Google Science Journal: - a cloud-based platform for K-12 STEM/STEAM education.

Google Science Journal - https://sciencejournal.withgoogle.com/ - is a platform that provides science resources and ideas for educators and/or learners.

The best feature is likely its use of native hardware on any users phone, like accelerometers, light meters, and more–to help ‘do the science.’ 

In this way, it combines ideas (e.g., for experiments) and tools (an app that uses your phone’s built-in technology) in an attempt to be a kind of one-stop-shop science platform.

"Users can also add external sensors to their phone that they may not have, for added function and experimentation."

Google explains...
“With additional external sensors …your students can conduct even more experiments that includes building a weather station or testing body conductivity. Popular sensors include: light, conductivity, temperature, force, gas, heart rate, respiration, radiation, pressure, magnetism–and many more.”

Google Science Journal Experiments

Take a look at - https://sciencejournal.withgoogle.com/experiments/ - a collection of potential science activities and experiments that are filterable by...

• grade level,
• expected duration,
• science experiment feature etc.

Educators can also add activities and assignments themselves.

If you give Google Science Journal a try or have already used Google Science Journal, do share your feedback, positive and/or negative, in the comments.

Thank you.

P.S. To make it easier for you to locate posts that are appropriate, take a look at my two Live Binders at...

1. https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510432 (for 2018 posts) and
2. https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510566 (for this years posts)

P.S.S. Disclaimer: I don't have any relationship (financial or in exchange for services) with any of the items that I post.

I post about items that I either like using myself and have found them to be very helpful and/or I feel that educators and/or Learners will find they can enhance their current practice by trying them out.

Create HTML5 animations & interactive web contents

Saola Animate 2.5 - https://atomisystems.com/saola-animate/ - is a new updated version containing numerous new features and enhanced functionalities; these include...

•  3D transformation,
•  Drop Shadow effect,
•  Filter Effect,
•  Clipping Effects,
•  Element Alignments,
•  Browser compatibility warnings
  ...and other enhancements.
  

Downloadable at...

• https://atomisystems.com/download/saola-animate/ - for Windows 7, 8.1, 10 (64-bit only) for $59.00 = £45.16 (currently) Mac not available yet, watch this space.

If you give Saola Animate 2.5 a try or have already used Saola Animate 2.5, do share your feedback, positive and/or negative, in the comments.
Thank you.

P.S. To make it easier for you to locate posts that are appropriate, take a look at my two Live Binders at...

1. https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510432 (for 2018 posts) and
2. https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510566 (for this years posts)

P.S.S. Disclaimer: I don't have any relationship (financial or in exchange for services) with any of the items that I post.

I post about items that I either like using myself and have found them to be very helpful and/or I feel that educators and/or Learners will find they can enhance their current practice by trying them out.

Bookmarking/Note Taking continued...

Save, organise and tell stories with content from around the web

Curating content is an important employability skill and Wakelet - https://wakelet.com/ - is a curation tool worth a closer look, and yes, it’s free!

Wakelet lets users...

• create a collection with text, links, images, PDF files, tweets and more.
• add as many of any type of item as you’d like — a collection of all links, a collection with text and images, a collection with all types of items, etc.
• create collections for learners. Learners can create collections. Educators and learners can add to collections collaboratively.
• add collections to Google Classroom (or another learning management system) to be used as a resource. Or it can be added for learners to add to the collection as collaborators.

Creating collections in Wakelet is powerful and using the Google Chrome extension to do that - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/wakelet/iomokcfebnfiflpgcpcijfkfmafgkjgh?hl=en - is super fast and easy.

Heads-up...

Recently, Wakelet added a new collaboration feature, allowing educators to provide their learners with the opportunity to work together to curate and create.

Basically...

• Start a new Wakelet collection.
• Share it with others.
• They can add new items to the collection!

This collaboration feature opens up so many possibilities for learning...

1. in learning environments with learners,
2. in professional development with teachers,

...and more!

Bonus resource!
Get the Educator’s Guide to Wakelet FREE eBook!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/15MPavRhnwSWyHbNucLPadzOXCl_YiIUY/view

Written for educators, by educators, this 28 page FREE, printable eBook will help answer (almost) all of your questions and get you started using Wakelet right away.

