NoteBookCast is a free whiteboard tool that will work in the web browser on a laptop, iPad, Android tablet, and Windows tablet. NoteBookCast is a collaborative whiteboard tool. You can invite others to join your whiteboard by entering the code assigned to your whiteboard. You can chat while drawing on NoteBookCast whiteboards. While you can create an account on NoteBookCast, it is not a requirement for using the service. You can create a whiteboard by simply clicking "create a whiteboard" then entering a nickname for yourself to use on the whiteboard. If you do create a NoteBookCast account you can save your whiteboards and create whiteboard templates to re-use. Applications for Education NoteBookCast could be a good tool for students to use to remotely work together to solve problems, create mindmaps, or tutor each other. H/T to The Whiteboard Blog. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesEncouraging Student Collaboration Through TwiddlaTenMarks Offers a Free Summer Math Program for FamiliesTeaching Mathematics With a Surface Pro Tablet 

Randy Krum wrote the book Cool Infographics and he maintains a blog of the same name. Today, his blog features an infographic about the process of creating an infographic. The infographic was created on Visme. Visme offers tools for creating slideshows, banner graphics, and interactive infographics. Your Visme creations can be shared online by embedding them into websites or blogs. You can also download your creations as image, PDF, or HTML5 files. The Process of Designing an Infographic is embedded below (click here for the interactive version). Applications for Education About eighteen months ago I had the opportunity to ask Randy Krum for his advice to teachers and students that want to create infographics. His advice is copied below. What advice would you give to teachers, particularly elementary and middle school teachers, who are interested in having students create infographics? I would strongly suggest starting with charts. The big three chart styles are important (pie, bar and line charts), but also more advanced charts like arrays, gauges, scales, tree maps, mind maps, word clouds and proportionally sized circles that may require different software, websites or manually creating the visuals. Then ask students to redesign an existing infographic. That gives them access to all of the data, but allows them to experiment with new layouts, colors and types of charts that are different than what was used in the original design. Then students should be able to incorporate their own original data visualizations into their own reports, presentations or infographics. I’ve seen successful student assignments that ask students to design persuasive infographics about a specific topic covered in class. This requires the students to attempt to clearly show the data that supports a particular position in an attempt to convince the audience. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesMy Five Favorite Classtools.net ToolsCreating Narrated Slideshows with Google ToolsNoteBookCast - An Online, Collaborative Whiteboard for Every Device 

In my guide to classroom video projects I featured a handful of tools for creating audio slideshows. Sharalike is another option to consider when you want to create an audio slideshow. The concept behind Sharalike is much like the one behind Animoto, YouTube's Slideshow Creator, and many similar services. To create an audio slideshow on Sharalike simply import some images from your computer or iPad, drag them into the sequence in which you want them to appear, and then add some music. Sharalike offers a small collection of stock music that you can use or you can upload your own music. Sharalike videos can be shared privately through email or you can make them public through social media. You can also embed your Sharalike videos into blog posts as I have done below. Applications for Education Summarizing the highlights of an event, summarizing the key points in a story, and summarizing the results of research project are all common purposes for creating audio slideshows. Sharalike makes it quick and easy to create a video for any of those purposes. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesCreating Narrated Slideshows with Google ToolsWeVideo Makes Updates to Their Online Video EditorMy Five Favorite Classtools.net Tools 

None of our students were alive when Michael Jordan made his famous dunk from the free throw line. Yet many have seen pictures of it (they're copyrighted) and tried to imitate it on playgrounds, in driveways, and in gyms. How much hang time did Michael Jordan have when he jumped? What are the forces influencing hang time? And what would it be like to jump on the moon? All of those questions and more are covered in a new TED-Ed lesson, The Math Behind Michael Jordan's Hang Time. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesTen Lessons on the Math and Science of HockeyCK-12 Brainflex - A Summer Program for Math and Science PracticeChemistry and Counterfeiting - A TED-Ed Lesson 

