100 EdTech Resources You May Have Missed–Treasure Chest March 4, 2012

by Jeffrey Thomas on March 4, 2012

Welcome to this week’s edition of Treasure Chest—100 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

Stop Stealing Dreams – Seth Godin’s Manifesto on Transforming Education | Angela Maiers Educational Services, Inc.–Now for the million dollar question….Do schools today offer a good education; one that allows for and enables dreams to be fulfilled?
What is The 30 Goals Challenge for Educators? : Teacher Reboot Camp–How do you join The 30 Goals Challenge for Educators? Please leave a comment, reflection, or status update that you accomplished any of the goals
A Principal’s Reflections: Misguided Efforts in Educational Reform–A few weeks back I passed along an Education Week article to administrators in my District that highlighted the many technology challenges that states anticipate with common tests. Below is a response to the article from Danielle Shanley, my Director of Curriculum and Instruction, as well as her sound synopsis of the misguided educational reform movement.
Education Nation 2011: 7 Tips For Using Social Media in Your Classroom–Teachers can use social media to meet students on their own turf and provide an engaging avenue to learning. In this post, we’ll take a look at using social networks and microblogging platforms. Let’s jump in and take a look at several lesson ideas.
Pros and Cons of Social Media in Education—Infographic
Educational Technology Guy: 11 steps to planning Professional Development–Professional development is an important part of education and educator’s professional learning. Unfortunately, professional development is not always planned or delivered well, or is not relevant to the staff. Here are some tips for planning professional development:

The 7 Habits of Highly Ineffective Educators

All of Our Students! | Connected Principals–A couple of weeks ago I received an email from a parent that has really set me to thinking about many things. Sometimes there are situations where students go way beyond the expectations of educators and achieve what was thought to be unattainable.
Critical thinking explained in six kid-friendly animations–If you’ve been looking for a crash course in basic logic – or just want to explain to a friend exactly what a logical fallacy is — turn your attention to these simple, easy-to-understand videos, which lay out the basics of critical thinking.
How Are Wikis Really Being Used in the K-12 Classroom?–Social media usage at the K-12 level has exploded over recent years, with some 40% of teachers saying they use blogs or wikis in the classroom.
No Way Out of the Evaluation Trap – SchoolBook—A teacher writes: I spoke to my students, cajoled them, threatened them, contacted their counselors and called their homes repeatedly. I try everything I can think of, and sometimes I fail. Does this mean my name ought to be on page 3 of The New York Post as a poster boy for everything wrong with education?
How our mobiles became Frankenstein’s monster – CNN.com–As always, Mobile World Congress, the world’s largest mobile telephone extravaganza, is being held in Barcelona this year. But it really should be held in Geneva, close to where Mary Shelley created Frankenstein
Ten Videos Every Educator Should Watch (and Reflect on) | Eductechalogy–The internet abound with videos for educators, some contextual and benefit educators in particular situations at a particular time (e.g. tools tutorials) while others are timeless by focusing on what really matters in education.
A Look Inside the Digital Lives of Tweens | MindShift–While large-scale surveys have documented the types of media to which 5–9-year-olds are devoting increasing amounts of time, we know less about how and why they are using these media and what they might be learning as a result
Everything Pinterest and Tumblr Users Need To Know About Copyright Law–It’s hard to write a story or post about Pinterest and copyright law without at least one reader leaving a comment along the lines of “What about Tumblr?”
Moving at the Speed of Creativity – Twitter – A Powerful Collaboration Tool for Teachers by Eric Langhorst–These are my notes from Eric Langhorst‘s presentation “Educators Collaborating Through Twitter – Building Your Personal Learning Network with Social Media”

