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New Free AI Tools from TeacherServer

by Miguel Guhlin July 5, 2024

written by Miguel Guhlin

When I stumble across new educational technology tools, my heart races with excitement. It’s not about collecting amazing tools to fill my toolbox; it’s about finding those rare gems that can transform teaching and learning. Today, I’m sharing a few free tools from TeacherServer. Each of these has caught my eye and solved a real-life problem that teachers have. A bonus resource is included.

An screenshot by the author capturing a few of the tools available at TeacherServer.com. — *An screenshot by the author capturing a few of the tools available at TeacherServer*

Introducing TeacherServer

TeacherServer offers 47 different AI-powered tools, all available at no cost. A breakdown of these tools appears at the end of this blog entry. For now, here’s a list arranging the tools by grade level and function:

Elementary (K-5): six tools
Middle School (6-8): five tools
High School (9-12): five tools
All K-12: 16 tools
Adult Learners/Higher Education: four tools
Teacher Professional Development: 11 tools

TeacherServer’s collection of AI-powered tools is fantastic, and a great starting point. This is true even if you have not had much experience with AI.

Note: All images featured are screenshots, or generated, by the author.

How Do I Get Started?

You will need to create a free account with TeacherServer. Make sure you remember your password since it lacks an OAuth-type solution. That means you can’t log in with your Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 credentials.

Hot Tip: Use a free password management solution like Bitwarden or Keepass.

Get Hands-On: A Quick AI Tool PD Activity

Ready to jump into exploring TeacherServer? Grab a few friends before you read the rest of this blog entry.

*Author generated image. Get a Copy link in text.*

Collaborate with a few colleagues to compare available tools on the TeacherServer. Consider using this note-taking document (View | Get copy of Canva template) to assist you in taking notes.

Activity Instructions:

Form groups of three to four participants.
Pick a category of tools from the TeacherServer list (see end of blog entry).
Spend 20 minutes exploring the tools in your assigned category.
Use the note-taking comparison chart provided in this blog to take notes on each tool you explore.
After explore time elapses, each group will have five minutes to present their top two favorite tools.
End with a ten-minute open discussion. Discuss how these tools would fit (or not) into daily teaching practices.

Discussion Questions

Some discussion questions to get you thinking:

Which tool surprised you the most and why?
How could these tools save you time in your daily teaching tasks?
What challenges might you face in implementing these tools in your classroom?
Are there any tools you wish existed that aren’t on the list?

Now that you’ve had a chance to explore these tools, here are a few of my favorites.

Tool #1: Tailor Your Texts with Precision

As a Language Arts teacher, finding text at the right lexile level can be a challenge. During an Elementary Technology Conference session, I relied on AI chatbots to create stories at grade level for Reciprocal Teaching practice.

The Lexile Score Adjuster on TeacherServer is a game-changer for differentiated instruction. This AI tool can generate a similar text at a higher or lower Lexile score. This makes providing reading materials matching each student’s reading level easier. You can simplify a complex text or challenge advanced readers with this tool and help you make sure that content you are teaching is reading accessible.

Tool #2: Spice Up Your Science Classes

Are you a science teacher? Give the Science Experiment Generator a try. It generates creative and safe science experiments for your classroom and takes the guesswork out of lab planning. You put in your grade level and topic and get a detailed experiment. This tool works for elementary to high school.

Here’s an example relying on grade 6 new science TEKS:

Tool #3: Master the 5E Model

No doubt, you have seen my other blog entries on the 5E Model. The 5E Model includes the following phases of learning:

Engage. Activities that capture the students’ attention, stimulate thinking. What’s more, they help students access prior knowledge, and focus on “how” or “why.” Phase of Learning: Surface Learning.
Explore. Enable students to explore ideas, alone or in groups. Provides time to think, plan, investigate, and organize information. Phase of Learning: Surface Learning.
Explain. Students get opportunities to connect their previous experiences. It also allows them to make conceptual sense of the main ideas of the topic under study. Phase of Learning: Deep Learning.
Elaborate. Students apply or extend previously introduced concepts and experiences to new situations. Phase of Learning: Transfer Learning.
Evaluate. Students with their teachers review and assess what they have learned and how they have learned it. It is a summative assessment. Phase of Learning: Transfer Learning.

TeacherServer will generate a 5E model lesson for you if you provide the grade level and topic, standard, or objective:

This tool helps you create daily, weekly, and unit lesson plans aligned with this popular teaching framework. It’s easy to miss the boat when it comes to addressing each element of the 5E model, but this tool can assist you in your planning.

Tool #4: Boost Your Students’ Vocabulary

If you are a K-3 teacher, you already know about the importance of a vocabulary program. It is a powerful high-effect instructional strategy. Vocabulary acquisition is the single most important factor in reading comprehension (source). TeacherServer has an amazing Vocabulary Builder that ggenerates exercises and activities to expand students’ vocabulary.

