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"Well it appears that my series of charts comparing ed tech tools is catching on because today I received my first suggestion for a chart topic. The suggestion was for a comparison of website creation tools. In the chart below I compare five popular tools for building classroom websites. You'll notice that the last column of the chart contains links to tutorials on how to use each service. You can find a Google Docs copy of the chart here or download it through the Box.com widget embedded below."

"Creating tutorials and explanatory guides is best done through the help of screenshots. These are pictures we take of our screens to share with others or include in a visual demonstration of how, for example, a process works. As teachers and educators we often find ourselves in need of such visual annotations and cues to enhance our students comprehensibility. There are several web tools that we can use to create screenshots and we have already reviewed some of them in past publications here. Today, we are introducing you to what we consider to be the best 4 web tools for creating screenshots. Besides being free, these tools are very simple to use and are also student friendly. They will allow you to  capture your screen, crop and annotate your pictures using  arrows, colours, shapes, text and many more. "

"Digital learning tools are seen by many people as those tools that are in some way different to other learning tools and need to be treated and discussed as such. "Let's go to the digital learning zone" or "Now it's time for class to use their iPads" are common announcements in many schools. Maybe we should stop saying digital, 21st Century and modern. I wonder if this mindset might be damaging to learning."

"Are you a math teacher looking for some super cool resources to engage students and assist them with mastering content? Then look no further than this collection of Digital Tools for Math to locate exactly what you need to tech up your next lesson or project. With dozens of suggestions in the areas of web tools, apps, formative assessment, QR codes, math glossaries, and recommendations for whom and what to follow on social media, there's sure to be a tip, trick or tool for any math teacher!"

"In my previous article on this subject, I wrote about the Maker Movement and its importance to the educational realm. The Maker Movement is also nicknamed the Do-It-Yourself (D.I.Y.) Movement, because it empowers individuals to design, manufacture, and create their own objects, ultimately improving creativity in many fields. In a way, the tools used in this movement are taking us back to a time when every person was a craftsperson - except now, we have much cooler gadgets than a wood chisel. And while many of us do not realize it yet, this hands-on approach is something that is missing from our very digital, holographic world. The 3D printer is one of the biggest revolutionary tools in the Maker world and has inspired a push toward the do-it-yourself sensibility. Still, though the cost of 3D printers is coming down, they are still prohibitively expensive for many schools and what's more, when turning a classroom into a makerspace, it would be silly to limit ourselves to one technology. In this article, we discuss five tools that are not 3D printers that schools can use to help students embrace this movement inside the classroom."

"A few weeks back, I asked the Shake Up Learning Community to share their favorite collaborative tools and this post is a summarization are their top choices. (Click here to join the Shake Up Learning Community.) Collaboration is a critical twenty-first-century skill for our students. Finding ways to facilitate and support collaboration in the classroom is not always easy. Keep in mind that digital tools are not inherently collaborative, it is how you use them to facilitate collaboration in your classroom. All of the tools below have the capability but may support collaboration in different ways."

"In this initial weekly roundup of what's happening on Product Genius, I wanted to share some of the trending educational web tools we've been using. Since the site is so new, a lot of these tools are based on what I've been seeing and personally using. As time goes on, we'll get a more crowdsourced version of this list. For now, I wanted to share some of the tools I've been seeing and wanting others to know about."

"Technology can be a powerful tool to assist students with special needs or any sort of learning challenge. In particular the Chrome web browser allows users to install a wide variety of web extensions that provide tools that can help all learners, regardless of ability level. In this blog post we will take a look at 21 Chrome web extensions that can assist students in five main categories: Text to Speech Readability Reading Comprehension Focus Navigation Some of the tools fit into more than one topic, but each is only listed once. Certainly this list does not cover all of the useful web extensions available for struggling learners, but it is a great place to begin. In addition to the list of extension, I have also linked in the video and help guide from a webinar I did a while back on "Google Tools for Special Needs"."

"A few weeks ago I heard the amazing Katie Cunningham discuss the power of storytelling - check out her new book here. She shared some of the ways you can support student storytellers and it got me thinking… how can we use technology tools to capture stories? I've put together a list of my favorite creation apps and websites to help you leverage technology tools to help students tell their stories. What I love about this list of tools is how you can tailor them to the needs of your students. Maybe your kids will tell their stories through voice recordings or a slideshow of pictures. Some students might write a thousand words in one sitting while others will retell a special moment in just a few sentences. The creation apps and websites featured below will let students capture stories with your guidance and support."

