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Tweet Last week’s MakerFaire in San Mateo was an amazing experience. The air was alive with creativity, drones, and giant ribbons of flame.  Moms, Dads, kids, business people, artists all gathered to celebrate our ability to change the world through invention.  At the heart of so many great  things at MakerFaire are Microcontrollers. If I want to bring this learning to my kids, I have to figure out how to make learning with microcontrollers accessible for them. A microcontroller is a small computer, many are the size of a phone or smaller. These computers can run programs, and read input from meters attached to them, as well as control output to motors, lights, and servos. The most popular brands are Arduino and Raspberry Pi, but there are countless small companies out there designing these for so many applications. The ability to produce these microcontrollers cheaply has created an explosion of innovation and home prototyping. We might look back on this time as the golden age of hobbies, as we can invent almost anything imaginable. Walking around the MakerFaire in San Mateo this weekend, I saw microcontrollers flying through the air in drones, rolling around the floor in giant R2-D2’s, even powering a four foot tall LED grid, programmed with the biggest game of snake I have ever seen. What is clear from the thousands of people at the fairgrounds is that innovation and DIY is here, and we as a culture value and reward it. The Makers were a good mix of hackers and artists, and a couple of crafters. People who attend MakerFaire do it to lift their misperceptions of the possible, to become inspired. So many of these amazing inventions, from the automatic drink mixer, to a head to head Space Invaders game, had a microcontroller at the heart. So we have a technology that is really versatile, but it’s a bit inaccessible. Honestly, designing with a microcontroller isn’t something I would jump into cold and unassisted. In fact, I have been looking at these tools from a distance for a while, trying to see how this could be useful in a classroom. Thankfully, there are many people asking that same question, and frankly I think they might know a great deal more about the microcontrollers than I do. Since, my focus is K-5 I have been tossing Arduino resources at my 6-8 colleagues hoping they will get a great idea and pull me along so we can learn together, but that has not completely happened yet. One of our challenges is that we are an iPad based school and only recently has it become easy to interact with an Arduino via Bluetooth from a tablet. I have been looking for tools and resources to bring this to my younger students. We have LEGO NXT on campus, I think 12 full kits, and this does give me access to many of the same functions and concepts that apply to a microcontroller. The Lego kits are designed to support prototyping, so the functions and goals are a good match, which is why the LEGO Mindstorms products have dominated the market for years. In class I am challenged to make good use of these kits because of the limited time I have. With only 45 minutes per class per week, the Mindstorms kits get relegated to after school clubs(where they will be built into warriors, battled, disassembled, and rebuilt like a knight doomed to eternal torment). Learn why Robotics is AWESOME for your students! by @SamPatueClick To Tweet I am looking at bringing something like Hummingbird Robots into class. With these kits the idea is to build an interactive robot with cardboard and servos. The build is much quicker as the students cut out the shapes they need and program them to move. I am thinking I will introduce this as a way to animate a diorama project they already do. I haven’t spent much time with them, but I know my 4thgraders could do the block-based coding because we learn Scratch and Tynker in 3rd grade. Figuring out where a piece like this could fit into scope is one thing, but supporting it in sequence is quite another. The question now is this "What am I doing to make sure 4thgrade is ready to program with microcontrollers?" If my 3rdgrade used the Thymio robots, I could have them do an innovation project that used the microcontroller-based robot as a foundation. Thymio is about the size and shape of a double decker peanut butter and jelly sandwich. With 20 built in sensors and 2 independently programmable driving wheels many of the inputs and outputs students will later use are available in a package the is durable and deploys easily. The robot has LEGO compatible build points on the body and the wheels so it is easy for students to build out from this base. Students can increase functionality by adding LittleBits components to their design, often just using tape. I know that if I get my students microcontroller ready by middle school, the tech team there can do some amazing things. Last year they soldered LED art pieces; I think next year they might be animated, or responsive to light. When we support kids in building, designing and making we ask them to think differently. We give them the chance to change the world by putting something new in it. How are you using innovation or, specifically, microcontrollers to convert imagination into learning? Share below and let’s keep the conversation growing.

Tweet Click and wait, is that on the standards?  There is something going on with the router, or the wireless access point.  It is bad.  This is the opposite of the work I love to post.  This is me prepping for an hour before a forty minute class because the iPads are taking a minute and a half each to set up.  All I am doing is opening a browser, navigating to a page, and logging them into a profile. If the students were older I could ask them to log in, but with my 3rd grade class this would mean losing 10 minutes of the all too short 45 minute class. There isn’t much to do about the slowness of the internet.  The router will be replaced in the coming weeks, and if past performance is any indication, the problem will migrate to a new piece of equipment.  This is the daily struggle of interdependent factors that make the position of tech integration specialist necessary.  Someone has to be available to do all of the extra prep and recovery from all of these great technology related assignments. If I want the 3rd grade to use the website Tynker.com, I need to set up accounts several days before class and on the morning of class I need to get each iPad signed in to the right account.  Following the class I have to work with the teacher to make a selection of the work visible on their public blog.  This is not an extraordinary amount of work to do for one tech rich lesson.  Accounted out, it might be as much as 10 minutes per student overall, start to finish.  (10 min x 48 students = 480min= 8 hours). Learn how to integrate a Tech Coach in your school today! By @SamPatueClick To Tweet As a trained English teacher I am very good at noticing how many minutes per student a lesson requires in prep and recovery/ response.  Honestly it is a metric that sometimes kills assignments.  Often it is not the class time that is lacking, but the out-of-class prep time. This prep and recovery time is often invisible to anyone not in the classroom daily, and it is the very reason we need tech integration specialists and STEM coaches.  Teachers need a partner that can not only inspire them to try new modes of learning, but a pedagogical partner to take on part of the load. The "prep metrics" even encourages specialists to teach a limited number of tools and interfaces over the course of the year as each one requires different enrollments and support.  When I am evaluating tools I want ones that work in a 3 year age range, so I can build lessons over time from one year to the next. Great teaching requires budgeting time like this and when something takes longer than we thought it would, we have to re-budget time.  This is when I start feeling stress, it is 8 in the morning and I might not have enough time to get the tech ready before the kids walk in the door for tech class. This makes me think about all the teachers out there doing tech integration alone, the teachers making bold changes to their instruction without a support network of specialists in their school.  What it comes down to is that if schools want teachers to innovate, they have to provide the support needed to make that happen.  More often than not this support isn’t training, it is time.

