Web Tools / Collaboration
Image Splitter
PhotoShop and you want to take a larger image and split it into smaller, equal sized files. Resize, crop, split and convert images all without installing any software.This is perfect for someone who has access to a large printer and wants to make posters.
Scrible
Scrible is an amazingly powerful tool to help you annotate webpages, save and tag articles and share resources with your students. Scrible is free to use and includes a helpful browser plug in so you can quickly highlight text on a web page, add sticky notes and tag articles. You can easily search and share using Scrible.com
Survey Monkey
Many people are familiar with this polling software. In many ways Survey Monkey is more powerful than GoogleForms. A great way to gain valuable input from your audience.
Google Docs
Perhaps the best way to collaborate with others on shared documents and spreadsheets, create forms, and store and share your files.
Padlet
Make collaboration easy and simple with Padlet. Teachers can add any content (text, images, video) and have students submit their comments and feedback much like a giagntic whiteboard, only interactive and digital.
Wikispaces
Create class wikis, track participation and generate class discussions with Wiki-spaces. Wikispaces allows teachers to create and manage their own wiki projects. It makes it easy for teachers to set up their own projects and easily track student involvement.
Poll Everywhere
Poll Everywhere is a great way to get instant student feedback. Learners can participate in class just by using their cell phones. This is a great tool for formative assessments.
Remind
Remind is a free text-messaging app to help teachers keep in touch with parents and students.
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   Web Tools / Graphic Organizers
Wordle
Wordle lets you create "word clouds" from your text. The more frequently the word appears, the greater the prominence. You can custom them in many different ways and then share them with others.
Houghton Mifflin Graphic Organizrs
Education Place is a free website from Houghton Mifflin that has over 30 different graphic organizers in pdf format ready for download.
Bubbl.us
A nice, easy to use mind mapping site with no login required. Creating a free account allows you to save and share your maps.
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   Educational Concepts
Cognitive Development
Jean Piaget was on the forefront of childhood cognitive development. His model of four stages of development is still popular today.
Blooms Taxonomy
A list of Bloom's taxonomy verbs as well as supporting information about them.
Got Your Attention!
Gagne's 9 Steps of Instruction is used by Instructional Designers the world over when building curriculum. It starts with grabbing the learner's attention and ends with the learner being able to transfer their knowledge to other concepts. If you're building curriculum, this is a great place to start.
Constructivism Video
Check out this great video on Constructivism vs. Behaviorism. There are many videos out there on the educational model of Constructivism, but this one is easy to watch, straightforward and very informative.
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   Presentation Tools
Jing
Jing is a great free tool to capture images and recordings from your computer. Very easy to use and the free version is excellent.
Screencast-o-Matic
Screencast-o-Matic is an easy way to create screen recordings for students to view. You can create tutorial videos or record Slide Shows all for free and without the need to install new software. You can record, edit, and add audio/images to your recording.
Slideshare
SlideShare is a free website where you can host your Power Point Presentations. It is straight forward and easy to use. Slide Share also makes it easy to share the link to your presentation, or you can even copy the html code and embed it into your website or blog. The link goes directly to my page.
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   Video Software
   Mac Tips & Tricks
Avidemux
Need to cut a video clip to just have the part you want your students to see? This free program allows you to easily and quickly cut and encode video.
VLC
VLC is free video playing software for both Windows and Mac. It is as simple as it is powerful and my top choice over quicktime or Windows Media Player.
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Mac Tips and Tricks
My blog contains several articles on mac tips and tricks. Take a few minutes to read them and increase your productivity.
50 Mac Tips from TechRadar
These 50 tips teach you some of the ins and outs of the Mac OS Yosemite. These tips can save you time and make your life a lot easier.
Mac Shortcuts
Dan Rodney's page of mac shortcuts will teach you everything you need to know to get the most out of your mac. Whether you are new to a mac or have been using one for years there is plenty of tips for you to get more out of your apple computer.
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   Social Studies
iCivics
"iCivics prepares young Americans to become knowledgeable, engaged 21st century citizens by creating free and innovative educational materials."
Google Earth
There are a thousand uses for Google Earth. Students can use this program to explore geographic features, learn about distant places, or even map out their own neighborhood. Certain locations also include photographs and 3D models. For more information on why you should think about teaching with Google Earth,
click here.
HipHughes History
This resource is a list of short, upbeat lectures on the Social Studies. There are more than 200 videos on all types of Social Studies related topics.
National Atlas
National Atlas Mapmaker is a fun website that lets students make their own custom map of the United States. They can include all types of information from a list of categories like climate, demographics, transportation and more.
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   Professional Development and Organizations
Office of EdTech
The U.S. Department of Educations provides leadership for maximizing technology's contribution to improving education at all levels.
iste
ISTE is the International Society for Technology in Education. They are a professional organization encouraging the integration of technology into (and outside of) the classroom.
MACUL
MACUL stands for the Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning. They host a yearly conference and have great information for teachers using technology in their lessons.
Quality Matters
Quality Matters is a professional organization that ensures quality assurance in online education. I first became aware of QM, and their well known rubric, through the Distance Learning office at my job. Their rubric is free with a basic subscription.
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   Free Lesson Plans
   K - 8
Saylor Academy
Saylor Academy is my new favorite lesson plan resource. Explore hundreds of well organized, self paced lessons on a wide variety of topics. These free, open courses are truly making knowledge accessible to everyone.
Check123
Free 1, 2 & 3 minute videos on a wide range of topics. Get students interested in any topic with these attention grabbing videos.
TEDEd
TEDEd has nearly 200,000 free lesson plans, or create your own using any YouTube video. Share a video with your students, have them answer questions, participate in discussion or dive deeper into any topic.
Merlot
MERLOT stands for the Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching. It is a massive collection of free lesson plans on a wide variety of topics and levels of education.
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   Study Tools for Students
Schooltraq
Schooltraq is an academic planner for students. Think of it as a dashboard for all tasks. This free program also works with students mobile phones to make sure they never miss a deadline again.
Quizlet
Quizlet is a popular tool for creating flash cards for students. There are plenty of free study sets, or create your own and share with your students.
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ABCya
Many Elementary students are already familiar with Abcya. This site is full of fun activities for kids. Some of the more popular activities teach typing skills, math and spelling.
ToonDoo
An easy to use and fun online cartoon creator for kids.
Storyline
Storyline is geared towards Elementary students. There are several books read by famous celebrtities. This website is entirely free and each story contains a pdf of activities that go along with the book.
mrdonn
A ton of lesson plans with a focus on the Social Studies. Mr. Donn is a wealth of Social Studies lessons plans, links and power points geared mostly towards Middle School age students.
MobyGoogleCover
MobyMax is a free K-8 Curriculum that is entirely online. Teachers set up their student accounts and then can create math, reading and writing lessons that adjust to the students level and track their progress. This website is definitely work checking out.
Starfall
Starfall is excellent for K - 5 students. Starfall benefits young readers at all levels from beginners to those ready to begin chapter books. The website is very user friendly and there is plenty of free content
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©2020 Scott Davis