Happy Teacher's Day! Let's start over at Getting Smart with a great post entitled, "Teaching Kids to Code: An Economic & Social Justice Issue."  The article is about the growing need to include computer science as a requirement in a school's curriculum. They also discuss code.org, a great resource for computer teachers.Alarmingly, there are less computer science teachers, classes, and students in the US than 10 years ago.  Yet the job market for coders and computer scientists is growing rapidly.  If your school doesn't require computer science or coding, it would be a worthwhile inclusion.  Some other resources aside from code.org are Code Academy and Khan Academy.Next up, Getting Smart has article on the growing role the city of Baltimore is playing in the Ed Tech field, "Digital Harbor: Baltimore Rising."  Turns out Baltimore's Inner Harbor has become quite a hub for educational technology development.  The harbor hosts numerous Ed Tech start ups, student-centers, and the Emerging Technology Center which is helping to fund 86 separate ET companies. Next up, Teach Thought starts the day off with an article discussing the "10 Pros & Cons of Looping in Education."  Looping, in this case, refers to assigning the same group of students to the same teacher for multiple years.  It's an interesting read and from my personal experience I have found the pros to outweigh the cons. Teach Thought also a a post entitled, "Augmented Reality in Education?  Here are 20 Examples"  If you're not familiar, augmented reality is a "medium through which the known world fuses with current technology to create a uniquely blended interactive experience."  Using AR to augment instruction can be incredibly beneficial.  From interactive field trips to QR code scavenger hunts, this article covers all the possibilities. Infographics!  They're everywhere!  We've had quite a few posted lately and now Emerging Ed Tech has a new post, "5 Great Tools for Creating Your Own Educational Infographics."  Personally, I like   Easel.ly but the article also covers , Visual.ly, Tableau, Infogr.am,  and Piktochart. Google has also been making big news today, they held their annual I/O conference to announce all the new futures that will be coming to chrome, android, maps, and so on.  For a full write-up on the event, check out Gizmodo's Living Blogging for constant updates. And speaking of Google, we'll close out the Round Up today with Educational Technology's post on "6 steps to add voice comments to Google Docs."  The tutorial covers the basics of the new Google Docs feature which allows users to record voice comments on any document that is shared on Google Drive.And if you're feeling a little lackluster this Teacher's Day, Educational Technology also has an excellent collection of videos to inspire creativity!  Hope you enjoy and we'll see you tomorrow.  Round Up out!

Today's Round Up begins at iLearn Technology with a review of a new partnership between Discovery Education and 3M entitled, "The Science of Everyday Life."  The post reviews the new resource in detail, but in short, the site is jammed packed full of videos, virtual labs, lessons, and more, all of which are designed to help students make real-world connections. Free Technology for Teachers is back with three new posts for the day.  First up is a review of the new Google Play for Education, which was revealed yesterday at Google's I/O conference.  GP for Ed will be an "app store designed specifically for teachers and students."  And teachers will be able to buy apps for their classes and push them out to any students that are enrolled.Free Tech also has a review on, "Backpack Practice - Talk Your Way Through Review Guides."  Backpack Practice is a website that gives students a place to practice basic math, science, social studies, and language arts skills.  However, instead of typing or writing their answers, students record their responses and the program keeps track of how each student is doing.  It looks like a great tool for elementary and middle school students and here is a video of the software in action.Next up, FT4T has a guide covering "Four Approaches to Getting Content OFF Elementary Students' iPads - No Email, No Problem."  With many elementary students not having access to email, this is an excellent guide for alternative methods of getting material off iPads.  Definitely worth checking out if your school is using, or considering, iPads at the elementary level. Speaking of iPads, Educational Technology has an "Informative Guide on  he Use of iPads in the Classroom." The post has an embedded presentation which covers ways to integrate iPads into the core subject areas, in addition to helping with student organization and work habits.  They also have an incredibly useful write-up on "Useful End of School Year Worksheets, Printables, and Checklists."  The article contains a giant list of free activities, worksheets, printables, and checklists that will help teachers make it through the final weeks of class! Finally, Edudemic has a few new posts up for today.  First, is an article on "How to Combat Student Plagiarism."  With cases of plagiarism running rampant in many schools, this guide offers some great tips. The post suggests: making research assignments about the process, not the product; requiring students to use online content; and providing students with examples of "real world" plagiarism. Next, Edudemic discusses "How Mind Maps Can Inspire Collaborative Learning."  The article examines the benefits of using mind maps for collaboration and hits on points like easy management of content and flexibility in organizing new ideas.  And if you're interested, Mind Meister and Bubbl.us are both great online mind mapping tools.Edudemic closes with a post that takes an "Interactive Look at the STEM Gender Divide."  It's an excellent read discussing recent trends in gender and STEM education.  You can check out the interactive infographic from the article here. In closing, THE Journal just released their May issue (Technology Horizons in Education).  You can download the journal for free on their website, or right here!And, if you've been enjoying the Round Up these past two weeks, head on over to Ed Tech Magazine and vote for us on the list of Must Read K-12 I.T. blogs!  Your support is definitely appreciated!I hope you all have an excellent weekend and the Round Up will be back on Sunday with the weekend report!  Until then, good luck with finals and all the other end-of-the-year activities!

As the weekend draws to a close, it's time for another weekend Round Up!  We'll start today at GettingSmart with a post about "Making Tech Work for Kids & Teachers."  The article discusses the challenges and benefits that arise from integrating technology into our curricula.   Getting Smart also has a post entitled, "It's Time for the Next Big Advance: Comparable Growth Measures."  The article discusses how "the most important next step in the shift to personal digital learning is the need for comparable growth measures for individual students."   In other words, by using technology we can more accurately begin to measure the growth each student achieves, not just their test and assignment scores.  We can build an accurate understanding of each individual student is learning and growing through a course.  The article discusses some specifics on what this would look like within the classroom. EdCetera has a new post about "The Success of Quest-Based Learning at Boise State University."  The article is about Chris Haskell's teacher training classes in which students embark on "quests" to earn "experience points" towards achieving certain classroom goals and objectives.  The students complete their quests using 3D GameLab; software which creates a virtual environment to learn, research, collaborate and create work.   Over at EdTech Magazine we've got a new post discussing the "5 Must-Have Elements for Every Online Class."  The article offers tips on creating and running a successful online class.  The post covers how teachers can: Get Organized Build a Community Integrate & Collaborate Encourage Self-Assessment Provide Professional Development Free Technology for Teachers has some new resources up from the weekend, starting with a review of "Study Jams - Elementary Math & Science with Music."  Study Jams is designed by Scholastic and uses songs and videos to help students learn math and science content.  Each song also has an associated video or tutorial to help students understand the basics of the concept. Free Tech also has a write-up on the "Saylor Foundation Launches Independent 'Courses' for K-12."  And while these online classes are not complete courses in the traditional sense, they are an excellent resource for independent study or to help students with material outside of class, plus they're aligned with the common core standards.  Currently they have courses in geometry, calculus, algebra, American Lit, and SAT prep. Also, if you're interested in language learning, Free Tech has a review of"10 Good Sites & Apps for Learning a New Language."  These apps would be great for use within a language classroom, or just for personal use for those who are interested in new languages.  The article also covers Duolingo which is one of my personal favorites for language learning. Edudemic has an excellent article on "iPads in the Classroom: The Right Questions you Should Ask."  For any school that is utilizing, or considering, iPads in the classroom, you should check this article out.  It raises some important points for discussion such as the necessity of educators to focus on the "why" and not the "how" of using iPads, in other words making sure that iPads are being used for truly beneficial reasons, not just being used because they're new tech. And on a similar note, they also have a new post on "3 Reasons Apps Put our Kids' Education at Risk."  The post addresses some serious concerns that educators should consider before jumping in the deep-end of iPad integration.  The article discusses how apps can lead to less physical activity, reduced social skills, and the question of "who is going to create future technologies?" Edudemic also has a post on "How Social Media Improved an Entire School District."  The article covers the Eudora School District (just outside my home town in Kansas) and how they began using blogs, YouTube and other social media tools to improve communication and collaboration between teachers and students across the district.  It's a great read and something every district should consider. Finally, Edudemic has a post on "46 Education App Review Sites for Teachers and Students."  It's a list of the best and most popular education app review sites.  You can link to list below: Emerging Ed Tech has a post discussing "Salman Khan's Inspiring One World Schoolhouse."  The post is a review and reflection of Salman Khan's (of the Khan Academy) book.  It's a great post and delves into the benefit of online learning and using technology to provide top-notch, global education to anyone with an internet connection.   Education Week has an article on the "Proper Role of Ed-Tech in Pre-K a Rising Issue."  The post discusses the concern with implementing technology at the preschool level.  Students are using technology more often and at younger ages which can lead to some serious developmental problems.  On the other hand, technology isn't going anywhere and students need to learn how to use it.  The article goes further into depth discussing both sides. Teach Thought has a post on smartphones and BYOD (bring your own device) strategies entitled, "Smartphones in the Classroom: Working Smarter, Not Harder."  The post discusses benefits and strategies for using smartphones within the classroom. The Lightning Round Educational Technology has a post covering 7 Wonderful Google Docs Tutorials for Teachers Ed Tech also has an article on 8 Awesome Educational Infographics for Teachers Plus, they have posts covering Apps for iPad Video Projects and for Creating Documentaries The Ed Tech Review has a great infographic on The Benefits of Going BYOD Teach Thought has a breakdown of the 6 Channels of 21st Century Learning And that about does it for our weekend Round Up!  In closing, below you'll find an excellent infographic from Teach Thought discussing 18 Common Myths of Education and a collection of beneficial apps for the Algebra 1 classroom. I hope everyone had a great weekend and if you're enjoying the Round Up, make sure to follow us on Facebook and/or Twitter!   Courtesy of: Teach Thought

