Becoming a tech-savvy teacher isn’t easy and it actually takes quite a long time. The 10 Signs You Are a Tech-Savvy Teacher Infographic helps you find out just how much technology has become integrated with your life by presenting a few of the many signs that show that you’re a plugged-in and connected educator. The below are just a few of the many signs you’re a plugged-in and connected educator. What are some of the big signs we’ve missed? Share them with us down in the comments or by mentioning @DailyGenius on Twitter. We’ll be sure to retweet, share, and use your input for future graphics! Your students read your blog. Your students know that you share homework help, useful apps, your other favorite blogs, and a whole lot more on your teaching biog. They comment or at least monitor it to stay up to date. Your real professional development happens online. You know that the structured professional development that your school district performs is not really where you’re learning new skills. You turn to social media and online skill-building platforms to really enhance your skillset. Time to update the Linkedln profile! You’ve made an online PLN. Whether you call it a ‘professional’ or a ‘personal’ learning network is up to you. The key part is that you have taken the time to develop online relationships with colleagues, mentors, and many others who might be able to help you learn something useful. Doesn’t always have to be about teaching, just something you might want to know. You share your life with colleagues you’ve never met. You take selfies on vacation and share them not only with your family and friends - but with online colleagues you’ve never actually met in person. You love sharing your life and adventures with them! Your weekly schedule involves twitter chats. You know when you need to be by a computer or smartphone so you can monitor #edchat or your other favorite hashtag chat. It lets you learn on the go! Summer breaks means ISTE and other conferences. As soon as the final bell rings, you don’t race to the nearest beach! You make sure your bags are packed and ready for a few can‘t-miss conferences where all your online colleagues and friends are going. You know the vocabulary. It’s a lot like a second language. You know terms like 1:1, BYOD, PLN, Personalized Learning, Flipped, and decamp. You turn to colleagues in other countries when in need. You have a great group of colleagues in the building but they’re also quite busy and may not have the answers to all your questions. They’re only human. So you’ve networked and built a group of online contacts you can turn to when you need an answer 24-7. They are all around the world so you never know who will be awake and able to answer your call for help! You’re a digital citizen. First, you know what being a proper ‘digital citizen‘ means. You know it’s critically important that you treat others with respect, know what cyber-bullying is, act in a positive manner, and are trying to always be a useful member of your community. This isn’t as easy as it sounds. Trolls and many others can distract and provoke you. But you are smart enough to not take the bait. And so are your students. You’re always hungry to learn, try, and tinker with new tech. Every new Apple announcement is a special time. A new Android update means your lunch hour just got booked up. When any new education technology movement is made, you are always ready to try out a new app, test a web tool, read an e-book, or just take some time to tinker! via DailyGenius

jQuery is the best way to add dynamic, animation effects to your website. While many people think that jQuery simply adds unnecessary complications to a website, in fact, jQuery effects can both boost performance and also improve user experience. One of the effects that jQuery can really assist with is scrolling. Whether it’s a back-to-top smooth scroller, or a snap-to-section scrolling effect, jQuery has a plugin for it. In this post, I’ve gathered up some of the best jQuery plugins for scrolling effects and improvements. jQuery Parallax Scrolling Plugin Multiscroll jQuery Plugin ALS - Any List Scroller jQuery Plugin Scrollmagic Effect Controller jQuery Plugin Cool Kitten jQuery Plugin Scrollify Snap-To-Sections jQuery Plugin Animate Scroll Effect Easing jQuery Plugin ScrollUp Back-To-Top jQuery Plugin Sly Item-Based Scrolling jQuery Plugin StickUp jQuery Plugin Related Posts jQuery Date and Calendar Plugins Useful jQuery Menu Plugins and Scripts Awesome New CSS3 Tutorials to Try Out Creative Examples of Animated Web Design Elegant CSS3 Menus to Download and Use

