EdTech Links of the Week - 5-22-23

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter here: bit.ly/curts-news
📧 Join the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group: bit.ly/caa-emailgroup

🔔 Get new blog posts automatically through email - FollowIt link

📅 Subscribe to the "Control Alt Achieve" calendar for livestreams: Calendar link

🐦Follow me on Twitter here: twitter.com/ericcurts

🔗 Subscribe to the RSS feed for this blog here: RSS feed link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

Webinar Recording - Google Screencast for Teaching and Learning

A while back Google rolled out their new tool for Chromebooks called Google Screencast. At the time I did a short intro video about the tool. You can still check out that short tutorial video and blog post.

Recently I had the chance to do a full webinar on Google Screencast and really go into all the details and lots of example uses for schools. Here is a description of the session:

Google Screencast for Teaching and Learning
Google's new Screencast tool for Chromebooks lets teachers and students record their screen, webcam, voice and annotations, and makes an interactive transcript that can be searched and translated! Learn how to use all the features of this awesome new tool, and explore how you and your students can use it for creative learning activities including instructional videos, student assessments, student projects, personalized teacher feedback, narrating slideshows, giving speeches, dubbing videos, explaining solutions, and much more.

See below to watch the full recording of this session, as well as access resources and details about the Screencast tool.

Webinar Recording - The Bard's Tale: Google AI in Education

I recently had the privilege to present a session for the "Week of AI Event" hosted by TeacherGoals.

The event included free live streamed sessions on topics related to artificial intelligence in education from 18 expert speakers from all around the world.

My session was:

"The Bard's Tale: Google AI in Education"
Google has long been a leader when it comes to creating and using artificial intelligence in practical ways. In this session we will explore a wide range of Google tools that are already incorporating generative AI (and previews of tools coming soon) including Bard and Google's AI integrations in Docs, Slides, Sheets, Gmail, Search and more! See how these tools can be used by teachers and students, and discuss the benefits and challenges of AI in education.

See below to watch the recording of the session, as well as access all of my session resources.

Join Me for the TeacherGoals "Week of AI Event"

There is no question that Artificial Intelligence is one of the hottest topics in education right now. It seems there is a new update or tool every day. 

If you are looking for some awesome (and free) professional development on these topics, then you are in luck…

I am super excited to be presenting a session for the "Week of AI Event" being hosted by TeacherGoals! Here are the details:

• May 14th through 19th, 2023
• Free live streamed sessions on topics related to artificial intelligence in education
• 18 expert speakers from all around the world

See below for the link to register for free, details on my session, and more. I look forward to learning with you!

EdTech Spotlight - QuestionWell

EdTech Spotlight posts are shorter entries (as compared to my normal full-sized posts) that highlight a specific educational technology resource.

These normally contain a video clip of me talking about and demonstrating the resource. These video clips are taken from my weekly live streams that I record on Monday nights at 7pm EST. These videos are more casual and conversational than my pre-recorded edited tutorial videos.

For this entry we are taking a look at QuestionWell.

See below for a video clip about this resource, as well as a brief explanation and relevant links. If you use this resource, I would love to hear about your experience!

EdTech Spotlight - Wordwall

EdTech Spotlight posts are shorter entries (as compared to my normal full-sized posts) that highlight a specific educational technology resource.

These normally contain a video clip of me talking about and demonstrating the resource. These video clips are taken from my weekly live streams that I record on Monday nights at 7pm EST. These videos are more casual and conversational than my pre-recorded edited tutorial videos.

For this entry we are taking a look at Wordwall.

See below for a video clip about this resource, as well as a brief explanation and relevant links. If you use this resource, I would love to hear about your experience!

EdTech Links of the Week - 5-1-23

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter here: bit.ly/curts-news
📧 Join the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group: bit.ly/caa-emailgroup

🔔 Get new blog posts automatically through email - FollowIt link

📅 Subscribe to the "Control Alt Achieve" calendar for livestreams: Calendar link

🐦Follow me on Twitter here: twitter.com/ericcurts

🔗 Subscribe to the RSS feed for this blog here: RSS feed link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

Podcast Spotlight - The EDUProtocols Podcast

I recently had the pleasure to be a guest on "The EDUProtocols Podcast".

