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.

🎲 Recorded Webinar: AI Games, Interviews & Activities for Student Learning

Resource Link

I recently recorded a webinar about using AI as an interactive partner for games, interviews, and activities for student learning. These can be done with any grade level or subject, either as whole-class activities where the teacher manages the AI but the students still participate, or with students individually interacting with the AI for their own learning experiences.

In this session we explored a wide range of AI activities including:

🎙️ AI Interview
🔠 “Choose Your Own Adventure” Stories
🤔 "20 Questions" games
❌ “Two Truths and a Lie” Games
📓 Emoji Definition Game
🤐 Classroom Taboo Game
⚖️ AI Debate
✍️ AI Co-Writing

To watch my recorded 1-hour webinar and to access the resources from the session, use the link above.

🎧 Podcast Spotlight - EdTech Bites

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I recently had the pleasure to be a returning guest on the "EdTech Bites Podcast" hosted by Gabriel Carrillo. I had a wonderful time chatting all about my EduGems website, examples of Gems, my process for creating Gems, the importance of sharing Gems, and a challenge to schools to create and curate their own libraries of Gems for their staff and students.

You can listen to the episode, access the resources that I shared, and explore more about the podcast at the link above.

💎 New EduGems

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Each week I try to add new Gems to my EduGems website. Since last newsletter the site has now reached 130 Gems! Below are the newest ones added to the site:

🎛️ UDL Lesson Remixer - Remix your traditional lesson plans to make them more inclusive, flexible, and accessible for all learners
💥 UDL Barrier Buster - Troubleshoot specific bottlenecks or friction points in your lessons where students are struggling or lacking engagement
🦉 Socratic Partner - Help students explore a focused question, test their assumptions, and synthesize their ideas into a well-reasoned, cohesive response
🎴 EduTrading Cards - Create highly engaging, educational "trading cards" based on any subject to captivate your students
⚠️ Science What Ifs? - Create inquiry-based "What If?" scenarios for the science classroom, challenging students to problem-solve, collaborate, and think critically

📰 PBS Daily News Lessons

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PBS News Hour Classroom is a website with loads of resources to engage and support students in grades 6 through 12. One of their resources is a collection of daily news lessons. Here are the details:

A new lesson is published each day, Monday through Friday, focusing on a current event.
Each lesson contains a video clip on the topic, a summary of the story, warm-up questions, essential questions, and a related activity for students to do.

If you are looking for a practical way to integrate current events into your class, this site might be a great option for you and your students.

💡 K12 Conferences

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Education conferences can be a great way to learn new content, connect with other educators, see the latest products, and get inspired. Throughout the year I attend and present at many conferences, but it is just a fraction of the events that exist. With so many conferences, how can educators find the ones that are right for them?

One new website may be a great option to assist with that! Recently I came across the new K12 Conferences website at https://www.k12conferences.com/

The site current lists over 270 upcoming conferences
You can search and filter by topic, date, location, and more.
Each conference has details which can include an overview, sessions, events, reviews, and more.

The site is still very new, but already I can see the potential for its value in helping connect educators to the events that may serve them best. Check out the site and I hope to see you at one of the conferences in the future!

🎭 My Shakespeare

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Friends, educators, countrymen, lend me your ears! April 23rd is National Shakespeare Day and what better way to celebrate than to visit the "My Shakespeare" website? If you are not familiar with this awesome resources, here are some of the key details:

Full-text editions of six Shakespeare plays including Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Taming of the Shrew, and Midsummer Night's Dream (fun side note … I played Theseus in my college production.)
Plays include audio recordings, performance videos, contemporary translations, character interviews, popup notes, and more.
Students get study tools including a student notebook, highlighting and annotation tools, review quizzes, and more.
Teachers get classroom management features to monitor their students' progress.
And it is all free!

To visit or not to visit? There is no question in that! Head to the site today!

✍️ Groovelit

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Testing season is here. Thousands of teachers are already charging in with Groovelit — and not a single test prep packet in sight.

Groovelit's free game collections are built for your state test. Five-minute games where your students:

📱 Debate whether schools should be allowed to read their texts to stop bullying
🦈 Decide if shark-spotting drones actually make beaches safer
🚗 Argue whether self-driving cars should protect the passenger or the pedestrian

Every game targets the exact constructed response and vocabulary skills their assessment measures — but it feels like an argument they want to win.