Welcome back!  I hate to pull you away from your curling and bobsledding, but we've got a new post!  If you didn't hear, last Wednesday was Digital Learning Day!  We had apodcast to celebrate, and over at Getting Smart they shared a great collection of tweets and ideas for getting involved.  Even though the day may have past, there are still a ton of excellent resources to bring digital learning to your classroom. There's also exciting news for all you Android/Google Play fans, which EdTech Magazine has more on, "K-12 Books Added to Google Play for Education, Along with New Devices."  This addition brings Google Play/Android up a level in the competition between iPads and other tablet devices (like the Learnpad).  They've also added more Chromebook and Android tablet choices to the mix as well. Here are a few of FT4T new resources from the week: Strategies for Getting Access to Sites that are Blocked NASA from Space to Everyday Life AirPano - 360 Degree Virtual Tours of the World 26 Videos About the Science of the Winter Olympics The Week in Review - The Olympics Edition Dr. Jackie Gerstein at User Generated Education continues her series of posts on 21st Century Skills with "The Brances of the Other 21st Century Skills."  In the post, she includes an excellent graphic showing how these skills are related and a simple summary of what each skill means/looks like.  It's a quick read, but definitely worth a look! Finding pictures that students can use without limitation (i.e. without copyright restrictions) can be a challenge, especially with many students relying on the ease of Google Images.  To that end, EduTech for Teachers has a new post on "Pics4Learning: Copyright-free Images for Education."  The site contains thousands of free pictures, all of which are approved for classroom use! Here are a few of the new resources from ET&ML: A Teacher's Guide to a Networked Classroom 6 Types of Creative Commons LIcenses for Students How to Share your iPad Screen to other Devices 4 Chrome Extensions for Note Taking 25 iPad Apps for Learning Spelling India's EdTech Review has an excellent new post which outlines "How to Connect Your Classroom to the World."  The article covers creating class blogs, video conferencing, using Twitter, creating Edmodo accounts, and utilizing Voicethread. They provide a short description on how each tool can be used to help your classroom extend outside of the traditional brick and mortar school building. One of the biggest challenges for teachers, in my opinion, is finding time for professional development and improvement. In that regard, Dr. Amy Burkman at Edudemic has a new article which asks"How Can Busy Teachers Learn Next-Gen Skills." Burkman shares some excellent ideas and resources which aim to help busy teachers develop technology skills. Good new for podcast fans, EdReach has begun hosting a new podcast from all-star educators Steve Dembo and Adam Bellow, "Untangling the Web."  I've embedded the episode below, but the podcast is all about sharing educational technology tools and making the web a little bit easier to understand.  This episode covers Twitter and how it can be used in the classroom. The Lightning Round... Getting Smart shares 5 Elements of Good Games that Can Make us Better Teachers TeachThought discusses 10 Strategies to Reach the 21st Century Reader Mind/Shift and T.H.E. Journal has 10 Tech Trends Students Say Are Changing Their Education Edutopia covers 6 BYOD Discussions Every School Should Have And that's it for the Roundup today, thanks for reading!  We'll end with a new infographic from Game Salad (which is an excellent, free game creator to try in computer class) and The Avatar Generation on the Future of Games in Education.  Have a great weekend! Courtesy of: Game Salad

Welcome back!  I hope everyone had a happy Valentine's / Love and Friendship Day yesterday!  Today we begin the Roundup with a new post from Dave Guymon at Getting Smart on "The 5 Steps of Effective Technology Integration."  Guymon does an excellent job simplifying and explaining the process that teachers and schools should go through when attempting to integrating new tech into the classroom. Lisa Nielsen at The Innovative Educator has an excellent post on students and social media entitled, "Another Reason Responsible Social Media Use Must be Taught to Students AND Adults."  Nielsen writes about a recent example of the positive influence social media can have, and ends by asking if educators and parents are confident that we have prepared our students to behave safely and responsibly online. Here are a few of the great new resources from FT4T:OpenEd Releases an App for Finding Ed ResourcesThe Science of Nervousness & Stage FrightHemingway Helps you Analyze Your WritingThe 2014 Google Science Fair is OpenThe Week in Review - Most Popular Posts Lately, there has been a lot of talk on Connected Learning, its importance in the classroom, and its relation to educational technology.  If you want a good introduction to the idea of Connected Learning, Katie Lepi's new post at Edudemic is a great place to start, "What is Connected Learning?" iLearn Technology has a new review of "EDpuzzle: Like Video in the Classroom 2.0."  EDpuzzle lets teachers edit, crop, add notes, or insert voice overs to videos.  Plus, you can embed your own questions within the videos as well.  It's a great tool (similar to Zaption and EduCanon) and worth checking out! Here is a sampling of ET&ML's posts from the week:10 Resources to Find Educational Apps for Class6 iPad Apps for Teaching Vocab to Young Learners10 iPad Apps to Foster a Kid's Creativity10 Web Tools for Creating Online Quizzes & Polls8 Essential Elements of Project Based Learning Up next, Katrina Schwartz at Mind/Shift asks, "If Robots Will Run the World, What Should Students Learn?"  It's an absolutely wonderful article that discusses the future of education, the importance of creativity and metacognition, and how educators can help in this process, especially by making education more of a collaborative process.  Definitely worth reading. For all you augmented reality fans, Drew Minock over at Two Guys and Some iPads has an excellent new review, "Zientia: Changing the Way We Learn with Augmented Reality."  Zientia is designed to be used with chemistry, geometry, and anatomy, and you can check out Minock's review for all the details, photos, and videos of the app in action. As always, EdReach has a great collection of podcasts:EdAdmin: Tech Integration Models & School LeadershipTeacher Tech Talk: You TechKnow How to MineCraft?Chalkstar to Rockstar: Student ActivismEducelerate: Emerging Trends in PDEduWin Weekly: So Much STEM! Finally, for anyone who is in a generous mood today (or just likes learning about new edtech that is in development) I wanted to share an exciting new Kickstarter from former teacher Daniel Fountenberry entitled "Books that Grow."  It's an excellent project that looks to create digital books that can adapt to students' learning levels.  You can check out the Kickstarter or home page for more information. The Lightning Round... Edudemic shares 6 Ways to Tell if You're Addicted to #EdTechEdudemic also covers 4 Ways Teachers can Encourage Online InteractionTeach Thought gives us 10 Tips for Teachers to Connect with Parents via Social Media And that's it for the Roundup this week!  Thanks for sharing and I hope you have a great weekend!-Mike

Welcome back!  And for those participating, I hope you're having a wonderful Carnaval weekend!  Down here in Barranquilla, the city has descended into the madness of celebration!  We start this week's roundup at Getting Smart with a new post entitled, "How Digital Learning is Boosting Achievement."  The article is an excellent collection of research, case studies, and information about digital learning around the states! Learning technologist, Dom Norrish has an excellent new post, "Considering the Best Way Forward for 1-to-1 Projects in 2014."  He begins by discussing the benefits of tablets and 1:1 devices in the classroom and then goes on to cover the challenges and downsides.  It's a great read and worth considering, especially if your district is heading that direction. Here are a few of the great new resources from FT4T:Google Video and Maps in CCSS Aligned LessonsMachines & Systems Explained with 3D AnimationsCreate Public Courses on OpenEdYou Can Build Your Own Search EngineThe Week and Month in Review Next up, Ricky Ribeiro at EdTech Magazine has a new post on "The BYOD Questions Your School Should be Asking."  If your school or district is preparing for a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) environment, Ribeiro lays out exactly what you should consider before moving forward.  The post is short and simple, and the questions cover the technology and IT side of BYOD implementation. Dr. Jackie Gerstein at User Generated Education has a new article on using "SAMR as a Framework for Moving Towards Education 3.0."  For those unfamiliar, here's a little background on the SAMR model.  In the post, Dr. Gerstein outlines the idea of Education 3.0, discusses how the SAMR can be used in our current system, and includes as wonderful infographic that ties everything together. Here are some of the top posts from ET&ML this week:Grow Professionally w/ Over 800 Free Online Courses5 Great Tools for Publishing Students Works40 iPad Apps for Reading Disabilities12 Ways to Leverage Google Drive in the ClassroomAdding Voice Comments to Google Docs Next up, Elizabeth Blair at Mind/Shift takes "A Look into Teenagers' Complicated Online Lives." The article examines the research of danah boyd (a senior researcher at Microsoft and the author of It's Complicated) which focuses on how students navigate social networks and the effect these networks have on their lives, relationships, and pysches.   Here are a few of EdReach's great podcasts from the week:Chalkstar to Rockstar: Taking Control of LearningFlipped Learning: Solving the Video PuzzleThe Two Guys Schow: Cool Cat Teacher Vicki DavisEduWin Weekly: Students Enter the Shark TankUntangling the Web: Twitter Attack! The Lightning Round... Edudemic shares 7 Things to Know Before Using Open Educational ResourcesEdudemic also covers the 6 Education Technology Trends You Should Know AboutTeach Thought discusses the 11 Underlying Assumptions of Digital Literacy Finally, FluidReview (a company that specializes in cloud-based scholarship management software) has released an inforgraphic on the topic of scholarships in America.  It explores where they come from, and who is getting them, and you can view it online here.  Thanks for reading everyone and we'll see you next week!-Mike

