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Tayne Martin, is an educator and World of Warcraft aficionado, stating that boys make up 80 percent of  the computer classes at her school, and very few girls enroll in AP Computer Science. Girls are gamers too.  Martin, who is coordinator of the Professional Development Support Division at Broward Schools in Florida, is part of a team presenting the ISTE Professional Learning Series webinar "Girls, Games, and Coding" on Thursday. The reason to combine games and coding is simple: There is a clear relationship between gaming and technology.

This article starts off by showing you how to install Chrome extensions and which ones to be aware of that could possibly harm your computer or give you issues during use. The article then gives you a link to 50 of the best Chrome extensions for educators in alphabetical order. As an educator, it is important to be able to have a variety of different learning tools for your students.

I took a look at this article as well and loved it! I thought the step-by-step instructions to install Chrome extensions was very helpful. I liked the descriptions of the extensions on the Google doc.

This source not only tells you about 15 great chrome extensions, but it also explains how to get and use chrome extensions as well.

I found this article on 11 good Chrome extensions for teachers and students. Overall these were very helpful and apply to a variety of subjects and grade levels. I think that "Stay Focused" is an excellent extension that limits the time on "time wasting" websites. I already downloaded this extension and think teachers would get great use of this and the other listed extensions.

Great collection of extensions, some I have not seen on other lists

Digital age learning is driven by two facets: the pedagogical side and the wires-and-lights-in-a-box side. But truth be told, you can't have one without the other. Schools must create a unified vision for their tech integration. They must use tools with a proven track record. Implementation should be widespread; across departments.

"Big History Project" is an online course that embraces a multi-disciplinary approach to learning. It is a great resource for teachers. The website includes text, videos, photo galleries and assessments for five main topics: 1)The universe 2)Our solar system and earth 3)Life 4)Humans 5). The future. Teachers can have their students use the site as part of their curriculum.

"Big History Project" is a free course designed to target the common core standards we are trying to teach students today. The five main topics are broken down into 'thresholds' where students can enter, learn via text, videos, photoss, and assessments, and even earn badges as they complete tasks.

The digital age has created an explosion of opportunities for student entrepreneurs like Sean McCulloch, 16, who has created his own brand of clothing that he sells on the website he designed and built himself.

Teacher explains how playing Minecraft with her class has benefitted students. The student's scores increased significantly in math and English. She explained a cultural shift that took place, students loving the work and showing off their academic skills. The academic growth seen by students using Minecraft makes me want to implement this in my future classes!

This is a very interesting article. Every student in my class play this game. Most of my students play the creative mode. It is amazing to watch these kids build intricate maps that display knowledgeable concentration. I find myself watching the kids over their shoulders on break for several minutes and being astonished of the problem solving techniques they use to think their specified maps. On top of that, it is a very hard game to play. I never can complete a regular level. I feel like a dinosaur picking up their tablet and try to play this game. I remember trying to play my dad in the early Madden games growing up. I feel like the parent picking up the controller and having no idea what to do. Even though the concept is so simple. There are several learning abilities to apply for the game.

Teacher explains how playing Minecraft with her class has benefitted students. The student's scores increased significantly in math and English. She explained a cultural shift that took place, students loving the work and showing off their academic skills. The academic growth seen by students using Minecraft makes me want to implement this in my future classes!

This helps students all be able to get the same information without the hassle of what I like to call 'e-mail tag' when they are not in the classroom, for homework and such. But this also helps teachers get her students on the same website when they are in the classroom. A lot of the time spent in computer based classrooms especially with younger grades, is spent setting up the lesson and getting the students onto the webpage. This will decrease the instances of those issues and quicken the set up part of the lesson so there is more time for learning.

What a useful tool for the classroom setting to keep students on task and focused! It guarantees that students won't be roaming the internet during the activity/lesson!

Really cool article about how to get all the students on the same webpage instantly. Really good way to make sure everyone is on the same page and paying attention.

Cant find your old notebook?. Only have your phone on you but need to study for a test on a train? Not a problem.  Evernote is an application that allows you to access your notes anywhere at anytime from any device. Ever note web clipper extension takes the Evernote application one step further. Evernote makes studying for a test and organizing information easier then ever. When you find a good site or good pdf, clip it and save it in your evernote file forever from anywhere. Random computer not a problem just log into your account and you have all the notes you have ever taken on it organized in notebooks. 

I've used the Evernote app in the past, but with this chrome extension, it seems much more useful! The combination of the highlighting feature and the anytime access definitely improves the tool.

In modern classroom settings, ipads are more and more prevalence, along with the apps that go with them. As lessons and lesson plans change, there is always a constant need to download and peruse new apps for the various lessons a teacher may draw upon. Searching for apps, when added to all of the other preparation requirements can be highly cumbersome. One way this article can assist the app search is by providing a healthy source of sites who give reviews and suggestions on what apps are popular, which apps are useful, and which apps are not. Having a site that sorts and reviews apps can save hours when searching itunes for the next new app to integrate into the lesson plan.

This article is an innovative solution to allowing students to work together and not worry about doing all the work and splitting the credit with other students who did much less. The strategy uses google drive as a way to monitor what gets done what student. In addition, groups are assigned a total number of points, divided evenly between all the students in a group.

It is effective. I agree.

I like the article. I can relate to the struggle of group work.

This article talks about the many ways that diigo is helpful in a classroom. The main helpful thing is that by using Diigo, students can bookmark important websites and access them from school or home and the students will always have access to this data.

When integrating technology into the classroom, it is important to remember 5 different topics - attitude, pragmatism, humility, adaption, and self-scaffolding. Be open to ideas and uses of technology students may want to show you and when introducing something new, always remember baby steps.

"What if there was a simpler way to figure out how to use the most popular tech tools in education? That's the idea behind the new Global Education Database (GEDB) - it's still in the very early stages but has an aim to be something akin to the 'Yelp for Education' thanks to the robust and brilliant education crowd around the globe. Each listing in the GEDB features expert reviews, pros, cons, tips on using each product in the classroom, what the product is good for (flipped classrooms, Common Core, etc.), and more."

This is an excellent post that discusses the pros and cons of digital reading versus paperback reading. You may want to read up and think about how have your students optimize their digital reading if they will be reading off of ipads instead of paperback books.

Wonderful program for reading and assigning questions and alternative materials as well as background knowledge.

This article from Blackboard Connect, in collaboration with Dr. Rudy Crew, focuses on the utilization of technology in order to achieve global competitiveness of our students. The article states that a key point towards this goal is the communication aspect. Some of the areas discussed are: Engaging parents in the academic lives of their children, recruiting active involvement from community leaders and utilizing innovative technology in the classroom to teach students skills necessary for real world work environments. Especially noteworthy is that technology facilitates communication in these areas, which have resulted in higher grade point averages, increased participation, and improved social skills.

This article talks about Google Expeditions, which is a new technological tool being used in the classroom. Google has created this for students to be able to take virtual field trips. Many schools cannot afford to take their students on field trips but now they can without leaving the classroom. Teachers are able to pause throughout the tour and discuss with students what is happening or what they are seeing. As of right now this has been given to some schools free of charge. Overall, we can think of this as something like Google maps but ten times better! 

This short article is a review for those who would like to use the iPad/iPhone app 'Fit Brains Trainer.' It provides activities that allow one to think faster, to improve short and long term memory, to enhance their ability to solve complex problems, and to improve concentration when there are many distractions present.

This is an article that highlights some of the learning tools developed and made available by both NASA and ISTE. A great read for physics and space science teachers.