We made it through Monday!  And the Round Up begins over at the Ed Tech Review with a post on the "Impact of Game Based Learning on Education."  The article discusses the benefits of including some form of game-based learning within the classroom: students can learn faster; a variety of learning styles are addressed; data can be captured and analyzed at an incredibly fast rate; and so on.  Definitely an interesting read. Next, Free Technology for Teachers has a great article on "The Top 10+ Sites for a Successful 1:1 Laptop Program: Experiences from the Trenches."  The article reviews 14 different software options that have been found useful for teachers and administrators within 1:1 laptop schools.  All different grade levels and subjects are covered and there are some wonderful resources for any district heading this direction. Free Tech for Teachers also has a two-part series up on "Tips for Leading Google Apps Training"  This article is mainly for technology integration specialists who will be giving PD sessions over Google Apps, so if that's you - check it out!  (Here is the link to Part 2) Tech & Learning has a write-up on "How to Create a Shared iPad Cart model."  The post discusses how my alma mater, Blue Valley High School, successfully implemented a shared iPad cart model.  This is a great alternative to consider if your district size or budget prohibits a 1:1 distribution of iPads.  Or, this shared cart model can function as a stepping stone on the road to complete 1:1 integration. Over at Getting Smart we start with a post entitled, "Mythbusting: Q&A with K12 Leadership."  The GS team sat down the exectives from K-12 online learning and discussed everything from the importance of online learning to the evolving role of the teacher in a digital setting.  It's a good read, especially if your school is considering including online course options. Getting Smart also has a new article and infographic about "Growing Up Google."  The post examines the growing role Google and Google Apps are having on education.  Interesting information to consider especially given Google's latest news about their Google Play for Education app store. Finally, Getting Smart has a post on "Jen Robert's Classroom in the Cloud."  Ms. Robert is a high school English teacher who has done an impressive job incorporating digital learning into her curriculum.  The post also has a short two-minute video explaining her classroom set up.  You can also check out her blog. Finally, Education Week has a article about how "Digital Trends Shifting the Role of Teachers."  The post talks about the kind of changes technology is causing within the classroom and how teachers are dealing with these changes.  The article also discusses BYOD policies, using social networks, and the problems that can arise during technology integration. The Lightning Round... Teach Though has a post covering 5 Less-Known iPad Apps for the Flipped Classroom Educational Technology has a chart comparing Projects with Project-Based Learning Ed Tech also has a great graphic comparing every learning theory EVER. And that's it for the Round Up today!  I'll leave you with the exciting news that you can now subscribe to receive the Daily Round Up through email!  I'm still working out the kinks, but if you want to subscribe...                                            Click Here to Subscribe! And just tell me you want in!  In closing, here's a new infographic that compares digital footprints across generations... Courtesy of: Educational Technology

Today's Round Up begins over at EdCetera.  The summer is almost upon us (woo!) and EdCetera has "A Roadmap to Becoming More Edtech Savvy This Summer."  The post discusses using social media to create a personal learning network, narrowing your focus to specific technology tools, and attending online webinars and workshops.  Plus, you can keep tuning in to the Round Up, we'll be here all summer long! Free Technology for Teachers has a review of "5 Good Lesson Plans for Teaching Copyright."  The post takes a look at the Electronic Frontier Foundation's new lesson plans that outline copyright laws for students.  Each lesson is 60 minutes long and includes assessment and support documents. Standard alignment is also addressed (for the California standards and for ISTE NETS).   Next up, Moving at the Speed of Creativity has a great post on "Using Student Videos on YouTube to Demonstrate Proper School Procedures."  The article talks about Jennie Wilmes, a K-3 librarian in Oklahoma who has students make YouTube videos outlining school procedures.  It's an excellent idea and one that could easily be used in any school. Tech & Learning has a article describing how "Gym Class Can Go High-Tech, Too."  Many times, physical education is over-looked when it comes to tech integration and this post does an awesome job describing how P.E. teachers can flip their classroom and use technology to extend learning and activity beyond the classroom. Edudemic starts the day off with a guide on "25 Things Teachers Should Know About Gamification."  The use of games in education has drastically increased in popularity over the past decade and it's an important strategy teachers should look into.  Games can increase engagement and motivation and be used outside of the classroom as well.Edudemic also has a post about "10 Creative Ways to Use Google Tools to Maximize Learning."  The article covers some best-practice methods for using Google Docs, Forms, Voice Comments, Research Tools, etc. within the classroom.  If you're not familiar with Google's collection of tools, they can be a huge benefit in the classroom.Finally, Edudemic closes with a guide on "How to Cite Social Media Using MLA and APA," which is mainly just this picture from TeachBytes: Next up, Educational Technology has a "Teacher's Guide to Creating Facebook Groups for Students." If you've never considered creating a Facebook group for you class, they can be enormously beneficial.  You can use them to connect to students outside of class, send assignments and messages, and engage in discussions. Ed Tech also has a post on "5 Steps to Create Stunning Slideshows with Audio Using Youtube."  Most people don't know that YouTube has a new set of features which allows for webcam capturing, video editing, and creating photo slideshows.  Using YouTube can be an easy (and free) alternative to creating a presentation through PowerPoint or Prezi.  You can even add effects and transitions! Finally, we'll end the day at Teach Thought with "4 Keys to Designing a Project-Based Learning Classroom" and "11 Steps of Effective Project-Based Learning in a Blended Classroom."  Together, these articles offer some great advice on successfully implementing PBL within the classroom.  Thanks for tuning in today and good luck with the closing weeks of school!  Unless you're out already, in which case I'm more than a little jealous. I usually end with a new infographic from the day, but instead I found a great Pinterest page full of dozens of Ed Tech infographics!  Enjoy and see you tomorrow!

Today we start the round up with Lisa Nielsen and her post, "5 Ways to Increase Chances of a Successful 1:1 Implementation."  There has been a huge 1:1 push in recent years (be it with laptops, ipads, or smartphones) and schools have met with mixed success.  There is an enormous amount of work that goes into the launching a 1:1 program and Ms. Nielsen's post is a great place to start. Much like 1:1 initiatives, creating a "flipped classroom" can also be met with mixed results.  Emerging Ed Tech has a new post which chronicles the failures of an IB Chem Teacher as he struggles to design a flipped classroom.  Fortunately, he gives us a chance to learn from his mistakes and offers some great advice on launching your own flipped classroom. Over at Educational Technology there is a new summary providing "20 Tips to Protect Your Online Identity." This is an excellent list for elementary and junior high students (hopefully high school students are familiar with them!) to help them begin thinking about online safety.  The original article from the UK Guardian can be found here (Ed Tech provides a good summary though). Moving at the Speed of Creativity has a great post entitled, "Why Your School Needs a Scratch Club."  If you're not familiar with Scratch, it's a program from MIT that teaches the basics of computer programming in a fun and easy to understand interface.  Offering clubs, like the kind described in the post, is a great alternative if your school doesn't offer a computer science course. Hybrid Pedagogy has a post from last month (that today's The Wheel directed me to) on "Why Online Programs Fails, and 5 Things We Can Do About It." Online educator or not, this post is incredibly thought-provoking and worth your time.  I'll just stop there and let you go check it out... And, we're back! Free Technology for Teachers starts off covering "Five Ways to Digitally Celebrate Your Students' Year." It's an excellent end of the year post and covers a variety of tools for making class videos, creating collages, designing a collaborate slideshow, creating a classroom portfolio, and bringing in relatives to enjoy the celebration too!Free Tech also offers a way to "Get Creative Commons Savvy With These Activities."  The post talks about using yesterday's EFF plans in conjuction with P2PU's new four module unit on Getting CC Savvy.  These two activities together are in excellent way to help inform students about the rules and regulations of copyright law.And Free Tech ends the day with an introduction to "The Dictionary of Numbers - Putting Numbers in Human Terms."  The Dictionary of Numbers is a Chrome extension that "translates large numbers into terms that are easy to visualize."  With the extension running, you can highlight any number you find on the web and choose to launch the app. Getting Smart starts off with an article on "Building a Digital Depository."  The main idea at the core of the post is the suggestion that the "federal government must re-imagine its role in education" and become more active in helping school districts identify and supply network needs. They offer some valid and interesting points that are worth considering.Getting Smart also has two new posts about the Common Core Standards, "In Support of the Common Core," and "Common Core: A Platform for Equity and Innovation."  Both posts discuss the benefits and potential of the new Common Core Standards (which 45 states have officially adopted).  The first post centers around today's letter from 11 state officials on the need to fully support the CCS, and the second post focuses on the power of the CCS to allow for innovation and exploration in education.  The Lightning Round... Teach Thought shows off 15 Presentation Tools for Teachers from EdshelfConsidering using Minecraft to gamify your classroom?  Check out MineCraft Edu!The Ed Tech Review shares an infographic on "What Parents & Students say about Ed Tech"Educational Technology covers 6 iPad Apps for Tutorials & Screencasts and Handwriting Apps. And we'll end today's Round Up with an infographic on "Learning on the Go" from T.I.E.  Until tomorrow!