Twitter – A Powerful Collaboration Tool for Teachers

View more presentations from South Valley Jr. High School / Park University

Facebook pages for college classes? Students say yes, please | eCampus News–When offered a smorgasbord of social media choices, college students have continually chosen Facebook as the best social site for class collaboration. And the reason is simple: Students are most familiar with Facebook.
29 Steps to Internet Safety for Kids « Ask a Tech Teacher–This is a great list from Deb Ng, founder and former owner of the Freelance Writing Jobs. I thought hard about what she’d written to see if I could add anything, enhance or disagree.
Bring Your Own Technology | K-12 Education Blog–Advocates of BYOT often question why BYOT has not caught on with most districts. After all, BYOT would allow students instantaneous resources from around the world at their fingertips.
Why It’s Important to Talk Math With Kids | MindShift–And yet studies show that “number talk” at home is a key predictor of young children’s achievement in math once they get to school.
BBC News – Poor numeracy ‘blights the economy and ruins lives’–Poor numeracy is hitting Britain’s economic performance and ruining lives, according to a new charity launched to champion better maths skills.
Digital Skills Can Be Quickly Acquired – NYTimes.com–Knowing how to use Twitter, update Facebook, check in on Foursquare and upload images on Instagram are among the digital skills some employers expect in a job candidate.
We Know How to End Bullying in Schools—So Why Don’t We Do It? – Education – GOOD–Instead of teachers and parents looking for red flags from individual students, schools need a broader cultural shift
EdTechSandyK: Trying to Ban Facebook is Not the Answer…–When I first read and watched a news story about this Florida charter school’s letter to parents encouraging them to get their kids off of Facebook because of the problems social media activities were causing during the school day, it got me thinking.
Android vs. iPhone: How to choose – USATODAY.com–Here’s a guide to what’s different, similar in the two mobile juggernauts.

Tools

Technology Tidbits: Thoughts of a Cyber Hero: Top 10 Sites for Curating the Web–With the amount of information that is available on the internet it is important (especially for teachers) to filter through the news/sites to find relevant information in a timely manner.
Top 3 Free Online Photo Editors–There are many online image editors present at your disposal that do the same task thereby, reducing the load on your computer. These online image editing software are free for use and promise good results
15 Top Apps for Today’s Student: Technology & Education | News–There has never been a better time to be a student: there is a vast range of devices and programs to help you take the slog out of studying, leaving you to concentrate on the information that really matters.
Five Best PowerPoint Alternatives–When you need to create an interesting and engaging presentation for your boss, new clients, or a job interview, you have plenty of options for tools to get the job done
Free Technology for Teachers: 11 Web-based Polling and Survey Tools–Here are eleven other ways you can conduct polls and surveys online.
Best Portable Apps–On this page, you will find the best 50+ portable apps to bring with you on the go. We’ve taken the effort to categorize the …
The 12 Bookmarklets Your Social Media Life Is Missing – Technology – GOOD–Bookmarklets are free, minimally invasive, time-saving applications, yet a small fraction of internet denizens are using them.
3 Free And Easy Tools To Help You Flip The Classroom–Whether you are an advocate of “flip the classroom” or not, recording class material is a huge benefit to students, teachers and schools.
20+ Programs That You Should Run Regularly On Your PC–Many PC users do not think about maintenance as long as their system is running as intended. The issue here is that they might be able to resolve future issues,

How-To

How to remove your Google Web Data History – Yahoo! News–March 1 is the day Google’s new unified privacy policy goes into effect, which means your Google Web History will be shared among all of the Google products you use.
Two Simple Steps to Take More Control Over Google’s New Privacy Policy–Google’s new privacy policy takes effect Thursday, and some are worried. These two steps will help control how much your info is recorded.
How to Search Google Like a Pro: 11 Tricks You Have to Know – How-To Geek–Google is a powerful tool, but you’re missing out on a lot of that power if you just type words into it. Master Google and find the best results faster with these search tricks.
26 Tips for Using Pinterest for Business | Social Media Examiner–Pinterest: How to create a business presence, drive traffic to your website, increase SEO value, and improve your social media marketing.
How To Choose The Right Platform For Your Class Blog–What do you need to consider before starting your class blog? Here are a few thoughts and suggestions that may help get your blog up sooner.
Using Custom Shortcuts to Enhance Browsing Experience–Learn About Using Custom Shortcuts to Enhance Browsing Experience.
4 Incredibly Easy Ways to Share Internet From Windows PC–Check out these 4 Incredibly Easy Ways to Share Internet From Windows PC.
Improve Your Google+ Social Networking Skills – google, Google Circles, Google Plus, Google Social, Google+ Tips, guest–Your network is your most valuable resource as a blogger, internet marketer, or small business owner. Google+ is taking the social networking industry by storm, and learning how to take advantage of it will be an important part of your business strategy.
How to Stay Safe on Pinterest–Pinterest. It’s a free for all, the perfect place to find visually stimulating images and then perform fast, repinning actions
How to Create a Portfolio with Evernote (Education Series) « Evernote Blogcast–A portfolio is a storehouse for projects, writing pieces, art, and performances.
10 tips for troubleshooting Excel formulas and functions | TechRepublic–Finding and fixing errors in formulas and functions can be tedious and time-consuming. Here are some practical tips to help you cut to the chase.
10 Amazing Uses for Wolfram Alpha – How-To Geek–You may have heard of Wolfram Alpha, which is a “computational knowledge engine.” That makes it sound a bit scary, but it’s a great tool once you can wrap your head around it.
GeoGebra 4.0 Tutorials Mathematics and Multimedia–A list of GeoGebra 4.0 tutorials.
Manage and Increase web browsing speed by changing DNS server settings–Increase web browsing speed by changing your DNS server, settings or provider in Windows.
Top 7 Google Fun Search Tricks–Google fun tricks, stuff, search tricks, facts websites, easter eggs, pages and projects listed here
How to batch convert your photos | News | TechRadar–How to batch convert your photos Save time and effort by adjusting many photos at once
Beginners guide to Linux: where to start | News | TechRadar–Beginners guide to Linux: where to start Start your journey from beginner to Linux guru
The Best Tips for Speeding Up Your Windows PC – How-To Geek–If your computer has started to slow down, there are many options for speeding it up. Below, we show you some of the best tips for speeding up your PC, some from previous HTG articles and some described here
Backup Photos Hosted on Facebook, Flickr, Picasa, Instagram to Dropbox–Bring all your stuff in one place, that’s the use of this app.
Turn Any YouTube Video into a Silent Movie–The movie The Artist blew away movie critics enough to win an Oscar this year, but the art of making black and white movies is not one reserved only for Hollywood elite. Anyone can make a silent movie, in true silver-screen style

