Ed Tech Ideas

Blog Comment and Posting Guide

@k_ferrell — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 00:49:41 +0000

Here are 10 things you should be thinking about whenever you add a comment to someone else’s blog, and also when you are posting to your own blog.

Comment Guide via Kim Cofino http://kimcofino.com/blog/2009/09/06/student-blogging-guidelines

QR Codes, Voice Recording, and Google Docs

@k_ferrell — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 02:28:52 +0000

This is a great project for elementary and beyond. Report/bio/non-fiction writing in a Google Doc with an embedded QR code that links to the student reading excepts from their research. You may print out book style when complete, or create on online flip book using sites such as Issuu, Youblisher or Flipsnack.

Learn how to easily record your voice, generate a corresponding QR code and make your Google Doc come alive!

10 Facts (You Probably Didn’t Know) About Dr. Seuss Books

@k_ferrell — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 01:09:17 +0000

With Dr. Seuss’ birthday coming up in less than a month (March 2), I thought I share these 10 facts about some of the late, great Theodor Seuss Geisel’s books.

And here’s some great Dr. Suess related sites for kids of all ages:

Creating a Diagram Within a Google Doc

@k_ferrell — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 04:10:56 +0000

Here’s a short video I just created for a teacher at my school who was wanting her students to be able to work on labeling diagrams within a Google Doc.

Google Sites in the Classroom

@k_ferrell — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 23:24:53 +0000

Thinking of creating a classroom website, or having your students create sites for themselves? Watch 9 year olds Grace and Sophie explain how easy it is to do with Google Sites.

EdTechIdeas 2012 Year in Review

@k_ferrell — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 15:27:16 +0000

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

About 55,000 tourists visit Liechtenstein every year. This blog was viewed about 200,000 times in 2012. If it were Liechtenstein, it would take about 4 years for that many people to see it. Your blog had more visits than a small country in Europe!

Click here to see the complete report.

Never Stop Searching

@k_ferrell — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 02:06:42 +0000

Another great year in review by the Google Zeitgeist project:

This is a nice video to use to generate writing prompts or ideas for students to reflect on and research current events.

The 12 (Days of) Christmas Sites for Kids and Teachers

@k_ferrell — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 23:39:50 +0000

Here’s a collection of holiday and winter sites for kids and teachers that should help make your last week of school festive and productive, and give kids some fun places to go on those cold, wintry days.

1. Snow-Line

In this über-popular game from Mini-Clip, your mission is to help Santa Claus collect the presents and get them ready for delivery on Christmas Eve. To do this you need to draw a pathway of least-resistance, collect all the presents, and finish at the checkered flag. EdTechIdeas: Although mostly fun, the rules of physics play a part here and students must think and plan out a pathway that does not defy gravity. Also a good game if you have students who have not completely mastered the mouse.

2. Santa Flibriks

Here’s a challenging game from Kaboose which is kind of like a mash-up between Tetris and Concentration. In Santa Filbriks, students are to help Santa find the matching tiles without hitting the bottom of the game area.

3. TheNorthPole.com

Journey to the Northpole.com for loads of great activities for kids. Students can write letters to Santa, read stories, have stories read to them, create personalized stories, and many other activities. EdTechIdeas: Beyond having students explore and learn with this site, there is the Elf Pal Academy, which connects teachers to a plethora of printable Google Docs geared to lower elementary students and English language learners.

4. Ice Breaker RC

Another great game from Miniclip. Your mission is to slice through the ice and save the frozen Vikings by getting them back to their longboat! You really have to contemplate and plan out your moves in this highly challenging game.

5. Ultimate Winter Resources for Teachers

There are tons of ideas, lesson plans, book activities, links tore-printable stories, teacher sharing ideas, and more. EdTechIdeas: The Ultimate Winter Resources for Teachers would be a good place to start if you’re looking for winter inspiration.

6. Winter Mad Libs

Who doesn’t like Mad Libs? Classroomjr.com has a collection of 3 winter Mad Libs, along with 3 Christmas Mad Libs, some winter word puzzles, Christmas math worksheets, and some printable Christmas mazes that’ll keep students productive all winter break.

7. Norad Tracks Santa

Each year, Norad tracks Santa by using four high-tech tracking systems – radar, satellites, Santa Cams and fighter jets. This site allows kids to watch as Santa is tracked as he delivers all of his presents. On Christmas Eve, students can click here to track his flight live in Google Earth. EdTechIdeas: Norad Tracks Santa is a great site to learn about geography and places around the world. Students could chart the stops in Google Maps, calculate distances and speed required to make all of the stops possible, write a creative story about his adventure, compare and contrast Santa’s trips in the past using population data… I could go on forever!

8. ABC Teach

Great site for teachers, ABC Teach has downloadable bookmarks, border paper, word scrambles, coloring pages, some holiday book comprehension and activity pages, and more.

9. Education Place – Winter Theme

Education Place has a plethora of activities for teachers of grades K-8. Winter memory books, weather studies, seasonal comparisons, winter quizzes, word finds, snow sculptures, and more. If you’re looking for learning activities to do during the winter months, this is a good place to start.

10. Antarctica ”Street” View

Google Maps Antarctica allows you to take a walk around parts of the white continent. A very small portion of Antarctica have been covered (for obvious reasons), but the views are amazing! In typical Google subtle humor, the normal yellow street view man in street view Antarctica is replaced by a penguin. EdTechIdeas: I realize it’s not “Christmassy” and Santa lives in the North Pole, not the South; but there’s some great images here not to be missed. Students could write stories about what life would be like if Santa lived in Antarctica. They could pinpoint where his home would be and find a suitable area for a landing strip.

11. Christmas Around the World

Students can learn about different Christmas traditions in several countries. While the title of the site sounds grandiose and all-encompassing, there are only 8 countries highlighted. However, for learning about some different traditions for kids, it’s not a bad place to start.

12. Storynory

Storynory is a site that lets kids listen to free audio stories that are read by storyteller, Natasha Gostwick. The stories can be streamed live, or downloaded to be played anywhere. EdTechIdeas: Storynory would make a great listening center and a place story starting ideas. Students can created their own audio recordings and turn them into podcasts for other students, parents, and teachers to enjoy.

Happy Holidays from EdTechIdeas!

2012 Presidential Election Recap – Prezi Style

@k_ferrell — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 00:19:39 +0000

Fantastic Prezi recapping the 2012 US Presidential election by K.D. Delany.

Interactive Scope and Sequence for Integrating Digital Citizenship

@k_ferrell — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 23:20:44 +0000

Common Sense Media has just released a fantastic new tool for integrating digital citizenship into your curriculum. The Interactive Scope and Sequence lays out simple lessons organized by grade level and divided into topics such as Digital Footprint and Reputation, Creative Credit and Copyright, Cyberbullying, and more.