EdTech Links of the Week - 7-30-24

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:

🔗 View all EdTech Links of the Week: bit.ly/caa-links

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter: 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

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

4 Recorded Webinars from CFISD

I was honored to once again present at the 2024 CFISD Digital Learning Conference this year. This was a virtual conference so all of the sessions were recorded. 

If you were not able to join us for the live conference, you can still watch the recordings of my sessions.

This year the sessions I offered included:

• 🖐️ Active Learning with Google Tools and EduProtocols
• 📊 Google Sheets for Educators: From Data Noob to Nerd
• ✨ The "Gem in AI" - Google AI Tools for Education
• 🖥️ Google Meet Enterprise Features

See below for details on these four sessions, including descriptions, resources, and links to the recordings.

EdTech Links of the Week - 7-23-24

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:

🔗 View all EdTech Links of the Week: bit.ly/caa-links

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter: 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

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

Recorded Webinar - Hipster Google

I recently had the pleasure to present sessions at the High Impact Conference for Educators, which is an event we put on through the Educational Service Center where I work. All of my sessions were recorded, and over time I hope to share several of the videos.

Please note that the recordings are a lot more casual than some of my other videos, as this is from an in-person conference with a room full of attendees, so there is some chatting and questions and such. Hopefully though you will still find the content helpful.

For this recording, this is the session:

Hipster Google - Tools You Probably Never Heard Of

Everyone knows about Google Docs, Gmail, Search, and other common Google tools. But there are also loads of smaller, lesser-known, but powerful tools that can be used for teaching and learning. Learn about 70+ hidden gems such as nGram, Trends, AutoDraw, Chrome Music Lab, Toontastic, Landlines, Reverse Image Search, Instant Search Cards, Semantris, Art Palette, Timelapse, Interview Warmup, GameSnacks, Data GIF Maker and more (List subject to change based on how cool and unknown the tools remain.)

See below for the full recording, as well as the resources from the session. Please feel free to reach out with any questions, feedback, or suggestions you have on this topic.

World Snorkl Day - Virtual PD

Snorkl has been one of my favorite AI tools for education since even before it officially launched.

If you are not familiar with it, Snorkl was one the featured AI tools in my "Cool Tools 2023" series. For more details you can read that original blog post and watch my 12-minute tutorial video all about the tool.

In short, here is how Snorkl works:

• You create a problem, question, or prompt for your students and provide an exemplar answer for the AI.
• Students then record themselves speaking as they solve the problem or answer the question while explaining their reasoning.
• If needed the student can draw on the digital whiteboard while speaking.
• The AI then reviews the student's explanation based on the guidance you have provided.
• The AI then provides personalized feedback for the student on their work.
• The grades and feedback are all collected for you as the teacher to review.

The great news is that Snorkl is running a free virtual PD event on July 30th with a wide range of sessions to help you learn, explore, and apply Snorkl even better.

I am super excited to be part of one of the sessions, the "Snorkl Innovation Slam". See below for all of the details and how to register for this free event.

EdTech Links of the Week - 7-16-24

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:

🔗 View all EdTech Links of the Week: bit.ly/caa-links

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter: 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

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

My 2024 CFISD Digital Learning Conference Sessions

I am excited and honored to once again present at the 2024 CFISD Digital Learning Conference this year.

This year the CFISD Digital Learning Conference is

• Entirely virtual with over 100 EdTech sessions
• Held on July 24th and 25th
• Open to all educators
• FREE!

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

• All sessions for 7/24 - https://cfisd-dlc-24.glide.page/dl/d0a5f4
• All sessions for 7/25 - https://cfisd-dlc-24.glide.page/dl/da19fa

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting for the 2024 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!

Recorded Webinar - Accessibility Tools to Support All Learners

I recently had the pleasure to present sessions at the High Impact Conference for Educators, which is an event we put on through the Educational Service Center where I work. All of my sessions were recorded, and over time I hope to share several of the videos.

Please note that the recordings are a lot more casual than some of my other videos, as this is from an in-person conference with a room full of attendees, so there is some chatting and questions and such. Hopefully though you will still find the content helpful.

For this recording, this is the session:

Accessibility Tools to Support all Learners

There are many tools, apps, extensions, and features available to assist all learners. In this session we take an in-depth hands-on look at a wide range of technology tools to assist any and all learners. These can include text-to-speech, speech-to-text, readability, reading comprehension, artificial intelligence tools, audio support, organization, focus, and more. Learn what tools are available and how to access and use these free tools with your students.

See below for the full recording, as well as the resources from the session. Please feel free to reach out with any questions, feedback, or suggestions you have on this topic.

EdTech Links of the Week - 7-9-24

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:

🔗 View all EdTech Links of the Week: bit.ly/caa-links

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter: 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

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

Recorded Webinar - Storytelling Activities with Google Tools

I recently had the pleasure to present sessions at the High Impact Conference for Educators, which is an event we put on through the Educational Service Center where I work. All of my sessions were recorded, and over time I hope to share several of the videos.

Please note that the recordings are a lot more casual than some of my other videos, as this is from an in-person conference with a room full of attendees, so there is some chatting and questions and such. Hopefully though you will still find the content helpful.

For this recording, this is the session:

Once Upon a Google: Innovative Storytelling with Google Tools

Google tools provide many ways for students and educators to create and share stories. Slides can be used to create storybooks, e-books, comic strips, stop-motion animation, and story soundboards; Docs can be used for "Choose Your Own Adventure" stories, emoji rebus stories, and black-out poetry; Sheets can be used to create random writing prompts for inspiration, and more!

See below for the full recording, as well as the resources from the session. Please feel free to reach out with any questions, feedback, or suggestions you have on this topic.

EdTech Links of the Week - 7-2-24

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:

🔗 View all EdTech Links of the Week: bit.ly/caa-links

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter: 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

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

Creating Educational Songs with AI Tools

A lot of times we focus on how AI tools can generate text, such as lesson plans, rubrics, assessments, leveled reading passages, and more. As awesome as those uses are, AI can create much more than text.

Recently AI has become more and more multi-modal, meaning that it is also able to understand and generate media in other forms such as images, audio, music, and video. Each of these deserves its own blog post (or several) but for this entry we are going to explore making a song with AI.

Specifically I decided to see if I could use AI tools to create an educational song that could be used to help teach a concept to students. The plan was to use ChatGPT to write the lyrics for the song, and then use Udio to generate the music and to sing the completed song.

For this test I used the water cycle as my topic, and I am so excited with the final product! See below to listen to the water cycle song, and for the directions and tools I used to create it. I hope this will inspire you to create a song, and I would love to hear what you make, as well as any suggestions you have for making this project better.