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"Effective learning is not the outcome of encouraging students to passively consume and regurgitate reams of information verbatim. Rather than allow learners to simply become recipients of study notes and material, teachers need to encourage students to both physically and mentally engage in active learning." 
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Bring the world into your classroom through Google+
Beth Dichter's insight:
Put together Google+ and Connected Classrooms and the result is great virtual field trips foryour classroom. Today Google+ and Connected Classroom have launched this new iniative. To learn more head over to Connected Classroom as you have to submit an application to join. Your school will have also have to support Google+. With budget cuts in education this is a great opportunity for students to experience trips to locations that they may never be able to visit in person.
Ignite Your Audience's curator insight,
November 5, 2013 6:31 PM
Great examples of taking unique spaces and places into your classroom. Ignite Your Audience is very keen to create an experience like this for the Macpherson Homestead in Carnamah, Western Australia. http://www.carnamah.com.au/homestead 
Phil Havlik's curator insight,
November 11, 2013 3:20 PM
Love the ideas this presents. I think Google+ has lots of valuable possibilities, if adoption can be found. Trying to tie it as another Facebook just won't work. They need to find their niche and adopt it. This seems like a great use of their resource.
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Web-based tools continue to proliferate, giving teachers more to add to their arsenal, but it can be hard to determine which resources are worth spending time exploring.
Beth Dichter's insight:
This post presents 13 free web tools selected by "Adam Bellow, founder of EduClipper, and Steve Dembo, Online Community Manager for Discovery Education." Each has a brief explantion and provides suggestions on how to use in the classroom. Below is a list of four of the tools. * Ipiccy * The Noun Project * BigHugeLabs * Padlet For more information on these tools plus 9 more click through to the post.
Kristi O'Neil's curator insight,
July 12, 2013 1:17 PM
Definitely going to have to check some of these suggestions out. Knowledge is power. 
Thays Miranda's curator insight,
November 15, 2014 12:52 PM
First of all, basic information about web tools.
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"Wideo allows you to create short, animated videos and Common Craft like videos in your web browser. Today,Wideo announced that you can now upload your own audio files into your video projects. This means that you could record a voiceover and add it to your video."
Beth Dichter's insight:
Wideo is a free online tool that allows you to create your own animation. You can use images, fonts, animations and videos available on the site or upload your own...and shre your final project! This post provides a quick look of how it works (with a short video) or you can go directly to the site: http://wideo.co/.
Matthew Renner's curator insight,
March 20, 2013 10:49 AM
This is very cool. It's expensive to get these done otherwise.
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Beth Dichter's insight:
If you have not heard of ProCon.org this is a great introduction through the eyes of students in middle school, high school, and college. Student created videos discuss the value of using ProCon when researching a wide variety of controversial subjects. To quote their mission statement: "Promoting critical thinking, education, and informed citizenship by presenting controversial issues in a straightforward, nonpartisan, primarily pro-con format." The statement continues "We accomplish our mission by researching issues that we feel are controversial and important, and we work to present them in a balanced, comprehensive, straightforward, and primarily pro-con format at no charge on our websites." To go directly to the ProCon site (and not the videos):
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"Lucidchart is the best free learning tool you’ve never heard of. It’s an online diagramming tool that’s easy to use and supported by a for-profit company, so you don’t have to worry about us disappearing once you’ve built your lesson plans around us. Not sure how to use a diagramming program in your classroom? Here are 10 ideas from teachers and professors who are already using Lucidchart."
Beth Dichter's insight:
A great introduction to Lucidchart, a robust online graphic organizer that is free for educators (and their students) and allows students to collaborate on projects. A few of the ideas suggested in the post are below: * Use Lucidchart as an alternative to Think, Pair, Share * Brainstorm with mindmaps (and have students collaborate, having each choose a different color if you want to follow them individually) * Real time feedback on assignments Remember, this is a free tool and the post provides great directions on how to set up your account and request it be upgraded to educational!
Carol Thomson's curator insight,
January 27, 2013 2:59 PM
i hope i can get this working in my classroom and then using it -- sometimes things are blocked! 
David Peal's curator insight,
December 26, 2013 11:21 AM
Outstanding tool for making graphic organizers and concept maps, worth the $3 a month.
