iPads, MakerEd and More in Education

Way back in the mid-aughts there was a wave of what were called Web 2.0 tools that got me excited about using new tech tools in my classroom. Those tools gave students the ability to create cool things that were previously limited to the domain of specialists.

Today, I still get excited about tools that enable students to create cool things. The feeling of starting with an idea then turning it into something others can see and use is an empowering feeling. That’s what we can give to students when we introduce them to digital creation tools.

This week you can give your students that empowering feeling by helping them use one of the following tools to create cool things in your classroom.

We can now communicate with anyone, anywhere, anytime through the simple click of a button, and it is our job as educators to leverage these collaborative tools in the classroom. Many schools are finding creative ways to incorporate blended learning in their curriculums, and THINK Global School, where I teach, is no different.

Due to our focus on blended learning and travel, it is imperative that we remain as paperless as possible. Technology can often make or break our experiences as we study in different countries around the world, so we must hit the ground running during our seven-week intensive country visits. And depending on how they are integrated into our teaching toolkits, the tools used for our blended learning units can either help or hinder our student learning experiences.

Like you, we’ve tested our fair share of tools in trying to make the digital collaboration process with our students as seamless as possible. Some have worked incredibly while others not so much. But there are five that we’ve ended up going back to time after time–tools that just make student collaboration online (and thus blended learning) that much easier.

Well since then, so many new unique Google tools have come out! I have done my best to grab these new tools as they came out and add them to my ever-growing list in Google Docs. However, I did not update my original blog post to share these new tools in detail. So I figured it was time for a new entry to share all of the awesome new Hipster Google resources!

You can see the original list of Hipster Google tools in my blog post from a couple years back: "Hipster Google - Google Tools You Probably Never Heard Of".

And below you can see a new collection of lesser know, but awesome, tools. As always, chances are you will have heard of some of these, but hopefully there will be a few new ones on the list for you to explore. If we all try hard enough we can get schools using these all around the world, and they won't be Hipster anymore. But for now they are, so put on your slouchy beanie and thick-framed glasses and have fun!

As I have done every year since 2015, I’m going to shine a spotlight on six of the tools I added to this year’s guide: They’re not all brand-new, but I think each one could make a real difference in the way your students learn or the things they produce. One of them is super trendy right now, but it deserves the attention. One of them takes you into the past in a way that can be breathtaking. Three can be used in a dozen different ways and in all subject areas. And one—I would bet money on this—you’re going to want to try right away.

And so, without further ado, let’s begin.

As STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) curriculum grows in popularity, more schools are adding engineering classes. Students in elementary school through high school are enjoying the benefits of being exposed to engineering in the classroom.

As Teach Engineering explains, “Research around effective learning in K-12 classrooms demonstrates that an engineering approach to identifying and solving problems is valuable across all disciplines.” As you teach engineering, consider adding these seven must have engineering apps and tools to your professional toolbox:

Google is well know for certain tools and services - Search, Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Slides, Sheets, Maps, Chrome, and such. These are all powerful and useful tools that are transforming teaching and learning in schools around the world.

However, in addition to those tools, Google has also created a wide range of services, apps, extensions, features, and other tools that are not as well known. Even though these tools may not be as popular or as widely known, they are still very useful in school settings.

These are the "Hipster Google" tools.

Inquiry Based Instruction has been an area of study for me for the last couple of years. In my opinion, teaching through inquiry is not only engaging for our students, but develops an essential skill that our kids need to be successful in the 21st century. In this post, I want to share a few of the resources I have been using for the last few years, as well as a few resources that I just learned about. 

Lifelong learning, research shows, can make you smarter, richer, and happier. But, let's face it, making time to feed your brain is easier for some folks than others.

For entrepreneurs with growing businesses, parents of young kids, and others with jam-packed schedules, finding the five hours a week to devote to learning recommended by experts can seem impossible. If you're one of the extreme time crunched, should you just throw up your hands and accept your studying days are (at least temporarily) behind you?

