Free apps and great web and tech tools for the week of 5-16-13

Free App today - Lapse It Pro Need to do time lapse photography for a class project, or other uses... This app is Free today (5-16-13) https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id536495161?mt=8

Leaving the district... This will help take your Google Data with you. 

Manage Photos with Google: I know I sent this out to staff a few weeks, but I recently updated it with a section on pulling pictures from Picasa right into Shutterfly.  Here is the Google Doc - Managing Photos- Picasa & Google+ 

Some great web resources: 

Animated maps of military history: historyanimated.com/newhistoryanim… - I Wish they had these when I was kid... great for the visual learner!

Need to backup Facebook, Twitter or Gmail- Norton's Ditto service to the rescue FREE http://goo.gl/40NLh

Use Visual.ly (website) for creating Infographics & Data Visualization. Short 2 min. video about this service.

Capzles.com - an innovative presentation tool & storytelling site- Many EDU uses. Cool web 2.0 site!

Create an EXE Video file using RAD Video Tools. (Freeware)  Article here

Supersize your free cloud storage to 100GB or more via @PCWorld http://goo.gl/Ymbzb 

Nice resource on copyright information http://goo.gl/oobia

Create iPad and Android Magazines on Flipboard on the Web http://goo.gl/EDy8K

Use AppCrawlr (appcrawlr.com) to find iOS and Android apps easily; lots of different ways to search.

Google is king, but there are a few others..... 5 Search Engine Alternatives or give Hakia a try http://j.mp/Q6p46P

A Simple Video Explanation of Compound Interest http://goo.gl/etgll  nice video for kids. 

More for the web page guru's (Requires web coding)  - Add a save to Google Drive Button on your graphics on your web site.

How to Create Multimedia Projects Using Mozilla's Popcorn Maker goo.gl/fb/KoAqz

100 best video sites for educators: fluency21.com/blog/2013/05/1…

Norris has a Phone app!  (Android only-- IOS coming soon!)

Thanks to Andrew Carlson for this!

Here is the link to it in the market: http://goo.gl/jdPxU

Great Google and YouTube tools and tips:

 

"Perform Amazing Feats With These Useful Google Spreadsheet Functions" feedly.com/k/YIjZFV

The YouTube Trick- this 17 second trick is worth the watch. goo.gl/pj3qr

New in Google Forms: Images! goo.gl/nP4aK pic.twitter.com/VVsxb3UyHH Wow.. great for online quizzing! 

Quick Tip: Create and share a Google Calendar

Free Technology for Teachers: Use 121 Writing to Add Voice Comments to Google Documents http://goo.gl/cTdQz

IOS (iPhone/iPad apps):

Adobe Ideas for iOS just went free (was $9.99). Includes drawing, tracing & saving to camera roll: http://t.co/5G8Jy2wi0t

PRESENTATION SOFTWARE TO SET YOUR STORY FREE - Have you tried Haiku Deck yet? It's free and amazing for presenting on the iPad.

Need to find a great iPad app? Check out TCEA's list of recommended apps, sorted by subject area and topic: tcea.org/ipad

Great web and tech tools for the week of 4-24-13

Some great Web sites and tools: 

I know we have group video conferencing in Google Hangouts already, but in case you still get stuck using Skype, this allows you to do group video conferences for free: 

Skype Announces Free Group Video Calling for Teachers: bit.ly/YCPAoA (This is like a $100 service for free!)  (Don't get me wrong... Google Hangouts are still better, but some still use Skype, so you just as well have both.)

Class Charts Is Now Available As a Free Edmodo App http://ipadapps4school.com/2013/03/28/5-free-ipad-apps-for-creating-video-lessons-aka-flipped-classroom-lessons/

50 Of The Best Resources For iPads In Education bit.ly/10oEJil

50 Sites and Apps for Digital Storytelling http://ow.ly/kk1JL hot off the Twitter resources of @ryruhl

I have promoted the ShowMe app before, but here it is again.  Here is a link to the app in iTunes. Here is a quick demo from a Nebraska teacher. Here is a link to one of his typical class lessons. This app, along with some other great screencasting tools can be found in this article on my blog. 

Here is a new site that just launched this month. It reviews Chrome apps & extensions for education. http://www.webappreviews.org/  (Thanks to Becky Wilhelm for this one!)

Sketchlot - A Collaborative Whiteboard for All Devices ow.ly/iQQce (Works on iPads, Notebooks, Chromebooks, etc...) 