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love podcasts and am always mentioning something new I learned from one of them, so I was super excited to get to join an episode of this podcast.

The podcast is hosted by Jamie Halsey, Scott Kazarian, and Fabian Hofmann and is described as follows:

"This podcast is about teaching better and working less with EduProtocols. We put out a bi-monthly episode doing a deep dive into different eduprotocols. We talk to educators, authors and experts to find out how they are utilizing the power of the protocol in their practice."

I had a wonderful time chatting with the crew about my "Tier List" activity, which is a fun and engaging activity that can be used in any grade level or subject area to get students thinking critically, comparing and contrasting, debating, defending their ideas, communicating with others, and seeing other viewpoints.

Take a look below to listen to the episode, access the resources that I shared in the episode, and explore more about the podcast.

What's New in Google - April 2023

Catch up on everything new in Google Workspace for Education from April 2023, and see great ideas and resources!

Below is the recorded video from our April 2023 Google User Meeting, along with the meeting agenda with all the awesome resources and Google updates from the last few months. This includes lots of new Google updates and Google resources for your class.

The monthly meetings are hosted by the Google Educator Group of Ohio, but are open to anyone from any location. The purpose of these meetings is to:

• Connect Google-using educators
• Share the latest Google Workspace news and features
• Provide tutorials, demonstrations, and how-to’s
• Share best practices of how Google Workspace is being used within schools
• Ask questions and get answers

The video from the meeting is recorded and available for later viewing for those who cannot attend or connect live. See below to view the recorded video, agenda, and all the resources from the April 2023 meeting:

Announcing Poems Too Silly To Say

Over the years I have shared lots of EdTech resources for learning about poetry, as well as creating poetry. For example, I recently shared a post about poetry tools, resources, and a contest for National Poetry Month.

As much as I enjoy sharing resources about poetry, what I love even more is writing my own poetry, especially humorous poems. Through much of my life I have enjoyed writing funny poems for myself, and then for my daughter and step-sons, and now for my two grandchildren.

I am so excited to announce that I will be publishing a book with many of my favorite silly poems that I have written!

The book is called “Poems Too Silly To Say” and will contain 20 of my favorite poems that I have written, as well as full-color illustrations for each poem, hand-drawn by my daughter, Christina Terhune, who is an amazing artist!

See below for all of the details about this upcoming book, as well as how you can stay connected to the progress on this project, and how you can share this information with others.

My 2023 TLA Sessions

I am excited and honored to be presenting at the Texas Library Association Conference (TLA 2023) in Austin, Texas this week on April 20th, 2023.

I always look forward to an opportunity to see old friends, make new friends, share some ideas, and learn so many new things from others.

You can learn more about the conference at:

https://txla.org/annual-conference/

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting at TLA 2023, along with any associated resources. Please feel free to join me for any of these sessions. I look forward to sharing, learning, and chatting with you!

EdTech Links of the Week - 4-17-23

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter here: bit.ly/curts-news
📧 Join the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group: bit.ly/caa-emailgroup

🔔 Get new blog posts automatically through email - FollowIt link

📅 Subscribe to the "Control Alt Achieve" calendar for livestreams: Calendar link

🐦Follow me on Twitter here: twitter.com/ericcurts

🔗 Subscribe to the RSS feed for this blog here: RSS feed link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

Podcast Spotlight: EdVentures in Tech

I recently had the pleasure to be a guest on "Edventures in Tech Podcast".

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love podcasts and am always mentioning something new I learned from one of them, so I was super excited to get to join an episode of this podcast.

The podcast is hosted by Andrew Nikola and Dan Roberto and is described as "A discussion on best practices regarding educational technology and technology integration."

I had a wonderful time chatting with Andrew Nikola and Jon Redeker (Dan's fill-in for this episode). We talked about many things including the history of Control Alt Achieve, some of my favorite EdTech projects, my philosophy of tech integration, how to stay up to date with EdTech, and the challenges and benefits of artificial intelligence in education.

Take a look below to listen to the episode, access the resources that I shared in the episode, and explore more about the podcast.