Tweet Educational Podcasting Today is a weekly podcast that celebrates podcasters and podcasting. It’s mission is to help educators learn how to create podcasts and amazing WordPress websites for their podcasts.  For more information, please visit www.EducationalPodcasting.today. Show Topics What makes your podcast awesome? In this episode, we talk to the guys from Buzzsprout.com to learn all about podcast hosting as well as tips and tricks to creating an awesome podcast. About Our Guest From uploading your audio to tracking how a show is growing, Buzzsprout makes it simple. Some of the ways Buzzsprout does this are listed below, but the best way to see if it’s a good fit is to see it in action.   Links of Interest Buzzsprout (http://www.Buzzsprout.com) Podcasting 101 (http://www.buzzsprout.com/how-to-make-a-podcast) Mobile Friendly Podcasting (http://www.buzzsprout.com/blog/2015/01/15/mobile-learning/) Podcasting News The TeacherCast Educational Broadcasting Network is proud to once again be broadcasting LIVE from the ISTE Conference.  This year, we will be broadcasting LIVE from Bloggers Cafe on Monday and Wednesday June 29 and July1.  On Tuesday, we will be doing a special live broadcast of my panel discussion featuring Jenny Grabec, Jaime Casap, Sam Patterson, and Wokka Patue in the morning.  Check out our full calendar of guests over on TeacherCast.tv Podcasting Conferences in the News Two Great Podcasting Conferences just announced: Podcast Mid-Atlantic Podcast Mid-Atlantic | September 12, 2015 in Westville New Jersey ISTE 2015 Birds of a Feather Event If you are going to be at ISTE this year I welcome you to check out my Birds of a Feather session on Monday from 5:30-6:45.  We are just in the beginning stages of planning this event but I have some pretty awesome support from the podcasting community and we are working on getting some pretty awesome sponsors.  If you are interested in attending as a podcaster, or as an educator who listens to educational podcasts, please feel free to contact me @TeacherCast or by email and I’d be happy to share more information.  I hope to have many more details on this event in the weeks to come. Share the Love If you enjoyed the show, please rate our show on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Please join the TechEducator Podcast LIVE every Sunday night at 7:00 P.M. EST on http://www.TeacherCast.tv   Learn How To Launch Your Very Own Podcast! Are you interested in learning how to podcast? Do you want to share podcasting with your students or perhaps create a podcast from your own home?  Jeff is available for one-on-one consulting to help you learn how to bring your podcasting ideas to life. Email: info@teachercast.net Voice Mail: http://www.TeacherCast.net/voicemail Check out our Educators Guide to Podcasting today! | Video | Slideshare Presentation Please contact TeacherCast with any Questions or to become a guest on the show Host: Jeff Bradbury @TeacherCast Email: info@teachercast.net Voice Mail: http://www.TeacherCast.net/voicemail YouTube: http://www.TeacherCast.net/YouTube iTunes: http://www.TeacherCast.net/iTunes View LIVE Professional Development from TeacherCast Watch LIVE: http://www.TeacherCast.tv | Broadcasting Schedule (http://www.teachercast.net/showcal) TeacherCast Broadcasting Community: http://www.TeacherCast.net/broadcastingcommunity Invite TeacherCast to Speak or Broadcast at your conference Jeff Bradbury (@TeacherCast) is available as a Keynote Speaker, Presenter, or to Broadcast your conference LIVE!   Check out more TeacherCast Educational Broadcasting Network Shows TeacherCast Podcast (http://www.teachercast.net/education/teachercast-broadcasting/) TeacherCast App Spotlight (http://www.teachercast.net/education/teachercast-broadcasting/the-teachercast-app-spotlight/) Educational Podcasting Today (http://www.educationalpodcasting.today) The TechEducator Podcast (http://www.techeducatorpodcast.com)

Tweet Jeff sits down with Parviz Parvizi to discuss the new podcasting app Clammr.  Simply put, Clammr is one of the BEST ways to reach your audience today! Check them out at Clammr.com About Clammr Clammr brings social engagement and discovery to audio. Users are calling our app Audio Instagram and Audio Twitter.  Listeners get personalized streams of Entertainment & News in 18-second bites that they can launch automatically into full-length music, podcasts, and news. Audio content creators love Clammr as a way to make their content more discoverable and viral.  Blogs and video producers love us for reaching audiences when they can’t look at screens. Links of interest Web: http://www.Clammr.com Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/clammrapp Web Publishing: http://publisher.clammr.com Helpful Videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC5x7Z_UUMu-Ev_k9ftnP1g About our Guest Parviz is co-founder of Clammr, a mobile app and platform making audio more social and viral. Users are calling Clammr, which features snack-sized audio clips of 18 seconds or less, the "Instagram of Audio." Previously, Parviz worked at McKinsey & Company, Goldman Sachs, the FCC, and O’Melveny & Myers. He has advised top 5 global media companies and mobile carriers on strategy and growth. He was a founder of McKinsey’s iConsumer research initiative on digital consumer behavior, authoring 3 of the Firm’s 10 most-downloaded media sector knowledge documents. Parviz holds a JD from Yale Law School and AB from Cornell. Simply put, Clammr is one of the BEST ways to reach your audience today!Click To Tweet Share the Love If you enjoyed the show, please rate us on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Please join the TechEducator Podcast LIVE every Sunday night at 7:00 P.M. EST on http://www.TeacherCast.tv  Learn How To Launch Your Very Own Podcast! Are you interested in learning how to podcast? Do you want to share podcasting with your students or perhaps create a podcast from your own home?  Jeff is available for one-on-one consulting to help you learn how to bring your podcasting ideas to life. Email: info@teachercast.net Voice Mail: http://www.TeacherCast.net/voicemail Check out our Educators Guide to Podcasting today! | Video | Slideshare Presentation  Please contact TeacherCast with any Questions or to become a guest on the show Host: Jeff Bradbury @TeacherCast Email: info@teachercast.net Voice Mail: http://www.TeacherCast.net/voicemail YouTube: http://www.TeacherCast.net/YouTube iTunes: http://www.TeacherCast.net/iTunes View LIVE Professional Development from TeacherCast Watch LIVE: http://www.TeacherCast.tv | Broadcasting Schedule (http://www.teachercast.net/showcal) TeacherCast Broadcasting Community: http://www.TeacherCast.net/broadcastingcommunity Invite TeacherCast to Speak or Broadcast at your conference Jeff Bradbury (@TeacherCast) is available as a Keynote Speaker, Presenter, or to Broadcast your conference LIVE! Check out more TeacherCast Educational Broadcasting Network Shows TeacherCast Podcast (http://www.teachercast.net/education/teachercast-broadcasting/) TeacherCast App Spotlight (http://www.teachercast.net/education/teachercast-broadcasting/the-teachercast-app-spotlight/) Educational Podcasting Today (http://www.educationalpodcasting.today) The TechEducator Podcast (http://www.techeducatorpodcast.com)