If you give Wakelet a try or have already used Wakelet, do share your feedback, positive and/or negative, in the comments.

Thank you.

P.S. To make it easier for you to locate posts that are appropriate, take a look at my two Live Binders at...

1. https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510432 (for 2018 posts) and
2. https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510566 (for this years posts)

P.S.S. Disclaimer: I don't have any relationship (financial or in exchange for services) with any of the items that I post.

I post about items that I either like using myself and have found them to be very helpful and/or I feel that educators and/or Learners will find they can enhance their current practice by trying them out.

Search and Save Videos & More...

Wakelet - https://wakelet.com/ - is quickly becoming a popular tool for bookmarking and note-taking individually and or collaboratively. 

When educators and/or their learners are creating collections of resources arranged around a central topic they can use Wakelet's integrated video search to find relevant videos without leaving Wakelet or going directly to YouTube.

Educators and/or learners can use Wakelet to create...

• collections and sub-collections of notes,
• bookmarks,
• pictures, and
• videos.

Users of Wakelet can search for YouTube videos from within their Wakelet account.

This short video, from Richard Byrne, shows how that feature works - https://www.youtube.com/embed/6qL8y9UOeyw

If you give Wakelet a try or have already used Wakelet, do share your feedback, positive and/or negative, in the comments.

Thank you.

P.S. To make it easier for you to locate posts that are appropriate, take a look at my two Live Binders at...
https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510432 (for 2018 posts) and
https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510566 (for this years posts)

P.S.S. Disclaimer: I don't have any relationship (financial or in exchange for services) with any of the items that I post.

I post about items that I either like using myself and have found them to be very helpful and/or I feel that educators and/or Learners will find they can enhance their current practice by trying them out.

Save Time When Posting Social Media Updates

If you are using social media to share updates about your learning provider or your learning environment, course etc., Hootsuite - https://hootsuite.com/ - can save you time.

Hootsuite is a service that educators can use to schedule social media updates.

They can connect Hootsuite to their...

• Twitter account,
• Facebook page(s),
• Pinterest account, and
• LinkedIn account.

Once they've connected their social media account(s) to their Hootsuite account they can schedule up to thirty messages at a time to appear, in the future, on their social media accounts. 

"NOTE: Educators can schedule more messages at a time if they purchase a Hootsuite premium plan."

Not only can educators schedule messages through Hootsuite, they can also reply to responses to their social media postings from within their Hootsuite dashboard.

Basically, educators can simply schedule a week's worth of updates in a few minutes on a Monday morning and then only have to worry about handling responses for the rest of the week.

Oh yes!
Hootsuite also makes it easy to see updates from multiple social media channels in one place which saves time compared to going to each social media platform individually.

If you give Hootsuite a try or have already used Hootsuite, do share your feedback, positive and/or negative, in the comments.

Thank you.

P.S. To make it easier for you to locate posts that are appropriate, take a look at my two Live Binders at...

https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510432 (for 2018 posts) and
https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510566 (for this years posts)

P.S.S. Disclaimer: I don't have any relationship (financial or in exchange for services) with any of the items that I post.

I post about items that I either like using myself and have found them to be very helpful and/or I feel that educators and/or Learners will find they can enhance their current practice by trying them out.

Create Engaging Presentations and Animated Video clips

Welcome back. Yes my Laptop is back after a full service / clean up /virus removal and the addition of Bullguard Internet Security. 

Sadly I was duped into believing BT were improving my Internet Connection - how wrong I can be. 

Bank notified, reported to Police and Laptop sorted.

Note: AbbeyTech informed me yesterday, when collecting my laptop, that I wasn't the only one to be duped in the same way! BE AWARE!

So today's post...

PowToon Presentations Edu - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/powtoon-presentations-edu/ogodblbnhpbcmcjcoopbalconhnloagl?hl=en - allows educators and/or learners to animate difficult topics and engage their audiences using a wide variety of tools.
PowToon Presentations Edu features an easy “Drag and Drop” user interface, pre-designed templates, and a variety of style libraries.  

