Noel Erskine, Technology Coordinator Norris Schools

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Free apps for the K-6, math tools, web tools, TED, Snap chat for schools... and more, in this weeks tech tools.

Wednesday, April 20, 2016



Misc. Web and tech tools: 

Assessment, quick polling, exit tickets and more.... DEAD SIMPLE! 
Several staff members have been using this... and it works great.  Plickers lets you poll your class for free, without the need for student devices. Just give each student a card (a "paper clicker"), and use your iPhone to scan them to do instant checks-for-understanding, exit tickets, and impromptu polls. Best of all, your data is automatically saved, student-by-student, at plickers.comGet the app here. 


You Can Use a Picture If: Guidelines for Image Copyrights

UPDATED - We just updated our Network Information sheet for student teachers!  If you are going to be working with a student teacher here at Norris... this is a must have doc for them! 



Mathstudio's website works right from a web browser and will connect with Google Drive too! 



Use the free Adobe Draw app to create your own color-coded maps: - A nice video tutorial

Google Image Search Save Image Feature - You can now save any images from your searches... and even tag them!  Pretty cool new feature from Google search!  All the stuff you save goes here: https://www.google.com/save

Create self-paced review quizzes with the free tool Quizzy. 

Snapchat:
Well, these are my first links to ever get posted to my "Education Blog and email list" but I guess we have to meet students where they are... and right now, it's Snapchat. 

Snapchat explained by students to teachers - Ever wonder how it works... this is a nice video to show you how!  Makes you feel right at home.... you can hear the school bells ring and everything. ☺
Snapchat 101 for teachers — What you need to know 

And in case you want more Snapchat info - The 15 Newest Snapchat Features You Need To Know About.

15 ways to use Snapchat in classes and schools. 


Android apps:

Five Android apps for adding special effects to photos.

Google Classroom:


NEW - Now You Can Ask Multiple Choice Questions - 
Google Classroom has updated the Ask Question feature to allow for multiple choice responses along with short answer responses. Find out more here

NEW - The IOS Classroom app has been updated! Save Drafts and Reuse Posts.
The iOS Classroom app has been updated with the ability to save draft assignments, announcements, and questions. This update also allows teachers to reuse posts previously used from any of their classes. Both of these features are very important to teachers who use Classroom on the web, and now they can better manage their classes on the go with an iPad or iPhone. Find out more here



Google Chrome:

Have you checked out the Google Play for education store with all of the chrome apps?  If not... check it out.  They have it divided into useful categories. 

Chromebooks:


Google Docs/Apps:
Update to Google Docs Adds Outlines Automatically for Easy Navigation - Displayed in a pane to the left of the page, this outline features headers for each section of your document, making it simple to quickly jump from section to section. If you haven’t manually applied headers, no worries—Google will do it for you, intelligently detecting the logical divisions within your work.

TIP: Force people to 'Make a Copy' of your doc
Sometimes when you ask people to make a copy of the doc, they forget or don't know how. Force them to make a copy with these simple steps:
--Share your doc with view rights via the link
--Change the end of the url from 'edit' to 'copy'


3 Google Apps Tools You Didn’t Know You Could Use Offline  - and nice directions on how to set up offline access as well. 

Create a drop box for files without needing a Google account, etc....  How to Allow Anyone to Upload Files Directly to Your Drive
Well, it turns out there is a script that automatically provides you with a URL that allows any user to upload a file to a designated folder in your Google Drive. The beauty of this script is that anyone can send the file to your Google Drive without signing in to a Google account!

Google Slides:
Want to grab some great templates for Google Slides? Check these out: 

Google Forms:

Form Publisher will make your life easier! It generates Google Docs from a template, using Form responses. If you use forms to collect data... this could automate a lot of things for you! 

YouTube:
TIP: Want to start a Video from a Certain Spot? 
Play the YouTube video of choice --  Once you determine the time at which you want to start the video, click on ‘Share’-- Select the checkbox next to ‘Start at’.
When you share this link with your users, it will start at that time. 


Some great apps for the Elementary Classrooms to get your kids creating in an exciting & easy way. (Free too!)  

Pic Collage for kids - the best and safest visual and photo editor for home and schools!

