Book Creator is a fantastic (iOS/Chrome) app that educators are everywhere to create and share eBooks. This is done using a very user-friendly interface that makes it easy to creating stunning presentations, digital stories w/ the ability to record audio, projects, and more. Teachers are using Book Creator for project based learning, digital storytelling, and much much more. Book Creator can be used to teach any subject or grade level and can be published online, downloaded as an eBook, or
even printed.
Below is a brief demo...
I highly recommend checking out Book Creator by clicking here!!! For a detailed review on how to use Book Creator for digital storytelling check out Monica Burn's excellent blog.
*Book Creator is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.
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!!!
Sketch Nation is a wonderful free app (iOS/Android) and website for creating games. Sketch Nation reminds me of Pixel Press Floors but w/out the paper. All a student has to do is select their category of game (i.e. platform, jumping, etc) then draw their backgrounds/characters/items and let Sketch Nation do the rest. The advanced level editor will help students create more complex games and work on their STEM skills. Sketch Nation even has a nice section for education w/ a collection of games and lesson plans created by educators/students.
More Features... - Custom movement / coding - You can now learn the basics of coding by setting custom movement for enemies. You can specify exactly how enemies move by setting each step of movement, such as “Go left”, “Go right”, “Start over”, etc.. We will add more customization like this in upcoming releases.
- Comments - You can now comment on online games created by other users. See what other users think of your games and give feedback to other game creators. All the comments will be checked by an admin before they are viewable to others.
- News feed - You can now see what users are doing in your games. You’ll see news feed items for new high scores, new comments, when your games have been favorited or featured. You’ll also be able to see when games and comments you have submitted have been approved or rejected.
- Art gallery - You can now re-use art you have previously drawn when creating a new object. Local games will be limited to art stored locally, while online games will be able to access all the art you have created for your online games.
- Pushable blocks - You can now create obstacles that can be pushed by the player. This opens up a whole new way to design levels by requiring the user to push obstacles in order to solve puzzles.
- New ammo settings - You can now create non-moving ammo that appears directly in front of the player. This can be used to let the player wield a weapon such as a sword.
- New dying animations - New dying animations for enemies like “Cut”, “Flatten” and “Fall over”.
I highly recommend checking out Sketch Nation by clicking here!!!
Below is a brief demo...
For my Pinterest board on Programing/Coding click here.
*Sketch Nation is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.
Room Escape Maker is an interesting site that I just found out about from Ozge Karaoglu's wonderful blog. This is a fun way to introduce game based learning into a classroom where students can play existing escape room games or make their own. The concept is just like those popular escape rooms where people work in teams to solve clues to escape their before time expires.
I highly recommend checking out Room Escape Maker by clicking here!!!
The Writing Bee is back and this year it promises to be another global event with over 100 school districts participating and results being presented at this year's SXSW EDU Conference in Austin, TX!
The 2019 Writing Bee kicks off this February and will feature American Writer, filmmaker, poet, activist, educator, Academy Award nominee, and former Black Panther Party member, Jamal Joseph. Professor Joseph will serve as The Writing Bee's featured Guest Author providing guidance and inspiration to all participating students throughout the event as they create original spoken-word oriented content. There is so much excitement about this Bee that SXSW has asked Professor Joseph to present the results.
This is the third consecutive year of the Writing Bee, which is free to schools and hosted on BoomWriter's unique content-generation platform. District/school-based Writing Bee Qualifying rounds consist of three sections, with each one open to all students and initiated by a prompt provided by the featured guest author to help guide students. Once they have completed their writing sessions, students again log in to BoomWriter to review the anonymous submissions of fellow participants and cast votes for their favorites. A winning submission is identified, and the process continues until The Writing Bee is completed.
Winners and top vote-getters of the Qualifying rounds will be invited to participate in The Writing Bee Finals. The Finals will consist of "knockout rounds" in which only the section winner and top vote-getters advance to the subsequent rounds and a chance to become The 2019 Writing Bee Champion.
Christ Twyman, CEO and co-founds of BoomWriter Media, Inc., said, "At BoomWriter, we've always taken great pride in our products' ability to connect with all types of students regardless of whether they are passionate or reluctant writers. By partnering with Jamal Joseph and having students write entries that are intended to be spoken out loud, I know both BoomWriter and The Writing Bee will have its greatest impact ever!"
The Writing Bee Qualifying rounds will take place in participating schools and/or districts any time between February and May with The Writing Bee Finals scheduled to be conducted in June.
Jamal Joseph intro...
To learn more and register your students for free, please visit TheWritingBee.Org or email megan@boomwriter.com. You never know, the next Writing Bee champion could be one of your own students and there's only one way to find out. Good luck!
NameCoach is a wonderful web service that educators are using to learn student's names and pronounce them correctly. This is especially useful w/ commencement/graduation ceremonies on the horizon. The way this works is simple as a teacher creates a name/web page and then has the student's speak their names. The audio gets embedded into a page and a user can access them all on one page at anytime. Also, NameCoach makes it very easy to share recordings and keep track of student's name/email. It's easy, accurate, and 100% safe for schools to use.
I highly recommend checking out NameCoach by clicking here!!!
Below is a brief demo...
*NameCoach is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.educational resources
*30hands Storyteller Web is $59 for the whole classroom through the end of Nov, w/ a FREE training webinar.
30hands Learning is the excellent company for creating an innovative LMS (Learning Management System) as well as the popular mobile iOS app that is ideal for digital storytelling 30hands Pro. The 30hands community is a perfect cloud based solution that allows educators to: manage/track students, hand in/out assignments, schedule events, and more. While the mobile is 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
• Slide sharing with parents and students
• Slide Transitions
• Unlimited presentations
• Unlimited saves to Camera Roll
For more info on how your school can participate, email info@30hands.com.
