Seneca Learning

Seneca Learning is a wonderful site that student's can use for Remote Learning, especially w/ most

schools starting off the school year online.  All a user has to do is type in a subject/course they are looking for (i.e. Chemistry, Biology, etc.) and then start.  These courses are interactive and provides, images, videos, and more.  Best of all, the educational portal allows educators to track and monitor student progress.

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

Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo's blog for the tip.

Super Teacher Worksheets & I Know It for Online Learning

Two of my favorite sites for finding educational games, actives, worksheets, and more, has just recently made their sites free for educators/students during school closures.  More info from their following press release...

I Know It (iknowit.com) is a popular math practice site for students in grades K through 5.  IKI features over 500 Common Core aligned math lessons.  Normally it's a subscription service for schools, but it's being offered for free to teachers and schools during the COVID-19 outbreak.

More information, and to sign up for free access:  https://www.iknowit.com/

AND

Super Teacher Worksheets has over 16,000 printable resources for students in grades K through 5.  STW is offering temporary, full access via shared account to teachers affected by virus-related closures. 

Log in with the information below:

username:  temporaryaccess

password: stayhealthy

url:  superteacherworksheets.com

*Super Teacher Worksheets and I Know It are advertisers of Technology Tidbits.

Lucid for Education

Lucid for Education is an excellent site for educators to create dynamic lessons/assignments that is ideal for collaborative and online learning.  Also, w/ Google Classroom and LucidChart integration users can easily make beautiful looking diagrams, outlines, and graphic organizers.  Lucid for Education is an excellent tool for educators looking to blend learning and even for remote learning as schools are closes throughout the world.

I highly recommend checking out Lucid for Education by clicking here!!!

For a great free digital toolkit for Distance Learning click here!!

Wooclap

Wooclap is an excellent learning tool that I just found out about from Larry Ferlazzo's blog that is ideal for Distance Learning.  Wooclap is a tool that reminds me a lot of Kahoot, where a teacher can create a poll/quiz and students can respond in real-time from their mobile device.  Best of all, Wooclap has lots of robust features that set it apart from their competition such as: 20+ ways to interact w/ their audience, integrates w/ most LMS, Keynote, PPT, Google Slides, etc, free for education, and much much more.  This is a great tool for educators to assess student learning and differentiate instruction.

below is a brief demo...



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

For a more detailed review click here.

Make Beliefs Comix for Remote Learning

*Be sure to checkout how Make Beliefs Comix can work for you for Remote Learning during school closures!!!

Make Beliefs Comix is a excellent site that educators around the world are using for digital storytelling, project based learning, reinforcing vocabulary, and more.  Also, Make Beliefs Comix has an abundance of lesson plans, the ability to translate comics into other languages, and recently launched story starters/writing prompts to help get the student's creative juices flowing.

I highly recommend checking out Make Beliefs Comix by clicking here!!!

Storyboard That for Remote Learning

Storyboard That the wonderful resource that educators everywhere are using for a variety of educational purposes (i.e. timelines, digital storytelling, project based learning, etc), has just announced they will offer 5 weeks free of all their online resources (i.e. unlimited teachers and students) to help w/ remote learning during school closures.

Storyboard That is an excellent learning tool w/ educational portal, where teachers can manage, track, and assess student accounts in a safe environment.  This easy-to-use site has an abundance of teacher guides and lesson plans, that makes it easy to integrate into any classroom or curriculum.

I highly recommend checking out Storyboard That by clicking here!!!

*Storyboard That is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

Top Learning Tools when School is Closed

As with almost everything technology-based, remote teaching and learning has been on a steady increase in recent years. That is until the Coronavirus emerged and changed everything! 

With the rapid spread of the virus forcing more and more schools around the United States and the world to close, many teachers are now having to rely solely on technology to deliver instruction (preferably effective) to their remote students.

