Control Alt Achieve: EdTech Links of the Week

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

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

This week I have 4 resources from around the Internet and 3 resources from my blog.

💨 Brisk Teaching for Feedback

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In my last two newsletters I shared about how Brisk Teaching can be used to create curriculum resources and to re-level content. However, Brisk Teaching can do so much more...

One of those things is generating feedback on student writing:

Start with a Google Doc that has the student writing.
Use Brisk Teaching to choose the type of feedback you want to give including Targeted, Glow and Grow, Rubric Criteria, or Next Steps.
Provide addition details as needed such as a rubric, grade level, and specific focus.
Brisk Teaching will then generate personalized feedback for the student writing, which you can copy and use as desired.

Learn more and install the extension at briskteaching.com or get 3 months of the premium version for free at brisk-teaching.com/curts

🕹️ Arcademics

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Arcademics is a free site with loads of educational games to learn and practice content and skills for grades 1 through 6.
Topics include Shapes, Counting, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, Integers, Money, Time, Decimals, Fractions, Ratio & Proportion, Algebra, Language Arts, Spelling, Typing, and Geography.
Students can play without logging in, or you can set up classes and add your students.
The free version includes unlimited access to all the games, while there is also a paid version that adds data tracking, video lessons, and more customization.

✍️ Groovelit Writing Activities

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Groovelit is a free AI-powered site from Harvard Innovation Labs that provides a range of interactive learning games for students. A few of the games deal specifically with writing.

Set the Scene - Students use a picture as inspiration to write a narrative and earn points for using descriptive language (five senses, showing not telling) to create a compelling setting.
Persuasive Paragraph - Students respond to an argumentative prompt and earn points for having a claim and expanding with evidence.
Personal Narrative - Students write a personal narrative and earn points for using descriptive language (five senses, showing not telling) to create a compelling setting.
Hot Take Debates - Students respond to a debate prompt and earn points for having a claim and expanding with evidence.

In each case the student is given a few minutes to write and the AI evaluates their writing as they go and awards points as they fulfill the requirements of the activity. The free version includes unlimited students and games, as well as customization. There is a paid version with more features and data.

📘 800+ New Templates in Book Creator

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Book Creator is one of my favorite EdTech tools for students to easily create and share content. I have posted and presented about this tool several times including my video and post on using its powerful pen tools.

Book Creator has now made it easier than ever for students and teachers to create content with their release of over 800 ready-made page templates that can be used in your projects. These include:

Graphic Organizers: These tools help students plan and organize information. They make it easier to think critically and solve problems.
Portfolios: They show student work and track progress. They also help educators assess growth and understanding.
Layouts: Elements of a book, including its cover, table of contents, and about the author.
Comics: They make stories come alive with fun visuals. They encourage creativity and help students improve their storytelling skills.
Genres: Create newspapers, journals, yearbooks and more.
Themes: Make it simple to align the look and design of your book.

Learn more on their recent announcement or demo video.

➕ New Equatio Math Whiteboard

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The Equatio extension for Chrome has long been my recommendation for the easiest way to add math symbols and content to Google Docs, Slides, Forms and more. Recently they added a new Math Whiteboard tool to Equatio.

🔷 You can insert shapes, arrows, lines, drawings, text, and videos
📄 It integrates directly into Google Docs, Slides, etc
🎓 It is great for instructional content, interactives, student explanation & more!

Check out my blog post linked above for an overview and short demo video.

📜 My EdTech Webinars and Certificates

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I share a lot of recorded videos of my trainings, but people have often asked if they can get a certificate of completion for watching the sessions. To help with this I have set up a new webinars page where I am now providing free automated certificates of completion for many of my recorded videos. You can access the page using either link below:

For each video you will find a description, session resources, an EdPuzzle link to watch the recording and get a certificate, and a regular YouTube link to watch the recording if you don't need a certificate. Let me know if you have a request for a specific topic to be covered in a future recording.

🧭 Free Webinar - Navigating AI Challenges

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I am excited to be presenting a free webinar for Skyrocket Education Services on the topic of challenges, concerns, and the potential for misuse of AI in education, such as cheating, AI detection, inaccuracies, bias, data privacy, policies, educating students, and more.

Here are the details for this free webinar opportunity: