Tuesday, June 30, 2020

Cloud Stop Motion

Cloud Stop Motion is an innovative site for creating and storing stop motion video projects.  This is
ideal for educators looking to integrate technology into the classroom and can be used for project based learning, digital storytelling, and more.  Best of all, the educational portal allows teachers to track and manage student accounts, organize all projects, and export/watch all videos, all from w/in the web/browser.

I highly recommend checking out Cloud Stop Motion by clicking here!!!

*Cloud Stop Motion is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.



Doozy

Doozy is a excellent new site for creating online quizzes.  This is a great learning tool that educators can use to create or customize their own game.  Best of all, educators can create any style of quiz (i.e. multiple choice, short answer, etc), edit an already existing one, and can use it to integrate Game
Based Learning into the classroom.

I highly recommend checking out Doozy by clicking here!!!

Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo's blog for the tip.

Tutorspot

Tutorspot is an excellent site for students looking for an online tutor or for educators looking to earn
some extra money through tutoring in the UK.  This can be done in person or through an easy to use online interface which is ideal w/ the pandemic going on.  This is a great way for students to get extra help in any number of subjects such as: Science, Maths, English, and more.

I highly recommend checking out Tutorspot by clicking here!!!

Monday, June 29, 2020

TeachVid

TeachVid is an amazing online tool for learning foreign languages that I just found out about from Larry Ferlazzo's blog.  TeachVid reminds me a tad like EDpuzzle where educators use interactive videos to assess student's learning.  Also, educators can create a "virtual" classroom and create assignments that contain: videos, worksheets, etc.  Finally, TeachVid makes it easy to flip a classroom or lesson and let student's learn at their own pace.

I highly recommend checking out TeachVid by clicking here!!!

*TeachVid is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

Varsity Tutors

Varsity Tutors is an excellent site to find online tutors in any subject but also to help w/ Remote
Learning which is ideal during school and camp closures especially during this pandemic and summer.  Varsity Tutors is ideal for K-12 students and can be used for any subjects such as: foreign languages, coding, Math, Chemistry, and more.  Best of all, Varsity Tutors can be used for 1:1 instruction or even for group learning.  Students can use Varsity Tutors as a great way to integrate Self Paced Learning and Blended Learning.

Below is a brief demo...



I highly recommend checking out Varsity Tutors by clicking here!!!

Friday, June 26, 2020

DOGOnews

DOGOnews is an excellent site for creating Reading assignments for grades K-8 that can then be integrated into Google Classroom.  This is done through 1000s of curated educated articles in a wide variety of subjects (i.e. Science, History, Current Events, etc.) where educators can then select lesson plans, create assignments, and help students increase their Reading and Vocabulary skills.

Below is a brief demo...





I highly recommend checking out DOGOnews for teachers by clicking here!!!

*DOGOnews is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

Wednesday, June 24, 2020

Story Spheres

Story Spheres is an innovative new (beta) site for digital storytelling that I just found out about from Richard Byrne's blog.  The way this works is simple, upload a 360 degree image, and then add audio track/file or sounds.  Once a story is done it can then be shared via a link or embedded into a site.  Finally, Story Spheres can set to play audio once the image is viewed or when an image is clicked on to change the perspective in 360 degrees.

I highly recommend checking out Story Spheres by clicking here!!!

Tuesday, June 23, 2020

Circly

*Circly's collaboration features make it an ideal tool for "remote learning" while schools are closed down due to the virus.  Students can even use it to do group projects from home.

Circly is a wonderful new graphic organizers that educators can use to brainstorm, manage tasks, create collaborative group projects, Venn diagrams and more.  Circly, is uses a drag-n-drop interface making it easy to use as well as lets the user change colors of circles to maximize data points.  Finally, the most unique feature of Circly lets users collaborate in real-time w/ built-in video caller lets user work in groups remotely.  This is a great feature for educators looking to do more group
projects as well work w/ peers remotely.

Check out how smooth Circly's "ZOOM" feature works...



I highly recommend checking out Circly by clicking here!!!

Circly's latest press release details how they can help classrooms get over the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wednesday, June 17, 2020

Super Teacher Worksheets for Father's Day



Super Teacher Worksheets is one of the best sites around for finding educational resources on a wide range of subjects.  Educators can find, worksheets, printables, puzzle generators and more.  Also, they are constantly updating their site w/ more resources all the time and have lots of activities for Father's Day such as: cards, crafts, and more.

I highly recommend checking out Super Teacher Worksheets by clicking here!!!

Super Teacher Worksheets is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

Pixilart

Pixilart is an excellent site for creating retro-style digital art in a safe social networking environment. here to read their AUP (acceptable use policy).
This is all done using a very familiar and retro-looking (i.e. Appleworks anyone) drawing application.  Users can select your standard drawing and shape tools and then add colors.  Best of all, Pixilart is totally COPA/CIPA compliant and monitors all drawings and comments before they are posted making it safe for schools.  In fact, they have very strict measures in place to ensure everyone's safety.  Click

I highly recommend checking out Pixilart by clicking here!!!

Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo's blog for the tip.

Projector Screen

Projector Screen is a great site for educators or parents looking to find screens, projectors, cables, and more for home or their classroom.  Also, this is an ideal place to find good deals and other resources such as: how to build a home theater or how a green screen works.

I highly recommend checking out Projector Screen by clicking here!!!

*Projector Screen is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

Tuesday, June 16, 2020

Insert Learning

Insert Learning is a wonderful Chrome extension that turns any web page into a "learning moment".  The way this works is once the extension is added a educator can add different types of items to a page such as questions, sticky notes, discussions, and more.  This makes it a great tool for teachers to assess student's learning and easily differentiate instruction in real-time.

I highly recommend checking out Insert Learning by clicking here!!!

Vocab Victor for Remote Learning

Vocab Victor is a free innovative mobile (iOS/Android) app for building vocabulary words/skills that is ideal for ESL/ELL.  Vocab Victor uses "game based learning" to help students develop their vocabulary through 4 different styles of games through 11 levels.  These games offer high replay as well as different varieties of game play, such as: matching, sorting, targeting, and more.  Best of all, Vocab Victor assesses and adapts words to each student's vocabulary level in real-time.

Below is a brief demo...



I highly recommend checking out Vocab Victor by clicking here!!!

Download Vocab Victor for free here!!!

*Vocab Victor is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

Hypatia

Hypatia is an interesting new site for Math that I just found out about from Larry Ferlazzo's great blog.  Hypatia calls themselves a "spell check" for Math and checks your Math as you type.
However, Hypatia does not give solutions to Math problems only hints.  This is a great learning tool for those working in increasing speed in subjects such as Algebra, Calculus, or other areas of STEM.

I highly recommend checking out Hypatia by clicking here!!!

Monday, June 15, 2020

WittyWe

WittyWe is a new site I just found out about from Monica Burn's amazing blog.  WW reminds me of q more robust version of BrainBop and is a excellent place to find online courses/educational videos on a wide range of topics (i.e. Math, Health, Science, etc.)  These animated lessons (5-10 min in length) are designed for El Ed kids through college and can be accessed on any device.  Also, there are special courses that will help students develop their "life" skills.  Finally, there are interactive resources, activities, and quizzes that can be taken after each video (w/ more coming).

I highly recommend checking out WittyWe by clicking here!!!

Below is a demo video...

Thursday, June 11, 2020

Newlearn.io

*Newlearn.io will send out gift cards to the first two teachers who leave the comments.


Do you need summer themed vocabulary worksheets?
Or do you need some COVID-19 relate homework? Or do you need addition and subtraction lesson plans for the remote teaching?

Request any teaching materials you need by leaving comments on the ‘Share Ideas’ below. (Only the writer can read the comments.)

**For the first 2 teachers who leave the comments, 20 dollar gift cards will be sent as a gift! (Date: 07/22~07/28) And the winners will be announced on the 30th.**

#newlearn_giveaway #participate #2teacherswin #askforhelp #askus #anyneccessarymaterials

 *All participants MUST be members of Newlearn.io to win.
*Giveaway offers and prizes valid only within the USA.

*Must be 21 years or older to register, Multiple winnings including previous giveaway are not allowed.


Newlearn.io is a excellent new social network for finding educational resources.  Newlearn.io curates their resources by common core standards and allows users to share (download/upload) files such as: videos, documents, PDFs, and more.  Best of all, the social networking aspects makes it easy to rate, comment, and collaborate w/ other educators to engage in best teaching resources and strategies.


Below is a brief demo...



I highly recommend checking out Newlearn.io by clicking here!!!

*Newlearn.io is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

Wednesday, June 10, 2020

Knoword

Knoword is a super fun Vocabulary game that is perfect for integrated technology into the classroom/home.  The way this works is definitions are given w/ the starting letter of the word while a timer counts down.  The player tries to answer as many correct words by typing/spelling them correctly before the timer runs out.  Best of all, there is a teacher portal where educators can create their own "word" packs to integrate w/ their curriculum as well as track student data.

I highly recommend checking out Knoword by clicking here!!!