It's almost Friday!  And today's Round Up begins with a new post from Lisa Nielsen on "4 Ways to Provoke Change in Our Education System."  The article  discusses the best ways to help inspire diversity, curiosity and creativity within the classroom and she gives great examples, ideas, and resources that teachers can get started with immediately. Over at User Generated Education, Dr. Jackie Gleason has an excellent new post on "The Other 21st Century Skills."  She opens with a quick overview of what some may call "traditional 21st century skills" and then outlines the other attributes that she believes would "best serve learners in this era."  It's a great read! EdCetera has a new post describing "How Hardware is Hurting the E-Textbook Industry."   Their main argument is that the cost of the hardware required to use e-books, and the readability of the digital content are the two major factors hurting the E-Textbook industry.  However, they end the article by discussing how schools are creatively working to deal with the issue of cost. Free Technology for Teachers starts off with "5 Good Resources for Teaching & Learning About Shakespeare."  The post discusses some excellent Shakespeare tech resources like Shakespeare Animated, Crash Course videos on English Lit, Insults by Shakespeare, LiveBinders Resources, and Shakespeare's original pronunciation guides.   Next, Free Tech covers "5 Great Activities from Read Write Think."  If you're not familiar with Read Write Think, they offer some of the best free elementary language arts lessons around.  This post covers a few of their tools, and if you teach elementary LA, it's definitely worth the read. And Free Tech closes with a post reviewing "Harvest of History: Helping Students Understand Farms."  The program is designed to teach elementary students about farms and help show them where their food comes from.   Edudemic begins with a post covering "How To Properly Integrate Education Technology."  I think we've all seen examples of  schools buying new technology, giving it out to teachers and students, and then expecting miraculous results.  However successful tech integration requires much more work, and this article describes the steps to make it happen. Edudemic also has a nice post on how to "Integrate iPads Into Blooms' Digital Taxonomy With This 'Pedagogy Wheel'"  The Pedagogy Wheel was created by Allan Carrington and shows you the best apps for each level of Blooms' Taxonomy.  I've embedded it here for your viewing pleasure (click for full size) We've been talking a lot lately about game-based learning and to follow up on that, the Ed Tech Review has a new post entitled, "Reasons for Slow Adoption of Gamification in Education."  The article outlines what they believe to be the main reason that game-based learning is taking its sweet time making inroads into the classroom.   And on a related note, Getting Smart has a new post about an "Australian Study Points to Benefits of Games-Based Math."  the article reviews the implementation of games fromMangaHigh within middle school classrooms in Australia.  The findings from the study are pretty impressive, specifically that 100% of the teachers involved reported that the using the games improved student learning outcomes. Getting Smart closes with a post on "Buidling STEM Skills by Learning Game Design."  The article talks about using Game Design Tool Kit to teach students the basics of programming and design while they create games.  I'd also recommend checking out GameSalad, it's similar to scratch but more geared towards game/app design and it's also a great free resource to teach students programming. The Lightning Round... Learn Dash has a new infographic on the latest MOOC trends. Educational Technology discusses 8 Digital Ways to Wrap Up the School Year Ed Tech also covers How to Create a Google+ Hangout for Students and Flipped Classrooms Edudemic reviews 36 Entertaining Apsp that are Actually Educational Edudemic also has a great infographic on What Parents Want From Classroom Technoloogy Plus, Edudemic has a video collection of Educational Uses for Google Glass And we'll end today's Round Up with an excellent new infographic on the STEM Skills Gap.  Courtesy of: Edudemic

Happy Friday!  Today's Round Up starts at Teach Thought with a helpful post covering "4 Sources of Low Cost Textbook and Educational Resources."  With ever-tightening education budgets,  this post suggests checking out resources like Bookboon, Flat World Knowledge, OpenStax College, and Boundless.  While the primary focus of these sites if for university students, high school classes could also benefit. Free Technology for Teachers starts off with "Every Stock Photo - A Search Engine for Free Images."  Every Stock Photo is an excellent site for students to find public domain and creative commons licensed pictures.  Setting the advanced Google search settings to find public domain photos can sometimes be tricky for students just learning the web, and this site is a great alternative for finding properly licensed photos.Free Tech also introduces us to "FatURL - Share Bundles of Links"  Need to share a big group of links for a webquest, project, or class activity?  FatURL is the perfect tool to package your links and send them all together in one easy bundle. Getting Smart opens with a post entitled, "Next Gen Science Standards 101."  This post offers the perfect introduction to the NGSS, a set of standards that today's science educators should consider.  The post outlines the basics of the NGSS and provides 5 resources for teachers to check out.And Getting Smart also covers "DragonBox: This is How You Gamify"  DragonBox is an "educational game that secretly teaches kids algebra."  The program runs on mobiles, tablets, and desktops and works to help students discover the rules and principles of algebra while they play.  This is an excellent app and worth checking out for math learning. (along with MangaHigh from yesterday's Round Up.) The Lightning Round... Free Technology for Teachers outlines 5 Good Places for Kids to Learn About the NewsTeach Thought shows us 36 Digital Storytelling SApps from EdshelfFinally, Teach Thought also has a some great posters on Improving Student VocabularyAnd there you have it, short and sweet!  The Round Up will be back on Sunday with the weekend edition and until then, have an excellent weekend!

Our Weekend edition begins at Edudemic with an enjoyable and inspiring post entitled, "Why Right Now is Just the Beginning for Education Technology."  In the post, Dr. Jeff Borden argues that educational technology is only in its infancy and that we have a long way to go - but that's the exciting part!  I agree wholeheartedly with the post and it's worth reading! Next, Edudemic discusses an interesting infographic on "Why and How Teachers are (and aren't) Using Technology."  The infographic focuses on early childhood education and the prevalence of technology in the classroom.  The most optimistic statistic I found in the infographic was that over half of classrooms have students working on technology every single day, and only 8% have children using technology less than once a week (500 teachers and administrators were surveyed). Finally, Edudemic closes with a post on "4 Tools to Help Avoid Summer Learning Loss."  They cover: GobStopper - An e-reading platform that lets you assign and monitor summer reading assignments MeMeTales - A free app that kids can use to read picture books and children's stories. Bookster - A free read along story-telling app that can also record children reading stories. Tales2Go - An audiobook service geared towards kids that streams over 1000 stories.  Next up, TeachThought has a post covering "The Simple Things I Do to Promote Brain-Based Learning in my Classroom."  In the article, Dr. Judy Willis describes how she strives to not only teach students content, but to help them understand how their brains work and how learning occurs.  It's an excellent and thought-provoking post with ideas that are useful in all grades and subject areas. Educational Technology opens the weekend with a post reviewing "5 Web Tools to Create Awesome Digital Newspapers for your Class."  The post covers Issuu, Scribd, Zinepal, Fodey, and Paper.li.  Personally, I'm a big fan of Issuu and if you look under our lesson plans page, you'll see a student guide for uploading content to Issuu.   Educational Tech also has a new guide covering "Everything Teachers Need to Know About Google Spreadsheets."  If you're not familiar, Google Spreadsheets is a component of Google Docs/Drive and can be an excellent (and free) alternative to Excel.  If you've never used the app before, this guide offers lessons on all the basics and is a great place to get started.   Emerging Ed Tech has an awesome write up on "Exciting Developments in Uses of 3D Printing in Education."  We have only just begin to explore the benefits 3D printing can have in education and this article does an excellent job of putting together examples from schools across the country. The Lightning Round... Educational Tech covers Apps for Summer Learning and 30 Ways Teachers can use Pinterest. Edudemic has great new infographics on Blended Learning, ESL Tools, and Blooms Taxonomy. The Ed Tech Review also has a new infographic covering The Dark Side of Moocs. Teach Thought reviews a app for creating video lessons and blogs: Soo Meta And there's the weekend for you!  We'll end today's round up with an interesting infographic that discusses current trends in Gamification...  See you tomorrow! Created by Knewton and Column Five Media