With the domestic violence incidences in the news lately, I wanted to share an app created by Dr. Phil McGraw’s wife called The Aspire News App. The app is part of ‘The Aspire Initiative‘ created to help those directly or indirectly affected by domestic violence. The app is disguised to look like a regular app in case someone is using the app but doesn’t want the want the abuser to know about the app or that it is being used. The icon doesn’t indicate that is has anything to do with domestic violence to protect the user as well. There are many safeguards in place to safely use the app without notifying one’s abuser. A description of the app is as follows: ASPIRE News is a free application which contains summaries of top stories in world, sports, and entertainment news, from the When Georgia Smiled: Robin McGraw Foundation (and powered by Yahoo!). Additionally, if someone you know is in an abusive relationship—or if that someone is you—the Help Section of the application contains resources for victims of domestic violence. This app does not serve as a replacement for emergency services—in any situation where you feel that you may be at risk, please dial 911 or your local emergency number. The app can be downloaded at https://www.whengeorgiasmiled.org/the-aspire-news-app/#.VBtMAeeryVo. You can also download from the iTunes Store at https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/aspire-news/id733163167?mt=8. Some of the features include: Tap top of the screen 3x to inform selected individuals and notify them you need help and need them to show up Find local shelters quickly Learn about domestic violence. Many don’t feel they are in an abusive relationship or want to face the danger they are in. Many more features to help keep you safe and informed. You can view information about the app on Dr.Phil.com, on the ‘When Georgia Smiles’ website (Georgia was Dr. Phil’s wife’s name) and the iTunes store. The actual app is called ‘The Aspire News App’. The app has features that can literally save one’s life. There is curriculum associated at the app’s website that is acceptable for tweens, teens, and adults and comes with information in Spanish as well. There is no age that is immune to domestic violence and physical abuse in romantic relationships.    

Todays set of textures is a mix of grunge and painted metallic backgrounds that you can use for your next project. The images are free for personal and commercial usage. Enjoy! Download all textures as ZIP from copy.com (32.7Mb) Did you like these textures? Let us know by leaving a comment, and you can even post a link if you used them in your artwork. Related Posts Free Texture Friday - Abstract Grunge 4 Free Texture Friday - Grunge Screens Free Texture Friday - Vintage Stone Wall 2 Free Texture Friday - Vintage Book 3 Free Texture Friday - Color Stained Paper 4

On October 22-24, 2014, I’ll be attending and presenting at the 12th Annual SLATE (Supporting Learning And Technology in Education) Conference, hosted at Northern Illinois University, Naperville. This conference invites all faculty, system administrators, CIO’s, Web developers, instructional designers, librarians, students, and user support staff from institutions that are deploying and/or currently using any Web-based tools, applications or programs, in their teaching and learning. Presentations offer a wide variety of best practices for incorporating and supporting technology in teaching and learning. I’ll be involved in giving three different presentations during the conference. For those who will be attending the conference, I hope you’ll join me for any of these topics that may be of interest to you: Designing Exemplary Online Courses in Blackboard Presenter: Jason Rhode, Northern Illinois University Thu, 10/23, 11:00-11:50am, Auditorium Join us to explore suggested best practices included in the Blackboard Exemplary Course Program Rubric for designing engaging online courses. The presenter will share practical tips from his experience building a course in Blackboard that meets the estab- lished ECP quality benchmarks. We’ll also cover the steps and associated deadlines for faculty interested in submitting their course for consideration as a Blackboard Exemplary Course. This session is geared toward an audience already familiar with the basic online teaching tools available in Blackboard Learn. Contemporary Issues in Higher Education and Online Learning Presenters: Carol Scheidenhelm, Loyola University Chicago; Jason Rhode, Northern Illinois University Thu, 10/23, 2:00-2:50pm, Room 162 At a recent meeting of the University Professional & Continuing Education Association Center for Online Leadership & Strategy, the presenters participated in a roundtable discussion of issues relevant to online teaching and learning in higher education. Participants had the opportunity to share their experiences with issues, policies and road blocks to educating "contemporary" students, resulting in a recently-released federal policy brief. We thought it would be productive to bring this type of discussion to our SLATE Conference participants and provide them an opportunity to come up with a listing of the most pressing issues in higher education today. The list will be shared with the SLATE leadership and may help guide topics for discussion in the 2014-15 SLATE meetings. Where eLearning Meets Faculty Development: Providing Seamless Online Program Development Support Services Presenters: Aline Click, Northern Illinois University; Jason Rhode, Northern Illinois University Thu, 10/23, 4:00-4:50pm, Room 162 While there is no single strategy for effectively supporting online teaching and learning, common faculty support needs related to online teaching practices and online course development exist at every institution. Join us for this panel presentation to learn about one institution’s collaborative approach to providing comprehensive support for new online program development. The conversation will focus on the specific online course development services as well as online teaching support programs, resources, and services offered for faculty. For those in the Chicago area, there is still time to register to attend the conference in person, details at slategroup.org/conference/register. There is even a single-day option available for those who want to just come for 1 day. For those who can’t attend in person, feel free to follow the conference @slateconference and hashtag #slate14

