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Factile is a free learning website that enables teachers to create jeopardy-style quiz games that can be played both in classroom or remotely using Buzzer Mode. Teachers can create their games from scratch or they can search among thousands of premade game templates to start with .  Teachers can also create their games on Excel or Google Docs and upload them directly to  Factile. Factile also provides the option to create flashcards from games and share them with students for individual review and practice (see video tutorial at the bottom of the page). Teachers are provided with a wide range of customization options to add their personal touch to Factile games. For instance, they can add their own mascots, change game board color, insert background images, insert images and videos to questions and answers, insert math equations into games, add sound effects to enhance engagement, assign games and flashcards to students from Google Classroom, organize games into various folders, upl...

Science is all about discovery, exploration, and learning. The net is full of resources that you can use to bring science to life in and outside of your classroom. To provide you with an easy way to access these resources, I compiled for you the list below featuring some of the best science websites and platforms.  This selection is based on my own experience blogging and reviewing several of these websites and is also based on my own research using a wide variety of premium search analytic tools.  This is a work in progress. Feel free to share with us on the social media profiles of ETML if you have other suggestions to add to this list. YouTube channels for science teachers and students  Check out this curated list of some of the best YouTube channels that cover science topics from body and nature to health and food.The channels provide diverse video content including tutorials, explainers, guides, news, documentaries, short movies, courses, and many more. Science websites f...

Generation Genius is an educational website that offers standards-based K-8 video lessons covering various science and math topics. Each video lesson comes with a detailed lesson plan, discussion questions, and an assessment section that features three main types of assessment types namely online quiz games, quiz PDF, and Exit ticket. Generation Genius also offers a monthly homekit that contains supplies to help kids (under the supervision of adults) carry out hands-on science experiments at home. Generation Genius, created by Dr. Jeff Vinokur, is web-based and works right in your browser. It also enables you to create a classroom account that you can use with your students. You can send out links to them and they will be able to access video lessons without the need for creating an account. There is also a school account which gives all teachers and students (in one building) unlimited access to Generation Genius materials .  As a teacher, you can use Generation Genius resources to ...

Below is a collection of some of the best audio recording apps for teachers and students.  Using these apps, students will be able to record lectures, webinars, interviews, audio memos, collaborate on editing audio recordings and many more. Some of these apps also provide audio transcription services allowing students to convert audio to editable text thus making audio recordings accessible to all types of learners. 1. Voice Memos Voice Memos by Apple is my favourite in this list. It is free and offers all the features you need to turn your mobile device into a powerful audio recorder. Using your device's in-built microphone or a compatible external microphone, Voice Memos lets you initiate your recordings on the go. The app's editor allows you to trim parts you don't like and customize your recording the way you want. And since Voice Memo belongs to Apple it means that it offers direct access to iCloud allowing you to seamlessly sync your recordings across differ...

In this post I share with you a collection of some of the best audio transcription apps that you and your students can use to easily convert audio recordings to text. These speech to text apps offer a wide range of features that are especially ideal for us in education. Students can use them to record lectures and voice memos and have them automatically transcribed within minutes. Some of these apps even offer real-time transcription.  Transcribed text can be edited for accuracy and be shared with others via email or uploaded to other apps.  Audio transcription apps can be used by ESL students to expand their vocabulary and learn English language as it is spoken in context. Students who are deaf or hard of hearing will also find these speech to text apps very helpful. Additionally, those of you who can not stand going through voice memos to remember what is being said or those of you who prefer to read notes instead of listening to recorded audio, these transcription apps are defini...

Remote for Slides is a cool tool that allows you to control your Google Slides remotely. I have been experimenting with this tool for some time now and found it worth the mention in Educational Technology and Mobile Learning. Besides controlling your slides remotely, Remote for Slides allows you to access your speaker notes, time your presentation, and even control YouTube playback. It also  comes in dark mode and black mode. Image source:limhenry.xyz/slides/#gettingstarted To start using Remote for Slides you need to install the Chrome extension.  Once installed, open your Google Slides and from the editor mode click on 'Present with Remote'. Next, click on 'Start Remote' and copy the 6 digits code. Open Remote for Slides web app or if you use Android device, the Lite Android app then type in or past the code.  Other interesting features provided by Remote for Slides include: control Google Slides using Game Controller, supports multiple languages, the abi...