Welcome back!  I'd like to begin our Memorial Day post by sharing my gratefulness for all the courageous men and women who have given their lives in service; and to all those who have served in the armed forces and/or continue to do so, you have my gratitude.  And for those teachers who would like some great resources on teaching about Memorial Day in the classroom, here is a good place to start. And we'll continue today's Round Up with an incredibly interesting dialogue that is evolving between Audrey Watters of Hack Education and Marie Bjerede at Getting Smart over the recent Clayton Christensen Report entitled, "Is K-12 Blended Learning Disruptive?" In short, they are discussing the idea of Disruptive Innovation,  the role of technology in education, the importance of metaphors, and a whole lot more.  If you're feeling philosophical or a tad existential today, I'd recommend heading in this direction. Getting Smart also has a write-up on "Ten Reasons Online Learning Matters."  The article covers some good points and ends with the statement that "Nearly every student will learn online in whatever postsecondary setting they choose... It's time to improve the quality of online learning opportunities."  Getting Smart is working on a paper with iNACOL about the benefits and myths of online learning, so more on this soon! Hybrid Pedagogy has a new article, "Push, Pull, Fork: GitHub for Academics."  GitHub was originally created as an online host for software code, to let developers easily share and exchange ideas.  The idea behind bringing GitHub to education is that educators could begin to do the same: easily share, discuss, and distribute materials and lessons in a centralized online location. Next up, Edudemic has a post and infographic discussing how a "New Study Uncovers What Teens Actually Share on Social Media."  The new study from Pew uncovers a ton of interesting statistics about the digital lives of today's teenagers.  For example, 92% share their real name, 91% post photos of themselves, 71% post their school name and their home town, and 53% post their email addresses.  For me, these stats mean that educators must remain focused on teaching teens about the dangers of openly sharing so much of their lives online. Setting up a classroom blog can be an amazing classroom tool.  Students can engage in online discussions, create multimedia rich reports, and it's much easier to share everyone's work.  If you've ever considered starting a classroom blog, Educational Technology's, "Teacher's Visual Guide to Setting up a Classroom Blog" is a really good place to start (the guide is for Blogger) Teach Thought has a new analysis up, "Examining Blended Learning Models: Student-to-Technology Interaction."  This 6 part series takes a thorough look at all aspects of the blended learning model.  If you're familiar with the basics of blended learning and are ready to dive into the deep end, here's a good place to do it. Free Tech for Teachers opens with "5 Tools Students Can Use to Create Alternative Book Reports."  The article covers Animoto, WeVideo, Pixntell, Narrable, and Wideo.  These are all excellent tools and worth checking out, and personally I would recommend looking at Pixton and Domo Animate as well.   Free Tech also has a post on "Problem Attic Expands Again - more Practice Problems than Ever."  If you've never visited Problem Attic, it's a free service that allows you to create flashcards and practice tests for science, math, social studies, and language arts.  And, they've just expanded to include 4600 new practice questions and 1700 new math challenges!  It's an excellent site for building practice tests and helping students to study outside of class. The Speed of Creativity has a new and disturbing post entitled, "Controversy Surrounds OKCPS Transfer Rejections for ClassenSAS"  In the wake of the horrible tragedy in Oklahoma, the OK City Public School Board has been making some questionable and possibly discriminatory decisions in regards to student transfers.  The entire article is definitely worth reading... The Lightning Round... Teach Thought reviews 9 Learning Tools Every 21st Century Teacher Should be Able to Use Teach Thought also covers 43 Great Free Tools for Teachers from Edshelf Learn Dash outlines 19 Kick-Butt Tools for eLearning Educational Technology discusses 10 Good iPad Apps for Learning English Free Tech  tells us about Make Beliefs Comix offering 300+ Printable Comic Templates And to close out the Round Up today , we'll end with a great Ted Talk that Edudemic just posted about Creating Classrooms in the Clouds (... not the literal ones ... )

Welcome back!  We've got a pretty short Round Up for today and we'll start at Free Tech for Teachers with a review of "Scrible - Bookmark, Annotate, and Create Bibliographies."  Scrible is a free browser-based app that helps students with highlighting, annotating, citing, and creating bibliographies.  I'd also recommend checking out Diigo, if you're looking for another app that helps students organize information and create annotations. Edutech for Teachers has a new review on Thinglink, entitled, "Add Some Swag to you iOS devices with the new Thinglink App!"  If you've never used Thinglink, it's a program that can be used to create interactive images by embedding links, videos, even other images, inside your pictures.  If you're looking for more integration ideas, EduTech has a full write-up on the classroom possibilities. Educational Technology opens with a post outlining "The 12 Commandments of Digital Citizens."  Essentially, the post is a summary of the graphic below.  Educational Technology also has a new post with "5 Awesome iPad Posters for Teachers."  If you have iPads in your classrooms, these are worth checking out! Source: educatorstechnology.com via mediasmarts.ca Tech & Learning has a new review up of "Boomwriter" a "free and engaging group-writing tool that lets students go online to create stories."  After students complete a story, they have the option of publishing it as a book for $9.99.  The app works by allowing teachers to select how each story starts and then letting the students continue the tale from there. [ Boomwriter link ] Finally, LearnDash covers  "5 MOOC Building Platforms."  If you're looking to create your own online classes, they recommend: Course Building by Google Open MOOC Miriada Future Learn LearnDash And there you have it, pretty short news day!  We'll end with a presentation on visual notetaking,on the iPad by Rachel Smith, courtesy of today's post on Teach Thought.   Visual Note-taking on the iPad from Rachel Smith

Over the past 5 years the importance of social media in education, and society in general, has grown exponentially.  But, those educators who are not familiar with the basics of social media may find the task of implementing its use in the classroom a near impossibility.  With that in mind, we start today's Round Up at Edudemic with a post on "5 Free Online Courses for Social Media Beginners."  If you have no idea what this whole "Facebook" thing is, this is the site for you! Edudemic also has a guide on "8 Steps to Great Digital Storytelling."  With digital storytelling, students can easily become the creators of their own content.  They can embed and mix videos, images, text, and their voice together to create a story or lesson that is uniquely their own.  And with today's tech resources, creating a digital story can be accomplished relatively easily and at any grade level.  So, check out Edudemic's guide for all the steps and resources! Summer is almost here (or, depending on your district, has already arrived!)  To pass the time this summer,Getting Smart has prepared a list of 13 websites for parents, teachers, and students to keep them engaged in the learning process over the coming months.   Learn Dash posted  The 4 Year Future of Higher Ed-Tech which is basically an article/infographic/snapshot-of-current-ed-tech all rolled into one.  If you're not familiar with the basics of the current ed tech field, this is an awesome place to start.  The infographic covers everything from flipped classrooms to 3D-printing and discusses the potential uses and benefits of every new type of educational technology.   Free Technology for Teachers opens with a post entitled, "Gooru Adds a Common Core Standards-Based Search Tool."  If you've never used Gooru, it is an online tool for creating collections of educational videos, images, and texts.  Gooru has recently improved their interface and added CCS support to make it easier for teachers to find resources that relate to the Common Core Standards.  They also have an option for including quizzes in your collections  as well as a free iPad app. Free Tech also covers "22 Frames - News Videos for ESL Students."  The free site 22 Frames "provides a central location for locating captioned videos for learning English and for internet users who have hearing impairments."  On top of that, the site lists the common slang words and idioms that are associated with the videos, for students who may not be familiar.  This site is an excellent learning resource for ESL students and the videos cover everything from recent news story to pop culture. And to wrap up our main section, Teach Thought has a post on "12 Interesting Ways to Start Class Tomorrow."  I know, I know, it's not really tech related, but they've got some good ideas for spicing up your class at the end of the year (I know mine definitely needs it!  My personal favorite is number 10.) The Lightning Round... Teach Thought covers 5 Videos that Describe New Learning (PBL, Game-Based learning, etc...) Edudemic has an epic new infographic on the 5 Degrees to Becoming a Common Core Ninja Edudemic also has a nice list of 35 Useful Apps and Web Tools for Math Teachers Thanks for tuning in to today's Round Up!  If you've been enjoying the posts lately, you can follow us on Facebook or Twitter for easy updates!  And I know you've probably been really worried about the Round Up's summer status, well... fret no more!  We will continue posting through the entire summer!  All right! In closing, here's a new infographic onincorporating gamification into instructional design.  Plus, a great graphic on which apps to use for which levels of Blooms Taxonimy (I posted it last week, but it's an excellent poster and has been making the rounds again today...) Courtesy of: Edudemic

Today we start with the Ed Tech Review and an all-encompassing post on "How Has the Internet Impacted Education."  The main focus of the article is higher ed, but most of the info holds true for K-12 as well.  The post centers around an infographic from SEO.com which gives us some interesting statistics like the fact that a whopping 90% of teachers use some form of Social Media to connect with their students. Next up,Learn Dash covers "Why Educational Games Matter."  There have been a plethora of posts on gamification in education and the benefits of game-based learning lately, and this article does a nice job of providing a simple overview of the basic ideas. The main point they make is that gaming is advantageous because it requires the participant to be involved with the learning process, at least on some level.  The post goes on to offer some simple suggestions for implementing games in the classroom. Getting Smart has a new article out today entitled, "HotChalk Education Index: A Guide to the Future of EdTech."  The HotChalk Ed Index provides "quarterly insights regarding how the internet is impacting education."  The data from the HCEI has also been compiled into an excellent infographic which you can find at the bottom of the article.  The full report from Hot Chalk can be downloaded here (you have to provide some basic info) but the infographic and article do a nice job summarizing. Getting Smart also a post over "10 Trends in K-12 Online Learning."   The article outlines the latest trends the US is experiencing in online education, the most important being the speed at which school districts are adopting strategies to improve and implement online learning.  The post also covers course choices, blended learning, and makes note of the pushback that we're seeing in some states. Free Technology for Teachers opens with a review of "Room Recess - Educational Games for Kids."  Room Recess is an excellent site for elementary students that offers math and English review games for free (and it's ad free too!)  The games are not incredibly deep, but they're great for reviewing addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and parts of speech.  Free Tech also has three mini-posts from today covering: How to create your own infographics with PiktoChart How to merge PDFs with PDF Mergy How to make better videos with YouTube's Creator Hub Series And we'll end today's crazy short Round Up with a new infographic Educational Technology and Online Colleges discussing "20+ Ways to Use Social Media in Your Teaching."  Happy Friday!  And see you on Sunday for the weekend Round Up! Courtesy of: Online Colleges