Horses are some of the best known animals on the planet, and have played an important part in the development of human society, as well as in the domestication of animals as a whole. Horses are 4 legged animals that are fast running mammals, that are relatively easily startled, quickly run away from predators, and played a major role in human warfare, travel, and communication, as they are capable of traveling long distances at a quicker rate than otherwise possible. Horses are frequently admired as being beautiful animals, and between their appearance in the wild, and in equestrian events, they are frequently being photographed: Black and White by Vedran Vidak Wild horses by Antonio Costa Horse by Rob van de Peppel Horses by NickYourMyHero Sand Bath Terminus With Gnats by Lynne Glazer Icelandic horses by Karen Friends For Ever by Jeannette Oerlemans Danish Horses by Thilo Teschendorf Horses with harrow by Christine Sweet Charge by Jojo Freedom by Guillermina Sogo Horses by M.S.Photography/Art 4 icelandic horses by Kristján Karlsson Horses by Ozetsky horses by emochick91 Resilience by Karsten Wrobel Horses by Göran Backman Icelandic stallion by Anna Guðmundsdóttir Amazing Horses by Lemieux66 The calm before the storm by Neil Morgan Sardinian Horses by Ajö Gypsy Horses by Motorbikeman Three Horses by WabbyTwaxx Dusty Horses by Charlotte Ballenger Horses at Strumpshaw by Nick Wakeling Sea Horses by Alison Duncan Horse by meg_nicol Horses by eclareee Iceland horses by José Eduardo Silva Winter Horse by Joshua Jacks Related Posts 30 Photographs of Bicycles Duck Photography Rocks, Stones and Pebbles in Photography Bright and Sunny Photography Out of this World Starry Photographs

Research shows that students who are read to as youngsters and continue to read achieve higher in school and on standardized tests. Literary elements and vocabulary development occurs when reading for the joy and love of reading is present in the household. My step-children don’t care to read, nor my husband, but I pressed that it is important to see us modeling reading for enjoyment. Things are different but those impressionable years reading at home was pushed and I truly believe it made a difference. Do our kids still like to read for enjoyment, or my husband? No, but their skills were strengthened and they do not struggle like many students do and I attribute that to modeling and giving kids books or magazines that students enjoy. This year, the 2014 Global Read-A-Thon is coming up from October 6th - November 14th. The goal is to join this global project and make connections with other classes, educators and students throughout the project.  Join in and participate in one of the book studies for yourself or with your students: Author Study: Peter H. Reynolds To make the collaboration easier for everyone, for the author study we recommend reading these books: Week 1: The North Star Week 2: I’m Here Week 3: Ish Week 4: Sky Color Week 5: Going Places Week 6: Your Choice Author Peter Reynolds was selected because of his strong values, ethics and has a wonderful background story that is so inspiring and beloved by many across the globe. His books are so engaging and enthralling they appeal to readers of all ages. Book Choices: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer L. Holm One For the Murphy’s by Lyndy Mullaly Hunt The Fault in Our Stars by John Green   Each of the above books will be broken down by weeks and you can find more information at http://www.globalreadaloud.com/p/books-for-2014.html. Why the Global Read Aloud? Global collaboration is necessary to show students that they are part of something bigger than them. That the world needs to be protected and that we need to care for all people. You can show them pictures of kids in other countries but why not have them speak to each other? Then the caring can begin.   The following Edmodo groups are available to join, read along and discuss ideas while participating in the Global Read Aloud (#GRA14):   Peter H. Reynolds Author Study Group on Edmodo https://edmo.do/j/4fpgfb The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane Group on Edmodo https://edmo.do/j/hiessvThe Fourteenth Goldfish Group on Edmodo https://edmo.do/j/jcmw82One For the Murphy’s Group on Edmodo https://edmo.do/j/9d3fh9The Fault in Our Stars Teacher Group on Edmodo https://edmo.do/j/y9fhkxMass Facilitator Edmodo group https://edmo.do/j/mtk6pu - for those who are the point person for other teachersEdward Tulane in Spanish Group on Edmodo https://edmo.do/j/ffekjc   Classroom 2.0 LIVE will be hosting a free webinar on the event (http://live.classroom20.com) on Saturday, September 20, 2014 at 12pm EST.   Sign up on the same page to participate in the read aloud (http://www.globalreadaloud.com/p/where-do-we-share.html) at the bottom of the very right and join in the fun and gets your students engaged in a good book! Classroom 2.0 LIVE will be hosting a webinar on the event (http://live.classroom20.comBe sure to say I sent ya! (:          