Here is a list of suggested tools that can be used to keep the learning happening when schools are closed:

*This Lists is in alphabetical order

Top Learning Tools when School is Closed

1. ABCmouse - A very popular online curriculum for ages 2-8 on subjects such as: Math, Reading, Science, and more.
2. Adventure Academy - Similar to ABCmouse, this online curriculum is for ages 8-13 in Math, Reading, and Science.
3. Answer Pad - Is a free visual and student based response system that educators use to blend learning and flip classrooms in real-time on browser based devices.  The mobility of Answer Pad lets students use at home to interact w/ teacher created resources.
4. BoomWriter - This free site has always been a favorite of mine, and teachers and students love it! With BoomWriter, teachers can easily create student accounts before then directing them to super engaging fiction, nonfiction and/or vocabulary-focused personalized writing activities in any subject. Enter instructions (with or w/o vocabulary) upload resources (also optional) and then share with your students. If you need to teach remotely, you'll want to check out BoomWriter! 
5. BrainPop & BrainPop Jr - One of the most popular educational sites around for learning a wide range of subjects through animated videos then taking a short assessment/quiz.
6. Buncee - One of the most versatile learning tools around that provides a digital canvas for all sorts educational needs.  Buncee's "Ideas Lab" is a great place to find educational resources to be used/viewed at home.
7. Classhook - A wonderful site for educators to find educational videos/playlists and assign them to students to view at home.
8. 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 their curated safe (COPA compliant) educational database that provides assessment and language/speech features.
9. EDpuzzle - One of the world's most popular sites for flipping a classroom/lesson where educational videos can then be viewed at home and students can take assessments to gauge learning.
10. EducationCity - A excellent online platform for grades PreK-6th for finding educational games, resources, and activities.
11. Edulastic is an online K12 digital assessment platform. It allows teachers to make their own assessments and assignments or choose from over 35,000 pre-made assessments. 
12. Explania - A great site for finding educational and instructional animated videos. 
13. Glogster EDU - An "oldie" but good, Glogster's "Glogpedia" is a great place to find animated posters on a wide range of topics.
14. iKnowIt - A wonderful place to find interactive Math practice for grades K-5 that tracks student data.
15. Kahoot - A fun way to learn at home w/ Kahoot's game based learning system.
16. Knoword - A excellent Vocabulary game w/ teacher portal where educators can create their own "word" packs and track student's progress.
17. Nearpod - One of the most popular mobile learning tools around, that recently released a blog post on how to use Nearpod at home w/ school closures happening around the world.
18. NeoK12 - One of the best places to find educational videos, lessons, and games.
19. RoomRecess - A great place to find over a 100 games on a wide range of subjects such as: Math, Reading, Literacy, Typing, and more.
20. Socrates - A great new site where educators can asses students and differentiate instruction through a unique Game Based Learning system.
21. SuperTeacherWorksheets - A wonderful place where teachers and parents can find educational worksheets/activities to print out for use at home.
22. TeachVid - An amazing learning tool for ESL and Foreign Language teachers, where they can flip a lesson and have students do them at home through educational videos/activities.
23. Vocab Victor - A wonderful free mobile app for students want to work on their Vocabulary skills.  Best of all, Vocab Victor assess and adapts to student's vocabulary level in real-time.
24. VoiceThread - A great learning tool that has stood the "test of time" and lets students express their creativity through interactive digital stories/presentations.
25. WatchKnowLearn - A great free site similar to Discovery Streaming for finding educational K-12 videos.
26. YouTube Teachers - YouTube offers a educational portal for teachers for finding educational videos.

TutorBin

TutorBin is an excellent online tutoring site that helps students looking for: homework help, essay writing, lab work, and more.  Best of all, tutoring can be done live and online or by uploading files and then waiting back for solutions and detailed problem walkthroughs.

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

10 Online Summer Learning Opportunities

It's that time of year again for my annual list online summer learning opportunities or programs.  Being a parent of four kids, I often find myself asking what I'm going to do w/ them when school gets out.  There are lots of options out there for parents but I wanted something that would be fun as well as educational.  Over the last few years Ed Tech companies have started to offer online summer "schools/programs" that are affordable and help prevent learning.  These programs help fill a gap that sometimes is lacking over the summer months and best of all can be done at the comfort from home.

