Category: Apps

Using Friendly Academic Competition as a Way to Boost Student Engagement in Social Studies Education

Often when educators, parents, or administrators think of a “competitive” student, they’re probably more likely to envision someone in a physical-education class than a student of history. The image, sadly of a toned and seasoned athlete, […]

The Word of the Day Podcast—A New Way to Inspire Language Learners

To expand on a popular saying: Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he’ll pass a fishing test and then forget how because he wasn’t all […]

Solar System for Kids: 11 Out of this World Options

People have been looking up at the sky for thousands of years of human history wondering about what is up there. Children are naturally curious about the world, ours and the ones beyond. Studying the solar […]

Enhancing Student Learning with Augmented Reality

Augmented reality (AR) is education, version 3.0. Imagine students walking on the surface of Mars inside their classroom, or creating artwork that can dance. Educators can use AR to create strong learning experiences for their students. Through […]

A Beginner’s Guide to #EdTech Open Source Software

Did you ever explore a learning possibility only to realize that the software to make it happen costs a lot of money? Do you want to write music but can’t afford Finale or Sibelius? Do you […]

Voxer: A Game-Changing App for Your PLN

Anyone who knows me would tell you that I love new techie tools. I love trying new apps, extensions, or other web-based programs. Give me a little time with a new tool and the happy clicker […]

3 Secret Apps Kids are Using to Hide Photos

If you are a parent or teacher of students with a smartphone, you may or may not be aware of hidden or secret apps. Many of these apps double as a “legit” looking application, but offer […]

Lomics – The Digital Storytelling App That Turns Video into Comics

I recently stumbled across a very impressive app called Lomics on a friend’s page and decided to try using it for my daughter’s karate class. The result was incredible. Instead of an hour long video, I received one . This […]

How Can We Spark Wonder in Our Classrooms with Tools and Techniques?

When I was young, my parents bought a telescope, with the intention that my brother and I would learn more about the constellations and the objects in space. I remember the joy of setting up this […]

Teacher Play – 6 Apps to Explore This Summer

Summer is a great time to play–but not just for kids! If you’re a teacher on vacation, the months of July and August are a golden opportunity to explore new apps and tools that you don’t […]

3 Terrific Tech Tools Every Teacher MUST Try

There’s nothing better than a great app or website that makes my life as a teacher easier! Below are three apps that I think teachers will love! 1. Bloomz One of the most important things as a classroom […]

Remind – Linking to Those Who Want to Hear You!

Towards the end of the 2014 academic year in Australia I came across an app that the rest of the world (particularly the US) seemed to know about but very few teachers ‘down under’ had heard […]

3 Easy Ways to Gamify Your Classroom with Kahoot

One of education’s hottest buzzwords these days is gamification: the integration of games into classroom instruction to enhance student learning. Purposeful gamification can allow for personalized learning, increased student engagement, and greater creativity. (For more information […]

27 Word Work Apps for the Elementary Classroom

Whether a teacher uses Daily 5 in the classroom or not, word work is an important piece of student daily learning. This article will provide an extensive list of iOS word work apps. Each app is […]

Finding a Balance: ThingLink for Digital and Analog Work

Do you sometimes find yourself and your students focused on one type of tool or another? Maybe you’re deep into a writing unit, and students have been immersed in their journals, pencils and paper writing. Or, […]

Teach Programming Logic Through Gameplay with the Lightbot App

Overview Lightbot is an addictively fun puzzle game that is the perfect platform for introducing programming concepts to your students. Using sequential commands, students create simple programs to direct their Lightbot (Girlbot or Boybot) through a 3-dimensional grid on their mission to […]

Storybird: The Ultimate Online Storytelling Tool

Overview A great story teller can transport you to another world. They immerse you in the detail where you can see, smell and hear the narrative they are weaving. Great digital storytelling should be just as engaging […]

My Experiences Becoming a Google Educator and Certified Teacher

“Most people don’t know the difference between a Google Educator and Google Certified Teacher” Dan Taylor told me in his presentation in Hanoi last Fall. How right he is. I just finished my Google Educator exams […]

Google Trends: A Captivating Way to Explore Data with your Students

Overview Did you know that Google receives and processes over 4 million search queries per minute? That is a giant shed load of queries! It is also a giant shed load of data that Google collects and makes openly available to us with Google Trends. […]

When To Say No To #EdTech

I love to write about adapting technology to almost every area of the classroom and am a firm believer in its wonderful benefits across a wide range of subjects and situations. Having said that however, I am also […]