FigJam for Schools Webinars

Figma has partnered with Google to provide their tools absolutely free to educators and students. 

One of their tools is FigJam which is an advanced collaborative whiteboarding tool with features including stamps, emotes, stickies, shapes, connectors, drawing tools, plugins, interactive widgets, and much more.

You and your students can use FigJam to:

• Brainstorm ideas for projects and assignments with sticky notes, shapes, and freehand drawing.
• Organize thoughts and research with decision trees, diagrams, and mind maps.
• Collaborate with classmates and teachers in real time with feedback and comments.
• Plan and run group projects, presentations, and more.

To help you get started with FigJam, and get the most out of it, I will be hosting two free webinars in October. Whether you have never heard of FigJam, or if you want to dig deeper into it, these live-streamed training sessions will be super helpful.

See below for details on each webinar and the registration information. If you are unable to attend live, the sessions will be recorded and shared out afterwards. I look forward to learning with you!

The Bard's Tale: Google AI Tools in Education

Google has continued to roll out more and more new updates for Bard and their other AI products. 

It is exciting to test out these new features to see how they can benefit schools with productivity, content creation, teaching, learning, and more.

I recently recorded a 1-hour webinar where I did a deep dive into Google's artificial intelligence tools. In the webinar we explore:

• 🏛️ Classic Google AI Tools
• 🚀 New Google AI Tools such as Bard, AI Search tools, Notebook LM, and Duet AI for Workspace
• 🔮 Upcoming Google AI Tools

See below to access the video and the session resource document with all the links and information.

Fabulous Features of Google Docs

Google Docs is a powerful word processing program with loads of useful features, and Google frequently adds new tools and options.

Even if you use Docs often, you may not use all of the features, or even be aware of some of them.

Recently I went through all the menus, settings, tools, and options in Docs to try to compile a list of some of my favorite features. I ended up with a list of 23 fabulous features of Google Docs which I am sharing below.

If you are new to Google Docs, or just a casual user, this list will help introduce you to the features that make Docs unique and powerful. Or if you are a seasoned user, hopefully you will pick up a few new ideas or reminders for tools that you can make more use of.

Either way, be sure to let me know what features I have left off the list that you would recommend, as well as how you use those features. I am excited to learn from you!

Conker Your Quizzes With Mote

I recently had the privilege to present a virtual session for MoteCon 2023 on how to use Conker, which is Mote's new AI-powered tool for creating assessments.

Last year at MoteCon 2022 I presented a session on using Mote to create an interactive digital soundboard in Google Slides for your class. You can see that recording from last here: Creating a Soundboard with Google Slides

With artificial intelligence being all the rage right now it made perfect sense this year to focus on their new Conker AI tool. In short:

• Conker is a tool from the makers of Mote, which uses AI to generate quizzes.
• The quiz can come from a topic, or source material, or quiz bank.
• Questions can include multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, and read & respond.
• Quizzes can be exported to Google Forms.

See below for the 30-minute recorded video all about using Conker to create quizzes, and also how to use Mote on top of that to add your recorded voice to the Google Form quiz that is created.

What's New in Google? August 2023

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

Below is the recorded video from our August 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 August 2023 meeting:

Active Learning with EduProtocols and Google Tools

I am always looking for activities that get students thinking critically, collaborating, creating, communicating, and basically being engaged in the learning process. Recently I had the opportunity to record a training session on just that.

The session was "Active Learning with Google Tools" which focuses on using EduProtocols with your students.

If you are not familiar with EduProtocols, they are defined as follows:

• EduProtocols are instructional lesson frames that are designed to engage students in learning through critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity.  
• EduProtocols can be used with any subject, any grade level, kindergarten through adult.

In this training session we explore three example EduProtocols including Sketch & Tell, Tier List, and Iron Chef.

See below for the 43-minute recorded video of the training, as well as access to the session resource documents and details.

Artificial Intelligence / Natural Misuse - Managing AI in Schools

Artificial Intelligence can provide great benefits and support for students and educators. For lots of examples, check out my earlier post and video on "AI in Education".

However, as beneficial as AI can be, it also comes with challenges and the potential for misuse.

Recently I recorded a 45-minute webinar to explore tools and strategies to help address these concerns in schools including:

• 🤔 What are the Concerns?
• ❓ What is Cheating with AI?
• 🧭 Setting AI Guidelines
• 🎓 Educating Students about AI
• ✅ Using Alternate Assessments
• 🤖 Creating AI-integrated Assignments
• 📑 Encouraging Proper Citation
• 🔎 Monitoring AI Usage
• 👩 Engaging Parents and Guardians
• 📰 Staying Informed

See below for the 45-minute recording of this session, as well as links and details on all of the resources from the session.

