Tuesday, April 30, 2013

9Slides

9Slides is a wonderful site/app for adding video/audio narrations to a presentation.  This is ideal for educators or students looking to engage their audiences/classmates.  9Slides supports almost any style of slideshow/presentation (ie, PP, Keynote, etc), is very user friendly, and can be embedded into a site/blog.

I highly recommend checking out 9Slides by clicking here!!!

*9Slides is an advertisers of Technology Tidbits.

For my Pinterest board on Slideshows/Presentations click here.

iHeartThisApp

iHeartThisApp is a very nice site for students and teachers to find family friendly educational apps.  This site has reviews by parents and other educators and contain detailed information such as: images, product review, likes/dislikes, and improvements.  Also, this is a nice site to find nice deals on apps and giveaways.

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

Monday, April 29, 2013

Teacher Gaming Network

The Teacher Gaming Network is an excellent social network for Gamification.  This is a network that allows educators to create educational games that can be shared w/ students via a URL or embedded into a site.  A teacher can create a game w/ 5 different questions styles: T/F, multiple choice, list, short answer, or fill in the blank.  A paid unlock unlocks all 5 types of questions and student tracking for a teacher.  Also, being a social network a teacher can search through 1000's of other educational games to share/use w/ their students.

I highly recommend checking out the Teacher Gaming Network by clicking here!!

Below is a brief demo video...

Biteslide

Biteslide is one of my all-time favorite Web 2.0 sites for creating beautiful presentations in a safe environment.  What makes Biteslide so great for education is that it's CIPA compliant and that teachers can create student accounts.  Also, a digital presentation can contain all types of media such as: video, images, text, etc etc, and best of all can be embedded into a site.  This is a great way to incorporate technology into a curriculum and works for any subject and grade level.

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

*Biteslide is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

GoClass

GoClass is a wonderful site/app for creating lesson plans and sharing them w/ students.  This is done by creating engaging content as well as class rosters on the web and then sharing them w/ students on their mobile devices.  This is ideal for mobile learning and "flipping" a classroom.  Also, after the students use their mobile device to follow/complete the lesson or exercise, teachers get instant real-time results for assessing their students.

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

*GoClass is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

Friday, April 26, 2013

Swipe

Swipe is a new (beta) site for creating stunning looking slideshows/presentations on the web.  This is all done through an easy to use drag-n-drop interface to add: text, audio, video, images, and more.  Once a presentation is finished a user can share it via a link which makes it ideal for those viewing on a mobile device.

I recommend checking out Swipe by clicking here!!

Below is a brief demo...



For my Pinterest board on Creating Slideshows/Presentations click here.

Level It Books

Level It Books is a fantastic iOS app for teachers and parents.  This app allows users to scan a book's ISBN and get detailed information such as a Reading& Lexile Level.  Also, a teacher can maintain a class roster of students w/ their Reading Level information as well as maintain a library of books.  Another nice feature is the ability to manually search for a book and even maintain a library of
classroom books.

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

*Level It Books is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Sight Words & Spelling w/ Pixopop HD

Sight Words & Spelling w/ Pixopop is a free today and an excellent iPad app for teaching young kids how to Read and Spell.  This is done through 3 styles of games: flashcards, word challenge (think hangman), and a basic spelling game.  What makes this great for education is that a teacher can create their own custom words list to use, and students can even select their own avatar.

I highly recommend checking out Sight Words & Spelling w/ Pixopop by clicking here!!!

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

Wikispaces Classroom



Wikispaces Classroom is something that has been getting quite a bit of press over the last few weeks that I decided to post about after receiving a promotional email.

Here is detailed information from their blog...


  • Simplicity. Wikispaces was built to help people work together. All kinds of people, in all kinds of contexts. Over the years we made it easier and easier for teachers and students to use Wikispaces but there were always parts of Wikispaces that weren’t designed for the classroom and frankly, got in the way. In Wikispaces Classroom, all that is gone. It’s streamlined and focused, it puts everything you need to manage your classroom right up front, and it gets everything you don’t need right out of the way.


