History and Technology: a Perfect Pair
Organization
Paperport Notes for the iPad
Jun 25th
I learned about PaperPort Notes at ISTE12 and was so amazed I just had to blog about it. PaperPort Notes is a wonderful app for the iPad that allows users to edit and collect information, which includes text to speech software. You can send your notes to Dropbox and download files from there. The app even allows files such as .txt, PDF’s, and .jpg, to integrate into the app. If you need a free iPad note-taking app that syncs with Dropbox , PaperPort Notes is a great option. Check it out today!
Features
• Quickly take typed and/or free hand notes 
• Leverage Dragon voice recognition to capture your ideas and notes simply by speaking
• Leverage powerful annotative tools to quickly mark up documents
• Never miss another detail by adding audio page by page within your notes
• Combine full documents, individual pages, content from the web and notes into a single document.
• Powerful search, copy/paste, reordering and bookmarking tools allow you to quickly navigate your notes while staying organized
• Access and share content using your favorite cloud storage services
• PaperPort Anywhere connector provides access to files stored online or within PaperPort Desktop
Symbaloo: Share and Save Websites
May 7th
Sharing the web with students can be a major challenge. I sometimes use QR code generators or url shorteners to direct students to a particular website. I recently discovered Symbaloo EDU, which 
can be a wonderful resource for teachers and students to easily manage the web. Symbaloo is a website that allows users to save favorite online tools, resources, and websites about any topic. Symbaloo also has a mobile application!
Symbaloo EDU can be published and shared with colleagues, students, and parents. You can even create specific folders that contain the websites for each unit you teach. Students can now go to one page for research or extended learning. Symbaloo can be used all year, as a resource sharing website for your students. You can also add the book-marker to your browser, which can be helpful when searching and saving the web.
Here’s a sample US History Brainpop Symbaloo
myHomework Keeps Student’s Organized
Apr 16th
Organization is the key to success in any career. If a child learns and maintains organization in secondary school, they will find it easier to remain organized for the rest of their life. An organized student will be less frustrated because they won’t waste time searching for handouts or redoing assignments. As educators it is our duty to foster and encourage organization with daily assignments and homework planning.
I recently discovered an application called myHomework for both Android and iPhone. MyHomework is a FREE application that can help students stay organized and keep up with homework, assignments, and assessments. There are multiple features such as a calendar display including block scheduling and different classes. The paid version of myHomework is 1.99, which can sync homework with any device, be accessed anywhere with the web feature, homework notifications, and even a Facebook sign-in option. It’s a wonderful application that can encourage organization for ANY student.
For More Information Visit myHomework.
Technology Presentation at Ithaca College
Apr 15th
I recently presented at “What is the Classroom of the Future?” to
Courtesy of ProkoschPhotography.com
preservice teachers at Ithaca College on Thursday, April 12, 2012. I discussed some interesting and engaging ways to incorporate technology into your curriculum and teaching practice. Here is my powerpoint presentation:
Smart Seat
Apr 8th
One of my least favorite things to do at the beginning of the school year is 
make seating charts. I recently learned about Smart Seat at #EdCampSS. Smart Seat is an app that provides teachers with so many features such as: changing the classroom layout, taking attendance, choosing student’s for class participation, making notes about students, and learning students names. As a teacher you can move students randomly or you can place students in particular seats. You can also generate a print-out seating chart with photos for your substitute. You can take attendance with the tap of a button using the absent, tardy, or excused feature. Classroom management and organization will never be the same with this app!
Some features include:
● Load student names using three options: from e-mail attachment, type in, or copy and paste. See our website FAQ for more info.
● Drag and drop students to change seating arrangement.
● Choose how you want your seating chart to look: show student nicknames, full names, or photos plus nickname.
● Export and print PDF seating charts.
● Record attendance by simply tapping on the student to mark Absent, Tardy, or Excused. Default state is Present.
● View, export, and print a spreadsheet of class attendance records for a range of dates that you select (up to 1 year).
● Choose students at random for class participation and class discussion.
● Use the “flashcard” feature to quickly learn student names. Toggle between photos and names by tapping on the class title at the top of the seating chart.
● Tap on a student to access attendance history, notes, and to load a photo using your mobile device’s photo album or camera.
● Use the classroom layout screen to change the number of rows and columns by panning up/down and left/right.
● Customize classroom layouts by creating a grid pattern for your desks, and then hiding selected desks.
● Scramble option allows instant creation of new seating arrangement.
● Add new students to class roster.
● Maximum size desk layout is 10×10 for iPhone/iPod touch and 20×20 for iPad.
● Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, iOS 5.0 or later.
For more information visit the App Store
Grade Chart @TeacherCast
Apr 8th
Grading is my least favorite task as a teacher. Grading assignments, allocating percentages, and adding/subtracting points can be a daunting and repetitive task.Grade Chart is one of the best apps to help you grade student work. 