Whether you're trying to come up with new lesson plan ideas or new blog post ideas, at some point we all feel our creative energy sag. One of the ways that I get my creative juices flowing again is to go for a long walk, a hike, a bike ride, or paddle down a river. I emphasize long because a quick 15 minute lunch time walk doesn't do it. I have to get outside for an extended time, at least an hour, to let my mind really wander. When my mind wanders it can come up with some interesting ideas. You might be saying, "Richard, I hate running and biking." That's okay. The important thing is to get outside away from your desk and without your cell phone. If you feel you must take your cell phone for emergency purposes, do so but turn off the ringer and resist the temptation to check Facebook/ Instagram/ Twitter/ Email. Even just strolling around a park for an hour can do wonders for your mood and your creativity. The next time you feel your creativity waning, try moving your body and you'll find you're mind moving too. This is one of the methods that I've used for years to keep my blog posts flowing. I'll be sharing more ideas and methods like this one in Blogger Jumpstart later this week.  This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesAn Interactive Infographic About Designing InfographicsMy Five Favorite Classtools.net ToolsHow to Turn Your Blogger Blog Into a Book - Video 

My local newspaper and my Facebook feed are filled with pictures of fresh high school graduates and the names of the colleges that they will be attending in the fall. When those students get to campus in the fall offers from credit card companies will be one of the first things to greet them in their campus mailboxes.  Unfortunately, a lot of students don't understand just how quickly they can rack-up huge debts with these credit cards. The following videos are worth sharing with students before they apply for their first credit cards. Credit Card Responsibility from Common Craft explains how credit cards work and how you can avoid getting into trouble with them. Credit Card Debt Explained With a Glass of Water shows students how long it can take to pay off a credit card debt if they only make the minimum payments every month. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesThe Math of Michael Jordan's Hang TimeIntellectual Property Explained by Common CraftMove Your Body, Move Your Mind 

Think back to your childhood and there is bound to be a toy that you just "had to have." That toy was probably in one of the new toy fads that hit the marketplace every year.  If you got that toy during the height of its popularity it surely cost more than it did a few months later. EconEd Link has a lesson plan devoted to this pattern. Supply and Demand, Lessons from Toy Fads is a lesson plan designed to help middle school students understand the concepts of supply and demand. The lesson plan is based on two case studies. One case study focuses on Hula Hoops while the other focuses on the more recent Silly Bandz fad. Through both studies students will learn about shortages, surplus, and price equilibrium. Applications for Education Rather than relying on the somewhat dated Silly Bandz fad and the definitely dated Hula Hoop examples, modify the lesson plan for toys and other objects currently desired by the students in your classroom. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesMay Flowers - A Writing LessonTen Lessons on the Math and Science of HockeyConsumer Education at the Mall 

The summer is a great time to learn a new skill, develop new ideas, and create new lessons to take into your classroom in the fall. This summer I'm offering a handful of online professional development opportunities. Two of them carry graduate credit options and all of them provide certificates for professional development hours. All courses feature live webinars with Q& A forums. All webinars are recorded for students to watch at their leisure if they miss a class. Getting Going With GAFE (Google Apps for Education) Getting Going With GAFE is a five week course covering everything you need to know to integrate Google Drive, Google Classroom, Google Calendar, and Google Sites into your practice. Three graduate credits are available for the course through my partnership with Midwest Teachers Institute and Calumet College of St. Joseph.  This course begins on July 2nd. Click here to learn more. Click here to register today. The cost of this course is $147 Blogs & Social Media for Teachers & School LeadersBlogs and Social Media for Teachers and School Leaders is designed to help teachers and school leaders develop an understanding of the many ways they can use blogs and social media (Twitter, Google+, Instagram, and more) to enhance communication between school and home. After learning about how each of the tools works we’ll dive into developing strategies for implementation. Three graduate credits are available for the course through my partnership with Midwest Teachers Institute and Calumet College of St. Joseph. This course begins on July 6th. Click here to learn more. Click here to register today. The cost of this course is $147 Teaching History With TechnologyHistory teachers come learn with me, Richard Byrne, and Ken Halla of US and World History Teachers’ Blogs. In Teaching History With Technology we take you through the process of developing engaging, web-based history lesson plans. This course features three interactive online meetings along with a discussion forum in which you can further interact with me, Ken, and your classmates. The class will meet online on July 16, 23, and 30 at 5:30pm Eastern Time. Click here to learn more. Click here to register today! The cost of this course is $97. Blogger Jumpstart!Over the last eight years I’ve published more than 11,000 blog posts across four blogs. Along the way I’ve grown my primary blog, FreeTech4Teachers.com, from less than 1,000 pageviews per month to more than 1,000,000 per month. In doing so I’ve learned, often the hard way, what works in blogging. More importantly, I’ve learned what does work. In Blogger Jumpstart on June 10th and 11th I’ll share all of those lessons that I’ve learned.   Blogger Jumpstart is a live two night event in which I will share all the lessons I’ve learned about what works and doesn’t work in blogging. The cost of this course is $97. The course will be conducted in two 90 minute live webinars. Each webinar will begin at 8pm Eastern Time. It will be recorded for those who cannot attend the live sessions. The recordings, slides, and workbook are yours to keep and refer to forever. Click here to learn more. Click here to register today! Custom WebinarsIf you have ten or more faculty members that you want to participate in one of these webinars, a special schedule can be created just for you. We can cover any of the standard topics of Google Drive, Google Apps, Blogging, and Google Earth or create a custom series of webinars just for you. Click here to learn more about offering a custom webinar for your organization. About the costs and my decision to advertise these opportunities on my blog:Sometimes when I advertise one of these webinars I get messages from people who are upset that I am advertising it here and or that I am charging for it. I understand why some people feel that way. I thought long and hard about how to offer these opportunities. In fact, I thought about it and talked about it with trusted advisors for a year before offering the first webinar series. The purpose of this blog and my goal for years has always been to help people use free technology in their classrooms. The tools and strategies featured in my webinars and at the Practical Ed Tech Summer Camp are free to use. However, my time for teaching isn't free. Further, I pay licensing fees to GoToTraining and to Wistia for hosting all of the media content of the courses. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesSharalike - Another Way to Create Audio SlideshowsMy Five Favorite Classtools.net ToolsThe Week in Review - Thank You Guest Bloggers 

