It seems like this spring Google is rolling out three or new Google Apps features every week. Last month they added 11 new features. This week three new features were added and one big feature was teased. This week Google added an awesome Q&A feature to Google Slides. The Q&A feature is found in the revamped presentation mode of Google Slides. With the Q&A feature enabled you can send your audience to a specific URL at which they enter questions. Your audience can vote for their favorite questions. This week's other update to Google Slides was the addition of a "laser pointer" feature in the presentation mode. That feature allows you to highlight portion of your slides for your audience. Watch the video below to learn how the new laser pointer and Q&A features work in Google Slides. A frequently requested feature was added to Google Classroom earlier this week. That feature is the option to schedule assignments and announcements to appear in your classroom stream at a later time. The video embedded below shows you how to do this. Finally, this week Google announced that by this coming fall (in the Northern Hemisphere) you will be able to invite parents to view a digest of updates to your Google Classroom stream. This should make it much easier to keep parents informed of assignments and announcements. Join Getting Going With GAFE to learn how to get the most out of these features and many more. The next class begins on Tuesday evening. It's one of three courses that I'm offering this spring and summer. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesNow You Can Choose Which Google Drive Files Are Synced for Offline AccessHow to Schedule Assignments & Announcements in Google ClassroomHow to Use the New Q&A and Laser Pointer Features of Google Slides @googledocs 

Good evening from Maine where Max, Mason, and I are still disappointed with the outcome of last two Red Sox games. But as true Red Sox fans we know that they'll come back tomorrow and beat the Yankees. In the meantime we're enjoying a nice sunset view from my back deck. Wherever you are this weekend, I hope you have time for a relaxing evening. And Happy Mother's Day to my mother, Kathy, and to all mothers reading this blog. Here are this week's most popular posts: 1. Tony Vincent Teaches Us How to Make Great Illustrations 2. 11 Google Apps Updates You Might Have Missed This Month 3. A Great Explanation of Primary Sources vs. Secondary Sources 4. Schedule Assignments in Google Classroom 5. How to Use the New Q&A and Laser Pointer Features of Google Slides 6. Stackup - Create & Track Reading Goals for You and Your Students 7. An Animated Tour of the Water Cycle and Water Treatment Spring and Summer PD Opportunities With MeOnly five tickets are left for the Practical Ed Tech BYOD Camp in July. The Practical Ed Tech Chromebook Camp is sold out! Email me to get on the waiting list. If coming to Maine isn't an option for you, take a look at the online workshops I'm hosting throughout the spring and summer.Would you like to have me speak at your school or conference?Click here to learn about my professional development services.  Please visit the official advertisers that help keep this blog going.Practical Ed Tech is the brand through which I offer PD webinars.BoomWriter provides a fantastic tool for creating writing lessons. FreshGrade is a great online digital portfolio tool. Storyboard That is my go-to tool for creating storyboards and cartoon stories.Discovery Education & Wilkes University offer online courses for earning Master's degrees in Instructional Media.PrepFactory offers a great place for students to prepare for SAT and ACT tests.FrontRow offers adaptive online ELA and Math practice activities.  Teach n Go is a comprehensive platform for teaching online courses.The University of Maryland Baltimore County offers graduate programs for teachers.Boise State University offers a 100% online program in educational technology.EdTechTeacher is hosting host workshops in six cities in the U.S. in the summer.Buncee offers a great tool for creating visual stories.  This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesThe Week in Review - The Most Popular PostsThe Week in Review - A Walk in the WoodsThe Week in Review - 50 Million Page Views 

About eighteen months ago I started to make a stronger effort to include video tutorials in more of my blog posts. At first I used Wistia to host those videos but the bandwidth costs became too high so I switched them to YouTube. Now I have more than 250 ed tech tools tutorial videos on my YouTube channel. Nearly 5,000 people have subscribed to my YouTube channel. Subscribe to it and you'll be notified when I publish a new tutorial (currently about two per week). To subscribe to my YouTube or any other YouTube channel simply sign into your Google account then click "subscribe" on the channel's homepage. The video below demonstrates how to do this. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related Stories4 Google Apps for Education Updates You Might Have Missed This WeekHow to Schedule Assignments & Announcements in Google ClassroomHow to Add Custom Avatars to ClassDojo 

