I was recently contacted by the Mozilla Foundation with news about their recently released interactive guide to teaching web literacy. Mozilla's interactive web literacy map is based on three main components of web literacy; reading, writing, and participating. Each of those elements is linked to smaller, supporting components. Clicking on any component of Mozilla's interactive web literacy map will lead you to a definition for that component. Mozilla's web literacy map is a handy guide to basic definitions of web literacy and the map does a nice job of showing how all of the components are connected. The real value of the web literacy map is found when you click into Mozilla's web literacy teaching activities. Mozilla's web literacy teaching activities page contains eighteen sections offering dozens of lesson on everything from basic web literacy like protecting privacy on the web to advanced topics like writing Javascript. There is even a section of lessons designed for teaching web literacy in classrooms in which not every student has access to a computer. Applications for Education Mozilla's web literacy teaching activities page offers lessons suitable for use with students of all ages. Should find that the lessons are too difficult or too easy for your students go ahead and modify it to fit your needs. Mozilla offers some tools that you can use in building and sharing your own web literacy learning activities. Additional web literacy resources that I have reviewed for elementary school settings.   Additional resources for teaching web literacy to middle school and high school students.  This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesAn Easy Way to Create Strong, Complex PasswordsSearch Strategies for Students - Webinar RecordingNew Polling Feature Added to Google Classroom 

Jenn Scheffer and her students at Burlington Public High School run a great tech help desk blog for teachers and students. This week they tackled an app that is still a mystery to many educators, Snapchat. I encourage any teacher, administrator, librarian, or parent who doesn't understand Snapchat to take some time to read the BPHS Help Desk blog post about Snapchat and watch the video overview of how it works. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesMozilla Releases an Interactive Web Literacy MapNew Polling Feature Added to Google ClassroomHow to Make a Copy of a Public Google Drive File 

On Wednesday I shared my list of resources for teaching and learning about Mount Everest. This afternoon, thanks to Larry Ferlazzo, I learned about another good resource for learning about Mount Everest. Why is Mount Everest so Tall? is a new TED-Ed lesson in which students learn why the peak of Everest is so high, why other mountains are longer from base to summit, and how mountains in general are formed. Through the lesson students can also learn why the heights of mountains change and why Everest may not be the tallest mountain forever. If you're looking for tools for creating flipped lessons with this video or any others, take a look at this overview of flipped video creation tools.  This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesRiddle Me This - 7 TED-Ed Lessons Based on RiddlesWhat Would Happen if You Didn't Drink Water? - And 12 Other TED-Ed Lessons About the Human BodyWho Owns Antarctica? - A Political Geography Lesson 

Good morning from the Free Technology for Teachers world headquarters in Woodstock, Maine. It's a beautiful early spring morning for walking in the woods with two loyal dogs. As the sun is rising earlier now so too are my dogs rising earlier in the morning. We've already had one short walk this morning and we'll soon head out for a longer adventure. Before we do that I have this week's list of the most popular posts to share with you. Here are this week's most popular posts: 1. New Polling Feature Added to Google Classroom 2. Click to Spin - A Fun and Free Random Name Picker 3. A Short Overview of 12 Tools for Creating Flipped Classroom Lessons 4. Capture Student Ideas with VideoNot.es & Google Classroom 5. 11 Backchannel & Informal Assessment Tools Compared in One Chart 6. Try the Google Newspaper Archive to Locate Old Articles and Images 7. Mozilla Releases an Interactive Web Literacy Map Spring and Summer PD Opportunities With MeMore registrations for the Practical Ed Tech Summer Camps arrived this week. One month is left to grab your seat at the discounted rate. 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. Google Forms in the Classroom is a good book on all things Google Forms.  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.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 StoriesThe Week in Review - The Most Popular PostsThe Week in Review - 50 Million Page ViewsThe Month in Review - #Masonshome 

