Latest education updates from around the world
Join Me and Rushton Hurley This Tuesday Evening for a Free Webinar
On Tuesday, October 4th at 8pm ET/ 4pm PT Rushton Hurley and I will be hosting the second episode of our third season of Two EdTech Guys Take Questions and Share Cool Stuff. Just like the title says we take questions, answer questions, and share some cool stuff that we’ve found around the web. We’d love to have you join us for this fun and free half-hour webinar. You can register here to join us live.
If you have a question for us, send it to me at richardbyrne (at) freetech4teachers.com […]
Fakebook- Create Imaginary Profiles for Teaching Purposes
Videos, Writing, and Pictures – The Week in Review
Good evening from Maine where it was a beautiful autumn day. My kids had soccer practice, we rode our bikes, and I mowed the lawn for what was hopefully the last time this year. And before bedtime tonight we have to get ready for my youngest daughter’s birthday party that we’re hosting tomorrow. It should be a fun day. I hope that you have had a good weekend so far.
These were the week’s most popular posts:
1. My Updated Big List of Tools for a Variety of Classroom Video Projects
2.
An October Video Project – Halloween Safety
Halloween is thirty days away. My kids have been planning their costumes since last November or so it seems because they’re very excited about it. Last fall I shared a list of Halloween-themed activities and resources. In that list I included playing a Halloween safety review game from Kahoot. Keeping with the idea of Halloween safety, consider having students create a short video about trick o’ treat safety.
September’s Most Popular Posts on Free Technology for Teachers
Good evening from Maine where the sun has set on the week and on the month of September, 2022. I don’t know about you, but for me the month seemed to come and go in the blink of an eye. My oldest daughter started Kindergarten, I hosted a bunch of webinars, and tried to enjoy some cool autumn evenings. I hope that the first full month of the 2022-23 school year went well for you.
As I mentioned above, I hosted a bunch of professional development webinars in September. I’d be happy to host one for your […]
Easy Way to Print out Infographics and Posters
D-Link’s New ‘VR Air Bridge’ Dongle Gives Quest 2 Dedicated Wi-Fi Connection for PC VR Gaming
D-Link announced a new Wi-Fi 6 dongle designed for Quest 2 that provides a dedicated wireless connection to your PC, letting you play PC VR games without the hassle of long cables or needing an exceptionally good router.
VR Air Bridge (DWA-F18) is said to include D-Link’s Wi-Fi 6 firmware and Meta’s proprietary VR algorithms for low latency wireless connectivity and improved Wi-Fi efficiency, essentially serving up a plug-and-play solution that’s both compact and simple to install.
It also doesn’t tie up bandwidth on your home network, letting you connect to your PC more directly than you might otherwise when […]
What is Universal Design for Learning (UDL)?
The Universal Design for Learning framework seeks to engage all students with accessible, relevant, and meaningful learning.
The 6 Best Word Cloud Tools for Teachers
1- Tagxedo
This is another great word cloud tool. You can use it the same way like Wordle but with an added feature which is that of creating clouds in various forms.
Creative Fabrica Offers Tons of Stunning Fonts and Graphics to Use in Your Teaching
Significant Changes to Screencastify’s Free Plan Take Effect on Monday
Those of us who are using Screencastify’s free plan will have some choices to make on Monday when the changes that Screencastify announced back in August take effect.
What’s Changing?
Starting on Monday, October 3rd Screencastify’s free plan will limit you to having just ten videos in your account at a time. Previously, you could have as many videos as you wanted in your account as long as they were each less than five minutes. The new free plan limits you to ten videos, but the videos can now be up to […]
Here Are Some Very Good Word Cloud Generators for Teachers and Students
1. Shapecloud
Shapecloud is a free word art generator from Creative Fabrica that allows you to […]
Report: Meta Quest 3 Leak Suggests Cheaper Consumer Device to Quickly Follow Quest Pro
There’s been a torrent of leaks that over the months have given us a pretty comprehensive look at Quest Pro, Meta’s next high-end VR headset likely seeing a big reveal at Connect next month. Now it appears a new device is being subject to the same leaky treatment, with a supposed consumer-focused ‘Quest 3’ headset now surfacing.
