95 EdTech Resources You May Have Missed–Treasure Chest January 22, 2012

by Jeffrey Thomas on January 19, 2012

Welcome to this week’s edition of Treasure Chest—95 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

The Week That Killed SOPA: A Timeline–This day-by-day recap examines just how SOPA and PIPA were taken down.
Apple Introduces iBooks 2 with Support for Interactive Textbooks | PCWorld–iBooks 2 brings full-screen textbooks with interactive animations, diagrams, photos, and videos to students and teachers.
7 Top Things Teachers Want from Their Principal | Connected Principals–At the first staff meeting in August, I asked the staff at my new school to write a notecard answer to the following question: “What do you need from your principal?” The answers ranged from very practical to very theoretical. When put all together, these needs represent a healthy school culture eager to get [...]
Wolfram Education Portal: Free Resources and Materials for Teachers–Download lesson plans, widgets, and interactive demonstrations apps built by Wolfram and organized by course. Expose your students to a whole new way of learning and understanding through our dynamic teaching tools and materials.
You Don’t Have to Be A Technology Whiz But You Do Need to Be Fearless–As we find ourselves surrounded by more and more technology in our profession as teachers, we see teachers react in strong ways.
A City Education: The Importance of Teaching Students to Set Goals – Education – GOOD–A City Year New York corps member shares what she’s learned about setting goals with students.
When It Comes to Education Technology, Video Won’t Kill the Radio Star | Emerging Education Technology–Emerging technologies are not limiting teacher’s roles – they are expanding their tool kits, improving their availability, and empowering them in many exciting…
SOPA and PIPA – Khan Academy

SOPA and PIPA

What is Wrong with SOPA? | Open Culture–Some of the big websites are going black today to protest SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act, that has been winding its way through Congress.
Andrew J. Rotherham: Why Parents Should Be Allowed to Pick Their Kids’ Teachers | TIME Ideas | TIME.com–The most important decision you will make about your children’s education is picking their school, right? That’s the conventional wisdom, but it’s actually wrong — or at best it’s only half-correct.
Start Educating Entrepreneurs, Not Employees–The shocking lack of interest in doing things that are truly innovative is a direct byproduct of an educational system that’s aiming toward passable standardized test scores instead of something much greater.
Study on Teacher Value Uses Data From Before Teach-to-Test Era – NYTimes.com–Results that come from a time prior to No Child Left Behind should be kept in mind when analyzing a new study that tries to determine if teachers have a lasting effect on students’ lives.
Goal 1: Create Your Me Manifesto #30goals : Teacher Reboot Camp–Goal 1 of The 30 Goals Challenge 2012! Click the link to find out more about the new changes to this year’s 30 Goals Challenge for Educators!
Clay Shirky: Why SOPA is a bad idea | Video on TED.com

Actually, teachers DON’T have to learn technology – Redefining my role: Teacher as student–However, just as the student who is bored by math (or literacy, science, etc.), or struggles with its concepts still needs to learn those skills, teachers need to learn the new skills inherent in tech integration.
12 Most Useful Ways Kids Can Learn With Cell Phones–We live in a world that is increasingly mobile. In order for adults to connect with our kids and students, we need to mobilize
News.me Swoops In to Save Save Summify Users–News.me deserves credit today for some start-up agility and helpfulness. Yesterday, Twitter bought Summify, a service that crunched down links from one’s Twitter feed into a need-to-know email digest, and it will be shut down. Loving users freaked out. News.me, which provides a similar service, heard those cries for help, and it has redesigned its homepage and launched new features to welcome those Summify users in.
Can Technology Transform Education Before It’s Too Late? | TechCrunch–As technology continues its march toward the Singularity, transforming the way we work, socialize and play at an increasing rate, there is one very important aspect of American society that lags behind: education.
The Day the LOLcats Died

The Day the LOLcats Died

Explosive Growth in Education Apps | MindShift–Today’s children will benefit if apps become an important force for learning and discovery.
Why Apple Won’t Disrupt the Textbook Industry Anytime Soon–Apple revolutionizes stuff. It’s practically conventional wisdom in the tech world that, even if they’re not first in the game or necessarily even the best, the Cupertino-based giant has a tendency to make a noticeable impact. Today, the company set their sights on textbooks, an industry Steve Jobs himself described as being “ripe for digital destruction.” True as…
A Principal’s Reflections: It is Time For Schools to Seriously Consider BYOT–It is essential that we rectify all of the above mentioned impacts of budget cuts, but when it comes to technology the perception is that it is the least important area in which to invest precious funds.
How to Cut Facebook News Feed Clutter | PCWorld–You probably have a handful of Facebook friends who post too often, play too many games or share too many pictures.
Teachers take to Twitter to improve craft and commiserate – The Washington Post–Teachers say the camaraderie and free, instantaneous help they find through Twitter is far more useful than traditional school training programs
Blogs vs. Term Papers – NYTimes.com–To raves and rants, blogging has become a requirement in everything from M.B.A. to literature courses.
Should We Really Abolish the Term Paper? Response to NY Times–So one reason I answered his phone call was that I was simply curious about whether, with enough care and time, one could have a fair representation of one’s work and one’s dedication to pedagogical transformation appreciated by the New York Times.

