Great Tools for Creating Screencasts - A PDF Handout

Over the last few weeks I have shared my favorite tools for creating screencast videos on Chromebooks, on Windows and Mac computers, on iPads, and on Android tablets. Many people who read this blog work in BYOD environments or otherwise need tools for creating screencasts on a variety of devices. Therefore, this morning I put together a PDF featuring my favorite screencasting tools and methods. You can view the document as embedded below or you can grab a Google Docs copy here.

Access LitCharts on Your iPhone or Android Phone

Last week I published a blog post about LitCharts. Shortly after that post went live my friend Denise texted me to say how much she loves the LitCharts iPhone app. Until then I wasn't aware that LitCharts offered an iOS app. It turns out that LitCharts is also available as a free Android app.

The LitCharts iOS and Android apps offer the same great literature guides that are found on the LitCharts website. The apps are free and advertisement-free. Besides the guides themselves, the best aspect of the apps is that they can be used offline. Students can choose which guides that they want to use offline.

LitCharts features background information on a book's author, a color-coded list of themes in the book, a plot summary, a character list and summary, and a theme-tracker. The theme-tracker helps students keep track of literary themes with examples throughout a book.

Apply for Complimentary Registration to the Practical Ed Tech BYOD Camp

A couple of weeks ago the folks at Otus approached me about sponsoring the Practical Ed Tech BYOD Camp. I wasn't looking for direct sponsorship of the event so I proposed that they instead sponsor a few people to attend. They agreed and I'm happy to announce that Otus will sponsor three people to attend the Practical Ed Tech Summer Camp on July 10th and 11th in Portland, Maine.

Otus will sponsor the registration for three people to attend the Practical Ed Tech BYOD Camp. If you are interested in attending, you will need to complete a short application on Otus' website. Otus will choose and notify the winners.

The Practical Ed Tech BYOD Camp is a hands-on exploration of how to use free technology tools in your classroom. This two day workshop is based on my framework for using technology to help students discover new information, discuss their ideas, and demonstrate their knowledge. This is for people who work in schools that have BYOD programs and 1:1 laptop programs (Mac or Windows), iPads, Android tablets, Windows tablets, or who have shared computers in a classroom or lab setting.

You can learn more about the camp, read FAQs, and find complete registration information on the camp landing page.