Animoby

Animoby is an excellent iPad app that I just found out about from Edshelf.  This is a great app to create stunning presentations by simply tapping on the screen and using one of the many tools such as: draw, paint, type, images, etc.  Also, a user can add a narration by recording their voice and then share their project via email.

I recommend checking out Animoby by clicking here!!!

For my Pinterest board on Educational iOS Apps click here.
For my Edshelf collection on Educational iOS Apps click here.

Jukeboxlessons

Jukeboxlessons is a new site for online learning/tutoring.  The way this works is a educator can sign up to teach any subject/lesson and charge what they want.  Students then can browse and find what they want to learn from educators around the world.  This is all done either through Skype or Google Hangouts.

I recommend checking out Jukeboxlessons by clicking here!!

For my Pinterest board on Online Tutoring/Teaching click here.

Math Heroes 1

Math Heroes 1: Basic Operations is a excellent iOS app for helping students reinforce their basic Math Skills.  Math Heroes uses a familiar fighting-style game environment to help students strengthen their: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division skills.  Also, Math Heroes has a high replay value for kids as it saves in-game progress as well as allow students to unlock level and secret powers.

I highly recommend checking out Math Heroes 1: Basic Operations by clicking here!!!

*Yogome is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

SuperMath Golf

SuperMath Golf is a fun little site that I just found out about from Technology & Learning.  All a student has to do is try to beat par or get a hole in one by estimating an angle and unit and click go.  Also, there are fun little obstacles to try to avoid such as sand traps, water, and trees.

I highly recommend checking out SuperMath Golf by clicking here!!!

For my Pinterest board on Educational Online Games click here.
For my Edshelf collection on Educational Online Games click here.

Apple and Education

Apple has redesigned their education webpage as they revitalize their push towards education.  It's a great site where educators can find examples of how teachers are using Apple products in their classroom (ie, lesson, guides, etc.)  Also, this is a nice place for Special Ed as well as IT folk who need to deploy Mac/iPad, Active Directory, etc.

I highly recommend checking out Apple and Education by clicking here!!!

Shake-a-Phrase

Shake-a-Phrase is a fun/educational iOS app for Writing.  This app is ideal for educators as it works on different skills such as parts of speech and Vocab.  Also, SAP is great for Writing as teachers can use it to create writing prompts.  Best of all there is a quiz feature which allows students to test their knowledge on: adjectives, verbs, nouns, etc.

*Shake-a-Phrase is free today!!!

I highly recommend checking out Shake-a-Phrase by clicking here!!!

For my Pinterest board on Educational iOS Apps click here.
For my Edshelf collection on Educational iOS Apps click here.

5 Little Monkeys

5 Little Monkeys is the iOS app based off the popular kids nursery rhyme.  This app is ideal for the youngsters, ideally PreK-KDG.  Monkeys is an interactive nursery rhyme that helps kids learn word recognition and counting as they listen and engage in the song.  I love this app as my 4 yr old knew the song from Preschool and my 2 yr old had a blast watching as he sang along and touched the monkeys on the screen as the rhyme played.

I recommend checking out 5 Little Monkeys by clicking here!!!

Super Teacher Worksheets

Super Teacher Worksheets is a must have resource for educators especially for those starting out the school year.  STW is a wonderful site that has printable worksheets on almost any topic.  Also, a teacher can find worksheet generators for puzzles, Math, and more.  Finally, many of the printables on STW are aligned to Common Core.

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

*Super Teacher Worksheets is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

9Slides

9Slides is a wonderful site/app (Windows/iPad) for creating a stunning presentation.  This is done by uploading any type of presentation format (ie, PPT, Keynote, etc) and then adding either a audio or video narration that displays in another window.  This is ideal for education as it can be used for "flipped" or "guided" learning or even a Pecha Kucha style presentation.

Right now 9Slides is running a promotion providing a huge discount for users/educators....

Our super saver deal is back!

If you redeem the coupon code b2s13 before Aug 31st, 2013 you can upgrade and lock in your 9Slides Professional tier subscription at just $7 a month forever, saving you $276 per year.

Upgrade now to be able to upload advertisement free presentations, larger files, view analytics , password protection and more. Redeem* this offer at 9slides.com/upgrade before it expires!