  • Engagement. Wikispaces has always been about engaging teachers and students in meaningful activity and communication in and around the learning process. For Wikispaces Classroom we’ve designed an entirely new way to manage and talk about everything that goes on in our class. Featuring a modern newsfeed, and a simple way to manage assignments, announcements, events, and all of your resources and work, it’s everything you and your students love about social networking but private, in your classroom, and integrated with your day to day work.


  • Improve Outcomes. We know that the key to improving student outcomes, however you define them, is to help teachers understand what is happening with each student every day, so that they can spend their time helping each student the way that student needs to be helped. Wikispaces has always had an enormous amount of data about what students are doing, and how they are doing, under the hood, and so we just decided to give that data to teachers in a way they can actually use. In formal terms, it’s formative assessment. In our terms, its our way of making the lives of teachers easier, and helping them help more kids, more efficiently, and more effectively.

And of course, Wikispaces Classroom is free for teachers and students.

You can create a new Wikispaces Classroom now, or convert an existing wiki to Wikispaces Classroom in your Settings area.

Click here to give Wikispaces a try.

ClassDojo Updates

The amazing, free, and popular behavioral management site for educators has some recent update w/ their reporting features.  Below is what's new...


  • Easier-to-use than ever before - and lightning fast
  • Sorting options so you can easily spot trends and improvements
  • Engage parents and students with just one click - with the all-new 'Connections' section
I highly recommend checking out ClassDojo by clicking here!!!

*ClassDojo is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

World of Classcraft

World of Classcraft is an ambitious Kickstarter project by Shawn Young.  A Kickstarter is a way for companies to find funding from donations of others in a limited amount of time.  I really like these as it helps get some excellent startup companies noticed.

World of Classcraft is an innovative idea of bringing the mega-popular online role-playing game into the classroom.  The way this work is students would pick a character from one of three classes: mage, warrior, healer.  The students then progress through real-life situations and helping out others/collaborating to gain experience points.  From this they can gain rewards, level up, etc.  Bad behavior or doing bad on homework or tests can result in loss of experience/health points, and the player can even die (ie, Saturday detention).

For more information on World of Classcraft click here!!

Tagboard

Tagboard is a site I just found out about from the award winning blog, Free Technology 4 Teachers.  This is a very handy site for educators that use Twitter, as it allows a person to view any content associated to a hashtag (ie, tweets, instagram pics, FB posts, etc etc).  A person can even retweet or respond to messages from the Tagboard screen.

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

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Kodable

Kodable is a wonderful iPad app for programming that I found out about from ReadWrite.  This is an excellent iPad app for kids ages 5-7 that helps them learn how to program by dragging-n-dropping fuzz balls around levels filled w/ directional arrows.  The creator developed it w/ the thought that since age a young age is ideal to learn a language why not the language of programming.  Some kids are learning how to program before learning how to read/write.

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

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

Monday, April 22, 2013

YodelOh Math Mountain

YodelOh Math Mountain is a fun iOS app for helping students learn and strengthen their Math skills.  This game has a mountain climber (think Price is Right) climbing a mountain while solving a bunch of Math equations.  These equations focus on basic Math skills such as: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.  As time progress the climber climbs up the mountain while various objects such as sheep, rams, and other objects try to bump the climber up the hill and off the mountain.  The goal is to answer as many questions and hit as many targets as possible before the climber reaches the top of the mountain and falls off.

I highly recommend checking out YodelOh Math Mountain by clicking here!!!

For my Educational iOS board on Pinterest click here.

Brainy

Brainy is a fantastic website developed by an amazing educator, Miss Farah.  She is a well known educator around the world and is currently teaching in Lebanon.  Her new site is designed for kids 5-10 yrs old and focuses on a wide variety of subjects, such as: Math, Reading, Science, Computers, Art, and more.

This is an ideal site for parents or teachers to use w/ their students/kids to reinforce skills through the use of educational games and activities.  Also, there is a nice section for reading digital stories out loud as well as a weekly treasure hunt where students can win a certificate.

I highly recommend checking out Mss Farah's Brainy website by clicking here!!!

Tizmos

Tizmos is an interesting site that reminds me a bit of Edshelf and 19 Pencils.  This free site allows educators to share resources such as websites and videos by turning them into interactive images (ie, Pinterest/Edshelf). These images are either linked to a video or a web page.  This makes it nice for teachers wanting to share content w/ students in a safe easy way.

