David Lee EdTech

Google Reader will retire on July 1, 2013!  According to the official Google blog, the RSS service will be dropped due to the decline in users, and Google's goal to improve overall user experience by focusing on fewer products. Google Reader is a great tool for teachers because it provides them with specific & relevant content that they can utilize in their teaching and classrooms. Google Reader is where I get the majority of my educational technology content and news. I implement the ideas I find into my computer class, or help other teachers integrate them into their classrooms/curriculum.  Luckily, there is a solution! Feedly, a RSS app, has promised to duplicate Google Reader's API so that the service can continue. At my school, I have suggested teachers use Feedly to access a news feed of their students' Blogger posts! Transitioning from Google Reader to feedly  SIGN A PETITION TO STOP GOOGLE READER FROM RETIRING!

I was sent an email from Prezi stating that audio can be included into your Prezi presentations.  Voiceover can be added so that students at home can view a presentation with the teacher speaking. This would be a great addition to the tools you use to flip your classroom! Here are some of the audio options you have: background track sound to a path step For more information visit the  Prezi site!

This video will help those who are new to Google+!

Next year, our elementary school will roll out a 1:1 iPad program for 3rd and 4th grade classrooms. A time-consuming step in the implementation process is setting up students with the proper software, user accounts, and educational bookmarks on their iPad.  This post will describe a quick method for students to bookmark essential educational websites to their web browsers.  Teachers usually have a list of essential websites that they require students to use in a regular basis throughout the year. Here is how it works: 1. Create QR codes with a QR code generator (I prefer qrstuff.com). 2. Download the QR codes onto their computer, and drag the codes onto a document  like the one below . Make sure to label the codes with the name of the websites. 3. Print out the document and make copies. Pass out the documents to the students at the start of the year.  4. Students will use a scanning app to scan the QR codes. A window will appear to link your stud...

Before... and after. 

eBooks are changing the way students read stories. These digital stories contain hands-on learning features and interactive content that increase student engagement. Here are two great examples of how eBooks can increase engagement.   iPoe: Interactive and Illustrated Edgar Allan Poe Collection  (Free) The iPoe app brings Edgar Allan Poe's spine-tingling poems to life through its images, music, and animations. The app contains four of his poems (The Oval Portrait, The Tell-Tale Heart, Annabel Lee, & The Masque of the Red Death) with haunting illustrations by David Garcia Forbes and eerie music by Teo Grimalt.  Van Gogh and the Sunflowers  ($3.99) This interactive story is based on real events of Vincent Van Gogh and a boy named Camille. The beautiful illustrations by Laurence Anholt are similar to the painting style of Van Gogh. Since the story includes 10 of Van Gogh's famous paintings, it can be incorporated into any teacher's art his...