During this presentation by Jason Rhode at the 12th annual SLATE Conference on 10/23/14, we explored suggested best practices included in the Blackboard Exemplary Course Program Rubric for designing engaging online courses. Jason shared practical tips from his experience building a course in Blackboard that meets the established ECP quality benchmarks. We also covered the steps and associated deadlines for faculty interested in submitting their course for consideration as a Blackboard Exemplary Course. This session was geared toward an audience already familiar with the basic online teaching tools available in Blackboard Learn. While the examples shared were specifically of courses in Blackboard, the principles can be applied to developing quality online courses in any learning management system. Resource Links Blackboard Exemplary Course Program Info Blackboard Exemplary Course Program Rubric Sample Course Playlist on YouTube Sample Captioned Course Welcome Video Sample Screencast Course Tour Sample Screencast Group Tour Sample How-To Screencast for Video Discussion Exemplary Course Tours Exemplary Course Program Gallery on Coursesites.com Self-enroll in the Sample ETT 510 Exemplary Course

Source: American Library Association This week, September 22 - 26, 2014 is ‘Banned Book Week’. There are so many reasons parents, administrators, educators and people in general fight to get books banned and out of the hands of young readers everywhere. This week is dedicated to celebrating the freedom to read according to American Library Association (ALA). Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community -- librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types -- in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular. By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship. What an honor that we are able to read the books we choose and have the freedom that we can share with others. Whether you read a printed book or and an electronic version, it is exciting that we have this opportunity every day. There is a proclamation you can take to your local library listed on this webpage: http://www.ala.org/bbooks/bannedbooksweek/ideasandresources/proclamation. The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) does not claim comprehensiveness in recording challenges. Research suggests that for each challenge reported there are as many as four or five which go unreported. In addition, OIF has only been collecting data about banned books since 1990, so we do not have any lists of frequently challenged books or authors before that date. List of 100 most frequently challenged books 1990-99 List of 100 most frequently challenged books 2000-09 Have you read any of the humorous ‘Captain Underpants’ books by Dave Pilkey. There have been efforts and challenges to ban his books. He created this video below. Celebrate this week and share with your students that not everyone has this freedom! Please share what you are doing in your classroom or library to celebrate ‘Banned Books Weeks’.      

Animals show up frequently in logo designs, especially animals that serve as pets such as dogs and cats. Cats work in logo designs for a variety of businesses. Asides from the obvious, such as cat or pet-themed businesses, cats also work for business names that are play-on-words, such as "fat cat" or references to paws, meowing, purring and more. In this post, I’ve gathered up some cute examples of cat themed logos: HJ Mews Fat Cat Burgers Cat Food Sketchy Cat Creative Cap Sante Yacht Sales Cat Flower Gatto Picante Emusklep Banjo Cat Beli The Cat Related Posts Motor and Car Themed Logo Designs Deliciously Creative Food Logo Designs Christmas and Holiday Logos Burning Hot Fire Logo Designs Retro and Vintage Styled Logos