National Archives DocsTeach app and DocsTeach.org is an online tool for teaching with documents http://goo.gl/pzPvm 

For the advanced Google Apps users:

Google Class Folders updated with new features: sites.google.com/site/gclassfol…

Presefy is a new web service that you can use to share your presentations to your students' mobile devices or computers. Through Presefy you can control your slides from your computer or from the browser in your iPad, iPhone, Android phone, or any other mobile device that has a web browser. The free version of Presefy allows you to store two presentations at a time. You can delete and re-upload presentations as many times as you want in the free account. More here: http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2013/03/presefy-let-your-audience-follow-your.html

Monosnap is free screencasting software for Mac, Windows, iOS, and Chrome: http://monosnap.com/welcome

10 Free Typing Practice Activities for Students http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2013/04/10-free-typing-practice-activities-for.html#.UWLvDZOsh8E

How to create a virtual bookcase, right inside your @evernote account! http://www.jamierubin.net/2013/04/17/going-paperless-my-virtual-bookcases-in-evernote/

Nice table of free and subscription ebook websites for librarians: bit.ly/XEgPjO (DOC format)

Who needs clickers when you can do them from phones, computers, iPads, and more!  Check Out The Great New Features in Socrative ow.ly/kd21C 

10 Good Video Sources for Math Students and Teachers ow.ly/k61eZ

50 Education Technology Tools You Can Start Using Today- a nice symbaloo page: http://www.symbaloo.com/mix/greatclassroomtools

ClassCharts.com, designed by a teacher, provides data-rich seating charts and behavior management. And it's free!

Google and Chrome tools: 

LIVEBINDER full of Google goodies-->goo.gl/Cwyrn

This is HUGE for the teachers wanting to ad voice comments to Google Docs.  Great 3 minute YouTube video on how is found here: http://goo.gl/y8j5W

13 Good Chrome Extensions and Apps for Students and Teachers goo.gl/fb/gY8jH

Some 70+ Google Apps Hangouts for educators.  Some nice in-services by Google staff! Here is the upcoming schedule:  https://sites.google.com/site/eduonair/virtualization-for-chromebooks/hangout-schedule

Lucid Charts is a great add-in for Google apps. Have you checked it out yet? They have added some nice new features. Check out this page to see the organizational charts feature set: https://www.lucidchart.com/pages/examples/orgchart_software  (Lucid Charts is available from the More drop down menu in Google apps at Norris.)

iPad apps and resources

Essential Skeleton – An Excellent iPad App for Students

http://ipadapps4school.com/2013/04/07/essential-skeleton-an-excellent-ipad-app-for-students/

Five Free iPad Apps for Creating Video Lessons (AKA Flipped Classroom Lessons) http://ipadapps4school.com/2013/03/28/5-free-ipad-apps-for-creating-video-lessons-aka-flipped-classroom-lessons/

FreeiBook about using iPads:

The Student Guide to iPads – It’s Great for Teachers Too http://ipadapps4school.com/2013/04/05/the-student-guide-to-ipads-its-great-for-teachers-too/

YouTube Tools: 

How to Create YouTube Photo Slideshows - A Good Alternative to Animoto http://goo.gl/5zGsR

A Quick Start Guide for Using YouTube's Editing Tools ow.ly/jMzvW

Twitter resources: 

How To Sync Your Twitter and Facebook Status Updates http://goo.gl/EyG3o

A nice Twitter Cheat sheet for Teachers: http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/03/awesome-twitter-cheat-sheet-for-teachers.html

How Educators can use Twitter - 18 YouTube Videos: http://elearningindustry.com/18-youtube-videos-on-how-educators-can-use-twitter-in-education

Technology Wisdom:

From a recent edchat on Twitter came this pearl of wisdom from an educator and tech Evangelist:  "I've yet to have a student tell me they can't use technology in class because they haven't received any Professional Development on it."

Add a Chrome web store for your Domain!

Google recently allowed domains (In our case nsdtitans.org) to have recommended apps in the Chrome store.  This is a great feature that schools should utilize to promote their supported and recommended apps to their teachers.


Accessing the Chrome Store and our recommended apps and extensions.

When you visit the Chrome Store, we have selected Chrome apps and extensions that we recommend and provide limited support for.  These are apps and extensions that have been recommended by staff and other educational professionals.

(Note: This feature and list of apps has to be added via the Google Apps Administrator Panel by your Google Apps Administrator.)

AMAZING NEW APP - just added to our collection.  Do you want to add voice comments to a Google Doc?   (Wow... what a great feature for English teachers!)  This is one of our recommended apps. Here is a short 3 minute video on how to do this: http://goo.gl/y8j5W 

How do I get to the Chrome Store?

Note, once you have added an app or extension from the nsdtitans.org collection, it will disappear from the list.

Also note that some extensions added to Chrome use up memory and resources, so when it comes to extensions add only the ones that you will use and benefit from.