Tweet Today’s technology guarantees that education is no longer restricted to a physical classroom and location. The availability of distance learning now crosses boundaries and borders, and allows collaboration in ways that weren’t possible before the existence of video conferencing. Today, the sky is the limit when it comes to what can be done in the education field with the latest collaborative tools. Here’s a look at how video conferencing is revolutionizing the way that teachers, colleagues, and students connect. Uniting Classrooms Offering distance learning to students who can’t attend classes on campus is a great way to provide access to quality education regardless of geographical location. However, classes are frequently mixed these days, allowing both on-site and off-site students to participate in the same session. One of the most challenging aspects of uniting students on-site versus those at a distant satellite classroom is making them feel included and not isolated. Video conferencing is one of many tools that successfully eliminates this problem, making the on-site and off-site students feel included and as if they are both in the same lecture, according to eCampus News.  Ensuring the ability to interact with the lecturer in real time and having efficient, trustworthy tools to do so is also key. There are video conferencing providers out there today such as Bluejeans that specialize in these types of tools, refining the use of Video Conferencing in Education Sector with Blue Jeans and always providing reliable service. One of the most frustrating aspects of using video conferencing in the classroom is having undependable equipment. By using a reliable provider with a good track record, you’ll be eliminating these problems before they ever start. Cultural Institutions Thinking Ahead Colleges and universities aren’t the only institutions that are starting to further utilize video conferencing within the learning process and curriculums. Museums and cultural centers are also beginning to integrate video conferencing as a way to offer distance learning.  According to Alaskan newspaper Juneau Empire, a new state-of-the-art space for Sealaska Heritage Institute in the city of Juneau includes a learning center that’s equipped with video conferencing capabilities intended to be used for distance learning as well as meetings. Offering services that increase accessibility to educational resources like a museum is logical, since the very mission of a cultural institution is to serve the general public. It also allows colleagues to connect across the globe, eliminating the need for travel and fostering new connections between diverse fields of study. Global Phenomenon The increasing importance and popularity of distance learning is not a phenomenon unique to the United States. According to Technavio, the market for distance learning in India will grow at a CAGR of 10.15 percent in the next five years. This is due to a shift in learner demographics as well as an increased demand for a high quality education while also taking into account convenience. This is the case for many countries, especially those that are spread out and have educational opportunities concentrated in a few main institutions of higher learning. Distance learning via video conference basically means that you can obtain a great education regardless of where you live. Whether you’re taking a class as an off-site student across the state or a country, it’s a technology that’s useful for everyone in all walks of life. The need for flexibility and convenience is a huge driving factor. Even if you can afford to go to college and have a university nearby, if you’re also trying to raise a family or have a full time job, commuting can be all but impossible. This is where distance learning comes in, and how video conferencing is especially valuable. Instead of simply participating in a faceless online course, you can see and interact with the professor and your classmates in real time. This experience is superior in quality, rather than just looking at a screen of text and downloading reading materials. Instructor Collaborations While distance learning using video conferencing benefits students, increases accessibility, and offers flexibility in terms of scheduling, it also has an impact on the learning process for educational professionals. Some classes are co-taught with two instructors, and video conferencing allows this type of structure to become collaborative. Additionally, video conferencing facilitates internal communication much more efficiently. Whether there’s a training session for administration or a faculty meeting, being able to conduct these types of sessions from multiple remote locations makes scheduling much easier. Effective and consistent communication and training is more important in the education field than any other industry, due to how fast approaches and techniques change. There are also many moving parts, and touching base with faculty and staff on a regular basis is essential to success. One of the best parts of video conferencing is its ability to bring together people from far-flung places, whether it be students or staff. Eliminating the need to commute while also maintaining a face to face interaction can only be achieved with this type of technology, and the rewards that are reaped are worth the investment. 

Tweet Given the fact that technology is constantly evolving and advancing, a career in robotics is considered to be one of the most demanding yet rewarding career choices available. Jobs in this field are varied, spanning many different industries. From agriculture, through to manufacturing for space travel, robotic systems are essential and individuals are required for electrical, mechanical or mechatronics engineering jobs. From designing prosthetic limbs to ensuring production plants run smoothly, robot engineers have every opportunity to enhance everyday lives. Outlined below are 5 key benefits to choosing a career in robotics: Variety A good robotics engineer will have strong mathematical, logical, scientific, creative and computer skills. And this skillset will open many doors to different roles across strong technology-driven industries. Think: Aerospace, Automobile industry, Entertainment, Agriculture, Artificial Intelligence, Manufacturing, Military and Medicine - to name a few. The number of mechatronics engineering jobs is growing year on year - and experts are sought to build, design and test robotic systems or software. No day is likely to be the same with a career in robotics. Innovation New robot technology is expanding all the time. Therefore, building robots and corresponding software systems is a hugely innovative process. As an engineer, you are responsible for conceiving new uses of robots and their subsequent application. Developing and testing solutions demands an extremely innovative mind that can introduce new ways to overcome mechanical problems. So if you are innovative by nature, this type of role is suited to you. What are the 5 key benefits to choosing a career in robotics?Click To Tweet Deepen Knowledge and Improve Skills Working in the field of robotics requires a great degree of creative thinking and problem solving. Mechatronics engineering jobs are desirable because employers are looking for those with a deeper understanding of robotic software performance, outstanding design skills (e.g. using Computer Aided Design software) and proficiency in electronics and computing. You will be analysing robot components controlled by computer and electronics programmes. As a robotics engineer, you will constantly challenge yourself and improve your skills to solve problems. Collaboration with Like-Minded Experts Whether you’re an electrical, mechanical or mechatronics engineer, you will likely be collaborating with other experts in your field. Robotics brings together the best minds in computing, physics, mathematics and design for a common, greater cause and you will no doubt be challenged and educated all at the same time. Rewarding A robot engineer is essentially involved in creating and improving processes. In certain industries e.g. medicine, you are ultimately responsible for helping people live better lives. For some, this is an immensely rewarding experience.  Choosing a career in robotics can earn you both practical benefits (some jobs can offer above average wages) and emotional benefits - by creating innovation which enhances human lives. Whichever path you choose to take in robotics, you will certainly not be disappointed. Tell us why you are interested in robotics in the comments below. Images by Nic’s events, Christopher.Michel, used under Creative Commons license.

Tweet In modern world, the expectations from teachers have gone too higher and only those teaches who are integrating latest technology in their classroom for performing every single task can come up to the expectations of the students, their parents and even school or college management. There are various great platforms which are fully focused and dedicated to the educational purposes and have been very helpful for the teachers where they can learn about the tools, techniques and strategies to make their way of teaching more effective and inspiring. Here in this article, you can find a list of some great tools which you must integrate in your teaching.  Google Drive It is an excellent productivity tool which works on many devices and provides approx. 15 GB free space to the account holders for storage. If you are planning to make impressive presentations, design high valued spreadsheets or work on an important document, Google Drive will be really useful for it. Add this simple tool in your box and see how it benefits you. Dropbox Another great storage place is Dropbox which is cloud-based and can bring you an easy way to save, store and share your docs & PDFs files. Dropbox has syncing capacities which makes it a perfect tool for passionate teachers who don’t want to use the old ways for keeping their records.  Google in Education Google in Education is basically a Google created platforms for the students, teachers and other people who are interested to know about the google products exclusively created for education purpose. Here you can learn about different products that what they can do for you and how you can get the most out of them.  Socrative It is a very smart educational system which allows the teachers to involve their pupils into learning activities through smartphones, laptops and tablets. This system has a lot of advantages and great features such as visualization, instant result aggregation and real time questioning which enables the teachers to improve each individual’s understanding abilities.  Edmodo Edmodo is a great place to connect with your entire class where you can share content with them, post necessary school notices and even assign them homework right through this simple system. Edmodo has more than 50 million members including teachers, students and their parents and this will be really great to have an easy access to latest educational resources.  Evernote Evernote is an excellent web serving tool which will allow you to make necessary notes and bookmark useful webpages. This simple yet so effective tool is absolutely free to use and the best thing about it is that you can use it on almost all web based and mobile devices.  YouTube Video Editor When you want to edit and create videos to make teaching more effective and interesting in your classroom, YouTube Video Editor can be really great tool for editing and it is being used by teachers as well as students in all parts of the world because of its easy to use functions.  WeVideo In addition to YouTube Video Editor, you can also check out WeVideo which is another useful platform for creating, editing and sharing videos on all types of devices such as PCs, laptops, mobile and tabs.  Flipboard Flipboard is a very nice place where you can save your favorite stories which you can read later in form of a magazine that will look more attractive to the students.  Diigo Diigo is a website for social bookmarking and it will allow you to tag and bookmark webpages that you think are important. Moreover, when you are on Diigo, you can also highlight certain areas of the site which you think are more important and if necessary, you can also add sticky notes.  About the Author  Katherine Brunt is an educationalist writer at Assignment Box. She has been actively involved in some of the largest teachers’ forums and communities where he tries to benefit others from herexperience and research work to enable them perform much better in their classrooms as per the requirement of modern world educational system. For more information connect her on Twitter.