Grade Chart is available on the Google Play for FREE. All you have to do is enter the number of questions or points of an assignment and Grade Chart will generate the percentage and letter grade for your student. Another feature of Grade Chart is that you can quickly get the class average for any assignment. It’s a true time saver for any teacher. Check it out today!
Check out my original post @TeacherCast
Grade Faster
Mar 10th
One of the worst parts of teaching is the amount of time it takes to grade papers and tests. The Grade Faster App can help you grade papers faster and more efficiently. Grade Faster can be a valuable tool for any teacher looking to convert a fraction into a percentage faster than using a calculator. It can be downloaded at the app store.
Every paper in that pile has the same number of possible points, so if they’re all out of 30 points, why type in the /30 again and again and again? You don’t have to with Grade Faster. Set the total number of possible points once, and go to it. To advance to the next entry, you only have to swipe your finger to clear the last result. This app is a simple app that can save you time. Check it out today!
Citation: Grade Faster
Common Core App
Mar 9th
Common Core Standards is a application that I recently discovered that could provide teachers with a conviently and useful way to access the Common Core Standards. This app could be a useful reference for students, parents, and teachers to easily understand the Common Core Standards. The app lets any user quickly search the standards by subject, grade, and category. This application includes Math standards K-12 and Language Arts standards K-12. You can download the Common Core App at App store.
To learn more about MasteryConnect’s free web-based solution for teachers to track common core standards and parents to follow along, check out their wesbite. For more information on the common core you can visit the website.
Citation: Common Core
Interesting Ways to Use Technology in the Classroom
Feb 20th
The Interesting Ways Series is a wonderful resource I just stumbled across to provide teachers with practical examples and ways to use technology in the classroom. This is being shared from the EdTech blog. It is truly a wonderful collection of interesting and creative ways to incorporate technology into your instruction.
Interesting Ways to… 
Use Google Tools
Use Google Forms in the Classroom
Use Google Docs in the Classroom
Use Google Earth in the Classroom
Use Google Search in the Classroom
Use Google Maps in the Classroom
Use Devices
Use Your Interactive Whiteboard in the Classroom
Use an iPod Touch in the Classroom
Use Mobile Phones in the Classroom
Use Audio / Visual
Use Your Pocket Video Camera in the Classroom
Use a Visualizer in the Classroom
Use Web Conferencing in the Classroom
Support subjects and other class work
Support Reading in the Classroom
Find and Learn about Creative Commons Resources
Make Your Lessons ESL/EAL Friendly
Support Writing in the Classroom
Support Spelling in the Classroom
Teach Reading Comprehension in the Classroom
Make Your Classroom a Sparkly Place to Learn
Support Writing in the Classroom
Support Maths in the Classroom
Gaming
Use a Nintendo DS in the Classroom
Online Tools
Use Moodle to Support Learning
Use Search Engines in the Classroom
Use Voicethread in the Classroom
Use a Learning Platform in the Classroom
Use Wallwisher in the Classroom
Interesting Ways Citation: EdTech blog
Photo Credit
My School Notebook
Feb 19th
I learned about this website from the Make Use Blog. The Make Use blog always has interesting and engaging technology ideas to implement in your personal or professional life. My School Notebook is an interesting idea and really useful app for students to take notes in a 1:1 school or BYOT program. My school notebook is a new tool to write notes in class both online and off line. Students can organize their virtual notebooks into different classes. Students can even share notes with friends or classmates. 
MySchoolNotebook offers two different plans. The first program is a free app that allows you to create one notebook, share it, use it online or offline. The Premium plan is $2 per month and you can take advantage of all the wonderful features the program has to offer.
Check it out today.
Citation: My School Notebook
10 Great Mobile Apps to Use in the Classroom
Feb 14th
I am a huge advocate of using cell phones appropriately in the classroom. I just found this great article called “Get Smart” written by Tim Walker published in the NEA Today Magazine about incorporating cell phone technology into the classroom. Schools need to harness the power of cell phones and social media in the classroom. 
Banning cell phones is the “easy call to make, but as cell phones have become more sophisticated, powerful, and even more entrenched in students’ daily lives, a growing number of schools have decided to open the door to what are, essentially, mobile computers.”
Schools and teachers need to embrace cell phones in the classroom. “According to some estimates, smart phones, and to a lesser extent tablets like the iPad, will be in the hands of every student in the United States within five years. And as more schools embrace mobile learning, the number of education apps—mobile applications that run on your smart phone—are skyrocketing.” There are countless apps and cell phone technology that will improve teaching and make classroom instruction more engaging.
Great Video about “Cell Phones in the Classroom: Learning Tools for the 21st Century”
10 Great Applications to Use in the Classroom
1. Edmodo -This microblogging site was created specifically for teachers and students. Edmodo can be used to share notes, files, assignments, grades, and events. For more information click here
2. My Big Campus- My Big Campus is a collaborative learning platform that provides access to resources and people that make learning engaging, fun, and real.
3. Socrative is a smart student response system that empowers teachers by engaging their classrooms with a series of educational exercises and games. Our apps are super simple and take seconds to login. Socrative runs on tablets, smartphones, and laptops. For more information here
4. Google Applications - This free web based suite of tools from Google gives classrooms the ability to collaborate and share assignments online. The suite includes a word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation tool For more information click here
5. Quizlet - Quizlet is a free flashcard creation site that can be used to study, create, and share flashcards. Teachers can create their own flashcards for students or use pre-submitted cards. For more information click here and here
6. Wunderlist -makes it downright simple to organize your daily life. Just create a list and start filling it with things that need to be completed. Keep track of your more important tasks with reminders and notifications. It even syncs. For more information click here
7. Dropbox - is a free service that lets you bring your photos, docs, and videos anywhere and share them easily. Never email yourself a file again.For more information click here
8. Hot Seat for Teachers- Developed by a teacher for teachers, the app makes learning students’ names easier at the beginning of the school year by matching pictures with names. This app also encourages student participation by creating a random list of students to call on.
9. Mobile Mouse Pro- “turns your mobile device into a remote control for your interactive whiteboard and computer, so you can move freely about the classroom during lessons without the need for keyboard and mouse.” Great idea from Tim Walker.
10. Evernote- allows you to create and organize notes, outlines, lesson plans, etc. in one place. Students can use this application to take and share notes.
Citations:
Article: “Get Smart” written by Tim Walker published in the NEA Today Magazine
Image: credit
Video: Cell Phones in the Classroom
GradeCam- the new way to grade
Feb 12th
I learned about GradeCam from the Technology Tidbits blog and it is probably the newest test innovation since the Scantron Machine. Camscan is a wonderful way for teachers/students to quickly grade their multiple choice tests/quizzes. Teachers can get instant reports to monitor student progress.You can even have students scan (grade) their own test. You can transfer scores form the GradeCam to an electronic grade-book. You can even link questions to state standards and generate standards-based reports in order to monitor student progress towards meeting them. You can share assessments with other teachers/administrators and even run item analysis results.
How it works?
Students take their test using the GradeCam scantron sheet to take a quiz or test. When you would like to grade the test all you have to do is hold the sheet up to either a web cam, document camera, or scanner. The data is uploaded and automatically graded.
Check it out today! It will change the way you give tests and monitor student assessment.
Create an Online Study Group with ThinkBinder
Feb 6th
I was in a Panera the other day and I saw four students studying for a high school exam. Students had their notes, books, computers, and food all over the table. I thought to myself what a great group of students who decided to study together and take ownership of their own learning. Unfortunately, students can not always study together and that’s where technology comes in.
ThinkBinder is a revolutionary way to change the way our student’s study. The new study group is focused around an idea to help students work more efficiently and collaboratively. ThinkBinder provides students with an opportunity for group discussions, shared notes, and real time interactions online. Students can discuss any topic they are studying, share videos or websites or other resources that would be useful. ThinkBinder also has a built in text or video chat feature as well as an collaborative Whiteboard to work on problems together. Check it today!
Meet ThinkBinder from ThinkBinder on Vimeo.
Citelighter- Save, Highlight, and Cite Your Research
Jan 29th
Citelighter is a really interesting research tool to save time, organize information, and properly cite research gathered on the web. It saves, organizes, and cites information while you research on the Internet. Once you install Citelighter on your toolbar, students can highlight any piece of text on any website by simply pushing “capture.” Citelighter automatically saves the page to a virtual notebook for easy reference. When you want to use the research all the important highlights are saved in one place. You can also reorder the highlighted text as well as post comments near it. The research tool also automatically cites information gathered on the web. Check it out today!
Citelighter How-to Video from saad alam on Vimeo.
CamScanner- The New Way to Save “Paper” Documents
Jan 24th
I recently discovered a new Android application called CamScanner. Camscanner is wonderful because it turns your phone into a document scanner. You can digitalize any document with the use of your smartphone. Simply take a take a picture of any paper documents such as receipts, whiteboards, notes, agreement and so forth, and CamScanner can auto-crop image, enhance image quality and create an industry standard PDF file. The program also allows you to easily upload your document to Dropbox, Google Doc, etc. and sort them.
I scanned recipes, shared them online with family, and saved them in a digital folder. This app truly makes everyday tasks easier and reduces clutter. This is a wonderful new application with so many uses for your everyday life! Check it out today.
Photo Credit