Like its other tools, you select your grade level and subject area. Then it provides you with a variety of engaging vocabulary-building activities. These can include any of the following:

Word game
Context-based exercise
Graphic organizer
Sentence completion

As an example, take a look at the sentence completion exercise below for a 12th grade math class:

After analyzing the data, we formed a _____ that the relationship between the variables was linear.

The graph of the function has an _______ at x = 2, which means the function approaches infinity as x approaches 2.

By ________the trend in the data, we can predict the stock market prices for the next quarter.

Based on the statistical analysis, we can ________ that there is a strong correlation between the two variables.

The graph of the quadratic function is a _______ that opens downward, indicating a maximum value at the vertex.

Another example includes creating a graphic organizer:

Create a graphic organizer with the following columns:

Vocabulary Term
Definition
Example Sentence
Context-Based Question

Sample directions for the activity include:

Ask students to complete the graphic organizer for each vocabulary term. Students should refer to the example sentences and context-based questions provided earlier. This activity helps students organize their thoughts and visualize the relationships between the vocabulary terms.

Author generated image from TeacherServer text using Mermaid code. — *Author generated image from TeacherServer text using Mermaid code*

Tool #5: Phonics and Reading Comprehension Coach

The Phonics and Reading Comprehension Coach creates phonics exercises and generates reading tasks for specific grades. This is helpful when you are targeting key literacy skills such as:

letter-sound relationships
Blending
Advanced reading comprehension strategies

Consider using it for the creation of differentiated reading assignments or to make intervention materials for struggling readers.

BONUS: Streamline Your Grading Process

The Assignment Feedback generator assists you in getting a second opinion for grading. You submit an assignment along with the rubric. Then you receive detailed feedback and comments. It may save you some time in grading. TeacherServer relies on a local AI server. This means you get super fast responses that don’t compromise privacy.

Wrapping Up

The best part of these tools? They’re completely free to use. Check back for new tools every week. TeacherServer has you covered, with all the activities below:

Adjusting text complexity
Planning science experiments
Structuring 5E lessons
Building vocabulary
Boosting phonics skills
Streamlining your grading process

Be sure to check out the many other tools they have available. Several charts appear below that highlight some ideas of how to best use them.

An Organized List of TeacherServer AI Tools

As nice as TeacherServer AI tools are, it can be a bit daunting to view a full-screen of what’s available. This list should narrow things down a bit for you. You may find a few tools repeated in different categories for your convenience.

Grade Level	Tool Name	Description
Elementary (K-5)
	Phonics and Reading Comprehension Coach	Create phonics exercises and reading tasks for specific grades.
	Vocabulary Builder	Generate exercises & activities to expand students’ vocabulary.
	Daily Warm-Up Activity Generator	Create daily warm-up activities reviewing previous material.
	Science Experiment Generator	Create creative and safe science experiments for the classroom.
	Worksheet Generator	Generate a worksheet for your lessons on any topic and grade level.
	Word of the Day (Weekly)	Create a weekly poster that defines words, provides their meaning, and shows their usage in a sentence.
Middle School (6-8)
	STEM Project Designer	Generate ideas and plans for STEM projects to guide student inquiry.
	Critical Thinking Exercise Generator	Design critical thinking exercises that challenge students.
	Group Work Idea Generator	Create group work activities based on grade level and subject.
	Mistake-Based Assignment Creator	Generate assignments with intentional errors for students to identify and correct.
	Quote of the Day Activity	Create a quote of the day activity along with your grade level and subject area.
High School (9-12)
	SAT Exam Question Generator	Provide customized quizzes to enhance SAT readiness.
	ACT Exam Question Generator	Craft practice questions for the ACT exam.
	Essay Evaluator	Critically assess student essays, highlighting strengths and areas for improvement.
	Lexile Score Adjuster	Generate a similar text at a higher or lower Lexile score.
	Text Summarizer	Condense lengthy texts into concise, informative summaries.
All K-12
	Lesson Plan Generator	Generate daily, weekly, and unit lesson plans aligned with curriculum goals.
	5E Model Lesson Plan Generator	Create daily, weekly, and unit 5e model lesson plans aligned with goals.
	K-12 Curriculum Quiz Maker	Design quizzes that align with the K-12 curriculum and learning objectives.
	Formative Assessment Generator	Create various formative assessments to monitor understanding.
	Assignment Feedback	Submit your assignment along with the rubric to receive feedback.
	Rubric Generator	Design clear and structured grading criteria for assignments.
	Extracurricular Activity	Propose non-academic activities to foster holistic student development.
	Classroom Case Generator	Provide detailed classroom case studies to simulate challenges.
	Student Behavior Analysis	Evaluate student behaviors to provide insights into classroom dynamics.
	Behavior Intervention Plan Generator	Detailed plan to help a student who is struggling to behave in class.
	ESE Lesson Modifications	Tailors lesson content and delivery methods to accommodate students with exceptionalities and special needs.
	ESOL Lesson Modifications	Adapts instructional approaches to meet the unique requirements of English Language Learners.
	Inclusive Accommodation Planner	Design and customize accommodations for students, ensuring inclusivity and support for diverse learning needs in the classroom.
	Generate a Classroom Climate Survey	Design a classroom climate survey about students’ perceptions.
	Text Translator	Take any text and translate it into any language instantly.
	Text Proofreader	Correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, and add clarity to any text.
Adult Learners/ Higher Education
	TOEFL Exam Question Generator	Generate targeted quizzes for TOEFL preparation.
	Academic Blog Post Generator	Craft engaging blog content on academic subjects.
	Book Summary & Review	Enter a book title to generate a summary and review.
	PowerPoint Outline Generator	Draft a structured outline for your PowerPoint presentations.
Teacher Professional Development
	Professional Development Plan	Roadmap for educators to enhance their skills and competencies.
	Teacher CV Checker	Review and provide feedback on educators’ CVs.
	Teacher Cover Letter	Guide educators in crafting compelling cover letters.
	Teaching Job Interview	Preparation tool with insights and practice questions for teaching job interviews.
	Write Reference Letter	Draft professional and persuasive reference letters.
	FTCE Question Generator	Tailor practice quizzes to prepare for the Florida Teacher Certification.
	FELE Question Generator	Tailor practice quizzes for the Florida Educational Leadership Examinations.
	Peer Teaching Evaluation	Highlight a peer faculty’s strengths and provide actionable improvement suggestions from teaching observations.
	Lesson Style Assessment	Assess students’ learning styles and create tailored support strategies.
	Classroom Case Solver	Users contribute classroom dilemmas while the AI provides solutions.
	Write an Email in Multiple Languages	Generate a professional email and translate it into multiple languages.
	Write a Multi-Language Email Response	Generate a professional email response and translate it into multiple languages.

