The Practical Ed Tech Podcast Episode 36 - Teaching Online and More

This episode of The Practical Ed Tech Podcast is a bit longer than the usual weekly episodes. The first ten minutes of this episode is spent explaining some strategies and tools for teaching online. I did this in response to all of the emails and Tweets I've received in the last week regarding teaching online if your school is closed because of COVID-19 (coronavirus).

After the first ten minutes the podcast follows my usual outline of sharing some news and notes from the world of ed tech, followed by my reflections on my week of teaching, and the episode wraps up with a Q&A. Get the full show notes here.

As is mentioned in the podcast, next week I'm hosting a webinar titled Classroom Podcasting 101. Get the details and register here.

Listen to this week's episode of The Practical Ed Tech Podcast right here or on your favorite podcast network.



Listen to all episodes of the podcast here or find them on the following podcast networks:

• Google Podcasts
• Apple Podcasts
• Spotify
• RadioPublic
• Pocket Casts
• Breaker
• Overcast

Watch2Gether - Host Live Online Discussion About Shared Videos

Watch2Gether is a service for sharing videos that I've used off and on since 2011. When I first started using it you could share YouTube videos and host live chats about those videos on the same page. Over the years it has expanded to offer support for using videos from Vimeo, Facebook, Instagram, and half a dozen other places. Watch2Gether has also grown to offer video chat in addition to text chat.

It is easy to start using Watch2gether. To get started enter a nickname for yourself (it could be your real first name) then search for a video or enter the URL of a video that you have previously bookmarked. When you have found the video you want a chat column will be present on the right side of your browser. You can invite others to chat with you by sending them the URL assigned to your chatroom.

Applications for Education
Watch2gether is a nice tool to use to have students share observations, ask questions, and answer questions while watching video clips in your classroom or as part of a flipped lesson they're completing at home.

There is an option to moderate discussions and ban participants who are not participating appropriately.

The Week in Review - The Most Popular Posts

Good morning from Maine where I'm up before the sun to get a little work done before starting a day of play with my kids and dogs. Much of the snow that covered our yard just last week melted away in the spring-like temperatures that we had twice this week. In other words, mud season has started!

This week I had the privilege to speak at the Inspired Learning Convention in Upton, Massachusetts. Thank you to Dave Quinn and his staff who put that event together. If you'd like to have me speak at your school or conference, please get in touch by sending an email to richardbyrne (at) freetech4teachers.com

These were the most popular posts of the week:
1. An Easy Way to Create Your Own Online Jigsaw Puzzles
2. Tips and Tools for Teaching Remotely
3. How to Search the Smithsonian's Open Access Collection
4. The Tower of Epiphany - A New "Think Like a Coder" Lesson
5. Gribrouillon - Freehand Drawing on Online Maps
6. How to Use Mixkit to Find Free Audio and Video Clips for Your Projects
7. Quillionz - Quiz and Discussion Questions Automatically Generated from Documents

2020 Practical Ed Tech Summer Camp!
Registration is open for the 2020 Practical Ed Tech Summer. Head here to learn more and score a discount code.

Classroom Podcasting 101
Join me on Tuesday for a new Practical Ed Tech webinar titled Classroom Podcasting 101.

Thank You for Your Support!

• Nearly 100 of you have already participated in a Practical Ed Tech webinar this year. Thank you!
• Quillionz provides a quick way to generate quiz and discussion questions from articles.
• PayGrade.io offers a fantastic way for students to learn personal finance lessons. 
• University of Maryland, Baltimore County has been supporting this blog for many years.

Other Places to Follow My Work

Besides FreeTech4Teachers.com and the daily email digest, there are other ways to keep up with what I'm publishing. 

• Practical Ed Tech Newsletter - This comes out once per week (Sunday night/ Monday morning) and it includes my tip of the week and a summary of the week's most popular posts from FreeTech4Teachers.com.
• My YouTube Channel - More than 17,000 people subscribe to my YouTube channel for my regular series of tutorial videos including more than 300 Google tools tutorials. 
• The Practical Ed Tech Podcast is where I answer questions from readers, share news and notes, and occasionally talk to interesting people in education. 
• Facebook - The FreeTech4Teachers.com Facebook page has nearly 450,000 followers. 
• Twitter - I've been Tweeting away for the last twelve years at twitter.com/rmbyrne
• Instagram - this is mostly pictures of my kids, my dogs, my bikes, my skis, and fly fishing.

Classroom Podcasting 101

Podcasting is more popular than ever and growing every day. If you have thought about trying to make a podcast of your own, join me next Tuesday at 7pm ET for a Practical Ed Tech webinar titled Classroom Podcasting 101.

Classroom Podcasting 101 will teach you how you can start a podcast in your classroom. The webinar will cover the nuts and bolts of making a podcast. More importantly, this webinar will provide you with ideas for podcasts that students can record on their own, with their classmates, or with their families.

Five Things You’ll Learn in This Webinar:

• How to record and edit audio on Windows, Mac, iPad, Android, and Chromebooks.
• How to publish podcasts to all major podcast networks including Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Spotify.
• Strategies for encouraging natural conversation on podcasts.
• Tools you can use to enhance sound quality.
• How to record with remote podcast guests.

When?

• Tuesday, March 10th at 7pm ET
• It will be recorded for those who register but cannot attend the live broadcast. 

Register here!

The sales of my Practical Ed Tech webinars helps to keep Free Technology for Teachers running. Thank you for your support.