Each “slide” is treated as a scene in the storyline of your presentation or video.
Users can...

• easily drag and drop a character(s) and/or a prop(s) into their slides and
• assign it an animation
• choose from different pre-designed templates and style libraries.

PowToon Presentations Edu has an easy export button so the videos and animated presentations users create can be exported in various ways...

• share them on YouTube or Facebook,
• download them to a computer. 
• export them as MP4 file to embed in a course blog or website etc.

"All presentations look the same on Windows, Mac and Linux."

NOTE: PowToon Presentations Edu is now integrated with Google Drive for further functionality enhancements.

To learn more about PowToon Presentations Edu watch the video at https://www.youtube.com/embed/xg6jmQI0274

Go on, add PowToon Presentations Edu to your Chrome Browser and start creating amazing presentations today!

If you give PowToon Presentations Edu a try or have already used PowToon Presentations Edu, do share your feedback, positive and/or negative, in the comments.

Thank you.

P.S. To make it easier for you to locate posts that are appropriate, take a look at my two Live Binders at...

https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510432 (for 2018 posts) and

https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510566 (for this years posts)

Feature-packed Task Management Tool

If educators are looking for a service, for their learners, for keeping track of tasks, Taskade - https://www.taskade.com/ - does offer a nice product. 

Taskade might have too many features for younger learners, but older learners who are working on long-term team projects could certainly benefit from using a tool like Taskade to manage completion of those projects. 

Like many task management tools users can...

• create lists,
• share those lists, and
• check-off items when they're completed.

What makes Taskade different from Google Keep, OneNote, and a host of other task management tools, is the list of additional features that can be utilized in the app and on the Taskade website...

• When users create a list in Taskade they can set a deadline for each item within the list.
• Files can be attached to each item in the list. 
• They can write comments on each item in the list.

NOTE: If users invite others to view a list, they can comment on list items as well.

Taskade users, who are working in teams, might enjoy the options to be notified whenever a team member updates any list.

There is also an integrated text, voice, and video chat that users can use to communicate with team members about list items.

If you give Taskade a try or have already used Taskade, do share your feedback, positive and/or negative, in the comments.

Thank you.

P.S. To make it easier for you to locate posts that are appropriate, take a look at my two Live Binders at...

https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510432 (for 2018 posts) and
https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510566 (for this years posts)

GeoGuessr- Build critical thinking skills

GeoGuessr- Build critical thinking skills

GeoGuessr - https://geoguessr.com/world/play - is a fun way to challenge learners to use context clues, think critically, ask questions, and learn geography.

It’s also a great way to help them explore the world from their learning environments.

GeoGuessr is ideal as a small group or class activity where learners can work collaboratively to solve the challenge together. 

• Begin by exploring on a projector-connected computer or classroom devices.
• Ask learners what they notice about where they’ve been dropped. What does the landscape look like? What natural features do they notice? What kind of climate would they guess they are in? What do the street signs look like? Do they see any clues that might help them?
• Invite learners to ask questions (sometimes the questioning process helps them ask better questions or notice new things!). 
• Narrow down the part of the world learners think they are in and
• make a guess.

How close were they?

The GeoGuessr exercise could take 10-15 minutes and jump-start your learners in critical thinking and problem-solving.

It provides a great way to model noticing, inquiry, using context clues, and thinking critically as they solve problems. All skills that are useful for any kind of learning!

GeoGuessr also has the potential to be used for other activities e.g. a writing prompt for learners to write a story, poem, descriptive writing, etc. about where they’ve been dropped.

If you give GeoGuessr a try or have already used GeoGuessr, do share your feedback, positive and/or negative, in the comments.

Thank you.

P.S. To make it easier for you to locate posts that are appropriate, take a look at my two Live Binders at...

https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510432 (for 2018 posts) and
https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510566 (for this years posts)

An often overlooked Microsoft tool

An often overlooked Microsoft tool

Microsoft Forms - http://forms.microsoft.com/ - is an excellent though often overlooked Microsoft tool.

Like its better known rival, Google Forms, Microsoft Forms can be used to make surveys, quizzes and polls.

