Sketch Nation V 4.0

Sketch Nation the amazing free web tool or mobile app (iOS/Android) has just released their latest update to bring new exciting features to game creation.  Students can now create a multiplayer "platform" game in their new "Arena".  Also, users now have the ability to upload their own sound effects or music to add into a game,

Here are more details regarding Version 4.0...

"The new "Arena" (multiplayer Platformer) genre allows you to create multiplayer games to play with your friends and other Sketchers -- simply draw extra players and all the other items for a Platformer game and Voila! You have a game which you can play in real-time with other gamers. We believe this multiplayer game creation capability is the first robust tool of its kind and, as always, is available on iOS, Android and the Web. Version 4.0 also includes the option of adding sound effects or music to games (for iOS and Web currently; Android coming soon). You can now enhance your games by recording your own sounds and music to be heard during key game actions, such as acquiring a power-up or overcoming an obstacle." Also, new tutorials (i.e. storytelling, multi-level games) and Lesson ideas for teachers can be found here. I highly recommend checking out Sketch Nation by clicking here!!! *Sketch Nation is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

BoomWriter Virtual Summer Camps

BoomWriter is a site that I’ve written about many times because it lets elementary, middle, and high school teachers conduct engaging nonfiction, fiction, and vocabulary development group-writing activities in almost any subject area. But their new offering is not just another product- it’s a chance for teachers to completely change how they make money (and relax) over the summer!

BoomWriter announced this week that they are developing The BoomWriter Virtual Summer Camp to create engaging, flexible, and profitable experiences for teachers as they work to make extra money over the summer. Teachers can make upwards of $1,200 per week with their camp by facilitating online instruction and writing activities for campers in Grades 4-9 using BoomWriter’s easy to use group writing site.

At $0 cost to teachers, BoomWriter will provide the curriculum, camper sign-up web page, and everything else needed to run a camp, so all teachers have to do is recruit students from their own schools or learning communities to participate. Educators can run as many sessions as they want from wherever they want and truly become their own boss on their own schedule.

Register for their mailing list to receive more information and updates to get you ready for Summer of 2017. BoomWriter is a free site that keeps finding new and better ways to support teachers through technology, and The BoomWriter Virtual Summer Camp is no exception!

I highly recommend checking out BoomWriter Virtual Summer Camps by clicking here!

*BoomWriter is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

Owl Eyes

Owl Eyes is an innovative site that lets teachers create "classrooms" where their students can read and interact w/ texts.  Student's are able to select through a wide variety of literature and then annotate the text.  This is helpful as they can take notes and pickup right where they left off when reading.  Best of all, the teacher tools allows educators to create quizzes to assess how students are doing and they can even track/manage their student accounts.  Educators are using Owl Eyes in a number of different ways such as: differentiating instruction or flipping a classroom.

I highly recommend checking out Owl Eyes by clicking here!!!

Below is a brief demo...



*Owl Eyes is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

QuizPedia

QuizPedia is a free new site or app (iOS/Android) for creating quizzes.  QuizPedia takes a unique spin on quiz creation making students the creator of the quiz.  This helps increase their learning knowing that their content will be viewed by others, as well as help their competency w/ technology.

However, this does not mean that teachers can't use QuizPedia, as the educational portal allows teachers to create quizzes them and share w/ students as well as track their progress and accounts.  Also, they can share their quizzes w/ other educators, copy/paste already created quizzes to save time or use as a template, and partake in the QuizPedia forum.

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

Click here if you want to see a QuizPedia example.

Animatron

Animatron is a new free online animation creator (i.e. reminds me of PowToon) that makes it easy for students/educators to create stunning presentations.  Educators are using this to introduce subjects/topics or for explanation videos for professional development.  While students are using it for digital storytelling, to create presentations, and much much more.  Also, Animatron makes it easy to work in groups by allowing students to collaborate/create in real-time on multiple devices.

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

Below is a brief demo...



Check out their education page w/ examples by clicking here.

