to find primary source documents. For teachers it can be a good way to locate resources to use in a lesson plan. For students the sets can provide a good start to a research project. On the topic of primary sources, this video provides students with a great explanation of the differences between primary and secondary sources. Last month I outlined five good activities for teaching with primary sources. My favorite on that list is layering old maps on top of current maps in Google Earth. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related Stories10 Educational Resources About the American RevolutionPowerPoint Playbook - Animating Numbered ListsHow to Use JoeZoo Express - A Google Docs Add-on for Grading Writing 

Over the weekend I featured a new video submission to Next Vista for Learning. That video was a submission for the latest Next Vista video contest. The contest is called Creative Sprouts. The submission period is closed and voting is now open. Next Vista, a non-profit, is looking for some help with the judging of videos. If you have a few minutes to watch the videos, Next Vista would appreciate your help. Even better, if you have time to watch the videos with your students you can vote for your favorites as a class. Applications for Education Watching the finalist videos in the Creative Sprouts contest can be a good way to get ideas for your own classroom video projects. There are three finalist categories; student, student & teacher collaboration, and teacher. Next Vista is a non-profit video sharing site developed by Rushton Hurley. If you get a chance to see Rushton present at conference, take it! You won't be disappointed.  This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesHow to Be Inspired When Writing - A Student's AdviceA Great Example of a Student Video Made With ChatterPixCreate an Interactive Video Summary of the School Year