Disclosure: BoomWriter is an advertiser on this blog.  April is National Poetry Month in the U.S. BoomWriter offers a good resource for those teaching poetry this month. On BoomWriter's free resources page you will find a set of poetry vocabulary sheets that you can share with your students. In those vocabulary sheets you will find lists of key terms, definitions, and examples of different types of poems. After reviewing BoomWriter's poetry vocabulary sheets to your students you can use BoomWriter's poetry anthology activity. In the poetry anthology activity students individual write poems then work together to assemble an anthology of the poems created by their peers. Students can organize the classroom poetry anthology according to poem types and topics. As a teacher you can monitor the construction of the anthology from your teacher dashboard in BoomWriter. BoomWriter is completely free to use for this activity. Learn more about BoomWriter in my instructional video embedded below. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesSearch Strategies for Students - Webinar RecordingNew Polling Feature Added to Google ClassroomHow to Make a Copy of a Public Google Drive File 

Last week Google added a convenient polling option to Google Classroom. That update proved to be a huge hit as comments that I saw about it on Facebook and Twitter included, "finally," "sweet," and "woo hoo!" The update to Google Classroom wasn't the only update to Google Apps that should be of interest to teachers. Last week a new task reminders function was added to the browser-based version of Google Calendar. The new reminders option in Google Calendar will let you create task reminders within the browser-based version of Google Calendar. Reminder tasks that you don't complete on a given day will automatically forward to the next day until you complete the task. Microsoft Outlook users will be happy to learn that the Google Drive plug-in for Microsoft Office now supports Outlook. Screenshots of the new features can be seen on the Google Apps Update Blog. Learn more about Google Classroom and Google Apps for Education at the Practical Ed Tech Chromebook Camp this summer in Portland, Maine. Powered by Eventbrite This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesNew Polling Feature Added to Google ClassroomHow to Make a Copy of a Public Google Drive FileGoogle Calendar Reminders Coming Soon to a Browser Near You 

The New York Public Library is marking the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death by publishing 30 recordings of NYPL staff members reading their favorite Shakespeare speeches, monologues, or sonnets. One recording per day will be published throughout the month of April. April is National Poetry Month in the U.S. These recordings could provide a nice model for your own "poem a day" classroom project. You could have students each take a turn reading their favorite poems this month. SoundCloud makes it easy to record and assemble a playlist of spoken recordings. Take a look at the video below to learn how to record on SoundCloud. H/T to Open Culture for the NYPL recordings. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesPoetry Vocabulary Sheets Containing ExamplesThree Google Apps Updates You Might Have Missed Last WeekThe Week in Review - A Walk in the Woods 

A few years ago Sponge Lab Biology won a National Science Foundation award for its interactive Build a Body activity. Spend a few minutes using Build a Body and it is easy to understand why it was recognized by the NSF. In Sponge Lab Biology's Build a Body students construct a human body system-by-system. To build a body students drag and drop into place the organs and bones of a human body. Each organ and bone is accompanied by a description of the purpose of that bone or organ. The systems that students can build in the Build a Body activity are the skeletal, digestive, respiratory, nervous, excretory, and circulatory systems. Build a Body has a case study menu in which students can read about diseases, disorders, and and other concerns that affect the human body. In each case study students are given a short description of the concern followed by a question that they should be able to answer after completing the Build a Body activity. Applications for Education Build a Body was designed with high school students in mind. Build a Body could be an excellent resource to pair with Biodigital Human or Healthline's Body Maps. Have students use the Body Maps and Biodigital Human to study the construction of the human body then use Build a Body to test their knowledge. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesWhat Would Happen if You Didn't Drink Water? - And 12 Other TED-Ed Lessons About the Human BodyAnother Great Resource for Learning About Mount EverestHow Does Anesthesia Work? - A New TED-Ed Lesson 

EdTechTeacher, an advertiser on this site, has launched a new FREE video series called #ETTchat. Each week, one of their instructors posts a new video with ideas using technology in the service of learning.  Collaborating and Creating with RealtimeBoardRealtimeBoard allows students and teachers to create a never-ending virtual space on which they can create, collaborate, and even chat. Educators and students can sign up for a FREE premium account at realtimeboard.com/education. In this video, Greg Kulowiec (@gregkulowiec) walks through the potential of using this tool in the classroom to support collaborative projects and activities.  Learn more about collaborative tools and ePub creation on the EdTechTeacher web site. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesAn Interactive Build a Body Lesson30 Days of Shakespeare Presented by the New York Public LibraryThree Google Apps Updates You Might Have Missed Last Week 

