Smithsonian X 3D - Explore and Print 3D Models of Smithsonian Artifacts

Smithsonian X 3D offers a neat way for students to learn about artifacts from the Smithsonian museums. The site is the result of a collaboration between Autodesk and the Smithsonian Institution. 20 artifacts are currently featured on Smithsonian X 3D. The artifacts can be viewed as 3D models that you can virtually manipulate. Each artifact has an accompanying tour through which you can learn about its history and significance. A screenshot of the tour connected to the Wright Flyer is posted below.

Click image to view full size.

If you have access to a 3D printer you can print models of the artifacts features on Smithsonian X 3D.

Applications for Education
The Smithsonian video embedded below provides an overview of how the Smithsonian envisions teachers using Smithsonian X 3D with students.

Azendoo - Organize Group Projects Through Documents and Skype Chats

Azendoo is a nice service designed to help teams divide and track project responsibilities. When I tried the service a few months ago the only options for organizing group projects were to invite people to join a workspace in which all of you can create tasks, assign task due dates, and send written messages to each other. This week Azendoo added the option to incorporate Skype calling and chatting.


Using Skype in Azendoo - Tutorial from Azendoo on Vimeo.

Azendoo allows teachers and students to have as many workspaces as they need. Each workspace provides 10GB of storage. Azendoo works with Evernote, Google Drive, Dropbox, and Box so that your team can share materials from those accounts.

Applications for Education
Azendoo could be a good tool for high school and college students to use to organize long-term group projects. After they plan and assign tasks students can use Azendoo to send reminder messages to each other.

ReadWorks Navigation Update

Earlier this week I shared some information about new content added to ReadWorks. In that post I included a video that tour of the website. Unfortunately, that video was of the old ReadWorks interface. The new ReadWorks interface is featured in the video below.

ReadWorks is a free service that has cataloged hundreds of lesson plans and more than one thousand non-fiction reading passages aligned to Common Core standards. With a free ReadWorks account you can search for lessons and reading passages by grade and skill. In your account you can create digital binders of the lesson plans and reading passages that you want to use.


ReadWorks Site Tour from ReadWorks on Vimeo.

What Does John Locke Say? - A Fun Way to Learn About Locke

Like many high school Civics and Government teachers, when I taught Civics I started out with lessons on the works of John Locke. This morning Mr. Betts shared with me a video that he created about Locke. The video, What Does John Locke Say? is a light three minutes about the basics of Locke's philosophies. I've embedded the video below, but you should visit the YouTube page directly to get a transcript of the video.

Now You Can Domain-restrict Access to Your YouTube Videos

Google Apps for Education users who have Google+ enabled have a new privacy option available to them. The new option allows you to restrict access to your videos on a domain basis. When you choose this privacy option for your videos, only people within your domain will be able to view your video. Viewers will have to sign-in with their GAFE account. Click here for the announcement from Google about this option. Again, this option is only available if you have Google+ enabled. Otherwise you still have the standard YouTube privacy options that are outlined in the video below.

Two Fun Videos to End Geography Awareness Week

Today is the last day of Geography Awareness Week. As a fun conclusion to the week here are two classic geography videos courtesy of the Animaniacs.



Click here for ten serious Geography Awareness Week resources.