Welcome to this week’s edition of Treasure Chest—87 EdTech Resources You May Have Missed.
It’s really difficult to keep up with all that happens in educational technology. This is my attempt to make it just a little easier. I post a Treasure Chest every Sunday!
Featured
- Amazon Launches Kindle Textbook Rentals – Peter Kafka – Media – AllThingsD–Amazon, which dominates the ebook market, has stayed out of the electronic textbook market. Until now: The company has opened up a textbook store for its Kindle platform, where it is renting “tens of thousands” of titles for the upcoming school year.
- Education Week: In What World Are Trainee Teachers ‘Highly Qualified’? In Mine–Candice Johnson asks why her struggling high school in Los Angeles had more intern-teachers than other, wealthier schools and how those interns could be deemed “highly qualified.”
- Ideas to Inspire – 25 Interesting Ways to use Voicethread in the classroom–Ideas for using Wallwisher to support learning in the classroom. Contributed by teachers from all around the world.
- The Wrath Against Khan: Why Some Educators Are Questioning Khan Academy | Hack Education–As usual, there’s plenty of praise for Sal Khan and his one-man-educational-video-making machine. But there’s also push-back from some quarters, particularly from educators who are highly skeptical of what Khan Academy delivers and what it stands for.
- Are U.S. Teachers Teaching Too Much? – Teaching Now – Education Week Teacher–There may be a link between high teaching hours and comparatively low achievement.
- Debunking Five Myths About Project-Based Learning | Edutopia–John Lerner from the Buck Institute of Education says PBL is more rigorous and more organized than many think
- How Finland became an education leader – David Sirota – Salon.com–Harvard professor Tony Wagner explains how the nation achieved extraordinary successes by deemphasizing testing
- Google Shuttering Google Labs–In an effort to focus more on its products, Google announced Wednesday that it plans to shutter its Labs department.
- Tiny Bursts of Learning-Why do teachers need Twitter?| Betchablog–Despite the fact that I know many teachers who would rank Twitter as the most valuable and powerful networking tool they have access to, there are still many more who simply don’t “get” the value of Twitter.
- The Urgency of Teachers Sharing Resources: A Moral Imperative | Profesorbaker’s Blog–Before we discuss why sharing is important, crucial, and urgent, we need to agree on what I mean when I say, OER. So, what is an Open Educational Resource?
- The greatest teacher incentive: The freedom to teach – The Washington Post–In our rush to make teachers accountable, we have made them accountable for the wrong things. We are pushing them to turn kids into memorizing automatons who remember a lot of facts only to forget them right after the test.
- Can Schools Educate Kids for an Uncertain 21st Century? – Education – GOOD–As much as they claim to be oriented to the future, education reformers mostly assume that the way our world functions will stay the same.
- GClient Brings Google+ On Desktop, Google Plus Desktop Client–As the bout between Google and Facebook continues, Google+ (pronounced as Google Plus) is fast becoming more interactive with the help of various third-party
- 21 Google+ Privacy Tips: The Ultimate Guide–So you’re on Google+. You’ve familiarized yourself with our Google+ guide, the social network’s features, and what it has that Facebook doesn’t.
- Apple deals massive patent blow to HTC, Android in serious trouble | ZDNet–Late yesterday an ITC judge ruled that smartphone maker HTC has infringed two Apple patents, and it seems likely that every single Android device out
- iLearn Technology » Blog Archive » PBS Learning Media 14,000+ k-12 resources!–PBS Learning Media is a fabulous collection of 14,000+ resources that are separated by subject area.
- Use Your Google+ Account Like a Pro with These Two Awesome Cheat Sheets – How-To Geek ETC–Now that you have your shiny new Google+ account up and running chances are you would love to know some awesome cheats and tips
- Wolfram Launches a New Computable Document Format: Real-Time Computation & Interactivity–Wolfram, the company behind the Mathematica computational software and the Wolfram Alpha “computational knowledge” search engine, has released a new document format today – the Computable Document Format (CDF)
- Using Dropbox in the Classroom—Livebinder–Using Dropbox in the Classroom
- An Extensive Guide On Upgrading To OSX Lion & Making Installation Disks [Mac]–With OSX Lion in the App Store awaiting you, I’m sure some of you have some concerns about the upgrade process, so today I’m going to walk you through some of those concerns, give a few warnings, and show you how you can copy the download-only installer to a USB and DVD drive.