Recently Microsoft's Forms Blog - https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Microsoft-Forms-Blog/Email-confirmation-receipt-is-available-in-Microsoft-Forms/ba-p/309526 - carried the announcement that Forms would soon have an email confirmation option for Form respondents.

When enabled, this feature will allow respondents to receive an emailed copy of their responses to the questions in a survey or quiz created in Microsoft Forms.

If you've never tried Microsoft Forms, watch Richard Byrne's video - https://www.youtube.com/embed/yVKEBdcocgw - to learn how to get started.

If you give Microsoft Forms a try or have already used Microsoft Forms, do share your feedback, positive and/or negative, in the comments.

Thank you.

P.S. To make it easier for you to locate posts that are appropriate, take a look at my two Live Binders at...

https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510432 (for 2018 posts) and
https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510566 (for this years posts)

Improve Your Gmail Communication

Improve Your Gmail Communication

Dropbox has just launched a new Chrome extension to help Gmail users easily share and access their Dropbox files without having to leave their Gmail window.

Dropbox for Gmail - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/dropbox-for-gmail/dpdmhfocilnekecfjgimjdeckachfbec - lets educators and/or learners “quickly access any important files with the Recent Files tab or use Dropbox’s supercharged Search tool to find the file you need to send." 

When Dropbox for Gmail is installed a Dropbox icon will be added to the users email.

Clicking on that icon will give them instant access to the documents and files they have on their Dropbox.

Users can select whatever they want to share and their links will automatically appear in their email.

Like attachments, users can use these links to download the file directly from Gmail and/or add it to their Dropbox.

So much time could be saved using this Gmail extension.

If you give Dropbox for Gmail a try or have already used Dropbox for Gmail, do share your feedback, positive and/or negative, in the comments.

Thank you.

P.S. To make it easier for you to locate posts that are appropriate, take a look at my two Live Binders at...

https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510432 (for 2018 posts) and
https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510566 (for this years posts)

Using Google Books When Searching

Using Google Books When Searching

Google Books - https://books.google.com/?hl=en - provides some important features for conducting accurate book searches and allows users to do a lot of things with the books that they find.

e.g Educators and/or learners can...

1. search for key words and phrases from within the book,
2. clip a portion of the text and share it, and
3. download the book in different formats : PDF, EPUB, and in plain text.

Med Kharbach has compiled some guides from Google Books Help page and arranged them in such a way that Educators and/or learners can easily access them from one single page.
The post, along with links can be accessed at https://www.educatorstechnology.com/2019/01/everything-teachers-need-to-know-about.html

The guides cover the different features and functionalities provided by Google Books and is well worth a closer look.

If you give Med Kharbach's Guides a try or have already used Med Kharbach's Guides, do share your feedback, positive and/or negative, in the comments. 

Thank you.

P.S. To make it easier for you to locate posts that are appropriate, take a look at my two Live Binders at...
https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510432 (for 2018 posts) and
https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510566 (for this years posts)

Learn How To Code

Learn How To Code

Grasshopper - https://grasshopper.codes/ - is a coding app for beginners

Grasshopper teaches adults to learn to code through fun puzzles and quizzes.

Grasshopper is just one of the many projects built within Area 120, Google’s workshop for experimental projects.

Google has designed Grasshopper to be on mobile, so learners can learn whenever they have time — the coding puzzles only take five to ten minutes each.

Whether you’re waiting in queue, unwinding on the couch or on a lunch break, Grasshopper turns a spare moment into an opportunity to learn an essential job skill for future educators.

NOTE: Grasshopper is available in English on...

• iOS - https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/id1354133284 - and
• Android - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.area120.grasshopper&hl=en

If you give Grasshopper a try or have already used Grasshopper, do share your feedback, positive and/or negative, in the comments.

Thank you.

P.S. To make it easier for you to locate posts that are appropriate, take a look at my two Live Binders at...

https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510432 (for 2018 posts) and
https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510566 (for this years posts)

Quick & Easy Way to Create an Audio Recording

Quick & Easy Way to Create an
Audio Recording

Voice-Recorder - https://online-voice-recorder.com/ - is a simple on-line tool that can be used right within a browser.

Voice-Recorder could be a great tool for learners to use when they need to make a short spoken audio recording to include in a slideshow or video.

