82 EdTech Resources You May Have Missed Treasure Chest August 7, 2011

by Jeffrey Thomas on August 7, 2011

Welcome to this week’s edition of Treasure Chest—82 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

Kleinspiration: Twitter for Teachers!–For me, Twitter has been such an amazing tool for professional development and getting connected to teachers all across the world.
Google+ For Educators—Livebinder–Everything For Learning About Google+
Technology Collaboration Projects for 2011-2012—Livebinder–These are Technology Projects that teachers can facilitate with students. Teachers need to apply to these prior to the school year starting!
10 things RSCON3 makes me wonder… « What Ed Said–I enjoyed participating in other sessions and have come away with much to think about. And questions too…
This Twitter Thing Ain’t So Bad « Math Teachers Can Write Too–I, like many people, thought Twitter was just a website to keep track of what Justin Bieber was doing or to read the outlandish viewpoints of professional athletes. I definitely was wrong and now I regularly check my feed to see what’s new.
The Best Free Documentary Websites | Educational Technology and Mobile Learning–Practical tips and tutorials about using web2.0 tools and mobile apps in education for users,teachers, students, leaders, and managers of educational ICT
Missouri Limits Student-Teacher Social Networking–It’s one of those laws that could write a million headlines — variations on “Missouri Bans Students and Teachers From Friending Each Other on Facebook!” So what’s really going on? As part of a broader child sexual abuse prevention bill signed July 14, the state of Missouri will soon prohibit teachers from using personal sites that allow for private conversations with current or former students — something some local teachers think is a very bad idea.
How Teachers Can Bypass the Missouri Social Networking Restrictions | Hack Education–Well, first it’s worth looking closely at the exactly language in SB 54 in order to ascertain exactly what will happen when the bill goes into effect on August 28:
Matt Damon Can’t Save Us! : Stager-to-Go–Matt Damon is one of the world’s most popular action-heroes, but you educators do realize that is make-believe. Right?
What Tech Tools Should Be Required Knowledge for Teachers? | Edutopia–Teachers should have a bigger picture in their heads of the whys and whens of technology,
Facebook and Twitter 101 for Educators – WeAreTeachers–You probably use Facebook and/or Twitter all the time on a personal level, but have you ever thought about the many possibilities that social media programs hold on a professional level?
A Media Specialist’s Guide to the Internet: 30 Web Sites to Teach You About Technology Integration–I try to use what we have to prepare our students for when they graduate and go out into the world. No matter what they will do in their career, whether it’s an auto mechanic or a lawyer, they will need these digital skills
Are Teachers Overpaid? One Educator Says Yes – Education – GOOD–What $1,800-per-month paychecks? D.C. teacher Michael Bromley says his peers should stop complaining because they’re actually making too much money
A First Year Principal’s Pledge « The Principal’s Principles–Later today, I will be sending our staff “welcome back to school” letter. In addition, I’ll be including my pledge to all of them
Twitter needs faces ~ what type of avatar do you use? | John Larkin–Should education professionals employ current photographs as their social media avatar? Or should they keep their cartoon, pet or generic avatars?
Rethinking COPPA in the Age of Social Media | Edutopia–COPPA or the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act actually does not stop Facebook from allowing users under age 13 to join. What COPPA does require is stricter privacy measures from those websites that are aimed directly at users under 13 as well as at those sites that know they are collecting and disclosing personal information from those under 13.
Technology in teaching Physical Education 2010 by Nathan Walsh on Prezi–Presentation for PENZ conference Wellington 2010
The Pros and Cons of E-Learning and Education Technology | Oxbridge Essays–Looking at the highs and lows of the new e-learning generation and the education technology revolution. What are the pros and cons of online education, the benefits and dangers?
Does Social Media Offer PD Or Something More? « My Island View–Now the question arises, is this PD resulting in an improvement in the students’ learning?
50 Reasons to Invite Facebook Into Your Classroom | MindShift–Educators are beginning to realize the powerful potential that Facebook has in the classroom, not as a distraction, but as a collaborative learning tool.
Google+ Floodgates Open, Everyone Gets 150 Invites and an Invite Page | PCWorld–Each Google+ user now has 150 invites to dole out and can either invite people by email, as before, or send a link to a dedicated invite page
An Open Letter to Teens re: Social Media | Social Media Today–To Teens, Tweens and the People Who Love Them: It’s Time to Get “Social Smarts” I normally blog on business issues, but something happened at my house yesterday that compelled me to write this post. Please share it with the people in your life who use social media. Everyone needs some social smarts
Teaching Kids How to Break Up Nicely – NYTimes.com–Teenagers learn that it’s best to “Face It, Don’t Facebook It” when their real-life relationship statuses change.
The Wejr Board » Your School Needs a Facebook Page–“Instead of worrying about the message your school is sending on social media platforms, consider the message your school is sending by NOT engaging with social media at all.” M. Peacock via Ferriter, Ramsden, Sheninger.

