As a teacher, I am often asked by parents and by other teachers about apps to use with their children. I always recommend ones that encourage children to be creative and allow them to express themselves in a positive way. These are several of my favorite Android apps for Preschool - adult. I have included a variety of types. I also like these because the product can be saved to... More →
While Dragon Dication by Nuance is not the only dictation application on the market, in this educators opinion, it is the most polished and one of the most widely used. If you are not familiar with this type of program it is simple to explain: you say it and the program types it. For fellow special educators and general education teachers alike, this probably elicits a Scooby Doo-like... More →
Reading comes to life with interactive eBooks using the Storia app by Scholastic. Get five free books just for downloading the app. It's easy, just download and install the Storia app, launch, sign in and read. Teachers like that they get five free books and that they can use their Scholastic bonus points to buy eBooks. But what teachers really like about Storia, is the built-in book manager. Books... More →
I'm really excited to use the Sony Xperia Tablet with K-2 students. I'm sure that they will think of even more ways to use the apps than I will. The first 6 year old that I handed the Xperia Tablet to immediately tapped on an app to open it. It was intuitive. I did need to show her how to get back to the home screen and how... More →
You did it! You made the wise decision to purchase a SONY Xperia tablet. Now what? As an educator it can be quite overwhelming to wade through the vast amount of information out there on the best Android apps to use. Let me help you by posting my findings on a Learnist board. This first post features Wave Recorder, Skitch Evernote, Quixey, and qPDF. These... More →
One of the best things about the Xperia tablet is it’s versatility. Not only do you have a content consumption device with apps to interact with, digital reader functionality, and Internet accessibility, you also have a content creation device that can act as a still camera, a video camera, a sound recorder, and a productivity suite. The challenge in a one tablet classroom is finding ways in which... More →
So I have to admit, I came upon this idea thanks to a colleague of mine who was looking for a fun way to encourage creativity and reward good behavior. We got to talking about wedding receptions we had recently attended at which the hosts had provided a photo booth experience. You know what I’m talking about. You go into the booth, click the button and a camera... More →
The Idea One great way to use your Sony Xperia in the classroom is to create a class voting booth. This could be done in conjunction with an election unit or simply to instill a little bit of the democratic process into your classroom. While the act of voting via clicker or via webtools such as polleverywhere.com may be a quick way to gather class information, the act of... More →
TeachersParadise.com Studios offer a number of Android apps. One set of their Pre-K through Second Grade handwriting offerings not only help young learners refine their small motor skills, but one set in particular helps them practice their sight word recognition. The Kids Handwriting HWT series uses the “Handwriting Without Tears” methods and has four apps that allow children to progress naturally. What is unique is that instead... More →
I live in Minnesota where the weather can be extreme. Thank goodness there are weather apps so that I can stay inside. If I were planning a unit on weather in my classroom, the first thing I would do is round up resources that I have available, the resources online and the apps on my Sony Xperia Tablet. In my classroom I would have thermometers, a barometer and books. Then... More →
It is here, the Common Core Learning Standards have officially taken over as THE focus. The writing is on the wall as many professional teaching books, pinterest pages, and professional development conferences have quickly switched their focus. With good reason. The standards are guiding all of our decisions as we educate our students to be college and career ready (not to mention that... More →
There are a lot of apps out there… more than we can even begin to explore. The Google Play Store has tens of thousands… but how do we choose apps for learning? What are some criteria to help us choose apps for our students? Basic Criteria Curriculum First things first, the app needs to provide opportunities for students to learn or practice something we value. This could be... More →
I was a Facebook late-comer. I was teaching, I had a family and a life, and if I wanted to “connect” with friends and family, I would pick up the phone or email them. I eventually gave in, joined and it’s moderately useful for me, but the ways I’ve seen it used by other teachers is amazing to me. So, if you’re... More →
This post is the first in a monthly series of posts about Google Apps for Education and how it can make an Administrator’s life more efficient, so you spend less time with paperwork and more time in classes, at school activities, and with parents, students and teachers. If you’re not familiar with the power of Google Apps for Education, welcome! Here’s a quick overview: ... More →