July 5, 2024 2 comments

Web 2.0 Tool

New Tools to Try Out This Summer

by Lori Gracey June 1, 2022

written by Lori Gracey

Summer is definitely a time to rest up from what has been a very challenging school year, to say the least. But it’s also a time to recharge our batteries through some professional learning. Here are a few new ed tech tools that you should take a look at as you relax and see if any of them will fit your subject area or student needs for the next school year.

River Runner – The premise of this website is simple: Drop a raindrop anywhere in the contiguous United States and see where it ends up. Once you’ve released your drop, the site automatically creates a map and takes you on a visual journey as it travels. It identifies each river it runs into, as well as how far along that body of water it would travel. You can zoom in for more detail on the map, too. I randomly put my drop in Cora, Wyomong and saw that it would travel 2,563 kilometers to Mexico (not where I would have predicted). There is also a global version of the site available.

Nvidia Canvas – If you’d like your students to enhance their creativity, you might consider having them use Nvidia Canvas. This free software available for download for Windows computers turns whatever simple or complex things you draw into beautiful artificial intelligence-crafted images. It works best for landscape images and allows you to select from nine styles that modify the look and feel of a painting and 20 different materials ranging from sky and mountains to river and stone. You can start from scratch or get inspired by one of the sample scenes.

ed tech tools

Loru Games – Loru Games is another assessment/game site for student learning. There are a number of games for them to play for free using either your own questions or those that other educators have submitted. Only the teacher has to have a registration (free); students enter a code given to them by their teacher to get into a game. The site is COPPA, FERPA, and GPDR compliant. Please note that if you want the learning reports, that is a paid feature.

Earth 2050 – Help your high school students become future thinkers by using Earth 2050. This is a website about the future as seen through the eyes of futurologists, scientists, and internet users from all corners of the globe. Select a year — 2030, 2040, or 2050 — and study the predictions for different cities and countries: what will happen to our planet, what our lives will be like, what jobs we will have, what we will eat, and more. Students can also add their own predictions, based on data they gather, to the site for others to view. Sounds like a great project to me!

ed tech tools

3D Driving Simulator on Google Maps – I have to be honest and say I’m not sure of the educational value of this new site I discovered. But I was impressed with its tech. This 3D driving simulator runs on top of Google Maps. Controls are simple: Left and right arrow keys are for steering and the up/down arrow keys let you go forward and backward. The simulator starts you at the same map place every time. But you can get the latitude and longitude for any location you want here and then enter those numbers to drive in your hometown, Paris, or anywhere in the world.

ed tech tools

EmojiMix – Create your own emojis by mixing emojis together. This site was more fun that I anticipated, and I won’t tell you how long I played with it. You can have the site randomly select both emojis, select your own, or search for exactly what you are looking for. Once your new emoji is perfect, you can copy or share it. Simple and entertaining!

ed tech tools

Google Lens – While this isn’t a new tool, it is one that I haven’t taken full advantage of previously. Google Lens works on any device with the Google search feature. Instead of typing in what you are searching for, you simply use your camera or an image to find what you need. It can copy and translate text, provide step-by-step help with math homework (and assignments in history, chemistry, biology, physics, and more), identify plants and animals you see, and much more.