EdTech Links of the Week - 4-10-23

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter here: bit.ly/curts-news
📧 Join the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group: bit.ly/caa-emailgroup

🔔 Get new blog posts automatically through email - FollowIt link

📅 Subscribe to the "Control Alt Achieve" calendar for livestreams: Calendar link

🐦Follow me on Twitter here: twitter.com/ericcurts

🔗 Subscribe to the RSS feed for this blog here: RSS feed link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

EdTech Spotlight - Scribble Diffusion

EdTech Spotlight posts are shorter entries (as compared to my normal full-sized posts) that highlight a specific educational technology resource.

These normally contain a video clip of me talking about and demonstrating the resource. These video clips are taken from my weekly live streams that I record on Monday nights at 7pm EST. These videos are more casual and conversational than my pre-recorded edited tutorial videos.

For this entry we are taking a look at Scribble Diffusion.

See below for a video clip about this resource, as well as a brief explanation and relevant links. If you use this resource, I would love to hear about your experience!

EdTech Spotlight - Stickity

EdTech Spotlight posts are shorter entries (as compared to my normal full-sized posts) that highlight a specific educational technology resource.

These normally contain a video clip of me talking about and demonstrating the resource. These video clips are taken from my weekly live streams that I record on Monday nights at 7pm EST. These videos are more casual and conversational than my pre-recorded edited tutorial videos.

For this entry we are taking a look at Stickity.

See below for a video clip about this resource, as well as a brief explanation and relevant links. If you use this resource, I would love to hear about your experience!

Google Bard Overview for Educators

Google has been at the forefront of artificial intelligence research and development for many years. We have seen this work in AI-powered tools such as:

• Google Lens - to identify the content of any image
• Docs Voice Typing - for speech to text capabilities in Google Docs
• Google Translate - to translate text into over 100 languages
• AutoDraw - to identify what you draw and provide a better version
• And so many more!

Recently Google took a major step forward by opening up access to Bard, their generative AI chatbot. This tool is similar to other products such as ChatGPT from OpenAI. In fact, ChatGPT is built on top of the Transformer technology developed by Google.

As with other Google tools, Bard has many applications and implications for schools. To help with this I have created a tutorial video and blog post where we cover:

🔑 Accessing Google Bard

💬 Using Google Bard

🗓️ Bard Activity History

🎓 Bard Examples for Educators

Check out the tutorial video and post below, and as always let me know your questions, thoughts, and ideas on this topic.

EdTech Spotlight - Felt

EdTech Spotlight posts are shorter entries (as compared to my normal full-sized posts) that highlight a specific educational technology resource.

These normally contain a video clip of me talking about and demonstrating the resource. These video clips are taken from my weekly live streams that I record on Monday nights at 7pm EST. These videos are more casual and conversational than my pre-recorded edited tutorial videos.

For this entry we are taking a look at Felt.

See below for a video clip about this resource, as well as a brief explanation and relevant links. If you use this resource, I would love to hear about your experience!

EdTech Links of the Week - 4-3-23

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter here: bit.ly/curts-news
📧 Join the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group: bit.ly/caa-emailgroup

🔔 Get new blog posts automatically through email - FollowIt link

📅 Subscribe to the "Control Alt Achieve" calendar for livestreams: Calendar link

🐦Follow me on Twitter here: twitter.com/ericcurts

🔗 Subscribe to the RSS feed for this blog here: RSS feed link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

EdTech Spotlight - ScreenPal

EdTech Spotlight posts are shorter entries (as compared to my normal full-sized posts) that highlight a specific educational technology resource.

These normally contain a video clip of me talking about and demonstrating the resource. These video clips are taken from my weekly live streams that I record on Monday nights at 7pm EST. These videos are more casual and conversational than my pre-recorded edited tutorial videos.

For this entry we are taking a look at ScreenPal.

See below for a video clip about this resource, as well as a brief explanation and relevant links. If you use this resource, I would love to hear about your experience!

EdTech Spotlight - Conker

EdTech Spotlight posts are shorter entries (as compared to my normal full-sized posts) that highlight a specific educational technology resource.