After years of leading workshops on blogging I have found that many people benefit from having a glossary of terms that they can refer to. Likewise, if you’re blogging with your students it is helpful if there is a common understanding of the terminology used in your blogging activities. Embedded below is the glossary of terms of that I created a couple of years ago for participants in my workshops. You can also click here to view and download the document. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesMove Your Body, Move Your MindAn Interactive Infographic About Designing InfographicsMy Five Favorite Classtools.net Tools 

Scheduling blog posts to appear in the future is one of the best ways to maintain a steady pace of posts appearing on your blog. On a classroom blog scheduling posts is a great way to keep certain content hidden until your students need to see it. For example, I have often scheduled posts containing practice quizzes for my students to take after completing a lesson. In the video embedded below I demonstrate how to schedule blog posts in Blogger, Edublogs, and Kidblog. Topics like this one and many, many more are covered in my course Blogs & Social Media for Teachers & School Leaders.  This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesMove Your Body, Move Your MindA Glossary of Blogging Terminology - A PDF HandoutMy Five Favorite Classtools.net Tools 

The Lawrence Hall of Science at UC Berkeley offers some good resources for students and teachers. On iPadApps4School.com I recently reviewed DIY Lake Science produced by the Lawrence Hall of Science. The free iPad app is designed to help students learn about lake ecosystems. In the app students will find a small simulation of a lake ecosystem. Students can change the depth of the lake, the temperature, and the general climate around the lake to learn how those changes alter the ecosystem. After using the simulation students can learn more about lake ecosystems in the DIY Lake Science video library. If your students don't have iPads to use in your classroom, take a look at 24/7 Science. 24/7 Science is a website produced by The Lawrence Hall of Science for the purpose of sharing science games and hands-on activities for elementary school students. 24/7 Science has two basic sections, a game section and an activities section. The games section offers twenty-five online games for students to play independently. The hands-on activities section offers thirteen hands-on science learning activities that students can do with the supervision of their teachers or parents to learn about plants, animals, and Earth science. Monster Heart Medic is another iPad app from the Lawrence Hall of Science. Monster Medic takes students on a virtual journey through the cardiovascular system. Sabba Quidwai recently wrote a nice review of Monster Medic here. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesThe Math of Michael Jordan's Hang TimeHow to Schedule Blog Posts on Blogger, Edublogs, and KidblogA Glossary of Blogging Terminology - A PDF Handout 