Here is a Google Doc that we use with our staff to summarize what is this blog article.

Gantter - A great free project management tool that integrates in Google Apps.

You may not of noticed it, but we added a new free tool several weeks back into our Norris Google Apps. 

It's a great free cloud-based project management tool.  You can add tasks, set the time for those tasks, add required resources, and have a great timeline created for you.

A picture is worth a thousand words... so here is what it looks like:

(Click on image to enlarge)

We have added a quick over-view document into our Google tech docs folder.  Here is a direct link to this document.

Miscellaneous Educational Resources 3-14-13

Some web 2.0 tools and websites:

Last week was World Math Day. Find lots of great resources here: bit.ly/XCxwLa (Great for year long use too!)

This may be one to share with elementary parents. - http://www.zoowhiz.com/ Easily adaptable system to make learning fun & interactive for children j.mp/Q6peev  It's designed  for a parent to create an account for their child.  It's free, but does have additional content for a subscription price too. (It took me a while to setup a child and parent account, but looked like it would be worth the effort.)

More Twitter Resources:

Cyberman's web site has a ton of great resources.  Here is his Amazing list of Education hashtags for Twitter!! goo.gl/YPElr

Google Hangouts:

How Educators and Schools Can Make the Most of Google Hangouts Edutopia Article

Best Web 2.0 Classroom Tools Chosen By Teachers.  These are some great lists and tools! 

Top 35 for 2010

Top 100 for 2011

Top 100 for 2012

Some great YouTube tools:

Dragontape – Create Custom YouTube Mixes. This site allows you to search for YouTube videos and drag them to a timeline. You can then trim each movie’s beginning and ending points. http://teachamazing.com/dragontape-create-custom-youtube-mixes/

Install the Quietube bookmarklet (quietube.com) to show YouTube videos without all the distractions and ads.  I like this one, because it does not load an extension, etc... It is just a book mark on your bookmark bar. 

Annotate web pages with this site:

Use Bounce (bounceapp.com) to annotate a website for students to use in a lesson. This is a really nice tool, but it tool me a few seconds to figure out where to find your page link once you have annotated a web page. It is different than just grabbing a screenshot, you will see what I mean with the following link:

Here is a sample annotation: http://www.bounceapp.com/89343

Here is the key:

Miscellaneous Educational Resources 3-4-13

Some great web 2.0 tools and Sites: 

Sharing some Symbaloo ♥: Kindergarten Webmix symbaloo.com/mix/kindergart… GREAT computer games 

Handouts from the #tcea13 convention are available here: http://goo.gl/Usgf1 (A wealth of info at your fingertips from this large Texas educational tech conference.)

10 Great Video Tutorials on Using Twitter in Education buff.ly/15PHcqb

2013 Top 10 Best & FREE Cloud Storage Services & Smartphone Apps techgyd.com/2013-top-10-be…

Create a quiz using images with Image Quiz: freetech4teachers.com/2013/02/create… 

Another interesting way to curate and display a collection of websites: edu.allmyfaves.com  (I still like Symbaloo, especially for younger kids.) 

Royalty Free Music for student or teacher projects:

http://www.purple-planet.com

http://www.royalty-free-music-room.com

http://www.soundjay.com

Some Great tools for Chrome:

13 killer Chrome apps to replace your desktop software | PCWorld pcworld.com/article/201715…  

10 Things You Didn't Know Chrome Could Do on.mash.to/ZkoOBh

Two Handy Speech to Text Tools for Chrome http://goo.gl/VGLIs 

Google Tools

Ten ways to maximize your Google Drive. http://goo.gl/ZjKtT 

Short screencast describing how to create a custom Google Map : youtu.be/SBTaHd2-Iik

Can't find the 'Create from template' feature in Google Drive? Watch today's video to learn how - bit.ly/VtRnfG

So you want some Apps!

This one was sent out last week, but thought I would include it in case someone missed that mailing: Here is one that may be fun for the elementary classrooms: Dr. Seuss Camera - The Cat in the Hat Edition - Free today!  http://goo.gl/pVUJk  

If you are a Coach, this is a must have app: Coach My Video – The iPad App Coaches and Phys Ed Teachers Need ow.ly/i79fE  (I know several Norris staff members are already using this app, but wanted to promote it those of you that have not looked at it yet.) 

Great, free iPad app from Cambridge University Press for ESL students - Phrasal Verbs Machine: bit.ly/WfY9Iw

Many schools use Pic Collage (Free) to have students do comic strips.  It's a nice picture collage maker too! 