*Animatron is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

Spiral

Spiral is a new suite of educational tools for the classroom. Below is a summary of their press release...

"Spiral is a suite of free collaborative classroom tools for 1:1 devices and can be accessed anywhere, anytime with just a browser and internet connection. There are 3 apps - each designed for different types of activities.

Quickfire is great for quizzes, class warm-ups and getting rapid responses from students. The students just need to log in on their personal devices to answer questions or use the canvas feature to annotate or draw their responses.

Discuss works well for encouraging class discussions, collaboration, and engaging the whole class. Teachers can either upload a presentation or make one from scratch before adding questions to generate relevant conversation.

Team Up is best for facilitating group work and getting students to work together. Teachers can assign students to groups, appoint a team leader, and set a problem for each group to solve. The students can then research and contribute their ideas to the team leader, who will assemble the team’s ideas in the form of a presentation. Students can go on to present their ideas on the whiteboard and critique each other’s work.

Finally, Spiral allows you to access your lesson data from your interactions which makes it much easier to carry out formative assessment and monitor student progress accurately!"

Below is a demo...



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

Answer Pad

The Answer Pad is an awesome teacher tool that has two powerful functionalities: it is both a student response system with a focus on drawing and "show what you know", and a grading solution for your teacher created quizzes.  It is browser based for teachers, and works on any device (BYOD), browser or on free apps for iOS or Android for students.  It is an ideal tool for engaging students for any grade/subject area, and turning a classroom paperless.

New Features

Interactive 

• Quick Connect - no student registration required or prep time for teachers (login via a code).
• quick checks for understanding by just asking questions and sending a response type make it super simple.
• draw tool can easily be sent out for students to work through a problem etc.
• Feedback - color and text feedback w/ the unlock so that students can retry their answer.
• Broadcast - teachers can send out one of the students responses to the entire class.  This is great way for classroom discussion w/ the names hidden.
• Hide names, send out a multi-step problem.  Students complete the first step and classroom discusses the anonymous responses.  As a group decide which answer is best and broadcast response to entire class.
• Yes or No, students discuss response and incorrect response can be sent to group to correct.
• Send a Web Page - Teacher can send a web page, video, etc to students so they can view w/out having to leave the interactive session.

Answer Sheet

• Essay question and multiple correct multiple choice question types now available.  These work in conduction w/ the built-in scratch pad that allows a teacher to see and give partial credit for work.
• Live Monitor - watch live as students work through an assessment

More resources

• Overview presentation 
• Interactive step by step guide

I highly recommend checking out Answer Pad by clicking here!!!!

  

Below is a demo video...



*The Answer Pad is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

WriteReader

WriteReader is an excellent learning tool for grades K-4 to help students w/ their Reading and Writing.  This is done through a educational portal where educators can create an account and then share a unique code for students.  Also, this portal allows for teachers to manage/monitor student accounts and track progress.  Best of all, there are lots of resources for educators such as: tutorials, lesson plans aligned to Common Core Standards, and more.

WriteReader also allows students to create digital books in a safe environment (i.e. comment moderation, Google Safe image search, etc) and share them w/ others.

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

For WriteReader lesson plans click here.

Below is a brief demo...

MathMonsterZ

MathMonsterZ is a super fun, new, free mobile (iOS/Android) app for basic Math skills (i.e. addition, subtraction, etc.).  Users familiar w/ the popular card games Pokemon and Magic the Gathering will feel right at home w/ MathMonsterZ, as it follows the same pattern/theme.  Students can play against their friends, teachers, or parents using the same device by taking turns trying to solve the equation.  Also, they can practice by Smashing Pumpkinz or Flying Batz and earn points to advance levels and order actual playing cards.  There is even a Lighting Round where students can play against each other and see what questions they got wrong.  Finally, users can actually order Monster cards to play collect and play at home they way they would other card games.

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

Visme Contest

Visme the wonderful site for creating beautiful looking presentations, infographics, and more is having a contest where people can win a variety of prizes.

More info from their press release...