So you have one tablet, does it have any use in a busy classroom of learners with an already busy teacher? YES! Having a limited supply of any tool or resource means we need to be even more thoughtful and intentional about how we use that tool. Here are a few ideas for integrating your tablet into the teaching and learning in your classroom, even if you only have one... More →
There are lots of ways to create eBooks these days, using lots of different tools. This post focuses on one way to create eBooks that is simple, free, and takes full advantage of the tools available on your Xperia tablet. The Idea Have your students author content for a book that can be turned into an eBook, read on digital devices, and shared with others. The content of the book... More →
I’ve always felt that one of the goals of a teacher is to help each student feel like a rock star. Thanks to an observant colleague who saw a couple of kids playing with Songify, I think I have the next tool to help realize that goal. What Is It? Songify is a simple and free app that you can use on your Xperia tablet to record students... More →
When rolling out the Google Apps for Education Suite to educators, Google Drive is easily in the first three application shared. And why not? It’s different yet familiar, it’s collaborative and you can do some neat tricks with it. Like a puppy. But with less mess. Google Drive is great to show teachers and they will come up with some great plans to use with their... More →
Having a tablet or other mobile device that may well be handed among several students as part of an activity can cause problems if the students have multiple accounts they need to access. Imagine, for example, that three students in a group will use one device, and each has a GAFE (Google Apps for Education) account. How do they access their accounts without stepping into each others' mail, files, etc.? ... More →
The Google Play Store on your Android tablet offers a wide range of educational apps that are great for not only younger writers but writers of all ages as well. There’s likely an app that will help your students with their mobile writing endeavors! Here are some of my favorite writing apps that are great for your Android tablet. All of these apps are free and all are... More →
One of my favorite ways to curate the web is via Symbaloo, a web 2.0 tool that allows the user to create webmixes of their favorite sites. The tool is easy to learn, and it’s free. There are all kinds of reasons to like Symbaloo webmixes. First, they are very customizable. You can create custom buttons to represent each URL you would like to add. Also, you can have... More →
Every educator has too many tasks, not enough time and is pulled in a million directions. Here is a quick run-down of my favorite apps to use with my Sony Xperia tablet (or other Android-enabled device) to streamline life, while still staying effective. Evernote - Take notes on your tablet, add pictures, audio recordings or attachments quickly to your notes, along with sharing “notebooks” to collaboratively edit;... More →
Students love to tell stories. Students love to create stories. There are loads of great Android apps that allow students to capture images and video and do things like make movies, annotate what they capture, and add in their voice. Check out these great apps that allow students to create stories on the go: Skitch With the built-in front facing and rear facing cameras on your Xperia tablet,... More →
Social media has become so prevalent that it seems like our lives are bombarded with bursts of tweets, pins, check-ins, quick links, hashtags, and Instagrams. What too often gets lost is the substance behind all of those short posts...and there is substance. No really. There is. The cliché knock on social media is that it is just self-absorded nothingness post after post about where someone is eating... More →
Techsmith's Coach's Eye app may have been designed for coaches and athletes to analyze athletic performance but it harbors a lot of potential for any teaching situation. It is also one a very select number of apps on the Android platform that can be used to annotate video or flip learning. I have been looking long and hard to find an app on the Android platform that... More →
Word Ball is a simple game. Letters float on the screen and shrink and eventually disappear as you make as many words as you can. There is no timer, it is a race to make words faster than the balls shrink. Longer words score more points so this is an encouragement to students to add prefixes and suffixes to words as they enter them into the game. There are three... More →
By no stretch of the imagination, am I a professional photographer. I like taking pictures of my work with schools, teachers and students and I love taking pictures of school signs. I also believe in the need to document, in pictures, the fantastic things that are happening in our schools every day. Photos capture moments that will never, ever happen again. So in working with my Sony Xperia tablet,... More →
