Two Great Places to Buy Posters for Your Class

September 15, 2014
One of the repeated emails I keep getting almost on a daily basis is about how to buy visuals and infographics I share here in EdTech and mLearning. Actually, there are two kinds of visuals and posters I feature here: posters I have made myself and these are offered for free for anyone who want to use them non-comercially ( some examples: 10 Social media skills for the 21st century teachers , Digital citizenship poster, How to critically judge online content) ). The other type of posters I share here are those which I come across online and which are CC licensed.To use these posters you need to contact their original creator. I always include a link to the original work which you can use to get in touch with its owner. However, if you are looking for some websites that officially sell posters here are  two I would recommend .

1- Shawn MacMeekin

This website sells some great educational posters ideal for classroom use. Most of the posters you will find here are the creation of anethicalisland whose infographics have been featured here several times.

2- Teachers Pay Teachers

You are probably already familiar with this platform. As its name indicate, Teachers Pay Teachers is a website where teachers and educators share and sell teaching and learning materials. You can browse through the different materials offered here by grade, subject, and price. There is also a section for posters which embeds hundreds of educational visuals.

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New Google Docs Cheat Sheet to Use in Class

September 15, 2014
Here is a new Google Docs cheat sheet that is ideal for classroom use. This free downloadable document is created by the awesome Shake Up Learning . If you still remember, I have recently featured some of their wonderful Google Drive visuals here in this blog.When I first saw this new visual I thought about teachers who are going to use Google Docs with their students for the first time. This could be a very good introduction to some of the features of Google Docs.

Using this cheat sheet students will be able to learn about how to edit documents (both Google docs and Windows Word files).They will also learn about the different components of Google Docs menu and will explore the various functionalities nested in the Insert menu. To this is added another section that visually features items under the Tools menu and the Toolbar.

Visit this page to download or save a copy of this cheat sheet to your Google Drive. Enjoy.

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30+ Features of The 21st Century Classroom

September 14, 2014
Now that the new school year started and that students are back to their 'formal' learning mode and everything seems to be unfolding as planned, it is time to pause and think critically about the instructional design of your classroom. Think about your pedagogy and how effective it is; the teaching strategies you draw on in your instruction and the teaching materials you utilize to enhance students learning. Think about the technology you are using with your students and do a preliminary assessment of its efficacy. Does it really meaningfully add to your teaching or is it just a 'digital' alternative of traditional ways of doing things?

Reflecting upon these and several other similar questions will definitely help you see where you are with your teaching and , most importantly, provide you with a lucid picture of how your classroom is performing. To this end , the folks in Teachthought have designed this wonderful graphic that features 32 characteristics of high-performing classrooms. You might want to use it as a checklist to guide you through your reflective process. Have a look and share with us what you think of it.

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Here is A Good Teaching Resource for History Teachers

September, 2014
Teaching History is an excellent resource for history teachers. It provides them with a wide variety of materials and resources to improve history education in the classroom. Teaching History, which is funded by the American Department of Education, is designed specifically for k-12 history teachers to help them access teaching materials such as lesson plan reviews, videos, and teaching guides.

The content of Teaching History is organized into three main categories: Teaching Masterials: this is where you can browse through an array of lesson plans, and teaching guides to use in the teaching of history to your K-12 students. History Content: this is where you can locate quality historical resources and reliable content from across the web. Best Practices: this one introduces teachers to different strategies and approaches to engage students discussion of primary sources and encourage them to exercise historical thinking.


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Free Facebook Templates to Use in Class

September 13, 2014

Here is a neat tool that you can use with your students in class to teach a variety of topics. This tool is called Fakebook which is a web application created by Russel Tarr that simulates Facebook profiles. Using Fakebook, students will be able to virtually construct simulated Facebook profiles of historical figures,  chart the plot of a book, the development of a character, a series of historical events, the debates and relationships between people, and so on!

Faekbook is easy and simple to use. It also has a student friendly interface that students will enjoy working on.  To start using Fakebook, you simply need to enter a name at the top of the page, then proceed to add friends, posts, comments and profile information. You can also save your work and edit it later. Check out this page to see some of the ways others have been using Fakebook.

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New- You Can Now Make Free Voice Calls in Google Plus Hangouts

September 12, 2014
Google has recently added a new feature to Hangouts on Google Plus. With this new update, the Hangout app on iOS, Android, and the web will enable you to make voice calls to anyone around the world. However, only calls made in US and Canada are free, other international calls have various rates which you can check here (there is not much difference in rates between Hangouts international calling rates and Skype, and personally I prefer Skype for making overseas calls).

"To get started on Android, just grab the new version of Hangouts (v2.3, rolling out over the next few days), then install the accompanying dialer to turn on voice calls. On iOS and the web, voice calls will be available the next time you open the app."

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6 Good Classroom Posters on Digital Citizenhsip

September, 2014
This is a short telegraphic post to share with you this new digital citizenship resource I learned from TechChef4U. Venspired ( a wonderful platform that provides educational posters) has this assorted collection of 6 posters on digital citizenship designed specifically for incorporation in classroom settings. Each of these posters highlight an axiomatic statement that represent the essence of what it means to be a digital citizen. Of course, as Vensdale stated, digital citizenship is not a set of posters to be hang in the classroom walls but is a culture that should be lived by everyone of us. Modelling is an essential component of digital citizenship for it allows students to see in action  the embodiment of the meaning of a digital citizen.

The posters come in different formats which you can access from this link but I would love you to read Venspired introduction annexed to these posters, it's really an excellent read. Enjoy

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