Sometimes you need a tool for a specific lesson or activity that you aren’t likely to use that often. The time it takes for students to sign up and then remember the username/password for the few times you need it creates a barrier for using that tool. In these situations it is easier to use tools that do not require students to create an account.

As the educational technology specialist in my district, I move between buildings and I’m not always present to help a teacher when they have a question. Sometimes those questions have quick solutions but it is hard to describe with a written response in an email. In those situations, I will embed an animated GIF in my email to demonstrate how to solve the problem.

Life Noggin provides an overview of memes that can be used with students. The video highlights the benefits of creating and sharing memes as a way to:

• Express thoughts, feelings, and experiences in a creative and humorous way.
• Help connect with others who share our interests and values.
• Raise awareness about important issues, spread positive messages, and make people laugh.

Recently I attended a Google Day conference where the presenters focused on Google Applied Digital Skills and Digital Citizenship curriculum. To break up the day the presenters showed some of Google’s experiments and the one that really grabbed my attention is AutoDraw.

With the New Year came a new version of Scratch. If you aren’t familiar, Scratch is a web-based coding platform that is developed by MIT. It is a great way for students to get familiar with computer coding and computational thinking. With the new version of Scratch, MIT has added some additional functionality and made the web-based drag and drop editor much easier to use. Here are some of the best new features available in Scratch.

To foster ongoing student engagement teachers need to provide students with a variety of ways to reflect and demonstrate learning. If you are looking for new ways to check for student understanding, have students evaluate information, or have student reflect on their learning you should take a look at the instructional strategies on K20 Learn.

EdPuzzle is a great tool to embed assessment questions into videos. The ability to sync classes from Google Classroom also makes it easy for students to sign in and complete assignments. This week a teacher asked how to use EdPuzzle to structure whole class discussion without having to select or submit a response to a question. So let’s look at how to use the comments feature to facilitate questions during whole class discussion.

Looking for a fun Do Now activity at the beginning of your class? Solvemoji is a math puzzle game that replaces the numbers in a math problem emojis.

Parents need to weigh the positives and negatives when deciding to give their children smartphones. When your children has a smartphone it is easier to get in touch with them, track where they are, or gives them a way to contact someone in emergency situations. Screen time is also a major concern as Common Sense Media reports that on average teens use nearly nine hours of media a day.