Being data-informed as a teacher is critical, especially in the Information Age. The more information we have about our learners, the more capable we are of designing lessons that enhance student learning. Finding ways to collect student feedback quickly and with the user-experience in mind is becoming more and more easy. Thanks to web 2.0 and the app culture, we now have the means to take the pulse of any group,... More →
One of the things that I love about tablet devices like the Xperia is that they are playgrounds for self-motivated, exploratory learning. An Internet-connected tablet offers unlimited possibilities for discovering new, wonder-inducing things to know. That said, with all of the world at your fingertips, it is hard to know where to begin. As a service to my fellow explorers, I have provided 10 of my favorite places to learn, explore... More →
So it’s day one of a new unit on punctuation and grammatical usage. You have twenty students that you expect to have a working command of commas, periods, quotation marks, and everything in between by the end of the next grading period. Where do you start? What do these kids already know, and what are they totally unaware of? You can craft a pre-test... More →
I love art. I love drawing, painting, and creating art of all kinds. My students usually cheered when I got out the art supplies. Students love art too. One of the wonderful features of the Sony Xperia Tablet is that it allows students to be artistically creative and to share their work. Illustration apps allow students to express themselves through drawing, to illustrate their stories, and to communicate. Their illustrations... More →
People of a certain age remember the days of diagramming sentences for parts of speech. Many bemoan that kids today just do not know how to write using correct grammar and perhaps we should go back to direct teaching of these important English concepts. Have no fear, the Common Core Learning Standards (CCLS) have it covered. Specifically, third graders are expected to “Explain the function... More →
I recently came across a handy app on the Sony Xperia that was already there right out of the box. The app is called Scrapbook. If you don’t already see the Scrapbook app on your home screen, press Apps & Widgets in the top right corner to locate the Scrapbook app. To add an app to your home screen, just press and hold on it until you are... More →
I should start by making it clear I know Karen and Gene, the two gifted educators that write the Common Core and Educational Technology blog. They were part of the 2011 cohort of the MERIT program which I directed, and so I can say without any hint of subjectivity that they're amazing people. So what have they done? They have launched a blog in which strong educational technology resources are... More →
As a former speech teacher, I can’t tell you how jealous I am that today’s teachers have the ability to provide their young rhetoricians with the tools that the big boys use. When I discovered that tablets like the Xperia can be used as teleprompters, I thought back to all of those student hours spent writing notecards and designing cue cards. I remembered with pain the... More →
As a special educator one of the most easily addressed disabilities I've encountered is visual impairment; however, it is also one the most overlooked. This statement is in no way intended to minimize the challenges students with visual impairments face. It is simply intended to point out the wide range of magnification and access tools available to students in today's technologically advanced world. Despite this, I... More →
PicsArts for Kids (free in the Google Play store), has features that will appeal to all aspiring young artists. Students can draw freely on a blank canvas (which supports multi-finger touch), color a variety of different pre-made pages (your tablet can also be your coloring book!), and students can learn to draw more complex figures by combining different shapes. For a free app, it has a lot of nice... More →
In an earlier resource, I discussed how you could use your Xperia tablet as a wireless microphone in order to dictate to text with Dragon. This is still a fabulous speech-to-text program, but it has two distinct drawbacks. First, you can not dictate directly into the tablet, rather it remotely transmits to a desktop or laptop computer which has Dragon Dictation installed on it. Second, Dragon is... More →
If you have spent any time at all in recent professional development sessions for teachers, you have almost certainly run across the term Universal Design for Learning (UDL). The term applies to reaching and engaging all types of learners through the use of innovative and a multi-sensory approach. It’s a great idea that I feel all educators should strive to achieve, but it can be a... More →
If you teach third-grade boys you know that in their independent reading bag they will at some point have a graphic novel like the books by Dav Pilkey in their independent reading bag. This is not to say that the girls do not appreciate this genre too. As third-grade teacher, I have observed first-hand how ears perk up whenever... More →