*To avail discounted price, click on the "upgrade now" under monthly price and enter coupon code b2s13 on the payment form.

If you have any questions, we are an email away team@9slides.com

*9Slides is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

Jack and the Beanstalk a Mathematical Adventure

Jack and the Beanstalk: a Mathematical Adventure is the latest iOS app from Math File Folder Games.  This is a fantastic app that reinforces Math skills while taking students on the wonderful Jack and the Beanstalk adventure.  Jack is a interactive narrated story where students have to solve problems to progress further in the adventure.  These problems can range anywhere from making change to measuring objects.  Plus, if a student gets stuck on a problem they can tap on an arrow to reveal a new problem.

I highly recommend checking out this wonderful app by clicking here!!!

*FYI - Jack and the Beanstalk: a Mathematical Adventure is set to launch on Aug 21st.

** Math File Folder Games is a advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

Below is a brief demo...

Mathalicious

Mathalicious is an excellent resource for Math teachers.  This site helps educators teach Math through real world engaging problems.  Also, Mathalicious lessons are aligned to common core standards that promote problem solving and critical thinking skills.  Best of all, Mathalicious has a wide variety of resources for teachers such as: handouts, lessons guides, and presentations.

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

Questimate

Questimate is an innovative new educational (Math) iPad app where the student creates the estimation based questions and then solves or shares them w/ others.  This is a great game where students can play solo or w/ others and create fun questions where the answer is the best estimation to the problem.  This is all done through a very easy to use interface and has a very high replay value.  The game will not only save progress but the further along a student progress the more items they can "unlock".

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

For my Pinterest board on Educational iOS Apps click here.

BoomWriter

BoomWriter is one of my favorite sites that I've posted about many times before for integrating technology into a classroom.  This innovative site is ideal for grades 3rd-8th for Reading  & Writing.  BoomWriter allows students through a collaborative process create a digital book/story chapter by chapter.

The way this works is a teacher creates a class/students (no student email is required) and then assigns them a story starter (or creates their own).  Each student then types the next chapter.  The students then vote on which chapter should be included in the book/story, and this process goes on and on until the book is completed.  Finally, once this is done their story can then be published and an actual copy of the book can be ordered.  Right now for every first time class they receive 1 free book (shipping included)!!

BoomWriter is ideal for Project Based Learning and excellent for education and abides by CIPA compliance making it a 100% safe in an enclosed environment.

For more information on BoomWriter click here.

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

Below is a brief demo...

Submrge

Submrg is a cool new site that is ideal for Gamification.  This site reviews and recommends how games can be used in education.  Also, it details on what standards they may align to as well as provide a list of activities too.  Best of all, Submrg focuses on really popular games (i.e.. World of Warcraft, Cut the Rope, etc.) and provides lots of useful information such as: links, genre, trailers, educational issues, etc.

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

NicerTube

NicerTube is a fun little site that I just found about on FB from Shelly Terrell.  This is a great site for not only making a YouTube video safe by eliminating comments and links a user can upload a background to "pretty" up a video.

I recommend checking out NicerTube by clicking here!!!


Click here to check out my example... 

http://nicertube.com/

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The Answer Pad

The Answer Pad is an amazing web solution/iPad app that has to be seen to be believed.  The Answer pad is a graphically-based student response system that is free for educators (1 teacher - per 36 students) which allows educators to assess students learning in real-time.  This is done through an innovative web user interface that interacts w/ a mobile device (ie, iPad).  Teachers can either use a number of templates or create their own and push them out to their student devices.  What makes this such an effective teaching tool is that educators can draw on existing templates to modify to their own needs and use these in any subject.  For example, a teacher can upload a bar graph and have student draw notes, or upload a grid and have students plot data, the possibilities are endless.  The ability for a teacher to annotate or draw on template/image is great for Guided Learning.

Another great way to use Answer Pad to assess student's learning is by the different Q/A type that a teacher can apply, such as: multiple choice, T/F, etc.  Soon teachers will be able to record Answer Pad sessions, mark up student responses, and more.

Answer Pad is a wonderful tool for mobile learning, flipping a classroom, and differentiated instruction.  I highly recommend checking it out by clicking here!!!

For a brief Skype demo contact me at dkapuler@gmail.com.

