Literacy with ICT

"Google's Chrome browser has a ton of hidden little tricks you may not know about. Here are 22 tips that will make you a better Chrome user."

"Make Gmail more effective than ever with these out-of-the-way advanced settings and adjustments."

"School days might seem as if they move at a glacial pace after winter break. The spring and summer breaks seem too far away, and whether students are learning in-person or online, they could use a bit of fun. Teachers can use TED-Ed Lessons to liven up long days and highlight students' different personal interests. The TED-Ed platform is especially cool because educators can build lessons around any TED-Ed Original, TED Talk, or YouTube video. Once you find the video you want to use, you can use the TED-Ed Lessons editor to add questions, discussion prompts, and additional resources. Use these TED-Ed Lessons for brain breaks, to introduce new lessons, or to inject some fun and engaging conversation into your class. "

"While last year was a global human tragedy, it is not likely that pandemic will be the change force that most shapes the lives and livelihoods of young people, it's the climate crisis and artificial intelligence (AI). Unfortunately, it's easy to leave high school and college without having considered either. Both factors will influence where and how people live, how they earn a living and the politics of the common good. Both have built-in accelerators that will expand inequality and negatively impact those least advantaged. Young people deserve a chance to learn about climate change and AI and develop an informed opinion about the path forward and where they can make a difference."

"While some people Netflix bindged during the pandemic, I choose another form of entertainment: Podcasts. Podcasts are great for multitaskers like me. Whether you're jogging, cleaning, driving, flying, doing yoga (don't judge me) or out walking your dog, a podcast provides a great way to keep the learning going while you're doing something else. Check out the playlist below to see what I'm listening to these days."

"Children need to understand the influence of advertisements and other media to be empowered to make smart decisions"

"Hybrid learning has been a hot topic since the pandemic forced schools to reformat and restructure instruction. Here's more nuance and context on the concept."

"Changes are made to Windows 10 all the time, so it's hard to keep track of the really useful new features. We've highlighted five that you might have missed"

"English is filled with words that look alike or sound alike (or both), but mean very different things - so it's easy to get confused and use the wrong word at the wrong moment. As "word nerds" and podcast hosts of NPR's "You're Saying it Wrong," we're constantly on the lookout for these mistakes. And we've seen them everywhere, from corporate reports, resumes and cover letters, to major publications. But if you're aware of the different meanings of these words, you won't fall into the same traps. Here's a list of some of the most commonly confused words in the English language:"

"Hours of footage is uploaded to YouTube every single second. What if you want to download it? In some circles, that's considered a big no-no, but you have your reasons, right? Here's how."

Not all learning is created equal. Sometimes the learning that we achieve and the success generated through our engagement with a learning opportunity is spectacular. At its very best, our learning unlocks fresh understandings for ourselves and sometimes even for others. What conditions allow for such spectacular learning, and how might we bring these conditions into our classrooms?

ÈAs educators and curators of educational technology we know that technology is a tool that complements instruction. As such, the strength of the tool is predicated on its use by a skillful educator. There are certainly some exciting and revolutionary innovations and technology as a tool can be quite powerful if it encourages creative discovery or reinforces foundational knowledge."

"2020 was - to borrow a phrase from a popular kid's book - a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year. And for parents, one of the year's hardest jobs was trying to explain current events to young kids. "We are living in challenging times," says children's book author Matt de la Peña - and kids are taking a lot of it in. "While you and I read the news, watch the news, listen to the news - our young children are watching and reading us, and so they're not getting the whole picture," he says. De la Peña believes books can explore deep or difficult issues without hitting them head-on. "I don't think the job of a picture book is to answer questions," he says. "I think it's just to explore interesting topics.""

"The Windows desktop isn't meant to be a folder for your files. Here are some of the better options to store your files."

"And so last night I made the decision that I have been pulled toward for a long time. The Global Read Aloud will be back, albeit a bit more streamlined, but it will happen in 2021. I feel a bit like a flake, like I played with a lot of people's emotions, but in June it didn't feel possible, now it does. And I hope you can forgive me for that."

"Early intervention services can make a big difference for students who are at risk for learning disabilities. What should teachers look for?"

"A year into the pandemic, the instructional sands keep shifting from in-person, to remote, to concurrent (or hybrid) and back again. And almost every conversation I have with educators regardless of whether they are classroom teachers, instructional specialists or administrators is around student engagement. Sometimes these conversations are with administrators concerned about the increasing numbers of students on the schools D-F list or with teachers disconsolate about students who won't turn on their cameras, turn in work or participate in discussions and whose attendance (virtual or in-person) is sporadic at best. All of them are asking, with some urgency, about how we can boost student engagement under these difficult and fluctuating circumstances. From my vantage point, the causes and symptoms are multi-faceted. We need to partner with students-individually and collectively-to discover the root causes and empower them to be their own antidotes."