5 Free Web Apps for Teachers

Posted by Leslie

This week’s Friday Five offers a round-up of five great Web apps to help teachers get creative, stay organized and wow students with interactive projects.

1. Get Organized: Evernote. Why we love it: You can store handouts, worksheets and templates in a searchable database that’s accessible online or by phone. Evernote allows you to do things like clip articles online and use tags for research purposes. You can even create a “notebook” for each new project and share it with students. It’s all easily stored and searchable so you can find what you need in seconds. Click here to learn how one teacher used Evernote to streamline his class.

2. Manage Your Classroom: Engrade. Why we love it: Over 3 million teachers use Engrade to create online homework assignments, quizzes and course calendars and keep grade books secure. Hold online discussions to quickly answer homework questions or send messages to students or parents. All the online tools are in one place that can be accessed anywhere, so you can work whenever and wherever you want.

3. Brainstorm and Collaborate: Bubble.us. Why we love it: This online mind mapper allows for whole-class brainstorming sessions. It sorts ideas into colorful text bubbles and flow charts that can be quickly converted into handouts, notes and presentations. It’s an easy-to-use collaboration tool that makes it fun for students to engage and share their vision for any project.

4. Build Interactive Presentations: Glogster. Why we love it: Glogster allows teachers and students to create interactive digital posters, or glogs (we don’t get it, either), with built-in multimedia elements like video, audio and hyperlinks. The free teacher account is easy to set up and lets you share and administer 50 student accounts. The user-friendly drag-and-drop feature makes creating presentations a snap.

5. Network with Students and Parents: Edmodo. Why we love it: This social networking app turns a classroom into an online community. Facebook-style tools allow teachers to create groups, post course-related material, enter and manage grades and accept digital assignments. It’s a safe and private way to network with students and parents, and it offers some innovative features like the ability to post podcasts and audio files to spark a running discussion among students. Find cool tips on how to use the app here.

More exciting apps are launched every day, so watch for updates. And be sure to let us know if you find a fantastic tool you think we should feature!

(Image via PunkyJane)

A New Crop of State Mandates for Blended Learning

Posted by Leslie

A growing number of states are embracing blended learning as both a cost-cutting measure and a step toward the future of education. Not surprisingly, those in favor of the status quo are pushing back in various parts of the country. Here’s a round-up of blended learning bills currently in the news:

• Idaho’s Students Come First, a bill put forth by school superintendent Tom Luna, would require high schoo l students to complete four online courses in order to graduate. The online curricula provider is left up to the individual district, which is also free to develop its own model at the local level.
• Alabama and Michigan require students to take one online course in high school.
• Utah’s proposed bill would allow students to choose single courses from state-approved online providers.
• In New York, attempts are under way to make blended learning more accessible by cultivating a statewide network that connects online courses and programs from various regions to all the students and teachers who wish to utilize them.
• In June, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed bills that will expand and strengthen virtual schools in the state. The Digital Learning Now Act increases digital learning options for students and requires that all freshmen take an online course. Charter schools are allowed to offer online coursework, and full-time online instruction is authorized through a virtual charter school.
• Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has also joined the blended learning movement. Snyder is endorsing a model that gives families the freedom to choose a school district or education system best suited for their children, including blended learning, online education and early college. The money, he says, should follow the student rather than the district, and he characterizes blended classrooms as “cost-efficient, competitive, innovative and effective in motivating student achievement.”

One thing is certain—hybrid learning / blended learning has found its way into the national debate on how to better educate American students. However the current crop of state debates is decided, U.S. schools are taking steps toward embracing the opportunities that blended learning is poised to provide.

(Image from the MursBlanc Etsy Shop)

5 Names for New Learners

Posted by Courtney

The new generation of learners is famous for growing up with technology and their unfamiliarity with a world apart from it. I recently chatted with my colleague Kristi Mead, an Instructional Technologist, about all of the names used to represent this new generation. These were my five fav's:

1. Digital Natives - kids born after the general introduction of technology, who have grown up using it (as opposed to Digital Immigrants--people who were born before the general introduction, but who have adopted technology later in life).
2. Light Learners - students who learn on a back-lit device (computer screen, eReader, etc).
3. Screenagers - LOL :)
4. Generation Y & Z - Good to know! Generation Y (or Millennials) refers to kids who were born in the span of time when computers became popular (mid-1970's through the 2000) vs. Generation Z who were born when the Internet became popular (mid-1990's through the present).
5. Echo Boomers - Refers to Gen Y, and the "baby boom echo" where there were significant birth rates because the original Baby Boomers were having so many children.

(Image via Amazing Only)

New Technologies to Try This Year: Twiducate

Posted by Courtney

This post goes out to the teachers and schools out there who want to go social, but are not at liberty to interact with students in unprotected online environments.

Twiducate is an alternative to Twitter that allows teachers to create a private network for students and parents. Extending the classroom online to keep parents and students informed, and to provide a platform for student collaboration/engagement outside the school day is a hot topic—and something that students love.

We liked Tait Cole’s 35 Ways to Use Twiducate for Deeper Learning. Pure genius? #4—creating chain stories to get the creative writing process going.

Before taking the plunge, we also recommend Patrick Cauley’s review on IT Babble which raises some good points about user-friendliness and accessibility.

Another resource? The Twiducate Blog which announces updates about Twiducate’s upgrades and shares How To videos.

Our take? It’s time to go social. If your school doesn’t yet offer a platform such as a Learning Management System, Twiducate is worth checking out. It might be the right tool to get you started.

(Image via the Twiducate Store)