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"Our philosophy is to talk about apps and tools that change the game for us as educators, and our students. We do not agree with the "100 great apps" approach because you will never make it to #17 let alone #100. Here are a list of 5 FREE tools we recommend to use this upcoming school year to increase student engagement, deeper level thinking, teacher productivity, and make parent communication flawless! "

"I got an email from one of my readers here in Educational Technology and Mobile Learning asking me about some good tools for classroom management. I have already posted a list of some web tools teachers can use for this purpose but today I wanted to feature "the urgent" ones. By classroom management I mean anything that has to do with the unfolding of classroom instruction from behaviour controlling to lesson planning. Here are the top 5 you can use this school year. "

"A list of some of the The Best Free Web Tools for Engaging Students in 1:1 Classrooms, as presented at the Iowa 1:1 Conference in April 2014."

"Which digital device is the better learning tool for students - a Chromebook or an iPad? If you're not aware of the hottest current digital device debate, you're probably not a parent or an educator. Once upon a time, that debate might have been about VHS vs. Beta, or Mac vs. PC. However, in prime time ed tech school district circles, folks are fiercely focused on Chromebooks vs. iPads (both now below $400). The big question? Which is the smarter purchase for their students? On the flip side of the classroom debate, Mom and Dad might not like the fact that portable digital tools are becoming more and more invasive. However, how's a parent to ignore these must-have lightweight mobile monsters, which are antiquating the family desktop and nurturing independence? Not to mention all your kids' friends seem to have one. So which digital device is best?" If you're not aware of the hottest current digital device debate, you're probably not a parent or an educator. Once upon a time, that debate might have been about VHS vs. Beta, or Mac vs. PC. However, in prime time ed tech school district circles, folks are fiercely focused on Chromebooks vs. iPads (both now below $400). The big question? Which is the smarter purchase for their students? On the flip side of the classroom debate, Mom and Dad might not like the fact that portable digital tools are becoming more and more invasive. However, how's a parent to ignore these must-have lightweight mobile monsters, which are antiquating the family desktop and nurturing independence? Not to mention all your kids' friends seem to have one. So which digital device is best?"

"One of the most intimidating aspects of infusing technology into curriculum is that educators often believe that they will have to master and then teach their students to use new technology tools before assigning a project. These concerns are understandable as our time for professional development is finite and school curricula are already packed. However, consider the impact if, rather than focusing on new tools, we explored the skills students need to learn and then incorporated the most effective digital resources to accomplish those objectives."

"Great writers don't rely solely upon their talent. They are characterized with discipline and great focus. If you lack these fundamental skills, your talent won't help you write outstanding posts and articles on schedule. Wait; that doesn't mean you should give up! There are many online tools, apps and websites that will help you achieve your full potential as a blogger or content writer. Start exploring these tools:"

"Editing images is often imperative in order to achieve the perfect results from your efforts. There are a number of amazing photo editing programs available for you to use through your desktop, but it is not always ideal or even possible for you to sit down in front of your computer to edit images. When you need to edit a photo in the fastest and most convenient way possible, using a online editing tool through the browser in your tablet or smart phone is a better solution. There are some great browser-based options available for you to choose from. You can easily sort through some of the online editing tools now so that you have them downloaded and ready to use when you need them."

"In the U.S., and increasingly abroad, students of high school and college age require a smart phone as a standard part of their lifestyles. In fact, the pervasiveness of these devices can be a real distraction for teachers, who often have to ban the use of them in classrooms. Of course, it is also possible to embrace these ubiquitous gadgets, and put students to work on them! There are many types of assignments and tools that can be used to engage students using their beloved devices. Here we examine many tools and techniques that can engage students using smartphones. Many of these can also be completed on a tablet or computer as well, to help provide for students who do not have the luxury of a personal cell phone."

