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 3 resources from my blog.

💀 4 Googley Halloween Activities

Resource Link

Over the years I have created a bunch of Halloween-themed educational activities with Google tools including:

🎃 Build a Jack-O-Lantern with Google Slides
👻 Halloween Rebus Stories with Emojis and Google Docs
🦇 Halloween Drag and Drop Poetry with Google Drawings
🍬 Skittles and Google Sheets Math Activities

Check out my blog post to get your own free copies of the templates, as well as detailed directions for each project. If you do any of these activities I would love to hear how they go and see some of your students' creations. I welcome any suggestions for improvement or extensions to make these activities even better!

📅 Docs Calendar Templates for the 26/27 School Year

Resource Link

Several years ago I created some Google Docs templates for a colleague who was looking for a simple one-page document to show important calendar dates for an entire school year. The templates were a big hit and many people found them to be helpful.

Although it still feels like the school year has just gotten started, I have already received emails from folks asking if I have made a version for next year ... the 2026-2027 school year. You can get your copy of the templates at the link above.

📰 What's New in Google?

Resource Link

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 September 2025 Meeting. As usual we shared lots of news, updates, helpful ideas and resources for schools. What is your favorite update?

🗞️ Free Access to The Atlantic

Resource Link

The Atlantic is already widely used as a teaching resource and read by millions of educators and students. Now The Atlantic is offering every public high school in the United States free digital access to its journalism and 168-year archive. This provides students, teachers, and administrators unlimited access to all articles, full magazine issues, podcasts and audio articles, Atlantic Games, and the complete archive. Key details include:

Open to all U.S. public high schools or districts (includes comprehensive, magnet, charter, and specialized schools).
Schools may register for access at The Atlantic. The request must be submitted by either an administrator, librarian, or IT professional at the school.
Access will be authenticated by IP address, giving students and staff access on browsers connected to a school’s Wi-Fi network. No individual accounts are required.

🔄 Mixboard

Resource Link

Google Labs has added a new experiment called Mixboard, which is an AI-powered concept board designed to help you explore, expand and refine ideas. With Mixboard’s open canvas and generative AI capabilities, you can:

Start a new project from a text prompt or choose from pre-populated boards
Bring your own images or use AI to generate unique visuals
Edit your boards with natural language to do things like make small changes, combine images and more
Create new versions of your ideas with one-click options like “regenerate” and “more like this”
Generate text based on context from any images on your board

This could be a fun and easy way to brainstorm, plan, and create.

🛠️ MakerEd Educators Forum

Resource Link

MakerEd is back again with their free Educators Forum, an engaging, hands‑on virtual professional development designed for maker educators. These workshops bring together inspiring educators and innovative tools to help you bring making into your classroom.

📅 October 17, 2025
🕛 12:00–6:00 PM ET / 9:00 AM–3:00 PM PT
💡 A full‑day forum with interactive sessions, discussions, and networking for maker educators
📜 Certification of completion from MakerEd of CPE hours

If you are not able to attend live, go ahead and register, as all sessions will be recorded and made available after the event.

🚨 Factile

Resource Link

Factile is a Jeopardy game maker that energizes everyone, not just a handful of students, with great new features that are designed with both student engagement and teacher goals in mind:

🔔 Buzzer Mode Team Management - This mode gives every team member a role. Captains lead, teammates join easily, and moderators can manage everything, so competition feels fair, teamwork is genuine, and more students get to shine.
📚 Self-Paced Mode - This lets students play through games on their own schedule, no moderator required. It’s a flexible practice that adapts to different classrooms and learning styles.
✏️ Redesigned Game Builder - A fresh layout makes building custom Jeopardy games faster and simpler, so teachers can focus on content instead of setup.
🤖 Smarter AI with GPT-4.1 - Factile’s AutoGen tool now runs on GPT-4.1, creating clearer, grade-appropriate questions directly from teachers’ materials, saving valuable prep time.

Factile can be tried for free, with 500 AutoGen tokens included in every new account, plus a 7-day no-hassle refund policy on paid plans.