The titles of my blog posts usually begin with Common Core Connections. At first a post on homework planners for the Xperia table might not make sense. However, if you think about it, students will be better equipped to meet the CCSS if they are organized and actually do the reinforcement work and projects teachers assign. I taught first grade for 10 years and homework completion... More →
In my role as a curriculum and technology specialist, I often encounter teachers who say things like, “I want to create lessons that take advantage of digital content, but I don’t know what that looks like.” Often, this is because teacher schedules are so hectic, and searching the Internet takes time that many teachers don’t have. That’s why I was so excited... More →
Many teachers love the collaborative nature of documents in the Google Drive system, but have difficulties keeping what is shared with them organized. I have some recommendations on how to handle that, and hope this will help you take advantage of all that collaborative documents make possible. Note that if you are brand new to Google Drive, this post may be confusing. I am assuming an understanding of... More →
Google Drive allows students to write collaboratively. This falls in the Big Whopping Deal category, as students tend to be far more interested in producing higher quality work when the audience expands beyond the teacher. Student work can be reviewed, commented on, and discussed by peers in order to improve it before "turning in" the final draft to the teacher. In Part 1, I described an approach to keeping... More →
Last month Google announced a new, handy little tool called Google Keep. First of all, I really like the simplicity of this app. Like the other Google Apps, it's tied to your Google account. More specifically it's connected to Google Drive. You can head here to download Google Keep from Google Play. Once you've created notes, you can view them by going to drive.google... More →
I love challenges. Someone asked me if it was possible to get a Google Drive and a Box.net account to work together. I accepted this challenge and got to work figuring it out. I found that I can use both together. I already had Google Drive on my laptop and the Google Drive app on my Sony Xperia Tablet. I also had a Box.net account, Box sync... More →
This is an introductory activity to get to know the features of the Sony Xperia Tablet and a few of the apps. You can do the activities with a partner or by yourself. Tasks can be completed in any order. All answers should be written down on the Sony Xperia Tablet. What app would you use for that? Find the telephone number for the... More →
Any one that is familiar with the Orton Gillingham approach to teaching reading would greatly question how using a tablet is at all relevant. Orton Gillingham is a multi-sensory, sequential approach to teaching reading, spelling, and writing for individuals that have difficulties often associated with dyslexia. The key part is that it is multi-sensory and combines visual, auditory, and kinesthetic approaches. When learning a letter and... More →
If you have found this site of resource, congratulations! But sometimes, we don’t even know where to start to find well-vetted resources. Look no further. Below, I’ve provided a brief list of great, well-vetted resource sites to reference when you are looking for great Android educational resources or apps. Enjoy! Well-established and known, Common Sense Media, provides Android Apps reviews for kids, by age-level. ... More →
In another post on this site, I highlighted the TED app for Android, and am returning to that app to talk about ways we think about our students. Do we know what they can do? More to the point, do we know how our thinking can limit what we see of what they can do? A friend asked me recently this question, "What's the coolest thing you've seen... More →
Yesterday I posted a piece about how we see limitations in our students, and this morning, a friend pointed me to a new and impressive video from Dove called Real Beauty Sketches. This is a thought-provoking piece that calls into question both how we see others and how we see ourselves. In the video, an artist who can't see his subjects sketches them according to their descriptions of themselves,... More →
Colleagues often ask me where I find new tools and ideas for enhancing learning with technology. Obviously, I always learn from and share the great resources available from my fellow Sony Education Ambassadors, but beyond that, with so much content available on the web and so few hours in the day, I try to be as efficient in my learning as possible. As a result, I’ve gradually assembled... More →
The school year is winding down and my students just completed the New York State Common Core assessments for English Language Arts and Math. The reality is that assessment has moved to the forefront of every educator’s mind as we raise the rigor and expectations of our students’ skills and knowledge. The use of flashcards as a study aid is definitely not new, but I have... More →