Welcome back!  And to everyone who was lucky enough to attend SXSWedu, you have my jealousy!  We begin this week with an article from Liana Heitin at Education Week, "Computer Science: Not Just an Elective Anymore."  Heitin discusses the growing push for computer science in the classroom, the support that the subject is beginning to receive across the states, and the obstacles that are still ahead. Next up, Katie Lepi at Edudemic has a new post which asks, "How Has Technology Changed Younger Students?"  The article includes an excellent infographic and discusses the growing prevalence of devices in schools as well as the potential value of utilizing these devices. Here are a few of the great resources from FT4T this week: QuizBean Opens a Quiz Bank for Sharing Quizzes A Crash Course on Hamlet Take a 3D Tour of the Universe in your Browser Ten Good Online Tools for Creating MInd Maps Most Popular Posts of the Week Next up, Kristen Hicks at Getting Smart discusses "3 Methods to Strenghten Students' Social Media Skills."  Hicks covers the importance of social media not only in the education setting but in the job market as well.  She outlines three excellent reasons why students (and teachers) should focus on social media skills and provides tons of excellent examples for support and further reading. Over at Edutopoia, Andrew Marcinek has an excellent new article entitled"Technology and Teaching: Finding a Balance."  In the post, Marcinek asks "How do educators find an ideal balance for learning about and eventually integrating technology?"  He goes on to outline 3 examples of balanced technology integration and discuss the educational opportunities that this type of integration offers. ET&ML has some excellent new resources from this week: 5 Web Tools to Create Academic Digital Portfolios Visual on How Teahcers & Students See Social Media 5 Guides on Social Media Use for Parents and Teachers Three Tools to Check for Plagiarism in Student work Dom Norrish is back with his second post on "Considering the Best Way Forward for 1-1 Projects in 2014."  Norrish opens by discussing the benefits of tablets and laptops in the classroom, and then introducing the idea of creating a "mixed-estate" 1:1 project.  Definitely a great read, especially for districts that are trying to create 1:1 environments. EdReach, as always, has an excellent collection of podcasts: The Two Guys Show: Authors' Panel Ladygeeks: Lisa Thumann & #NYNJGS14 Ed Admin: Moves that Invite Classroom Conversations 4 Habits of Teachers that Just Have "It" Google Educast: Google Edu at SXSWedu Finally, The Guardian, in tandem with Open University, has released an interactive infographic entitled "From Lecture Halls to Laptops: How do We Like to Learn?"  To create the visual, they surveyed 2000 adults in the UK and asked about their higher education experiences and attitudes towards classes and learning online.   The Lightning Round... Edudemic discusses 4 Popular Classroom Creation Tools (And Why They Matter) Getting Smart gives us5 Reasons a Software Subscription May Beat a Content Purchase Teach Thought covers 63 Things Every Student Should Know in a Digital World And that's it for the Roundup this week!  Thanks for tuning in!  And, for those interested in graduate school, we'll close with a new infographic from Grad School Hub on the numbers, figures, and facts on pretty much everything you could ever want to know!  See you next time! Courtesy of: Grad School Hub

Welcome back!  Today we begin with a wonderful post from Dr. Jackie Gerstein at User Generated Education.  The article, "Teaching Ethics in the Age of Technology" discusses how ethical decision making should be on the list of 21st century skills that we teach our students, and on the interaction between technology and ethics.  It's an excellent article and well worth the read! Next up, as part of Getting Smart's "Smart Student Blogging Contest" which invites students to share lessons and learning experiences, a 6th grader named Isabella offers her thoughts on "Tech, Tools and Robotics."  Isabella discusses her experiences in the robotics club and how the lessons she's learned there have helped shape her education.  And, if you haven't check out the "Smart Student" series, it's great. EdTech Magazine has a collection of articles which cover the details of the Consortium for School Networking Conference: How do Big Data & Digital Learning Improve Ed? More information on eRate 2.0 Big Data's Big Impact on K-12 Leveraging Classroom Tech Assessment Readiness Made Easy Over at Edudemic, Katie Lepi has a great new article entitled, "It's Time to Start Teaching About Sustainable Technology."  The post focuses around an infographic which examines how technology is effecting our environment and how our technology recycling habits might need to be changed.  Definitely worth taking a look! Here are a few of the new resources & reviews from FT4T: Word Cloud Tools to Help Students Analyze Writing 7 Student Response Systems for All Devices Building Flipped Lessons with Assessment Tools Speech to Text & Text to Speech in your Browser Most Popular Posts of the Week Next up, iLearn technology has a new review of "Google Story Builder: Create a Video Story Google Style."  Google Story Builder is a new app that lets you build a video story "that looks like it is being typed live between two collaborators in a Google doc."  It's a free, simple tool with a lot of fun classroom potential, so check out the review for more! Here are some of the great, new resources from ET&ML: Facts about How Tech is Transforming Education 2 Web Tools for Classroom Management Resources to Integrate Tech In Your Classroom 5 Tools to Help You Flip your Classroom Finally, edReach has a new collection of podcasts to peruse: EdAdmin: We Need School Leaders who can Code Flipped Learning: The Maker Movement EdAdmin: Practical Ideas for Promoting Creativity EdAdmin: On Formative Assessment EdCeptional: It's Just Tech! And that's all for the Roundup this week, thanks for reading!  We've also added some new reviews, so make sure to check those out as well!  And, to all my follow Jayhawks out there, I'll be mourning with you!  We'll close the Roundup today with a new infographic from Cisco (via Edudemic) on theImportance of Video in the Classroom.  See you next time! Courtesy of: Cisco

