Highlights from ISTE and Open Education Resources (OER)

Susan Wetenkamp-Brandt, our amazing Educational Technology Manager, just returned from the International Society for Technology in Education conference and shared a great deal of the exciting and trending things happening in the world of education.

The big trends coming to education include: 

• Everybody Loves Google
• Virtual Reality
• Personalization of Education
• The Maker Movement
• Open Education
• Got Devices?

What's new with Google:

• Cardboard: Virtual reality on your smartphone
• Tour Builder: Virtual field trips/tours of world locations
• Arts & Culture: Exhibits and collections from museums and archives around the world

What's new with Open Educational Resources (OER):

Another growing trend in education is the concept of Open Educational Resources (OER). We all know not to reinvent the wheel but at times it seems there is no tire store around when you need it. Enter OER. Groups are getting together to pool and share resources, including:

• CK-12 Foundation: Flexible open textbooks and interactive learning materials with a math and science focus
• ACT Academy: A curated library of open educational content (videos, activities, etc) that teachers can organize into lessons and assign to learners. They don’t create content, but rather aggregate content from other providers and align it with standards
• LearnZillion: A similar service to ACT Academy, they offer a collection of math and English lessons that teachers can assign to learners. (In fact, many LearnZillion resources show up on ACT Academy – this is the nature of OERs)
• Open Library: An open source ebook library with the goal of building a webpage for every book ever printed (seriously!). Download and read free books!
• PBS Learning Media: PBS video content for use in education, organized by standard, some with wrap-around learning materials

Products of interest:

• LightSail: A literacy application that wraps learning activities around ebooks. Library of over 80,000 books, organized by literacy level. Currently iPad only; coming to browsers by 2017.
• Woot Math: Fun, hands-on, fractions lessons. Yes, it’s an entire app dedicated just to learning fractions. First lessons are free, complete set for $9/year per student.
• NextLesson: Problem-solving and project-based learning curriculum materials; some free, more with a paid subscription.
• Flipgrid: A video discussion tool where teachers create questions that participants answer by recording video responses. Currently PC and iPad only; Android support coming soon.
• ALEKS: An adaptive computer-based math (and some science) platform from McGraw Hill. Could be a replacement for the math instruction in Skills Tutor.

Useful tools:

• Remind: Free app and website for classroom text messaging that keeps everyone’s phone numbers private. Send text messages to all your students and volunteers at once.
• ViewPure: Strip ads, comments, etc from YouTube videos.
• Kaizena: Add-on for Google Drive for giving feedback on student work. Teachers can give feedback in text, audio, or by linking to a relevant lesson. Free!
• Wolfram Alpha: The “computational knowledge engine;” it solves problems for you, and shows you how it was done; not just for math anymore!
• Knovio: Narrate your PowerPoint slides and post them online as video.
• MyKidsBank: Create fake but functional online bank accounts for students, for teaching financial literacy.

Fun stuff:

• ThingLink: Find, create, and share interactive images.
• Powtoon: Create animated slideshows – like a cross between PowerPoint and a cartoon.
• Kahoot!: Game-based learning app for classroom use. Seriously fun and easy to use.
• TeachersFirst: A free (and ad-free) teaching resource collection from the nonprofit organization The Source for Learning, TeachersFirst provides curriculum, lesson plans, and ready-to-use classroom materials.
• TED Ed: Animated educational videos from TED, with wrap-around learning activities.
• 21 Things Project: Free resources for educational technology professional development.