Wed, 10/28/14, 12:00-12:35pm Southern Hemisphere I During this session at the 20th Annual Online Learning Consortium International Conference, learn about Northern Illinois University’s innovative faculty development initiative to offer introductory online technology training via self-paced online workshops as a component of comprehensive online faculty certification. An overview of the process identifying technology competencies for online teaching was shared as well as the design, development, and implementation phases of the project, highlighting lessons learned and tips for other institutions interested in pursuing a similar self-paced model for scaling their faculty development efforts. Accompanying slides are available here and links included in slides shared below. Resource Links NIU Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center NIU Teaching with Blackboard Website Blackboard Competencies (Basic) Blackboard I: Outline for Self-Paced Workshop Self-Paced Blackboard I Workshop YouTube Playlist NIU Blackboard Tutorials NIU Blackboard Quick Guides

Recently I downgraded the iOS on my iPad 2 back to version iOS 7 as I was having too many problems with a lag and certain apps not running. The apps would close immediately and you couldn’t do anything with them. This was all very frustrating until my husband and I found a site that tells you how to downgrade from version iOS 8 back to version iOS 7. In the event you want to do the same I wanted to share the webpage with you. The download page is linked here. The only version I could get of the firmware to work was the non-GSM version. Apple only allows a short amount of time to downgrade iOSs back to a previous version after a new release so don’t wait too long. Apple recently stopped offering iOS 8 as there have been so many complaints and problems with the release. You can read that article about the status of iOS 8 here.

Today I have another set of my favorite textures, Abstract Grunge. I love reusing my old images and playing around in Photoshop making these unique and weird textures. Anyway, I hope you like them. Enjoy! Download all textures as ZIP from copy.com (27.9Mb) Did you like these textures? Let us know by leaving a comment, and you can even post a link if you used them in your artwork. Related Posts Free Texture Friday - Grunge Screens Free Texture Friday - Grunge Metal 2 Free Texture Friday - Vintage Stone Wall 2 Free Texture Friday - Black Leather Free Texture Friday - Vintage Book 3

Since 2004, EDUCAUSE has partnered with higher education institutions to investigate the technologies that matter most to undergraduate students. In 2014, the EDUCAUSE Center for Analysis and Research technology survey was sent to approximately 1.5 million students at 213 institutions, yielding 75,306 responses across 15 countries. This year’s findings are based on a stratified random sample of 10,000 U.S. respondents and shed light on a number of topics. click here to view enlarged infographic General student technology experiences and expectations Technology is embedded into students’ lives, and students are generally inclined to use and to have favorable attitudes toward technology. However, technology has only a moderate influence on students’ active involvement in particular courses or as a connector with other students and faculty. Students’ academic use of technology is widespread but not deep. They are particularly interested in expanding the use of a few specific technologies. Most students look online or to family or friends for technology support. The minority who use institutional help desks report positive experiences. Anytime, anywhere access to learning that is enabled by device proliferation More students own mobile devices now than ever. Although students rate network performance as generally good, projected increases in connected devices could soon challenge even the most robust campus networks. Many students use mobile devices for academic purposes. Their in-class use is more likely when instructors encourage such use; however, both faculty and students are concerned about their potential for distraction. Learning environments More students than ever have experienced a digital learning environment. The majority say they learn best with a blend of online and face-to-face work. Undergraduates value the learning management system (LMS) as critical to their student experience but rarely make full use of it. Today’s undergraduates want a mobile-friendly, highly personalized, and engaging LMS experience. Most students support institutional use of their data to advise them on academic progress in courses and programs. Many of the analytic functions students seek already exist in contemporary LMSs. Few undergraduates have taken a massive open online course (MOOC). Students still view traditional college degrees as the gold standard for résumés. Few students would include digital badges, e-portfolios, or competency creden- tials on their résumés. Although technology is omnipresent in the lives of students, leveraging technology as a tool to engage students is still evolving. We know from looking at longitudinal data from past student studies that students still have a complex relationship with tech- nology; they recognize its value, but they still need guidance when it comes to using technology in meaningful and engaging ways for academics. Students are still ready to use their mobile devices more for academics, but we haven’t yet seen widespread application of this. Students also still prefer blended learning environments, and their expectations are increasing for these hybrid online/face-to-face experiences. The following study materials and resources are available: Report [PDF] Infographic [PDF] Slide Presentation [PPTX] Survey Instrument [PDF]