iOS

Education’s Dream iPad: What Would It Be? [Sneak Peek] | Edudemic–We explore what features it would take to make the iPad perfect for education.
iPad As….–Over the past few months, iPads have exploded throughout schools and classrooms. Their flexibility, versatility, and mobility make them a phenomenal learning tool. In webinars and blog posts, we have talked about the iPad as…
15 Best Free Photo Editing & Sharing Apps For iPhone, iPad, iPod touch–The genres of photography, image editing, styling and sharing, being among the most popular on the iOS App Store (after platformers and games in general, of …
Getting ready for iPad deployment: ten things I’d wish I’d known about last year « Darren Coxon–When making the move towards using mobile devices in the classroom, there are a number of practical considerations to bear in mind.
How to Record Screencasts on your iPad or iPhone–This detailed guide describes the various options that will help you record movies (screencasts) of your iPad or iPhone screen. You can use it for capturing app demos, game walkthroughs and more.
Vimeo App For iOS Receives Major Update, Full Support For iPad, Brand New UI And More | Redmond Pie–Today, during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Vimeo have pushed out the major update to their iPhone app that they said was coming earlier this year. Finally introducing a proper, native iPad UI, the update also packs improvements to the iPhone UI, on top of an array of other enhancements.
Embedding Audio and Video in Keynote for iPad « Technology in Music Education–For secondary educators, an iPad with wireless mirroring can be an excellent substitute for an interactive white board.
Apps in Education: 10 Productivity Apps–There are certain apps that just make your day easier. These are apps that I have been using regularly as part of my daily workflow.
30 Cool Educational iPad Apps for Science Lovers – Creative Can Creative Can–Expand your knowledge about the world in an enjoyable method using your Apple tablet through these educational ipad apps for science.
Top 10 Education iPhone Apps – LockerGnome–Whether you’re involved in kindergarten or college, learning how to cope in a digital world is quickly becoming essential.
TCEA_McAllenISD_Recommended #iPad Apps Evernote shared notebook:—Recommended iPad apps
Data and Analysis of a High School 1:1 iPad Program–In October of 2011, students and teachers were surveyed about the use of iPads in their classes.
New iPad App Combines Your Child’s Artwork and Voice–A new iPad app makes it easy to combine an iPad drawing with an audio memory.
Best alternatives to the default iPhone apps | News | TechRadar–Best alternatives to the default iPhone apps Third-party alternatives to the standard iOS apps
Readability Launches Native iOS App For Clutter-Free Reading On Your iPad, iPhone & iPod Touch [News]–Readability, the well-known article-reading web app, has just launched a beautiful iOS app for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.
Apps in Education: iPad Apps that work with Smartboards–The iPad looks amazing when projected onto a large screen. The students in a 1 to 1 iPad classroom gets to see the apps at work.