Tools

11 Best (Free) Android Tablet Apps for Newbies | PCWorld–Got yourself a Google Android tablet PC? Now all you need are some quality apps. Check out these 11 great tablet-compatible Android apps, all free.
Diglo is an Anonymous and Free File-Sharing Social Network–Diglo is a mashup between between a file-hosting site, a social network, and a media search engine. The site allows you to store a huge amount of data privately, shared with just a few friends, or publicly.
Boxify.me – Upload Files To Your Private URL For Group Sharing–Cloud hosting and sharing files has become a popular and convenient way of backing up data and sharing it without using either email or a USB.
How Secure Is My Password?–How Secure Is My Password? Find out how long it would take a standard desktop PC to crack your password.
What is Windows Live Mesh & Why You Should Use It | Windows 7 Tutorials–In this article, I want to explain what Windows Live Mesh is, what its core features and limitations are and convince you to consider using it, or even switch from using Dropbox
Lifehacker Pack for Windows: Our List of the Best Windows Downloads–Whether you’ve just reinstalled Windows or you need to fill some holes on your software collection, we’ve got everything you need in our annual Lifehacker Pack. Here, you can grab our all-time favorite downloads in one, simple installer
Education Article :: Awesome Facebook Apps for Educators–With these awesome facebook apps, teachers can easily transform a procrastinator’s dream to a teaching tool students love with these educational and organizational applications
DropZone – Copy And Move Files To Specified Folders via Drag & Drop–Sometimes we require copying or moving files to a specific folder which is located inside a complex folder hierarchy.
Cloud Experience – 10GB Cloud Storage With Multi Device Sync–Dropbox is the one service that made cloud storage popular, sure there was Google and its cloud but Dropbox had more to offer and since then cloud storage
5 Free Tools for Recording Google+ Hangouts–Until Google+ adds such functionality, we’ve found five workarounds that will help you record your next Hangout — for free.

How-To

How to create a Windows rescue USB stick | News | TechRadar UK–How to create a Windows rescue USB stick Avert PC disaster with a bootable system recovery USB stick
Make Windows Disk Cleanup Work Better–Windows systems and programs create and use a lot of temporary files. Unfortunately, Windows is not always a good housekeeper and lets these “temporary” files accumulate.
HowStuffWorks “10 Ways to Get the Most Out of iTunes”–Getting the most out of iTunes can mean staying on top of updates and making simple modifications. Learn how to get the most out of iTunes.
Quick and Easy Way to Delete Internet Browser Caches, Cookies, or History–If you have ever been faced with wanting to delete your browser cache, cookies, or history, you know that the path to the browser dialog where this can be done involves a number of steps
Easily Change The Default Search Engine In The Awesome Bar [Firefox]–If you’ve just started using Firefox it’s likely you’re still poking around its options and customizing it as per your preference
5 Ways To Send Files To Your Dropbox Without Using Dropbox–There are numerous ways to manage files in Dropbox. Maybe, need to get something into my Dropbox and just don’t have access to it right now. For these scenarios, some nice people invented services we can use to send files directly to our Dropbox, without using Dropbox. Look into some of them.
7 Ways To Boost Your Cell Phone Battery Life [iPhone, Android & Other Smartphones]–By far one of the most disappointing features in just about every smartphone these days is the battery life, which for most of us requires at least one charge per 24-hour period
HOW TO: Test Your Internet Connection Speed–Uncover the answer of how to test Internet connection speed. Get useful tips to Check broadband speed test and bandwidth to locations around the world.
HOW TO: Get Started on Posterous–Ready to start a blog or website on one of the easiest platforms on the web? This step-by-step guide will walk you through getting started, and customizing to your taste
How Can Web 2.0 Curation Tools Be Used in the Classroom? | MindShift–“Curation” may be one of the big buzzwords of 2011. As the amount of information accumulates thanks to the Web, it becomes increasingly important that we use tools to help us find information that’s relevant and useful
How To Create Multiple Firefox Profiles For Specific Tasks–It is likely that the majority of Firefox users are using only one profile in the browser. Profiles are basically separate identities with their own sets of…
How to create a RSS Feed for your Google+ posts–Want a feed for your Google+ posts?
Share Files via Facebook–Cloud file sharing has made collaboration easy and instantaneous. But with new file sharing websites created everyday, and everyone choosing different favorite places to share files, cloud sharing is descending into chaos
Creating a New Hard Drive Partition using Windows 7–Windows 7 has a built-in utility to create, resize, or delete hard drive partitions. No third party software utilities are required.
How to Run a Survey Online Using Forms in Google Docs–Learn How to Run a Survey Online Using Forms in Google Docs.
How to Change the Embed Color of YouTube Video Player – Black or White–Learn how to change the color of the YouTube Player that is used to embed videos in your web pages. You may use white (light) or dark (black) color for the YouTube Player.