These normally contain a video clip of me talking about and demonstrating the resource. These video clips are taken from my weekly live streams that I record on Monday nights at 7pm EST. These videos are more casual and conversational than my pre-recorded edited tutorial videos.

For this entry we are taking a look at Conker.

See below for a video clip about this resource, as well as a brief explanation and relevant links. If you use this resource, I would love to hear about your experience!

What's New in Google - March 2023

Catch up on everything new in Google Workspace for Education from March 2023, and see great ideas and resources!

Below is the recorded video from our March 2023 Google User Meeting, along with the meeting agenda with all the awesome resources and Google updates from the last few months. This includes lots of new Google updates and Google resources for your class.

The monthly meetings are hosted by the Google Educator Group of Ohio, but are open to anyone from any location. The purpose of these meetings is to:

• Connect Google-using educators
• Share the latest Google Workspace news and features
• Provide tutorials, demonstrations, and how-to’s
• Share best practices of how Google Workspace is being used within schools
• Ask questions and get answers

The video from the meeting is recorded and available for later viewing for those who cannot attend or connect live. See below to view the recorded video, agenda, and all the resources from the March 2023 meeting:

National Poetry Month Competition and Resources

April is the time of year

For kids to write a poem.

There's loads of fun activities
Here for you to show 'em.

Technology can be used
To make the perfect rhyme,
With templates, tools, and writing prompts
To save your students time.

Draggable Drawings, random Sheets,
And Google Docs highlighting
Will give your students inspiration
For their creative writing.

So look below to find out more,
Then get your students on it,
Writing their ode, haiku, free verse,
Their ballad or their sonnet.

EdTech Spotlight - Curipod

EdTech Spotlight posts are shorter entries (as compared to my normal full-sized posts) that highlight a specific educational technology resource.

These normally contain a video clip of me talking about and demonstrating the resource. These video clips are taken from my weekly live streams that I record on Monday nights at 7pm EST. These videos are more casual and conversational than my pre-recorded edited tutorial videos.

For this entry we are taking a look at Curipod.

See below for a video clip about this resource, as well as a brief explanation and relevant links. If you use this resource, I would love to hear about your experience!

15 Updates to Make Google BETTer

This week Google is in London at BETT, the world’s biggest educational technology exhibition. At the event, companies from all around the world show off their latest and greatest innovations for educational technology.

Google is using this opportunity to showcase new updates for Google Workspace for Education. These updates include new features for Google Classroom, Docs, Slides, Meet, Chromebooks, Security, and more!

Although I have never been to BETT yet (definitely a goal for the future!) I wanted to share all of these new updates with you. See below for my rundown of everything new that Google is announcing. For each item I give the gist of what is new as well as how these updates can make teaching and learning BETTer.

EdTech Links of the Week - 3-27-23

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter here: bit.ly/curts-news
📧 Join the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group: bit.ly/caa-emailgroup

🔔 Get new blog posts automatically through email - FollowIt link

📅 Subscribe to the "Control Alt Achieve" calendar for livestreams: Calendar link

🐦Follow me on Twitter here: twitter.com/ericcurts

🔗 Subscribe to the RSS feed for this blog here: RSS feed link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

My 2023 ITIP Ohio Google Summit Sessions

I am so excited and honored to be selected as the keynote presenter for the 2023 ITIP Ohio Google Summit!

This is the 13th annual conference and I have had the pleasure to attend, present, and learn with amazing educators every year it has been held. 

It will be a unique privilege to get to provide the keynote this year, along with many breakout sessions.

See below for all the details about this year's conference...

Google Sheets for Educators

Google Sheets is easily one of the most powerful tools in the Google Workspace suite of programs. I use it every day in one way or another.

It can be used for many tasks such as:

• Analyzing student data to identify at-risk students
• Tracking student behavior
• Managing inventory
• Collecting attendance from a PD session and generating certificates
• Providing conditional formatting feedback in learning activities
• Building a learning database for students to draw conclusions from
• Making pixel art
• Creating interactive learning games and activities
• And much more!

Unfortunately many people can feel intimidated by spreadsheets and not be sure where to begin. I want to take that fear away and help ease you into the wonderful world of spreadsheets!