Tools

Top 150 Extensions And Web Apps Of 2011 [Editor's Pick]–Whether you use a Mac or a Windows PC, you’re still using the same internet. Your online peeves, annoyances and frustrations are similar, and you are …
101 Best Chrome Extensions–We’ve taken the effort to categorize the extensions and picked only those we believe to be the best ones and which will most likely be useful to you.
Cool Comic Creators – LiveBinder–30+ Comic Creators for the Classroom
A Win for Math Students and a Win for the Web: Desmos Goes HTML 5–But one problem, up ’til now, with the app: it was Flash-based, rendering it unusable on iOS devices (and undermining the company’s mission to make tools that work across all platforms). No longer. The calculator has been redone in HTML5 (no easy task, I should note) and is now available at abettercalculator.com.
Google Maps Mania: The Weather Twitter Map–Wettervolke is a nice Google Maps based application to view the current weather and local Twitter messages about the weather.
Zunal WebQuest Maker–Zunal WebQuest Maker is a web-based software for creating WebQuests in a short time without writing any HTML codes.
YouTube Instant Search Videos in Real Time ( New Service )–There is now a service called YouTube Instant which is a great site that allows its users to search across the vast YouTube video database in real-time.
Apps in Education: Apps for Teachers–I don’t know how many great resources I have lost simply because I have lost track of who borrowed them. So here is my little list of apps that I think are great for teachers
Turn Your iPhone or Android Into a Walkie Talkie–The Voxer app turns your iOS/Android device into a walkie talkie, and also allows you to send text messages and pictures like you would with a regular text message.
Going Google-Free: The Best Alternatives to Google Services on the Web–Face it: Google runs your life. The search giant turned web ecosystem owns your email, calendar, and even your voicemails. Your most important data lives on Google’s servers. What you may not realize is that, despite the quality of Google’s products, someone else is doing it better and placing all your eggs in Google’s basket isn’t necessarily the best thing. Here’s a look at alternative services you can use in place of Google’s webapps
Top 20 Tools 2007-2011 C4LPT Blog–So I did some calculations and here’s the list of the top 20 tools over the last 5 years (showing their rankings in 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008 and 2007).
Insync: ‘It’s OK to cheat on Dropbox’ | ZDNet–Insync’s re-opening includes many improvements to its Google Doc storage locker. The company is also using cheeky slogans to entice Dropbox users …
10 Juicy Applications For Windows 7–It’s time to install some new, juicy applications that give your computer a change of pace. Here are the 10 juiciest applications for Windows 7 you probably never knew about.
5 Free Desktop Image Editors for E-Learning » The Rapid eLearning Blog–Today we’ll look at five free desktop applications that you can use for basic image editing.
Dumpr – Photo Fun–Addictively-fun and simple-to-use online photo effects. Upload photos, create something funny, and share them with your friends.
Best Firefox Addons–On this page, you will find the best 50+ Firefox plugins for all your browsing needs. We’ve taken the effort to categorize the
5 Firefox Add-Ons for Increasing Productivity–The Internet is a black hole of procrastination but these 5 Firefox add-ons will help you become a productivity all-star.
Top 10 Sites for Educational Apps–The wave of the future is here, especially for education. Terms like 21st Century Computing, BYOD (Bring Your Own Device), and Cloud Computing are mainstream. The introduction of mobile devices, iPods, netbooks, and more specifically, the iPad, has brought technology to more students than ever before. A one-to-one computing environment is not only a possibility, but also a reality in more school districts than people realize. With all that being said, below are my 10 favorite sites for finding educational apps.