Do any of these websites or tools look interesting to you? Let me know what you think!

June 1, 2022 0 comment

Web 2.0 Tool

Presentations Made Simple with Paste

by Miguel Guhlin December 4, 2021

written by Miguel Guhlin

You, a few images, carefully selected words, and your audience. How hard can designing amazing presentations be? As we all know, it can be hard, depending on what tools you use and what mental model you bring to the table. When I open tools like Microsoft PowerPoint, I don’t try to remember where everything is, I just search for the command. There are now so many features packed on top of more features, it’s impossible to keep up. That’s why I am sometimes attracted to simpler tools, like HTML Slideshow.

With HTML Slideshow, you get an slide deck that runs in your browser. Here’s an animated GIF of what that looks like:

View on the Web

Tools like Prezi and OnlyOffice have a lot to offer without being overwhelming. In this blog, we’ll explore another tool, Paste.

What Is Paste?

Please note that Paste will be discontinued on 12/31/2023. Their official announcement reads:
“On December 31 this year, we will be closing Paste. To best support the WeTransfer community, we are prioritizing investment in the core Transfer product, and powerful collaborative tools such as Portals and Reviews. We’ll also be introducing exciting new features to meet, and exceed, the needs of creators worldwide.”
Source: Email from paste@mail.wetransfer.com, 09/21/2023

“I didn’t realize how time-consuming endless options were. I cannot tell you how positive Paste’s simplicity has been for our productivity.” That’s one of the quotes you will find on the Paste website, one of the tools available via WeTransfer.

Paste is a browser-based presentation tool. It’s main feature is the ability to simplify the process of creating presentations. With it, there are no more confusing interfaces. You can create presentations, then save them as a link, a PowerPoint, or Adobe PDF.

When you create your account, you can do it with Google, Slack, or Apple. This is a lifesaver, since it means you won’t have to remember yet another password. You also have the option of creating an account with an email address and password.

How Does Paste Work?

When you start out with this tool, you get a visual walkthrough. The slides are reactive, adjusting spacing, alignment, and colors on the fly. What’s more, you can start typing (no more text boxes) immediately and then adjust.

paste Screenshot by author — Screenshot by author

While it doesn’t offer much at the free stage, template decks like Project Recap do offer a few slides. This bare-bones approach works for those who want to add their own images and text. Paste does offer integration with the attribution-free image source Pexels. And, inserting animated GIFs via Giphy is easy (see below).

What’s more, you can move content on screen with a few different options:

Paste also makes it easy to add columns, insert embedded content from the web, and format it to look like a phone. That’s a nice feature I haven’t seen elsewhere.

How Much Does It Cost?

Paste is part of a suite of tools, including the following:

Collect. This tool lets you combine any type of media with websites. You can organize the media and links into boards and collaborate with others. It works on all your devices. You can save websites and images direct to Collect via the smartphone app. Or you can use the Chrome browser extension.
WeTransfer. This is a service that allows you to send big files (up to 200 GB) around the world.

When you get a WeTransfer Pro account, you get access to all three tools. A Pro account will cost $120 per person, or $12 per month. The free version will offer you 2GB of WeTransfer, three presentation decks in Paste, and some features in Collect. As best I can tell, there are no education discounts.

A Different Look

Often, finding a new slide deck tool is about getting a distinctive look. The simpler such a tool is, the better. Paste has a lot to offer as part of a suite of tools, but the learning curve is less technical. It will need you to think and approach presentation design in a different way. That, in itself, may be too much for experienced PowerPoint/Slides users. Give it a try if you want a different tool.

Feature Image Source

Screenshot by author.

December 4, 2021 0 comment

Web 2.0 Tool

An Online Wheel Spinner for Every Occasion

by Peggy Reimers April 30, 2021

written by Peggy Reimers

This post was originally published October 30, 2015. It was updated with new information on March 22, 2019 and April 30, 2021.

My colleague Miguel Guhlin and I were working on the ISTE Certified Educator training and we needed a random selector tool. Of course, Miguel pipes up and had just the right wheel spinner. This joint effort spawned a blog and the hunt for even more spinners.

For more on shape spinners, check out this blog entry.

FREE is the key word for all seven spinners!

Wheel Decide

Created by: Wheel Decide LLC

Beachball colored wheel with a spinner click sound.