When we think about blogging we often think about writing. But the great thing about blogging is that it doesn’t have to be limited to written text. In fact, publishing podcasts or publishing short videos on a YouTube channel can be considered blogging too. Creating and publishing infographics and or interactive images is another form of blogging that isn’t completely reliant on text. The handout embedded below highlights tools students can use to create blog content without relying on text. (Click here if you cannot see the embedded document). This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesHow to Schedule Blog Posts on Blogger, Edublogs, and KidblogA Glossary of Blogging Terminology - A PDF HandoutMove Your Body, Move Your Mind 

Yesterday, I featured three good resources from the Lawrence Hall of Science. Today, I have another resource to add to that list. DIY Sun Science is a free iPad app from The Lawrence Hall of Science. The app features directions for hands-on lessons about the sun. The lessons are a mix of activities that students can do on their own and activities that they should do with adult supervision. All of the activities use common household goods. Some of the activities that you will find in DIY Sun Science are measuring the sun, making UV detectors, detecting solar storms, and cooking with a solar oven. At the end of the directions for each activity in DIY Sun Science you will find short video lessons related to the focus of the hands-on lesson. You can also just jump to the video section of DIY Sun Science to access the videos without going through all of the directions screens. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesThree Good Resources from the Lawrence Hall of ScienceNewswordy - Short Lessons About News BuzzwordsStudent Blogging Activities and Tools That Don't Rely on Text 

Newswordy is a neat website that features a new buzzword of the day everyday. Each buzzword is picked from the currently trending topics being discussed on news programs, political talk shows, and news websites. Each buzzword of the day is accompanied by quoted examples of that buzzword being used and links to articles and other media in which the buzzword of the day was used. You'll also find some links to the buzzword being used on Twitter. You can find previous buzzwords of the day by clicking on the very small archive button in the upper right corner of the Newswordy homepage. Applications for Education If you teach any current events lessons, Newswordy could be a handy resource for finding articles that provide students with the context of the buzzwords that they might be hearing in newscasts. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesDIY Sun Science - Learn About UV Rays and MoreStudent Blogging Activities and Tools That Don't Rely on TextThree Good Resources from the Lawrence Hall of Science 

Earlier today Google announced a great update to the Google Slides apps for Android and iOS. The apps now support broadcasting through Chromecast and Airplay. This means that you will be able to broadcast your slides to a larger screen from your phone or tablet while still viewing the speaker notes on phone or tablet. Applications for Education If your classroom is equipped with Chromecast or Airplay devices, having your students share their presentations with the class could be easier than ever. You won't have to lose classroom time to fumbling with adapters, flash drives, or switching between accounts on a shared computer. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesInsert Images Into Google Slides and Docs on Your iPad or Android TabletIdentifying Birds - A Fun Summer Learning ActivityAn Augmented Reality App for Learning About Nature 

Spoken is a new social network that is designed for sharing audio recordings of four minutes or less. Spoken describes itself as "Instagram for audio." On Spoken you can upload audio recordings that are up to four minutes long then attach cover images to those recordings. All of your recordings appear in your profile where people can follow you and you can follow others. Spoken does not have a built-in recording tool. You have to record outside of Spoken then upload your recording. I used Vocaroo to make the recording that I uploaded to test Spoken. Clyp is a simple and free app for recording on Android and iOS devices that could pair well with Spoken. Applications for Education Spoken could provide a good way for high school or college students to share audio recordings in which they reflect on learning experiences and or share advice with other students. As a teacher you would have to follow each of your students to hear their recordings. AudioBoom is a service similar to Spoken that offers a service specifically for students and teachers. Spoken is currently in beta. You will need to request an invite to use the service. My invitation arrived about 24 hours after my request. Thanks to Jake Duncan for sharing Spoken on Twitter.  This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesHow to Privately Share Audio Recordings on SoundCloudComparison Chart - 5 iPad and Android Apps for Audio RecordingHow to Use Text-to-Speech to Post Audio Messages on Your Blog 