*Answer Pad is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

Rewordify

Rewordify is a site I just found out about from an email from the creator and former educator Neil Goldman.  This is an excellent site that not only helps English language learners it helps students who are having trouble w/ hard sentences or paraphrasing sentences.  The way this works is simply by copying/pasting text or URL and click "Rewordify".  Also, there is a neat "smart highlighting" tool which brings up definitions of words as you highlight as well as a fantastic tutorial on how teachers can use Rewordify.

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

Below is a brief video...

FluencyFinder V 2.0

FluencyFinder, the iOS app for assessing reading fluency assessments, has just released Version 2.0, with two great new features.  This fantastic tool now allows users to share student results with other educators or parents via email.  Best of all, each reading passage now has a set of comprehension questions that allows educators to conduct one-step reading assessments for both reading fluency and comprehension at the same time!!!

Also, there are lots of future updates coming soon, such as...

• Updated and reformatted reading passages, PLUS a complete “Passage Snapshot” list for quicker access and passage comparison

• 32 brand new passages from great literary classics for grades 1-8 reading levels – adding even more choices and variety to your fluency assessments throughout the year

• FluencyFinder 1.0 for Android users

FluencyFinder is the ultimate teaching tool that has helped educators all over the world spend less time testing and more time teaching!!!

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

*FluencyFinder is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

Fractions

Fractions is a nice iOS app (free today) that is good for helping students learn the different aspects of fractions.  This is done in a fun way that helps users learn how to reduce and convert mixed/improper fractions.  Also, a student can take a brief 10 question test and not only get results but see the correct answer w/ corrections.

I recommend checking out Fractions by clicking here!!!

For my Top 50 Math Sites/Apps click here.

BrainRush

BrainRush is an excellent new site that I just found out about from Larry Ferlazzo's blog.  BR is a fantastic site for students to create and learn through flashcard style games.  Also, these games utilize a "adaptive practice technology" which is ideal for Differentiated Instruction as it tailors learning to each individual student needs.

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

ClassDojo Class Sharing

ClassDojo the popular "web 2.0" site for managing classroom behavior has just released a highly anticipated update, 'class sharing'.  This update allows for teachers to share feedback w/ other teachers about students behavior.

More from their press release, "With this newest feature, several teachers in one school can now collaborate around a class of students to deliver consistent experiences that emphasize building positive behaviors and character strengths like like participation, hard work, persistence, curiosity, risk-taking, and helping others. Teachers can now let other teachers provide feedback to their students by giving them ‘full access’ to the class; alternatively they can provide each other ‘view only’ access if they just want to share progress reports."

I highly recommend checking out ClassDojo by clicking here!!

Tabtor

Tabtor is an excellent iPad app/program that is ideal for helping educators teach and students learn Math.  This is done through a very easy to use iPad interface that allows students to solve equations by actually writing on the iPad.  What makes Tabtor "work" is that it allows students to view video tutorials before or after a problem to help them learn the "topic".  This is a great way for a teacher to "flip their classroom" and ideal for "differentiated instruction" in that it allows students to learn at their own pace as well as let teachers access student data and adjust their learning to meet their needs.  Another great advantage is that Tabtor uses a variety of teaching styles that helps learners of all different kinds such as wether they are a visual, auditory, or kinetic learner.

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

15 Sites for Differentiated Instruction

"Differentiated instruction and assessment (also known as differentiated learning or, in education, simply, differentiation) is a framework or philosophy for effective teaching that involves providing students with different avenues to acquiring content; to processing, constructing, or making sense of ideas; and to developing teaching materials and assessment measures so that all students within a classroom can learn effectively, regardless of differences in ability." Wikipedia  Differentiation, the ability for teachers to meet the needs of a variety of learners, is a key component for successful teaching.  While there are lots of ways this can be done and lots of tools that educators can use to accomplish this, there are many sites that can help facilitate the process.