The Steps:

Visit: https://wheeldecide.com/.
Scroll down the page and enter your choices (The max is 100.).
Title your wheel.
Click (Apply Wheel Changes).
That’s it. You have your wheel.
If you want to save the wheel, copy the URL and save it.

Red flag: If you scroll down to the very bottom of Wheel Decide, there are some pre-made wheels that are adult themed: What Wine to Drink?, Tarot Cards, and What Domestic Beer to Drink (US)?

Random Name Picker Spinner

Created by: Classroom Tools

Multiple colors with a spinner click sound and applause

The Steps:

Visit: https://www.classtools.net/random-name-picker/.
Below the Spinner, you will find Edit/Save.
Enter your information.
Press Submit (your spinner is visible immediately).
Or better yet, save your spinner for future use with the following steps:
1. Click Save this List.
2. Provide a password.
3. Save the unique address to access your spinner.

Extra! You can opt to remove each option immediately.

Flippity Random Name Picker

Created by: Flippity.net

Rainbow-colored spinner

The Steps:

Visit: http://flippity.net/.
Find the Flippity Random Name Picker.
Make a copy of the template.
Enter your information.
Label your roster.
Go to File, Publish to the Web.
Click Publish.
Click on the Get the Link Here tab (at the bottom).
Bookmark the page to return in the future.

Extra! You can also display your information in the form of: lineup, group, team, or seating arrangement.

Spin Wheel

Created by: Lylesoft LLC

Pastel colored wheel with spinner sounds

The Steps:

Visit https://www.randomnamepicker.net/spin-wheel.
Click on Name Sets.
Delete the list of existing names: James, Mary, John, etc.
Enter your information.
Click Save and Close.
Select Reset Name.
Click Play.

Extra! You can opt to remove each option immediately.

Red Flag: I could never get this spinner to save multiple sets, so I think you might have to create an account.

Wheel of Names

Created by: Martin Omander, Google Developer Relations

Red, blue, green, and yellow wheel with spinner click sounds and applause

The Steps:

Visit https://wheelofnames.com/.
Enter your information to the right of the spinner.
Click on the spinner to activate.

Extra! You can opt to remove each option immediately. One other bonus is that this wheel allows you to add images for options.

Picker Wheel

Created by: Tyson Lim

Various hues of yellow and green wheel with spinner clicking sounds and upbeat music to announce selection

The Steps:

Visit https://pickerwheel.com/
Enter your information to the right of the spinner.
1. Enter in the yellow “Input here” one-by-one.
2. Or click on the peach-colored button to add a whole list.
Click on the spinner’s middle button.

Extra! Works in three modes: normal mode, elimination mode, and accumulation mode.

It is a PWA application which means you can work offline and can be installed as a desktop, iOS or Android app without surfing through a browser.

Wheel Generator

Created by: WheelGenerator.com

Five muted toned wheel spinner with spinner clicking sounds. The winner is announced in a text box with whistles, whoops, and clapping.

The Steps:

1. Visit https://wheelgenerator.com/
2. Enter random names, numbers, or symbols to the field next to the spinner.
3. Click the blue spin button to activate.

Extra! You can remove and add information immediately from the Entries Box. Includes an easy share button: Facebook, email, Gmail, Twitter, LinkedIn, Messenger and so many more.

I certainly hope one of these seven fancy wheels will spin you right. If you happen to have another wheel spinner that would be an awesome addition, please email me at preimers@tcea.org. Happy spinning!

Updated on November 22, 2019. This blog originally only had five spinners, but thanks to Tyson Lim we now have SIX SPINNERS!

Updated on April 30, 2021. How exciting! Another developer has reached out to me with another option – bringing the count of free wheel spinners to SEVEN!

April 30, 2021 45 comments

Content Areas Web 2.0 Tool

Bringing Geography to Life with Interactive Maps

by Andrew Roush May 20, 2019

written by Andrew Roush

Geography plays a crucial role in connecting the social studies disciplines, giving students a concrete understanding of how people move and interact, how the landscape can shape behavior and social structures, and more broadly, how the world we live in today came to be.

But year after year, the same headlines seem to appear:

“U.S. Students Are Really Bad at Geography”

“Most Young Americans Can’t Pass a Test on Global Affairs—Can You?”

“New Study Shows U.S. Students Miss Boat on Geography”

The good news is that ed tech can help us make geography, a foundation social studies area, more engaging for learners. Despite challenges, a student’s understanding of the intersection between physical and social worlds is vital in informing their understanding of history, civics, even life and earth sciences. All of those are brought together with interactive maps that facilitate active learning.

Setting the Standard

The importance and interdisciplinary nature of geography is made clear in the TEKS, the statewide educational standards in TCEA’s home state of Texas. An understanding of geography is included in standards from kindergarten through high school graduation.