Tellagami is a mobile app that lets you create and share a quick animated video called a Gami.

ChatterPix Kids or https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/chatterpix-by-duck-duck-moose/id734038526?mt=8ChatterPix (For the older kids.) Grab your camera! Let’s ChatterPix! Chatterpix Kids can make anything talk -- pets, friends, doodles, and more. 

Popplet Lite - Popplet is the simplest tool to capture and organize your ideas. With Popplet you can quick jot down your ideas and sort them visually. 

Seesaw empowers students of any age to independently document what they are learning at school. (App links at bottom of their website.)

TeleStory - Write, direct, and star in your own TV show with TeleStory!

TED & Prezi:

If you have not experienced TED talks - you need to... they are awesome, and many are applicable to the HS level students. They have TED-Ed designed for education. 

A new superweapon in the fight against cancer - Filmed Nov. 2015. Lenght: 10:42

This presentation uses the cool (Free for educators!) tool Prezi to present some facts.  You can see the actual Prezi they used here

Some Great Tech Tools - apps and more in this weeks list!

Wednesday, April 6, 2016


Web sites and tools
WOW - What a list!  The most comprehensive list of free online tools for teachers and students This PDF is worth the look! Put out by a California State College. 

Have your students use this free too to create animated maps: Animaps is a great tool!   Sample of what can be done here

Want to know how Google Apps can assist special-needs learners? Google for Education Certified Trainer, Stephanie Parretta, provides us with some great ideas in this blog post

Nice presentation on using GeoGebra and Desmos in the secondary science and math classroom. (Note it has you join a Desmo's class as a student as the demo.  You would not have to do this.) 

Student Centered Chromebook Classroom Curriculum Ideas - Great Google Doc with apps, sites and more. 

AWESOME site - pixabay.com for free images for use in your classroom!  

Are you using your Doc cam to it's fullest? 20 Fun Ways to Start the School Day Using Your Document Camera.

Practical Ed Tech Tip of the Week – 5 Good Tools for Creating Audio Recordings Online

Google Apps Tips and Tricks: 

What's new in Google Apps - Jan. 2016 Newsletter by Google. 

WOW - I like this visual and quick guide!  A Visual Guide to Sprucing Up Your Google Doc.  Who needs... or even wants Word anymore! 

Create and/or send customizable rubrics/scores to students by email for any assignment with this Google Sheets add-on.


NEW Google Contacts look and feel - We just enabled the new Google Contacts View, so feel free to give a try! 

Become a Google Slides artist with these seven tricks!

Google Classroom:


A Deep Dive Into Google Classroom - A 50 minute training video

Digital Differentiation with Google Classroom. Some nice idea's from "Shake up Learning.". 

Google add-on's: 
If you haven't checked out the add-ons available on Docs, Sheets, & Forms recently, you need to do it!  There are some amazing tools available to you.  This Google Slide presentation <-- This is a GREAT LIST! has a ton of great info and recommendations for using these add-ons. 

Need a Twitter Archiving Google Sheet? - This one is for you!  Here is an example of the sheet used for the FETC convention hashtags. 

Google Draw:

Google Forms - Some great new tools!

9 Awesome Add-ons for Google Forms.


Alice’s Quick Way to Make a Google Form - This is a pretty cool tool for quickly making forms. 

IOS apps:
Virtual Heart from the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago for iPad is a great free app for students. 

Lapse It • Time Lapse & Stop Motion Camera • Free By Interactive Universe. Add's some features not found in the camera defaults.  (Offers a Pro version for $1.99 too.) 

Did you ever wonder why the periodic table is shaped the way it is, what gives each element its own unique set of properties, or even how elements combine to make everyday objects such as a cup of coffee? With “NOVA Elements,” explore an interactive periodic table, play a game hosted by David Pogue, or watch the two-hour NOVA program.

NASA App by NASA
Come explore with NASA and discover the latest images, videos, mission information, news, feature stories, tweets, NASA TV and featured content with the NASA App for iOS.

Some great free apps for learning on a variety of platforms. 

Learn to create your own artwork by tracing photos →  A great tutorial by Tony V. using a free iPad app. The video features the free Adobe Illustrator Draw app for iOS and Android, and the techniques can certainly be used in other drawing apps.