"I love it when I find a new app or extension that does something cool. Whether it's a new function, a more efficient workflow, or it will block spoilers for Star Wars, a good extension is a powerful tool. As I often write about, there's not enough time in education to waste, so I'm particularly fond of the tools that help save clicks and make our work more effective, both for students and teachers. Lately, I've been exploring new online tools to add functionality to Google Chrome and improve the way we are using presentation tools. I wanted to explore better ways to screen shot (RIP, Snagit), annotate, and work smarter within the G Suite ecosystem. Here are three extensions that are new to me that have had a big impact on my practice, along with some practical ideas of how I use them in my classroom and coaching. The images are courtesy of the Chrome Web Store, and each link will take you directly to the extension for more information"

"​The purpose of Makerspace for Education is to provide educators with a hands-on, creative, user friendly, "anytime, anyplace", professional development tool that can be used as part of a community of practice. It allows educators to inform themselves, with tools at their fingertips, on the various aspects of the makerspace as they are ready. Using interactive tools that allow access to necessary information, directly from a user-friendly interface and based on the key frameworks of constructionism and constructivism, makerspace, design thinking and media literacies, teachers will have the tools they need to begin, or continue, their makerspace journeys. This site will evolve and grow as the participating educators add to the content and support the construction of knowledge. "

"Rapidly approaching the dog days of summer (give or take a few days or weeks), I felt a need to share a power packed suitcase of tools that could be used to archive your summer highlights and memories. Many educators never really go on vacation. While they may appear to be leisurely sipping daiquiris on the beach, let's be realistic… their brains are constantly running, reflecting, and mentally archiving away ideas for the next school year. To meet both the recreational and curricular needs of educators, I have concocted a special blend of FREE web tools and apps, highlighting both extracurricular as well as instructional integrations for each. Hopefully, these tools will exceed your souvenir quota and prove to be true digital treasures for the 2014-2015 school year as well."

"I've written about a number of video, audio, and collage creation tools, with WeVideo, Audacity, and PicMonkey topping some of my lists. However, it can be a challenge for students to locate copyright-friendly media when using these tools for presentations or idea sharing. It's always best for students to create materials or use ones that are in the public domain. Here are some of the best resources I've found for the latter."

"The new visual below is intended to give teachers and students more choices of make their thinking and learning visible using the following platforms, activities, tools, Visible Thinking Routines as an option or starting off point. The suggestions include tools and platforms that are specifically suited to connect, collaborate, communicate and create, 21st century style, one's process and make it easier to amplify and to document4learning. The framework is based on REFLECTION being an integral part of the learning process the understanding that through technology tools our access to INFORMATION has exponentially expanded as well our ability to take ACTION beyond affecting people we are able to reach face to face that technology tools allow us to express and communicate in OTHER FORMS of media beyond words and text"

"As you know, there are a zillion tools in the technosphere for developing just about anything imaginable-some are good; some not so much. That said, when I recently discovered a collection of tools compiled into one resource by one of my favorite edtech gurus using one of my go-to tools, I knew I had to get the thumbs up to share it on my space. Soooo, if you're in need of some excellent ways to create one or more of the following-graphics, infographics, images, labels, posters, flyers, lists of info, tutorials and more for classroom and/or professional development purposes, then the TechChef's Smooth Tools is a must-see concoction of geeky goodness."

"A screencast, also known as video screen capture, is a great way for teachers to create and share instructional videos and explanatory step by step tutorials with students. regardless of the purposes for which you are creating a screencast, the quality of your video screen captures can sometimes impede the communicative intent of your message. Therefore, knowing what tools to use to create educational screencasts is as important as the content of the screencasts themselves. To this end, we have curated for you this collection of some of the best screen casting tools out there. We have divided them into four major categories: Mac apps, web tools, Chromebook apps, iPad apps, and Android apps."

Creative Web Tools For and By Kids is a project designed for students, ages 9 to 14, to use emerging technologies for engaging, thinking, learning, collaborating, creating, and innovating. The focus is on the use of free, open-source, or minimal cost tools, so the project can be replicated. An underlying goal is to demonstrate how advanced technological applications for enhancing learning can be implemented with only a computer and Internet access.

"It is amazing how much technology can do for students to enhance their learning and personal development. I wish we had these tech affordances when we were students, things could have been much easier. Technology, however, is only effective when it is leveraged in the right way and to the right purposes. The first step in the effective use of technology is to have access to the educational tools available out there. This is usually a daunting task as the web is teeming with all kinds of tools and it could take you forever to find, assess and evaluate the tools you want to use. To this end, the folks in Open Colleges have compiled this excellent list featuring 20 educational apps and gadgets. Students can use these tools to perform a variety of learning tasks from writing and researching to managing their time efficiently.  Together with these apps there are also some handy study tips for students to boost to their creativity. I spent sometime going through these tips and found them really worth a share here."