Visual editors in blog and website platforms like Blogger, WordPress, and Weebly make it easy for anyone to create a webpage in relatively little time. The appeal of those tools is that you don't have to learn code in order to make a blog or website. The downside to relying on visual editing tools is that if you don't understand the code it can be hard to make corrections when something does go wrong. Not knowing HTML and CSS also limits you in terms of design formatting. Over the years I've taught myself the basics of HTML and CSS through online tutorials. A quick Google search will lead you to plenty of online tutorials that you can use to teach yourself or your students some useful HTML and CSS skills. The following are the resources that I frequently recommend. A Beginner's Guide to HTML & CSS is a nice resource developed by Shay Howe whose resume reveals that he works on the user interface for Groupon among other projects. Shay currently offers twelve text-based lessons for beginners. Once you've mastered the beginner lessons you can try your hand at the ten advanced lessons offered on the site.  Thimble is a free Mozilla product designed to help users learn how to write HTML and CSS. Thimble features a split screen on which you can write code and see how it works at the same time. On the left side of the screen you write your code and on the right side of the screen you instantly see what that code renders. If you write the code correctly, you will know right away. Likewise, if you don't write the code correctly, you will know right away. Some of the sample projects you can work with include webpages, games, and avatars. w3Schools has long been my go-to place for quick directions when working in HTML. If I get stuck while working on a project, a quick visit to w3Schools usually reveals the help I need to get past a stumbling block. If you're completely new to writing HTML start with the introductory sections of w3Schools to learn the basics. Bonus tip:  Once you've become familiar with the basics of HTML and CSS you may find yourself venturing into things not covered by the tutorials featured above. At that point you may want to consider joining the community at Stack Overflow to ask questions and or answer questions from other community members. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesMozilla Releases an Interactive Web Literacy MapSnapchat Explained by Students to TeachersNew Polling Feature Added to Google Classroom 

National Geographic recently published a great video containing remarkable footage of elk, pronghorn antelope, and mule deer migrations in Yellowstone National Park. The short video describes the length and direction of the migrations made by these beautiful animals. Make sure you turn up the volume to hear the sounds of the elk, mule deer, and pronghorn bleats. Further National Geographic information on elk. More National Geographic information on pronghorn antelope. Applications for Education This video could be a great introduction to a lesson on animal behavior and habitat. Ask your students to investigate why the animals migrate, when they migrate, and how political boundaries constructed by humans can affect animal migrations. On a personal note, ten years ago I went off the beaten paths backpacking in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. It was an amazing solo experience that I'll never forget. Even though I was there I wasn't able to the animals in the way that is captured in the footage in the video above. H/T to The Adventure Blog. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesAnother Great Resource for Learning About Mount EverestWhat Would Happen if You Didn't Drink Water? - And 12 Other TED-Ed Lessons About the Human BodyAn Interactive Build a Body Lesson 

Almost every day I see a Facebook friend or two tag herself/ himself in the comments on a Facebook post purely for the purpose of "saving for later." Perhaps you have a friend that does the same. There is an easier way to save items in Facebook. That is to simply open the drop-down menu in the upper-right corner of a Facebook post and select save. All links are automatically organized for you in your "saved" section in Facebook. Take a look at my video embedded below to see how that works. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesAnimal Migrations in Yellowstone National ParkThree Good Places to Learn HTML & CSS SkillsThree Google Apps Updates You Might Have Missed Last Week 