Absolutely not, according to a helpful recent Medium post from Artem Zavyalov, co-founder of Highbrow. In it, he rounds up a host of tools that can help even the most over-scheduled squeeze in a little learning (including his own company's, of course).

Being less busy would be best (and science suggests old fashioned in-depth reading provides unique benefits), but if, for the moment, you're time for self development is limited, check out the apps and services Zavyalov recommends. Here's a sampling.

For starters, we’ve added 120 new tools and four new categories — artificial intelligence, drama & theater arts, early learners, and literacy. We also added a few new feature pages on microlearning, working with English learners, and publishing student writing. We also added a few lists of ten throughout the guide, curated lists of teaching-related resources that didn’t quite fit in any category. We also completely reorganized the Tips section, which is over 40 pages of articles all hand-picked to help you make smarter decisions about the tech you use. And finally there’s the main work of every update, which is to check each and every listing that’s already there and make sure everything is still accurate. Every year I am shocked by how many tools change their name, shift their primary function, or disappear completely.

Bookmarking tools are key to the effective management of digital resources. They allow you to capture  and save important information to read later. Most of these tools provide organizational features enabling users to organize their bookmarked content into boards and collections that can be shared with others. Other tools  even go a step further to provide collaborative features that allow a group of people to collectively bookmark and share online resources. Based on our long experience with reviewing educational web tools, we went ahead and curated for you what we believe are some of the best bookmarking tools for teachers. These are tools you can use to bookmark, annotate and share resources you come across online. We invite you to check out our updated below and share with us your feedback in our Facebook page. Links are provided under the visual.

Creating a mobile app can be a great way to get students interested in learning programming concepts and to get them to dive into researching a topic so that they can build the best apps they can. For example, if a student wanted to create an app that serves as a fun review game, he or she would need to have a solid knowledge of the topic in order to create a meaningful app. To that end, here are four free tools that students can use to develop their own mobile apps.

As a microblogging and social networking platform, Twitter provides endless possibilities for teachers' professional development. From attending world EdTech conferences through the use of hashtags to creating PLNs to fall back on when looking for help or crowdsourcing resources for a particular research project, Twitter-literacy is absolutely an important literacy for the 21st century connected educator. We have written a lot on the importance of Twitter in education and have also reviewed several tools and apps to use for this purpose. In today's post we are sharing with you some of the best Twitter tools and extensions we have reviewed in 2015. If you haven't had a chance to see them before check them out below. Enjoy.

Creating a makerspace within a classroom requires a lot of hard work and dedication by teachers to equip students with the appropriate supplies and arrange for access to the necessary makerspace tools. While complex, expensive machinery is not necessary for a successful makerspace, understanding some of the basic makerspace tools can help teachers ensure students are receiving an authentic makerspace learning experience.

Spread the loveAre you looking for edtech tools that will allow your students to tap into their creativity? We got you covered. In this article, we will profile 38 amazing edtech tools for student creation and innovation. Guess the Code: While this app is presented as a game, it is actually a great way for children to look at patterns and sequences, and try to figure them out. The app generates different color combinations, and it is up to the user to decipher the pattern and enter the next color. SimplePhysics: Physics can be a daunting subject, but the new …

Like any teacher, I want to have everything up and running the moment the first kiddo walks through the door. With this goal in mind…here are a handful of tools for getting the 2017-18 school year off to a good running start.

During Practical Ed Tech Live last Thursday afternoon I answered a request for a comparison of Diigo and Google Keep as alternatives to Delicious. The video of that explanation was a little muffled by some background noise so I decided to write out my explanation of the key differences between Diigo and Google Keep.

Apple recently made a number of core consumer-level iOS and Mac apps free of charge to all users. Previously apps like iMovie and GarageBand were free only to customers purchasing a new Apple device.

Even users with old devices or those who purchased second hand iPhones or MacBooks can now download Pages, Numbers, Keynote, GarageBand, and iMovie free of charge.

Here’s how to get them and what you can use them for.

"From basic planning apps to code editors for the development of your site, the iPad has a nice selection and we’ll showcase some of the best today."