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 4 resources from my blog.

🦋 Bluesky Starter Tips for Educators

Resource Link

Recently Bluesky has exploded in popularity, especially with educators.
If you are curious to learn more, or if you have joined but could use some help getting started, I put together a new blog post on "Bluesky Starter Tips for Educators".
The post covers signing up, creating your profile, connecting with the EduSky community, following people, using Starter Packs, joining EduChats, adding custom feeds, refollowing Twitter friends, and more!
If you do join, you can connect with me here: https://bsky.app/profile/ericcurts.bsky.social
I would love to connect with you there and keep learning together!

🍎 TeacherServer

Resource Link

TeacherServer is an AI prompting tool similar to MagicSchool, Khanmigo, Eduaide and others, where you choose a tool, type your details into a form, and the AI generates your content. However, TeacherServer has some specific benefits:

Absolutely Free - TeacherServer is free to use. No ads, no fees, just tools to help you teach.
Amount of Prompts - There are currently over 800 prompt tools for science, social studies, math, reading, writing, art, music, PE, special ed, leadership, parents, higher ed, research, and more.
Speed - TeacherServer uses a locally installed AI server, rather than going through ChatGPT, so you get super quick results.
Full Privacy & Security - All data is processed locally and never stored or shared.

⛄ 8 Googley Wintertime Activities for Kids

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If you are looking for seasonal projects that are fun, tie into wintertime themes, and still provide our students with a chance to be creative, write, or improve some content area skills, be sure to check out my collection of eight wintertime-themed activities that use free Google tools, including Docs, Slides, Sheets, and Drawings including:

⛄ Build a Snowman with Google Slides
🎄 Decorate a Holiday Tree with Google Slides
🧲 Wintertime Magnetic Poetry with Google Drawings
📬 Holiday Greeting Cards with Google Drawings
🎁 "12 Days of Christmas" Guided Google Sheets Math Activity
🌟 Pixel Art Ornaments with Google Sheets
❄️ Wintertime Emoji Rebus Stories with Google Docs
💡 Holiday Lights Writing with Google Docs

📰 What's New in Google

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For an easy way to catch up on everything new in Google for Education from the last month, check out the recorded video, detailed agenda, and all the links from the GEG-Ohio November 2024 Meeting. As usual we shared lots of news, updates, helpful ideas and resources for schools. What is your favorite update?

🕹️ Room Recess

Resource Link

Room Recess was developed by an elementary teacher and has over 160 free learning games for grades K through 6.
The games cover skills including math, reading, spelling, language arts, mouse skills, typing, problem solving, and more. And the games are actually fun!
In addition to the games, the site also has virtual manipulatives, learning tools, online coloring pages, skill quizzes, video lessons, audio stories, jigsaw puzzles,
Students do not have to sign up or create an account. They can just use the games and learning resources for free.

💡 Learn About

Resource Link

According to Google, Learn About is a "conversational learning companion designed to help you dive deeper into any topic you're curious about with Google AI".
In other words, it is like Gemini or ChatGPT, but with an extra layer of learning resources.
The resources can include images, videos, interactive timelines, vocabulary cards, practical applications, interactive lists to dive deeper, related content to explore, follow-up questions and topics, and more.
My guess is these may be features that eventually get integrated into Gemini, but for now this is a great way to explore them and learn new content in an engaging way.
At the moment you do need to be signed into your Google account, and 18 years of age or older, to use Learn About.

🏫 Old School Quiz

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On the lighter side of things, how well can you identify old or outdated items that used to be commonplace in schools?
This quiz is a little silly, but it is also fun to see how many of these older items from school you can identify.
Seeing as how this is my 33rd year in education, I did pretty well and got 21 out of 22 correct, which gave me the rating of "Old as Dirt".
How did you do? What would you add to this list?

🎁 Class Companion Gifts

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Class Companion is another one of my favorite AI tools. You can see my earlier blog post and tutorial video about it. In the season of giving, Class Companion is giving away some great resources:

FREE Premium Insights: All teachers get access to Premium Insights until January 24th! This is an incredible opportunity to explore advanced analytics, dive into student data, and personalize instruction - all for free. You can sign up for your free account here.
Sleigh the Semester: To celebrate, they are running a fun event this week where teachers can learn how to get the most out of these insights with tips, tricks, and even giveaways. Register for "Sleigh the Semester" here.