Have you ever wanted to quickly grade student assignments or assessments with a quick snapshot using your cell phone’s camera? With Quick Key Mobile you can do just that! With Quick Key Mobile, you no longer have to hand grade bubble sheets anymore. You can use this FREE app to grade the app and upload student scores directly to your online gradebook. The setup is quick to merge the app and your gradebook with clear directions and ease of use. How does the App Work? "Quick Key turns your phone into an optical scanner to grade quizzes, tests, and surveys on paper, up to 30 questions long. Then, Quick Key allows you to run analytics right on your phone, then upload the data to your electronic grade book. Newly updated and easier than ever to set up and use. If you already have an electronic grade book, you can set up your account on our companion site www.quickkeyapp.com and import all of your students and assign them to classes in 60 seconds." Use of the App As you can see in the picture at the right, you snap a picture and it scores and sends the data for your to review or upload to your gradebook. Very quick and convenient! If I were still in the classroom this would be one of my main go-to apps that I would use frequently. What a time-saving tool and app! If you read the reviews, the reviews are positive and highly recommend this app. The app is described to do what is says it does and is extremely convenient. This is great news for all teachers using bubble sheets for assessments or assignments. Check it out and let me know what you think and if it actually does what it says it does - I am very curious to hear your personal experiences!       Image Sources: ITunes Quick Key Mobile Page

Stars have always fascinated mankind, and they’ve helped us with everything from navigation to monitoring time through the development of the calendar based on the Earth’s position relative to our star (the Sun). Stars have been classified into shapes based on their positions in a group, known as constellations, and these have had important religious and astrological significance. Photographing stars can be difficult due to light pollution, but using a combination of long exposure in isolated or remote areas can reveal truly breathtaking photographs of the heavens. Martis Valley Stars by Paul Heran Stars by Tiberius47 Star by Tom Hall Stars by Mats Anda The Universe Looks Down On The Township by Ben Robson Stars by PaulineMoss Stars by Mohamed Majid Stars by Rosm One Starry Sky over Yosemite’s Half Dome by Adam Foster Sandbox Under the Stars by PeterJCoskun Stars and stars by John Hill Billions and Billions of Stars and a Perseid Too! by Michael Menefee Stars by Butterfly-Skies The tower at night by Kostadin Madjarov Stars by Kefirux Star Hunting At Loveland Pass by Mike Berenson Star Light…… Star Bright by James Duckworth Stars by Miikka Vennola Stars by LuxLucie Star icefall by MASAHIRO MIYASAKA Stars over Galena Peak by Pat Gaines Pure Milky Way by James Wheeler Stars over Wall Street - Bryce Canyon by Royce Bair **Galloping in the mountains** by Konstantinos Vasilakakos Stars and Arch by John Fowler Milky Way by Denis Belitsky Balcombe Stars by Jamie Pryer Alien Hand by Adam Stephenson Stars by David DeHetre Milky Way over New Hedges by Grant Hyatt Related Posts 30 Beautiful Starry Night Photographs 30 Photographs of Bicycles 30 Majestic Photographs of Horses Duck Photography Bright and Sunny Photography

Do you love making animated posters with Glogster like I do? If so, there is a new iPad app out that allows you to create ‘glogs’, or graphic blogs, on the iPad. You can create a poster or image and add video clips, audio clips, links, etc. and animate all of it to embed the image on a variety of websites. There is an educational version of Glogster where students can have their own accounts. Then they can create their own online posters as culminating activities or any number of possible learning activities. Glogster also has ambassadors that are educators that use Glogster frequently with their students and help guide and share innovative ways of using Glogster. In iTunes, Glogster adds that the following features are available via the app: Combine images, graphics, audio, video and text with a simple yet powerful Glog canvas Start with some predesigned templates, allowing you to quickly create impressive glogs Add flair to your glog with 10,000 unique educational graphics, categorized by subject Delete elements, close and preview glogs with simple gestures Edit photos and graphics with Aviary effects Edudemic shared a video about using the iPad app as shown below: Glogster iPad App [Official Video] from Glogster on Vimeo. Check out the newly released app and let me know what you think of compared to the online version - very curious to hear experiences!