- 41 Websites for teachers to integrate tech into your classroom – Los Angeles tech support | Examiner.com–This list has a little bit of everything, and will kick-start your effort to put technology into your lesson plans
- My Issue With Rewards | The Wejr Board–A few years ago, as a new principal, I made a decision to recognize the children for making a difference at our school.
- TeachPaperless: I Am Not A Great Teacher–What I do know is that I’m a pretty good learner. I like learning. I’m also a pretty good share-er. I like sharing. When I am learning and sharing, I don’t feel like my back is to the wall. I feel comfortable. I feel like my motivations are honest. I feel like I can be myself. And I feel a bit more useful to other folks.
- Are Schools on the Verge of a Mobile-Phone Revolution? – Education – GOOD–Over 75 percent of teens own cell phones, making them the perfect tool for learning—if teachers are on board with using them.
- Where to hang out at Google+, list of hangouts at Google+–List of the latest hangouts at Google+ (GooglePlus). Visit them, or announce and schedule your own hangout.
Tools
- Cloud Export Downloads Data From All Google Services To Local Drive–Recently, we reviewed Google Takeout web service, which is meant to allow users to extract data from numerous services offered by Google.
- Convert Audio Files Online, Also Create iPhone Ringtones with Switchr–Learn How to Convert Audio Files Online and Create iPhone Ringtones with Switchr.
- Sumo Paint Review–It’s not very big, it doesn’t smell, and it doesn’t wear a diaper. So why is it called Sumo Paint? One simple reason: a gargantuan amount of usability.
- What is Windows Live SkyDrive? | Windows 7 Tutorials–If you are using any of the applications included in Windows Live Essentials, you will have encountered the term SkyDrive. Ever wondered what SkyDrive is and what you can do with it? This article will explain in detail
- G.Co: Google Has a New URL Shortener–Google has unveiled g.co, a new URL shortener that will link only to Google products and websites.
- Use this Free Program to Create Great Flowcharts and Diagrams–The best freeware reviews presented to you by Gizmo’s team of experts. Gizmo’s Freeware is the most respected source of advice on the web for choosing the best free software.
- A “Top Ten” Teacher’s Guide to being a “Cyber Hero” Livebinder–Borrowing from David Kapuler’s blog
- 7 Library Tools Students Would Find Handy | Free and Useful Online Resources for Designers and Developers–Today, we have gathered a list of 7 online library services all students should get their hands on.
- 20 Websites That Offer Free Online Faxing | blueblots.com–There are times when you just need to send one or two faxes and you wish you have a fax machine to do so. Today, you no longer have to have a fax machine to send faxes. There are already websites that offers you the ability to send free fax online.
How-To
- 10 Basic Computer Tips And Tricks For New Computer Users | Computer Tips–One of the worst things that can happen when you first start using computers is to have some kid sit down next to you and do everything you’re doing in half…
- A complete guide to web, Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus privacy and security! | The Edublogger–The digital landscape has changed dramatically in the last few years. The Web 2.0 revolution brought with it the ability for everyone to create content on the…
- 3 Ways To Schedule Updates To Your Facebook Page Wall–There may be various reasons why you would find scheduling social media updates a good idea: for example, you may want to avoid clogging your timeline with multiple updates or you may want to send someone an update at the specific time. Here are three fun ways to schedule your updates to the page you are managing.
- Use Clip to Evernote Chrome Extension to Quickly Capture Notes Online–Learn How to Use Clip to Evernote Chrome Extension to Quickly Capture Notes Online.
- Add Text, Images & Form Fields To Any PDF File Online With PDFescape–Opening a PDF file is no big deal, even your browser can do it, but editing one certainly isn’t easy and the hardest thing is to find a good reliable PDF
- How to Email Web Pages to Yourself–Learn how you can quickly email full web pages to yourself – the entire content – with a simple click. Great for reading web content offline.
- A beginner’s guide to Windows Live Mesh 2011 | News | TechRadar UK–A beginner’s guide to Windows Live Mesh 2011 Sync your files across multiple PCs and locations
- Using SkyDrive for Storing Secure Photos–Online photo sharing websites are very cool. They’re a great way of being able to share with your friends and family your adventures, holidays, events and…
- How to Choose the Perfect Camera for Your Needs–Choosing a digital camera used to be a simple process that was heavily dictated by the amount of money in your pocket. Now the same money can buy you different benefits and compromises, making the decision much more complex. Here’s a look at your camera-buying options, the pros and cons of each, and some specific suggestions to help you pick the perfect camera for your needs.