Welcome back!  I hope everyone is in the middle of a relaxing weekend or, AT THE START OF SUMMER BREAK!  Woo!  Today's Round Up starts off with tons of new content from Edudemic.  First, "How Technology Inspires Creativity in the Classroom."  This post is mainly for those teachers who remain unconvinced that technology can be anything more than a distraction in the classroom, but it also has some useful tips for those teachers who are comfortable with tech as well.And on the flip-side, we've got "The 4 Negative Side Effects of Technology."  This post considers how the rapid acceptance and integration of technology into our lives and classrooms is not always a good thing.  They discuss how technology can, when improperly used, lead to elevated exasperation, deteriorated patience, declining writing skills, and a lack of physical interactivity.  These issues are incredibly important for educators to keep in mind when encouraging classroom technology use.Next up, Edudemic has an article on "Why Urban Students Have a Learning Advantage."  I think it goes without saying that many urban schools are often faced with enormous disadvantages in funding, resources, and teachers; however, this article argues that "what urban children have by the boatload is grit." The post goes on to outline how the "courage and persistence" that is prevalent in many urban schools will be exactly what will "help our nation prosper int he 21st century."Edudemic continues with ideas on "5 Ways to Really Connect with Online Students."  This post emphasizes the importance of being engaging and available, assigning group work, providing timely feedback, and developing a personal connection.  When teachers forget these principles, online learning can quickly become a hollow, unrewarding experience.Plus, Edudemic also has a new write-up comparing "South Korea vs U.S. Education."  I actually spent two years teaching in South Korea, and I'll have an editorial up soon about my personal experiences with their education system (or you can check out my old blog posts), but this particular article examines the results of Person's new global report on education.  The main difference they found was that in SK parents spend around 25% of their income to supplement their children's education with private classes, tutors, and learning materials.  Finally, Edudemic closes with three new infograhpics:How (And Why) Schools Are Encouraging Social Media Use18 Things to Know About Education in the U.S.A Visual Guiide to Staying Safe on Social Media Free Technology for Teachers starts off covering how to "How to Document Collaborative Brainstorming Sessions with Realtime Board."  Realtime Board is an excellent free tool that teachers and students can use to collaborate with images, videos, and PDFs by writing notes and comments in real time.  Here's a video showing how the program worksFree Tech also has a write-up on "Remind 101 - Safely Text Parents and Students."  Teachers can use Remind 101 to send free texts to groups of students or parents from a computer, iPhone, or Android device.  Plus, the service allows you to schedule messages to be sent out in the future as well.Finally, Free Tech covers "Flask - Quickly Create and Share To-do Lists."  Flask is a free, web-based list maker that allows you to create and share to-do lists.  You don't have to create an account (unless you want to create multiple lists) and the service has an incredibly simple and friendly interface. Getting Smart opens with an interesting read on "What is the Problem with Professional Development."  They argue that "the biggest problem is the way we frame it with the language that we use, and the thoughtless interpretation and implementation that we apply."  So basically the problem is, how we talk about PD and how we enact PD (so, everything...)  The article goes on to offer suggestions for improving our current PD systems.Getting Smart also discusses their Top 10 Posts from the week, covering the topics of Blended Schools & Tools, Digital Developments, Apps, Common Core, and Higher Learning. Emerging Ed Tech has a new post discussing how "The iPad Isn't the Only Tablet Computer Being Used in Schools." The article reminds us that, despite the major publicity and recognition the iPad receives for its educational uses, there are many alternatives that offer the same benefits at lower prices. Teach Thought opens the weekend with a collection of readings entitled, "The Impact of Technology: What Gadgets Can't Do For Us." The list includes articles from the Pew Foundation, the Washington Post, and Gawker, just to name of few.   Teach Thought also has a new post outlining the "5 Characteristics of Global Learning."  The Ed Tech Review has two new posts up from the weekend.  The first, an "Educator's Checklist of Great Websites for Teaching Tips." covers 9 websites that offer free resources to teachers.  The Review also discusses the "Growth, Importance, and Power of Mobile Technologies."  It's an excellent article covering the advantages of mobile and BYOD learning. Finally, Educational Technology has three new weekend posts:6 iPad Apps for Better Classroom Management50 Useful Websites and Apps for Teachers3 Ways to Turn Your Class Blog into a Beautiful e-Book Quite a weekend!  If you're ever feeling overwhelmed by the constant stream of Ed Tech content that is released on a daily basis, you can always check out the Round Up's collection of Links and Lesson Plans.  I try to create a limited list of what I've found to be the MOST useful tools and ideas, and I'm always adding new ideas to the lists as well.                   Enjoy the rest of your Sunday and see you tomorrow!

Today the Round Up begins at Ed Tech Magazine, with "The 2013 Honor Roll: EdTech's Must Read K-12 IT Blogs"  proudly featuring... The Ed Tech Round Up!  A special thanks to Mr. Ricky Ribeiro for including this site on the list.  Aside from the Round Up, there is an excellent collection of sites and blogs from teachers, administrators, writers, technologists, and students.   Inside Higher Ed has new post which asks, "Are We Guilty of EdTech Hype?"  The article is in response to ed tech consultant Randy Riddle's recent comments that "The big failure of the instructional technology field...is that it's often used by institutions or individual faculty as a tool to get publicity for being 'on the cutting edge,' rather than opening meaningful dialogue about teaching and learning."   The article goes on to discuss some of the problems and shortcoming with educational technology, and the tendency for educators to use technology in an effort to "appease administrators" rather than using technology for truly educational purposes.  Riddle raises some excellent questions that get to the heart of why we integrate technology into education. Jamie Forshey at EduTech for Teachers has just posted her monthly, "Geeky Girl's Greatest Hits: Volume V."  She's used ThingLink to create an interactive image (embedded below) of her most useful tips and tools from May.  If you haven't checked out ThingLink yet, it's a great way to make interactive images (like the one below) and if you haven't checked out Ms. Forshey's site yet, it's got an enormous wealth of helpful resources, lessons, and ideas. Educational Technology opens the day with a post on how to "Easily Create Classroom Wikis Using Wikispaces Classroom." Last month, Wikispaces announced the new service which is geared towards helping students and teachers create classroom wikis where classes can easily share information and resources.  Check out the post for an overview of the service. The site also has a write-up on "What Teachers Need to Know about Using Hashtags in Google Plus."  For those who have never used the now ubiquitous hashtag (#) it's basically a tool to categorize whatever you are writing or posting about.  For example, if you searched #edtech, your search engine would bring up all discussions that had been tagged the same way.  And now, Google Plus is supporting the use of hashtags, and this new post has also the basics you need to know. Free Technology for Teachers has a new post introducing us to "ULearniversity - Online Math Lessons and Practice Activities."  Students can use this free site to watch math tutorials and answer practice questions which provide instant feedback.  The site is a great resource (along with sites like Khan Academy) for helping math teachers to "Flip" their classroom and get students engaged in learning content outside of class. The site also covers the free web app,"GeoSettr - Create a Street View Geography Game."  An excellent resource for the social studies classroom, teachers can use GeoGuessr (paired with GeoSettr) to create an enjoyable, interactive tour of historical places and landmarks.  Finally, for those familiar with RSS readers (programs used to compile and read "feeds" from blogs and sites you like), Google Reader is shutting down next month and Free Tech has posted a review of "Feedspot - A Simple Google Reader Replacement."  Another alternative reader that I'm a big fan of is Flipboard, it's a great way to get all your facebook, twitter, RSS, and news feeds in the same place.   Edudemic opens with an article on the "10 EdTech Venture Capitalists Worth Following on Twitter."  These days, it seems like there's a new edtech startup every other day, and Edudemic helps out by creating a more manageable list of the ten best.  The list includes the Gates Foundation and Learn Capital. And, as part of their month of exploring global education, Edudemic has three new posts on global education and comparisons between countries: Upcoming Conferences on Global Education 18 Things to know about education in the United Kingdom 18 Things to know about education in Canada Getting Smart starts off with a post about "Going Digital with Online Occupational Therapy."  The article discusses how many distracts are having to do "more with less" these days, which can cause especially large problems in special education departments.  To fill that need, companies like Presence Learning have developed online occupational and speech therapy programs that can virtually help students in need. Getting Smart also takes a look at the importance of bilungual education in an article entitled, "Can Sexy Accents Save Us?"  The post discusses the often neglected benefits of offering bilungual classes in school, especially given the ever-increasing rate of global connectedness our society is experiencing.   Teach Thought has a new a guide on "11 Sample Education BYOT Policies to Help You Create Your Own." For any school district considering implementing a BYOT or 1:1 tablet initiative, this is an excellent place to start.  The post has copies of policies from 11 different schools which districts are free to use and change as they see fit. Teach Thought has also reposted an article from October by Psychologist John Jensen which discusses "Critical Thinking From the Ground Up."  If you have 30 minutes today, this is a great article to read and it provides an incredibly interesting and detailed analysis of how educators can help foster critical thinking skills within their classrooms. Thanks for tuning in today and thanks again to Ed Tech Magazine for listing in the Top 50 Ed Tech blogs! Today, we'll end with an infographic from Getting Smart on How Digital Learning Contributes to Deeper Learning.  See you tomorrow! Courtesy of: Getting Smart

