Mr. B EdTech Blog

Starting my countdown of the most viewed posts on Mr. B Ed Tech Blog is "Muvizu" Original Article :  http://blog.mrbwebsite.com/2015/09/muvizu-free-animation-software.html This is still a great app that I would recommend today. Some people ask me if I post every app I see? The answer is definitely no. There are far too many apps that I have seen or been exposed to and I feel that my blog barely scratches the surface. However, the purpose of posting recommended apps is to narrow down the search for others as well as organize my own findings so I can come back to them later.

Well, it is that time of year again. The halls, classrooms, and lockers are empty. As you read this article, I am actually out of the office on vacation. Though I will be back in the office next week, I will not be posting as much due to the summer break. This will help me re-charge the batteries before I begin preparing our devices for our 1:1 roll out next school year. I will be re-posting some of the "Greatest Hits" articles from last school year for the rest of this week, possibly throughout the summer as well. In the meantime, check out this article on preventing student brain drain over the summer. Can Summer Slide Be Prevented? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/21/summer-learning-loss-study_n_3391594.html A recently released survey from the National Summer Learning Association (NSLA) confirms that teachers spend a significant amount of time re-teaching material due to summer learning loss. The NSLA works with school districts to enact summer learning ...

Though some schools are out of school for the summer, others are still finishing up the school year. With this in mind, check out these resources for honoring Memorial Day in the classroom. https://www.edutopia.org/blog/memorial-day-teaching-resources-matt-davis

This article shows some intriguing views on social media for educators. Can educators ignore social media? The question I would have, especially as a Social Studies educator. is why would you want to ignore social media? It has been reported that well over half of American adults get their news from social media.* If we, as educators, ignore social media, are we preparing our students with the skills needed later on in life? A lingering general question hanging over the heads of all has been what effect does social media have on our society? That answer has never been so evident as it has been today as social media tools have been placed directly in the hands of the President of the United States, as well as foreign operatives. Social media is a very powerful tool that can have a lasting effect on what people do, and how they do it. See the full article here http://edge.ascd.org/blogpost/can-educators-ignore-social-media-any-longer Note: This article is an editorial, op...

Learning with Poetry: Activities and Resources from Shelly Sanchez Terrell This article has great resources for learning with poetry.    Poetry is a great way to inspire your learners to be creative and imaginative with a topic. Writing poetry can be difficult for students, but the engaging apps below will help your students create and learn with poems. For more ideas and activities, see the slide presentation,  See the Full Article: http://teacherrebootcamp.com/2017/04/01/poetryapps/

Crash Course's YouTube Channel offers a lot content condensed into short videos. Recently, Crash Course has created a series for Computer Science that is very good. This can be great for a refresher of basic computing principles or can also be good for a preview of how computers operate. See the YouTube playlist:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5nskjZ_GoI&index=2&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtNlUrzyH5r6jN9ulIgZBpdo

In this video, I give a brief tutorial of how to undo sending an email in Gmail. This feature is great for those of us that may of either clicked send too soon while composing an email, or notice an error in the email as we send it. Please remember to like and subscribe!

In this video, an educator goes through some of his favorite sites that he uses in his classroom. Take a look and see if there are any you can use. Want to see 11 great websites! Check out some of my favorite below. These amazing websites will help you waste time while others will help you earn it back. Do you have great websites to share? I would love to see them in the comments. Google Feud: http://www.googlefeud.com/ Dear Photograph: http://dearphotograph.com/ Mt Everest in 3D: http://www.explore-everest.com/mt-eve... Mathway: https://www.mathway.com/Algebra Wayback Machine: https://archive.org/web/ Taskade: https://www.taskade.com/ Instructables: http://www.instructables.com/ AutoDraw: https://www.autodraw.com/ Quick, Draw: https://quickdraw.withgoogle.com/ Rasterbator: https://rasterbator.net/ Adobe Color: https://color.adobe.com/create/color-... See the video on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqbV7afRkFo

A great example of an authentic learning experience and making a real-world impact. See the full article:  http://www.cleveland.com/avon/index.ssf/2017/04/avon_high_school_key_club_help.html

Without a clear definition aligned to a toolkit of instructional supports, teachers will struggle to integrate personalized learning into their classroom curriculums. Based on my own teaching experiences and research-based literature review, I've collected these six tips to help teachers close the knowing and doing gaps that stymie personalization implementation. See the full article here http://www.ascd.org/ascd-express/vol12/1214-ntuli.aspx