SpeakerDeck is a neat site I found out about from Larry Ferlazzo's blog for making slideshows/presentations. All a user has to do is upload a PDF, and SpeakerDeck takes care of the rest. Best of all, a user can share a SpeakerDeck via a link or social media, or embed it into a site/blog.
Below is an example...
I highly recommend checking out SpeakerDeck by clicking here!!!
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 and badges • Assessment tools • Analytics • Resource/Content management system • Web browser • Secure audio/video streaming I highly recommend checking out Answerables by clicking here!!! Below is a brief demo... For another detailed review check out Monica Burn's excellent blog by clicking here!!! *Answerables is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.
"Plagiarism is the "wrongful appropriation" and "stealing and publication" of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions" and the representation of them as one's own original work. (wikipedia)". Plagiarism has been a "test of time" in schools dating back to the beginning of education. However, technology has made it easier for teachers and student's to check for plagiarism and make sure that one's work is original, leading me to creating the following list... *This list is in alphabetical order. 10 Sites for Checking Plagiarism
BibMe - Not only does BibMe check for plagiarism, it checks for grammar allows for proper citation to prevent stealing other's work.
EduBirdie - A free tool where a user can upload or copy/paste text into the submission field, to receive a report detailing what words and phrases are unique or "stolen" w/ listed sources.
Grammarly - A great site where users can check for plagiarism and get recommendations for citations on sources that need to be properly credited.
Noplag - A excellent online plagiarism, spell, and grammar checker for teachers and students.
OuiWrite - An innovative all-in-one site that checks for plagiarism, but acts as a writing assistant for student's papers automatically searching/citing sources as they go along.
PaperRater - A nice site for students want to check grammar, spelling, and plagiarism.
PapersOwl - A convenient free plagiarism checker that students can use to detect their work and get detailed reports.
PlagTracker - A wonderful site for uploading a document and then scanning for plagiarism w/ accurate reports.
Plagiarisma - A simple little site for pasting in text to check for plagiarism.
QueText - A fantastic site where a user can copy/paste or upload text to detect plagiarism and generate detailed reports.
Money Math Duel is a fun iOS game for helping students w/ Math and learn how to make change. What makes Money Math Duel so unique as it lets kids play against each other while making it "fair" by allowing allowing players to customize their problems. This lets students equalize the playing field by determine how much money they want to make change for.
I highly recommend checking out Money Math Duel by clicking here!!!
Reading Racer is a new iOS app that I just had the pleasure of reviewing. This is an excellent easy-to-use app that uses the mobile device's microphone to "listen" as a student speaks the words on the screen. This is really innovative and separates Reading Racer from other educational apps on the market.
Reading Racer is designed for kids ages 5-8 and uses speech recognition as the user speaks the words/sentences as fast as they can. The way this works is the student presses the microphone button and holds it down while speaking the word. The words highlight as they are read and calculating how many in a row are read. If a user takes their finger off the microphone the word is then read to help them along. This continues as other characters race against them. The better a student finishes the more points they get to help them unlock other racers and tracks.
This is a great educational app to use for Reading and Comprehension and to use Game Based Learning in the classroom.
I highly recommend checking out Reading Racer by clicking here!!!
Storyboard That the excellent learning tool that educators are using in a wide variety of ways (i.e. project based learning, graphic organizers, timelines, storyboard, etc.). Storyboard That activities are great for telling the story of Thanksgiving, labeling different items, telling what you are "thankful" for and more. Best of all, a teachers can copy the storyboard and use or edit it for creating their own template.
I highly recommend checking out Storyboard That's Thanksgiving activities by clicking here!!!
Math Castle is an excellent iOS app for basic Math skills (i.e addition, multiplication, etc.). Math Castle follows a fun fantasy theme, as students try to defend their castle from a dragon by answering equations. Also, Math Castle has over 80 levels and generates details reports to help track student progress, This is a great app to integrate game based learning into the classroom as well as help differentiate instruction.
I highly recommend checking out Math Castle by clicking here!!!
Super Teacher Worksheets educators everywhere are using for printables, worksheets, puzzles, activities, and much much more. Also, all items are labeled if they are aligned to Common Core Standards and there are even generators/wizards for users to create their very own worksheets/puzzles/etc. Best of all, teachers can use STW for any subject and browse through 1000's of educational resources that can work for them.
Recently, STW released their ideas on how to use their resources for Veteran's Day. Students can now easily make cards, do word searches, and much more.
I highly recommend checking out Super Teacher Worksheets for Veteran's Day by clicking here!!!
*Super Teacher Worksheets is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.
Math Run: Panda Chase is a super fun iOS app for grades K-5th learning basic Math skills (i.e. addition, subtraction, multiplication, etc.) This game follows the familiar "running" game-style and has students avoiding obstacles while solving Math problems. Also, there are lots of characters and levels to unlock to enhance replay value. Best of all, Math Run is tracks students progress, generates detailed reports, and is aligned to Common Core Standards.
I highly recommend checking out Math Run: Panda Chase by clicking here!!!
"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 teachingmaterials 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
Actively Learn - Lets a user make any reading material "their" own by adding questions, annotation, and collaboration which helps educators differentiate their instruction
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Power My Learning - A great way for educators to differentiate instruction by customizing the learning experience for students using Power My Learning.
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.
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.
Book Creator is a fantastic (iOS/Chrome) app that educators are everywhere to create and share eBooks. This is done using a very user-friendly interface that makes it easy to creating stunning presentations, digital stories w/ the ability to record audio, projects, and more. Teachers are using Book Creator for project based learning, digital storytelling, and much much more. Book Creator can be used to teach any subject or grade level and can be published online, downloaded as an eBook, or