Welcome back to the Roundup!  Hopefully your team has made it to tonight's final four, or if not, that you're having a great weekend!  Today we begin at the EdTech Review with their brand new  "EdTech Implementation Guide - Part 1: Creating a Tech Integration Vision."  This is an excellent guide for districts, technology coordinators, or really anyone interested in integrating education technology. Speaking of edtech integration, Jennifer Zaino at EdTech Magazine has an excellent new article which discusses "Why Students and Staff Should Have a Voice in IT Decision-Making."  The post outlines why it is important for all educational stakeholders to have input into the technology purchasing and integration process.  And, from a personal perspective, I couldn't agree more with her advice. Here are a few of the great new resources from FT4T:Exploring History, Art, and World Wonders OnlineFree Google Apps that Bring Out the Best in an iPadVideo Guide to Using the Google Drive iPad AppLittle Bird Tales for Digital Storytelling in ElementaryThe Most Popular Posts of the Week Next up, Mary Jo Madda at EdSurge has a great new piece entitled, "No Silver Bullets: Hybrid High Learns a Tough Edtech Lesson."  The post tells the story of "how a school put teachers in charge of edtech and turned around a failing program."  It's a wonderful article about the challenges, successes, and possibilities for integrating technology and creating hybrid learning environments. Next let's head over to Mind/Shift for a new post by Shawn McCusker which asks, "How Are Students' Roles Changing in the New Economy of Information?"  In the article, McCusker discusses the skills students must possess to successfully navigate the enormous amount of information they are continually presented with.  It's an excellent and thought-provoking read, and definitely worth checking out. Here are a few of the new resources from ET&ML this week:Student Guide to Evaluating Web Content4 Free Educational iPad AppsEd Twitter Chats Teachers Should Know AboutEducational Web Resources for Teachers Next, Benjamin Herold at Education Week has a new article discussing how "Khan Academy, Open Ed. Providers Evolve with Common Core."  For anyone in one of the many, many states adopting the CCSS, and for those interested in blended or flipped learning, this will definitely come as great news.  The online content providers will be (and have already been) aligning their curriculum with the Common Core. Dawn Casey-Rowe at Edudemic has a great new post to help teachers integrate new tech on the cheap, "5 Ways To Do EdTech on a Shoestring Budget."  In the post, Casey-Rowe outlines five easy steps to bring technology into the classroom without spending boatloads of cash.  For anyone with limited resources, or just looking to save, check it out! Finally, here are some of the new podcasts from EdReach:EdGamer: Oculus FaceRiftTwo Guys Show: Aurasma's Head of OperationsaRTs Roundtable: Low Tech to High TechEdAdmin: Learning to Write Great SentencesiDig Video: Game of Thrones with Film Students And that's all for the Roundup this week!  I'll be out of town next week because... we finally made it to spring break!  Woo!  Have a great weekend and the Roundup will return in 2 weeks!  In the meantime, check out some of our new reviews and podcasts!  And if you had a chance to try out Been, and you're liking it, make sure to vote for them in the DEN March-Madness EdTech Championship! Thanks for reading!  -Mike

Welcome back!  After a week off for spring break, it's good to be back blogging! This week's Roundup begins at Edudemic with a new post from Katie Lepi entitled "How is Technology Affecting Kids?"  The post includes an excellent infographic and covers the latest statistics on students and technology use.  Next up, Katrina Schwartz at Mind/Shift asks "Are Existing Tech Tools Effective for Teachers and Students?"  The article centers around a new report released by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which surveyed 3,100 teachers and 1,250 students about effective digital instruction.  It's an excellent read (as is the entire report) for classroom teachers and administrators alike. Here are a few of the great resources from FT4T this week:Online 3D Models of MoleculesView Geolocated Historical ImageryTyping Speed Monitor Shows Typing Speed on WebSilk Adds Support for Drag and Drop EditingThe Most Popular Posts of the Week Tracy Clark at Getting Smart has some great ideas for digital spring cleaning in her new series "10 Spring Cleaning To Dos for Your Digital Adobe."  Clark walks us through updating passwords, automating digital tasks, cleaning out inboxes, and a whole lot more.  It's easy to forget the importance of keeping our digital lives organized and up to date, and Clark's post is a great and helpful reminder. Over at EdTech Magazine, D. Frank Smith has on new post on "Captivating Students with Perplexing Problems."  The article discusses a recent talk that math teacher Dan Meyer gave at the annual CUE (Computer-Using Educators) conference in March.  Meyer offers some excellent advice on engaging and captivating students, and how to use technology to help in that process. Here are some of the new resources from ET&ML:6 Apps for Better Interaction with Your Students5 Golden Rules for Kids' Online SafetyGreat Research Tools for Teachers & StudentsTools to Protect and Raise Digital Learners If you're not familiar with the recent movement to "flip" teacher professional development, and put more power in the hands of teachers as to what they focus on, it's pretty exciting.  On that note, TeachThought has a great new post which offers "8 Steps to Flipped Teacher Professional Development."  A few of the great podcasts from EdReach this week:The Myth of Digital Citizenship & Why We Need ItMacReach: MacReach Joins the LadyGeeksGoogle Educast: Google TakeoutTwo Guys Show: Integrating Augmented Reality in EdEdAdmin: Innovation, Google X, and Failing Finally, if you're feeling in supportive spirits today, we'll end with a new edtech kickstarter project called Crack the Books.  The project aims to offer digital textbooks at a variety of reading levels, so that students can all learn the same content, but at a reading level that is appropriate for them.  There is about 65 hours left on the project, so go check it out! That's it for the Roundup today!  Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your weekend!-Mike