Spend more time in class discussing the content rather than explaining the content. EdPuzzle allows teachers to use pre-created videos or use their own videos to instruct students outside of class. Teachers can add questions and activities to check for understanding and engage students during the video. Save time Take already existing videos from Youtube, Khan Academy, Crash Course, etc. or upload your own. Engage students easily Enable self-paced learning with interactive lessons, add your voice and questions along the video. Reinforce accountability Know if your students are watching your videos, how many times and see the answers they give. Web Link:   https://edpuzzle.com/

In this podcast, I play through the classic game, "The Oregon Trail" for MS-DOS, circa 1990. After playing through the game, I give my critique as to whether or not the game still has educational value. This podcast is a departure from my usual videos. Please excuse the "ums" and so on as this video has a lot of unscripted commentary. Your Intro by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ) Artist: h ttp://audionautix.com/ Play the Oregon Trail on Archive.org: https://archive.org/details/msdos_Oregon_Trail_The_1990 Check out my other videos and my blog. Blog: https://goo.gl/9KMoec Website: https://goo.gl/733ISK Please remember to like and subscribe.

This is a wonderful tool for checking to make sure your lessons include/don't leave out student engagement. Chances are many of them already have these indicators. More and more, I see evidence of the days of lectures being replaced with engaging student activities. If students are engaged, classroom management becomes easier, learning increases, and teacher/student stress is reduced. See the checklist here http://www.patrickmlarkin.com/2017/04/dont-give-away-engagement.html

This is a great video tutorial on how to annotate over images on a Chromebook.

Technology can be a driving force for change in schools if utilized properly. This video and article shows how one school is improving instruction and learning through the use of various education technology. See the full article here https://www.usatoday.com/story/sponsor-story/xq/2017/04/03/high-school-wants-revolutionize-learning-technology/99985812/

Article Preview You’ve handed out devices to students. And to teachers. You work with your colleagues to deliver high-quality professional development. It’s time to cross 1:1 off your to-do list, right? Wrong! Any good CIO (i.e., everyone reading this) knows that a 1:1 initiative needs to be continually tweaked and coddled. We asked a handful of 1:1 veterans to share how they’re keeping their programs alive and well. Full Article http://www.techlearning.com/resources/0003/best-practices-for-your-11/70509

In this video, I give a brief tutorial of two ways to insert videos into Google Slides. There are also two methods for using videos in Google Slides. The first method is to have the video auto-start while using the presentation as a presenter. The second method is to use the video as a tool during a student-led lesson. Please remember to like and subscribe.

Sometime back in March (2017), Google opened up the Classroom App from G-Suite for Education, to anyone with a Google Account. Previously, users needed a G-Suite for Education domain account to access Google Classroom. Now that Classroom is accessible to more people, it will make collaborating with people outside of education much easier. Source(s) http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2017/03/new-google-classroom-is-now-open-to-all.html

Virtual Reality (VR) is making a huge impact in classrooms. With the ability to fully immerse students in a subject matter, it is no wonder many educators are curious about it. In this article (shared below), there are many resources for taking students on a virtual field trip, to places that normally would not be feasible for classes to go. Virtual field trips, the topic of our post today, is one simple example of how the web technologies have tremendously transformed learning and teaching. Without leaving their own desks and right from within their classroom, students get to visit popular world museums, explore ancient monuments in Egypt and Rome, tour major cities in the world using web tools that are readily available either for free or at a cheap cost. See the full article here: http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2017/04/8-of-best-web-tools-for-taking-students.html

It has been slow going since Google announced Android Apps coming to Chrome OS last year. There were only 3 Chrome devices supporting Android apps in the Stable Release channel. However, withing the last couple of months, the number of devices is slowly expanding. Android apps are officially supported on the following devices (as of May 8, 2017); Acer Chromebook R11 A Open Chromebox Mini & Chromebase Mini Asus Chromebook Flip C100PA Google Chromebook Pixel Samsung Chromebook Plus *This list does not include Beta Channel Support. See the full list of Android Chrome Devices here https://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/chrome-os-systems-supporting-android-apps Google had announced that Android Apps would become "more official" along with the release of the Samsung Chromebook Pro in April 2017. However, it is now May and neither one has come to fruition. Still, this delay is a good thing. Google does not want to release a half-finished product full of bugs...

Microsoft introduced a set of educational products and services, inspired by teachers and students, including a new Windows experience called Windows 10 S; new experiences in Microsoft Teams for modern classroom collaboration; new features in Minecraft and mixed reality to spark creativity; a range of Windows 10 S PCs for K-12 classrooms; and the perfect Windows 10 S device for college students—Surface Laptop. - From Microsoft's Blog Microsoft's Relationship History with Education Microsoft has been accommodating to education in the past. For example, Microsoft has long offered discounts on software and licenses for students, teachers, and education institutions. However, since Google and Chromebooks have entered the market, there has been little reason to stick with Microsoft's products. With higher costs of hardware, software, and apps, Microsoft has some formidable disadvantages when it comes to competing with Chromebooks. Microsoft has been making steps to make W...