*This list is in alphabetical order

10 Online Summer Learning Opportunities

1. BoomWriter Virtual Summer Camp - An innovative 5 day summer camp that for collaborative writing where educators can earn extra money and work from their home.
2. Brain Chase - Is a online five week program for grades 2nd-8th.  This adventure has students working in the subjects of Math, Reading, Writing, and more, while watching animated episodes and solving educational problems.
3. Connections Learning - A nice collection of technology related online courses for Math and reading grades K-8th.
4. Edgenuity - A great program for districts K-12 that offers at school classes or "virtual" through their online instructors.
5. Electric Company - The Electric Company from PBS is offering a 6 wk multimedia summer learning program that will focus on Vocabulary and core Math concepts.
6. fueleducation - A excellent online program for grades 6-12 w/ a wide variety of courses teaching any number of subjects.
7. GoNoodle (Camp GoNoodle) - A fun and free online program that has students learning through play and other various educational activities.
8. K5 Learning - A online Reading and Math program for grades K-5th w/ real time results and detailed reports.
9. Time4Learning - A fun online program for grades PreK-8th in the subjects of Math, Science, Social Studies, and Language Arts.
10. Treca - An 8 week course for grades 9-12.  Treca offers a wide range of online courses such as: Math, Science Social Studies, and more.

Versal

Versal is a site that has been around for a long time that is ideal for online learning and creating online courses/assignments.  This is a great way to create interactive lessons that educators can use to track/assess students through a paid subscription.

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

Below is a sample lesson....

Skillshare

Skillshare is a site I first heard about on the news and is a great site for offering an online class to share knowledge or to take a class as well.  This is done through a innovative online interface and offers a style of "hybrid" learning.

I recommend checking out Skillshare by clicking here!!

theLearnia

theLearnia is a new (beta) site for educational videos.  This is done through a social network aspect that allows teachers to upload videos into "lessons" and then share w/ students.  Users can then discuss via public/private messaging about the video.  This is an ideal site for online learning.

I highly recommend checking out theLearnia by clicking here!!

Thanks to Richard Byrne's blog for the tip.

For my Pinterest board on Educational Videos click here.

InSkilled

InSkilled is a innovative site that engages learns by allowing them to collect, share, and learn online content.  This is done in a unique way where users collect information such as websites or videos and curate them into online lessons.  These lessons can then be shared w/ others.  Another great feature is the ability track and see how much time you've spent on a lesson as well as other detailed information.

I highly recommend checking out InSkilled by clicking here!!

*InSkilled is a paid advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

Snap Class

Snap Class is an excellent site for educators & students that want to host or take classes online.  This is done in a safe/secure way through the use of webchat or over the phone.  A person can host or take a class on any number subjects.  Best of all Snap Class helps market your classes which can help educators/people earn money for their teachings.

I recommend checking out Snap Class by clicking here!!

OpenLearning

OpenLearning is a new site for teaching or learning a course/subject online.  Anyone can join a course or create their own.

I recommend checking out OpenLearning by clicking here.

NexEd

NexEd is a new site that is soon to be launched for El Ed and secondary schools.  This site will engage students w/ lesson plans in a 3D environment.

Click here to sign up and be one of the first to know when this innovative site is launched.

LearningJar

LearningJar is a new (beta) site for learning or teaching a skill.  This is done informally where people can follow others who are sharing skills online.  Also, a person can create a digital portfolio to share w/ others or complete online challenges to improve your skills.

I recommend checking out LearningJar by clicking here!!!

Memrise

Memrise is a new (beta) site for learning a variety of different topics.  Ideally, this site is great for learning a foreign language but is also good for other subjects too.  It works kind of the way a flash card system works by associating words w/ pictures and then answering a variety of questions to reinforce learning.

I recommend checking out Memrise by clicking here!!

Kubbu

Kubbu is a site I reviewed around 3 yrs ago (click here) that I decided to revisit, and am very glad that I did.  This is a site for online teaching that a teacher can sign up for free and create student accounts w/out needing an email address.  This is ideal for CIPA/COPPA compliance where teachers can monitor everything students are doing and where students don't need an email address to sign up.

A teacher can create up to 30 student accounts and store 15 online activities at a time.  These activities could be quizzes, crosswords, games, etc and a teacher can view and analyze their results at any time.  Also, Kubbu has wonderful resources and shared activities that teachers can search through as well as lots of screen shots to view.

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

Fish Smarty

Fish Smarty is an excellent new site for online learning through: educational games, digital comics, and coloring.  Also, FS has an educational portal which is ideal for tracking student progress and having a safe environment for kids to interact in.

I highly recommend checking out Fish Smarty by clicking here!!!