Creating text effects is one of the most common tasks in Photoshop for designers. It’s common for logo design, the text in flyer design, web design effects, and even in 3D or animation. Photoshop continues to add more tools to create powerful effects for text as new updates occur, and it’s now possible to use vectors and create 3D effects in Photoshop. In this post, I’ve gathered up 10 fun Photoshop text effect tutorials for you to try: Discover Hidden Depth in Type Illustration Tutorial How To Create Wooden 3D Text Hipster Text Effect in Photoshop CS6 Create Abstract Shiny Text with a Groovy Font Magma Hot Text Effect Elegant Glossy Gold Text Effect The Sugar Bag Effect Simple Bokeh Text Effect 3D Rubber and Glass Text Effect 3D Skyscraper Text Effect in Photoshop CS5 Related Posts Fun Text Effect Tutorials You Have to Try Photoshop Typography and Text Effect Tutorials Illustrator Tutorials for Text Effects Burning Hot Photoshop Fire and Flame Tutorials Great Photoshop Art & Design Tutorials

There are many resources that provide free Kindle, Nook, epub and ereader books in a variety of formats and for many different devices. The following are resources that will allow you to download and receive or borrow free Kindle books. Some offer the books in a variety of formats for the different readers but the list below is intended for use with a Kindle, using a Kindle on an iPad or tablet or the Kindle cloud app online via the Internet. Some are blogs that you have to subscribe to while others you can search and download directly from their site and not all books are free to be aware when you are downloading books. As far as copyright issues, if a book is in the public domain you can download it for free. The resources shared below offer a variety of genres and new releases that include best selling authors. Some are from new authors trying to get publicity for their work. Regardless, the resources are numerous and I find the offerings interesting to discover new books to read. Check out the resources, review their terms for downloading and fill your Kindle or Kindle app with some exciting things to read or research. The LIST of Resources Amazon/Amazon Prime Kindle Lending Library Ereader News Today The eReader Cafe iLove Ebooks OverDrive Service through a public library BooklendingeReader IQ Kobo Pixel of Ink Project Gutenberg Digilibraries Free Books Hub Hundred Zeros Free Booksy (including books for children) Open Library eBooks Habit Pixel Scroll Free-ebooks.netKindle Buffet World Public Library Shelfbuzz Free Book Sifter Daily Cheap Reads (including a junior edition)   Partial Source: http://freebies.about.com/od/onlinebooks/tp/free-kindle-books.htm

It’s my pleasure to announce the completion of the Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center annual report for the 2013-14 academic year. This year, we created a new digital annual report that is available at facdevreport.niu.edu. Below are a few highlights. During 2013-2014, the Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center contributed to Northern Illinois University's mission "…to promote excellence and engagement in teaching and learning, research and scholarship, creativity and artistry, and outreach and service" by collaborating with various academic and support units to meet the ongoing and emerging needs of NIU faculty, staff, administrators, and graduate teaching assistants in their teaching, technology integration, professional development, and related needs. This marked the fifteenth full academic year of operation for the Center since we were reorganized in August 1998. Some of our significant accomplishments this year include: Offering 143 programs for 1,663 participants, which totaled 5,421 hours of professional development Conducting 1,018 consultations with 367 unique faculty, instructors, staff, and graduate teaching assistants from 80 academic and support units Serving on 26 committees, councils, and organizations within NIU and the broader Faculty Development community Being recognized with 8 awards, both as a unit and as individuals, for commitment and contributions to NIU, teaching effectiveness, technology integration, and the broader Faculty Development community. Feel free to explore and learn more about our activities and accomplishments from the past year. Sincerely, Jason Rhode, Ph.D. Director