Android

Android Power Monitoring At Its Best–Using your Android for a full day on a single battery is a pipe dream for many people. There are things you can do to get better Android battery life right on your phone.
SyncSpace – A Shared Whiteboard App for Android–You can use Sync Space to create drawings and documents on your tablet.
FileDrop: Transfer Data Between Dropbox & Android via Drag & Drop–The official Dropbox client for Android is pretty simple to use, but it still requires one to navigate through multiple screens and options in order to …
Dolphin Browser for Android Adds Voice Search–Voice control seems to be spreading to just about every app these days and Dolphin – our favorite web browser for Android – wasn’t about to be left out of the party. The latest release adds a feature called Sonar, allowing you to search the web with the power of your voice.
Onlive Desktop comes to Android tablets, brings Microsoft Office along for the ride – Engadget–Good news today for Android tablet owners with OnLive Desktop envy: the cloud-based service, which recently hit the iPad, is coming to select tablets
4 SMS Back Up Applications To Keep Your Messages Safe [Android]–Most phones, be it dumb or smartphone, do not come with a SMS backup services by default. However, there are several SMS backup apps available for Android. Check it out.
Skitch for Android Adds Maps Annotation, SD Card Saving, and More–Photo-taking and annotation app Skitch has added a new feature that lets you annotate maps and send them to your friends – perfect for giving directions or pointing out specific locations with a picture message.
DropSpot: 2-Way Remote File Transfer Between Android & PC Over Wi-Fi–Just last week, we covered an Android app called EZ Drop that allowed users to remotely/wirelessly transfer files from a desktop browser (computer) to an …
Stream Audio And Videos From Android Phone To Desktop Computer–Do you want an easy way to stream music videos and audio files from your android phone to a desktop computer, without having to transfer any file or use a USB cable? Here is a free application which lets you play audio and video files from your phone to a desktop pc.
6 Best Apps To Use When You’ve Lost Your Android Phone–It’s amazing how even the most organised individuals can occasionally find themselves up that notorious creek without a paddle.

Miscellaneous

Top five free Mathematics games | What2Learn–The top five most played Mathematics games at What2Learn. They are free to play and we hope you enjoy them.
Educational Technology Guy: NASA Aspire to Inspire – women encouraging girls to enter STEM careers–NASA, a source of great resources for educators, has another great site. Aspire 2 Inspire is a part of the Women at NASA site and includes resources to help encourage girls to get interested in STEM careers
What is DNS – Domain Name Server in Simple English–This short video explains the concept of DNS (Domain Name Server) and how DNS works in simple English.
The Scale of the Universe 2–Zoom from the edge of the universe to the quantum foam of spacetime and learn about everything in between.
25 Beautiful Wallpapers Of Mountains and Rivers–Check out these 25 Beautiful Wallpapers Of Mountains and Rivers For Your Desktop.
Facebook spies on phone users’ text messages, report says | Fox News–Internet giant Facebook is accessing smartphone users’ personal text messages, an investigation revealed Sunday.
Attorney Says Pinterest Needs To Change It Digital Copyright Policy–Questions continue to mount about Pinterest’s uneasy relationship with copyright law, with one attorney (and avid Pinterest user) saying the company needs to upgrade its Digital Millenium Copyright Act policies or risk being shut down
What Kind of RAM Memory Does a Computer Have–RAM memory upgrades are among the most common DIY computer hardware upgrades. Often times, purchasing RAM upgrades from the PC manufacturer or going to your local computer shop for an upgrade can be quite expensive.
Incompetent People Too Ignorant to Know It | LiveScience–People aren’t good at assessing their own failings, whether it’s a lack of humor or an inability to think logically. This may be responsible for some of society’s ills.
Free websites help boost student engagement, teacher productivity | eSchool News–Cash-strapped schools can’t stop giving students the resources they need to learn and develop 21st century skills simply because budgets are tight. Luckily, educators can turn to free online resources to help them find and organize lesson plans, give students extra help in various subjects, and more.
Windows 8 Cheat Sheet | TechRepublic–Windows 8 is on its way, here’s what you need to know about the most radical redesign since Windows 95
15 Interesting Facts about Wikipedia—Infographic
Impatient Web Users Flee Slow-Loading Sites – NYTimes.com–The tech industry is doubling down on efforts to speed up the Web as people refuse to wait even 250 milliseconds for a page to load.
5 Things That Shouldn’t Be On Your Facebook–I just read an interesting infographic about crimes that were committed and solved on Facebook. In one of the featured stories was a break-in in a victim’s …
55 Free Philosophy Courses | Open Culture–The Philosophy section of our big Free Courses collection just went through a major update, and it now lists more than 50 courses — 55 to be precise.