Two years ago NPR  published a database of the best commencement speeches ever given (how they determine "best" is unclear). The Best Commencement Speeches, Ever has an index of 354 commencement speeches. The speeches are listed alphabetically by speaker's first name. Instead of searching by speaker's name you can search according to theme, school, or date. A transcript for each speech is available. Videos are available for many of the speeches. Steve Jobs' 2005 commencement speech at Stanford is embedded below. Applications for Education NPR's The Best Commencement Speeches, Ever could be a good source of inspiration for crafting graduation messages to share with students. H/T to Open Culture. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesA Great Explanation of Primary Sources vs. Secondary SourcesHow Much Energy is Consuming by Watching a Video?Nearly 100 TED-Ed Lessons About Nature 

This is a guest post from Ben Sondgeroth (@Mr_Sondgeroth) of EdTechTeacher, an advertiser on this site. As more schools adopt Google Apps For Education (GAFE), increasingly teachers and students are dealing with multiple Google Accounts - one for work/school and one for personal use. When this situation happens, we often want to keep our two worlds separate.  Google has a way to make this possible that is built into Chrome.  Users can establish multiple Chrome profiles tied to specific Google accounts.  As the Director of Technology in my school district, I often see teachers attempt to solve this problem by adding a second account by selecting their profile picture in Gmail and choosing "add an account." While adding an account allows for switching between accounts without signing out of one and into another, it is not a great practice as your Google Drive, Gmail, and other Google services may become confused as to which account is tied to certain Google Apps. Your personalized settings are also not separated in this instance, meaning that themes, bookmarks, passwords, and history will only be tied to the first account listed.  In order to avoid this confusion, people should set up two separate Chrome profiles. When you first open a Chrome browser, you are prompted to sign in to Chrome.  When you do this, you have established more than just the ability to log into your email quickly, you have actually set up a way to keep all settings, bookmarks, apps, history, and passwords synced back to that one account log-in.  The simplicity of keeping all your data in one profile is a great benefit if you are sharing a computer or would like to keep your work profile separate from your personal profile.  As an example, I have several work-related bookmarks pinned to my bookmarks bar with my work account. However, I do not necessarily need those bookmarks when I am browsing from my personal account, nor do I need bookmarks, such as my banking information, tied to my work account. Setting up your secondary Chrome profile can be done multiple ways.  If you are on a PC or Mac, start by looking in the top right corner of your browser window.  In that corner, there should be a rectangle with your name on it; click your name to open a drop-down menu. From that drop-down menu, select "Switch person" and a window will appear.  From there, you will then select "Add Person" from the bottom of the window. When this is selected, a new Chrome window will open, and a new Chrome sign-in page will be displayed.  Log in with your second Google account, and all of your data will be synced to that profile.  At this point, you may be prompted with a question to "Link Data."  This will only happen if you are logging into a managed Chrome profile, which would more than likely be your school account.  The warning is stated that any of your data, "such as apps, bookmarks, history and passwords will become permanently tied" to that account.  This warning is a great reminder that you should be creating two profiles - one for personal data and one for work.  You do want to link your data as a best practice.Not doing so would prevent all of the benefits of having two Chrome profiles. In order to switch between these accounts in the future, follow the same process as adding an account.  After selecting "Switch Person," choose your picture or the name of the account that you would like to access.  Once that is done, you will have access to all of the information stored with that account! In a newly released Chrome update, you can also switch profiles by right clicking on your name and selecting the desired Chrome profile from your list. If you are a Chrome user on your mobile devices, you have the ability to sign in to multiple accounts through the mobile browser as well.  When this is done, all of your bookmarks, passwords, and other data syncs across to your mobile device! From an educational standpoint, knowing how to create separate Chrome profiles is important for students who are using Google Apps for Education at school and then going home to a family computer with multiple users.  Without being aware of this process, many students sign in to the Chrome browser and inadvertently link their student data with the existing family data, which can be messy and frustrating.  Additionally, classroom computers with multiple users can benefit from using these separate Chrome profiles to keep student data separate. By separating your Chrome accounts into different Chrome profiles, you have the opportunity to maximize productivity while minimizing the risk of confusing your worlds.  Not only is this process important for educators, but teaching it to our students enables them to move between school Chromebooks and home computers with ease. Ben will be assisting in a number of EdTechTeacher Summer Workshops in Chicago. There is still time to register for these events. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesNearly 5,000 People Get Their Ed Tech Tips This WayThe Week in Review - The Most Popular Posts4 Google Apps for Education Updates You Might Have Missed This Week 