Joseph Kerski, of the GIS firm Esri and a former president of the National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE), calls geography more than just “a ‘nice to have’ subject for an already-crowded educational curriculum.” Instead, he claims, it bolsters “the critical-thinking skills, technology skills, citizen skills, and life skills that underpin all other disciplines. It is essential for grappling with the essential issues of our time.”

interactive maps

A Trusted Navigator

Technology can help bring geography to life. There’s no need for maps to be static. In fact, they can be dynamic, even interactive. That’s the premise behind MapMaker Interactive, a hands-on learning site developed by National Geographic. By pairing National Geographic’s world-class maps with powerful customization tools, educators can mark, label, bookmark, and save maps that are custom-built to match lesson plans.

Students studying the Great Migration, for example, can automatically measure distances from the population centers of the Deep South to urban areas in the north and west by drawing a line between two points. Further, they can add pins, tags, and images. Even adding a population density overlay is simple and demonstrates the lasting influences of the historic movement of African Americans in the 20th century.

Just about any social studies lesson can be enhanced with custom maps. Let students create their own, or bookmark and save maps for use in future instruction.

The Cartographer’s Toolkit

With the basics out of the way, here are a few of the tools built into MapMaker Interactive:

Country Facts and Flags: This allows students to absorb basic national facts while also customizing border colors to make a unique, personal map layer.
Custom Text, Photos, Videos: Students can use a vast array of markers and shapes to tell stories or display layers of data.
Saving Custom Maps: You must provide an email address to save a map and generate a link to edit and share it.
Pins, Markers, and Custom Drawings: Maps can be edited and adjusted in a number of ways with self-made labels, markers, lines, boxes, and more.
Pre-Made Layers: Want to see the population density of Denmark? A map of big cat territory around the world? An overlay of the African American population in 1960? MapMaker comes with all that and more. You can even adjust the opacity of these layers.

Scouting the Terrain

It’s a powerful tool, to be sure, and this brief introduction couldn’t cover everything that MapMaker is capable of. Luckily, National Geographic has an entire playlist of video tutorials outlining the tool’s features, so you can learn how to best to implement it in your classroom.

What’s more, National Geographic also provides a number of written tutorials outlining everything from how to create “geotours”—a set of mapped bookmarks—to charting the biodiversity of the Amazon River basin.

Going Deeper Into Interactive Maps

For those looking for more, National Geographic Education also offers a number printable, black and white, one-page maps that emphasize a number of thematic components. You can access those here (requires Flash). In addition, educators can access large maps, printable in sections, that students can work together to compile and fill with information by drawing or coloring directly on the map, similar to the digital tools offered in MapMaker.

Looking for more geographic fun?

Check out the Country of the Week Quiz from The New York Times.
Read our post about Google’s Tour Builder technology.
Learn how to create data-driven maps with Visme.

May 20, 2019 0 comment

Web 2.0 Tool

Word Cloud Tool: WordWanderer

by Lori Gracey May 2, 2019

written by Lori Gracey

I really like the concept of word clouds. I think they can be a great resource in helping to determine what is important in reading, both for students and adults. They work well for getting to the heart of a piece of writing, whether that is the Declaration of Independence or Moby Dick. And there are a lot of good, free word cloud tools available with a nice variety of features: WordClouds.com, ABCYa! Word Clouds, Tagxedo, Wordle (website is no longer available, but there are desktop versions), TagCrowd, and Pro Word Cloud (which works inside PowerPoint), just to name a few. But there’s a word cloud generator available that has something the others don’t, and that’s an easy way to manipulate the cloud that is created. Say hello to WordWanderer.

How This Word Cloud Tool Works

Just like any other word cloud tools, WordWanderer allows you to copy and paste text into a box and then creates a “cloud” grouping of the words in the text with those words that appear more often in a bigger font size. The ordering of the words is alphabetical from top to bottom, left to right. When hovering over a word, its relationship with other words, in terms of their rate of proximal co-occurrence in a text, are highlighted in color.

word cloud

Adding a Context View

WordWanderer goes on to add a contextual view however. Clicking on a word selects it for the context view. Then the word sizing corresponds to how often the other words occur in the text near the selected word: the larger the word, the stronger the association between the words and the selected term. Vertical positioning is alphabetical and horizontal positioning represents sentence positions relative to the selected word. When in context view, the instances of the selected word are displayed below the visualization.

word cloud

The Comparison View

And there is a third way to view. Dragging a line between two words triggers the comparison view. In this view a word’s size corresponds to the combined association strength with the two words. Here, the horizontal position represents the difference in association between the two selected words. If a word occurs more often with the left word, it will be placed more towards the left side of the screen.