"Whatever fancy social media tools you might use to keep in touch with students and parents - Edmodo, Facebook, Twitter, Slack - you'll find that the most effective way of keeping in touch is email. It's can be targetted, the messages can be aimed directly to those who need to hear - and people will open them. Email (still) works, no matter what the hipsters tell you. These tools are the good ones - the best ways to manage your email lists and the content within them. They all approach the same issues in slightly different ways, so play around and see what suits you best."

"Education in Social Studies is needed to achieve levels of civilization that the nation requires of its citizens. Teaching and learning in Social Studies is effective only when it is substantial, authentic, integrated and value-based. Its disciplines are diverse with an expanse of historical, geographical, political, civic and a lot more content. So, learners and educators of Social Studies should possess tools and resources to learn about it and acquire skills in it. Here are some worthy and free tools and resources for Teaching and learning Social Studies, available online:"

"Great writers don't rely solely upon their talent. They are characterized by discipline and great focus. If you lack these fundamental skills, your talent won't help you write outstanding posts and articles on schedule. But wait, that doesn't mean you should give up. Many online tools, apps, and websites will help you achieve your full potential as a blogger or content writer. Start exploring these 10 tools:"

"Every teacher wants to be able to make his or her classroom environment the optimum place for learning, interacting and engaging. Today, there is a wide assortment of free technology options available to enhance your instruction. The tools are changing… quickly. So making the best choices, based on the resources available in your school, or through your board, is critical. Here are some top sure-fire picks to ensure your goal has real purpose, not just an introduction of technology for the sake of looking tech-savvy. These are easy to use teaching tools-about as grab-and-go as it gets. How about starting with lesson creation?"

"Makerspaces have made headlines recently. Several weeks ago New York City hosted the World Maker Faire. The White House had its first Maker Faire this summer, and schools and libraries across the country are installing these spaces. It is certainly tempting to start thinking about all the amazing tools you could put into your makerspace. If you know anything about Makers, you are probably thinking that you need a CNC machine, a 3-D printer, Dremels for everyone and a laser cutter since they are the gateway tool for making things. But buying a bunch of tools without first stopping to think about how they will be integrated into the culture and curriculum of your school is a recipe for a dusty and underused workshop. From my experience installing makerspaces in several dozen schools, I've developed a process that helps you think through your makerspace and how it fits into the culture and curriculum of your school. Skipping this process, or one like it, will almost certainly result in tension, missed teaching opportunities, and overspending."

The proliferation of Web 2.0 tools on the web offers numerous ways of collaborating with students and colleagues. One of the most exciting and valuable tools I have seen recently is Diigo, especially with the introduction of Diigo for Educator accounts.

Mixbook.com is web-based but sets itself apart from the previously mentioned tools. It allows us to use storytelling in a way that we all are already comfortable and familiar with. The process does not create a new media, such as a podcast, a video clip uploaded to YouTube or a VoiceThread embedded in a blog or wiki, that most people are still getting comfortable in handling. Mixbook is a tool that allows anyone to tell a story by creating and publish it as a book!

Each day seems to produce a new hack, tool or tip for better Gmail use. In this post, I want to highlight only the very best, hand-picked from hundreds of resources. This is not another resource list you'll bookmark and never look at again. These tips, monster resources and tools will change the way you use Gmail.

Looks a t the use of: * Today's Meet * Urtak- Polling/Survey tool * Sync.in - Collaborative Notetaking tool

Sometimes you gotta talk about tools. "Here is the final list of the Top 100 Tools for Learning 2009, compiled from the contributions of 278 learning professionals - from education and workplace learning - worldwide. "

"Earlier today Shannon Miller Tweeted about a free drawing tool called Sketch Toy. Students do not have to register to use Sketch Toy and they can download all of their drawings to use in other projects. After trying Sketch Toy I decided to revisit some other drawing tools that do not require students to register in order to create and download drawings. "

"Do you know a teacher who just always seems to know about the latest technology, and makes it look so easy to produce cool content that students find fun and engaging? Maybe you are one of these teachers? It's doesn't have to be hard to use slick tech tools in the classroom. There are so many free, easy to use tools out there. Here are five of my favorites to recommend."