Explain Everything has finally arrived to the Google Play Store and the Sony Education Ambassadors couldn’t be more excited! This post will cover some initial resources out there to get started on Explain Everything on your Android device, and to connect with other EE Android users. The Website The Official YouTube Channel The Twitter Feed The Facebook Fan Page Download Link in Google Play Store Explain Everything expects... More →
In my first “Common Core Connections: Time to Study” post I mention how the Xperia can help reinforce the concepts we are teaching to support the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). This post focuses on another Web-based program that has a corresponding app, VocabularySpellingCity. This is a popular and versatile Web/app combo that like Study Stack/gflash+ (see my previous post) allows... More →
From a special education perspective, two of the largest challenges to student academic progress that teachers face are engagement and age appropriate material. I would also step out on a limb and say these are major challenges to all teachers. For instance, if you want one of your middle school students to improve or master his punctuation usage, providing him handouts with See Spot Run excerpts is neither... More →
The other day, I visited the classroom of a friend of mine. She is an amazing teacher who is very creative and is constantly finding ways to create a sense of wonder and joy in her high school language arts classroom. Given her artistic talents, I am never surprised to see something new and unique in her room. Over the years, she has furnished her classroom with chairs and tables... More →
Thank you to all the teachers for your dedication, time and energy. Our learners need your passion and expertise to guide their learning. Your work is inspiring and much appreciated! As a teacher for over 35 years, I know that teachers love, and need, free stuff. So I was on a mission to find stuff for you. I haven't read all the fine print and haven't requested all of... More →
So you’ve been using your Xperia to capture all of the great learning that has been going on in your classroom, but after the moment has passed, those pictures have a tendency to just pile up and sit unused on your device instead of being organized and enjoyed. Ideally, there would be an easy way to organize photos quickly into albums that can be flipped through on your... More →
The new Z tablet hit the market here in the US the end of May and boy has it made a splash! There have been some big changes since the S tablet release but what are those big changes, and do they really matter in the education world. 1) Waterproof - as soon on the advertisements and demos at conferences and exhibits, the new Z tablet can be fully immersed in... More →
English and reading teachers will rejoice when they download Reading Gridlines on their tablet.Reading Gridlines is a free android app that helps students focus on sections of the screen. This app adds gridlines to your eBook app or any other app you select. In order to focus on screen and text, we need reading gridlines to split the text into several parts, and quickly digest the text one by... More →
I’m always looking for new places to extend my informal learning online. Back in February I posted an article titled 10 Great Places to Learn and Play. Since then, of course, I’ve discovered new sites worth exploring, and I offer them here to those of you who are looking for new things to ponder and new digital gadgets to try: 1. Small Demons- I’ve... More →
The future doesn’t always deliver on the promises it makes to us as children, but video chats are one place where The Jetsons didn’t let me down. I may not be able to travel by pneumatic tube to school, have a delicious steak delivered to me in seconds at the touch of a button, or rely on my robot to clean up my messes, but I... More →
Imagine if you will, a third-grade class feverishly writing persuasive paragraphs for why readers should read a particular book the third graders enjoy. Everyone is actively engaged and trying their best to find specific details to include. This was not your ordinary writing assignment... they were writing this as a script for a video book recommendation made that much cooler by the Aurasma app. How did we... More →
One of the great things about mobile technology generally and tablet technology specifically is that one device can perform so many functions. Tablets like the Xperia can be a library, a stereo, a computer, a camera, a movie theater, and so much more. One of my favorite uses for the Xperia tablet is as a video camera and production studio. With my Xperia, I have the ability to capture, edit... More →
As an educator, I am constantly looking for new ideas to shape my educational philosophy and pedagogy. While I don’t always have the time to read a book on current trends in education, I can always find a few moments each day to peruse the blogs that I follow and read a few posts to get my mental wheels spinning. Here are 10 of my favorite sources for inspiration: ... More →
During the month of September I had the absolute pleasure of providing each of my students with an Xperia Z tablet to use courtesty of Sony! Anyone who knows me, realizes what an opportunity this was for me. I try to be app savvy but it is frustrating when you have ideas for how tablets like the Sony Xperia Z can be used in the... More →