Please don't forget to like and subscribe. In this video, I demonstrate how to use Screencastify to create recordings on Chromebooks or through Chrome Browser on another device. To take advantage of all that technology can offer, inside and outside of the classroom, one tool that can be very useful is screencasting. Screencasting allows teachers to present a lesson or concept by recording their computer screen/webcam while narrating or demonstrating a topic. This is useful in flipped and blended classrooms as well as any asynchronous learning activity. https://www.screencastify.com/ Check out my other videos and my blog. Blog: https://goo.gl/9KMoec Website: https://goo.gl/733ISK

In this edition of the G-Suite show, Google Sheets experts show how to create production reports and share with employees in real time. This can be used in lessons for Math, Business, or Computer Science.

Star Wars has influenced many people over the last 40 years. It is no surprise that Star Wars has had an influence in Education. From educators engaging learners with Star Wars themed lessons, to creator George Lucas's foundation starting the largely popular Edutopia, the influence of Star Wars continues to this day. Happy Star Wars Day everyone, May the Fourth be with you! Website: Star Wars in the Classroom Web Link:  http://www.starwarsintheclassroom.com/index.asp Star Wars in the Classroom is a website for educators and fans alike that provides resources for transdisciplinary teaching and learning with the Star Wars saga. - See more at: http://www.starwarsintheclassroom.com/about.asp#sthash.NvCIzXyN.dpuf Website: Edutopia Web Link: https://www.edutopia.org/ The George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit operating foundation, was founded by filmmaker George Lucas in 1991. Growing up, Lucas was curious and creative – but at school, he often felt bored. Years l...

This is truly one of those tools that you have to "see to believe." Meaning, if you want to fully understand this tool, you should seek out a workshop or try to get a sample and try it out for yourself. Google Expeditions are a great way to immerse students in learning. From Google Support Google Expeditions enable teachers to bring students on virtual trips to places like museums, underwater, and outer space . Expeditions are collections of linked virtual reality (VR) content and supporting materials that can be used alongside existing curriculum. These trips are collections of virtual reality panoramas — 360° panoramas and 3D images — annotated with details, points of interest, and questions that make them easy to integrate into curriculum already used in schools. Google is working with a number of partners, including: WNET, PBS, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, the American Museum of Natural History, the Planetary Society, David Attenborough with production company Alchemy ...

I am always on the look-out for more information and great resources for education technology. Many of the posts on my blog include the resources where I found my information. Recently I found this duo on Twitter, EduTechGuys. There many great resources on their website, Twitter, and yes, their weekly online podcast as well. See the links and description below for more information. From EduTechGuys.com EduTechGuys is a high intensity rollercoaster ride of super fun which takes mortal form in the two distinct entities which are David Henderson and Jeff Madlock. Crafted in the fires of Mt. Wannahockaluggie, these two self-proclaimed high priests of edtech first started navigating the world of educational technology on the web through a podcast, over a ravine in a rain storm in 2015 (Sharkbait, ooh ha ha). Since then the two have traveled the nation bringing their joy for silly puns and more importantly sharing the journey of each educator they encounter. The guys enjoy sharin...

Schools, and other institutions, with aging projectors may be looking for a way to project modern hardware without breaking the bank. This little adapter can convert HDMI signals, used on almost all new hardware to VGA, commonly found on older projectors. Amazon Link: https://goo.gl/UGuaGx Check out my other videos and my blog. Blog: https://goo.gl/9KMoec Website: https://goo.gl/733ISK Thanks for watching! Please don't forget to like and subscribe.

With price cuts and new features, Apple is making iPads more school-friendly–but only after Chromebooks became go-to educational machines. Apple has traditionally had strong bonds with the education market. It’s also offered healthy discounts on computers to all kinds of schools. As with many of the company’s policies, these moves have had a look of goodwill about them, but also neatly aligned with a shrewd marketing objective: hook young people into the Apple mindset when they’re young so that they’ll buy Apple stuff (at full price!) in the future. Recently, however, the company has been so focused on selling phones and searching for the “next big thing” that it has taken its eye off traditional focus areas. Education might be one of them. See the full article here https://www.fastcompany.com/3069231/apples-bid-to-reclaim-the-classroom-from-chromebooks-may-be-too-late