Chrome Music Lab is a great music learning website that you can use with your students in class. Chrome Music Lab features a wide variety of experiments that help users learn music through fun and hands-on activities. Users can create their own music and melodies and collaborate with others in real time. Chrome Music Lab, which is part of Google Experiments, is web-based and does not require any  software download. You can simply select the experiment you are interested in and start playing right away in your Chrome browser. Chrome Music Lab works across different devices including smartphones, tablets and laptops.  Teachers are already experimenting with Chrome Music Lab in their classrooms. Combining it with dance and live instruments, teachers are exploring the learning potential of music in subject areas such as science, math and art. Below are samples of some of the main music experiments featured in Chrome Music Lab: 1. Shared Piano Shared Piano  is a web tool that enables...

Technology occupies a huge part of our life and we are more dependent on its services than in any time in the past. And while it has tremendously facilitated our life in several sectors from education to business, our dependence on it comes with a price. Data loss is one of the major issues that jeopardizes our technology use.  Reasons for data loss are numerous including sudden power outage, virus attack, accidental deletion, badly formatted or corrupt hard drive, among others. Hence the importance of having a reliable data recovery software such as Stellar Data Recovery.  Stellar Data Recovery is one of the top softwares for retrieving deleted or lost data. I have tried on my device and found it really amazing. I was able to retrieve files I intentionally deleted and although the deep scan took longer than I expected but it did a great job. Stellar Data Recovery works on both Mac and Windows  and allows you to recover various file types such as documents, email files, photos, vide...

Coding is becoming an essential digital skill in today's classroom. Besides its technical utility in a digitally-focused world, learning coding by implication involves developing a number of other key skills such as problem solving, strategising, critical and design thinking, among others. There are tons of platforms that offer educational materials to help you integrate coding into your teaching. In today's post, I am sharing with you  some of the best iPad apps you can use with young learners and elementary students to introduce them to the concepts of coding, computer science, and programming. Using these apps, kids will get to learn to code The apps  using a wide variety of interactive and fun games and activities.  1- Kodable Kodable offers an interactive coding curriculum ideal for kids ages 4-10. Using Kodable learning materials, kids get to create and play their own games and explore the world of computer science in fun and engaging ways. 'Kodable features age...

The return to school this year is different from previous years. It is a special event where teachers get to see their students after a prolonged period of physical absence during which distance education was the norm.  In-person learning will be resumed again, although progressively, but our teaching/learning experiences have changed radically. Last year's sudden shift to online teaching which caught several teachers unprepared has set in a new reality, one that will be the new normal: digitality is here to stay and will be an essential component of the teaching process henceforth. Teachers are coming back to school equipped with several digital skills and competencies they have developed over the last year. For one thing, the enforced digital modes of instruction have absolutely enriched teachers pedagogical technological knowledge (PTK).Transforming this digital knowledge into hybrid teaching/learning environments is key to creating meaningful pedagogical experiences in the ...

The purpose of this post is to share with you some good resources where you can search for and access a wide range of pre-made Google Slides and PowerPoint templates. I have already reviewed each of these resources in separate posts in the past. Simply click on each title to access its corresponding review.  Using these resources will be enable you to create professional looking presentations without the need for prior graphic design knowledge. You will be able to access templates covering different topics from lesson planning to business and marketing. You can also use the integrated filters to search for specific templates by grade, subject, and license.  1. SlidesCarnival SlidesCarnival is a platform that provides access to a wide variety of free PowerPoint templates and Google Slides themes that you can easily edit and use in your own presentations. Templates cover various topics including education, technology, business, science, and more. The way SlidesCarnival works is sim...

Slidesgo offers a wide variety of free Google Slides and PowerPoint templates to use in your presentations. It also allows you to customize these templates the way you want. I spent some time sifting through templates embedded in the category Education and found them really interesting. There are thesis defense templates, workshop templates, school templates, lesson templates, and many more.  The way Slidesgo works is easy: locate the template you want to work on, and for Google Slides click on '“Use a Google Slides Theme” button to download this presentation for Google Slides. If you click on “Copy the presentation”, it will be saved to your Google Drive, where you can customize and use it whenever you want." For PowerPoint users, click on “Download a PowerPoint template” button located next to the template preview. The template will be saved to your computer, where you will be able to customize it". Slidesgo also features a section devoted to infographics where users c...

The purpose of this post is to share with you this helpful collection of back to school resources to use with your students in class. I tried to cover as much ground as possible and offer you the best educational technology tools to help you optimize your teaching and enhance students learning throughout the whole new school year.  I arranged these tools into different categories including tools to create class website, tools to manage students noise, teacher-parent communication tools, formative assessment tools, first day of school books, back to school activities and worksheets, and more. 1. Tools to create a class website Creating a virtual space for your classroom is one of the best pedagogical investment you can do for your students. While you can create a classroom website/ blog any time during the year  the ideal time to do so, in my view, is during the first weeks of the school year. In this way, you will be able to simultaneously document your students learning as well...