To help with, below you will find a 50-minute recorded webinar on Google Sheets where we cover topics including view options, freezing rows and columns, sorting data, filtering data, formulas, charts and graphs, sparklines, conditional formatting, and even pivot tables.

You will also find templates you can make copies of to follow along and try out each of the features demonstrated. I am excited to see what you do with these skills, and welcome any questions you have as you learn!

EdTech Links of the Week - 3-20-23

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter here: bit.ly/curts-news
📧 Join the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group: bit.ly/caa-emailgroup

🔔 Get new blog posts automatically through email - FollowIt link

📅 Subscribe to the "Control Alt Achieve" calendar for livestreams: Calendar link

🐦Follow me on Twitter here: twitter.com/ericcurts

🔗 Subscribe to the RSS feed for this blog here: RSS feed link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

Making and Taking Virtual Tours with Google Earth

Google Earth has long been a favorite tool of mine for exploring the world, seeing amazing 3D renderings of natural wonders as well as manmade structures, and of course viewing my house from space.

However, it offers much more than that! With Google Earth you and your students can take and make interactive, educational virtual tours.

With the Voyager tool you can explore hundreds of pre-made tours and activities.

With the Project tool you can create your own tours by plotting points on the globe to make a 3D geographic tour of a story, historical event, interesting locations, or any concept you are exploring in class. Each location can include additional text, images, videos, links, and more.

I recently recorded a 45-minute training video on making and taking Google Earth tours. See below to view the video, as well as access resources from the session and detailed directions. And if you or your students create a Google Earth tour, please consider sharing the product. I would love to learn from you!

My 2023 UCET Sessions

I am excited and honored to be presenting at the Utah Coalition for Educational Technology Conference (UCET 2023) in Provo, Utah this week on March 14th and 15th, 2023.

I always look forward to an opportunity to see old friends, make new friends, share some ideas, and learn so many new things from others.

You can learn more about the conference at:

https://ucet.org/conference/

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting at UCET 2023, along with any associated resources. Please feel free to join me for any of these sessions. I look forward to sharing, learning, and chatting with you!

EdTech Links of the Week - 3-6-23

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter here: bit.ly/curts-news
📧 Join the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group: bit.ly/caa-emailgroup

🔔 Get new blog posts automatically through email - FollowIt link

📅 Subscribe to the "Control Alt Achieve" calendar for livestreams: Calendar link

🐦Follow me on Twitter here: twitter.com/ericcurts

🔗 Subscribe to the RSS feed for this blog here: RSS feed link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

Google Slides Tier List Activity

I am always looking for ways to engage students in critical thinking and communication.

Recently I have been working on an activity that gets students comparing, contrasting, and prioritizing concepts, as well as defending the rationale for their claims.

This activity is based on something called a "Tier List".

A tier list is a concept that was originally developed in the video game culture where people would rank characters or items from the game based on how important they were. Typically the levels would be letter grades such as A through F, but often with the addition of an S-level that would be the highest rank (from Japanese word for "Exemplary").

Over time people have used the tier list format to rank a wide range of concepts, which I thought would work great for students. What I came up with is a Google Slides "Tier List" activity for schools:

• It is a high engagement student activity
• It encourages critical thinking, communication, comparing, contrasting, prioritizing, and defending rationales
• It can be used in any subject or grade level
• It should only take 15 to 30 minutes, and can be used multiple times throughout the year with different content.

See below for all the details about this activity including a tutorial video, examples, and templates you can make copies of.

EdTech Links of the Week - 2-27-23

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter here: bit.ly/curts-news
📧 Join the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group: bit.ly/caa-emailgroup

📅 Subscribe to the "Control Alt Achieve" calendar for livestreams: Calendar link

🐦Follow me on Twitter here: twitter.com/ericcurts

🔗 Subscribe to the RSS feed for this blog here: RSS feed link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

2023 SPARCC EdTech Conference

As part of my job at the Stark Portage Area Computer Consortium (SPARCC) in North Canton, Ohio, I help run a free educational technology conference each year.

We are excited to once again be offering the conference this year, and I would love to have you participate!