Tweet A child is a blessing for the parents, even if the child has some disability. Although it breaks the heart of parents once it has been established that their child has a certain disease or a disorder, a great amount of patience, true love, and understanding can get them through such difficult time. Eventually, the father and the mother will be grateful for having a sparkling star of their life in their house, close to their bosom. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has had its roots since early times. However, it wasn’t successfully classified and diagnosed until much later on. ASD is a development disorder characterized by difficulty in social interactions (verbal and nonverbal communication), repetitive behavior, and restricted behavior. Every child, diagnosed with ASD, is however, different. Some autistic children have extraordinary mathematical, artistic, visual, or academic skills, while others may have difficulty taking care of themselves alone. Many autistic children can be cured of the disorder if they receive proper care and treatment from an early age. Apart from therapy or treatment, you can use the help of recent technology and abundant gadgets of today, such as the smart phone or tablets, to download a number of apps to help your child improve his neurological skills. Different applications will enable your child to develop or improve mathematical, functional, social, communication, linguistics and other useful skills. ABA Flash Cards: This app can be downloaded on any Apple device. This wonderful app is designed to help children develop language skills such as new vocabulary words using flashcards with images. Alien Buddies-Preschool Learning: This is another great application which can be downloaded on any Apple device. The focus of this application is to develop artistic skills in the child. It has games that require them to match shapes and colors, build puzzles, and make their own drawings. Arithmaroo 1: As its name suggests, this application is solely designed to develop a child’s arithmetic skills. This app will tell you if your special child has an above average intellectual capability when it comes to maths. The app uses hands with fingers or other objects which they can use to do simple calculations. On a more advanced level, it will teach them how to multiply and divide also. Autism Emotion: Almost every autistic needs a little help when it comes to the social skills. This application will enable you to teach your child different emotions which they should be able to identify in other people as well as themselves. Happy, sad, proud, calm, the faces on this application allow children to improve on emotional intelligence. Everyday Skills (pocket edition): Sometimes, academic skills aren’t enough. Children also need to learn everyday skills and be able to identify places and objects they will encounter in the outside world such as the community and transportation. Everyday Skills is one such app that is designed to develop a child’s functional skills. It also has a flashcard format that will show pictures and label them (i.e. grocery store, fire department, getting around town, etc.) Fast Mall: This is another application designed to improve functional skills. While visiting a mall, your child needs to know where in the world he is. This app will help him identify different types of shops and what you get there. Hippi 1 and 2: This extremely cute app full of animals and colors is intended to enhance a child’s language as well as functional skills. Learning new words, working with puzzles, reading and answering questions will get your child learning new and useful things in no time. This one is bound to keep him glued to screen. About Author: Skornia Alison is a private educator and a tutor, and a part-timer at an essay writing service by essay valley. When not at her desk, she loves to take long stroll with her dog and have a long gossipy chat with her friends.

Tweet On Friday May 29, 2015 educators from across the country gathered at the United States Department of Education for the second annual EdcampUSDOE, otherwise known as #EDCAMPUSA.  It was truly one of the best professional experiences of my life.  It is very difficult to express just how awesome it was to be there in our nations capital discussing with other educators the many ways we can improve as educators and help our students.  The pinnacle of this experience was a visit from the US Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan. Creating EdcampDOE I would like to personally congratulate the Edcamp Foundation for organizing this event.  Kristen Swanson and Hadley Ferguson worked tirelessly along with countless others from the DOE to make sure everyone had the best experience possible.  From the moment we walked in the DOE, we were greeted with warm bagels and hot coffee.  What a perfect way to start an edcamp!  Thanks Panera Bread! Session 1: Learning about STEM Education and Maker Spaces Of you are interested in STEM education or are even thinking about creating a makerspace for you school, there is no better resource on this planet than Meredith Martin.  This amazing blue haired New Jersey educator has not only created her own Maker Space in her school (that is pretty darn awesome) but is now working with state teachers unions to revolutionize the way that STEM education is presented at the state conference level.  We had a great time in a room filled with about 30 educators talking about 3D printers, Lesson Plans, and the best way to throw a perfectly good egg off the top of a school building in a way that it remains a perfectly good egg.  If you are looking for awesome resources on just about any topic, check out her site Tech For Teachers. Podcasting In The School District In the second session, I lead a discussion (complete with a "show and tell") on the many ways that teachers, schools, and districts are using podcasting and digital media in their educational environments.  Although only a handful of educators stopped by to talk, it was a constant reminder that sometimes the best PD sessions are those that are more personal.  I had a great time meeting some pretty awesome educators who are looking to expand the way they will be communicating with their students and teachers in the future. Transforming your BOE from 1920’s to 2020’s It was the last session of the conference and I didn’t have any clue where I wanted to go. I was walking aimlessly down the hallway when I was screamed at by none other than Melinda Sears.  Reluctantly I went into the session and was completely blown away by the conversations happening.  We all have been in situations where we are the most techy person in the room.  How do we elevate our students? How do we elevate our staff? More importantly… to implement positive change for our students and staff…. how do we elevate our BOE’s to help them understand the importance of our digital classrooms.  I wish to thank Melinda, Meredith, Toby Brown and Amanda Dykes for helping me learn the best ways to be innovative in my new school district next year.  The conversations were incredible and invaluable. Moving Onward I have attended dozens of Edcamps over the last 4 years and have planned more than a dozen unconferences.  This event was absolutely the best professional experience I have ever had. Share Your Edcamp Story Were you at EdcampDOE?  Please share your story below in the comments section.  If you have ever had a similar experience at a conference or event please let us know about below and tell us why these events are so special to you. I wish to once again thank every member of the edcamp foundation for their efforts and to the DOE staff and secretary Arne Duncan for his generous time.

