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.