Minute Physics recently published a great new video about jet engines. In Why Are Airplane Engines So Big? viewers can learn why jet engines have gotten larger over time, why they biggest engines don't always go on the biggest or fastest airplanes, and the basic principles of jet propulsion. The video briefly explains the mathematics involved in determining at which point an engine becomes too big or too small to be efficient. It is a fast-paced video so your students may need to watch it a couple of times to catch everything. Last year I had the privilege to fly on an A380. The A380 is the largest commercial jet in the world. As I saw the plane towering over the jetway in Dallas I couldn't help but be amazed at the engineering that makes it possible for something so large to fly across the Pacific in one shot.  The explanation can be found in a Minute Physics video that Airbus recently sponsored. How Do Airplanes Fly? explains the roles of wings, propellers, turbines, and wind currents in making a plane fly. These videos could be the basis of a flipped science lesson. In this post I provided an overview of how to use five services to create flipped video lessons. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesRiddle Me This - 7 TED-Ed Lessons Based on RiddlesXtraMath Helps Teachers Help Students Learn Math in ASLAnimal Migrations in Yellowstone National Park 

Classtools.net, developed and maintained by history teacher Russel Tarr, offers lots of great templates that you can use to create review activities for your students. Recently, I received an email from a reader who was having trouble with the Dustbin game template on Classtools.net. To help her out I created the video that you see embedded below. Applications for Education Playing the Dustbin game could be a good way for your students to review key vocabulary terms. In a science classroom you could create a game in which students sort animal names into the categories of mammal, reptile, fish, and bird. In a geography classroom you could create a game in which students sort city names according to state, province, country, or continent. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesHow to Use Facebook to Bookmark LinksTry the Collaboration Option in TriventyThree Good Places to Learn HTML & CSS Skills 

Scribeasy is a free iPad app that offers a fun environment in which students can write short stories. Students create stories on Scribeasy by first selecting a background image then dragging and dropping additional pictures onto their chosen background images. When students select objects to add to their backgrounds, a narrator reads the name of the object aloud. Students can move and resize all images to create a visual story in Scribeasy. Once the visuals are in place on Scribeasy students then write a story about the scenes they've created. The next step is where Scribeasy shines. Scribeasy gives students a list of suggested words to use in their stories. The writing process is a timed activity. Students can choose to write for a short, medium, or large amount of time (they can extend the time if needed). Completed stories are saved in the app. Students can also save their stories to the camera roll on their iPads. Applications for Education Scribeasy could provide reluctant writers with a comfortable way to get started on the writing process. The image selection process could trigger a bunch of story ideas for students to write about. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesPoetry Vocabulary Sheets Containing Examples3 Tools for Creating Comics on iPadsStoryTop Story Maker - Create Simple Image Based Stories 

This week I wrapped up a series of workshops that I facilitated for a local school district that is transitioning to Google Apps for Education. To synthesize how everything in Google Apps for Education, particularly Google Classroom, can work together I created a short workflow list. The Google Classroom workflow list has three sections covering the workflows for homework/ long-term assignments, polls and quizzes, and posting announcements. Grab the Google Docs version of this workflow and you can print it has a handy reference guide. Workflow for homework/ long-term assignments: 1. Create your assignment descriptor/ template in Google Docs or Slides. 2. Post assignment in Google Classroom. 3. Check "done/ not done" status of assignments in your Classroom stream. 4. Review completed assignments. Add comments to students’ work in Google Docs or Slides (if that is how they completed assignment). 5. If you’re using the Google Classroom gradebook, enter grades. Workflow for polls/ quizzes: 1. To create a poll that will not be graded, select "create question" then write your question. You can create short answer or multiple choice questions. 1. To create a quiz that will be graded, first create your quiz in Google Forms. Directions for creating quizzes in Google Forms are available in this video playlist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUL9j30NYkc&index=6&list=PLtx-qUNKJwDz4DeWI6x4dGY50KYfhPx_j 2. Post your Google Form as an announcement in Google Classroom. 3. To grade the responses to your quiz, use the Flubaroo Add-on for Google Sheets. Directions in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8AJQfpQkkM Workflow for distributing announcements/ assignment reminders: 1. Post announcement/ assignment in Google Classroom for students to see. Students who have the Google Classroom mobile app installed will receive a push notification (provided they have notifications enabled). 2. To share the announcement/ assignment reminder with parents you will need to email or text message them directly. To send email reminders in bulk use the "Add reminders" Add-on for Google Sheets https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/add-reminders/heaonogefgelopikfimfllmifhbohdbn?hl=en Directions available here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGP1HXaoGik Try Remind to send text message reminders Remind tutorials https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMYoSLDTFTE&list=PLtx-qUNKJwDzX0l1b3hyrKsngR0APXhYu Topics like this one and many others are covered in-depth during the Practical Ed Tech Chromebook Camp and in my online course Getting Going With GAFE. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesHow to Use Facebook to Bookmark LinksThree Google Apps Updates You Might Have Missed Last WeekNew Polling Feature Added to Google Classroom 