*Knoword is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

BoomWriter Haunt

BoomWriter the innovative collaborative writing platform is launching their Online Summer Learning Clubs to help prevent "summer learning loss" and keep students engaged while school is out.  The Haunt uses the unique collaborative writing process that BoomWriter is known for.  First, a student reads a "story start" to get the beginning of a story.  Second, the student writes the following chapter using BoomWriter.  Third, the chapter is reviewed by a certified teacher and the revision process takes place.  Next, the voting begins at the end of each week and students vote on which chapter should be the next one and the winner becomes the next one in the story.  Each week this process continues until the end of the month when the story is finished and is then published.  A parent can then order a copy of the book w/ their child's name on the cover and last chapter they wrote as an alternate ending to the published story.

I highly recommend checking out BoomWriter Haunt by clicking here!!!

*BoomWriter is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

Tuesday, June 9, 2020

Socrates for Remote Learning

Many schools are now realizing they do not have the tools in place so kids can continue to learn while schools are closed.  Socrates personalized learning for the students so they are progressing automatically, and provides teachers with tools to monitor progress and assign topics.  Teachers can control the learning remotely or just allow Socrates to adjust automatically - making it a perfect tool for teachers with closed classrooms.  

The CEO announced that Socrates will be free to all impacted communities and they are setting up schools and classrooms within 24 hours.  No training is necessary for the teachers or students.  Take advantage of this great offer here:  https://withsocrates.com/coronavirus/

Socrates is an innovate new site where educators can seamlessly differentiate instruction for each student through a unique game based learning system.  This is done through fun and engaging learning games w/ educational portal where teachers can track and monitor student progress, assign educational videos, use a digital badge system, testing, benchmarking, and much much more.

Below is a brief demo...



I highly recommend checking out Socrates by clicking here!!!

*Socrates is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

Coggle

Coggle is an interesting new site that uses cutting edge technology to create beautiful looking mind maps, brainstorming, graphic organizers, and more.  Best of all, Coggle is simple to use, allows for group projects for collaborating, and lets users have complete control over diagram (i.e. branches, images, etc.).

Below is a brief demo...



I highly recommend checking out Coggle by clicking here!!!

TypeTastic for Remote Learning


*A great way for students to practice their keyboarding/typing skills while school is out or during the summer.

TypeTastic is an excellent K-12 site for students learning how to Type/Keyboard.  TypeTastic's School Edition has an educational portal that allows educators to track, monitor, and assess student progress.  This is a fun and great way to integrate technology into a classroom's curriculum.  TypeTastic uses over 400 innovative games, activities and drills to help teach and reinforce keyboarding/typing skills.

The expanded curriculum introduces students to more than 250 entertaining new keyboarding activities that move from locating letters to fluent typing in four fun steps:
  1. Explore the Keyboard: Unique keyboard visualization splits the letters into nine color-coded groups so students see the keyboard like a map and can quickly find the correct letters. 
  1. All Fingers Aboard: These games are designed to challenge kids to learn the fundamentals of typing. All sections are centered on finger movement, often first separated into either right- or left-hand activities, followed by more challenging games that use both hands.
  1. Ready, Set, Type!: Keyboarding activities take kids on an adventure through underwater coral reefs, thick jungle vegetation, and serene beach vistas to collect words and letters, with the goal of typing simple words and sentences. 
  1. Master Those Keys: In the final step, students dig into the secrets of fluent typing, challenging themselves with more complex words, building up their typing speed, and discovering numbers and symbols.
Below is a brief demo...



I highly recommend checking out TypeTastic!!!

For more information from their blog click here.

Storyheim

Storyheim is an innovative new site that educators can use for digital storytelling or creating timelines.  Storyheim uses an easy-to-use drag-n-drop system and lets users add: images, text, videos, and more.  Finally, the social aspect makes it easy to share, rate, and comment on any digital
story/timeline.

I highly recommend checking out Storyheim by clicking here!!!

Tuesday, June 2, 2020

30 Sites/Apps for Digital Storytelling

Digital Storytelling is the process of telling a story through the use of digital means.  Also, it happens to be one the easiest ways to integrate technology into the classroom.  Educators can use digital storytelling w/ almost any subject and can even "flip" their classroom by using mobile apps.  Below is my comprehensive list of sites/apps that can be used for digital storytelling...

*This list is in alphabetical order.