- The Complete Guide to Burning Disk Images (ISO & IMG) In Windows 7 | Windows 7 Tutorials–One of the small but great features in Windows 7 is the fact that it allows users to burn disk images on CDs and DVDs without having to install additional software.
- Favorite Google+ Stream – Set A Circle’s Feed As Default News Stream–Facebook lets you create groups but switching between feeds from a particular group is something that Google+ just nailed. While Facebook users have to block
- How To Secure Your Wi-Fi Network Against Intrusion – How-To Geek–Insecure Wi-Fi is the easiest way for people to access your home network, leech your internet, and cause you serious headaches with more malicious behavior.
- How to Select Multiple Files in Windows Explorer with the Mouse–A quick tip for Windows users to help you select one or more files and folders in Window Explorer using the mouse itself.
- How to blog. Full set of screen casts for blogger–How to blog. Full set of screen casts for blogger
- Facebook Comments Now Support Adding Videos, Photos And External Media–Facebook has rolled out support for videos, photos and external media within the comments section. Users can play videos that are embedded within the comment without leaving the page
- HOW TO: Integrate Google+ into Your WordPress Site–Google+ is all the rage, how can you incorporate the new social network into your WordPress site? Here we show you how.
- How to Fix Facebook’s New Broken Chat System (YES!)–Gizmodo reader Tal Ater agreed that Facebook’s new chat system is a clusterzuck of confusion, so he created a little program to fix it! It will take off the list anyone who’s offline. Here’s how to do it:
iOS
- Can an iPad Take the Place of a Computer?–Since buying an iPad 2, one of the questions I’m asked most frequently is if it can completely take the place of a computer
- Google+ for iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, and iPhone 4 on the iTunes App Store–Learn more, read reviews, and download Google+ by Google on the iTunes App Store.
- Best Free iPad Apps–The best freeware reviews presented to you by Gizmo’s team of experts. Gizmo’s Freeware is the most respected source of advice on the web for choosing the best free software.
- Bloomin’ iPad by Kathy Schrock–Here you will find links to iPad applications that target the various levels of Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy.
- Edit WordPress pages with Blogsy for iPad | TiPb–Fomola has updated their iPad blogging app, Blogsy, with the ability to edit WordPress pages. > Blogsy is a tool designed specifically to take full…
- Stream Audios and Videos to iPad, iPhone and iPod with Air Playit–Air Playit is a freeware tool which is a video streaming software designed to stream videos audios to Apple iPhone, iPad, iPod touch.
- Weekly Ads & Sales Brings the Newspaper’s Coupon Section to Your iPhone–iOS: Weekly Ads & Sales shows you all the sales and price drops for nearby retailers, whether grocery grocery, electronic, or even video game stores
- OfficeDrop now available for iPhone and iPad | TiPb–OfficeDrop by Pixily has been updated as a universal application for iPhone and iPad. OfficeDrop is an app to scan, search, organize and store your paper
- Install Google+ App On iPad And iPod touch [How To Tutorial] | Redmond Pie–After a long wait, the official Google+ app for iPhone was finally released yesterday. The native app, which is a giant leap forward from the web-only experience that was available up until now, only supports iPhone 3G, 3GS, and iPhone 4 running iOS 4.0 or later. Google for some odd reason has left out the support for iPads and iPod touches
- iPad’s Hidden Keyboard Functions: Tips & Tricks – YouTube–In this video I demonstrate the hidden keys and functions on the iPad keyboard.
iPad’s Hidden Keyboard Functions
- Howstuffworks “About the HowStuffWorks iPad App”–From the team that brought you the award-winning HowStuffworks for iPhone, experience HowStuffWorks.com in a brand new way with the HowStuffWorks for iPad app!
- 10 top Pages tips and tricks | News | TechRadar UK–10 top Pages tips and tricks Work smarter and quicker with Apple iWork’s Pages
- Artist, paint and draw on the iPad, discounted for limited time | iGo With My iPad–Full disclosure, the auther of this post has not used ArtRage, but others in the office have and have given their praise…
- 5 best Bluetooth keyboards for iPad | News | TechRadar UK–5 best Bluetooth keyboards for iPad Get more productive with an iPad Bluetooth keyboard
Miscellaneous
- Replace Google Chrome’s Default New Tab Page With The Visually Pleasing Incredible StartPage–Startpages are productivity tools meant to give you quick one-touch access to your favorite websites and information. Startpages are also personalized gateways and as such we tend to be quite picky when we go hunting for one. So, if Google Chrome is your favorite browser, give the Google Chrome Incredible StartPage featured extension a try.