Welcome back to the Round Up! Today we'll start over at Teach Thought with a post about "Teachers and Social Media: Finding Your Comfort Zone."  For those teachers who are just beginning to break the social media ice, this is an excellent article to start with. The post covers some basic resources on social media tools and advice on how to get started.  Next up, if you haven't yet heard of the new service Vine, or considered how it could be used educationally, then check out "What Is Vine and What's It Doing In My Classroom?"  Basically, Vine is twitter but for videos, really short 6-second videos, but videos nonetheless.  The article goes further in depth and offers some suggestions for integration. Finally, Teach Thought has a repost of a Getting Smart article from a few weeks back, "10 Significant Trends in Education and Online Learning."  If you didn't catch it the first time around, it's your lucky day! Edudemic opens with a list of "5 Free Online Courses for Tech-Savvy Teachers."  If you've got some free time this summer and and iPad to learn about (or perhaps a BYOD program) then definitely check out this post.  They cover all the basics you could need on iPads in education and launching a BYOD program in your school or district. Continuing on with the iPad, edudemic has a new write-up on "8 Powerful Apps to Help you Create Books on the iPad."  If you're fortunate to have iPads in your school, having the students create their own books to show their understanding of particular topics can be an awesome activity.  If you're not sure on which apps would be best for that, this Edudemic guide is very worthwhile. And Edudemic closes with a great Prezi from Pip Cleaves on "Bloom's Digital Taxonomy and Web 2 Tools." (embedded below) and a new infographic on "The Busy Teacher's Quick Common Core Guide." The Innovative Educator has a new guest post by Eric Williams outlining "3 Ways to Decrease the Teacher Dropout Crisis."  Not especially Ed Tech related, but an important post regardless.  His advice is incredibly well-written, thoughtful, and needed with the growing number of teachers across the states who are leaving the profession. Finally, we've mentioned the educational uses of MineCraft a few times on the Round Up (a game that allows users to create virtual worlds out of textured cubes) and if you're familiar with the program and looking for new ways to integrate it with your curriculum, you'll definitely enjoy Ed Reach's new post, "Minecraft in the Classroom with peter Tromba." That's it for the Round Up today, we'll end up with an infographic for one of the most important (yet often overlooked) positions in K-12 Education, "27 Things Your Teacher Librarian Does."   Courtesy of: Educational Technology

Welcome to the Round Up!  Today we begin at T.H.E. Journal with a new article outlining the "6 Technology Challenges Facing Education."  I posted a recent editorial over this topic as well , but their article also discusses the unique challenges posed by MOOCs and the failures of personalized learning.  The article is in response to a new report from the New Media Consortium and does an excellent job summarizing the main points and ideas. Emerging Ed Tech has a new post on "4 Ways Colleges and Universities are Using Tech to Go Green."  Even though the article focuses on higher ed, all of the ideas (except perhaps number 4 - holding classes virtually) translate to K-12 education as well.  The ideas are especially useful for schools looking for ways to save on spending while going green at the same time. While Google and Google Scholar are excellent resources for teachers, I sometimes forget that their are other resources that are just as well suited (if not better) for the classroom.  Teach Thought's new post, "7 Academic Search Engines Not Named Google" offers a great reminder of the other academic search engines that are available. Getting Smart opens with an article on "The Business Role in Education: Examples, Expectations & Support."  The post focuses on how the CEOs of ExxonMobile, Xerox, and Qualcomm feel about the common core standards, online learning, STEM education, and what is needed from our schools to ensure that today's students will be ready to enter the modern workforce.  (Reposted from yesterday's Huffington Post) Getting Smart also provides "An Update on Apple in Education."  If you've been jonesing for some statistics on iPads and apple apps in education, then get on over there!  One impressive stat that stuck out with me - 75,000 educational apps.  Wow.  But if you've checked the app store recently, Apple has begun to organize them by grade and subject which is proving immensely helpful.   Finally, Ed Reach has a review of a the app "Sound Uncovered."  Great for the sciences, this app lets students explore sounds through "an interactive book that walks you through new ways to look and listen to sounds."  It's free, well-designed, and would be excellent for younger students in a unit on the senses. And that's all we've got for today!  Thanks for stopping by and we'll end with a double whammy!  First, a new graphic from Teach Thought on Student email Etiquette and if you missed it a few days ago, check out Learn Dash's repost of Edudemic's post of Online College's Trends in Education Technology :) Courtesy of: Learn Dash

Happy Friday-eve!  Today's Round Up begins at Free Technology for Teachers with some succinct advice on "Protecting Devices in 1:1 Programs."  In the post, Byrne argues that one of the major causes of damage to laptops, netbooks, or tablets is student neglect.  Schools and teachers need to enforce policies that require students to be responsible for their new technology to ensure that damage does not occur.Next up, Free Tech has a short review of a new online game, "Play Thingdom and Learn About Genetics."  Produced by the London Science Museum, Thingdom is an online game that helps students learn about genetics.  In the game, students select a "thing" and then try to find a way to create that "thing" by selecting various traits.  The game is part of a larger exhibit called Who Am I?  that uses animations, videos, and text to teach students about genetics.Free Tech also an article covering "30 Free Teacher PD Courses."  The post talks about Coursera and their new collection of Professional Development Courses.  All the classes are free and they cover a wide range of topics from the foundations of education to integrating art and inquiry into your curriculum.Finally, Free Tech has a short review of PAT, a "Free, Open Source, Portable Atlas."  Developed by Ian Macky, PAT is a collection of free maps which include every country in the world.  The collection is an excellent resource for social studies and history teachers in need of high-quality maps. EduTech for Teachers has a new review on how to "Create Virtual Postcards with Instaplace."  For iOS and Android devices, InstaPlace allows users to create a virtual postcard by using your location data.  Students can pick from a variety of different captions which will automatically add their location to a picture or image.  Forshey has some excellent integration ideas for this new tool which goes for $1.99 in the app store. EdReach.Us has a new podcast up today, "Teacher Tech Talk #09 - Downloading This As We Speak."  In the podcast, Kafka and Epcke discuss new GMail updates, teachers resigning via YouTube, EduClipper, Google Drive, and more!  If you haven't checked out EdReach yet, it's an excellent blog with a mountain of resources, podcasts, and integration ideas. Educational Technology has a great new list of "12 Excellent New Web Tools for Teachers."  Some of these tools they've covered before (like FatURL) but some are new to me like EQuizShow.com.  Ed Tech also has a new article on the "SAMR Model Explained for Teachers."  The SAMR model is basically a series of simple steps teachers can follow to begin integrating technology in their classroom.  Here's more info: And we'll end today at Getting Smart.  They open with big news from the White House, "President Obama Announces ConnectEd."  This new program is "one of the first steps to building high-speed digital connections to schools and libraries across the nation."  ConnectEd calls on the FCC to assist in ensuring that 99% of American students can benefit from the resources and advances of new technology.  Check the article for the full press release.Getting Smart continues with a follow up to their post from two-weeks ago on comparable growth measures with, "A Proposal for Better Growth Measures."  The article argues that in order to accurately and efficiently compare academic measures across blended school settings, there is a need for some form of common assessment. If you're a big fan of Lexile levels and analyzing data, get on it!Next up, for all you math teachers out there, Getting Smart covers "3 Tools to Tackle Common Core Math Standards."  All of the resources they cover are aligned with the Common Core Standards to help teachers with easy integration.  The article covers LearnZillion, TenMarks, and Learning Farm.Finally, for the Economics and Business teachers, Getting Smart has a new post on "The Interactive Economics Classroom with MobLab."  MobLab has a giant variety of educational games for the sciences and social studies, and now they've got economics covered as well.  For any teacher looking to implement some game-based learning, this is a great resource to go with. And that's it for the Round Up today!  We'll be back on Sunday with the weekend edition.  Plus, I've got a 3-day weekend coming up (still no summer break? Come on!) so expect some new reviews as well!Also, I'd like to take this chance to welcome any new readers!  I hope you're enjoying the site so far.  If you want, you can always follow the Round Up on Facebook or Twitter, or you can receive the Round Up through email by filling out the subscribe box on the right side.  See you on Sunday and have an excellent weekend!

