Control Alt Achieve: EdTech Links

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!

This week I have 4 resources from around the Internet and 2 resources from my blog.

🖼️ AI for Alt Text: Boost Accessibility with this Prompt

Resource Link

I recently created an AI prompt to help with generating alt text for images. If you are not familiar with this, alt text is a short description of an image that helps people who can't see it understand its meaning. When someone uses assistive technology, such as a screen reader, it will read the alt text aloud.

To help with this I have created a prompt you can use with your favorite AI chatbot to generate alt text for images in your social media posts (or other online images). See the link above for directions, examples, and a copy of the prompt to use however you need.

🛠️ 5 Teacher-Tested AI Tools

Resource Link

RI recently had the opportunity to write my first article for Edutopia in which I covered five of my favorite AI tools for educators and how they can be used in schools. These included:

➡️ Brisk Teaching
🤿 Snorkl
📓 NotebookLM
🍎 TeacherServer
🎵 Suno

Have you used any of these? What are your favorites? You can access the article at the link above.

🧩 Starter Apps from Google AI Studio

Resource Link

Google AI Studio is a site where you can play with all the latest AI features from Google. It is a way for Google to beta test their new tools, but it also gives you a free way to try them out. This includes chatting with the latest models, generating AI videos, sharing your voice / webcam / screen with Gemini, and more.

One exciting section of the AI Studio is the "Starter Apps" page. Here you can try out interesting apps created with Gemini. Partly this can be a neat way to see what AI is capable of, but at the same time many of these are actually useful.

Some of my favorites include:

Video to Learning App - Instantly turn YouTube videos into fun, interactive learning apps using the power of Al. Explore concepts visually and learn actively.
Dictation App - Effortless dictation powered by Gemini Al. Record thoughts, get accurate transcriptions, and beautifully polished notes automatically.
Magical GIF Maker - Instantly transform your text prompts into charming animated doodles with Gemini. Effortlessly bring your imagination to animated life!
Flashcard Maker - Instantly create interactive flashcards for any topic with the power of Gemini! Learn smarter, not harder.

✖️ Math Resources from Robert Kaplinksy

Resource Link

I was chatting with Robert this last week through email and was very impressed with the amount and quality of free math resources he offers through his website. Some of his resources include:

Open Middle Math Problems - Resource link
Real World Math Lessons - Resource link
Recorded Webinars - Resource link
And more

Be sure to check this out if you are a math teacher, or share with a math teacher you know.

📬 Informed Delivery

Resource Link

Although most communication nowadays is done through email, texts, and DM's, I still get periodic important content as physical postal mail. Have you ever wondered what is coming in the mail today? Or more importantly, have you ever been worried that something important was lost or accidentally delivered to a neighbor's house (the one who most certainly is just going to throw it away)?

Well thankfully there is a totally free technology solution from the US Post Office called "Informed Delivery". I have been using this service for more years than I can remember, and am always surprised that more people don't know about it. Each morning I get an email that has scanned images of all the mail that is coming to my house that day. If it shows a correspondence or bill or check that I have been waiting for, then I know to make sure it is actually in my mailbox that afternoon. If not, I can use a provided link to let the post office know the mail did not arrive.

You can sign up for these daily emails on the Informed Delivery website, and now you can also try out the beta test of their new mobile app for Android and IOS.

💼 HopeST

Resource Link

A Career Fair in Your Pocket!

HopeST is a career exploration app that helps students discover and explore careers. It’s personalized, differentiated and it’s FREE for students forever. It’s available today on web, iOS and Android.

Students love it…