The Week in Review - The Most Popular Posts in 2014

Sunset in the Maine woods. 

Good evening from Maine where I am watching a basketball game and enjoying the end of the week that I took off. I hope that all of you have had a relaxing week too. While I was out skiing, hiking, and enjoying the woods of Maine I had the most popular posts of the year re-running on the blog and on the Facebook page. The posts below were the most popular amongst the most popular posts of the year.



Here are this week's (and 2014's) most popular posts:
1. How to Create a Jeopardy-style Game in Google Spreadsheets
2. Two Browser-based Noise Meters That Show Students How Loudly They Speak
3. Tackk - Create Webpages for Announcements, Assignments, and Digital Portfolios
4. A Handful of Google Calendar Tutorials for Teachers
5. How to Add 450+ Fonts to Your Google Documents & Slides
6. Seven Free Online Whiteboard Tools for Teachers and Students
7. Thinking Blocks - Model Math Problems on iPads, Interactive Whiteboards, and in Your Browser

Three seats are left in my online course Blogging and Social Media for Teachers and School Leaders. Graduate credit is available for the course. 

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Practical Ed Tech is the brand through which I offer PD webinars.
HelloTalk connects students with native speakers to help them learn a new language.
MidWest Teachers Institute offers online graduate courses for teachers.
Typing Club offers free typing lessons for students.
Discovery Education & Wilkes University offer online courses for earning Master's degrees in Instructional Media.
MasteryConnect provides a network for teachers to share and discover Common Core assessments.
The University of Maryland Baltimore County offers graduate programs for teachers.
Boise State University offers a 100% online program in educational technology.
EdTechTeacher is hosting iPad Summit San Diego in February.
StoryBoard That is a great tool for creating comics and more.
BoomWriter and WordWriter are fantastic tools that help students develop their writing skills.

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Set Location-based Reminders on Google Keep

Back in October Chris Brogan turned me onto using Google Keep to organize my thoughts and my to-do lists. One of the features that I like about Google Keep is the option to set location-based reminders. When I create a reminder note I have the choice of setting a time reminder or a location reminder. Just about any location that is recognized by Google Maps will be recognized by Google Keep. That means that if I want to set a reminder to pop-up when I arrive at school, I can do that. Your Android device must have location services enabled in order for the location-based reminders to work.

Applications for Education
As the new year begins many students will be making the resolution to get organized. Google Keep is a good Android and Chrome app that can help students keep track of important tasks and appointments.

This Extension Could Help You Migrate Important Info to Your Chromebook

Chromebooks are fantastic devices once you have them personalized. Just as with any other computer, it can take a bit of time to get a Chromebook set with all of your important personal information like contacts and bookmarks. If you have recently received an Intel-powered Chromebook, the Intel Easy Migration extension can make it easier for you to transition to using a Chromebook. The extension will help you move your contacts, bookmarks, photos, and some files from a Windows PC or iOS device to your Chromebook.


Applications for Education
Intel's Easy Migration extension could be a fantastic tool for IT departments to share with teachers when they roll-out a 1:1 Chromebook program. The migration extension could help ease some teachers' fears about moving to a cloud-based environment.

It's important to note that this extension will only work on Intel-powered Chromebooks. The extension will indicate if your Chromebook is not supported.

H/T to Lifehacker. 

Coming Soon - Duolingo for Schools

Last year Duolingo was the most downloaded educational Android app. To kick-off 2015 Duolingo is launching Duolingo for Schools. Duolingo for Schools will allow teachers to monitor their students' progress on assigned activities and give students feedback on their progress. Students will have access to the great language learning activities that have made Duolingo a popular platform for learning Spanish, English, French, Italian, Irish, Dutch, Danish, German, and Portuguese. Learn more about Duolingo in the video below.


Duolingo for Schools will be available on January 8, 2015.

Duolingo is available to use in your web browser or as an Android, iPad, and Windows 8 app.