• The conference will be held on Tuesday, July 18, 2023.
• The conference will be both in-person and virtual.
• The conference will be held in person at the Stark County Educational Service Center at 6057 Strip Ave NW, North Canton, OH 44720.
• The sessions will also be streamed live for those who cannot attend in person.
• The sessions will also be recorded for those who cannot attend on the date of the conference.
• This is a FREE conference for teachers, administrators, technology staff, and anyone interested in using educational technology to support teaching and learning.
• This is an excellent way to kick off a new school year with great ideas!

Call for proposals and registration are now open. More details are included below in the rest of this blog post, and also on the conference website at http://conference.apps.sparcc.org/

I look forward to learning with you!

Google Chrome Can Do That?!

Google Chrome is the most popular web browser in the world. Chances are you use it, or have used it.

But are you getting the most out of it?

Chrome is loaded with lots of helpful features and tools that make your work easier, help you be more productive, and extend your abilities way beyond just browsing the web.

A while back a did a series of blog posts and videos on Google Chrome, where we explored lesser known features, tips, tricks, and helpful ideas for getting the most out of Chrome.

To make it simpler to access all of that content I have pulled everything together in one place. For each topic below you will find a short tutorial video, a basic overview, and a link to the original blog posts with even more details.

Over time I will continue to add new content here as Google Chrome continues to add features and improvements. Also, be sure to let me know your suggestions for tips that I should add. I would love to learn from you!

What's New in Google - February 2023

Catch up on everything new in Google Workspace for Education from February 2023, and see great ideas and resources!

Below is the recorded video from our February 2023 Google User Meeting, along with the meeting agenda with all the awesome resources and Google updates from the last few months. This includes lots of new Google updates and Google resources for your class.

The monthly meetings are hosted by the Google Educator Group of Ohio, but are open to anyone from any location. The purpose of these meetings is to:

• Connect Google-using educators
• Share the latest Google Workspace news and features
• Provide tutorials, demonstrations, and how-to’s
• Share best practices of how Google Workspace is being used within schools
• Ask questions and get answers

The video from the meeting is recorded and available for later viewing for those who cannot attend or connect live. See below to view the recorded video, agenda, and all the resources from the February 2023 meeting:

EdTech Links of the Week - 2-20-23

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter here: bit.ly/curts-news
📧 Join the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group: bit.ly/caa-emailgroup

📅 Subscribe to the "Control Alt Achieve" calendar for livestreams: Calendar link

🐦Follow me on Twitter here: twitter.com/ericcurts

🔗 Subscribe to the RSS feed for this blog here: RSS feed link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

Free Media Resources for Projects

When creating a project, such as a presentation, video, poster, podcast, or more, one challenge is finding media elements for your project that are free to use.

Thankfully there are many resources online that provide free, high-quality multimedia content that you and your students are able to use for free in any of your creations.

These include:

🖼️ Free Photos

✂️ Free Clipart and Icons

🏃 Free Animated GIFs

🅰️ Free Fonts and Text

🔊 Free Sound Effects

🎵 Free Music

▶️ Free Videos

🔱 Free Design Templates

In this blog post we will explore lists of free resources for each of these categories. If you have other sites that you use for free media, please let me know so I can add them to these lists.

And although the media elements provided through these sites are free, be sure to check for any attribution requirements to make sure you provide proper credit when using any content.

Book Creator Pen Tools - Let Your Inner Illustrator Come Alive!

Book Creator is a fantastic tool for students and teachers to create and share digital books. Not only does it help you write a book, it also makes it super easy to illustrate your creation.

Book Creator has a powerful pen tool that includes:

• a marker, paint brush, crayon, and highlighter to draw and write with
• the magic ink option to draw, write, and fill with colorful patterns
• a fill tool to color items in with colors or patterns
• an emoji tool to search, find and insert emojis
• and (best of all) the AutoDraw tool

These simple but powerful tools can bring out the inner illustrator in any student, and help them make a colorful and engaging book.

See below for a tutorial video and written directions on how these tools work. And thanks to Book Creator for sponsoring this post and video! All opinions expressed are based on my personal view.

Mote for Multilingual Learners - Recorded Webinar

Recently I had the privilege to offer a free online session for the Teacher Innovation Network "EdTech Playground" where the theme was ways technology can support multilingual learners.