30 Sites and Apps for Digital Storytelling

  1. 30hands Learning - A fantastic user-friendly iOS app for creating a story by adding a narration to photos. Also, 30hands has excellent video tutorials to help users create a story.
  2. Animaker Class - An excellent site w/ educational portal for students to create animated stories.
  3. Book Creator - A great mobile (iOS/Chrome) app that educators everywhere are using to create stunning eBooks and digital stories.
  4. BoomWriter - A fantastic safe site for students (teachers create accounts - not student email required) to create digital stories/books through a collaborative process.  Once a story is completed, it gets published online and an actual book can then be ordered.
  5. Buncee - The world's leading digital canvas for creating digital stories and more.  Best of all, is the educational portal that allows educators to track and monitor student progress, create assignments, "Ideas Lab" and more.
  6. Cloud Stop Motion - An innovative site for creating stop motion video projects that can be used for digital storytelling and project based learning.
  7. Comic Life - Probably the most popular digital comic iOS app for creating comics.  This is a very fun and easy to use app for telling the story by creating a customized comic.
  8. Elementari - Elementari is one of my favorite new sites w/ educational portal that allows students to create: digital stories, portfolios, choose-your-own-adventures, and more.
  9. HeadUP - A interesting new site for creating beautiful looking stories in a matter of seconds.
  10. Imagine Forest - An innovative site where a student can create a digital story or use a story starter for brainstorming that writing process.
  11. Litehouse - A fantastic new site for creating digital stories through a state-of-the-art text editor.
  12. Little Bird Tales - One of the most popular sites for digital storytelling that allows students to create their own art and record their voice.  Also, there is a excellent iOS app available for mobile learning.
  13. Make Beliefs Comix - A excellent site for creating digital comics in a number of different languages as well of lots of educational resources and lesson ideas.
  14. My Story - A wonderful iPad app for creating a digital book/story.  All a user has to do is draw or upload a picture, add some text, and then record audio to tell a story.
  15. Nawmal - A popular site for creating stunning looking animated videos w/ educational portal.
  16. Noisy Book - A cool new iOS app that not only adds sound effects to books to books, but lets users create their own digital story w/ sounds as well.
  17. Pixton for Schools - A nice site w/ educational portal for creating digital comics.
  18. Plotagon - An innovative site that reminds me of the now defunct Xtranormal, where are user selects a character then types up a script and Plotagon takes care of the rest.
  19. Speech Journal - A nice iPad app for pairing recorded audio w/ a digital picture from one's iPhoto library to create a story.
  20. Story Creator - One of my favorite iOS apps for creating a digital story by syncing audio and photos together.  Also, an option allows for highlighting of text during narration to help a student w/ Reading.
  21. Storybird - A great site w/ educational portal where students create art inspired stories and then embed into a site/blog.
  22. StoryJumper - A fantastic site for creating a digital story by building a story from scratch or choosing one of the story starters.  A student can add objects, text, and even upload their own art too.
  23. Storyboard That - A wonderful site w/ educational portal that teachers are using in a wide variety of ways including digital storytelling.
  24. Strip Designer - A iOS app similar to Comic Life for creating a digital comic.
  25. Tellagami - A nice way to tell a short story by creating an avatar and then recording audio, similar to Voki.
  26. UtellStory - A nice place to tell a story through audio, images, and video, as well as collaborating w/ others.
  27. VoiceThread - One of the most popular educational sites/apps for creating a interactive digital storytelling by uploading multimedia content and recording an audio narration.  A finished VoiceThread can then be embedded into a site/blog.
  28. Wakelet - Wakelet lets educators easily bookmark any item on the web (i.e. article, blog, tweet, etc.) and then curate them in stunning visual ways to curate w/ others.  This can be used in a wide variety of ways such as for: digital storytelling, professional development, and more.
  29. WriteComics - A simple to use site for creating a digital comic to tell a story.
  30. Zimmer Twins - A fun site w/ educational portal for creating animated movies/stories.

Learn Math Facts

Learn Math Facts is a wonderful free iOS app for students looking to improve their Math skills.  The way this works is through varied repetition Math games where students achieve different medals for in a wide variety of skills such as: addition, subtraction, decimals, fractions, and more.

I highly recommend checking out Learn Math Facts by clicking here!!!

For a more detailed review click here.

Buncee for Remote Learning

Buncee, one of the most versatile learning tools around for: project base learning, digital storytelling, scrapbooking, and much much more, has just released a site for remote learning.  This is a great area for educators looking for ideas on how to help teach students remotely during school closures.  Remember, Buncee provides a digital canvas where the uses are limitless to create projects and lessons for your students.

I highly recommend checking out Buncee for Remote Learning by clicking here!!!

*Buncee is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

Naraview

Naraview is an interesting new site for Game Based Learning that I found out about from Richard Byrne's excellent blog.  Naraview lets students make connections between topics a teacher selects a topic inside of Wikipedia.  However, what makes Naraview so unique is that the educator can see the pathway each student uses from their starting topic to their finished pathway.  I like to think of it as a "six degrees of Kevin Bacon" housed inside of Wikipedia making connections between topics that your teacher chooses.

I highly recommend checking out Naraview by clicking here!!!