"Thanks to the awesome CFF Coach Listserv from Pennsylvania for their collaboration on this list!
These essential questions are to help to define what the 'good use' of technology looks like. They are meant to promote thinking about whether the use of technology is meaningful and relevant to the learning.
Many of these questions could start with the word "Will" and be followed up with the question, "How?" I chose to start with how, since I think will is too easy to answer with a "Yes."
The questions are phrased in a way that would be used in the Before of a Before-During-After coaching consultation or while designing a lesson. With some tweaking, the questions could also be used in the During phase - watching a lesson in action, or the After phase - for reflection."
"Upgrade the typical book report with a digital spin! Integrate reading, writing, and 21st century literacy skills into an interactive and engaging project. Participating teachers will be helping students meet the demands of the Common Core, which include requirements for students to present ideas with "multimedia components (e.g., graphics, sound) and visual displays in presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.""
"Players aged 8 and up shape the future of a new society while learning how to recognize ethical issues and deal with challenging situations in their own lives.
Players lead a new human colony on a distant planet. They must make difficult decisions in which there are no clear right or wrong answers but important consequences - to themselves, to others in the colony and to the planet Braxos. Players develop skills such as critical thinking, perspective-taking and decision-making. Quandary provides a framework for how to approach ethical decision-making without telling players what to think."
"Our mission is to save every educator time and money while identifying top-quality resources for schools and classrooms. Big Deal Media is a content-rich collection of print and electronic publications that offer the information and tools K-12 educators need-all vetted through the prism of the curriculum."
"In an effort to provide unique resources to teachers and students, SPICE has developed a series of web-based activities and lectures, which were developed to support specific SPICE curricula or presented at teacher workshops. This website will be updated periodically."
XtraMath is a Seattle-based nonprofit organization dedicated to math achievement for all. Our goal is to develop effective, efficient, adaptive and intrinsically rewarding supplemental math activities and make them available for free. Great for tracking individualized fact fluency. FREE!
Kodu lets kids create games on the PC and XBox via a simple visual programming language. Kodu can be used to teach creativity, problem solving, storytelling, as well as programming. Anyone can use Kodu to make a game, young children as well as adults with no design or programming skills.
"Newsela is an innovative way for students to build reading comprehension with nonfiction that's always relevant: daily news. It's easy and amazing. Register now or learn more about the impact Newsela can have on your classroom."
"Read for My Summer highlights a special book for you and your child to read online from the We Give Books library every week, along with fun activities and reading tips to make each book come to life, including custom activities from Read Write Think. This free 10-week program helps parents, schools and libraries offer children an exciting online reading experience, while helping to share books with public libraries in the US."