Google Keep

Watch out Evernote, Google is coming your way. Google is trying out a product similar to Evernote's popular note keeping service. It is called Google Keep. (If you have Google Drive.) There is also an app at Google Play. Here is a quick video:



Give it a try and see if it is better than Evernote or just a copycat service. But as a lot of people are saying on the Web, don't get too attached. Google has a habit of removing services that we all love.

RIP Google Reader.

Ebook Glue

I just got a tweet the other day about a new Website called Ebook Glue that lets you take a Blog, RSS feed, or Atom feed URL and turn it into an Ebook. It will give you a shareable link where you can download either ePub or Mobi formats. Here is an example of the Ebook for this blog. After trying it, the pictures and videos that are embedded did not show up, but the links and the text worked great.

I think this is a great tool for English or Language Arts teachers that want their students to write using blogs and then publish their finished products as Ebooks. Downloadable to your favorite device. Cool!

Thanks for the tweet Ron!

10 Tech Skills Every Student Should Have

Just read a great article posted on Tech & Learning about the 10 Tech Skills Every Student Should Have by David Andrade. I though it hit the nail right on the head with the skills listed. Also helpful was the multiple links under each item as a resource. Great job!

An Alternative to Pandora?

A collegue of mine just told me about a new music site called Songza. It is a new (at least to me) that is quickly challenging sites such as Pandora or Spotify. The big appeal seems to be no audio commercials. Give it a try. I just downloaded the app on my iPhone and it is also available for Android.

Have fun listening!

Code School

Code School is a great site and service for those of you who teach programming, program yourself, or just want to pass it on to that one kid that needs something extra. Explanation video from Kickstarter:



Sounds pretty cool. Of course it is so cool that most of the courses cost money. Rats! But, there are a few free courses to wet your appetite. Code School, check it out.

Blended Learning Explained

Over the past year or so, I have heard the term "Blended Learning" tossed around my high school quite a bit. If you have never heard of the term, or have and are unsure exactly what it means, the following video does a great job of breaking the concept down and explaining it. After watching it, even I understood it.



Is this type of instruction something that would work well with your students? I tend to think that it is great for some and not great for others. Not surprising, huh?

Thanks for stopping in!

Food for Thought on Education

Food for thought on a Friday. Agree or disagree (and I do), it brings up some great points for us to think about.



Thanks Ron!

Question Your YouTube Viewers

I saw a tweet the other day that mentioned YouTube was testing out a feature that would let you ask questions of your views throughout the video. I think that is a pretty great feature for educators. Apparently, you could go to your analytics page to get the answers. Here is where you can turn on the feature or turn it off.

That is it. Sorry no movie that I could find. But, for those of us that use screen casting regularly in class, it could be a very cool feature.

Today's Student?

I love this video. Not just because it does such a great job of copying Lee LeFever's work, but because I want this to be my student. I want my students to leave my class armed with this type of knowledge and know-how.



Absolutely love it!

Game Making with Construct 2

Anyone who is teaching a programming, Web Multimedia, or Gaming course might want to check out Construct 2 from Scirra. There are three down-loadable versions (one is free). Check out the info video below.



Looks promising. There are multiple tutorials to get started and an arcade to test out games. I also like that you can publish to multiple platforms such as iOS, Android, and others. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Google Offline Editing

Great news for all of you Google Docs users. Offline editing is back after a several year absence. Now, if you don't have an Internet conncection, no problem. Make your updates and they will be automatically be updated when you do connect. Here is some info from Google.

Here is also video. WARNING: No sound! :(



Please be aware that to edit offline you will need the latest Chrome browser or OS. Also, offline editing is currently only available for docs. Google is hoping to extend this capability to spreadsheets and presentations in the future.

But for now, Google docs users should rejoice about this update!

Thanks.

Google Apps Script

Google is at it again. Trying to make Google Apps better and more flexible. They have introduced Google Apps Script to help automate tasks such as mail merge. Here is an overview:


Pretty useful stuff if you are into programming or just like tinkering around under the hood. Because of the use a Javascript and the HTML editor available, Google Apps Script sounds like it could fit into a Programming or Web Development class. I am not teaching programming this upcoming fall, but will definitely look into in the future.

Thanks for visiting!