This week's Practical Ed Tech Tip of the Week was about how to create screencast videos on an Android device. Shortly after posting that tip I had some people ask how to create a screencast of an iPad screen. There are a couple of ways that you can create a screencast video of your iPad's screen. Method 1 - If you have a Mac computer: Connect your iPad to your Mac by using the Lightning cable (the cable that came with your iPad). Then open QuickTime on your Mac. Next select "new movie recording" from the QuickTime menu. You can then choose the name of your iPad and click record. When you're done recording your new screencast will save to your computer as a video file that you can then edit in iMovie if you want to cut out portions of it or lay a music track under your narration. Method 2 - If you have a Windows computer: You will need a third-party service that allows you to mirror your iPad to the screen of your Windows computer. Air Server is the service that I recommend for mirroring an iPad to a Windows computer. Air Server includes a recording tool that  you can use to make a screencast video of your iPad's screen. With Air Server running you can just tap record and instantly start capturing your screen and your narration. The video will save on your Windows computer where you can then edit it and or upload it to your favorite video hosting service. Whiteboard videos: If you don't need to record your entire iPad screen and just want to make a whiteboard video there are plenty of options available in the App Store. ShowMe and Educreations are two of the most popular apps for that purpose. Learn how to do things like this and many more practical ed tech tips at the Practical Ed Tech BYOD Camp in July. Just three tickets are left. Powered by Eventbrite This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesNearly 5,000 People Get Their Ed Tech Tips This WayThe Week in Review - The Most Popular Posts4 Google Apps for Education Updates You Might Have Missed This Week 

Last year the CK-12 Foundation introduced the CK-12 Brainflex Summer Challenge. The challenge is a free program that students can use to keep their math and science skills sharp through the summer while also learning some new knowledge and gaining new skills. Students register for the program then track their skills review through the CK-12 Brainflex website. The CK-12 Summer Challenge is self-paced and students choose the subjects that they want to review. Applications for Education Teachers can send invitations to students to participate in the CK-12 Summer Challenge. With those invitations teachers can include suggestions for subjects to review. CK-12 also provides a template for a letter to send home to parents with suggestions on subjects for their children to review over the summer. That letter could be sent to the parents of the students moving on from your classroom this summer or to the parents of the students you're expecting to see in the fall. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesWhy Are Airplane Engines so Big? - How Jet Engines Work #STEMStackup - Create & Track Reading Goals for You and Your StudentsRiddle Me This - 7 TED-Ed Lessons Based on Riddles 

Last week I wrote a comparison of adding media to Buncee slides and adding media to Google Slides. Over the weekend a couple of people emailed me for more information about how to add media to Buncee slides. In the video embedded below I demonstrate how to add animations and videos to Buncee slides. Disclosure: Buncee is a client of MindRocket Media Group. I have a financial interest in MindRocket Media Group. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesHow to Create Screencasts of Your iPadThe Week in Review - The Most Popular PostsBuncee Buddies Connects Classrooms for Earth Day 