Welcome back!  I hope everyone had an enjoyable and relaxing weekend!  Last Thursday I wrote a little bit about Obama's announcement of the new ConnectEd program.  If you haven't heard yet, the program's goal is to bring high speed internet to 99% of America's students, as well as provide funds for teacher technology PD.  For all the details and logistics, Edudemic has a new article from the weekend.Edudemic also has a new article on "Teacher-Led Professional Learning: The Latest Revolution in Education."  All around the country teachers are teaching their peers through twitter, google, and edcamps.  It's absolutely awesome to see all these educators putting in so much time to help others, and I'm glad to see this has become a growing trend in education.Finally Edudemic has a post entitled, "EdX Wants YOU To Improve their Online Learning Platform."  edX is one of the newest and largest MOOCs (massive open online course).  The organization offers an enormous variety of high quality online courses for free.  And now, they've released their site's source code to the internet in an effort to get educators, programmers, and computer scientists involved in improving the quality of their user experience. EduCade has a new article up entitled, "Geoscience: STEMulating the Classroom Through Play."  The post discusses gamification via the soon to be released iPad app Geomoto, by GameDesk.   If you're an earth science instructor, I absolutely recommend keeping your eye out for this app, it will be an excellent resource.  You can see students playing the prototype here.  And if you haven't had a chance to check out GameDesk before, they have some wonderful education projects in the works. Much like gamification, it's nearly impossible to go through a post without talking about Blended Learning.  Classrooms all across the world are integrating technology and virtual lessons, and the importance of blended learning is become more and more evident.  However, to successfully implement blended learning, there are a huge number of issues educators must address.  To help with that, Tom Vander Ark at Getting Smart has prepared an awesome resource collection in, "The 10 Big Blended Learning Questions." Free Tech for Teachers has two new ed tech posts from the weekend.  The first is about "Watch2Gether - Watch and Discuss Videos Online."  Through the site Watch2Gother, students and teachers can engage in online discussions over videos from YouTube.  This could be an excellent resource in a flipped classroom to make sure students are watching and discussing the videos they have been assigned.Free Tech also has a short review of a new tool, "Clipping Magic - Remove Background Materials from your Images."  Clipping Magic is "a new tool that makes it easy to edit background objects out of your images.  For younger students who may have difficulty with advanced image editing programs, Clipping Magic is a great tool.   Teach Thought has an interesting article discussing, "What Technology Does to Learning: An Analogy."  The article compares teachers to department store employees (just for the sake of the analogy!) in order to better understand the process and benefits of integrating technology into the classroom.Teach Thought also gives us "8 Tips for Helping Students Tell Stories in a Social Media World."  The post opens with a discussion of the importance of storytelling and then goes on to give 8 ideas to help students better tell their stories.  While the guide is directed at students, it would be an excellent resource for a teacher to help his/her students with their own digital storytelling.   Ed Reach has a write-up on "Storynory - Hundreds of Audio Stories for Your Classroom, Bedtime or Vacation."  Storynory is is website with audio stories for students.  The site has a huge variety, from classic fairy tales to modern original stories and they post a new story each week.  Plus, it's free!  The site is an excellent resource, particularly in the elementary classroom. The Lightning Round Edudemic has a new infographic on The 6 Types of Connected StudentsEducational Technology gives us 5 Tips on How To Use Technology MindfullyTeach Thought also has a new infographic, it's on 50 Mobile Learning Statistics for K-12 Education And that's all for the weekend edition!  We'll end today with a video promoted by Sir Ken Robinson (via Educators Technology) which shows "A Wonderful Exercise in Critical Thinking." The main point of the video is that when students are told there is a "right way" to do something, this negatively impacts their creativity.  If you've got 2 minutes, check it out!  And we'll see you tomorrow!

Today we start over at User Generated Education with Dr. Gerstein's fabulous post on "Education 3.0"  In the article, Gerstein describes the importance of developing an Ed 3.0 environment where students are creators of content and where learning is more self directed.  She also provides a great timeline on how education, ed tech, and the role of the teacher have changed over the past few decades.  Plus much, much more, definitely check out the when you have a minute. And while we're on the topic, Edudemic has a new post, "What is Web 3.0 And How Will it Change Education."  The article argues that we're currently living in the transition between web 2.0 and web 3.0.  And if you have no idea what all this 2.0 business is, this article is a great place to start, they have a good graphic explaining what it all means and how it relates to the classroom and to education in general. And continuing the trend, the Ed Tech Review has an article on "Technology: An Essential in the 21st Century Classroom."  The post describes what the ideal classroom for an Ed 3.0 environment might look like.  They argue that the classroom "would be designed with two key concepts in mind: technology access and student-centered architecture." Free Tech for Teachers outlines "Four Reasons Your Students Should Join the Quest2Matter."  Quest2Matter is sponsored by the organization Choose2Matter and is designed to help students across the world collaborate and "share ideas and actions for solving problems that have meaning to them."  It's a great organization and idea and worth thinking about over the summer break. Lisa Nielsen at The Innovative Educator has a new post on the first "#StuVoice Google Hangout" in which a group of student leaders discussed social media.  The group covers education on the proper use of social media, classroom use, the importance of choice, and the most commonly used social media platforms.  You can check out the chat below:  Ed Reach has a new review of "Night Zookeeper Drawing Torch" an iPad app that is designed to be used in conjunction with the Night Zookeeper website.  The app gives students a mission which combines drawing, story telling, and creating.  It's free to use and would be perfect for early elementary students.  Ed Reach has a video review of the app as well. Finally, Tom Vander Ark has a new post in Education Weekly about my home town!  "Smart Cities: Kansas City."  The article discusses how the Kansas City Kansas School District has completely turned around a failing district over the past 15 years by using math bench-marking, workforce experiences, accelerated career academies, and a whole lot of technology.  It's great to read about a district doing so well and I'm especially happy to see Kansas representing! The Lightning Round... Teach Thought covers 21 Smart Games for Game-Based Learning Educational Technology provides 11 Must Have iPad apps for Teachers & Students Ed Tech also has a new list of 10 Great Tools for Research You Should Know About Tech & Learning has an awesome collection of STEM, PBL, and Common Core Resources Free Tech for Teachers reminds us of 8 Overlooked Useful YouTube Tools And that's all for the Round Up today!  Thanks for tuning in!  We'll end with a new infographic on how we can help "Extend The Reach of Excellent Teachers" Courtesy of: Public Impact

Today the Round Up begins at Getting Smart with an article entitled, "New Tools for Next-Gen Schools from NGLC & iNACOL."  The article is basically a brief summary of the new 30 page "toolkit" released by iNACOL and NGLC to help teachers navigate blended and competency-based learning.  If you've got an hour this week, the full report is definitely worth a read, especially if you're looking for new ideas and resources to help implement technology in your classroom, school, or district. Next up, Ed Tech Magazine has a new article covering "6 Things Every School Should Know About Adobe's Move to the Creative Cloud."  Even though the announcement of Adobe's move to the cloud happened last month, if your school uses Adobe's products and you haven't considered how this change will affect your software, this is a great place to start.  But in short, Adobe has to decided to follow a subscription-based model for future releases of their products. Inside Higher Ed has a new, and highly critical, article on MOOCs entitled, "Where's the Real Learning?"  MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) have been gaining immense popularity lately, but there has also been a fair amount of negative backlash, including critiques such as this, which argue that MOOCs lack the rigor and depth of face-to-face classes. A few days ago, Free Tech for Teachers reviewed Watch2Gether, a service that allowed users to watch and discuss YouTube videos in a virtual classroom.  Today, Free Tech discusses VideoANT which is somewhat similar in that it lets users annotate YouTube videos while watching them.  For classroom integration you could have students discuss and comment on a video while they are watching it for homework. And for the art educators out there, Free Tech has a nice write up and introduction to Google's New Art Project.  The project "features artwork from dozens of famous museums all over the world" and you explore each museum like you would with Google Street View. Finally, for the history and social studies teachers, Free Tech has a write-up on National Geographic's new Timelines of Exploration.  They're not incredibly in depth, but they make for great introductory resources to their respective topics. Edudemic starts off with "A Printable Acceptable Use Policy for Classroom iPads."  If you have iPads, or are considering implementing them, an acceptable use policy (AUP) is a must.  This Edudemic post is a good place to start, but to me it seems more geared towards elementary students.  So if that's what you're after, check it out! Edudemic also has a review Professor Christopher Hoadley's recent presentation on "Educational Media & Technology in 2013: What's Next?"   I've embedded the presentation below, but if you're interested in a quick summary, check out their article. Educational Media & Technology in 2013: What’s Next? from nycmedialab Learn Dash has a new research summary on why "Gaming is Good For Your Brain."  The article argues that "there are inherent benefits to gaming when it comes to learning, but we are starting to see that gaming is also proving to be beneficial beyond just a learning environment."  The post goes on to discuss some recent research examples showing that games can benefit social and critical thinking skills as well. Ed Reach has three new podcasts up for today: Flipped Learning: Creating an Innovations Class EduWin Weekly: Engaging Students Building a School Web Presence Using a YouTube Channel The Lightning Round... Edudemic suggests 3 Crazy Ideas to Make iPads Perfect for Education Educational Technology covers Chrome Extensions, BYOD Infographics, and BYOD activities The Ed Tech Review has a new infographic on How Tablets are Influencing Education Getting Smart has also has a new infographic on Blended Learning from the Gound Up And last but not least, Edudemic reminds us to Check Out the Supermoon on June 23rd And that about does it for the Round Up today!  Thanks for reading!  I want to give a special welcome to the new readers and a very big thank you to all of you for reading and supporting the site!   It's been just over a month since I launched the Round Up and I think it's off to a pretty great start!  If you ever have feedback, suggestions, apps/programs you think I should check out, or just want to talk about technology in education, please don't hesitate to send me an email!  Thanks again and see you tomorrow! -Mike