Voice-Recorder allows users to record their voice using a microphone and save it as an mp3 file.

A couple of features, that I've always wished other tools had, available are...

1. the ability to pause a recording in progress and resume it when I want to. 
2. the option to trim the dead air at the beginning and end of a recording.

Voice-Recorder could also be useful for making short podcasts.

NOTE: Registration is not required in order to use Voice-Recorder which makes it a convenient choice for learners who don't have email addresses or simply don't want to sign-up for yet another service.

If you give Voice-Recorder a try or have already used Voice-Recorder, do share your feedback, positive and/or negative, in the comments.

Thank you.

P.S. To make it easier for you to locate posts that are appropriate, take a look at my two Live Binders at...

https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510432 (for 2018 posts) and
https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510566 (for this years posts)

Very Easy Video Creation

Very Easy Video Creation

Clips (an iOS App) - https://www.apple.com/uk/clips/ - Makes Video Creation Easy for Anyone!


If you're not familiar with Clips, it provides a quick and easy way to turn images and videos into movies.

An extremely easy to use useful tool for both Educators and/or learners.

Users can...

1. add images or video from their camera or Camera Roll (library). 
2. use a feature called Posters, which allows them to add title slides to their movies. NOTE: Users must use the red record button (red oval button at bottom of the screen) to "record" their clips. If they don't use this button, they cannot add their clips. add stickers, emojis, and music (from built-in soundtracks).

It's well worth taking a look at Matt Bergman's Video tutorial at https://www.youtube.com/embed/XhiTmKl9JIo

If you give Clips a try or have already used Clips, do share your feedback, positive and/or negative, in the comments.

Thank you.

P.S. To make it easier for you to locate posts that are appropriate, take a look at my two Live Binders at...

https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510432 (for 2018 posts) and
https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510566 (for this years posts)

Free Video Clips for Multimedia Projects

Free Video Clips for Multimedia Projects

Videezy - https://www.videezy.com/ - is a good site to find Free Video Clips for Multimedia Projects.

Videezy could be a good option for learners who need some short clips to include in larger video projects like newscasts or mini-documentaries.

Videezy offers more than 1,000 video clips that educators and/or learners can download for free. 

The videos are organized into twelve categories.

Within each category users will find subcategories that make it easy to find the perfect video clip for their project(s).

NOTE: Videezy does require you credit them for their video clips that you use, unless you purchase a license to reuse the videos.

If you give Videezy a try or have already used Videezy, do share your feedback, positive and/or negative, in the comments.

Thank you.

P.S. To make it easier for you to locate posts that are appropriate, take a look at my two Live Binders at...

1. https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510432 (for 2018 posts) and
2. https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510566 (for this years posts)

Locating Specific Posts

Locating Specific Posts

So another year has gone by, Happy 2019!

As 2018 came to an end, I spend some time reflecting on the year, what went well, what didn't, and setting goals for the new year.

As far as my posts were concerned, I decided that it wasn't easy for you to find things, within my posts, that you would be interested in.

Result...
I've created a LiveBinder - https://www.livebinders.com/b/2510432 - of my Blog Posts from 2018

These were posts from...

1. "What DL is Happening? (https://acljohn.blogspot.com/) and 
2. My Facebook Educational Apps Page (https://www.facebook.com/apps4ed/).

The Table of Contents includes posts linked to the following sections...

• Accessibility
• Animation
• Assessment
• Audio
• Collaborative Bookmarking
• Communication
• Cyber Safety
• Digital Citizenship
• Encyclopaedia/Text Books etc.
• Feedback Tools
• Games
• Google Docs
• History
• Images/Photos etc.
• Lesson Planning
• Machine Learning
• On-line Collaboration
• On-Line Forms
• On-line Whiteboards
• Paper Free
• Presentations
• Research
• STEM/STEAM Resources
• Video Editors
• Virtual Field Trips

I hope that makes it easier to locate things 

that you are looking for.

Feel free to share this post with your teacher/educator friends!

P.S. Would a "2019 Education Apps Plus" LiveBinder make things easier for you as well, during 2019?

Happy New Year!

...to you all.