Storyboard That the widely popular learning tool for education, has just released a major update to their teacher dashboard.  This new polished user interface adds a great "Featured Activity" section as well as links to a wide variety of teacher guides.  These teacher guides can are customizable and can be easily integrated into any curriculum while still maintaining the drag-n-drop simplicity of Storyboard That.  Another excellent feature for teachers is the detailed reporting section that not only tracks student usage but helps teachers facilitate their use of Storyboard That in the classroom.Storyboard That is an excellent Web 2.0 site/graphic organizer for schools that educators everywhere are using for a wide variety of purposes such as: digital storytelling, writing prompts, project based learning, timelines, and much much more.  Also, the educational portal makes it is easy to track and monitor student progress while generating detailed reports.I highly recommend checking out Storyboard That by clicking here!!!*Storyboard That is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

Scholar Quest is a fun free iPad app for Game Based Learning.  The way this works is a player moves across a tile board answering questions while trying to find a hidden key to unlock the next level.  Questions cover a wide range of topics from History to Sports, books, and more.  Also, a player collects coins, power-ups, etc while getting help from Leonardo Da Vinci.I highly recommend checking out Scholar Quest by clicking here!!!For a more detailed review check out AppAdvice.

Seesaw Blogs is the latest feature from Seesaw that is the great digital portfolio tool that educators are using everywhere.  This new feature is a simple way for students to share their work to a global audience in a safe/teacher moderated way.  Also, teachers can use "Connected" blogs to collaborate w/ classrooms around the world.I highly recommend checking out Seesaw Blogs by clicking here!!!Below is a demo video...

ClassDojo the widely popular communication and behavioral reinforcement tool for educators, has just released their latest project, Big Ideas for the Classroom.From their press release..."Today ClassDojo and Stanford's University Project for Education Research That Scales (PERTS) announced a partnership to help millions of students learn about 'growth mindset' in their classrooms.  As part of this partnership, ClassDojo developed a five-part series of animated videos that will be available free to all teachers.  It is the first in ClassDojo's "Big Ideas' series, where ClassDojo will bring cutting-edge research into the classroom -- with characters that students know and love.Below is their first video on Growth Mindset...*ClassDojo is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

I’ve talked about Quizalize before in this review. Like Kahoot and Quizziz it is a classroom tool to assess and engage students. However, since I’ve last talked about it they have updated the tool significantly and it’s now an even better way to give a great educational experience to your students.Unlike Quizziz and Kahoot, Quizalize provides in-depth data about your students results, highlighting their individual strengths and weaknesses as well as the performance of the class as a whole. It’s really easy to understand what the class as whole struggled with as well as what individual help to give to each student.Not only that, Quizalize has introduced the concept of a team game you can project on your class’ whiteboard. When students play in class they are automatically added to one of two teams which compete for points (given for correct answers). This allows the whole class to be engaged while not demoralizing any of your underperforming students. In fact, you can easily spot them and give them the help they need. Students love playing the game again and again to get a better result! The team game is really a fun way for students to be engaged in their own improvement.Other features that have been added include the ability to turn the timer off, have sounds on student devices as well as being able to randomize question order. There are now many more curated quizzes available on the marketplace and there seem to be more every day.Quizalize is a great way to provide variety, to engage students and to quickly understand how they are performing. I highly recommend checking out Quizalize by clicking here!!!

30hands Learning is the excellent company for creating an innovative LMS (Learning Management System) as well as the popular mobile iOS apps that are ideal for digital storytelling (30hands Starter (free), 30hands Pro (paid)).  The 30hands community is a perfect cloud based solution that allows educators to: manage/track students, hand in/out assignments, schedule events, and more.  While the mobile apps are being used in education for project based learning, digital storytelling, and more.30hands has lots of exciting news on the horizon...After upgrading to Pro, users will have access to existing advanced features and new features in the works: • Video clips as slides • Google Drive + Dropbox Integration • Importing of Google Slides and PDFs as 30hands slides • Backgrounds and scenes • Higher quality videos • Advanced drag-and-drop drawing with editing (Aug 2015) • Slide sharing with parents and students (Fall 2015) • Slide Transitions (Fall 2015) • Unlimited presentations • Unlimited saves to Camera RollDistricts that purchase 30hands Pro will get free or discounted professional development (depending on licenses purchased). The PD can be onsite or virtual and selected from our areas of expertise: Digital Storytelling, PBL, Blended Learning, Teaching Coding, and Teaching Entrepreneurship. 30hands Learning is putting 20% of the net sales of 30hands Pro toward helping kids without hands get a 3D dream hand. Your students can help by printing a hand, assembling a hand, designing a hand, telling a story or buying 30hands Pro.For more info on how your school can participate, email info@30hands.com.Join our newsletter here: http://30hands.com/newsletter.*30hands Learning is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

FreshGrade is a wonderful new tool for educators looking to create digital portfolios of their students work.  The way this works is through an easy to use mobile app (i.e. parents, students, and teachers) that allows teachers to capture student work through, video, audio, photos, text (notes), etc.  Also, FreshGrade easily allows educators to share student's work through a tap of a button, to either the student or parent.  Finally, using the web app a user can use FreshGrade to assign activities, assess them in real-time, and even differentiate instruction.Below is a demo video...I highly recommend checking out FreshGrade by clicking here!!!

Oncore is a free iPad app that acts as a learning management system for teachers.  This simple to use app allows educators to track student behavior as well as assess students in real-time.  The way this works is by uses color-coded data, to help educators visualize student's performance and help assess data."By using the seating chart as the classroom interface, Oncore helps teachers collect color-coded, one-touch data on student learning, integrating formative assessment and feedback into their daily practice.Oncore focuses any K-12 classroom on mastery learning by helping teachers engage all students, check for understanding, create collaborative groups and communicate learning and behavior progress to parents. Unique to Oncore is its integration of Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards. Teachers can tie a standard to classroom activities, groups, assignments, or individual participations with students."I highly recommend checking out Oncore Classroom Productivity app by clicking here!!!*Oncore is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

Soundtrap is a wonderful collaborative learning tool for making podcasts and music that I just found out about from Richard Byrne's excellent blog.  Soundtrap is an easy to use site that works on any mobile device to record instruments to create music.  However, a student can also use one of Soundtrap's instruments and begin to record sound.  Through their educational portal everything is "housed" in a safe environment and teachers can communicate via video for feedback or assign assignments.I highly recommend checking out Soundtrap by clicking here!!!

Sketch Nation is a wonderful free app (iOS/Android) and website for creating games.  Sketch Nation reminds me of Pixel Press Floors but w/out the paper.  All a student has to do is select their category of game (i.e. platform, jumping, etc) then draw their backgrounds/characters/items and let Sketch Nation do the rest.  The advanced level editor will help students create more complex games and work on their STEM skills.  Sketch Nation even has a nice section for education w/ a collection of games created by students.I highly recommend checking out Sketch Nation by clicking here!!!Below is a brief demo...For my Pinterest board on Programing/Coding click here.*Sketch Nation is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.