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"I have been doing a lot of apps review here in Educational Technology and Mobile Learning but I have never posted about the tools you as teachers and educators can use to create your own apps. Just lower your eyebrows down, you can do it without any coding knowledge. Of course Android and Apple do provide tech savyy guys with the tools necessary to create their own apps but for us who know nothing about SDK and app development skills, platforms like the ones below will serve the purpose. You can create your app in less than a minute and the process is completely free. Here are some of the apps I learned from Steven Anderson and which you can use to create your customizable apps. Enjoy"

"Simple Physics is an iPad app that presents users with fun and challenging engineering problems. The app has twelve challenges that progress in difficulty as you move through the app. The premise of each challenge is the same. The challenge is to create a structure like a bridge or staircase that can support a given amount of weight. You're given a budget for materials for each structure and you have to stay under that budget. When your structure is complete, test it to find out if it will wor"

"This episode of ITT features the Sphero 2 robots and how the innovative educator, Sam Patterson, is using them in a robot club as well as when working with classrooms of students. From the Sphero Website: Control Sphero from your smartphone or tablet, change colors, complete challenges, earn tricks, and more. Sphero is waterproof, pet-proof, and ready to roll. Educationally savvy: Download free SPRK lessons and learn the basics of programming. Then unleash Sphero's inner robot and program like a pro. The more you play, the smarter you get."

"Are you ready for another round of Tech It Up Tuesday, a series devoted to sharing an edtech tool, app, site or other resource that can be utilized in the classroom setting? This week's shout out goes to the LIFE Photo Archive powered by Google, a collection of unpublished historical images from LIFE Magazine that span from the 1750's to present-day. This database containing millions of images-a joint venture between LIFE Magazine and Google-is completely free and very simple to use. Just access the site and then select a category of photos to browse (decades, people, places, events, etc.) or use the search option to locate the desired image. Once a photo is found, it can be downloaded to your device and utilized in multimedia projects, documents, presentations, etc.-so long as it has an educational/non-commercial use."

"Pod touches are making a difference in Oregon. The Canby School District completed a pilot last year and those behind the program are generous about sharing what they've learned. I've been reading the school district's wiki for some time, and a recent article written about their pilot on O'Reilly Radar is impressive."

"ducators and students are carrying in much more than backpacks, car keys, conversations, partially-completed homework, and outward laughter. Buried deep in the brain's limbic system is an emotional switching station called the amygdala, and it is here that our human survival and emotional messages are subconsciously prioritized and learned. We continually scan environments for feelings of connectedness and safety. I am learning that the students who look oppositional, defiant, or aloof may be exhibiting negative behavior because they are in pain and presenting their stress response. Over 29 percent of young people in the U.S., ages 9-17, are affected by anxiety and depression disorders (PDF). The thinking lobes in the prefrontal cortex shut down when a brain is in pain."

"When planning a makerspace, most think about designing for creativity. It's important to think about the types of projects that will be completed in the space, how many people will use the space at any given time, and the equipment on your must-have versus nice-to-have lists. However, there are also a few considerations that often go overlooked."

"If you're still adapting to millennials in the workplace, it's time to move on because the next generation of workers is here. We call them "digital natives" and their lives have always been integrated with technology. According to Marc Prensky, the author responsible for coining the term, digital natives are by definition a generation of children born into a completely digital world. As businesses prepare to welcome this new generation, we'll discuss what these businesses should know and how they can leverage the digital wisdom and tech-ready mindsets the digital natives will bring to the workforce."

"We have come a long way with using Google on the iPad. We now have 50 official apps from Google, Inc. for iOS. The following is a list of Google Apps for iOS. This list is exhaustive and includes several apps that are not on the infographic Guide to Google Apps for the iPad. Some of these are natural for classroom integration, and some are more for personal or business use. Some are optimized for both iPad and iPhone; some are only optimized for iPhone. Each app title is linked directly to the App Store so you can click directly from your device to download each app."

"With smartphone cameras improving all the time, the photographic possibilities offered by your mobile device have never been greater. But it's not just new hardware that can help you create amazing images.  Photo software is getting more and more sophisticated and intelligent, as you can see in our rundown of the best photo apps. But time doesn't stand still, so below we've brought together 10 new apps for 2016 that can help boost your photographic powers. And best of all, they're all completely free. Have we missed out your favourite free photo app of 2016? Then please share it with the community in the comments below."

"Back in February, an EdWeek Market brief reported that Amazon Education was starting to beta-test a new platform with educators, helping teachers navigate the jungles of open educational resources (or OERs, for short). Well, that platform-Amazon Inspire-has officially launched today in tandem with the ISTE conference in Denver, Colorado. A free, mostly-OER platform (see below for why it's "mostly OER"), Amazon Inspire works like a search engine for educational videos, lesson plans and games. Users can search by criteria like topics (say, "fractions" or "the Constitution"), standards, grade level, and time to complete, as shown below; additionally, they can rate materials with 1 to 5 stars."

"To be completely clear, taking a screenshot in iOS 10 is the same as it was before: just press the Home button and Power button concurrently, the screen will flash, and the screenshot is captured and stored in the Photos app. So why does it appear different for some users in iOS 10? This is where the minor behavior adjustment matters."

"Before the advent of the uber-popular show Mythbusters or the push for more STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) in schools, parents and their kids were doing at-home science experiments. Now, the trend continues to blossom, although many of the experiments have remained somewhat the same…and always awesomely exciting! If you're a parent and you want to do something with your kid that isn't related to cleaning the toilets or forging through homework, check out these 20 great science projects that you can complete in the confines of your humble abode. Most of them use around-the-home items that you probably have on hand, although some will require a little bit of shopping ahead of time. To help you decide which are best for your children's needs, the 20 have been divided into projects for younger students and projects for older ones."

"Real-time collaboration has become an essential component of working and learning online, since these tasks are never complete without collaboration. There are many times, when collaborating online in real-time becomes a necessity to keep people involved, make them work together and to keep teams focused to accomplish business goals. With real-time collaboration you get the opportunity to work with people located in different parts of the world at the same time on the same document and see the changes in an instant. There are numerous tools available for the purpose."

http://www.creativebloq.com/design/online-collaboration-tools-912855 Previous link is dead.

"I absolutely love all of the new robotics toys that have been coming out for elementary age learners.  I have been using them for my summer maker camp, with my gifted education classes, and for my upcoming Saturday morning program. One of my gifted girls noted, "Where do all of these robots come from?" I laughed and told her, "It's actually has become one of my passions. Collecting them has become a major hobby of mine." I usually use them for an hour per week with my two groups of gifted learners.  I am an advocate of student-centric learning and giving them choices as to which instructional activities they would like to engage. For their robotics hour each week, I am giving them the following choices with their goal of using five of the robotics to complete five of the tasks provided. My robotics-type devices include:"

"Last year, I posted 5 STEM Activities that could be completed easily in the classroom. I often get positive feedback regarding this post, and requests for more STEM challenges. Without further adieu, I give you 5 more easy STEM challenges to promote collaboration, critical thinking and problem solving with your students."

"Last year I took a group of students to Cuba to produce documentaries about the island nation's culture and history. The main objective was learning how to produce documentaries, but one of my students learned a much more powerful lesson through the process. After completing her project, she posted it publicly to YouTube and received critical comments from someone living in Cuba. The feedback from an audience member in another country profoundly affected her, making her aware of what she was missing in her piece, and the impact that her work can have on others. No test, grade, or teacher evaluation could have come close to helping her learn that deeply, and it made clear to me how important it is for teachers to reexamine why and how we grade our students if we truly care about their success."

Something is missing from my classroom lately and I am quite happy to have seen it disappear. It is the traditional line at the teacher's desk formed by students awaiting feedback on a recently completed piece of writing. What has replaced this is our use of Google Docs and Slides as a tool for the collaborative development of ideas from initial thinking and strategising through to final editing and refinement. It has introduced a new workflow to the class that both streamlines the process of providing feedback, allows for greater detail and transforms the process into one that is richly collaborative.

"Summer is upon us, and that calls for books to enjoy while lounging poolside. We asked MIND Research Institute staff to recommend their favorite mathematically themed reads, and their picks run the gamut of genres from sci-fi to psychology. Add a few of these to your summer reading list for completely guilt-free and possibly enlightening pleasure. "