Visme is giving away number of great prizes:

During the course of the contest, all participants will receive complementary full access to Visme premium and access all features including the ability to insert video, and record or upload audio to their designs.

The top 30 most-voted submissions via Facebook, Pinterest and LinkedIn will enter the final round in which a panel of five judges will choose the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners.

The most original visual story or resume will receive a cash prize of $2,000, one year of Visme Premium Complete ($192 value) along with a 1-year membership to Iconfinder’s Unlimited Plan ($290 value), and also get featured on Visme’s Visual Learning Center.

The second-place winner will be awarded a new GoPro Hero4, as well as a membership to Visme Premium and a 1-year membership to Iconfinder Starter Plan. The third-place winner and the most-voted project will also win the latter two membership prizes.

For more information on Visme's contest click here.

Below is a demo video...

Swift Playgrounds

Swift Playground is the new free iPad app (requires iOS 10.0) for teaching kids how to code.  This is a fantastic app that works very similar to those familiar w/ apps such as Hopscotch or Scratch.  All a user has to do is tap on a "block" of code or drag-n-drop to create commands.  No typing is required.  Once Swift is a downloaded a student can select between two step by step tutorials: Learn to Code 1 (Fundamentals of Swift) or Learn to Code 2 (Beyond the Basics).  Each section is very easy to learn and there is a "hint" button to help those that are stuck.

Also, there are "challenges" (i.e. Drawing Sounds, BattleShip, Brick Breaker, etc.) that users can do to help polish up on their programming skills and begin to create their own games/activities.  Other features include a built-in glossary to help learning programming words/language.  Import your own files/images/sounds to create your own "playground".  Record your own video coding to create a tutorial or to help "Flip a lesson".

Finally, Swift Playground makes it easy to share across iOS devices and integrates w/ iTunes U to make it easy to integrate into the classroom.

I highly recommend checking out Swift Playgrounds by clicking here!!!

Boom Blocks

Boom Blocks is the latest game from RoomRecess and first that works on any platform (i.e. iPad, phone, etc).  This is a wonderful game designed for grades K-6th to work on basic Math sills, such as: addition, subtraction, multiplication, etc.  The way this works is a student tries to solve the equation as fast as possible and eliminate blocks that are falling from the sky.  Also, exploding a block can "unlock" special power-ups such as: extra time, keys, locks, etc.  The goal is to eliminate all the blocks on the board as quick as possible and get as many points as possible.

I highly recommend checking out Boom Blocks by clicking here!!!

*RoomRecess is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

Otus Worksheets

Otus Worksheets is the latest update from the innovative easy-to-use Learning Management System, Otus.  This feature allows educators to create a assessment/worksheet for students to take inside of Otus.  The questions can be T/F, multiple choice, EdPen, or short answer.  Best of all, Otus grades the assessment automatically except for short answer.

Below is a brief demo...



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

*Otus is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

Answerables

Answerables the innovative educational tool that combines the best features of game based learning w/ a learning management system has just released their free iPad app.  Answerables is being used by educators in a variety of ways from collaborating w/ other classes, to browsing the web, all in a secure 3D virtual environment.

Answerables is used as a:

• Virtual classroom 
• Lesson planner
• Learning manager 
• Quest creator
• Resource manager 
• Web browser (managed)
• Social Network
• Student portfolio
• Presentation space

Features include:

• Multiplayer game environment
• Learning management system
• Quests & badges
• Assessment tools
• Analytics
• Resource/Content management system
• Web browser
• Secure audio/video streaming

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

*Answerables is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

30hands Learning

30hands Learning is the excellent company for creating an innovative LMS (Learning Management System) as well as the popular mobile iOS apps that are ideal for digital storytelling (30hands Starter (free), 30hands Pro (paid)).  The 30hands community is a perfect cloud based solution that allows educators to: manage/track students, hand in/out assignments, sched
ule events, and more.  While the mobile apps are being used in education for project based learning, digital storytelling, and more.

30hands has lots of exciting news on the horizon...