To find a specific word, they’ve added a search function above the visualization. Simply type in a word and hit enter to activate this function. There is also an options feature (top right of the screen) which lets you set which types of words are included, based on their parts of speech. So you can hide common words like the, is, etc. All of the three views show a limited a number of words.

word cloud

Using the Tool in the Classroom

WordWanderer includes six different pieces of literature as samples, so there is something for your students to practice with. These range from Hansel and Gretel to Jekyll and Hyde. This is a great resource for examining not only important documents and stories, but also critiquing their own writing. Are they using the same words over and over? Have they created strong relationships between words and ideas? Is the big idea that they are trying to convey coming across clearly? For other ideas about how to use word clouds with students, take a look at this article.

May 2, 2019 0 comment

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Backups Made Simple

by Miguel Guhlin April 24, 2019

written by Miguel Guhlin

If you’re like most computer users, you have zillions of files, photos, videos, and other documents on your device, perhaps organized and perhaps not. The question is how often and how successfully are you backing up all of that critical data? In this blog entry, we’ll explore an incredible free, open source backup tool for Windows, Mac, or GNU/Linux computer users.

Why Backups Are Hard To Make

“The percentage of computer owners backing up once a day or more often is 6% in 2018,” reports BackBlaze. Other statistics from the Harris Poll, conducted each year for the last eleven years: backup

24% of folks NEVER back up
17% of folks make backups monthly
26% of folks back up on annual basis
21% of American males have never backed up all the data on their computers
26% of American females have never backed up all the data on their computers

Making backups can be hard because it requires a small level of technical expertise and it can take time. You have to first know how to back up. Do you use a USB flash drive? Do you back up to the cloud? Even with plenty of cloud solutions (e.g. Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive), most don’t back up. How do you save documents to your hard drive and then auto-back up to the preferred cloud solution?

“You have a finite amount of willpower that becomes depleted as you use it,” say the authors of Willpower. A second consideration when it comes to making backups may be that you have too many decisions to make in the process. Consider how you go about knowing what you need to back up:

Do I back up this folder?
Is the file I have in this folder the newer one or the older one?
Where should I save this new file?
How should I title this backup folder or file?
What file type should it be? Should it be a PDF or a Word doc or docx file?

This barrage of questions comes up every time you want to back up. What’s worse is, you use up willpower on these decisions, and soon, making backups is the last thing on your mind. Spending your willpower in this way is the definition of “ego depletion.”

Automating Backups

One sure way to cut ego depletion involves using a computer program that will make the decisions for you. What you want to do is set it up so that the files on your computer get backed up to an external USB flash drive. These drives are portable, inexpensive, and you plug them in and forget them. You can make backups on a daily basis. Let’s talk about how to get started.

backup

Beginning the Back Up Process

To get started, you have to make some simple changes to your routine. Follow these steps:

Create a single folder on your computer’s Desktop (e.g. “Data”)
Create folders according to year and month (or create folders according to project)
Create any new files inside your folders

This simple approach will make it much easier to find your content. In a short time, you will be able to find your files according to your filing system (e.g. year and month or project topic).

Backing Up

There are many backup programs available. Some are free, ad-ware, or you have to pay for them. One free, open source solution you can use is FreeFileSync.

FreeFileSync is a folder comparison and synchronization software. It creates and manages backup copies of all your important files. It compares the source file on your computer to the backup location. FreeFileSync figures out the differences between a source and a target folder. Then, it transfers only the least amount of data needed. FreeFileSync is Open Source software, available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Isn’t that amazing? This kind of copy is fast and only takes a moment. What’s more, it doesn’t matter where your backup copy resides. It can be in any of the following locations:

A network drive your school district may have set up for you
A USB external drive
A support cloud storage location such as Google Drive

FreeFileSync has no limits on how many files you can sync. Use it in “business, commercial, and government environments without cost” (source: FreeFileSync).

Video Tutorials

Not sure you can learn to do this? Take advantage of the ample video tutorials that walk you through the process. When making a backup from your computer to another location (e.g. flash drive, external hard drive, network drive, Google Drive), use mirror sync. Mirror sync means, “Look at my original files and then make sure the copy on my backup device looks just like it.”

Here’s a video tutorial on mirror synchronization:

Backups Made Simple

Making backups can be hard, but is vitally important. Use the no-cost FreeFileSync tool to minimize ego depletion. That way, you can spend your energy on other projects.

April 24, 2019 0 comment

Web 2.0 Tool

Quick, Free PDF Converter

by Lori Gracey March 5, 2019

written by Lori Gracey

I often find useful PDF files out on the web that I want to use part of in a presentation or workshop, giving full credit to the author, of course. But since I don’t have the full Adobe Acrobat on my computer, it’s been very difficult to take just the piece I want. Until today, that is.

The Tool

EasyPDF.com is an all-in-one online tool that offers all types of PDF conversion to other formats and vice-versa. OCR conversion of scanned images is supported as well. Using this tool will make your PDF management easy.