ReadWorks has just released a new set of reading packs designed to help you keep your students reading through the summer. Like all ReadWorks units the articles within the reading packs are free to download and print. The ReadWorks Summer Reading Packs are arranged by grade level. Within each grade level you will find ten articles that are accompanied by lexile scores. You can download individual articles or print all of the articles in a grade level as one packet. Applications for Education The reading packs can provide you with some good material to send home with your students this summer. You can supplement the packs by adding more content from the ReadWorks library. With a free ReadWorks account you can search the library for lessons and reading passages by grade level, lexile score, reading skill, subject area, and text type (fiction or non-fiction). In your ReadWorks account you can create digital binders of the lesson plans and reading passages that you want to use. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesReadWorks Introduces ReadWorks Digital for Sharing Reading Assignments With StudentsReadWorks Offers Articles, Question Sets, and Videos About Martin Luther King, Jr.CK-12 Brainflex is Back for 2016 - Keep Math Skills Sharp This Summer 

Yesterday, I shared the news that CK-12 is once again running a summer math and science program for students. This evening I learned that CK-12 is offering a summer program for teachers too. CK-12's Jumpstart Your Curriculum is a six part course for teachers who want to learn how to create great CK-12 FlexBooks. FlexBooks are digital textbooks that you create and customize to meet the specific needs of your classroom. The course includes the option to join a community of other FlexBook creators and collaborate with them. The image below outlines the six parts of the course which begins on June 20th. You can register now for CK-12 Jumpstart Your Curriculum. The registration process takes less than minute and is completely free. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesCK-12 Brainflex is Back for 2016 - Keep Math Skills Sharp This SummerHow to Create Screencasts of Your iPadHow to Add Multimedia Elements to Buncee Slides 

MindMup is a nice mind mapping tool that can be integrated into your Google Drive account. MindMup works like most mind mapping tools in that you can create a central idea and add child and sibling nodes all over a blank canvas. MindMup nodes can contain text and links. When you're ready to save your MindMup mind map you can save it to Google Drive, save it to your desktop, or publish it online. If you publish it online, you can grab an embed code for it to post it in a blog post or webpage. Earlier this week MindMup released a new feature in MindMup 2.0. You can now organize your mind maps vertically and create hierarchy structures in your mind maps. Applications for Education Creating mind maps is one of my favorite ways to organize ideas and information. I've often had my students create mind maps as an exercise in making visual connections between important concepts, events, and people in a unit of study. The new vertical hierarchy structure in MindMup could make it a good option for organizing things like genealogy research projects. H/T to Jen Deyenberg This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesMost Popular in 2015 - Two Tools for Turning Outlines Into Mind MapsDesign Mind Maps and Flow Charts With Lucidchart for iPadLearn How to Create CK-12 FlexBooks In a Free Summer Course 

LitCharts is a relatively new service that provides teachers and students with guides and summaries of classic and popular literature. The service currently offers more than 300 titles. LitCharts guides can be viewed online or you can download the guides as PDFs. To download a PDF you do have to enter your email address. The online version of the guides available on LitCharts feature background information on a book's author, a color-coded list of themes in the book, a plot summary, a character list and summary, and an interactive chart board of themes in the book. The interactive chart boards on LitCharts offer a way to explore the entire guide from one place. The chart board is a wheel of chapters of a book. The wheel is color-coded with themes from the book. When you click on a chapter and color in the chart board you will be shown a short summary of that section of the book followed by a link to read more. Color-coding makes it fairly easy to follow a theme through the book. Applications for Education I learned about LitCharts from Terri Eichholz who pointed out that some teachers will find LitCharts to be just another cheat sheet. But other teachers will put LitCharts to use by taking advantage of the color-coded theme tracker in LitCharts. One thing that I might do with the color-coded theme tracker is pick sections from two or more themes and ask my students how the author connects the themes throughout the book. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesReadWorks Publishes Summer Reading Packs for K-12CK-12 Brainflex is Back for 2016 - Keep Math Skills Sharp This SummerReadWorks Introduces ReadWorks Digital for Sharing Reading Assignments With Students 