I recommend checking out Tizmos by clicking here!!

For my Pinterest board on Website Curators click here.

Friday, April 19, 2013

Story Wheel

Story Wheel is a fantastic iOS app for digital storytelling.  The way this works is a student spins a wheel and lands on an image.  Once this image is selected a student has 30 seconds to record their voice creating the story.  What makes this so nice is the ability to see your images on the side while recording your voice to keep track of your story.  Once a story is finished it can then be shared online or turned into an ibook.

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

For my Pinterest board on Digital Storytelling click here.
For my Edshelf collection on Digital Storytelling click here.

BoomWriter Storytelling Camp

Read on to find out about this exciting new innovative Summercamp from BoomWriter...

"This summer, students across New England will have an opportunity to come together online to write, edit and publish their own books inspired by Diary of a Wimpy Kid author and Massachusetts resident Jeff Kinney. Boston public broadcaster WGBH and the digital education company BoomWriter Media have teamed up to launch the BoomWriter Storytellers Camp to help middle school students maintain and improve writing skills during summer vacation. Through the collaboration, WGBH and BoomWriter Media are offering four separate one-week, online, curriculum-based and educator-supported camps that foster creativity and expressive writing."


“We are excited to work in association with WGBH,” said Chris Twyman, co-founder and
CEO of BoomWriter Media. “They are the best of public broadcasting and are in the hearts of
children everywhere. Together, we can inspire a love of writing, storytelling and learning,
while also facilitating critical thought and creativity for a new generation of learners. The BoomWriter platform provides 21 century students with a means of self-expression through writing that is both accessible and familiar and provides teachers with the tools for success.”

The new BoomWriter Storytellers Camp builds on BoomWriter’s existing web-based platform
and provides students with daily lessons and workshops before challenging campers with a
daily writing assignment. On the first day of the camp, participating campers are presented
with a prompt, or ‘story start,’ written by Kinney.

The prompt serves as the first chapter of a collaboratively written novel. After reading the
prompt, campers individually write the next chapter. After writing, teachers and trained
counselors review the campers’ writing and provide interactive feedback. When the daily
writing period ends, campers are given the opportunity to read select and approved
submissions from other campers and vote on their favorite additions to the story. The
submission with the most votes is accepted as the next chapter of the novel and serves as
the next day’s writing prompt.

For more information and registration click here!!!

Hopscotch

Hopscotch is another free iPad app for kids to learn programming that I found about from Edshelf.  Again this app reminds me a lot of Daisy the Dinosaur and Scratch, where students can program by dragging-and-dropping blocks into order to form commands.  Once the sequence of commands is completed a user can watch as characters come to life.  A neat feature is once a student becomes more advanced they can program to have their iPad interact w/ the app by tilting or shaking.

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

Move the Turtle

Move the Turtle is an excellent iOS app for learning how to program, that I just found out about on Edshelf.  This app reminds me a lot of Daisy the Dinosaur using a turtle and graphics to help students learn how to program.  What makes this so great for education is that it is a simple to use app that goes step by step as students learn how to manipulate graphics and help them complete tasks.  Also, there is a nice feature of being able to see a "solution" to a task if a student gets caught up on a lesson.

I highly recommend checking out Move the Turtle by clicking here!!!

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Grid Lines: Ordered Pair Game

Grid Lines: Ordered Pair Game is the latest educational iOS Math game by Math File Folder Games.  Anyone familiar w/ these games will realize how simple it is to use and how easy it is to integrate into a curriculum.

Grid Lines focuses on plotting points on a grid.  This works similar to the board game Battleship but instead of trying to sink/hit ships a person is trying to plot points to draw a line through a shape.  The way this works is by rolling dice (similar to other MFFG games) and then using the numbers to plot two points on a gird.  Once the points are plotted a line is then drawn w/ the goal of trying to hit 1 or more shapes.

Best of all, this game is interactive and can be played by students across two different mobile devices using bluetooth to sync up.  Also, progress reports can be sent to parents or teachers via email.