- Read Like A Hipster With These 3 Libraries For Your Browser–Did you know that some of the best novels can be found online using just your Internet browser? So don your sans-prescription dark-rimmed glasses, and put on your impractical-yet-fashionable summer scarf. MakeUseOf is about to get hipster with a whole bunch of indie novels that you can read online.
- Borders Bookstore Will Eliminate 11,000 Jobs, Close 400 Remaining Stores–Bankrupt Borders Group Inc said it has canceled its auction and will sell itself to a group of liquidators.
- The top 10 features missing from Google Plus | TechRepublic–Google+ has captured the attention and the imagination of the technology world.
- Create RSS Feeds for Google+ Profiles–For those who prefer using feed readers to streamline their online consumption, you can now follow individual Google+ user streams via RSS feeds using a webapp called, simply, Google Plus Feed.
- Circles Fatigue: The Dark Side Of Google+ | Fast Company–One of Google+’s biggest differentiators, Circles, which initially attracted users to the service, is also one of the network’s biggest turnoffs.
- Find out progams & files which will be affected after a System Restore | The Windows Club–Will a system restore affect or delete my personal files or documents? Which programs and drivers will be affected after I effect a system restore? What all changes will a system restore effect?
- Useful Microsoft Word & Microsoft Excel Templates–I believe one prominent feature that most Microsoft Word & Excel users really missed out, is the ability to use template. Template, such as budget planner,
- 10 Creative Tumblr Blogging Ideas For When You Have Writers Block–What’s great about Tumblr is that you can reblog posts by other members of the site. This helps keep your own blog fresh with content without you having to always develop it yourself. On the other hand, if you’re short on original content ideas, you might consider some of the following creative writing ideas for Tumblr content.
- 15 Websites You Need to Know–Type “Video Production” in a search URL and you come up with more than 24-million links. Finding your exact needs is time-consuming, but we’ve narrowed the process down for you
- The Innovative Educator: Find People to Hangout with on Google+–The problem with Hangout though is that it is hard to know who is hanging out and it is hard for people to know if you are hanging out. Here’s how to find out who is hanging out!
- 8 Great Free Digital Presentation Tools For Teachers To Try This Summer | Emerging Education Technology–A mix of web apps that can help you make presentations that are fun, eye catching, and engaging (great for students too)! In this month’s free online
- Free Technology for Teachers: 7 Task Management Tools for Students–If your students have the resolution to keep track of their assignments this year, here are some tools that could help them toward that goal.
- 5 Social Good Websites Aimed at Youth–What if that stereotypically self-absorbed, trite teen you see on Facebook has an altruistic side? Here are five sites where youngsters are making a difference online
- 24 Symbols – The New “Spotify For Books”–Do you sometimes find the Internet to be too much noise and not enough signal? Would you prefer to get stuck into a decent length book? Finding the books is only half the fun. What if you want to recommend books to friends, see what your friends recommend and keep your reading in sync between devices? This is what 24 Symbols offers.
- 6 Free Websites For Public Domain Images & Free Stock Photos–Public Domain refers to material that is ‘publicly available’ and not covered by intellectual property or copyrights. In today’s media, where visual art is abundant, there is a high demand for images, for example for webdesign projects. As a consequence, there are many stock photography websites where artists can sell their photographs or image designs.
- 10 Reasons Why I Hate Google Plus–After a few weeks of playing around with Google Plus I have determined 10 reasons why I hate this new social media channel.What do you think?
- Microsoft Acknowledges OS X Lion with Windows Live Mesh | TechOncept–Windows Live Mesh, introduced by Microsoft is a free service designed to help users synchronize files across all the computers they use, share files and photos,
Video/Slideshow
- Detailed Tutorial on Glogster EDU – Online teaching and learning tool – YouTube–Visit http://edu.Glogster.com – an interactive online teaching and learning tool. New to Glogster EDU? Here’s all the know-how. Watch this video tutorial and…
Glogster Tutorial
- 6 slideshows to get you started with Google+ | SlideShare Blog–With the launch of Google+ came lots of questions. Who should join? Is it another Facebook? Do I really need to add one more weapon to my social media
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