This morning I was frustrated trying to get the new annotations feature in Evernote for Android to work correctly so I went back to using Google Keep to annotate my pictures on my Android phone. As I was annotating a picture I noticed that I could add a voice comment to the same note that my picture was in. To add a voice comment to a picture in Google Keep you simply open the app and tap the camera icon in the "take a note" field. Then after taking your picture (or importing from your camera roll) tap the "+" icon in the lower-left corner to add a note. You can choose to type a note or your can tap the microphone icon to record a note. Then just start speaking. The audio file will automatically be attached to the note containing your image. Applications for Education Sometimes a voice note more accurately conveys what a student wants to remember about than a text note does.  Adding voice notes to pictures in Google Keep could provide students with a relatively easy way to make notes for themselves about a diagram or math problem that you've shared with them. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related Stories4 Google Apps for Education Updates You Might Have Missed This WeekHow to Schedule Assignments & Announcements in Google ClassroomHow to Use the New Q&A and Laser Pointer Features of Google Slides @googledocs 

Earlier this week I posted the image you see to the left as part of my blog post about CK-12's summer math program. That image was made by blending two images together in Google Slides. To make the final image I went to Pixabay and grabbed a public domain image of a beach and a public domain image of an abacus. Then in Google Slides I used the image editing tools to layer the images and adjust the transparency so that it looks like the abacus and beach are blended together. Watch the video embedded below to see how I did it. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesAdd Voice Notes to Pictures in Google KeepHow to Schedule Assignments & Announcements in Google ClassroomHow to Use the New Q&A and Laser Pointer Features of Google Slides @googledocs 

Eighteen months after acquiring the popular Knowmia Teach platform, TechSmith has announced that they are shutting it down this summer. It was a great iPad app and online platform for creating and sharing flipped video lessons. Knowmia isn't the only product that TechSmith is shuttering. They are also ending support for Snagit for Chrome and removing ScreenChomp from the App store this store. Snagit for Chrome provided a nice way to create screen capture images and videos on a Chromebook. ScreenChomp was a nice, free iPad app for creating screencast videos. TechSmith says they're ending these popular services so that they can focus on Snagit for desktop and Camtasia which both cost a minimum of $23.66 even with an educational discount. I'll be sharing a list of alternatives to TechSmith's products soon. Update: I just heard from TechSmith that they are going to continue support for Screencast.com and Coach's Eye, and Jing. So they're closing half of their free products.  This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesHow to Blend Images in Google SlidesAdd Voice Notes to Pictures in Google KeepLitCharts Offers Guides to Popular & Classic Literature 

This morning TechSmith announced that they are closing down Knowmia, ScreenChomp, and Snagit for Chrome. In other words, half of their free products that teachers loved. Here are some alternatives to those tools. Three Alternatives to Snagit for Chrome: Nimbus Screenshot is a free extension that allows you to capture screen images and create screencast videos. Screencasts recorded with Nimbus Screenshot can be saved to your local drive or to an online Nimbus account. I chose to save to my local drive then upload to my YouTube channel. You could also save to your local drive then share to Google Drive or another online storage service. Evernote's Chrome extension now includes a screenshot tool. Images are saved directly to your Evernote account where you can then annotate them with drawings and text. CaptureCast is a great tool for creating screencasts on a Chromebook. CaptureCast is rather easy to install. Your recording length is unlimited. You can record your webcam while recording your screen which you cannot do with the Nimbus tool or Snagit. Set-up of CaptureCast is easy too. For folks who don't want to use YouTube to share recordings, CaptureCast lets you share directly to a Vimeo account. Three Alternatives to Knowmia and ScreenChomp: 30hands is a freemium iPad app that makes it very easy to create a narrated slideshow and or whiteboard video. To create a basic narrated slideshow on 30hands all you need to do is import images from your iPad’s camera roll then press the record button below each image to record your narration. If you don’t have any pictures on your iPad you can take pictures using the 30hands app. 30hands also allows you to draw images instead of importing pictures. You can combine imported pictures with drawn images in your presentations. And you can draw on top of imported images. When your project is complete you can save it on your iPad or share it with the 30hands community. Educreations is a free iPad app that turns your iPad into a whiteboard. You can use the app to illustrate concepts and narrate what you’re doing on the screen. You can draw images from scratch on the Educreations iPad app or you can upload images and draw on them. Your completed lesson can be shared directly to others or made public on the Educreations website. ShowMe was the first whiteboard app that I ever tried and it is still good. ShowMe is an app for creating and sharing whiteboard-style lessons on your iPad. To support teachers, the Show Me website is building a gallery of lessons developed and shared by teachers. Each day there is a "Show Me of the Day" that is added to the gallery of lessons. Click here to download the app from iTunes. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesTechSmith is Ending Support for All of Their Free ProductsHow to Create Screencasts of Your iPadAZ Screen Recorder - Create Screencasts on Your Android Device 