iOS

Skype for iPad Now Officially Official – Ina Fried – Mobile – AllThingsD–After a couple of false starts, Skype officially launches the iPad app for its video and voice calling service. Among its iPad-specific features are support for text and instant messaging.
Tweet Hunt for iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation), and iPad on the iTunes A–Learn more, read reviews, and download Tweet Hunt by Jared Kroff on the iTunes App Store
7 Different Apps to Read Magazines and Newspapers on iPad–Other than Kindle, iPads and iPhones can also function as readers, specifically for magazines and newspapers. There are several free apps that are available to read periodicals
How to Record Skype Calls on your iPad or iPhone–This tutorial describes a simple technique that will help you record Skype calls on your iPad or iPhone using free apps. For video calls, the audio (voice) portion is recorded
15 Essential iPad Apps for Students | iPad.AppStorm–Student life can be daunting; assessments, deadlines, classes, exams and maybe even a social life. It doesn’t have to be this difficult though. The iPad is…
Use QuickVoice To Record Your Skype Calls (Or Anything Else) on iOS–Skype is in use by numerous users all over the world and across almost all platforms. After all, what could be more fascinating than making free phone and video

Miscellaneous

Why Google+ Won’t ‘Kill’ Twitter – Techland – TIME.com–As of now, it’s still unclear as to what exactly Google+ is going to be. For some, like Digg founder Kevin Rose (who replaced his longstanding blog with a redirect to his G+ page), it’s a platform for discussion, an ecosystem uninhibited by mandatory follow backs or character limits
The GPlus Info: Connect, Collaborate, Create–I often express the adoption of social media in three stages – connect, collaborate, and create. This week I realized that same model applies when adopting Google technologies for the classroom.
30 Years of the Space Shuttle – Interactive Graphic – NYTimes.com–An interactive timeline of the 135 space shuttle missions.
How Do Twitter, Facebook & Google G+ Compare? infographic–How Do Twitter, Facebook & Google G+ Compare?
YouTube’s Creator Playbook: Your Guide To Achieving Internet Fame* | TechCrunch–Looking to turn yourself (or your show) into a YouTube star but don’t know where to begin?
10 small but brilliant things about Google Plus | TechRepublic–Google+ includes several attention-grabbing items–like Circles, Google Takeout, and Sparks; but there are some great subtle features…
Older People Not Using Smartphones or Digital Media–Older Internet consumers are very low users of smartphones and online media, states a new report from McKinsey.
Private Browsing Explained–What is private browsing? How to start private browsing in browsers without recording web history?
What Will Education Be Like in 100 Years? – Education – GOOD–An author from 1900 has a compelling vision for education that includes free universities and in-school medical care for all students
Solve Fundamental Math / Physics Equations On Android With EQSolve–There’s certainly no shortage of some very useful apps for students in the Android Market. Some are aimed at helping the students take their notes while
3 Websites To Purchase Electronic College Textbooks–One of the biggest shocks for me when I first enrolled in college was the insane cost of textbooks. Unfortunately, there is really no way to cut out this problem, but if you don’t want to carry around some ratty textbooks with you everywhere you go, there is the option to buy them in an electronic format
10 Sites That Let You Create and Print Custom Word Search Puzzles–If you enjoy word search puzzles here are some sites where you can print your own.
10 Ways To Embarrass Your Kids On Facebook–Here are ten ways to embarrass your kids on Facebook, as conceived by the DSL Service Providers blog.
The 40 most important Google Apps keyboard shortcuts | TechRepublic–Keyboard shortcuts can save you time and reduce your dependence on the mouse. To help with that goal, Kevin Purdy has compiled a list of the 40 most…
10 Really Pointless Sites To Have Fun With Numbers–The other day someone asked what they could do on the Internet other than Facebook or blogging. Well, as someone else put it quite bluntly, what can’t you do?
10 Most Asked Questions About PayPal–If you make funds transfer or payment via Internet, you should be familiar with the name PayPal. PayPal is one of the safest and most convenient ways to perform
Google Brings iPad-like Preview Panes To Gmail | PCWorld–Google brings the Gmail Web interface for Apple’s iPad to PCs and adds preview panes to its webmail service.
Keep Your Google Apps Domains Registered To Protect Your Identity–Do you use Google Apps on your domain for email? Don’t let that domain expire or you could be at serious risk of identity theft. It’s possible that, should your domain expire, all of your old email and any accounts tied to your old email addresses could be easily accessed.
DEF CON trains 8-year-olds in hacking – CNN.com–Joseph Horman already had seen the lock-picking videos on YouTube. But it was a different thing entirely for the 13-year-old puzzle-lover to get lessons in lock picking and computer hacking at an event sanctioned by adults.
Stay or Switch? – The Monty Hall Problem–Stay or Switch? Play the game show and decide for yourself. A probability challenge of doors, cars, and goats.