Tweet There is a chill in the air, lights are going up everywhere, it is like the whole world is prepping for the hour of code!  While I might have enough excitement about the season to carry my whole school site, I know that other people can’t believe we are talking about the Hour of Code already.  They ask me "Wasn’t it just connected educator month?"  Some of my favorite teachers anguish over the time needed for the hour of code and how fast the short period between turkey day and winter break rushes by.  They aren’t sure they can find a spare hour to "do coding." I am putting together some of the best resources I know to help them find meaningful ways to help their students learn through code. As I have been learning about programming and teaching kids to code, music is a theme that keeps emerging.  Vikas from WonderWorkshop first got me thinking about you music could help teach programming last year when I heard him speak about why Dash, one of their robots, plays the xylophone. He spoke about the power of music to help kids understand sequence.  Whether a scale or Mary had a Little Lamb, we can hear the difference between wrong and right in a musical sequence. When we can take something like music and use programming to interact with it we can teach programming basics at the same time as sequence, rhythm and even some basic music theory. Learn how to compose music in your browser visually, now via SamPatueClick To Tweet Thinking about how to make Hour of Code accessible to my music teacher I was playing around with Trinket.io and their Music trinket. This is a neat interface and it plays the music you program into it.  The window has a "cheat sheet" available and allows you to program but the bass and treble parts.   Trinket.io is one of the companies in the Imagine K12 startup incubator this year.  Their Philosophy: trinket knows that educators belong at the center of open education. That’s why we believe that Teachers won’t be Replaced by Software and that there’s a Middle Path for Education Technology that can disrupt an industry without disrupting teachers’ connections to their students. The trinket team has been working towards this vision since 2013. Together we’re building the tools that you need to make a difference in your classroom, whatever and whoever you teach. We hope you’ll join us. Below you will find 2 music trinkets, see what you can come up with.  Could these help you support a meaningful hour of code in a music class?  I was really happy to discover that they work in the Safari Browser on my iPad Trinket From Eliot at Trinket.io We describe the music trinket as everything you need to teach and learn music theory/composition and nothing you don’t.  We use a lightweight music markup language in the trinket to help show that code can enhance other disciplines without being about computer science.  Like all trinkets, music trinkets are free to use, easily remixable and shareable.   Does this have you thinking about the relationship between programming and music?  Well here is some reading to support your curiosity. Cal Arts Programming of Musicians Musicians written about by a coder Music Programming intro essay

Tweet The TechEducator Podcast is a weekly round table discussion about current topics in educational technology.  For more information, please visit www.techeducatorpodcast.com. Many great ways to participate in the TechEducator Podcast. TechEducatorPodcast.com Follow us Live on Video: http://www.TeacherCast.tv Leave a Voice Mail: http://www.TeacherCast.net/voicemail Email: feedback@Teachercast.net Twitter: @TechEdShow (http://www.twitter.com/techedshow) Hashtag: #TechEducator Hosts: Jeff Bradbury - TeacherCast.net - @TeacherCast Jeff Herb - InstructionalTechTalk.com - @InstTechTalk Sam Patterson - MyPaperlessClassroom.com - @SamPatue Chris Nesi - Education the Nesi Way - @MrNesi David Saunders @DesignSaunders Josh Gauthier @mrgfactoftheday Show Information Link TO Alice’s Book http://www.amazon.com/Things-You-With-Google-Classroom/dp/098615542X/ref=tmm_pap_title_0 http://www.alicekeeler.com/teachertech/2015/02/24/google-classroom-students-need-side-by-side-windows/ Share the Love If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Please join the TechEducator Podcast LIVE every Sunday night at 7:00 P.M. EST on http://www.TeacherCast.tv   Learn How To Launch Your Very Own Podcast! Are you interested in learning how to podcast? Do you want to share podcasting with your students or perhaps create a podcast from your own home?  Jeff is available for one-on-one consulting to help you learn how to bring your podcasting ideas to life. Email: info@teachercast.net Voice Mail: http://www.TeacherCast.net/voicemail Check out our Educators Guide to Podcasting today! | Video | Slideshare Presentation   Please contact TeacherCast with any Questions or to become a guest on the show Host: Jeff Bradbury @TeacherCast Email: info@teachercast.net Voice Mail: http://www.TeacherCast.net/voicemail YouTube: http://www.TeacherCast.net/YouTube iTunes: http://www.TeacherCast.net/iTunes View LIVE Professional Development from TeacherCast Watch LIVE: http://www.TeacherCast.tv | Broadcasting Schedule (http://www.teachercast.net/showcal) TeacherCast Broadcasting Community: http://www.TeacherCast.net/broadcastingcommunity Invite TeacherCast to Speak or Broadcast at your conference Jeff Bradbury (@TeacherCast) is available as a Keynote Speaker, Presenter, or to Broadcast your conference LIVE!   Check out more TeacherCast Educational Broadcasting Network Shows TeacherCast Podcast (http://www.teachercast.net/education/teachercast-broadcasting/) TeacherCast App Spotlight (http://www.teachercast.net/education/teachercast-broadcasting/the-teachercast-app-spotlight/) Educational Podcasting Today (http://www.educationalpodcasting.today) The TechEducator Podcast (http://www.techeducatorpodcast.com)

Tweet In this video, Jeff sits down with the team from Microsoft OneNote to learn why it is the perfect companion to any digital classroom. For more information, please follow on Twitter @MSOneNote or visit online at www.OneNote.com. Do you have any questions about Microsoft OneNote? Leave us some comments or questions below and we will be sure to answer them in upcoming videos in this series.

Tweet In this video, Jeff sits down with the team from Microsoft OneNote to learn how to create and use templates for quick and simple organization. For more information, please follow on Twitter @MSOneNote or visit online at www.OneNote.com. Do you have any questions about Microsoft OneNote? Leave us some comments or questions below and we will be sure to answer them in upcoming videos in this series.

Tweet In this video, Jeff sits down with the team from Microsoft OneNote to learn how to properly tag and search for your OneNote media. For more information, please follow on Twitter @MSOneNote or visit online at www.OneNote.com. Do you have any questions about Microsoft OneNote? Leave us some comments or questions below and we will be sure to answer them in upcoming videos in this series.    

Tweet Since the advent of digital Videos in the Classroom tools, Communication with the help of videos has always been a very powerful, interesting and exciting way among people in every field of human interest. There are not just the consumers among us but the creators are also there whose ideas have been great to revolutionize the world of digital technology. The use of videos and other digital media should not only be integrated in educational system in every part of the world but the teachers and educators should encourage the use of these highly effective sources of learning in classroom for the students.  YouTube for Schools  ​You can take YouTube for Schools as a great example of revolution in digital technology and education system. This forum was not introduced too long ago but has very successfully added more than half million videos in the library and the number is increasing every day. Here are some other great reasons why every teacher who is not yet convinced to introduce videos in class must think about it now.  Reason 1: More Engagement in Classroom  You might have seen many students in your class who feel bored with the traditional learningsystem but when they are shown videos, they feel interest in learning and really enjoy. It has been proven that the videos have the potential to engage even the toughest students and therefore, it must be used to enhance the interests of learners in class.  Reason 2: Easier Way to Bear Info in Mind  Sometimes, you can’t clear concept with the verbal teaching. On contrary, if you convert your leaning stuff in form of videos, you can make it much easier for the student to learn things and bear in mind. There are a number of tools available online which you can use to create interesting videos and the most important thing about those tools is that they are free to use.  Reason 3: Bring Silent Lessons to Life As a teacher you must have gone through the experience that silent lessons often have less impact as pupils find it difficult to digest especially when they are unable to understand the message but if you bring those messages and lessons the life, they will become alive and more attractive for the learners.  Learn how to revolutionize you classroom through instructional videos found on YouTubeClick To Tweet Reason 4: Learning from Others  You can also allow your students to learn from other teachers who belong to other schools, colleges or universities and for this you don’t have to take them to some other places but within your class you can allow them arrange videos to be shown. This is actually a really great idea that massive learning can be arranged right within the classroom with the help of already recorded videos or live streaming.  Reason 5: Science experiments When your class is going to have a scientific experience, you can show them the videos before allowing them to do practical and in this way, they can learn in much better way which will not just increase the chances of their success in practical but they will also stay on safer side while using some extreme tools, equipment or chemicals.  About the Author  Sarah Parish is based in New York and she is a freelance academic specially provides dissertation writing help. She has always been so passionate about discovering digital world and whenever she feels something worth to share with the people, she always works on it. For more details connect her on Google Plus.