Earlier today people who are subscribed to my YouTube channel may have received a notification of a new video posted. If you watched it (all 12 seconds of it) you might have wondered, "what the heck is Richard doing?" I posted it during a presentation this morning. The presentation was about making videos with students. That particular video was a demonstration of how to post a video made on Stupeflix to a YouTube channel. Then I demonstrated how to add annotations to the video. Adding annotations to videos allows you to create an interactive series of videos. In the video embedded below I demonstrate how to create an interactive series through the use of YouTube annotations. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesHow to Blend Images in Google SlidesAdd Voice Notes to Pictures in Google KeepLearn How to Create CK-12 FlexBooks In a Free Summer Course 

In my post yesterday evening I mentioned that at the PSLA conference in Pennsylvania I demonstrated how to create an audio slideshow video with Stupeflix. For folks who came to my presentation and anyone else who is curious about the tool, I offer the following tutorial video. Applications for Education Some of the highlights of Stupeflix for teachers are that it doesn't require email addresses, there is not a recording length limitation, and there is a library of free music that students can use in their videos. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesHow to Create Screencasts of Your iPadHow to Create an Interactive Series of VideosHow to Blend Images in Google Slides 

One of my favorite things to do professionally is speak at conferences because I get to meet so many passionate educators. This week I had the privilege to give the opening keynote at the PSLA 2016 conference on Thursday evening. On Friday morning I gave another presentation. The slides from both of my presentations are embedded below. Visit my work with me page to learn how to bring me to your school or conference. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesHow to Create Audio Slideshow Videos on Stupeflix (No sign-in required)How to Create an Interactive Series of VideosHow to Blend Images in Google Slides 

Good evening from Maine where I am home after a couple of days in Pennsylvania for PSLA 2016. It was an honor to give the keynote at the conference full of enthusiastic teacher-librarians. On Thursday evening I gave the opening keynote. Before I took the stage there was a short ceremony to install the new PSLA officers. My laptop was accidentally bumped during that ceremony and my slides advanced until they were stuck on a picture of my dogs. For a few moments it looked like they were overseeing the ceremony. Of course, I had to snap a picture of it and post it on Instagram. Here are this week's most popular posts: 1. 7 Tools for Creating Flowcharts, Mind Maps, and Diagrams 2. How to Blend Images in Google Slides 3. ReadWorks Publishes Summer Reading Packs for K-12 4. Six Alternatives to TechSmith's Snagit, Knowmia, and ScreenChomp 5. How to Create Recordings of Your iPad's Screen 6. How to Use Facebook to Bookmark Links 7. LitCharts Offers Guides to Popular & Classic Literature Spring and Summer PD Opportunities With MeOnly three tickets remain for the Practical Ed Tech BYOD Camp in July. Take a look at the online workshops I'm hosting throughout the spring and summer. The Practical Ed Tech Chromebook Camp is sold out! Email me to get on the waiting list. Would you like to have me speak at your school or conference?Click here to learn about my professional development services.  Please visit the official advertisers that help keep this blog going.Practical Ed Tech is the brand through which I offer PD webinars.BoomWriter provides a fantastic tool for creating writing lessons. FreshGrade is a great online digital portfolio tool. Storyboard That is my go-to tool for creating storyboards and cartoon stories.Discovery Education & Wilkes University offer online courses for earning Master's degrees in Instructional Media.PrepFactory offers a great place for students to prepare for SAT and ACT tests.FrontRow offers adaptive online ELA and Math practice activities.  Teach n Go is a comprehensive platform for teaching online courses.The University of Maryland Baltimore County offers graduate programs for teachers.Boise State University offers a 100% online program in educational technology.EdTechTeacher is hosting host workshops in six cities in the U.S. in the summer.Buncee offers a great tool for creating visual stories.  This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesThe Week in Review - The Most Popular PostsAdd Voice Notes to Pictures in Google KeepLearn How to Create CK-12 FlexBooks In a Free Summer Course 