Please feel free to share this video and the resource doc with others who may benefit. This is a great way to help your school discuss and address these critical ideas. And please share with me your suggestions, resources, ideas, and experiences on these topics. I want to learn from you!

EdTech Playground Sessions for 2023-2024

I am excited to once again be presenting an "EdTech Playground" for the Teacher Innovation Network this year! Last year my session was about "Mote for Multilingual Learners". This year I will be doing a session about accessibility.

The great things about the EdTech Playgrounds are:

• They are FREE!
• They are streamed live
• The recordings can be viewed later
• They are open to anyone

See below for the full list of EdTech Playground sessions for this year, as well as details on how to register. I look forward to learning with you!

AI in Education: What Educators Need to Know

The capabilities of artificial intelligence have skyrocketed in the last year, along with questions, concerns, ideas, and many requests for professional development sessions!

I have been training on AI frequently and recently had the chance to record my session called "AI in Education - What Educators Need to Know".

This is a great session that covers the absolute essentials about artificial intelligence in schools where we look at:

👀 An overview of AI

💬 Current generative AI tools

💡 Ideas for positive ways AI can be used in schools

🚫 Ideas for addressing potential misuses of AI in schools

See below for the 42-minute recording of this session, as well as links to all of the resources from the session.

Please feel free to share this video and the resource docs with others who may benefit. This is a great way to help get your school up to speed on AI, see what tools are currently available, explore ideas for how it can be used in school, and discuss how to address potential misuses and concerns.

Back to School 2023 with Book Creator

This blog post brought to you by Book Creator, but all opinions are mine.

Believe it or not, the summer is coming to a close and it is time to start preparing for back to school. 

Whether this thought fills you with excitement for a new year, or disbelief on how fast the summer flew by, Book Creator can help make the transition easy and exciting.

I have often shared about Book Creator, including how this tool can be used to help students write and illustrate their stories. For more details on that, see my earlier blog post and tutorial video here - "Book Creator Pen Tools - Let Your Inner Illustrator Come Alive!"

Well now to help kick off the new school year, Book Creator has a collection of awesome "Back to School" resources including:

• 6 webinars throughout August
• An activity book for students
• A teacher-created resource book
• Blog posts with ideas and lesson plans for teachers
• SEL templates to engage students in reflection
• #ClearTheList promotion 
• New Toolkit for Schools & Districts
• License offer promotion for schools and districts

Take a look below to get details for these resources. And a big thanks to Book Creator for offering these and for sponsoring this blog post!

My 2023 CFISD Digital Learning Conference Sessions

I am excited and honored to once again present at the 2023 CFISD Digital Learning Conference this year.

This year the CFISD Digital Learning Conference is

• Entirely virtual with over 200 EdTech sessions
• Held on July 26th and 27th
• Open to all educators
• FREE!

You can get all the details on the conference website at: www.cfisd.net/DLC

• All sessions for 7/26 - cfisd-dlc-23.glide.page/dl/d0a5f4
• All sessions for 7/27 - cfisd-dlc-23.glide.page/dl/dcc150

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting for the 2023 CFISD Digital Learning Conference, along with any associated resources and the live stream links for each session.  I look forward to sharing and learning with you!

Coding with AI for Schools

Although coding is a powerful skill, it can also be very intimidating. Thankfully generative AI tools can assist you with coding no matter what your skill level is (or isn't).

• If you have never coded in your life, you can use AI to bring your ideas to life.
• If you are learning to code, AI can help with your projects and teach you along the way.
• If you are a seasoned coder, AI can help you troubleshoot errors and discover new coding approaches.

Recently I recorded a webinar on how you can use AI to help with coding. The training is aimed a people who are brand new to coding, but hopefully it will be valuable to anyone interested in how AI can assist them in this process. Here is the description for the session:

Yes (even) You Can Code with AI!

Don't know Python from Perl? Is HTML all IDK to you? Do you think JavaScript is the handwriting on your Starbucks cup? Even if you have never written a line of code in your life, you can with AI! In this session we will see how to use tools such as Bard and ChatGPT to create code that you can use in Google Docs, Sheets, and Sites for learning games, activities, supports, time-savers, productivity helpers, and more.

See below for the recorded webinar, resource document, slideshow, and detailed directions and examples. 

My SPARCC23 Sessions

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.
• We will have 42 live sessions and 20+ pre-recorded sessions.
• 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!

More details and registration are on the conference website at conference.apps.sparcc.org and in our "Attendee Information" Google Doc.

See below for a list of the session I will be presenting. I look forward to learning with you!

Connect with Educators on the New Threads App

Social media is a constantly changing landscape. I still miss the days of Google+ where educators had thriving communities to connect and exchange ideas.

In place of that, people can connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Mastodon, and Bluesky.