Welcome back to the Roundup!  First, I'd like to wish all the moms out there (mine especially!) a very happy mother's day! Second, let's start this week's Roundup with Michele Molnar at Education Week who has a new report on "Google's 'Classroom' Learning Management System."  The application will allow teachers to easily collect assignments, provide feedback, make announcements, and more! Check it out! Jordan Shapiro at Mind/Shift has a new article entitled, "Math, Science, History: Games Break Boundaries Between Subjects."  In this post (which is part 3 of  Mind/Shift's Guide to Games & Learning) Shapiro discusses how teachers can use game-based lessons to embrace holistic learning and bring various content areas together, helping students to see beyond traditional subject-area boundaries.   Here are a few of the great resources from FT4T this week: Sugar and the Human Brain Free Webinars About Using Comics in Class 7 Tools for Creating Short Video Stories Develop & Test Rocket Designs on OpenRocket The Most Popular Posts of the Week Next up, Katie Lepi at Edudemic has an excellent infographic and analysis on "Keeping Students Safe Online." Lepi opens with some statistics (many of which are troubling) about students' behavior online.  She then goes on to offer strategies and tips for helping keep kids safe, and shares a great infographic as well. Here are a few new resources from this week on ET&ML 25 Ed Web Tools to Boost your Teaching 7 Tools for Assessment in a 1:1 Classroom Fundamental Teacher Apps The Four Pillars of Flipped Learning If you're a Twitter fan like myself, you've probably seen an occasional (or often) twitter Q&A discussion taking place. Maybe you've even wondered how you could launch your own Q&A session about a topic that you are interested in.  If that's the case, check out Lisa Nielsen's excellent new post on "How to Host a Q&A Twitter Chat." Finally, here a few of EdReach's new podcasts! Will Unstructured Play Turn Kids into LOtF? Google Educast: The Classroom w/ Eric Curts The Two Guys Show: Class Dojo Flipped Learning: Star Wars in the Classroom Teach Your Students to Make Documentaries The Lightning Round... Dom Norrish offers his predictions on How Will the Classroom of 2017 Look? Edudemic shares a new infographic on Slowing Down the Distracted Generation EdTech Review gives us 5 New Tech Tools that Teachers Must Explore Getting Smart covers the 12 Features of the Next-Gen Platform Finally, Edutopia discusses Tools for Professional Learning: Curate, Share, Connect And that does it for this week!  Again, a very happy mother's day to all you moms out there and thanks for reading!  We'll end today with a new infographic on how technology in education has changed over the past few years! Courtesy of: Cheapest Colleges

Well, hello!  As of today, the Roundup will be going on a brief hiatus until the beginning of August.  I'm currently in the process of moving back to the states from living abroad for the past 4 years, and beginning a new graduate program.  So, things are a little crazy at the moment!  There will be occasional reviews and editorials posted over the summer, but as for the Weekly Roundup portion of the site, it'll be gone for the time.  But again, the site will be back in action come August, with some new changes and updates as well!  As always, thanks for reading, and I hope everyone has an amazing summer!-Mike

Good news for fans of the Roundup and education technology in general... We'll be back in just a few short weeks!  Early August to be exact(ish).  It's been nice having some time off, but I'm almost ready to get back to the blogmobile.  So, see you soon, and in the meantime, check out the new review of Wildlife Acoustic's Echo Touch Meter - You can use it to find your neighborhood bats!