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PhotoCat is a free online photo editing app for you to edit photos, retouch photos, make photo collages, apply effects, filters, add frames, text, speech bubbles & more, great for editing facebook photos.
Beth Dichter's insight:
This also works on the iPhone (and therefore the iPad and iPad Touch. You can quickly upload images and edit them in numerous ways. A great tool for school or home!
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There are many places where one may go and download free audtio books. This posts lists 10 locations, providing a brief explanation for each. The sites vary with some geared to to children and others to adults. Audio books are great for students whom may struggle with reading, as well as for long drives and walks. And all these sites are legal. They host books in the public domain.
Lourdes Oroxom's curator insight,
October 31, 2014 9:01 AM
These look like good places to get books. I have been trying to get more into electronic books, so these look like good places to start.
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Do you want to learn a new language? If so, Duolingo may be the right tool for you. “Duolingo leverages the brain power of millions of people who are currently learning a new language to help translate the web...” You get shown text in the language you are learning, and you translate it, with hints provided. To see this in action check out the video, Duolingo Intro, embedded in this article.
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Some of the Internet's best resources dedicated exclusively to educational uses of the iPad. "The popularity of the iPad in our schools continues to grow, and with it, the proliferation of related web articles, tips, how-to’s, and so on. This week we searched out some excellent free Internet based web sites and resources dedicated to the use of the iPad in the instructional setting."
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Digital Passport, from Common Sense Media, is a fun and effective way to teach 3rd - 5th graders critical skills related to digital safety, respect and community. Check out the short video to learn more.
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A bank of community-written homework and test questions where authors get credit and access is completely free.
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A guide to more than 15 free tools to help detect plagiarized work. Free download from Educational Technology and Mobile Learning.
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Animaker.com is a cloud-based do-it-yourself (#DIY) video making app that is bringing studio quality professional animation tools within reach of everyone.
Beth Dichter's insight:
Animaker is a new DIY video making tool that has many great features. You can check out their website and sign up to get an account (although it may take a few weeks). Compared to many of the other tools out that allow you to create animations, Animaker is more robust, providing more features for you to explore. Check it out and have fun creating animations for your students (or have your students create animations for you).
AffiliateMarketHelp's curator insight,
October 5, 2014 11:30 PM
Am anxiously awaiting for a response from them; I want this tool! A cloud-based, easy to use animated video making app...drag 'n drop! Although not out yet, I have signed up for it.....more exciting than Iphone 6!!!!!
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Empower your classroom with the best games, apps, and maker kits, including engaging lesson plans aligned to core standards. Explore, connect, & create. Join today!
Beth Dichter's insight:
Educade, a free website, provides lesson plans "standards aligned lesson plans with 21st century teaching tools like games, apps, and maker kits. These are ready to use and effective resources that have been thoroughly vetted by the GameDesk curriculum team comprised of teachers, content specialist, researchers, artists, and developers." The site is designed for K-12 students, and you may sign up for an account if you would like to create and share your own content. It is easy to search (dropdown menus allow you to search by subject area, grade level, type of tool and platform). As they say on the site "Start browsing for hundreds of lesson plans and teaching tools right now. It is totally FREE!"
davidconover's curator insight,
September 7, 2013 10:29 AM
This is a great resource for teachers to find lesson plans that you can apply immediately in your classroom.
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Six fantastic videos for science teachers explaining complex scientific concepts in fun, accessible ways. Perfect for the classroom.
Beth Dichter's insight:
The folks at Fractus Learning have taken a look at videos available at Open Culture and selected six to share (although many more are available). The choices here include: * The Rap Guide to Evolution * The Periodic Table of Chemistry * A Universe from Nothing Videos are a great tool to use with students. Although this post specifically deals with science videos across the disciplines are available at Open Culture (http://www.openculture.com/).
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So what happens when Google, Amazon, and your local library come up short in your quest for free educational eBooks?
Beth Dichter's insight:
Are you looking for locations to download free eBooks? Here is a list of five that provide a great variety: * The Harvard Classics * Project Gutenberg * Bartleby * OER Commons (also known as Open Educational Resources) * IDCL (the International Digital Children's Library) For more information on these five sites (and hot links to them) click through to the post.
Ken Morrison's curator insight,
January 27, 2013 8:59 PM
This link is worth bookmarking. You can't go wrong with these free resources!
