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"Over the years, many of us have personally experienced the growth of technology in today's classrooms. Instead of taking notes, students are now occupied by surfing the Internet, scrolling through Facebook, and messaging their friends on their smart phones, tablets, and laptops. Instead of focusing on the instruction, teachers are constantly required to interrupt class in order to remind those students again and again, that class time is for learning, not texting. However, as today's students are using more technological devices, it is imperative that teachers have access to the resources to keep pace with the growing tech culture. The use of smart phones, tablets, and other tech items in the classroom do not necessarily have to have a negative impact on student achievement. On the contrary, the increasing accessibility and growth of technology presents teachers with the unique opportunity to take advantage of those once distracting gadgets, and use them to facilitate academic achievement in new and innovative ways. In this capacity, teachers do not need to be constantly fighting for student attention, but can freely accept it, by introducing a new educational environment that will automatically encourage student participation. Below are some resources that teachers may find useful when attempting to implement technology into their classrooms, separated by 5 common areas that are increasingly important for teachers, and for an effective learning environment-Organization, Project Based Learning, Class Management, Presentations, and Assessment. "

"There are about a million different ways to use all the great Google tools available for free in your classroom. Whether you're bringing your classroom into the 21st century by making it paperless or AppSmashing, even the simplest of Google tools offers you a wide array of ways to use it. The Google suite of tools can be useful when you're working with your students but also in more of a behind the scenes sort of way. We've put together a short list of some of our favorite ways these tools support teachers. "

"User Generated Education Education as it should be - passion-based. Design Thinking Process and UDL Planning Tool for STEM, STEAM, Maker Education leave a comment » Post by Jackie Gerstein, Ed.D. @jackiegerstein and Barbara Bray @bbray27. Crossed posted at http://barbarabray.net/2017/06/08/design-thinking-process-and-udl-planning-tool/. If there is a makerspace in your school, it may be down the hall, in the library, or in another building. If there is someone other than the teacher managing the makerspace or there is a schedule for the school, your kids may only be able to use it once a week or month. Some makerspace activities may be focusing on how to use the resources available and may not be connecting the activities to the curriculum or around a real world problem. If this is how the makerspace is set up in your school, then your kids may not have access to the resources, materials, and tools when they need them, especially for STEM or STEAM. In deciding what resources you need based on the learners you have, you may first need to determine how your learners learn best, what projects you plan to do, how you can set up a makerspace in your classroom, and much more. This is why we decided to create a planning tool for makerspaces in the classroom for you using the Design Thinking Process and Universal Design for Learning®."

"Mention robots to many English teachers and they'll immediately point down the hall to the science classroom or to the makerspace, if they have one. At many schools, if there's a robot at all, it's located in a science or math classroom or is being built by an after-school robotics club. It's not usually a fixture in English classrooms. But as teachers continue to work at finding new entry points to old material for their students, robots are proving to be a great interdisciplinary tool that builds collaboration and literacy skills. "For someone like me who teaches literature by lots of dead white guys, teaching programming adds relevance to my class," said Jessica Herring, a high school English teacher at Benton High School in Arkansas. Herring first experimented using Sphero, essentially a programmable ball, when her American literature class was studying the writing of early settlers. Herring pushed the desks back and drew a maze on the floor with tape representing the journey from Europe to the New World. Her students used class iPads and an introductory manually guided app to steer their Spheros through the maze. Herring, like many English teachers, was skeptical about how the Sphero robot could be a useful teaching tool in her classroom. She thought that type of technology would distract students from the core skills of reading, writing and analyzing literature. But she decided to try it after hearing about the success of another English teacher across the country."

"Several teachers now have already stated using the flipped classroom model in their teaching and some are still thinking about how to do it. If you are one of those who are keen on applying this learning/teaching strategy with your students then this resourceful section will provide you with all the materials, tips, ideas, and tools to flip your classroom. A flipped classroom is a model in which the ordinary teaching activities which are done in class like lecturing or demonstrations are recorded in videos and podcasts for students to access at home. The in-class time is used instead for deeper class discussions, students projects, one-one-one interventions, peer collaboration, and many more."

Class Set-Up tool is a new, easy-to-use, virtual layout tool that helps you design customized and effective classrooms to promote learning. Use this tool to rearrange and set-up mock classrooms, and map out virtual seating charts.

"While some classrooms are lucky enough to have iPads available for each student, many classrooms only have one or two. With one iPad and over twenty students who are excited to use it, we have to find ways to use it efficiently. There are a variety of ways to do this and many apps to support each option. Just one iPad can be an engaging and effective learning tool in any classroom! "

"Since I began taking my first Information and Technology In The Classroom course (last year) and began learning more and more about 21st Century tools, I have become so passionate about exploring the idea of classroom blogging. My teaching partner, Ray Swinarchin has also become interested in blogging as a way to engage his students.  Although we know we have much to learn about it and have to work on making it more exciting and interactive for our students, we have come to believe in the benefits of class blogging through reading many other classroom blogs and by learning from many other teachers experiences."

"With technological breakthroughs, we have replaced certain aspects of our society with new tools, all while creating new opportunities for people to take up. While there is undoubtedly much debate as to the ethics of replacing man with machine, there is no denying the usefulness of using technology and devices to enhance our world space. Education is one such sphere of society that we are still trying to enhance with technology. As we have made progress, education and classroom learning have been slow to accept change, but it's getting there. In fact, with the comparatively small amount of progress we've made, we are already asking the question - will we even need physical classrooms in the future? We'll answer this question by looking at the advantages and disadvantages of e-learning and seeing if it's something that could replace traditional classrooms. Look here for a closer look at the advantages and disadvantages."