I highly recommend checking out this innovative game by clicking here!!!

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

Daisy the Dinosaur

Daisy the Dinosaur if a wonderful free iPad app that I just found out about from Edshelf.  This is an app designed for kids 4+ that reminds me a lot of Scratch.  Students learn how to program by dragging and dropping commands into an order and then watching Daisy as she animates and follows these commands.

I highly recommend checking out Daisy the Dinosaur by clicking here!!!

For 15 Sites on Learning how to Program/Code click here.

Also, check out CodeSpells which is an innovative new way to program by casting spells.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Appolearning

Appolearning is a great site for finding educational apps.  These reviews are done by experts in the educational field and are scored on a scale of a 100%.  Also, these reviews contain a number of screenshots and detailed report card that covers: Educational Content, Kids Appeal, Assessment, Features and Design, Value, and Safety and Privacy.

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

Edshelf Groups

The terrific curation site for education Edshelf, has just launched a new feature that now allows users to create and participate in groups.  This group feature acts like a forum and allows educators to collaborate by creating posts and then commenting on others.  This is ideal for finding: help, ideas, tools, and more.

I highly recommend checking out Edshelf by clicking here!!

Monday, April 15, 2013

Mystery Math Town

Mystery Math Town is a wonderful iPad app for ages 6-12 yrs old.  I tried out this app w/ my 5 & 7 yr old tonight and they absolutely loved it.  This stunning looking app immerses kids into a unique and mysterious environment.  As students travel through a house they can interact w/ the background environment while unlocking certain areas by solving equations.  While they progress further in the game students can collect gold coins to unlock an interactive gallery of townspeople.  What makes this ideal for education is the ability to create multiple user accounts, controlling game settings, and it focuses on addition, subtraction, and multiplication.

I highly recommend checking out Mystery Math Town by clicking here!!!

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

School Fuel

School Fuel is a free iOS app that is ideal for educators for managing mobile apps and their common core standards.  This all done from an easy to use admin console that allows educators to share: apps, documents, links, videos, and more.  This is ideal for a BYOD or mobile learning environment.  Also, SF is designed to work w/ Google Apps for districts that use that.

I highly recommend checking out School Fuel by clicking here!!!

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

Saturday, April 13, 2013

CodeSpells

CodeSpells is a very innovative app/game that I just found out about from the amazing educator, Kelly Tenkely.  This is a free downloadable game for Mac (Windows coming soon) that is being piloted in schools right now for teaching programming (Java).  The way this works is that players are immersed in a 3D first person player fantasy world.  In order to survive they must cast spells in order to fight and defend themselves from obstacles.  The spells that they cast are all done in Java and helps students learn through, trial and error and game play.

For more information on this innovative concept click here!!

Below is a brief demo...

Friday, April 12, 2013

Fun Educational Apps

Fun Educational Apps is an excellent site for finding detailed reviews on educational apps.  These apps are rated on a 5 star scale and include photos.  Best of all, these reviews breakdown the app into 3 categories such as: what I liked, suggestions, and general opinion.

I highly recommend checking out Fun Educational Apps by clicking here!!!

Thursday, April 11, 2013

50 Sites and 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.

50 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 and assignments.
  6. 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.
  7. Digital Films - A nice site for creating a digital animated story and then embedded into a site/blog to share it w/ others.
  8. Imagine Forest - An innovative site where a student can create a digital story or use a story starter for brainstorming that writing process.
  9. 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.
  10. Make Beliefs Comix - A nice site for creating digital comics in a number of different languages as well of lots of educational resources.
  11. Motion Comics - A cool site for creating animated comics that lets users embed into a site/blog.
  12. 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.
  13. Nawmal - A popular site for creating stunning looking animated videos w/ educational portal.
  14. Pixntell - A simple to use iOS app for organizing iPhotos into a story then recording audio.
  15. Pixton for Schools - A nice site w/ educational portal for creating digital comics.
  16. 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.
  17. Speech Journal - A nice iPad app for pairing recorded audio w/ a digital picture from one's iPhoto library to create a story.
  18. Sock Puppets - A very fun iOS app that allows users to lip sync audio to a sock puppet, one of my kids favorites.
  19. 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.
  20. Storybird - A great site w/ educational portal where students create art inspired stories and then embed into a site/blog.
  21. 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.
  22. StoryKit - A simple to use iOS app for telling a story by adding text, photos, and audio. 
  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. ToonDoo Spaces - A great site w/ educational portal for students to create digital comics.
  27. UtellStory - A nice place to tell a story through audio, images, and video, as well as collaborating w/ others.
  28. 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.
  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.
For my Pinterest board on Digital Storytelling click here.
For my Edshelf collection on Digital Storytelling click here.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