Parts of this post originally appeared on my other blog, iPadApps4School.com. Disneynature Explore is a free iPad app designed to help children learn about bear, butterflies, lions, chimpanzees, and sea turtles. The activities for learning about each animal include augmented reality components. Students can use their iPads to take pictures to put animals into settings that they photograph. The app encourages students to go on nature walks with their parents. On the nature walks students can take pictures and record observations in their digital field journals. My favorite part of the Disneynature Explore app is the interactive augmented reality aspect of the brown bear lesson. The lesson starts with a prompt for students to growl like a bear. After growling like a bear students swipe at salmon swimming up a river. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesIdentifying Birds - A Fun Summer Learning ActivityDIY Sun Science - Learn About UV Rays and MoreExplore the World's Fair on Your iPad 

The University of Kentucky's College of Arts and Sciences has a nice interactive activity about silicate minerals. The activity has an overview section in which students read about the structure of silicate minerals before moving to attempt to create silicate mineral models. There are three models for students to try to construct in the simulation. Learn Chemistry is a production of the Royal Society of Chemistry. The purpose of Learn Chemistry is provide educators with resources for teaching chemistry lessons to students of all ages. The database of instructional resources has more than 2,700 entries organized according to topic, age of students, and media type. This set of simulations on Learn Chemistry is a good place to start your exploration of what Learn Chemistry has to offer. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesIdentifying Birds - A Fun Summer Learning ActivityAn Augmented Reality App for Learning About NatureRiddle Adds New Features for Building Image-based Quizzes 

This weekend some friends and I are going on a 75 mile bike ride. In preparation for the ride I created a map on Google's My Maps and shared it with the group. My Maps makes it fairly easy to create shareable maps of biking and hiking routes. To create a biking or walking route map on My Maps first sign into your Google account then open My Maps. After signing into My Maps select the "draw a line" tool then choose "add biking route." To draw your biking route click on a starting location on the map then drag the line along a road. My Maps tries to predict where you are going to draw your route. The prediction feature can be handy when you're trying to make short biking routes. When you're making longer routes you will have to draw over the predicted lines if you don't want to use the suggested routes. Applications for Education The summer is 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 StoriesRiddle Adds New Features for Building Image-based QuizzesHow to Schedule Blog Posts on Blogger, Edublogs, and KidblogHow to Download KML Data from Google Maps 

The New York Public Library’s Biblion: World’s Fair app puts the wonder of the 1939-1940 World’s Fair on your iPad. Through the app you can view images, videos, and documents all about the World’s Fair. All of the media in the app is arranged into thematic stories. These stories showcase the innovations that were on display in 1940 as well as the predictions for the future. Plenty of historical context is provided through the stories to help readers understand why the innovations on display were significant. Applications for Education One of the fun things that you could do with this app with your students is to have them look at the stories that feature predictions for the future. Then have you students see which of those predictions were accurate, which weren’t, and which became part of our world today. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesAn Augmented Reality App for Learning About NatureDIY Sun Science - Learn About UV Rays and MoreIdentifying Birds - A Fun Summer Learning Activity 

A couple of months ago when the birds started to return to my neighborhood I wrote a post containing resources for learning about birds. This morning through Lifehacker I learned about another neat app for learning about birds. Merlin Bird ID is a free iPhone and Android app that helps you identify birds that you see in North America. To help you identify a bird you've see Merlin Bird ID asks you a few questions about the color of the bird, its size, where you saw it, and when you saw it. Merlin Bird ID will suggest which bird you saw based on your answers to the identification questions.The suggestion will come with pictures of the bird and some information about it. In some cases you will be able to listen to a recording of the bird's call. Applications for Education A fun summer learning activity could be built around using Merlin Bird ID. You could take students on nature walks to make observations about birds. Challenge them to try to identify as many different birds as possible. Bird ID can be used without entering an email address. It can also be used without enabling location services. If you don't enable location services you will have to enter the zip code of where you made your bird observation. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesAn Augmented Reality App for Learning About NatureDIY Sun Science - Learn About UV Rays and MoreEdmodo for Parents - An App Just for Parents 