How-To

Free Technology for Teachers: Video – How to Find Creative Commons Images

Advance Google Image Search

Twitter for Teachers: A Basic Guide « Literacy, Languages and Leadership–The guide is still in draft format, but if you’d like a sneak preview, I’d love your feedback:

Twitter for Teachers

How To Extract Images From PDF Files & Save Them For Other Uses [Windows]–We had taken an earlier look at 6 Ways To Convert A PDF To A JPG Image. But over here, I am looking for something specific – extracting images only from PDF files. The solutions offered in the previous article are full-fledged converters. Here, the focus is more pinpointed. Let’s check out a few ways to extract images from PDF files.
How to Save Web Pages As PDF Using Snagit–With Snagit, you can convert screenshots of web pages into PDF files in few simple clicks. Here’s how.
Survival Tips for Educators and Presenters–Being an educator is a great, responsible job. When we go out and educate, we need to make sure we are prepared and have back up plans. Here are some tips to make sure your presentation and training goes well.
How to Remove Preinstalled Software From Your New PC | PCWorld–Your new PC most likely came with a whole bunch of preinstalled apps and utilities you’ll never use. Here’s how to get rid of them.
Free Technology for Teachers: Solid Advice for Creating Better Videos–We’ve all seen poorly lit videos (if you haven’t, two seconds on YouTube will cure that), we’ve probably made some ourselves.
How To Restore Your Computer Using Windows 7 | PCMag.com–One mistake doesn’t need to leave you with an unusable computer. Using Windows 7′s built-in tools, you can preserve and reinstate whole hard drives with just a few clicks.
How to Map Multiple Cloud Backup Services as a Network Drive–Learn How to Map Multiple Cloud Backup Services as a Network Drive.
How to Get A Better Computer With Less Cash–Before you walk into the store and pay big bucks to the retailers for the latest PC in town, check out this guide on how you can get a better computer without breaking the bank.
5 Fun Ways to Find New Videos on YouTube–We have found five native tools that will help you discover great new YouTube content, from topical videos to popular clips. Happy hunting!
How To Easily Enable & Customize The New Google Tool Bar–Several weeks ago, Google launched a brand new Google bar in all its services. This new bar replaces the famous (or infamous?) black bar on top of all Google products, and includes a slick dropdown menu, a new Profile menu and a generally cleaner look. Surprisingly, not everyone can enjoy the new bar yet and Google also forgot to make the bar customizable.
74 Interesting Ways to Use Google Forms in the Classroom | edte.ch–The Interesting Ways series of resources continue to grow as the community add ideas from the classroom. Below is one of the most popular with over 70 ideas
How to Record a Google Hangout ~ LockerGnome–Google Hangouts is a great tool for anyone wanting to have a round table discussion with a group of people without requiring everyone involved to install specific third-party software or hardware to do so

iOS

LiveBinders for iPad on the iTunes App Store–Get the most from your iPad: LiveBinders app version 1.0 for the iPad gives you quick access to all of the binders you’ve created and those you’ve collected on your custom shelves. This version uses Safari browser to present and edit these binders.
iPad Multimedia Tools–This site contains a collection of iPad multimedia apps for creativity and examples of student multimedia projects using the iPad.
Apple Just Incentivized Every College Kid To Get An iPad. As For High Schoolers… | TechCrunch–The weird thing about Apple’s event was that it mainly focused on high school education. Yes, the iTunes U update is fantastic, but for now, the textbook side of the equation is about high schools. And again, that’s weird because the iPad plan seems better suited for college students. In fact, it seems almost perfectly suited for college students.
Apple iBooks Author App Lets You Make Your Own Books, Free–Apple announced a new iBooks Author App on Thursday that makes creating an Apple ebook a matter of drag and drop.
Apple iBooks 2 textbook hands-on (video) – Engadget–We just got our first opportunity to get our hands on one of Apple’s new interactive textbooks and we have to say, they’re as
First Look: OnLive Desktop | PCWorld Business Center–I’m writing these words as I often do, using Microsoft Word. But I’m doing so on an iPad 2, not on a Mac. And I’m running Word for Windows on that iPad.
Screencasting Apps for the iPad–Recently, there has been a rash of screencasting apps appearing on the App Store – each one vying for a place on your home screen in place of the competition.
5 Useful iPad Apps for Doctors, Patients and Med Students–What are the best apps that doctors are using to interact with and benefit patients?
Five Apps And A Few Tips For Using Your iPhone While Driving–The key to using your phone while driving is to reduce the number of steps it takes to make a call, send a text message, or check driving directions. The iPhone includes a few built-in features and apps that might be useful while driving, and there a few third-party apps that can help keep your eyes on the road.
Apps in Education: English Apps for Middle School–The following is a list of apps that have been researched and evaluated specifically for use in the Middle School English course.
The Best Video Streaming and Live Conversion App for iPhone–With only two main options for video streaming and live conversions apps for the iPhone, it’s a tough choice. After much consideration, we believe Air Video use your best option thanks to its simple setup, great video quality, and general reliability.
The Power of Educational Technology: My iPad Adventure–I’ve been in the thick of teaching 7th grade English and setting up an iPad pilot for our school. Both have been extremely time consuming. In this post, I’ll focus on my iPad adventure
Apple’s iBooks 2 flunks first test–It appears Apple’s new digital textbooks platform is off to a troubling start. – USATODAY.com
10 best iOS apps for keeping in touch | News | TechRadar–10 best iOS apps for keeping in touch Apps for instant messaging, Twitter and more : TechRadar
Apps in Education: Collaborative Whiteboard Apps for the Classroom–Interactive and collaborative – Whiteboards are a great way for teachers to explain concepts to their students.

