Webinar Tomorrow! - A Framework for Technology Integration

Are you new to the role of tech coach or tech integrator this fall? If so, I have an eBook and webinar for you!

Tomorrow at 3pm ET I'm hosting A Framework for Technology Integration. Anyone who purchases a copy of my eBook 50 Tech Tuesday Tips between now and midnight (Eastern Time) tonight will get a link to join the webinar. And if you previously purchased a copy and want to join this webinar, just send me a note and I'll register you. 

In A Framework for Technology Integration I'll share my framework for helping teachers use technology in meaningful ways in their classrooms. I'll also provide some examples of how I've done it in the past and how you can replicate them in your school. 

About the eBook:

50 Tech Tuesday Tips was curated from more than 400 editions of The Practical Ed Tech Newsletter.  50 Tech Tuesday Tips provides you with ideas for lots of helpful things that you can teach to your colleagues and to students. Throughout the eBook you'll find tutorials and handouts that you can pass along in your school. 

Some of the many things you'll find in 50 Tech Tuesday Tips include:

• What to do when a web app isn't working as you expect.
• Building your own search engine.
• How to create green screen videos.
• Improving instructional videos. 
• Streamlining email management.
• Creating educational games. 
• DIY app creation.
• Podcasting tips for teachers and students. 

Get your copy of 50 Tech Tuesday Tips right here!

No, this ebook isn't free but the tools that feature within it is free to use. Creating something like this takes many, many hours but reading it can save you many, many hours. Purchases of 50 Tech Tuesday Tips make it possible for me to create other free resources like The Practical Ed Tech Handbook that I update and give away to thousands of teachers every year.

Two Alternatives to Kami for Annotating PDFs

Last week a reader emailed me to ask about some alternatives to Kami for annotating PDFs. She didn't ask because she didn't like Kami. She asked because her school was cutting back on what they would spend for software licensing. I gave her two suggestions which you might also consider if you find yourself looking for an alternative to Kami for annotating PDFs. 

Annotate PDFs in OneNote
OneNote has lots of neat features built into it. One of those neat features is a tool for annotating PDFs. In this short video I demonstrate how you can do that.

Annotate PDFs with Lumin PDF

Lumin PDF is a Chrome extension that enables students to draw on top of PDFs that you open in Chrome. After drawing on the PDF students can save the PDF as a new copy or replace the existing copy of the PDF that was sent to them in Google Classroom. Here's my video overview of how students can use Lumin PDF to write on PDFs that are assigned to them in Google Classroom.

Why Do We Get Dizzy? - Another Question from My Daughters

We're going to Storyland today for the sixth or seventh time this summer (it's one of our favorite family activities). My daughters love to go on a ride called the Turtle Twirl. I don't love it because it makes me quite dizzy and feel a bit of nausea. I've seen many other parents gingerly walk away from the ride. The last time we went to Storyland one of my daughters asked, "why do people get dizzy?" 

If you have children who are also wondering what makes people feel dizzy, SciShow Kids and PBS Kids for Parents have some good explanations to watch. The SciShow Kids explanation is suitable for a K-3 audience. The PBS Kids for Parents video is better suited to an audience of fourth grade through high school.

On a related note, TED-Ed offers a lesson on the mystery of motion sickness. The mystery for me is why do I experience it now (in my forties) but I didn't experience it when I was younger?

Reading, Searching, and Fixing - The Week in Review

Good morning from Maine where the sun is shining on what should be a nice and sunny weekend after a few days of much-needed rain. We're going to have a little backyard camping adventure this evening. Tomorrow, we plan to have a fun day at Storyland! I hope that you also have some fun things planned for your weekend. 

This week I hosted a free webinar titled Get to Know Your Students With Tract. If you missed it, you can watch the recording here. Next week I'm hosting another webinar titled a Framework for Technology Integration. You can learn more about that webinar here. 

These were the week's most popular posts:
1. Ten Popular Back-to-School Tutorials for Teachers
2. Worldle Daily - A Street View Game
3. DIY Tech Fixes for Teachers
4. Two Resources to Help Make Virtual & Hybrid Learning More Equitable & Effective
5. Readlee Adds Support for More Languages
6. Searching is a Thinking Skill
7. Read Write Think Animal Inquiry

I'll Come You!

If you'd like me to come to your school or conference, please send me an email at richardbyrne (at) freetech4teachers.com or fill out the form on this page. 

50 Tech Tuesday Tips!

50 Tech Tuesday Tips is an eBook that I created with busy tech coaches, tech integrators, and media specialists in mind. In it you'll find 50 ideas and tutorials that you can use as the basis of your own short PD sessions. Get a copy today!

Other Places to Follow Me:

• The Practical Ed Tech Newsletter comes out every Sunday evening/ Monday morning. It features my favorite tip of the week and the week's most popular posts from Free Technology for Teachers.
• My YouTube channel has more than 42,000 subscribers watching my short tutorial videos on a wide array of educational technology tools. 
• I've been Tweeting as @rmbyrne for fifteen years. 
• The Free Technology for Teachers Facebook page features new and old posts from this blog throughout the week. 
• If you're curious about my life outside of education, you can follow me on Instagram or Strava.

This post originally appeared on FreeTech4Teachers.com. If you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission. Featured image captured by Richard Byrne.

How to Use PowerPoint Cameo

Cameo is a relatively new feature in PowerPoint that lets you insert your live camera feed into any and all of the slides in your presentations. Cameo is a different feature from the video insertion option and the presentation recording options that you may have previously used in PowerPoint. Cameo displays your live camera feed so that your face (or other objects in your camera) appears on your slides throughout your presentation. 

As you can see by watching my short video that is embedded below, PowerPoint Cameo lets you position your camera feed anywhere you like on your slides. You can even reposition the feed from slide to slide. And as you'll also see in the video below, Cameo has some neat editing tools that you can use to change the way that your camera feed appears to your audience. 

Watch my short video to learn how to use PowerPoint Cameo. 

Applications for Education
PowerPoint Cameo provides a great way to make sure that your students can see you throughout a presentation that you are giving virtually in Teams, Zoom, or even in Google Meet.