Welcome back!  And settle in, because we've got a long one today!  First up, Audrey Watters at Hack Education has an excellent new article on "Data, Surveillance, and Teaching Machines."  Watters discusses the recent NSA news and the student data collecting which is currently being done by companies like inBloom.  She's raises the important questions that should be asked here like "Who decides what is appropriate" and "Who actually has oversight over all this?" Emerging Ed Tech has a new post on "The Evolving Use of Badges in Education."  For those not familiar, badges are "visual representations of a skill or achievement" and can be quite motivating, even when they're only digital.  The article discusses how virtual rewards are beginning to displace costly physical rewards and what that means for education. Lisa Nielsen at The Innovative Educator has a great new article discussing "Where Does World-Changing Fit into the #CCSS?"  Nielsen discusses the disconnect between making schools a place where you can inspire "world-changing" all year round, but still have a place for the Common Core Standards.  It's a great read and Nielsen covers a variety of awesome organizations aimed at getting students to help change the world. Getting Smart has a new post entitled, "Scapbook Showcases a Year of Gains for Virtual Learning."  The post is in response to PublicSchoolOptions.org's report on virtual learning from last week.  The report shows that "State by state, more parents are gaining the option to send their child to a full-time public virtual school."  The scrapbook has a collection of stories and schools from all across the US, showcasing virtual learning. Free Tech 4 Teachers has four new posts up from today, all of which are excellent resources worth checking out:Create Magazines with Flipboard (great tool!)Share Ideas for Using Padlet (also a great tool!)StoryToolz - Writing Prompts and MoreCoffee Time Edu - Ed Tech Tutorial Videos Edudemic has a new article discussing "How the 'Library for All' Project May Revolutionize Learning in Developing Countries."  For children growing up in developing countries, having access to books and library materials is many times a complete impossibility.  The goal of Library for All is to "harness the power of technology and mobile phone networks...to give low-cost access to a digital library" for these children across the world.  Check out the Kickstarter for more.Edudemic also has a write up on "The Great Wall of Awesome" which is "an online space that aims to enhance what you are doing as an educator and facilitate the rich learning of your students."  The goal of the project is to have teachers share one great experience from each week so that over time, the wall of awesome becomes enormous and... well... awesome.   Wesley Fryer at Moving at the Speed of Creativity has a new guide on how to "Create a Narrated Slideshow on an iPad with Haiku Deck and Explain Everything."  In the post, he provides a complete walkthrough on how a student can use this combination of apps to create an awesome (and self-narrated) presentation.  Both are great tools and worth checking out if you're not familiar. Keely Tenkely over at iLearn Technology is back with a guide to using "Evernote as an ePortfolio: Postachi.io, Voice2Note, StudyBlue."  In the article Tenkely reviews several new add-on apps to Evernote (Evernote is a software suite that helps you store notes, pictures, ideas, pretty much everything).  Tenkely also discusses how a teacher could use these apps to create an awesome, digital, ePortfolio.  Ed Reach has a new write-up on "Boundless: Disrupting the Textbook Industry."  The article discusses the current problems with the textbook industry (over 80% of the market is controlled by the top 5 publishers) and introduces an alternative: Boundless.  The goal of Boundless is to create low-cost, high-quality digital textbooks from the best open sources on the internet.  If only this had been around when I was an undergraduate... And, of course, we have our daily post about Gamification with Teach Thought's article on "Game-Based Learning is Probably Worth Looking Into." It's an excellent write up on the basics of game-based learning, the hidden-learning that can be embedded within games, and the potential drawbacks of using game-based learning.Teach Thought also has an interesting read on "The Jarring Collision Between Digital Screens and Close Reading."  The article discusses the importance of "deep reading" and not just clicking from link to link in an endless loop, hyperlinking ourselves to death.  There are some incredibly important points to consider in the article and it's definitely worth your time, especially for reading and language educators.And Teach Thought also has a brief discussion over a "Diagram of 21st Century Pedagogy."  I've embedded the image below and you can check out the article for a short conversation (you can click for the full-size image). If you've been reading the Round Up for a while, you know Jamie Forshey at EduTech for Teachers is a big fan of ThingLink (a tool used to creative interactive/hyperlinked images).  In her post today, "Introducing a Multimedia Mash-Up Masterpiece" Forshey discusses using Thinglink, Animoto, and InstaPlace to create a class project from a recent field trip.  Check out the post for some great ideas! And...Finally...If my fingers can keep typing...We've got three new posts from Educational TechnologyAn Infographic on Games vs. Gamification5 Great Web Tools for Creating Online Quizzes3 New Video Tools for Teachers We made it!  What a Round Up!  I'm outta here until tomorrow and if you missed my review from earlier today on Soo Meta, it's a great application  for creating flipped lessons and worth checking out!

Today's Round Up begins with a pretty awesome Kickstarter that teachers Walter Duncan and Isaac Van Wesep started for their app Quick Key.  The app would allow teachers to grade papers at lightning speed with their smartphone (provided the answers are bubbled in like a scantron) and have immediate results recorded for each student.  The app has some serious potential - check out the video for more. Next up, Getting Smart has an article by Steve Netcoh, the CCO for NuSkool entitled, "A NuSkool Approach to Student Engagement."  The article describes NuSkool's philosophy on designing common core standards-based lessons around popular culture in an effort to engage students.  It's free to create an account on their site, and it's a great resource and easy to navigate, but it would be nice to see a list of which specific standards are covered under each lesson. Educational Technology has a new post covering "Two Excellent Apps to Create Digital Magazines on the iPad."  First up is Flipboard (which we've talked a lot about lately here and is my personal favorite).  They also recommend Glossi which is a "new self-publishing platform that enables anyone to create and share digital magazines."  Tech & Learning opens with an article on"Taking a Step Back and Thinking Critically About Technology."  The article argues, quite reasonably, that before throwing all our tech-based-learning eggs in the iPad or tablet basket, we've really to take a hard look at tablet technology and decide if schools are just implementing these programs because it's the new thing, or because it actually has educational benefits.   The site also has a new post on "Gadget Safety" which offers some basic advice for schools and teachers to help keep laptops, mobile phones, and encrypted USB drives safe.  The post also outlines the basics of online safety for students as well. Ed Week has a new case study on,"Flipped PD Initiative Boosts Teachers' Tech Skills."  The article discusses how a school district in Minnesota uses "flipped" learning to help boost the tech skills of their staff.  The model works by having the tech specialists meet with classroom teachers in small groups every month.  Rather than the tech coordinators dictating what the staff learns, the PD is "flipped" because the teachers bring ideas of what they want to do and the coordinators help find tech resources the teachers can use. We talked about Vine a few weeks back (the twitter-like service that allows users to upload and share 6-second video clips) and now, Teach Thought has a new article on "3 Ways to Use Vine in the Project-Based Learning Classroom."  The article has some great ideas as well as a few examples. And finally, Ed Reach has three new podcasts up from today! More Homework DOES NOT Equal More Rigor! Mobile Apps for Reluctant Readers Pinterest, Pinterest, Pinterest! (Special Ed Focus) The Lightning Round... Free Technology for Teachers shows us 5 Ways Students Can Create Audio Slideshows Education Technology covers the 5 Most Popular eBook Formats for Teachers iLearn tells us about 8 Alternatives to Google Reader Edudemic has a great list of 10 Open Source Tools for Busy Teachers Edudemic also has an infographic on How Technology is Used in Higher Ed And another from Edudemic on 27 Things to Do with Students Who Aren't Paying Attention And there you have it!  All Rounded Up and ready to roll!  Today we'll end with a new infographic on... Infographics!  How Meta!  This is 13 Reasons Your Brain Craves Infographics.  Hasta Mañana! Courtesy of: Edudemic

Happy Friday!  I hope everyone's weekend is off to a wonderful start!  Today, the Round Up begins at iLearn Technology with a review of "Send Anywhere - Share Files between Mobile and Non-mobile Devices."  The review covers the app, Send Anywhere, which is built for iOS and Android devices and used to easily send any file type to any location. Next up, Free Tech 4 Teachers discusses the "5 Benefits of Using Backchannels in Your Classroom."  By backchannels, they mean having students send information or questions to the teacher without directly asking in the middle of class.  It's a great post and covers reasons like "Shy studetns are given a place to ask questions and contribute to conversations."  The post also cover specific apps that can help with this idea. Educational Technology has a new guide on "20 Ways to Use Augemented Reality in Education."  The guide covers apps like Second Life and New Horizon, but also covers how to use AR on field trips and throughout the day.  Plus, if you're unfamiliar with this whole augmented reality business, they've reposted their "Teachers' Guide to Augmented Reality." Getting Smart has a new post entitled, "Saundz Like American English."  The article is a review of the app Saundz that "teaches ESL students American English pronunciation."  Students are given a personal virtual assistant who introduces users to phonemes and also has lessons over the 400 most problematic words.  The program runs on PCs, Macs and iPads, costs $9.99 and is a nice resource for helping ESL students become more comfortable with pronunciation. Getting Smart also has a write-up on "Summit Denali: Engaging Student-Centered High School Model."  The post covers the work being done at Summit Denali High School to prepare for its opening this August. The school is built around "learning playlists" which allow students to "work at their own pace on a personalized path driven by immediate, actionable feedback."  It's an interesting model to examine and I'm excited to see it in action this Fall.    Last up, Teach Thought discusses "6 Tips to Integrate Coding in the Classroom."  In my opinion, coding is an incredibly important, and incredibly overlooked tool for teaching creativity, problem solving, and critical thinking skills.  This is guide is a great place for teachers to start finding out more about coding and how they can use it in their classrooms. Teach Thought also has a video up on "Designing Learning Environment Around a Need to Know."  It's a great video about connected learning that I've embedded below for your viewing pleasure.  But, if you're just looking for a quick summary, head on over to the article. And that's it for the Round Up today!  Oh, in case you didn't hear, and you're one of the lucky educators heading to ISTE: Microsoft is Giving Away 10,000 Surface Tablets!  Go get signed up!  And we'll end the day with an interesting infographic entitled "Social Media & Social Life: How Teens View their Digital Lives."  Check it out, and we'll be back on Sunday with the weekend edition! Courtesy of: Edudemic