*This list is in alphabetical order

15 Sites for Differentiated Instruction

1. Actively Learn - Lets a user make any reading material "their" own by adding questions, annotation, and collaboration which helps educators differentiate their instruction
2. Answer Pad - A wonderful student response system and assessment tool that lets teachers turn their classroom paperless.  Also, the "Go Interactive" features allows teachers to collaborate w/ students in real-time and gauge student understanding to differentiate instruction.
3. BoomWriter - A excellent innovative site that allows students engage their creativity by completing chapters of a book/story and then having other students vote on which one should be included in the finished product.  Once a book/story is completed a trade paperback copy can be ordered turning students into published writers.  BoomWriter's toolkit contains standard based rubrics, that allows for online grading, and real-time assessment so educators to differentiate instruction.
4. Buncee - A fantastic digital canvas for creating presentations or digital stories that can be embedded into a site/blog.  Also, this is a great way to "flip a classroom" and with Buncee Classroom teachers can assign quizzes, track/monitor students, and differentiate instruction.
5. edcite - A great site for teachers to create digital assignments, quizzes, and more.  Best of all, edcite can automatically grade student responses in real-time and generate detailed reports allowing educators to differentiate instruction.
6. Edji - A cool new learning tool that lets students interact w/ online texts through highlighting, annotation, comments, and even emojis.  The detailed "heat map" lets educators gauge student understanding and differentiate instruction.
7. EDpuzzle - Probably, the world's most popular site for flipping a classroom or lesson by adding questions to a video and then assessing student's answers to differentiate instruction.
8. Hippo Video - An excellent web tool for students/educators to create stunning digital videos.  Teachers use these videos to introduce a subject, create a screencast, and even gauge student understanding to differentiate instruction.
9. IXL - One of the most popular sites around for Math that allows for student tracking w/ detailed reporting.  Also, w/ the ability to track student "trouble" areas a teacher can adjust their teaching (differentiation) to help meet the needs of their students.
10. Night Zookeeper - A interesting new site where to help student's w/ their Writing skills through interactive lessons and competitions.  The educational portal allows educators to track their students and differentiate instruction.
11. Otus - A excellent one-to-one learning management solution as well as mobile learning environment where educators easily differentiate instruction w/ Otus's detailed real-time analytics.
12. Pear Deck - A wonderful educational tool that lets educators create quizzes, slides, or presentations.  Once the "decks" are created students can respond via their mobile devices.  Teachers can the assess student understanding and differentiate instruction in real-time.
13. Power My Learning - A great way for educators to differentiate instruction by customizing the learning experience for students using Power My Learning.
14. Quizster - An innovative site/app for grading/assessing students work that is submitted to them via photos.  Teachers can then annotate, comment, and grade in real-time helping them differentiate instruction.
15. ZooWhiz - A fantastic site aligned to educational curriculums in a wide variety of subjects (Math, Grammar, Vocab, etc.).  ZW offers details progress reports that helps assess students learning needs.

Game Based Learning to Differentiate Instruction

• Badaboom - A easy way for educators to create learning games to assess and differentiate their instruction
• Kahoot - One of the most popular tools around to "Gamify" a classroom and differentiate instruction.

Click here for a great article on Differentiated Instruction.

19 Pencils

19 Pencils is a site that has appeared on this blog a number of times, but over the last few months has recently undergone a site construction w/ some excellent educational tools.  For anyone who is not familiar w/ 19 Pencils, this is a great site for curating the web into a safe environment/web page for students.  Also, I like to use 19 Pencils as a "educational" search engine where I know I can find educational content w/out having to worry about inappropriate sites popping up.  Recently, 19 Pencils added some nice features such as the ability create quizzes (short answer or multiple choice) and the ability to create puzzle-type games such as  crosswords and word searches.

I highly recommend checking out 19 Pencils by clicking here!!!

For my Pinterest board on Web 2.0 click here.
For my Edshelf collection on Web 2.0 click here.

Smart Kit

Smart Kit is a nice site for finding safe educational games and puzzles.  These games focus on such subjects as: Math, Logic, Physics, and more.

I recommend checking out Smart Kit by clicking here!!!

Thanks to Richard Byrne's blog for the tip!!

For my Pinterest board on Educational Online Games click here.
For my Edshelf collection on Educational Online Games click here.

Cram

Cram is a nice site that I just found out about from Free Technology 4 Teachers for making flashcards.  This is a site where teachers can browse through a wide variety of flashcards on any number of subjects as well as create their own.  Also, this is a nice place to find a list of nice mobile apps for creating flashcards.

I highly recommend checking out Cram by clicking here!!