Hopscotch is a free iOS app that introduces students to programming logic. The app originally launched as an iPad-only app. Last week the developers released an iPhone-friendly version of the free app. In Hopscotch students put command boxes into order to make cartoon avatars move and draw lines. Students can program one or all of the cartoon avatars to move and follow commands based on touch or on the movement of their iPads. Applications for Education Hopscotch was developed by the same people who developed Daisy the Dinosaur. Daisy the Dinosaur teaches kids younger than nine years old some basic programming logic. Using Hopscotch is a logical next step after completing the challenges in Daisy the Dinosaur. H/T to Lifehacker. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesHaiku Deck Releases a New iPhone App for Creating PresentationsThe Week in Review - The OverseersAdd Voice Notes to Pictures in Google Keep 

This morning I was reading through an email from Next Vista for Learning when I found a new student-produced video titled How to Be Inspired When Writing. The short video has some nice tips for students including a closing note to give credit to the sources of inspiration. The video is embedded below. Take a look at these seven resources for additional ways to inspire creative writing. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesScribeasy Offers Great Visual Prompts for Creating Short StoriesPoetry Vocabulary Sheets Containing ExamplesLitCharts Offers Guides to Popular & Classic Literature 

On Saturday morning I rode in a charity bike ride in my community. That ride was well mapped and planned thanks in part to Google Maps. If you want to create a biking route map or walking route map, follow the steps that I outline in the video embedded below. Applications for Education Warm weather is finally here (in the Northern Hemisphere) and it's a good time to encourage students and their parents to enjoy some healthy outdoor activities. Creating some maps of safe biking routes and walking routes then posting them on a school website could be a good way to encourage participating in outdoor activities. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesHow to Blend Images in Google SlidesAdd Voice Notes to Pictures in Google KeepThe Week in Review - The Overseers 

A couple of weeks ago the folks at Otus approached me about sponsoring the Practical Ed Tech BYOD Camp. I wasn't looking for direct sponsorship of the event so I proposed that they instead sponsor a few people to attend. They agreed and I'm happy to announce that Otus will sponsor three people to attend the Practical Ed Tech Summer Camp on July 10th and 11th in Portland, Maine. Otus will sponsor the registration for three people to attend the Practical Ed Tech BYOD Camp. If you are interested in attending, you will need to complete a short application on Otus' website. Otus will choose and notify the winners. The Practical Ed Tech BYOD Camp is a hands-on exploration of how to use free technology tools in your classroom. This two day workshop is based on my framework for using technology to help students discover new information, discuss their ideas, and demonstrate their knowledge. This is for people who work in schools that have BYOD programs and 1:1 laptop programs (Mac or Windows), iPads, Android tablets, Windows tablets, or who have shared computers in a classroom or lab setting. You can learn more about the camp, read FAQs, and find complete registration information on the camp landing page. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesPractical Ed Tech BYOD Camp - Only 7 Tickets Left5 Questions to Consider in BYOD SchoolsWhat is BYOD? And Why Do Schools Opt for It?