Hello and welcome to the Roundup!  After taking two months off to move back to the states from Colombia, and then to move again to Bloomington, I'm ready to get the site running again!  For those who are curious, I'll be starting a Ph.D. program at IU in instructional technology.  As for the site, not much will change, except I'm going to start adding a monthly "Research Roundup" for those interested in the current research and studies that are underway in the field. Otherwise, it's good to be back and thanks for reading!  Let's begin! Today we'll start at EdTech magazine with an article by Matt Renwick, entitled "How Teachers Can Become Fluent in Classroom Technology."  With a new school year beginning, it's the perfect time to give that new technology tool a try!  In the post, Renwick talks about the benefit of starting small and trying to make a personal connection with the technology you're using in the classroom. Jordan Shapiro at Mind/Shift has a new post which shares "How to Choose a Learning Game."  So maybe you've decided you would like to begin integrating learning games in your classroom, but you're not sure how to pick the right one.  Shapiro asks several guiding questions to help teachers select and implement a learning game that will be beneficial for students. A few of the new posts from the excellent Free Tech for Teachers:Video Guides to Sending Free Texts Through Remind (101)ViewPure for Distraction-Free YouTube WatchingClassDojo in the High School ClassroomOtus - A Great Online Learning EnvironmentThe Most Popular Posts of the Week If you're not familiar with Google Hangouts, it's a free video conferencing tool that be used to connect with others.  It offers great classroom potential, and to that end, Jennifer Carey at Edudemic has a new post which outlines "4 Ways to Enhance Your Class with Google Hangouts." Over at Getting Smart, Jena Draper has a new article which asks "Is the Sharing Economy Education's Future?"  Draper opens by discussing the increasing momentum of the sharing economy and goes on to discuss how this relates to education.  Her main argument is that, "the sharing economy, when applied to education, has the potential to accelerate a highly advanced teaching and learning model." Sean Cavanagh at Education Week has an interesting new article which discusses how "Ed-Tech Vendors See Hurdles in the K-12 Marketplace."  The post discusses the intricate nature of the K-12 environment and how it can be a slow and difficult process to get Ed-Tech tools out of the hands of creators and into the hands of students and teachers. Here are a few of the new podcasts from the EdReach networkFlipped Learning: Digital Responsibility w/ Ken SheltonGoogle Educast: Classroom ValidationFlipped Learning: Talking STEM w/ Chris CraftEdAdmin: New Visual Literacies Finally, at ElectricBrains the site shares an excellent post on "The Top Resources for Teaching Digital Responsibility."  They have a great collection of sites to check out as well as a short post on the huge importance of digital responsibility in the classroom.  If you're using technology at all in the classroom, this is a great post to start thinking about digital responsibility and how to teach it. And that's all for today!  Thanks again for stopping by and it's good to be back.  Also, if you're a teacher who uses Edmodo (a great learning management system), you might want to check out this excellent collection of guides and resources from Educational Tech & Mobile Learning.  In closing, here's an interview with Paul Andersen (of the excellent Bozeman Science) about creating online resources for students. Have a great weekend and see you next time!

Welcome back!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day weekend and a good start to the school year!  This week we'll begin at Getting Smart with a new post from Jim Schultz on "Three Ways Blended Learning Makes Teachers More Efficient."  Schultz opens with a basic definition of blended learning (in case you're unfamiliar) and then jumps into his reasons on why it makes for more effective classes. Next up, Nicole Blake Johnson at EdTech Magazine has a new post which outlines the Internet Keep Safe Coalition's"New Digital Literacy Program to Educate K-12 Students on Internet Safety." The post also discusses how the curriculum offers free lessons that align with Common Core Standards. If you're a computer literacy teacher, or looking for a good way to inform students about internet safety, this is a good place to start. A few of the great new resources from Free Tech for Teachers: Storyboard Creation for Classroom Cartoons Plickers 2.0 is Coming Soon! (Great tool) Project Based Assignments & Feedback w/ WeLearnedIt History fun with Fake Facebook and Fake SMS The Most Popular Posts of the Week Let's take it back to blended learning for a moment with a solid post from Reannah Sartoris at Edudemic. Sartoris' new post, "Top 5 Tips for a Blended Learning Classroom" offers some simple, easy-to-follow tips for teachers just beginning in a blended environment. Over at Inside Higher Ed, the team has just released a new 30-page booklet entitled "Online Education: More than MOOCs."  For those not familiar, a MOOC is a Massive Open Online Course, and has become one of the standards for online education.  If you're interested in online education, either K-12 or higher-ed, I definitely recommend reading thefree book. Here are a few of the new podcasts from the EdReach network Flipped Learning: Teacher Resources w/ Richard Byrne EdGamer: The Use of Gaming Data Google Educast: RISE Above It TheatreCast: Another Opening, Another School Year And finally, for those of us who love virtual reality, and the potential it has for the K-12 learning environment, Benjamin Herold at Education Week has an excellent new article entitled, "Oculus Rift Fueling New Vision for Virtual Reality in K-12." If you haven't heard of the Oculus Rift, it's pretty awesome, and offers some exciting possibilities for K-12 The Lightning Round... Teach Amazing gives us 5 Ways to Use Mind Mapping Apps in the Classroom Edudemic shares the Top Gamification Tools Worth Trying Educational Tech & Mobile Learning offers 2 Useful Videos on Flipped Learning Emerging Ed Tech covers 10 of the Most Engaging Uses of Instructional Technology The Ed Tech Review discusses 5 Ways for Teachers to Use Tumblr in their Classroom Finally, THE Journal provides 15 Apps Every Principal Should Have That's it for this week!  Thanks for stopping by and we'll have some new reviews up soon for you as well.  Enjoy the rest of the weekend and we'll close with a new interactive infographic from Open Colleges on the Uses of Google Glass in Education.  See you next time! How Google Glass might be used in Education - An infographic by the team at Open Colleges