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"Maybe you don’t have time to sit down and sift through the latest education blogs for ideas and inspiration. If the thought of trying to carve out more hours in your day leaves you feeling overwhelmed, this list is for you."
Beth Dichter's insight:
Why listen to podcasts? If you have an MP3 player (or smartphone) they are portable. Listen to them as you drive to work, wait for an appointment, cook dinner and more. As the post says ". Podcasts don’t force you to find more time in your day; they give you the opportunity to capitalize on all the dead time that already exists in your day by simply downloading the .mp3 or syncing a podcast to your iTunes account on your smartphone." Click through to see the list of 50 sites that provide podcast in a wide range of subjects!
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"I believe that creativity is necessary in today’s classroom. In fact, creativity is one of the important 4 C’s (Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Communication, Creativity) that make up part of the foundation of a 21st century education. The remaining foundation is of course another C (Significant Content). I believe that when you put all of these C’s together you get two more C’s which make up the 'Common Core'."
Beth Dichter's insight:
This post is the first in series and discusses free resources that may be stored on a local computer or a network. The list includes Scratch, Sketc-Up, Gimp, 3 free office suites, Alice, a variety of tools that will help you make movies and more. Most are described in some detail and there are links to additional resources to help you learn the tool. Additional posts will discuss Web 2.0 apps that may be used on the Internet (and across platforms), web apps and sites that promote literacy and student publication and web sites that promote student creativity.
Randy D. Nichols's curator insight,
January 15, 2013 9:30 AM
A good list to help you start (or continue) bulding a "digital toolbox" for multimodal compositions. (I will steal some of these ideas for my delicious links!)
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"TeachEm is a free and user friendly digital tool that allows users to capture YouTube content, organize it, and add time stamped flashcards to guide the learning. It's simple, smart and efficient which makes it a good tool for busy teachers interested in implementing a Flipped Classroom instructional model." As a teacher you can sign up for a free account (and create your own school). You create a class, put in links from videos you have selected (or search through TeachEm) and put in flash cards with that are associated with specific times of the videos. Classes may be public or private. For more information and ideas on how to use TeachEm in the classroom click through to the article, or go directly to TeachEm at http://teachem.com/.
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Are you looking for a source to publish reports, presentations, newsletters, school magazines online? Youblisher might be right up your alley. You can quickly create a publication with flippable pages at no cost in three easy steps: * Upload the pdf document * Let youblisher to the rest * Link published document to your website
Ressources pour les cours d'anglais's curator insight,
February 26, 2014 8:31 PM
Ce site permet également de créer des magazines ou journaux en ligne à partir de vos pdf.
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A free app that makes your lessons more engaging trough interactive multimedia presentations. Benefits of Nearpod include: * Create interactive classes with ease * Engage students * Share content in real time * Control students' devices (as in see student activity in real time) * Quickly assess student progress Applications are free; currently for iPad but Android and Window apps are in the works. Much more information is available at the website.
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From
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Create infographics online...easel.ly defines itself as "a theme-based web-app for creating infographics and data visualization." easel.ly is in beta and provides drag and drop pre-designed themes (currently five choices) and the ability to customize objects (as in people, animals, backgrounds, maps and more), creating rich infographics. easel.ly supports Firefox, Chrome and Safari.
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World Stories is a growing collection of short stories. This collection includes retold traditional tales and new short stories from around the world. The stories are available in the 21 languages most spoken by UK children. One in eight children in the UK speaks a language other than English as their first language. The stories can be read and listened to online, or downloaded. Everything is free!
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Are you looking for an educational technology conference that is both online and free? If so, you may want to check out Google Education On Air. On May 2nd from 12 – 10 pm (EST) Google will be providing a conference using Google+ Hangouts on Air. Areas of presentations are listed below. More information is available online.
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If you are looking for a new resource that may help your students become more engaged in their studies ExamTime may be a new tool to use. This tool allows students to "proactively direct their own learning."
A number of teachers share their views on using ExamTime. One teacher stated "This powerful teaching strategy “generated excellent questioning and analytical skills in students and allowed them to have constant access to resources on a platform they find convenient.”
ExamTime allows students to use build flashcards, mindmaps, quizzes, and to take notes, plus it is free.