PDF Help with PDFescape

We all deal with PDFs on a daily basis on the Web. We get them as attachments, read them, create them, and sometimes need to edit them. PDFescape is a great tool to help you do all of these tasks. Did I mention it was free also? Below is a great overview of PDFescape by Beth  Ziesenis to further explain how it works.


Pretty cool online tool. I have to filll in PDF forms all the time and hate printing and filling it out by hand. I have also tried editing a PDF with PDFescape and it worked out great. I am definitely going to keep PDFescape in my online toolbox for future use. You should too!

Thanks for visiting.

Common Craft Videos

So, I was going to re-post this great older post on Common Craft videos and Lee Lefever, but ended up deleting the whole post. So now, you get a "new" post on this fantastic video site. The old saying goes "a picture is worth a thousand words", but how many words would a great video be worth? Especially if it was explaining a computer concept or some new Web 2.0 tool? Priceless. Let's go to a video example of Common Craft's work:



As you can see, these videos are great and all over YouTube as well as the Common Craft Website. They have a ton of computer videos, as well as videos on recycling, elections, and even zombies. (My personal favorite.) Check out Common Craft videos and try them in your classroom. You won't be disappointed.

Lean a foreign language with Duolingo?

If you teach a foreign language or trying to learn one, especially Spanish, a new site named Duolingo might be a good fit for you. Duolingo is trying to translate the Web one sentence at a time into different languages. Here is how it works:



Pretty neat idea. I doubt that using Duolingo will having you speaking Spanish by itself, but it is definitely a great way to practice. Sounds like a great activity to start off class with each day. Give it a try, it could turn out to be muy bien!

Thanks!

Dropcanvas for collaboration

I am all about collaboration and sharing of files when it comes to student projects or teachers working together. Normally, groups can share documents with Google Docs, Dropbox, or a Wiki. Dropcanvas helps groups share multiple files by creating a canvas that you can quickly create, add files to, and then share by email, social media or embedding it. It was very easy to sign up (you actually don't even need to register) and easy to use.



I like dropcanvas because you can share multiple files in one place quickly. Pretty cool. Give it a try with your next collaborative project.

Time Machine

I stumbled across this when I was putting some stuff away in my closet. Remember when this was state of the art technology?

Stay Organized with Evernote

One of my goals this summer beside looking into Pinterest and alternative sites to use besides Google Apps for Education is to try out Evernote. I have it on my iPhone and have clipped a few items, but I am just not comfortable with it yet. If you are unsure of what Evernote is, watch this video.



With all of the 1:1 or tablet programs out there these days, Evernote is a great tool for students. See what an actual student has to say in this video.



There are a TON of great tutorial videos on YouTube. Give it a try this summer.

Thanks.

Learni.st

Last week, I had a post on trying out Pinterest and how it might be useful in the classroom. I recently got a tweet from Ron Houtman about a new site that is currently in beta called Learnist. This site is being developed by Grockit and hopes to be a Pinterest for education with their slogan being "share what you know."

Learnist is developing a site that will allow you gather various resources from the Web, whether it be videos, images, blog posts, Wikipedia articles, etc. and put them together into a logical order with notes or explanations that people could follow and learn from. It is a great idea for teachers who use resources on the Web on a regular basis.



At the moment, you can only request an invite (which I have), but you can visit and check out some of the beta creations that others have made. Good stuff! I love this idea and can't wait to try it. My summer to do list just got longer. I will let you know how it goes when I get my invite.

Thanks!

Pinterest in the Classroom?

I was at the MACUL Conference back in March and hear a lot about a site named Pinterest. Other educators that spoke of it were absolutely hooked on it. If you have not visited or heard of Pinterest, think of it as an online bulletin board that you can "pin" your favorite things. Pictures, videos, links, etc. Here is a quick video to explain more.



A lot of the talk I heard about Pinterest had to do with its possible used in education and in the classroom. I will be honest, I don't know enough about it to have an opinion one way or the other. My hope is that you will explore what Pinterest has to offer and see if you can use it. A note of caution, Pinterest is not filtered or offer and EDU version at the moment, so be careful with your studetnts. I requested an invite this morning and am eager to try it out this summer. In the mean time, here is a great post from Pearson School Systems on Four Ways to Use Pinterest in Education. Let me know what you think after you have tried it or if you already have let me know your thoughts.

Thanks.