For my portion of the session I presented about the Chrome extension Mote and how it can be used in the multilingual classroom. Here is a description of my session:

Marvelous Mote Activities for Schools

Mote is a free Chrome extension that lets you and your students record your voices and insert the audio into most all Google tools. In Docs this can be used to provide recorded directions, add personalized feedback, and practice fluency. In Slides this is the simplest way to embed audio in your presentations. In Forms you can use Mote to add audio to your questions, but also for students to record and submit their answers. Mote can also be used in Classroom, Gmail, and much more. Learn how you and your students can use this awesome extension to enhance teaching and learning with audio

The other presenter was Brian Lopez who covered using Flip for multilingual learners.

The Teacher Innovation Network was kind enough to make the recorded video available for people to view if they were not able to attend the live session. See below to watch the recording, as well as access the resources I shared in the session.

EdTech Links of the Week - 2-6-23

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter here: bit.ly/curts-news
📧 Join the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group: bit.ly/caa-emailgroup

📅 Subscribe to the "Control Alt Achieve" calendar for livestreams: Calendar link

🐦Follow me on Twitter here: twitter.com/ericcurts

🔗 Subscribe to the RSS feed for this blog here: RSS feed link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

Hearts and Charts Google Sheets Math Activities

In an earlier blog post I shared a fun math activity using Google Sheets and Skittles candy as a project students could do to tie in with Halloween, but it could certainly be done any time of the year.

With Valentine's Day coming up, I was asked if I had a similar version of the activity using Valentine Conversation Heart candies. That sounded like a terrific idea, so I made a new version of the project that uses the seasonal heart candies with little messages on them.

Very much like the earlier Skittles activity, this "Hearts and Charts" Google Sheets project allows students to practice skills including:

🤔 Estimating

🖐 Counting

⚖️ Comparing

➕ Adding

➗ Dividing

📊 And Graphing

And the Sheet is self-checking, so it provides feedback to the students as they work through each problem, letting them know if that got it correct or not.

See below to get your copy of the template, as well as written directions on how your students can do the activity.

EdTech Links of the Week - 1-30-23

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter here: bit.ly/curts-news
📧 Join the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group: bit.ly/caa-emailgroup

📅 Subscribe to the "Control Alt Achieve" calendar for livestreams: Calendar link

🐦Follow me on Twitter here: twitter.com/ericcurts

🔗 Subscribe to the RSS feed for this blog here: RSS feed link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

Join my Mote EdTech Playground on Jan 31st

I am excited to be offering a free online session for the Teacher Innovation Network where the theme will be ways technology can support multilingual learners.

The session is completely free for everyone and I hope you can attend. Below are the details and link for registration.

• Tuesday, January 31, 2023
• Pacific Time - 3:30 to 5:00pm
• Eastern Time - 6:30 to 8:00pm
• Register for free at tinyurl.com/tin2023

For my portion of the session I will be presenting about the Chrome extension Mote and how it can be used in the classroom. Here is a description of my session:

Marvelous Mote Activities for Schools

Mote is a free Chrome extension that lets you and your students record your voices and insert the audio into most all Google tools. In Docs this can be used to provide recorded directions, add personalized feedback, and practice fluency. In Slides this is the simplest way to embed audio in your presentations. In Forms you can use Mote to add audio to your questions, but also for students to record and submit their answers. Mote can also be used in Classroom, Gmail, and much more. Learn how you and your students can use this awesome extension to enhance teaching and learning with audio. For more details see: bit.ly/curts-mote

The other presenter will be Brian Lopez who will be covering Flip. I look forward to learning with you!

My 2023 FETC Sessions

I am excited and honored to be presenting at the Future of Education Technology Conference (FETC 2023) in New Orleans, Louisiana this week on January 23th through 26th, 2023.

I always look forward to an opportunity to see old friends, make new friends, share some ideas, and learn so many new things from others.

You can register for FETC at https://www.fetc.org/

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting at FETC 2023, along with any associated resources. Please feel free to join me for any of these sessions. I look forward to sharing, learning, and chatting with you!