Welcome back to the Roundup!  We've got a short one this week, so let's jump right in!  Up first, Holly Korbey at Mind/Shift explores an issue that's been on my own mind a lot lately,"Can Students 'Go Deep' With Digital  Reading?"  In the post, Korbey does an excellent job discussing the issue, incorporating recent research, and addressing both the advantages and disadvantages of digital reading. Up next, John Hardison at Getting Smart has prepared an absolutely awesome collection collection of tools and resources in "A Gold Mine of #EdTech Resources: Part II." Hardison covers Website Creation, Learning Management Systems, Apps, Blogging Platforms, and so much more.  There are tons of great tools here that are absolutely worth checking out.  And, if you're interested in part I of the series, you can find it here. And, of course, some great new resources from FT4T: MyStorybook - A Platform for Creating Picture Books Socratic Smackdown - A Game for Discussions Piano Maestro - Learn to Read Sheet Music The Most Popular Posts of the Week Finally (I told you it was a short one!) we head over to the Ed Tech Review for a nice collection of resources from Prasanna Bharti entitled, "Flip Your Classroom with These Great Online Tools." Bharti covers EdPuzzle, eduCanon, Blubbr, VideoNotes, and Teachem, all of which are good tools and worth exploring. The Lightning Round... EdTech Magazine gives us 5 Strategies to Reach At-Risk Students with Technology Edudemic covers 10 Ways to Use Instagram in Your Classroom Educational Tech & Mobile Learning discusses 30+ Features of the 21st Century Classroom Moving at the Speed of Creativity shares 70 iPad Apps for Elementary STEM Finally, T|H|E Journal covers6 Must-Have Apps for Tech Leaders And that does it for this week!  But before I go, I want to recommend checking out a new app that was designed by a student fresh out of high school!  It's calledSharedAgenda and it's basically a way for students and teachers to make the school agenda a social experience.  It's a great app and it's free, so check it out!  Thanks for reading and we'll end with a new infographic from Presence Learning which looks at some of the benefits of online therapy.  See you next time! Courtesy of: Presence Learning

With options for classroom technology growing every day, it has become an increasingly difficult challenge to find the best resource for your students’ learning needs.  Do you go with tablets? What about a "bring your own device" (BYOD) policy? Or maybe a laptop cart to share between classrooms?  While all these different resources have their advantages and disadvantages, one relative new-comer to the field is Google’s Chromebook, and it offers some serious potential at an incredibly reasonable price.  [Continue Reading]

And, we're back!  My apologies for the delay of Weekly Roundups lately! It's been a challenge balancing a new job with a new doctorate program and running the website, but I've got it sorted out now and the Roundups should be back to their typical weekend postings!  Hopefully.  To start with, remember that crazy robot Watson who beat everyone at Jeopardy? Well, s/he's back and ready to start teaching teachers! Read more over at EdTech Magazine! Next up, the staff at Edudemic has a nice"Guide to Creating Tech-Friendly Classroom Management Strategies."  With more and more technology creeping into today's classrooms, management of behavior is an incredibly important issue. Find out what edudemic suggests in their four-part guide. As always, Free Technology for Teachers has an excellent collection of new resources for class.  Here are a few: Three Online Tools for Building Review Games Poll Your Students with Google+ Polls The Best of the Web! Fall 2014 Edition Remind Launches Chrome App! Over at Getting Smart you'll be able to find a summary of the new report from the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL).  The article, entitled "iNACOL Report: Online Learning Can Close The Opportunity Gap," discusses how online learning allows for greater learning opportunities in schools and districts where particular courses and electives are unavailable.   For those of you who are fans of the Maker Movement like myself, Dr. Jackie Gerstein at User Generated Education has an excellent post on "The Mindset of the Maker Educator."  The article includes several graphics which outline a framework for maker education in the classroom and she also includes a presentation (below) on Maker Education. The Mindset of the Maker Educator from Jackie Gerstein Up next, Katrina Schwartz at Mind/Shift has a great post on "How Virtual Reality Meets Real Life Learning with Mobile Games."  Schwartz discusses how "situated games" which require students to interact with the real world, can be both motivating and educational.  It's an excellent article with tons of examples and definitely worth reading. Over at Mighty Skins (yes, the iphone/ipad/computer case makers), it turns out they have some great EdTech  blogs as well.  In their new post, "The Dawn of the Digital Classroom" the team discusses the emergence of digital learning.  But, more importantly, they share an excellent infographic on the prevelence of digital learning in education today. At Magoosh, Peter Poer has a new post which discusses how "Online Learning Can Work for Everyone."  Throughout the post, Poer outlines the benefits of blended learning, and the challenges to overcome when implementing blended learning in the classroom.  He concludes by discussing how students and teachers can overcome their fears of online learning. Finally, we've got a very special offer from Bettermarks for readers of the Roundup!  Anyone interested in a free access account just needs to click here and apply.  But wait, what is Bettermarks?  Bettermarks is an online learning service that offers adaptive math books, aligned with the common core standards, which adjust to your student's learning needs.  So definitely check them out and give it a free try! That's it for the Roundup this week!  Thanks for reading, and again, my apologies for the recent delay!  I hope everyone has an excellent weekend and I'll see you next time!