Classroom Presenter is a Tablet PC-based interaction system that supports the sharing of digital ink on slides between instructors and students. When used as a presentation tool, Classroom Presenter allows the integration of digital ink and electronical slides, making it possible to combine the advantages of whiteboard style and slide based presentation. The ability to link the instructor and student devices, and to send information back and forth provides a mechanism for introducing active learning into the classroom and creates additional feedback channels.

"Technology and education are pretty intertwined these days and nearly every teacher has a few favorite tech tools that make doing his or her job and connecting with students a little bit easier and more fun for all involved. Yet as with anything related to technology, new tools are hitting the market constantly and older ones rising to prominence, broadening their scope, or just adding new features that make them better matches for education, which can make it hard to keep up with the newest and most useful tools even for the most tech-savvy teachers. Here, we've compiled a list of some of the tech tools, including some that are becoming increasingly popular and widely used, that should be part of any teacher's tech tool arsenal this year, whether for their own personal use or as educational aids in the classroom. "

"How can you place learning goals front and center in a tech-rich classroom? Let the phrase "tasks before apps" be your reminder to focus on technology's purpose for learning, even when bright and shiny digital tools grab your attention. As a teacher in a one-to-one iPad classroom, I strove to make the most of the tablets in my students' hands. From screencasting and moviemaking to reading activities and skill practice, these devices elevated and energized my students' learning experiences. Digital platforms can give children access to learning experiences that meet their individual needs, such as when a student uses the free Microsoft Learning Tool Immersive Reader to hear a passage read aloud. Digital tools can open up the world to students, such as virtual-reality videos from the New York Times that showcase a place they may never have the chance to visit. In my current role as a professional development facilitator, I spend time in other teachers' classrooms in schools across the country. The phrase "tasks before apps" was born out of my coaching conversations and presentations to educators. It is a reminder that, even as we consider how technology helps students do new and amazing things with their learning, we must always place learning goals at the forefront. Here are four strategies to make the most of technology and embrace a "tasks before apps" mindset this school year."

"You're probably familiar with the range of free, web-based tools offered by Google within its Google Drive service? These tools include Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Forms, and Google Slides. They've become staples in classrooms, homes, and businesses around the world. For teachers and students, Google Slides is one of the most exciting and versatile tools on offer. Maybe you've heard of Google Slides and you're wondering how you can use it in the classroom? Or perhaps, you've dabbled with Google Slides but you're not sure exactly how it can be used beyond presentations? Or are you a blogger wondering how Google Slides can complement your blog posts?"

"Five or so years ago when it launched (way back when, in technology terms), Pinterest entered a social media market dominated by text. Quite simply, it brought an unprecedented visual aspect to social media which users enjoyed, though it was a fairly basic platform. Fast forward to today and you'll find a plethora of new features that can make it particularly useful in your classroom. Read More: How to Use Instagram In Your Classroom So how can making boards and pinning photos be a useful tool for teachers? Pinterest offers a number of different options for teachers both for professional development and for student work. Tons of teachers (and other folks, too) are using this tool  - there are countless boards devoted to lesson plans, classroom ideas, and more. There are purportedly around 100 million active users as of December 2015 - and as with many web-based tools, the more people there are contributing to a platform, the better stuff there will be for you to use (even if you have to sort through some garbage to find it!)   To get your wheels churning, we've collected a few of our favorite ideas below."

"Over the past decade, maker-centered classrooms and making-centered learning have become increasingly popular - young people (and teachers and parents alike) have greater opportunities to build, hack, redesign, and tinker with a variety of materials, in school- or community-based spaces, design thinking and engineering programs, and Maker Faires. Maker-centered learning not only offers opportunities to learn about new tools and technologies, it requires certain thinking skills - such as navigating uncertainty, adaptability, collaborative thinking, risk-taking, and multiple-perspective taking - that are critical to engaging and thriving in a complex world. Drawing on research from Project Zero's Agency by Design project, this course offers classroom teachers, maker educators, administrators, and parents an opportunity to explore firsthand maker-centered learning practices and the opportunities they afford. Discover what kinds of tools might best support this kind of teaching and learning, and examine the benefits (to both young people and facilitators) of engaging in this work. Through hands-on, collaborative activities, consider how maker-centered experiences might fit into your own contexts."

"Technology isn't automatically valuable for teachers. Tech tools, ranging from student community platforms to online reading logs, become integral to classroom instruction when you create a culture around effective and educational use of technology with your students. This requires you and your students to consistently evaluate and adapt while being purposeful with the tools you choose and the lessons you pair them with. Here are three different ways to ensure that you're cultivating an effective EdTech culture in your classroom-one that promotes both education and fun learning opportunities for your students."

"Video conferencing is a wonderful technology that has helped change the way both business and personal communication is conducted. It not only provides a more personal, intimate way to communicate compared to a phone call, but thanks to additional services like document sharing and multi-point capabilities, the technology is by far the most effective and productive way to conduct important meetings outside of actually being face-to-face. But its effectiveness is so close to what a face-to-face meeting can give that it completely negates the need to travel to any sort of in-person meeting. Video conferencing isn't just a useful tool for businesses and personal use, it's also a wonderful tool teachers can use to enhance a student's learning experience in the classroom, whether that classroom is in an elementary school, middle school, high school, or university."

"Figuring out which tool is right for the job is something we all struggle with every day. Whether you're a contractor, plumber, or teacher, there's a lot of options to choose from. Teachers managing connected classrooms have it quite rough, though. There's an embarassment of riches when it comes to apps, web tools, and digital services that want to make your life easier. So how do you easily figure out which are the best education apps for connected classrooms, you ask? Great rhetorical question, Jeff!"

"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."

"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."