2012 Edublog Award Winners

The 2012 Edublog Awards have come to a close and the winners have been announced.  You can find the winners and runner-ups in each category HERE.  As I always like to say, this is the best way to be introduced to the "Best of the Web" in integrating technology in the class room and meeting those people who are both pioneers and new to educational technology. 

One of the reasons that I have become a fan of these awards is the ability to read the teacher and student blogs that have been created.  It provides great insight into how other teachers are not only using technology, but how they are being engaged with their students and trying new things in their classrooms.  Sometimes the best success is a result of failure, and often times we learn how to do things right when they don't go as planned the first time. 

If you are just getting started in learning about educational technology, the Edublog Awards is a good starting point.

iPad Apps for Schools

The blogger for Free Technology for Teachers, Richard Byrne, has created a new blog, iPad Apps for School.  Through this blog, teachers will be able to learn about free and paid apps available on the iPad.  Visitors will also be able to watch videos and reviews of the projects as well.  Mr. Byrne is a dedicated educator and blogger who does an excellent job of sharing technology education resources on a daily basis.

Mr. Byrne is a valuable starting point for learning about what is available on the web and on mobile devices for teachers.  I highly recommend bookmarking iPad Apps for School, especially if you use them in your classrooms or are contemplating the purchase of iPads for your district.  Do you have an awesome iPad App that you think should be shared on his page?  He has created an opportunity for visitors to do just that.  Share an App is a great way to promote what works in your classroom.

If you are not using iPads in your classrooms, but are using Android devices, never fear, Mr. Byrne has also created a page for Androids 4 Schools as well.  The same premise applies to this blog as well and provides information for Android based devices. 

To see his original post about his new site, CLICK HERE. 

Cell Phone Apps for Teachers

Mobile Technology is taking over and as it does, teachers are either all in or have no interest in their use without realizing how beneficial the use of the apps could be in their classroom.  These are the apps that I have seen used recently, used myself, or think have the greatest impact.  Leave me a comment with your favorite App.

The Remind 101 App (also on the Android Market) is a continuation of the website Remind 101 which allows teachers to create lists of students and then send text message reminders to them for completely free.  I used this in my classroom and had several students tell me how it helped them remember to study or complete an assignment.  The service works by providing a code to the teacher to share with students who send it into Remind 101 and they are added to the list the code generates.  To learn more, see the video below.

Three Ring App (Also on Android) allows users to take pictures of student work and keep track of them online.  It is an easy way to organize and present students' real world work from hand written assignments to presentations.  You can also include videos.  Visit ThreeRing to learn more and to sign up.  It is free for teachers.

The Bump App (also available on Android) allows users to easily share contact information, photos, videos, and other files from their cell phones.  The App would be a valuable way to trade contact information with teachers at professional development or with parents if you use your phone as a contact with them.  I could see this being used for coaches as well.  Read a previous post about how to use bump for images to your computer as well.  Teachers could also use it with students to get pictures, lesson

The Wunderlist App (also available on Android) is a necessity for teachers needing assistance with staying organized or are just looking for an app to help them focus on all the requirements of the job.  Due dates for lesson plans, and assignments.  Professional Development, PLC, and school meetings clog your calendar.  Wunderlist provides teachers the ability to easily sync and manage all their "To Dos."

The Socrative App for Teachers and Students (Available on Android as well are the Teacher and Student App) provides users the ability to do use their cellphones as a clicker system.  The Teacher application allows the teacher to not be stuck at their desk running the presentation.  Everything can be done on any device with internet access, but the App allows the teacher to move around and monitor the students.  See the video below for more information.

 

The Genius Scan App (also available on Android) is an app that allows users to turn the phone into a pocket scanner.  Once you have scanned the documents, it will email them to users as a JPEG or PDF.  The app also easily syncs with Dropbox and Evernote.  Often times within the school or at professional development a resource is shared on paper and you want a copy.  This provides an easy way to turn those paper documents into an electronic copy.  You could also use this app with student work as well.

The Class Dojo App (Mostly for Elementary teachers and currently not available as a Android App) is an app for monitoring, tracking, and sharing the behavior of your students throughout a class period.  The app and the Class Dojo website allows teachers to capture and generate data on the behavior of their students.  Students get real time feedback.  Parents can also receive weekly behavior reports as well.  See the video below for more information and visit their YouTube Channel for helpful videos.

 

The Evernote App (also available for Android) is a favorite among educators because of its ability to sync all your documents and notes in one place.  Whether it is a computer, phone, or tablet, all notes are synced in one location.  A great tool for when attending conferences, professional development, and faculty meetings.  Accounts and folders can be shared, so with students, it would be easy to share important documents with your students and even parents.   Evernote also allows the saving of pictures and audio files as well.  Teachers could provide a document with audio information as well for students who are struggling readers. 

 

The Pick Me! App (Currently not available on Android) and the only App I have chosen that has a cost ($1.99 currently) allows users to randomly call on students.  It makes it easy not only to pick names but also track responses on formative assessment.  Data from the formative assessment results is emailed to users.  Various settings allows for multiple uses in the classroom.  It has an option to import rosters using a CSV file through Dropbox if interested.  As a bonus, you might be interested in their Grade It! App (free) which easily provides calculation percentages for determining grades.

Free Safe Text

Not necessarily a "teaching" tool for the classroom, but a "teaching" tool for life.  Free Safe Text is an app that is currently available for Android phones (iPhone app is currently in development) that helps users resist the urge to text while driving.  The App works by opening the App before you start driving.  Any text message you receive, the sender will get an automatic reply that lets them know you are driving and provides a link to information about the App.

When a person comes to a stop and is no longer driving (not just at a red light) you can place the App in Parking mode and the user will be able to receive text messages again.  During the month of December to encourage the use of the App, they were giving away $25.00 a week based on the number of times the automated message was sent from your phone AND the number of referrals to sign up to use the Free Safe Text App. 

To sign up for information about when the iPhone release will be available, click here.

For more information, see the video below to learn more.

To learn more about the statistics related to texting while driving, see the video below.

Bump Images to you Computer

Most of us that have an iPhone or Android phone have heard of or seen the Bump App that allows users to easily transfer photos and other files from one device to another.  Now that same services offers users the ability to "bump" pictures to your computer.  With bu.mp you can take photos on your phone to your computer by simply visiting the bu.mp website and tapping the space bar with your phone.  Make sure that location is enabled in your browser for it to work.  To see how it works, see the video below.

Another App from the same company that would be of interest is the Flock App.  If students are working on a project together that requires the use of pictures, Flock App would allow the easy sharing of those photos across their mobile devices.