20 Free Multiplication iPad Apps for Kids http://goo.gl/oJb6M

14 Free Alphabet iPad Apps for Kids http://goo.gl/O0ZuC

21 Free Counting iPad Apps for Kids http://goo.gl/hN1h5

13 Free Addition iPad Apps for Kids http://goo.gl/4t3ce

9 Free Subtraction iPad Apps for Kids http://goo.gl/xxHV9

15 Free Science iPad Apps for Kids http://goo.gl/bT2uV

24 Free Chemistry iPad Apps for Students http://goo.gl/a3PpB

Top 5 Apps You Want On Your iPad (including ‘how to’ video links)  http://goo.gl/NX8BR

So many apps and so little time to look at them see if they’re useful.  These few lists/resources will help: http://goo.gl/ssYqK

eBooks:

100 Tips for Google Chrome (PDF): bit.ly/XrrquW (At Norris, this ebook is downloaded and on the O drive - O:\eBooks -Free\Google Chrome)

Ed Tech's free ebook - technology resources 2013 : emergingedtech.com/ebook/Emerging… (At Norris, this ebook is downloaded and on the O drive - O:\eBooks -Free called "EmergingEdTech's 2013 Free Education Technology Resources eBook.pdf"

Free eBooks in PDF and ePub formats on a variety of technology subjects:

Makeuseof has a lot of nice eBooks on a variety of technology subjects: http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/download  (Password is makeuseof  for downloading.)

Remember at Norris --- Check out our Free eBooks on technology subjects on the O drive on our network! (O:\eBooks -Free)

Miscellaneous Educational Resources 2-21-13

Misc web resources and tools:

I know some of our staff is already using this great tool, but if you are an Elementary teacher and have not checked it out.... now is the time! New post: Using Class Dojo to Motivate Your Students - goo.gl/fb/6kpFr 

PBS LearningMedia offers thousands of videos for classroom use FREE: pbslearningmedia.org I know I have mentioned the PBS resources before, I would suggest getting signed up for their monthly emails to keep informed. 

Tech Learning : Top 100 Sites of 2012. This is a nice list with many new sites I had not used!

If you are a drop box user, this is a great article about additional tools: hongkiat.com/blog/dropbox-t…  Some awesome tools!

Top 20 educational technology Livebinders you should not miss: bit.ly/T5yMqk

Great history resource: Decades on American history. Also check out their links at the bottom of the page. 

The Teacher's Guide to Copyright and Fair Use - edudemic.com/2013/02/teache…

A Search Engine other than Google??  Maybe Hakia? http://teachamazing.com/hakia-semantic-search-portal/

Calendar: The ultimate guide  This is a great guide. How to add multiple calendars on your phone, etc... 

Twitter tools: 

Many image tweeting services exist. Probably the most popular is TwitPic. http://twitpic.com/ Here's a tool that delivers e-learning and audio as well. ScreenTweet does the job.  http://goo.gl/7bHr7

Are you involved with any Twitter Chats? If so, this site/tool may be a keeper! http://tweetchat.com/

IOS Apps

So you want some IOS apps... Here is an APP Smackdown Google Spreadsheet list that was recently used at another Nebraska school: bit.ly/15vK4bA 

Love the graphics of Random Name Selector iOS app; great for the classroom and free! bit.ly/WAVp6j

Penultimate Now a free IOS app. Download and use this resource: Taking the Penultimate Notes ow.ly/hLq7H

4 Apps for Taking Notes by  iPad.AppStorm  (Apps are not free, but if you took advantage of the free Penulate IOS app offer above, you already have one of these apps!) http://ipad.appstorm.net/roundups/design/4-apps-for-taking-notes/

IOS App/Android App:

CamNote: Snap handwritten notes to the cloud in Android and iOS (review) | ZDNet Free app: http://goo.gl/bkavU

Google, Gmail, Chrome and more...

A Short Guide to Using Google Drive on Your iPad  http://goo.gl/3GZuf  This free ebook (PDF format) is already downloaded and on our O drive folder: O:\eBooks -Free. Sync it to your iPad and your ready to go!

10 Chrome tricks to improve your browsing experience by TechRepublic -Great list! http://goo.gl/Gnyqd

How To Backup Your Data from the Cloud with Google Takeout: http://goo.gl/9UVVn 

This  Gmail trick is a must have for any teacher whose students do not have email accounts. http://goo.gl/tO6v1

How to get the most out of the new Google Forms: blog.ditoweb.com/2013/02/how-to…

EBooks 

I have promoted the CK12 ebooks in the past, here's how to make one by Richad Byrne  (@rmbyrne) New post: How to Create CK-12 Flexbooks goo.gl/fb/ozxzt

Project Guttenberg adds Dropbox support, perfect for synching ebooks to all your devices: bit.ly/14ZPt9r