QuestBase

QuestBase is a nice site for creating online quizzes/assessments that I just found out about from Edshelf.  QB is a very user friendly site for educators that allows them to create a wide variety of content such as: quizzes, tests, surveys, etc and them publish them online for students to take.  What makes QB so beneficial for education is the ability to password protect quizzes and the ability to generate instant real-time reports.

I highly recommend checking out QuestBase by clicking here!!

Monday, April 8, 2013

Robots for iPad

Robotos for iPad is an innovative fun app for exploring real-world robots.  This is a great app for education that allows students to explore over a 100 robots from around the world by interacting w/: images, articles, photos, videos, and more.

I highly recommend checking out Robotos for iPads by clicking here!!!

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

Saturday, April 6, 2013

ClassDojo Updates

ClassDojo the great behavior management app/site has released 2 new features that makes it even better.

Straight from their email list serve...



1. Reset individual point bubbles

Want to run a class competition with ClassDojo? Redeem ClassDojo awards for special privileges? Reset students' ClassDojo points when they reach a goal? Now you can!
  • Reset the point bubbles that students see in class
  • Reset students' points when they achieve goals
  • All your data is still saved in student reports :)

2. The ClassDojo timer


You asked for it - so we built it! An easy-to-use timer for your classroom. Use it to:
  • Perform timed classroom activities with ClassDojo
  • Use the countdown feature during transitions
  • Time quizzes and group work while you use ClassDojo
I highly recommend checking out ClassDojo by clicking here!!!

*ClassDojo is an advertiser of TechnologyTidbits.


Friday, April 5, 2013

Easy Attendance

Easy Attendance is a easy to use iOS app for educators to track students attendance and other data.  All a teacher has to do is create classes then either manually add a student or import a list.  A teacher can then add a photo to the student, add notes, and even generate reports.

I recommend checking out Easy Attendance by clicking here.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Sight Word Hangman

Sight Word Hangman is a excellent iOS app for teaching kids Reading, Spelling, and Word Recognition through the use of the game Hangman.  However, SWH is a bit different where a user doesn't guess letters, but listens to the word then selects the correct one.  As they get one wrong pieces of the person generates on the screen.  Best of all a teacher can view all the word lists and even generate a report to see which ones the students got wrong by seeing what they clicked on.

I highly recommend checking out Sight Word Hangman by clicking here!!

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

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Class Charts

Class Charts is a cool new site that I just found out about from Richard Byrne's excellent blog.  This is a great site for creating customized seating charts by using one of their many templates.  What I really like is the ability to use an icon or student photo for the chart as well as assign key data such as: Reading/Spelling data.

Another nice feature which reminds me of the wonderful site Class Dojo, is that a teacher can also manage and track student behavior using CC.  A educator can assign behavior points by clicking on an icon and then generate detailed reports.

I highly recommend checking out Class Charts by clicking here!!!

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

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Teech

Teech is a new (beta) site that I just found out about from Edshelf.  This is a nice site that allows users to easily creating educational applications.  What I like about Teech is the wide variety of content that a user can create such as: grading, assessments, content management systems, games, etc.

I recommend checking out Teech by clicking here!!

Monday, April 1, 2013

9Slides

9Slides is a site that I've blogged about in the past.  This is a fantastic free site for adding a narration to any type of presentation.  However, 9Slides recently got much better w/ the addition of a free iPad app. This app allows users to easily add narration to presentation slides by using the iPad's built in camera.  This is great for engaging audiences, creating tutorials, and more.

I highly recommend checking out 9Slides iPad app by clicking here!!!

*9Slides is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.