I was excited to learn about a new social media platform called Threads, which was created by the team at Instagram!

One of the biggest challenges to any new sharing tool is being able to get enough people to join. The power is in the people! Because Threads is from Instagram it is super easy for people to join and it looks like that is exactly what is happening in the millions.

See below for a quick overview of Threads, as well as a shared Google Form and Sheet to add your accounts to connect with others. And of course please feel free to connect with me at https://www.threads.net/@ericcurts

AI Images in Google Slides

A while back, Google announced a new set of AI tools coming for Google Workspace which they are calling Duet AI. These features help you create with AI right inside of Docs, Slides, Sheets, Meet, Gmail, and more.

I recently got access to the new Duet AI integration for Google Slides called "Help me visualize". This is a text to image tool that lets you type in a description of the picture you want, and then the AI creates several images to match your request.

Text to image generation is a popular and powerful AI tool as seen in DALL-E, Midjourney, Canva, Bing Image Creator, Adobe Firefly, Scribble Diffusion, and other services. It is exciting to see this feature now available right inside of Google Slides.

See below for my demonstration video and detailed directions and examples on using Duet AI in Google Slides to generate images from text.

16 Super Google Updates from ISTE23

Google is constantly releasing new features, updates, and tools, which I try to share out each month in our GEG-Ohio virtual meetings at bit.ly/gegohio

However, sometimes Google drops a large amount of updates all at one time, often in conjunction with a large EdTech conference such as BETT or ISTE. They have just done that for the 2023 ISTE Conference.

I was fortunate to be able to attend and present at ISTE again this year. You can access all of my ISTE session resources at bit.ly/curts-iste23

I was also privileged to get to sit down with Taryn Sullivan from Google while at the conference to do a quick interview concerning several of their new updates.

See below for my recorded interview with Taryn, as well as details on many of the new updates that caught my attention. Which new features are you most excited for? I would love to hear your thoughts!

My ISTE 2023 Sessions

I am excited and honored to once again present at the 2023 ISTE Conference in Philadelphia this June 24th through 28th.

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

You can attend ISTE in person this year, or take part as a virtual attendee. Registration opens January 10th. To get more details and register for the conference go to:

• conference.iste.org/2023/attend

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting at the ISTE Conference, along with any associated resources. I will continue to update this list with any changes and additions to my schedule.

Please feel free to join me for any of these sessions. I look forward to sharing, learning, and chatting with you!

Join the Control Alt Achieve Facebook Group

I am excited to announce the launch of the "Control Alt Achieve" Facebook group!

There are many ways that I communicate and share EdTech resources including this blog, Twitter, YouTube, my newsletter, and more.

Although those are effective ways to share out information, those methods are not always the best for discussions and connections and community.

To help with this I recently created a Google Group for email discussion which has grown to become a wonderful community of connected educators. I would encourage you to join that group if you haven't yet!

To build on this, and to provide people with another option, I have now created a Facebook Group to serve as an additional "Control Alt Achieve" discussion group. Anyone with an interest in educational technology is welcome to join.

See below for all the details and I am so excited to connect with and learn from you!

150+ Excellent Extensions for Chrome

Google Chrome is a powerful web browser filled with loads of useful features and tools. I covered many of these in my earlier series of posts and videos called "Google Chrome Can Do That?!"

However, as awesome as Chrome is, it may not do everything you need.

Thankfully Google allows you to make Chrome even better by installing Chrome web extensions. Extensions are tools from the Chrome Web Store that give extra features and abilities to Chrome. When you have them installed, you will find them as little icons in the top right corner of your browser.

In this blog post and webinar video we are going to take a deep dive into extensions including how to get extensions, how to manage your extensions, my resource with over 150 recommended extensions for you and your students, a selection of highlighted extensions, and more.

See below for the recorded webinar and all the resources for this session.

10 Questions for Student AI Guidelines

Over the past few months AI has emerged as a powerful tool to enrich our teaching, as well as our students' learning and creativity. But as the saying goes, "With great power comes great responsibility" (and yes, I did just watch the latest Spider-Man movie).

As AI use continues to grow, it is important for educators to establish clear guidelines for AI usage in the classroom, in an effort to safeguard our students while empowering their learning journey.

Like any powerful tool, AI has potential benefits and pitfalls. Its use in the classroom can enhance personalized learning, facilitate instant feedback, and foster a culture of innovation. However, improper use can lead to misinformation, privacy issues, and a lack of critical thinking.

In this blog post we will explore how you can develop AI guidelines by answering 10 questions about your philosophy of AI in education. We will then see how we can use AI to help us craft our ideas into a set of well-defined, thoughtful guidelines for our students.

What's New in Google? May 2023

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

Below is the recorded video from our May 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 May 2023 meeting:

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...