Android

Even Woz Thinks the Android Bests the iPhone – The Daily Beast–Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak loves his iPhone, but admits the Android has leapt ahead, reports Dan Lyons.
Your Android Phone Can Do Double Duty As a Geiger Counter – How-To Geek–While we’d hope you’d never need it, clever researchers have figured out how to turn the camera on your Android phone into a makeshift Geiger Counter with nothing more than a free app and some black tape.
AppZilla Comes To Android: 40 Handy Tools In One App–Apart from those feature-rich smartphone social network and chat clients, games, note-taking and photography apps that make the news, there are plenty of …
Official Wikipedia App Finally Arrives In The Android Market–It may have taken a long time coming, but eventually, the official Wikipedia client for Android has been released to the Android Market by Wikimedia Foundation,
Top 10 Apps to Watch TV on Android – android tv, android tv apps, android tv streaming, best android apps for tv, best–Streaming TV over a mobile phone is not a new thing. We’ve seen this technology since earlier models like the Nokia 6230 and 6230i.
Download YouTube Videos On Android Phone, Free YouTube Downloader Apps–Do you want to download YouTube videos on Android for free? Check these free YouTube downloader apps for Android which lets you save YouTube videos as Mp4, Mp3 or FLV files on your phone’s SD card.
DOWNLOAD MakeUseOf’s “Best Apps” Android App!–Here at MakeUseOf, we specialize in writing about other people’s applications. Well, today I’d like to break that tradition by announcing an application of …
Music Player Showdown: Which Desktop Player Is Best for Syncing to Android?–Syncing an iPhone with iTunes is about as seamless as it gets, while Android users are often left with a much clunkier experience—or at least having to figure out what desktop music player best fits their syncing needs. Here’s how our favorite music players stack up against one another in Android-syncing prowess.

Miscellaneous

Free Technology for Teachers: Get the Math – Multimedia Algebra Challenges–Get the Math is a super website designed to provide teachers and students with Algebra-based mathematics challenges.
200,000 Martin Luther King Papers Go Online | Open Culture–What better way to celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.? Today, the King Center has made available online 200,000 papers belonging to the civil
Tame the Beast: Tips for Designing and Using Rubrics | Edutopia–Blogger Andrew Miller shares his experiences and suggestions for creating rubrics that will make students’ — and teachers’ — lives much easier
Star Wars Uncut: Director’s Cut on Vimeo

Star Wars Uncut: Director’s Cut from Casey Pugh on Vimeo.

What Are Codec Packs and Should I Use Them?–You’ve stumbled on a somewhat divisive issue, and while it the subject can be confusing, there are only a few things you need to know to deal with codec issues.
You Can Now Post Videos To Google+ As Your Status Update | Redmond Pie–Google today took the interesting step of adding a feature to one of its products which could well be to the detriment of another.
5 Wikipedia Games You Can Try Your Hand On–Wikipedia will continue to get knocked down for credibility and accuracy but it is the best open source project we know of. And one we still depend on for a quick reference. Wikipedia is the last place you would expect to play a few serious games, but dig deep and a few intrepid web applications have been built around the knowledge rich online encyclopedia. Wikipedia games just give you another way to kill a few of those dull hours and gain a bit of grey matter in the process
Top 10 Tablets for Kids – The Best Value Tablets Available for Kids! – Aakash Tablet, amazing tablets for kids, Amazon,–The hot tech products these days are by far the tablets, we’ve seen many models of tablets, from many manufacturers, each better than the predecessor.
Free alternatives to pricey software – USATODAY.com–A typical family can save hundreds with a variety of useful open-source software programs.

Video/Slideshow

100 Years in 10 Minutes

100 Years in 10 Minutes

Madeline 365: A Year in the Life | Open Culture–Remember Jeff Harris? He’s the photographer who has documented every day of his life with a self-portrait since 1999. Now meet Madeline Schichtel, a young …