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
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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.

🛠️ 27 Free Gemini AI Tools for Educators

Resource Link

A while back Google rolled out 27 free Gemini AI tools for educators. Although these are found on the Google Classroom site, you do not need to be a Classroom user to access and use these.

I have been testing out each of the tools and I have found them to be thoughtfully designed, generating quality results that are customized for you and your students. Categories include planning, instructional support, assessments, student support, admin tasks and more.

I recently did a short video and blog post to explain the different types of tools and how they work, which you can get to at the link above. Have you tried any of these out? Which are your favorites?

✍️ EnlightenAI Webinar

Resource Link

EnlightenAI is one of my favorite AI tools for student writing feedback. Since I first shared about it a couple years ago, they have continued to add new features for both educators and students. To help catch everyone up on all that is new, I will be hosting a free webinar:

"Engage, Enhance, Encourage: EnlightenAI for Student Writing Feedback"
🗓️ Tuesday, October 14th, 2025
⏰ 7pm ET / 6pm CT / 5pm MT / 4pm PT
▶️ The webinar will be live-streamed and also recorded for those who can't attend live

You can get more details and register for free at the link above.

🌞 My 2026 FETC Sessions

Resource Link

I am excited and honored to be presenting at the Future of Education Technology Conference (FETC 2026) in Orlando, Florida on January 11th through 14th, 2026.

You can access all the details and resources for the sessions I will be presenting at bit.ly/curts-fetc26 or the link above.
If you are interested in attending you can get all of those details at www.fetc.org
If you do attend, be sure to add to our sharing document here bit.ly/fetc26-share

🤖 Androidify

Resource Link

Back in 2011 Google rolled out Androidify which let you create a custom Android avatar of yourself or anyone, but it was unfortunately shut down in 2020. I used to share this fun tool as part of my Hipster Google session.

Well the good news is that Androidify is back and better than ever! Where the old version only let you pick from a specific set of design choices, the new version is AI-powered so the possibilities are limitless.

Just head over to androidify.com
Upload a photo or write a text prompt to describe your Android bot.
If you upload an image you can also select up to two accessories to include.
Finally select the color for your bot and click "Create my bot".
Google's AI will then create your bot.
You can download the creation and share however you want.

Just like the original tool, the new version of Androidify has lots of fun uses in schools. Users can create Android bot versions of themselves, or people from history, or characters from a story, people in different professions, and more.

🎧 Hard Fork Podcast - AI in Education Episode

Resource Link

No matter what you think about AI in education, positive or negative or most likely a mix of both, the reality is that AI is increasingly impacting our schools. Hard Fork is a podcast from the New York Times that I have recommended before as a great source for staying up to date on what's new in AI. This last week they had an episode devoted entirely to AI in education including:

The K-12 Alpha School model, where students use AI for a 2-hour personalized academic block, enabling teachers to act as "guides" focused on motivation.
Princeton professor D. Graham Burnett, who argued that AI makes traditional essays obsolete, forcing the humanities to shift from rote assignments to deeper inquiry.
And finally, students sharing contrasting perspectives on how they actually are using AI in schools, including as a powerful personal tutor but also for cutting corners.

I would encourage you to take some time to listen to the episode to get a look at some different perspectives on AI, and see what new challenges are facing traditional schools.

🧲 Free Gizmos for Math and Science

Resource Link

ExploreLearning has a "Gizmos" website where they provide over 550 interactive math and science labs and simulations for grades 3-12. Although access to the full collection is only through a subscription, they are kind enough to provide a rotating set of free Gizmos that anyone can use.

There are typically 20 to 40 free Gizmos at a time.
They include full access to lesson materials for the free Gizmos such as teacher guides, lesson plans, and more.
Free Gizmos change each semester, with a new collection available each January 1 and July 1.
Currently some of the free Gizmos cover area, transformations, line graphs, phases of water, histograms, muscles and bones, the carbon cycle, Pythagorean Theorem, photosynthesis, and much more!

🗣️ AI Literacy in the Classroom: A Panel Discussion

Resource Link

We’re all figuring out AI in real time: fielding questions from students, families, and colleagues while also trying to make sense of it yourself. You don’t have to do it alone. Join Dr. Rachelle Dené Poth, Jeff Bradbury, and former classroom teachers now on the Kira team for a conversation about what AI literacy looks like in practice.

You’ll hear about: