Konitono

     An amazing thing happens when the school bell rings in the morning.  Teachers in my school, and all over the country, turn down the ringers on their iPhones, log out of their e-mail, minimize the website they were viewing, and otherwise completely remove themselves from all electronics.  At the same time students are stuffing mp3 players, iPod Touches, and cell phones in their pockets and book bags in fear of confiscation.  It's interesting how we are all using technology in our lives with relative ease but when it comes to the classroom there is a disconnect. (Pun Intended)      Schools are spending millions every year on SMART/Promethean boards, projectors, laptops, iPads, and desktops.  We spend countless hours in tech trainings to learn new programs and tools.  What I have found in my school is that the programs and equipment are often underutilized.  As my building technology representative, I have … [Read more...] about What’s Up With That: Guest Post

The Google Docs template gallery is a good place to check out before you create your next form or document that requires a lot specific formatting. Chances are someone else may have had a similar need and has already created and published a template that you can use. For example, the Google Docs template gallery has templates for creating bibliographies in APA, MLA, AMA, and Chicago Style. This is a great addition to the list of bibliography tools that I've reviewed in the past. Applications for Education The Google Docs bibliography templates could be very useful for any student that needs to create a bibliography. The templates can be embedded into a classroom blog as a model for students to follow even if they don't use Google Docs to create their bibliographies.  … [Read more...] about Find Helpful Bibliography Templates in Google Docs

My post earlier today about using Google Earth to estimate potential solar energy in California reminded me of a similar resource that I discovered a couple of years ago. The following is an updated version of a post from 2009. SEREF, the Solar Energy Research and Education Foundation, has built a couple of tools that could be of interest to science teachers. SEREF has an energy estimation tool that allows you to estimate the potential solar and wind energy of any location. To use the estimation tool you have to enter your location using on the map and input the size of the solar panels or wind turbine structure. You can also draw out the dimensions of your solar panels on the map. The potential energy is then calculated based on climate, latitude, and typical weather patterns. Applications for Education The SEREF energy estimator offers teachers and opportunity to create a lesson using science, mathematics, and geography concepts. Students can use the estimation tool to … [Read more...] about Wind and Solar Power Estimation Tools

Last week I posted a link to Open Culture's collection of free college courses and lectures available in audio and video. Yesterday, Open Culture updated that collection to include fifteen free open courses from Yale. You can also find the Yale Open Courses on Yale's website or on iTunes U. Speaking of iTunes U, I forgot to mention in last week's post that iTunes U is another great place to find free university-produced content.Here are some related resources that may be of interest to you:100 Awesome Open CoursesAcademic Earth - Videos of Top Scholars Teaching … [Read more...] about Yale Open Courses Added to iTunes

If this is your first time visiting Free Technology for Teachers, please note that I typically don't post just a list of resources. I made an exception to that rule in this case to demonstrate how useful having a PLN can be. This morning I received a Tweet from someone in my PLN asking me if I knew of any good resources for teachers of students with Autism. Although I have stumbled across some resources on this topic in the past, I couldn't think of any right away (in part because I had a class starting in a matter of minutes). Rather than just saying something like, "I'll get back to you" I reTweeted the question to my 3400+ followers. As I should have expected, the responses came in fast and furious. Taking a clue from Deven Black who said, "do you think we showed the value of a PLN?" I decided to create this post.Here is list of good resources for teachers of students with Autism. Everyone who contributed to this list is listed and linked to above the item(s) they suggested.From … [Read more...] about PLN Powered