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.

💎 Introducing EduGems

Resource Link

Recently Google made an update to Gemini Gems so that now you can share them with others. Inspired by this, I put together my own collection of favorite Gems that I have created or collected in categories including:

💡 Curriculum & Lesson Design
📖 Literacy & Language
🧒 Student Activities
💯 Assessment
🔑 Student Support
💼 Professional Tasks

You can find and use them at my new "EduGems" site at: edugems.ai

Note: If the main link does not work for you, you can just go to the Google Sites link for the site here - https://sites.google.com/view/edu-gems/home - It looks like Squarespace may have a DNS issue, so I am working with them to get that fixed.

At the moment the site is very basic, but I hope to add more features over time as the collection grows. And if you have Gems you would like to share, you can submit them through this Form to be considered for inclusion in the collection.

✍️ 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"
🗓️ Thursday, October 23rd, 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.

▶️ Recorded Webinars

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If you are looking for more PD opportunities, be sure to check out my webinars page where I have around 20 recorded training videos on a wide range of EdTech topics including AI, Google tools, assistive technology, and more. You also have the option for getting a certificate of completion for watching any of the webinars.

🎨 PaintMyMap

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PaintMyMap is an easy and free tool to create custom colored maps.

Simply choose the map you want to work with including world, continent, countries, historical and more.
Then customize and paint on your map using brushes, shapes, colors, legends, and more.
Finally save and export your map as PNG, JPG, SVG, or PDF, or copy your map to share anywhere.

This can be a great way for you to create educational maps for instruction, or better yet, have students use this tool to create maps for class assignments. By using different colors the students can classify or rank states and countries by a wide range of criteria. For my example I created a map that shows all of the states that have National Parks and which ones I have visited (I have a lot more I need to see!)

🎞️ Flip Anim

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I have always been a big fan of stop-motion animation, from "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" as a kid to "Fantastic Mr. Fox" as an adult. It can be a great tool for teaching content to students, as well as an engaging option for students to create to show what they have learned.

In the past I have shared stop-motion options such as using Google Slides. Another free and easy tool is Flip Anim. This online tool allows you to create, download, and share your own custom animations.

You can use tools to choose colors, draw, fill, erase, and move.
You can create a background that doesn't change, and then add new frames on top that do change.
Each new frame shows you an outline of what you drew before so you can easily draw the new image.
When done you can save, download, and share your creation.

For my test I created a quick animation of the butterfly life cycle. I would love to see what you make!

📜 50 Great Sentences

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Marcus Luther is a teacher who wanted to put together a collection of innovative sentences with structures and techniques that can serve as writing models for students. He ended up collecting 50 great sentences. For each sentence he also created an explanation of the technique, notes from the teacher perspective, and potential application prompts to use. Best of all, he freely shares the full collection for anyone to use!

You can access the "50 Great Sentences" as a Google Slideshow or a Google spreadsheet. You can also learn more about how selected the sentences and how he has been using them in his class in his blog post and YouTube video.

🎃 Factile Halloween Games

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Halloween’s right around the corner, and we all know students love anything with a spooky twist. If you’re looking for a quick, zero-prep way to bring that excitement into your classroom, check out these free Halloween-themed Jeopardy-style games from Factile. Some examples include:

Halloween Jeopardy! - spooky trivia, candy facts, and classic Halloween fun.
Halloween J! - quick, playful categories great for younger students.
Halloween Family Jeopardy! - a mix of candy, costumes, and movie trivia for all ages.

Want to make them even more exciting? Use Buzzer Mode so students can buzz in from their devices. Then try new tools like Double Factile Plus for bonus rounds, Move a Team Member to keep teams fair, and Moderator Wagers to build suspense in the finale.

Want to create your own Halloween Jeopardy game? Sign Up for FREE! Or browse other pre-made Halloween Jeopardy games!