Whether you are a teacher trying to figure out how to invest your limited class resource budget, or an edtech company trying to secure your place in the market, customer service is something to look at closely. Strive for zero down time Whatever your product or service, it needs to work all the time.  Teachers do not have time to do things that do not work.  Test the heck out of your updates, especially on old devices that need updating. If you want to really help teachers, build amazing apps that run well on 5-8 year old tech. Join the conversation I clearly remember the first company I chatted with on Twitter.  I tweeted out a question about Camtasia and Techsmith replied.  They solved my problem and I was a lifetime user and spokes teacher for all the great tools Techsmith makes to help teachers create media.  It is clear that Techsmith has made pro-active customer engagement a priority. Be accessible When I am buying a robot, or signing up for a subscription app, I want to know that company will be available when I need help.  (Yes, PLAN on a service call or 2 with any new tool).  So when I research the product I look for a company that has a wide variety of customer service contact options.  Are they in the social media space I am already in? Chat > Phone Anyone will tell you that multiple ways to contact customer service is important.  When designing a service portal for teachers, chat more and talk less.  I can leave a chat window logged in on my computer much longer than I can stay on hold. Rapid replacement Sphero has a rapid replacement policy for teachers.  When I needed to get my robots services for a battery that wasn’t charging, I emailed support@sphero.com, explained my situation and they mailed my replacement robots the same day I made the service call.  Our robots passed each other in the mail and Sphero made sure I had robots for the last week of school. Deliver on Promises Obotix, the company behind Sphero and Ollie, is committed to supporting their robots in the classroom.  In an emailed statement Bill Cullen, Product manager at Sphero stated  "Teachers can expect new robots within 3-4 days of reporting an issue to support, and we encourage them to mail back broken bots so we can get under the hood and see what went wrong, which influences our product dev cycle." So their iterative cycle does not end upon delivery. Become a Sponsor Be engaged in the education community.  Look for Edcamps  and offer support.  Many camps need help with coffee for 30-60 people, or a partial sponsor for lunch, (food trucks require a minimum and often a deposit).  EDcamps will be happy to hand out information about an app to participants, but companies should not miss out on the rich opportunity to join the education conversation.  Please set aside a small fund each year to help sponsor food at an event for teachers, but more than that go to an edcamp.  Go play at a playdate. Choose to be a donor Do you want to generate alot of good will and create opportunities for others to share the work you are doing?  Set up a profile on http://www.donorschoose.org/ and find some projects you can support.  Lift up your target users, and become a supportive force in their world.  Looking for something great to share on your social media? Adopt a campaign and share it like mad.  Do some pro-bono social media work and build your own brand at the same time. Creating hardware and software for the classroom that reflects a commitment to the highest possible pedagogical goals requires teachers, developers, publishers, and administrators to collaborate more than ever before.  If you are interested in learning more about the business of Edtech collaboration at every step, from design to service, complete this form and look for new Edtech Development content from TeacherCast.

The TechEducator Podcast is a weekly round table discussion about current topics in educational technology.  For more information, please visit www.techeducatorpodcast.com. Many great ways to participate in the TechEducator Podcast. TechEducatorPodcast.com Follow us Live on Video: http://www.TeacherCast.tv Leave a Voice Mail: http://www.TeacherCast.net/voicemail Email: feedback@Teachercast.net Twitter: @TechEdShow (http://www.twitter.com/techedshow) Hashtag: #TechEducator Hosts: Jeff Bradbury - TeacherCast.net - @TeacherCast Jeff Herb - InstructionalTechTalk.com - @InstTechTalk Sam Patterson - MyPaperlessClassroom.com - @SamPatue Chris Nesi - Education the Nesi Way - @MrNesi David Saunders @DesignSaunders Josh Gauthier @mrgfactoftheday About our Guests: Matt Miller is a teacher, blogger and presenter from West Central Indiana. He has infused technology and innovative teaching methods in his classes for more than 10 years. He is the author of the book Ditch That Textbook: Free Your Teaching and Revolutionize Your Classroomand writes at the Ditch That Textbook blog about using technology and creative ideas in teaching. He is a Google Certified Teacher (Austin ’14), a PBS LearningMedia Digital Innovator, a Bammy! Awards nominee, and winner of the WTHI-TV Golden Apple Award. After trying to do the traditional "teach by the textbook" for a few years, he launched into a textbook-less path where learning activities were often custom-produced for his students as well as infused with technology. He likes the results a lot, and his students do, too. Matt has presented to thousands of teachers at dozens of workshops on a number of topics related to educational technology, world language instruction and more. He combines a conversational, engaging speaking style with loads of resources, leaving teachers equipped and inspired to move forward. Connect with him … he lives for it! Twitter: @jmattmiller Google Plus: plus.google.com/+MattMiller16 YouTube: youtube.com/DitchThatTextbook Pinterest: pinterest.com/DitchThatTxt E-mail: matt@DitchThatTextbook.com. Purchase on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0986155403/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0986155403&linkCode=as2&tag=ditthatex-20&linkId=IGHNBURRNHERQ2H6 His site: http://ditchthattextbook.com/ How to make a 3d Book cover http://boxshot.com/boxshot/3d-ebook-cover/ Share the Love If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Please join the TechEducator Podcast LIVE every Sunday night at 7:00 P.M. EST on http://www.TeacherCast.tv  Learn How To Launch Your Very Own Podcast! Are you interested in learning how to podcast? Do you want to share podcasting with your students or perhaps create a podcast from your own home?  Jeff is available for one-on-one consulting to help you learn how to bring your podcasting ideas to life. Email: info@teachercast.net Voice Mail: http://www.TeacherCast.net/voicemail Check out our Educators Guide to Podcasting today! | Video | Slideshare Presentation   Please contact TeacherCast with any Questions or to become a guest on the show Host: Jeff Bradbury @TeacherCast Email: info@teachercast.net Voice Mail: http://www.TeacherCast.net/voicemail YouTube: http://www.TeacherCast.net/YouTube iTunes: http://www.TeacherCast.net/iTunes View LIVE Professional Development from TeacherCast Watch LIVE: http://www.TeacherCast.tv | Broadcasting Schedule (http://www.teachercast.net/showcal) TeacherCast Broadcasting Community: http://www.TeacherCast.net/broadcastingcommunity Invite TeacherCast to Speak or Broadcast at your conference Jeff Bradbury (@TeacherCast) is available as a Keynote Speaker, Presenter, or to Broadcast your conference LIVE!   Check out more TeacherCast Educational Broadcasting Network Shows TeacherCast Podcast (http://www.teachercast.net/education/teachercast-broadcasting/) TeacherCast App Spotlight (http://www.teachercast.net/education/teachercast-broadcasting/the-teachercast-app-spotlight/) Educational Podcasting Today (http://www.educationalpodcasting.today) The TechEducator Podcast (http://www.techeducatorpodcast.com)

If you need to manage multiple twitter accounts, Here is a great trick to do it using only one gmail account.  I don’t want to spoil the surprise in the video, but you just put a dot in the first 1/2 of the address.  Gmail does not read a period as a character, but twitter does.  So you move the dot and you have a ";new" address that returns mail to the same gmail.

Jeff sits down with Ami Shah to discuss how Peekapak is able to help promote child development in grades PK-2.  About Peekapak Peekapak aims to improve learning outcomes in early childhood by enabling teachers and parents to work as partners in a student’s education. Through Peekapak’s platform, teachers are provided digital access to Peekapak’s character development curriculum and extended home activities for families to reinforce the learning in the home. The platform will also track student progress so that both teachers and parents are able to get a complete view of how a student is developing in the class and at home. Peekapak is currently in private beta and is looking to partner with educators to test and pilot their program. Links of Interest twitter.com/peekapak facebook.com/peekapak About our Guest Ami Shsh is the CEO & Co-founder of Peekapak, a recent graduate of the Imagine K12 Edtech Accelerator program based in Silicon Valley. Ami is passionate about improving youth education, and has previously taught in Vietnam.  She has extensive marketing experience from roles at Procter & Gamble, and most recently, as Director of Retail Marketing at a consumer products start-ups. She has a MBA from INSEAD. You can connect with Ami on twitter: amishahdotca or on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amishahdotca Share the Love If you enjoyed the show, please rate us on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Please join the TechEducator Podcast LIVE every Sunday night at 7:00 P.M. EST on http://www.TeacherCast.tv   Learn How To Launch Your Very Own Podcast! Are you interested in learning how to podcast? Do you want to share podcasting with your students or perhaps create a podcast from your own home?  Jeff is available for one-on-one consulting to help you learn how to bring your podcasting ideas to life. Email: info@teachercast.net Voice Mail: http://www.TeacherCast.net/voicemail Check out our Educators Guide to Podcasting today! | Video | Slideshare Presentation Please contact TeacherCast with any Questions or to become a guest on the show Host: Jeff Bradbury @TeacherCast Email: info@teachercast.net Voice Mail: http://www.TeacherCast.net/voicemail YouTube: http://www.TeacherCast.net/YouTube iTunes: http://www.TeacherCast.net/iTunes View LIVE Professional Development from TeacherCast Watch LIVE: http://www.TeacherCast.tv | Broadcasting Schedule (http://www.teachercast.net/showcal) TeacherCast Broadcasting Community: http://www.TeacherCast.net/broadcastingcommunity Invite TeacherCast to Speak or Broadcast at your conference Jeff Bradbury (@TeacherCast) is available as a Keynote Speaker, Presenter, or to Broadcast your conference LIVE! Check out more TeacherCast Educational Broadcasting Network Shows TeacherCast Podcast (http://www.teachercast.net/education/teachercast-broadcasting/) TeacherCast App Spotlight (http://www.teachercast.net/education/teachercast-broadcasting/the-teachercast-app-spotlight/) Educational Podcasting Today (http://www.educationalpodcasting.today) The TechEducator Podcast (http://www.techeducatorpodcast.com)

Jeff sits down with Brad Ermiling to discuss his work at the Pearson Research and Innovation Network. About Pearson Pearson is the world’s leading learning company, with 40,000 employees in more than 80 countries working to help people of all ages to make measurable progress in their lives through learning. For more information about Pearson, visithttp://www.pearson.com. Links of interest Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pearsonplc Twitter: https://twitter.com/pearson YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/PearsonEducation About Guest Brad Ermeling, Ed.D. | Principal Research Scientist Pearson Research & Innovation Network Bradley Ermeling spent seven years working as an educator in Japan developing first-hand knowledge and expertise with Japanese Lesson Study and has published numerous articles on developing and supporting systems for collaborative inquiry and continuous learning. Dr. Ermeling was a recipient of the 2010 Best Research Award from Learning Forward, along with Ron Gallimore, Claude Goldenberg and Bill Saunders for their published studies on instructional improvement through learning teams. He is currently conducting qualitative studies on blended and virtual assistance models to guide school and instructional improvement efforts and is also investigating methods for measuring and facilitating teacher reflective practice. Prior to his research career, Dr. Ermeling taught high school English and special education for 11 years and holds teaching credentials in both Japan and the United States. He also holds a government issued certificate for Japanese language proficiency. He earned his doctorate from UCLA in Educational Leadership and his bachelor’s degree in English literature from Concordia University, Irvine. Follow him on Twitter @BradErmeling Share the Love If you enjoyed the show, please rate us on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Please join the TechEducator Podcast LIVE every Sunday night at 7:00 P.M. EST on http://www.TeacherCast.tv Learn How To Launch Your Very Own Podcast! Are you interested in learning how to podcast? Do you want to share podcasting with your students or perhaps create a podcast from your own home?  Jeff is available for one-on-one consulting to help you learn how to bring your podcasting ideas to life. Email: info@teachercast.net Voice Mail: http://www.TeacherCast.net/voicemail Check out our Educators Guide to Podcasting today! | Video | Slideshare Presentation Please contact TeacherCast with any Questions or to become a guest on the show Host: Jeff Bradbury @TeacherCast Email: info@teachercast.net Voice Mail: http://www.TeacherCast.net/voicemail YouTube: http://www.TeacherCast.net/YouTube iTunes: http://www.TeacherCast.net/iTunes View LIVE Professional Development from TeacherCast Watch LIVE: http://www.TeacherCast.tv | Broadcasting Schedule (http://www.teachercast.net/showcal) TeacherCast Broadcasting Community: http://www.TeacherCast.net/broadcastingcommunity Invite TeacherCast to Speak or Broadcast at your conference Jeff Bradbury (@TeacherCast) is available as a Keynote Speaker, Presenter, or to Broadcast your conference LIVE! Check out more TeacherCast Educational Broadcasting Network Shows TeacherCast Podcast (http://www.teachercast.net/education/teachercast-broadcasting/) TeacherCast App Spotlight (http://www.teachercast.net/education/teachercast-broadcasting/the-teachercast-app-spotlight/) Educational Podcasting Today (http://www.educationalpodcasting.today) The TechEducator Podcast (http://www.techeducatorpodcast.com)