After upgrading to Pro, users will have access to existing advanced features and new features in the works:

• Video clips as slides

• Google Drive + Dropbox Integration

• Importing of Google Slides and PDFs as 30hands slides

• Backgrounds and scenes

• Higher quality videos

• Advanced drag-and-drop drawing with editing (Aug 2015)

• Slide sharing with parents and students (Fall 2015)

• Slide Transitions (Fall 2015)

• Unlimited presentations

• Unlimited saves to Camera Roll

Districts that purchase 30hands Pro will get free or discounted professional development (depending on licenses purchased). The PD can be onsite or virtual and selected from our areas of expertise: Digital Storytelling, PBL, Blended Learning, Teaching Coding, and Teaching Entrepreneurship. 

For more info on how your school can participate, email info@30hands.com.

Join our newsletter here: http://30hands.com/newsletter.

*30hands Learning is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

Modern Chalkboard

Modern Chalkboard is a wonderful new free site for finding SMART board resources.  This is a great place to find interactive lessons on a wide variety of subjects such as: Math, Grammar, Science, Social Studies, and more Also, this is a nice place to find other resources such as links and help files.

I highly recommend checking out Modern Chalkboard by clicking here!!!

For my Pinterest board on Educational Resources click here.

Level it Books

Level it Books is the excellent mobile app (iOS/Android) that people everywhere are using to scan a book and get a Reading/Lexile Level.  Educators are using it to create a digital library of class books, as well as creating a class roster of students w/ their Read Level.  Also, a user can add a book, select a "book of the day", and manually search for any book as well.  If you're a parent, librarian, or educator this is the perfect app for you to find the appropriate type of reading material for your student/child.

I highly recommend checking out Level it Books by clicking here!!!

*Level it Books is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

ClassDojo Student Stories

ClassDojo the widely used (free) tool for behavior management and communication for education has just released Student Stories.  Student Stories is a new way for students to create digital portfolios and share them w/ others.

More info from their press release...

• Students take the lead - students can share and celebrate their learning by snapping photos of projects, taking videos of presentations, and writing reflections.
• Work is shared, not stored away  - rather than being stashed in desks or stored in boxes, work is shared instantly w/ parents sparking hours of conversations at home.
• All communication in one place - parents, teachers, students, and school leaders on ClassDojo can now use it for all communication between home and school.
• Perfect for shared device classrooms - no need for every student to have their own device; Student Stories can be used on one device shared by all students in the classroom.
• Closed platform creates a safe space for sharing - a student's Story can only be seen by the teacher, and that student's parents.

I highly recommend checking out Student Stories by clicking here!!!

*ClassDojo is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

GoClass

GoClass is a wonderful site/app for flipping a classroom.  This is a fantastic solution for educators to be able to manage their classes/students and create dynamic lessons that can be shared on mobile devices.  Students can login to a session on their mobile device and then follow the lesson following the "show-explain-ask" method.  Teachers can then get instant real-time feedback on student engagement and learning as well as attendance.

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

*GoClass is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

DimensionU

DimensionU is one of my favorite companies for Game Based Learning.  These games take place in an interactive 3D virtual world where students strengthen their Math/Literacy skills.  The games are designed for kids grades 3rd-9th and are aligned to Common Core Standards.

Here are a list of DimensionU games...

Watch the videos below to see all 4 AMAZING
DimensionU Games in action:

Meltdown is the DimensionU game that

offers students a second chance

when answering difficult questions, and

rewards creative strategies to achieve victory.

Swarm is DimensionU's team-based

game that most strongly reinforces

cooperation and collaboration between

students to achieve a common goal.

Towerstorm is the DimensionU game

 that is best for working through the most

 curriculum in the shortest amount of time.

Velocity is DimensionU's high-speed

obstacle course that ensures players

answer questions correctly in order to

continue progressing through the race.

Click to view the MATHEMATICS or LITERACY content included in

DimensionU Games.

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

For my Pinterest board on Game Based Learning click here.

*DimensionU is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.