Welcome back to the Roundup!  I hope everyone is having a good weekend!  Today we'll begin over at ideas.ted.com (thanks to Mind/Shift for also sharing this) with an excellent post entitled,"There's No App for Good Teaching" by Laura Moorhead.  The post outlines "8 ways to think about tech in ways that actually improve the classroom" and it is a wonderful and insightful read. Next, John Hardison at Getting Smart has an excellent post on Project-Based learning, "Diving Into Project-Based Learning? Head These 7 Warnings."  He likens the experience of implementing PBL to skydiving, and includes lots of great resources, ideas, guides, video-cases, and suggestions for getting start with or improving your PBL practices.   If you've been using iPads in your classroom, you may have found yourself completely overwhelmed by the availability of resources and apps.  Educational Tech & Mobile Learning has organized Apple's most useful links on using iPads in the classroom to help you find some great new resources and ideas that you can put into practice. If you're thinking of going completely paperless in the classroom, or at least taking steps in that direction, you might be interested in Edudemic's new post, "The Ultimate Guide to the Paperless Classroom."  They provide an awesome list of resources, suggestions, websites, and examples to help you get started. As always, Free Tech for Teachers shares some wonderful new classroom resources: PicMonkey + Thinglink = Interactive Collages Handy Sheet of Google Search Modifiers PhotoMath Could Change Teaching Math The Most Popular Posts of the Week Finally, EdTech Magazine has a new article on Google's new classroom management application, "Changes to Google Classroom Give Teachers More Control."  The article outlines the changes that have been made to the app, based on teacher feedback.  If you haven't checked out the app yet, you can explore it here And that's it for the Roundup this week!  Thanks for reading, and if you missed the recent Bammy Awards for educators, you can find out more about who won here on their blog, or by checking out their video collection.   For now, we'll end with an enjoyable infographic fromTutoring Expert on "How The Greatest Minds in Mathematics Changed the World."  Have a great weekend! Courtesy of: Tutoring Expert

I'm currently working on a short publication and I could use the help of any K-12 teachers who use e-portfolios in their classroom.  Time commitment would be minimal, and you would be listed as one of the authors as well!  I would send you some questions, you would answer them, or write up a few paragraphs about how you're using the portfolios, and that's it!I'm hoping to find teachers outside of English and Computer Science, and teachers who are using tools other than Wix or Google Classroom, since I've already got those covered.  If you're interested, send me an email and I can tell you more about the project!In the meantime, have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!  And again, my apologies that the Roundup has been slower this semester, I've been focusing more on the reviews, so be sure to check those out, we've got a lot of new ones up!-Mike

I hope everyone is having a great week!For those interested, my research team and I here at Indiana University are researching K-12 teacher global education practices. More specifically, we are interested in learning about how primary and secondary teachers are using technology in their instruction to address global and multicultural education. Additionally, we want to learn more about their global education experiences and how such experiences have shaped their teaching practices. Professional development related to global educational practices with technology is of particular interest.We have designed a survey geared for those involved in global education practices that takes approximately 15 minutes to complete (Here is the survey link).  If you have the time and the inclination, I'd really appreciate your support in getting as many teachers to take this survey as possible!Thanks so much for any help you might lend. Please let me know if you have any questions.Have a wonderful weekend!Mike

3rd Quote is a new service that aims to improve the process of technology purchasing in the K-12 setting.  Designed for administrators and technology coordinators, 3rd Quote can be used to find, research, buy, and review educational technology of all types.  It’s an excellent service and it’s completely free to educational institutions. Read more on our reviews page.

Propagate is a new service that allows teachers to embed vocabulary practice inside any digital text.  Right now the application is in Beta and is free for any teachers who are interested in trying it out.  If you’re using digital text in your class, regardless of the subject area, Propagate is an excellent way to help students acquire and practice new vocab.  Read more on our reviews page.

Remind is a service that many of you might already be familiar with.  They offer a free, safe method for teachers to easily text students and parents.  Remind has been around for a while, but they've just recently announced their new chat feature, which will allow for two-way communication between teachers, students, and parents. Read more on our Reviews Page.

Defined STEM is an excellent service that offers an enormous collection of pre-created problem and project-based learning resources for all core subjects in K-12.  Each resource is built around a specific career to help increase relevancy, and comes with all the resources, standards, materials, and so on that you could possibly need.  Read all about the service on our reviews page.

Raz-Kids is a service that is operated under the Learning  A-Z umbrella.  For those unfamiliar, Learning A-Z offers an enormous number of K-6 learning resources to help save teachers time and support student achievement. Raz-Kids in particular, offers a collection of e-books that students can read and engage with online.  You can read more about the service on our reviews page.

If you're looking for an interesting and thought-provoking read from the EdTech Leadership position, may I recommend the new post from Mike Daugherty over at More Than a Tech. The piece discusses how a push for online assessments may actually act as a catalyst for increasing and improving technology infrastructure in K-12 settings. Definitely worth reading, as is the rest of Mike's site!