You will find most of today’s young generation on Facebook. Even though it’s a social media website, if you use it in your classroom for various activities, you will have no trouble engaging your students. You can take advantage of this communication mode by sharing material that is relevant to your course, presenting ideas, asking for suggestions and providing your valuable feedback. A lot of teachers, administrators and directors will debate that this is not a good platform for education because it may involve improper communication or content. Even though the concern is genuine, this problem can be avoided if everything is properly monitored. As a result, social media can become an interactive and engaging tool for teaching. Now…Let’s take a look at various effective ways you can use Facebook in your classroom: 1. Create a Facebook Group for Your Class By creating a group and adding your students to it, you will be able to stay in touch with them effectively. This practice will allow you to share assignment details, outlines and other important information. If you wish to start a project for your class, you will be able to share complete details in the group and every student will have access to it. Here is an example: Let’s say you are supervisor at a university. You will be able to provide coursework help by providing tips or points. After all, writing a coursework is a tough task, and your students will appreciate your help and solid tips. You will be able to post home work details as well. This way, your students will have no trouble going through your requirements from home. 2. Share Videos Related to Your Course Social media is all about sharing… and videos are widely shared on Facebook. So, if you share interesting videos related to your course, you will be able to engage and educate your students at the same time. There are two things you can do: ✓ Create your own videos. Keep them short, interesting and to-the-point. This way your students will not mind watching them. If your videos are long, chances are that most of your students will not bother watching them. ✓ You can share videos from YouTube. YouTube offers a wealth of knowledge. You can find all kinds of tutorials there. You will easily find quality tutorials related to fitness, design, languages, cooking, science, math, dissertation help and much more. Always share engaging and interesting videos though.  3. Involve Parents You can even ask parents to join your class group on Facebook. This practice will allow the parents to monitor what their kids are studying. When you assign a paper, they will be able to see it as well. By involving them online, you will indirectly train them to work with their children offline as well. This practice will also force students to behave in the best possible manner. 4. Make it Easy for Students to Get Help Using Facebook will make it easy for your students to interact with you and fellow students quickly and effectively. For example, after you post an assignment, some students might have some questions. They will post their questions there. You and other students will be able to help them by replying to their queries. This way, they will get help immediately and they will not have to wait unnecessarily. 5. Use Questions and Polls to Educate and Get Opinions Using this feature will allow you to educate your students and receive their feedback in a very effective way. For example, if you are teaching geography, you can ask your students to identify the place by posting a picture and providing various options. You can also ask them what they would like to discuss in class later. This method will certainly help you engage your students. So…Don’t think of Facebook as a mere social media website now. It’s about time you take advantage of it and use it as an interactive teaching tool. A career guide by profession, Liana Daren takes great pleasure in helping people with finding their passion that ultimately leads them to the right career path. Apart from counseling, she also loves to share her abroad experienced on different blogs and communities with other people.

Educational Podcasting Today is a weekly podcast that celebrates podcasters and podcasting. It’s mission is to help educators learn how to create podcasts and amazing WordPress websites for their podcasts.  For more information, please visit www.EducationalPodcasting.today. Show Topics Podcasting News Educational Podcasting Today App Submitted to Apple Hoping to have it LIVE by ISTE ISTE Sale Price Featured Podcaster of the Day ISTE Casts Podcast https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/istes-podcast/id269480016?mt=2 Conferences and Conventions CUE Rockstar Boston! August 4-6 Apps University Apps University Connecticut Summit June 13-14 at Renbrook School in West Hartford Conn. ISTE TeacherCast Broadcasting LIVE from 8-12 on www.TeacherCast.tv Call To Action Rate And Review Great Podcasts You Listen To https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/educational-podcasting-today/id972444781?mt=2 About Our Guest Suzette Franck has been in web development for over twenty years; she started making hand-coded HTML websites on geocities with font tags and tables back in 1995. Since then, she has taught herself CSS, Sass, PHP, MySQL, as well as becoming a WordPress expert; evangelizing and presenting at over twenty-two WordCamps across the country and multiple WordPress meetups in Southern California where she resides, about all aspects of building and maintaining sites on WordPress. Suzette is passionate about WordPress the application as well as the WordPress Open Source Community, and loves to code and teach others the wonders of WordPress. She is a purveyor of lowbrow art, and when she is not WordPressing, she is painting or visiting Los Angeles art galleries to add more work to her growing art collection. To see some of her personal art and crafts, please go to: http://suzettefranck.me Website: http://suzettefranck.com Podcast: http://www.WPWaterCooler.com Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/suzette_franck Share the Love If you enjoyed the show, please rate us on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Please join the TechEducator Podcast LIVE every Sunday night at 7:00 P.M. EST on http://www.TeacherCast.tv   Learn How To Launch Your Very Own Podcast! Are you interested in learning how to podcast? Do you want to share podcasting with your students or perhaps create a podcast from your own home?  Jeff is available for one-on-one consulting to help you learn how to bring your podcasting ideas to life. Email: info@teachercast.net Voice Mail: http://www.TeacherCast.net/voicemail Check out our Educators Guide to Podcasting today! | Video | Slideshare Presentation   Please contact TeacherCast with any Questions or to become a guest on the show Host: Jeff Bradbury @TeacherCast Email: info@teachercast.net Voice Mail: http://www.TeacherCast.net/voicemail YouTube: http://www.TeacherCast.net/YouTube iTunes: http://www.TeacherCast.net/iTunes View LIVE Professional Development from TeacherCast Watch LIVE: http://www.TeacherCast.tv | Broadcasting Schedule (http://www.teachercast.net/showcal) TeacherCast Broadcasting Community: http://www.TeacherCast.net/broadcastingcommunity Invite TeacherCast to Speak or Broadcast at your conference Jeff Bradbury (@TeacherCast) is available as a Keynote Speaker, Presenter, or to Broadcast your conference LIVE!   Check out more TeacherCast Educational Broadcasting Network Shows TeacherCast Podcast (http://www.teachercast.net/education/teachercast-broadcasting/) TeacherCast App Spotlight (http://www.teachercast.net/education/teachercast-broadcasting/the-teachercast-app-spotlight/) Educational Podcasting Today (http://www.educationalpodcasting.today) The TechEducator Podcast (http://www.techeducatorpodcast.com)

  Calling All Podcasters! Calling All Podcasters! The ISTE Conference is fast approaching and I am thrilled to announce an amazing opportunity for those of you who are podcast creators or podcast listeners.  On Monday from 5:30 to 6:45 we will be having a very special gathering of Podcasters and Podcast enthusiasts. The best part of this is…. YOU are invited! The concept is pretty simple: Lets see what happens when we gather fellow podcasters in a room to talk about podcasting. What would happen if we had a meet and greet for educators who listen to our shows. So…. Are you interested in learning more about Podcasting?  Are you interested in learning how to start your own podcast with your class or with your buddies?  This is the session that you CAN’T MISS at ISTE this year. Tickets to this event are limited to 200 participants.  Please only sign up if you are interested in attending. Join Us LIVE at #ISTE2015 for a Podcasters Social Hour and Meetup! Sign Up Today!Click To Tweet What Can I Do To Help? There are several things you can do to help this session be awesome. Podcasters If you are a podcaster, whether or not you are going to ISTE or not, we welcome you to share this session on your next podcast episode. Podcast Listener If you are a fan of Educational Podcasts we welcome you to come and check out the meet up to learn more about our shows.  We would LOVE to meet you. Educational Vender If you are a company who creates awesome products and would love to be in front of a great podcasting audience, please contact me. We are looking for support for this event. So… what are you waiting for.  Sign up for our Podcasters Birds of a Feather session today and we will see you on Monday June 29 in room PCC 125.