Last week I received a notice from the Smithsonian Science Education Center about a new series of animated videos that they were planning to release today. The series, titled Good Thinking, is now live on YouTube. Good Thinking is a set of animated videos featuring a teacher demonstrating and explaining teaching methods. The topics of the videos are Conceptual Change, Learning Styles, and Common Misconceptions About Natural Selection. I watched the videos an I cannot tell who Smithsonian is trying to reach with them. As an adult I didn't find the videos engaging or enlightening. I'm also having a hard time picturing students watching the videos and understanding them. I've embedded the videos below so that you can judge for yourself. Here's the text of the press release I received about the series. Perhaps you can tell me who Smithsonian is trying to reach with these videos: "Good Thinking! The Science of Teaching Science" -- a free, engaging and entertaining new web series designed to support science educators and addresses the need for accessible professional development tools that help teachers break down barriers to understanding scientific principles and increase their classroom skills. A first-of-its-kind series, "Good Thinking!" comprises short, animated videos that explore pedagogical ideas across a range of subject-matter topics like energy, cells, and gravity as well as cognitive research findings on topics like student motivation or the myth of left- and right-brained people. "Good Thinking!" shines a light on the classroom and pedagogical challenges teachers face, and provides solid, science-based ideas that keep their teaching on track. The series enhances K-8 science education and deepens understanding of STEM topics, for teachers and students alike. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesA Short Lesson on Credit CardsThe Math of Michael Jordan's Hang TimeIntellectual Property Explained by Common Craft 

Last month I started using a new quiz and survey tool called Riddle. The surveys and quizzes that you create in Riddle can be image-based or simply text-based. The developer of Riddle has been responsive to input from teachers and other users. An example of that is found in the most recent update to Riddle. You can now add links to your Riddle quizzes and surveys. Those links could be to sources of information, to videos, or to an online audio recording like those you can find on SoundCloud. In the video embedded below I provide a demonstration of how to use Riddle to create a quiz. Applications for Education Riddle's format of using images as response choices could make it a good option for giving informal quizzes on topics that require a lot of visuals. For example, a quiz on fractions might use pictures which represent various fractions. A quiz on art history might use Riddle to showcase works of art of answer choices. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesHow to Create Image-based Quizzes and Polls on Riddle.comPlan and Share Biking and Walking Routes on Google's My MapsRiddle - Create Image-based Polls and Quizzes 

Earlier today I wrote a post in which I expressed disappointment with the Smithsonian Science Education Center's new video series. To balance that out, here are five resources from the Smithsonian that I do like and think that you will like too. Shutterbugs Wiggle and Stomp is a new educational game produced by the Smithsonian. The purpose of the game is to help children recognize the movements of animals. In the game children move through a virtual zoo with a zoo keeper. As they go through the virtual zoo the zoo keeper will ask students to take pictures of animals who are demonstrating running, jumping, stomping, and other movements. Shutterbugs Wiggle and Stomp can be played online. The game is also available as a free iPad app and as a free Android app. How Things Fly is a feature from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. How Things Fly contains an interactive module in which students design their own airplanes. The activity starts with a simple and slow airplane that students have to modify until it reaches a target speed and altitude. As students modify the wings, fuselage, and engines of their airplanes they are given instant feedback on the effects of those modifications. In some cases the feedback includes the airplane crashing and the students having to start over again. Ask Smithsonian is a fun video series featured on the Smithsonian Magazine website. All of the videos in the series are less than two minutes long. Each video tackles a fun topic in science. Some of the videos address questions that are less serious topics than others. For example, on the first page of Ask Smithsonian there is currently a video about zombie rats alongside a video on the effects of Daylight Saving Time on the human body. The Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage has some neat resources for teachers and students. One of the resources that I like is the Masters of the Building Arts Activity Guide. The Masters of the Building Arts Activity Guide provides the history of six types of buildings and architectural features. At the conclusion of each section there is a hands-on activity for students to try in your classroom. For example at the end of the section on timber framing you will find directions for an activity in which students attempt to create a model building with straws or pipe cleaners. At the end of the section on stained glass students can try to create their own "stained glass" panels with tissue papers, ribbons, and glue. Expedition Insects is a neat interactive book from the Smithsonian Science Education Center. The new book was written to helps students in third through fifth grade learn about insects from all over the world. The book is full of pictures and videos to complement the text. Throughout the book students can click or tap on underlined words to quickly access their definitions. Expedition Insects was created for the iBooks platform. It is interactive if you read it on a Mac or on an iPad. A non-interactive version of the book is available to read too. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesThe Math of Michael Jordan's Hang TimeIdentifying Birds - A Fun Summer Learning ActivityBuild Your Own Silicate Materials - And Other Virtual Chemistry Lessons