Hardware analyst and YouTuber Brad Lynch (aka ‘SadlyItsBradley’) has been a driving force behind many of the Quest Pro leaks in the past, and now Lynch has revealed in a new video what he believes to be […]
Photomath is NOT Cheating
I teach math. I earned my bachelor’s degree in math in 1998 and started teaching high school math in 1999. My first year teaching the math department had a policy of “no calculators” in Algebra (although allowed above Algebra). The reason “because what, will they always have a calculator with them?” Fast forward to 2022……
The post Photomath is NOT Cheating appeared first on Teacher Tech.
Grading Google Forms Short Answers Without Google Classroom
Last week I got an email from a reader who was looking for advice about grading short-answer questions in Google Forms. Specifically, the person wanted to know if there was a more efficient way to grade short-answer questions than tabbing through the “responses” pages.
While you can have short-answers automatically graded for you in Google Forms, it only works if students write their answers exactly as you wrote the answer key. That doesn’t work well if you are requiring students to write complete sentences in their own words. In those cases you have to manually grade your […]
A Quick Way to Check the Safety of Links
One of the best ways to protect your computer and network from malicious software is to simply avoid opening links that appear in your email from unfamiliar senders. Additionally, you should avoid clicking on links that you weren’t expecting and those that just set off your spidey senses. When you do come across a link that you think might be okay, but you’re not entirely sure it is okay, you can check its safety with Google’s Transparency Report Site Status tool without having to open the link your computer.
Tech & Learning Announces 2022-23 Dates for Regional Leadership Summit Series
Tech & Learning’s Regional Leadership Summits are designed to provide school district administrators with a unique opportunity to network with their colleagues in support of driving innovation in their school districts.
8 Efficiency Tools for School Administrators
Apps, software, and more to improve efficiency so admins can work smarter not harder
5 Great Plant Identifier Apps for Android and iPhone/iPad
Lenovo Unveils ThinkReality VRX Headset for Enterprise Sporting Some Increasingly Familiar Specs
Lenovo today unveiled its next standalone VR headset for enterprise, the ThinkReality VRX standalone. While the company may be pitching its latest headset for businesses, it seems VR hardware is starting to reach a pretty solid consensus on what’s next. The near future of VR is slimmer, lighter, and has a dash of augmented reality for good measure.
Lenovo’s headset features some specs that are quickly becoming commonplace in the upcoming generation, namely a slim and light design thanks to the inclusion of pancake lenses, and color […]
‘RUNNER’ to Bring ’80s-inspired Run & Gun Action to Quest 2 in October
RUNNER is an upcoming racing game from indie studio Truant Pixel, promising to bring some very ’80s-inspired run-and-gun action to Quest 2 next month.
Update (September 28th, 2022): Truant Pixel announced that RUNNER is headed to the official Quest Store for Quest 2 on October 6th, 2022. The studio says its previously mentioned release on SteamVR headsets is still “TBA”. They’ve said they’re now targeting PSVR 2 as well.
If you’re looking to dive into a little bit of the game’s story, the studio also published a visual novel for mobile devices and PC called ‘PREAMBLE’ which […]
Motivating Students with Digital Badges
Using digital badges to reward and engage students
Monetizing Scholastic Esports: What to Know
Using for-profit companies for scholastic esports is a still-developing landscape
The 2022-23 Practical Ed Tech Handbook
Every year I publish an updated version of The Practical Ed Tech Handbook. This year it took me a bit longer than usual to get it done. That said, the 2022-23 version of The Practical Ed Tech Handbook is now available for free to anyone who is subscribed to The Practical Ed Tech Newsletter or who registers for it here.
1. Communication with students and parents – page 5
2. Creating Blogs & Websites – […]
Five Time-saving Ways for Teachers to Use Technology
Making time for yourself is one of the things that I talk about in my new keynote presentation titled Using Tech to Bring Joy Into Your Teaching. There are many ways that technology can help you get more time for taking care of yourself and doing the things you enjoy outside of professional responsibilities. To that end, here are five time-saving ways to use technology so that you can have more time for yourself.
If you use Gmail or any G Suite-based email account, enable the Smart Replies function. Smart Replies […]