When your school issues you a new Google Apps for Education account your profile picture will just be a simple letter icon featuring your first initial. Many people leave it that way only because they don't know how easy it is to change it. In the video below I demonstrate how to change your Google profile image. Applications for Education Changing your Google Apps profile image can help with name recognition so that parents begin to put a face with a name as soon as they start receiving emails from you. They won't have to wait until the first parent-teacher conference or open house night to make the association between your face and name. If you have more than one teacher in your district with the same name or similar name (at one point there were three Mr. Burns and a Mr. Byrne in my district) students seeing an email with your profile picture can visually confirm that they are emailing the correct person. Learn lots of tips like this one and get in-depth Google Apps training in my online course Getting Going With GAFE.  This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesNew Polling Feature Added to Google ClassroomHow to Make a Copy of a Public Google Drive FileA Short Overview of Workflow in Google Classroom 

The Google Calendar app on your iPhone or Android phone had a great new feature added to it this week. Google Calendar now helps you set and track goals. Now when you tap the "add item" icon in Google Calendar you will see an option to set a goal. When you select "goal" you will be asked a few questions about when and how often you want to work toward your goal. After answering those questions Google Calendar will identify and set times in your calendar to work on those goals. Goals in Google Calendar will be rescheduled if you schedule another event in direct conflict with your goal. For example, if you schedule a parent-teacher conference at the same time as your exercise goal, the exercise goal will be overridden in your calendar for that day. You can also defer your goals in your Google Calendar. Defer too often and Google Calendar will reschedule your goals for a better time. Applications for Education Setting Goals in Google Calendar could be a good way for students to set aside time for themselves for things like "reading for 30 minutes a day" or "reviewing SAT vocabulary words." Teachers seeking to restore a little work/ life balance may find the Goals feature of Google Calendar to be a good way to remind themselves to take time to exercise, read for pleasure, or play with the dog. People looking to find time to write a blog could find Goals in Google Calendar to be a good way to set aside time for writing. Goals in Google Calendar will be rolling out over the next few days. Make sure you update the app to see the new Goals option.  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 ShouldThree Google Apps Updates You Might Have Missed Last WeekNew Polling Feature Added to Google Classroom 

I was setting up a new Chromebook today with a brand new Google Account. One of the things that I did on that Chromebook was enable some accessibility options (more on Chromebook accessibility in a future post). The Chrome web browser supports a handful of accessibility options. To enable accessibility options in the Chrome web browser visit the Chrome Web Store list of accessibility extensions. While signed into your Google Account select "Add to Chrome" listed next to any of the extensions. In the video embedded below I provide a short overview of how to enable accessibility options in the Chrome web browser. Join me at the Practical Ed Tech Chromebook Camp to learn more about using Chrome, Chromebooks, and Google Apps in your classroom. 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 Create a Vocabulary Sorting Game on ClasstoolsHow to Use Facebook to Bookmark Links 

Add-ons for Google Sheets, Docs, and Forms can dramatically increase the features and utility of those tools. A domain administrator has the power to push Add-ons out to all users within a Google Apps for Education domain. Doing that ensures that every teacher and or student in a domain has the same set of Add-ons. It also saves teachers time because they don't have to walk their students through installing the Add-ons that they need. In the video embedded below I demonstrate how to distribute Add-ons to an entire domain. Learn more about Add-ons by browsing the videos in my Google Tutorials playlist or by getting direct instruction in my online course Getting Going With GAFE. 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 Change Your Google Profile Image & Why You ShouldNew Polling Feature Added to Google Classroom 

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