Have you tried out a free curation tool called Wakelet? In this post, I explain what Wakelet is and how you can get started using it in 4 easy steps. I also share some ideas on how Wakelet could be used by teachers and students.
Tools, Sites, And Apps
5 Useful, Free Photo Apps for Teachers and Students
There are so many great photo apps available and many of them can be really handy in the classroom. In this post I share 5 apps that could be useful to help teachers and/or students overcome certain obstacles — or just have fun being creative.
Typing Tips: The How and Why of Teaching Students Keyboarding Skills
I believe the ability to type with reasonable speed and accuracy helps students to better cope with the digital world they live in. This post discusses the teaching of both handwriting and typing. I share four of the best free online resources for teaching keyboarding. Check out the comparison table for a quick overview of what these sites offer!
Loom: Bring Learning Alive With Screencasting
There are many tools and applications for screencasting in the classroom. Recently I have discovered a free tool called Loom and I just had to share it!
ClassroomScreen: A Useful Tool You Can Use Tomorrow!
ClassroomScreen is a free, useful and simple tool that every teacher should check out. No matter what you teach, as long as you have a projector, interactive whiteboard or television in your classroom, I’m pretty sure you’ll find a use for ClassroomScreen.
Technify Your Teaching in 2013: PD Opportunity
As well as this blog and my class blog, I write Tech Tools for Teachers. This is a collaborative effort with my colleagues, Matt Limb and Simon Collier. Each fortnight we review an online tool and provide step-by-step instructions on its use. In January of this year we ran a professional development day called Technify […]
PowerPoint: Dead or Alive?
Since Microsoft PowerPoint was released in 1990, it has been a key tool in many classroom ICT programs and businesses. There seems to be a reoccurring theme in social media that “PowerPoint is dead”. PowerPoint has been the butt of many jokes including this infographic by SlideRocket. Wikipedia outlines a history of the “death by PowerPoint” criticism, […]
Online Maths Activities
We had a numeracy curriculum day at my school today and I was asked to present a workshop on online maths sites. The audience was diverse with teachers from all grade levels as well as CRTs (casual replacement teachers) and student teachers. I began by giving a few tips for using online maths sites. 1. […]
Five Steps to Starting a Class Blog
I have revised the posts I have written in the past to create a nine page, five step guide to beginning a class blog. Feel free to view, print or download the document to help you get started on your blogging journey. Five Steps to Starting a Class Blog If you’re having trouble with the […]
Kids and Online Tools: The Legal Side
There are so many free online tools out there that are fabulous to use in the classroom. These tools can potentially allow your students to create, collaborate, communicate and express themselves in a multitude of ways. To find recommendations of tried and tested online tools to use in the classroom with step-by-step instructions, visit my […]
Photo Slideshows in Blog Posts
Start small When you start blogging it is important to start small and try to not be overwhelmed by what other people are doing. With time, support, perseverance and inspiration, your blog will continue to grow and improve. When I first started blogging with my students in 2008, we wrote very simple posts containing text […]
New Teacher Blog: Guiding Digital Nomads
I first met Aine Murphy (@ainetmurphy) when she was completing teaching rounds at my school in 2010. We bonded over a common interest in technologies, blogging and global collaboration. Aine taught in Ireland for ten years before moving to Australia and retraining at Deakin University. She is now teaching Grade Three/Four at Point Lonsdale Primary […]
Learning to Type: Student Bloggers’ Progress
In March 2018 I wrote a comprehensive post about teaching typing. I also compared four free online tools for learning keyboarding. Find that post here. On 21st July, 2011, all of my students participated in a typing test using 10fastfingers. They had to test themselves three times and then I recorded their best words-per-minute score. […]
Are You On Twitter Yet?
Earlier this year, Kelly Jordan and I gave a few presentations on using Twitter for educators at various events. If you’re not yet on Twitter, read this post to find out some reasons why you should be. Confused about the Twitter language? Hopefully this brief explanation will help. Need more tips? Check out my post […]
New Blog by Shawn Avery: Tech Tutorials
One member of my PLN who I have formed a strong connection with is Shawn Avery (aka @mr_avery). Shawn is a 6th grade teacher in Massachusetts and his class blog is http://mravery.edublogs.org Shawn has some excellent ideas for integrating technology in the classroom and has done some inspiring work with movie making (check out his […]