The Week in Review - A Costume Wedding

Good morning from Maine where I'm getting ready for my friend Josh's wedding later today. Since Josh and his fiance are fun-loving people and it's October, they've turned their wedding into a costume party. It should be fun for everyone.

As I do every weekend, I've put together a list of the most popular posts of the week. I do this to help you get caught up on interesting things you might have missed during the week. Creating the list also gives me an idea of what you might want to learn more about in the coming weeks.

Here are this week's most popular posts:
1. Practical Ed Tech Handbook - Updated for 2016-17
2. 5 More Overlooked Google Slides Features Students Should Know
3. 5 Neat Things Students Can Do With Google Drawings
4. How to Create a Book Trailer Video
5. GameOn World - A Great, Multiplayer Geography Game
6. How to Use Voice Typing in Google Documents
7. Spend a Few Fall Evenings Learning New Tech Skills To Use In Your Classroom

Online PD Opportunities

Getting Going With GAFE, Teaching History With Technology, and Blogs & Social Media for Teachers will start in October. Graduate credits are available. 

Please visit the official advertisers that help keep this blog going.

Practical Ed Tech is the brand through which I offer PD webinars.

Storyboard That is my go-to tool for creating storyboards.

Pixton provides a great way to create comics. 

SeeSaw is the best platform for creating digital portfolios with K-8 students. 

Discovery Education & Wilkes University offer online courses for earning Master's degrees in Instructional Media.

PrepFactory offers a great place for students to prepare for SAT and ACT tests.

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 host workshops in six cities in the U.S. in the summer.

My Simpleshow provides a great way to create explainer videos.

How to Use the New Explore Function in Google Slides

Earlier this week Google introduced a new feature to Google Slides, Docs, and Sheets that they are calling "Explore." The Explore function in Google Slides can help you find a better layout for each slide in your presentation, help you find previous work that you've done about the topic of your presentation, and help you find information from the web about your topic. In the video embedded below I provide a short overview of the new Explore function in Google Slides.


Click here to learn how to earn graduate credits while learning more about Google Apps for Education.

Other Places We Can Connect

I receive a healthy amount of requests on my personal Facebook account every week. I decline most of them because I like to keep my personal Facebook account for interactions with family and friends that I've interacted with in person in some significant way (working together, going to school together, sharing meals, etc). But there are other places where I am happy to connect with you.

We can connect on Twitter. I post there almost every hour of the day. I'm most active during the day (Eastern Time).

I'm on Instagram. I mostly post pictures of my dogs, my daughter, and trees.

I'm on LinkedIn. I update that sporadically.

The Free Technology for Teachers Facebook page is updated a few times a day.

My YouTube channel has more than 400 ed tech tutorial videos.

If you want fewer updates from me, the Practical Ed Tech newsletter is sent out just once per week on Sunday evenings.

I also have a few Pinterest boards that I try to update when I remember to do so.

Finally, you can always send me an email at richardbyrne (at) freetech4teachers.com