EasyPDF has these fabulous features that are rare in a free tool:

Totally anonymous tool with no registration process or email required
No ads
No limitations on how many files you can convert or how large the files can be
100% FREE
Fast, reliable, and secure (converted files are deleted after six hours)
Access via a web browser on any device: Windows, Mac, Linux, or mobile
Import files directly from your Google Drive or Dropbox

Educational Uses

Since no registration or email is required, this is a good PDF converter for students to use. And because it’s so simple, even kids in elementary grades can learn to use it. The fact that it converts to and from a very wide variety of formats will also help students to see the many ways data/content can be saved for others to access, which is another plus. Try it!

March 5, 2019 2 comments

Web 2.0 Tool

Another Simple, But Elegant, Screenshot Tool

by Lori Gracey June 20, 2018

written by Lori Gracey

There are a lot of amazing tools available now for educators to use. Whether it’s a great publication creator or a graphics program or something for the classroom, they are ready for us and usually not expensive or even free. But sometimes, it’s the simplest tools that make me smile. Today, I discovered a very basic screenshot tool that I simply love.

Really? Screenshots?

I know. You’re saying what is there to get excited about a tool that just creates screenshots. But if you’re like me and you routinely create TONS of screeenshots each day for training, then you will love this new resource.

I had been using the Microsoft Snipping Tool to create the images I use for my handouts and webinars. And it’s still a fantastic resource. But if I wanted to get an image of an entire web page, it was a little hard to manipulate. And, because it is a separate program, I always had to struggle a little to make sure I could see it and whatever I was taking a picture of at the same time.

Screenshot Guru

Screenshot Guru is a website and so doesn’t have to be downloaded or installed, although it does offer a Chrome extension that you can add. It’s designed specifically to create images from entire web pages and Twitter. You simply enter the URL, check that you’re not a robot, and click Screen Capture. Then right-click to save the resulting PNG image.

Below is an example of one of TCEA’s tweets. You can see that it automatically adds how and when the screenshot was taken, as well as providing the original URL. This can be great for helping make sure students are citing their sources.

If you use Screenshot Guru on a web page, it automatically takes a picture of the entire web page, regardless of how long it is. And it does that without making you scroll down. This is excellent for those of us who are a little spastic! The website cannot capture web pages that require login (like your Gmail mailbox), pages with Flash embeds (like the YouTube video player), or AJAX-based sites like Google Maps.

The older I get, the more I am thrilled by simplicity. Screenshot Guru is very simple and easy to use and does exactly what I want it to do. That’s a definite win in my book!

June 20, 2018 0 comment

Web 2.0 Tool

Content Curation on Steroids with Wakelet

by Guest Blogger March 21, 2018

written by Guest Blogger

Wakelet is a new, free ed tech tool that I think you should take a hard look at. It allows teachers (and students) to save and organize online content in any way you want. You can easily embed articles, videos, Tweets, podcasts, images, and pretty munch anything with a URL into a Wakelet collection. Why does this matter? Because with all of the information available to us today, it’s more important than ever that our students practice good content curation. Below are some ways you can use Wakelet in and out of the classroom.

Assignments

Educators are using the tool to set assignments for their students across many different subjects and courses. The students search the web to find relevant pieces of research and content to create a story or a narrative. They can add social media posts, videos, images, podcasts, and articles, as well as their own notes, which makes it the perfect platform to tell a story with content to back it up. You can see an example here.

With a Wakelet project, students are usually graded on the strength and depth of their research, and how well they have managed to create a narrative in their collection.

For Research Projects

It’s a great way to teach students the importance of research and encourage them to showcase information in a modern, logical, and visually engaging way. Their bookmarks can be organized and easily found using Wakelet’s filters. The tool can also be useful in helping students make sense of their research and get the big picture, as well as the details. Here’s an example of a Wakelet used for a research assignment.

Portfolios

Another use for students and teachers is using Wakelet as a portfolio. They can save all of their work and achievements into one place and showcase it to the people that matter the most. This can include any published articles (for journalism students), photographs, podcasts, videos, and even assignment documents. They can effectively create a digital CV using their Wakelet profile. Here’s a good example of a journalism student’s profile.

Share Tips and Resources with Others

In addition, if you’re a department head or an instructional coach, you can use Wakelet to create collections of related resources to share with your peers. Everything is easily organized and ready to use. Here’s an example of a collection by a kindergarten teacher that she shared with other K teachers and parents.

You can create a free Wakelet account with an email, Google, or Facebook account. Saved items can be reordered and text can be added to each of them. Collections can be kept private or shared with the world. There’s also a Chrome add-on as well as an iOS app. It’s all just so simple!

Some of the writing for this blog was done by James Davis with Wakelet.

March 21, 2018 0 comment

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