Below is a collection of some of the best translation apps to help you effectively communicate in foreign language situations. Whether you are an EFL instructor keen on improving your students foreign language skills or a traveller who loves to explore other places and cultures, these translation apps will definitely prove helpful.  Almost all of these apps offer both text and voice translation and some of them can be accessed offline. They also include photo translation allowing you to snap photos of text and have it instantly translated into numerous languages. There are various ways to use these translation apps including to 'read street signs in a foreign country, translate manuals of your overseas purchases or the text of any picture you already have in your phone', and many more.  1.Google Translate Google Translate is my favourite translation app in this list. Google Translate is simple yet powerful app packed with great features including the ability to translate ...

These are some of the best websites and apps where students can search for and find help with their math problems. These resources are meant to assist students learn and develop their math skills. They should never be used as means to cheat or find shortcuts to learning problems. [Related: 10 Best homework help websites for students] In fact, these websites should be used as the last resort when students have used up all options to solve a problem unaided. And even then, students should focus on the process and not end result. They need to use the step by step explanations to gain understanding of their math problems so that they can solve future problems alone. For iPad math helper apps, check out this list instead. 1- Symbolab Symbolab offers access to a set of powerful calculators. Students can use the site to search for and access solutions to thousands of math problems related to algebra, trigonometry, calculus, and many more. As students browse the answers to their math prob...

Exit tickets are informal assessment tools teachers can use to assess students understanding at the end of a class. They can also be used for formative assessment purposes to help teachers design better instructional content based on students feedback. Exit tickets can take the form of a prompt or a question related to what have been taught in the lesson.  Here are some examples of questions and prompts to use in your exit cards as featured in Brown University: “Name one important thing you learned in class today.  What did you think was accomplished by the small group activity we did today? Write/ask one question about today’s content—something that has left your puzzled. Today’s lesson had three objectives (These would have been shared at the beginning of class and should still be available for referencing.), which of the three do you think was most successfully reached?  Explain.  Or, which was not attained?  Why do you think it was not?”With the pervasive use of web technologies...

After we talked about the different tips that can help you collect and manage Google Forms responses, today's post features another equally important Google Forms resource which is Forms premade templates.   Pre-designed templates are ready-made forms you can appropriate for a wide variety of purposes. You do not have to spend tremendous amount of time working on a form template that is already created and provided for free. You can search the template gallery, pick the form you like and customize it the way you want.  Below are some examples of templates you may want to consider when creating: an event feedback, assessment, worksheet, course evaluation, or exit ticket.  To access and use any of these templates, head over to Template gallery, click to expand the gallery and scroll down to the bottom of the page. Barring Event Feedback, all of these templates are nested under the label Education. 1- Exit Ticket Template This is a handy Google Forms template to use to create e...

One of the four key activities to do with students in the first day of school is to engage them to  read books. There are a number of interesting books created specifically for this special event. Below is a collection of some of the best books for the first day of school that I handpicked from various sources namely Good Reads and We Are Teachers.  The books cover numerous topics and stories relevant for group discussion in class. These include the importance of correctly pronouncing students names  as illustrated in Yangsook's book The Name Jar, the importance of creating diverse and inclusive learning environments in class, stories of kids who successfully overcome crippling back to school anxieties, and more.   Disclaimer: The links below are Amazon affiliate links. 1- First Day Jitters, by Julie Danneberg, Judy Love (Illustrator) "Everyone knows that sinking feeling in the pit of the stomach just before diving into a new situation. Sarah Jane Hartwell is scared and ...

The purpose of this post is to share with you some handy platforms where you can set up a website or blog for your class.  These are websites that simple and easy to use. No coding knowledge is required either. You can simply register your account, registration is free, select a template from the gallery, edit the look and feel of your website/blog and add your personal touch, and click on publish to make it live.  1- Google Sites Google Sites is Google's platform for creating websites. Google Sites' editor is simple and easy to use. No coding or HTML knowledge is required. Google Sites offers a wide variety of ready-made templates to choose from. Simply browse through the collections of templates there and when you find the template you are interested in click to open and customize it. Alternatively, click on Blank to start building your website from scratch.The process is as simple as dragging and dropping elements and sections into various parts of your website. Basi...