Today I have another set of Vintage Stone Wall Textures from some old ruins I shot last summer. The textures are grunge and gritty, suitable for various types of projects. As before, you can download the set in a zip file using the link at the bottom of the post. Enjoy! The Location: Download all textures as ZIP from copy.com (81.7Mb) Did you like these textures? Let us know by leaving a comment, and you can even post a link if you used them in your artwork. Related Posts Free Texture Friday - Vintage Stone Wall Free Texture Friday - Grunge Stone Wall 3 Free Texture Friday - Old Stone Wall Free Texture Friday - Vintage Book 3 Free Texture Friday - Vintage Paper 9

If you are an avid user of Dropbox, I highly encourage you to check out their new features. There is a cost involved but if you need to store and share large videos online in the cloud, Dropbox Pro may be just what you need. One feature I downloaded was the ability to send email to Dropbox. There are certain emails that I need to save and find easily such as the ones for the company that I am an online instructor for, PLS 3rd Learning. Anyway, I download the app/plug-in so I can send my email to Dropbox. Below is the description of the mailbox plugin. In the next few days I will be talking more about the new features of Dropbox as I try them out. For now, here is the info about ‘Mailbox': What began with an observation — that people used email as a (terrible) to-do list — evolved into Orchestra To-do, the App Store’s 2011 Productivity App of the Year. Despite the app’s success, the team was still receiving tasks via email. And one day it dawned on them: rather than moving these tasks somewhere else, what if they transformed the inbox where the tasks already live? We’ve come to believe email is here to stay. And while we can’t get away from it, we can change how we interact with it. We can put email in its place. That’s where Mailbox comes in. We’ve created a mobile-first email experience from the ground up — challenging assumptions about how email works and redesigning the inbox for a world on the go.

The sun plays a key role in most types of nature photography. Whereas portraits and objects can be artificially lit, most natural scenes have sunlight as the lighting source. Sunlight has a variety of properties that have to be accounted for in photography, and the time of day plays a huge role in how a photograph appears. Golden hour, or the hour before sunset or after sunrise is frequently the most popular time for nature photographers. However, many photographs are also taken in the bright sun, and they frequently have a vibrant, happy and energetic feeling: On a bright, sunny day in Amsterdam by Thorsten Becker Bright Lost Lagoon by Songralonian Countryside by Kasper Nymann Free at the top! by Penny Wong Sunny by TimeKiller357 Lifecycle by Rasica Let the light engulf you! by Noelle Buske Sunny Day by Lady—Vengeance Countryside by Kasper Nymann Looking Up by Gary Bright by D-o-m-u-s Red Carpet by Marco Götze Lightness yb Lisa Lang Sunny day by Roman Las Montan~as by Darian Smith Sunburst and Wildflowers by Orlon 2 Goat Rock by Watson Lu trees sun flare by Sean Gladwell Sunny Fields by LyraWhite SUNNY FLOWER by Batpaws Autumn sunny park by Roksana Bashyrova Summer Beginning by Dominic Marley Sun light between the trees by Deyan Georgiev Linearity by J-P Kalupa Light by Marisa Nourbese Field of sunflowers by Igor Goncharenko What a beautiful morning! by Ruth Hartnup It’s Quite Bright by sejnow Bright by Mona Dienhart sunset boulevard by Tegan Edwards Related Posts 30 Marvelous Underwater Photographs Rocks, Stones and Pebbles in Photography 30 Photographs of Bicycles 30 Majestic Photographs of Horses Duck Photography

As a current member of the advisory council for the UPCEA Center for Online Leadership and Strategy, I’m passing along this notice about the upcoming 2015 Summit for Online Leadership and Strategy. I highly recommend this conference to all those engaged in the leadership of online program delivery and I hope you’ll join me there. ~ Jason Rhode @jasonrhode Join key campus leaders — presidents, provosts, deans and practitioners directly engaged in the management and delivery of online programs — at the 2015 Summit for Online Leadership and Strategy in San Antonio this January! Attend concurrent and general sessions on pivotal challenges and opportunities including the strategic growth of online programs, virtual leadership, online marketing, competency-based education, predictive analytics, and more. Don’t let the early bird registration rate pass you by - be sure to register before December 8th to save $50! Remember that groups of four or more can receive a 10 percent discount on their group registration. Call the UPCEA office at 202-659-3130 for more information. See you in January! Amy Heitzman, Ph.D. Chief Learning Officer, UPCEA