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Article first published as Review: xtraNormal for Education and Business on Blogcritics.  When I first discovered xtranormal , an online movie maker program, I was amazed by how easy the web 2.0 tool was to use and how full featured the program was. One can truly make some quality flicks with a reasonable learning curve, and they even have a chance to go viral (see  iPhone 4 vs. HTC Evo , warning: inappropriate language is used). In education, teachers are constantly craving for more ways to engage their students and provide new opportunities to allow students to show what they know on something other than a paper test or a PowerPoint. xtranormal started as a completely free tool and then a short while back, converted to a somewhat pay for points format (previews are still free and can suffice for many classes). When this happened,  I offered some thoughts on the future as well as suggested possible alternatives. Recently, xtranormal has upped the ante by cre...

This morning, I was treated to a smorgasbord of iPad discussion at the Northern Illinois Computer Educators' (NICE) iPad Workshop. Held at Loyola Academy, the workshop took the form of an "unconference" as 40+ attendees helped set the agenda and then broke out into small group sessions for lots of sharing and thoughts over how the iPad integrates into classroom instruction. Notes and a shared doc can be found via these links ( backchannel , shared doc ), and some of my favorite apps after the jump.

I'm currently at the Illinois Education Technology Conference (IETC) in Springfield, IL. I'll be taking notes on several sessions throughout the next two days. Similar to my experience at  ISTE 2011 , I'll be using Cover It Live to record these notes. The following is the live feed (or if you're reading this after the event - the archived feed) of a conference session presented at IETC 2011 titled "Transforming Teaching and Learning Through iPads: Chicago Public Schools"  The session took place on Tuesday, November 15, 2011. For more thoughts on Teaching and Learning Technology,  please consider subscribing to the RSS feed or through email . Facebook fans - get the latest posts, thoughts, musings, and giveaways. Give us a "Like" today. <p><p><p>&amp...

As I wrap up another introduction training of Google Apps to students, I wanted to pause and reflect on how much good can come out of increased usage of Docs alone by our students.  Thanks to an updated campaign to encourage our incoming freshmen to log in and check their email, we've gotten a large spike in users testing out the Google Apps waters. After the jump are a few items I make sure to bring up during my presentations. If you're not using Docs yet, educationally or personally, perhaps, you'll try it out after reading the following.

Everyone loves free apps, especially when they normally cost a few bucks. Well, coinciding with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics conference, McGraw-Hill is giving away all of its Everyday Math apps for free.  This will only be valid through the end of the conference, April 16, so stock up now as the apps are normally priced at $1.99.   Available apps include: · Addition Top-It ™ - Subtraction Top-It ™ - Beat the Computer ™ - Name that Number ™ - Equivalent Fractions ™ - Tric-Trac ™ - Monster Squeeze ™ - Baseball Multiplication 1–6™ Facts - Divisibility Dash ™  The apps are available for iPhone and iPad and can be viewed on this website as well as through the iTunes Apps Store. For more thoughts on Teaching and Learning Technology,  please consider subscribing to the RSS feed or through email .

When I recently discovered that Google had resumed sending out Cr-48's, I was being picked up by my wife and we were on our way to our first date night as parents without the baby. I promptly asked, "Did I receive any packages today?" She casually replied, "Oh yeah, there was one." "And...?" I pondered. "Oh, it just said Chrome on it." Classic, and thus began my weekend, chock full of exploration and excitement over the new hardware initiative from the folks in Mountain View . After a week of playing and a day long conference, here are my thoughts and how they tie in with future education deployments.

Inside this issue: Exam Week Workshops (ETHS) Ideas for Second Semester Technology Integration LiveScribe SmartPens Pilot (ETHS) Best iPad Apps EdTech Conferences and more!   Subscribe to all Chanatown Teacher Posts on  RSS  or via  Email here . Open publication - Free publishing - More newsletter

This issue's applicable to those outside of ETHS as well as you'll find articles about Expanded Google Apps including Blogger, Tech Tips for Final Exams, some holiday tech gift ideas, and more.   Subscribe to all Chanatown Teacher Posts on  RSS  or via  Email here . Open publication - Free publishing - More eths

To think, I was excited just over the release of a native Google Reader app to the Android Market last week. This week, we get an entire bookstore, a preview of the new Google operating system, and a sneak peek at the notebook that will be the first to demonstrate the capabilities of the new OS. Thoughts on the those other items will have to wait, as I am most excited about the possibilities of Cr-48 (the cool code name for the notebooks) and education.

Last year, I made my first foray into the presentation circuit by delivering a poster session on Google Apps at the Illinois Computing Educators conference in February. Over the course of the two day conference plus a pre-conference workshop on Garageband, I enjoyed picking up new ideas to integrate technology in the classroom as well as having the opportunity to network with others in the field. This year, the conference is celebrating its 25th anniversary, and I'm sure the lineup of presenters will be outstanding. However, after seeing this year's schedule and speakers, I'm particularly excited for the event. Find out more after the jump.

Although I'm out of the chemistry lab, I'm still involved with teaching the subject through private tutoring and online through Northwestern's online learning program. As students and teachers become increasingly attached to their computers both in and out of the classroom, they often have the need to use a periodic table online. Here are a few of the best versions that go above and beyond the traditional paper copy. They are all quick to load, stable, and would surely make Mendeleev proud.

Installment #2 of our monthly newsletter regarding education technology at ETHS.   Subscribe to all Chanatown Teacher Posts on  RSS  or via  Email here . Open publication - Free publishing - More technology

Perhaps one of the more underutilized applications available at ETHS, Discovery Education Streaming offers over 80,000 embeddable and/or stand alone video clips for teachers to use, stream, and download through our servers. We last discussed how to begin taking advantage of the assignment, quiz, and writing prompt builder tools , and today, we'll dive into one of my personal favorites, the Atlas feature.

We're introduced Discovery Education Streaming (DES) and its huge library of video clips , and discussed how to search for and organize content related to your subject area . Now, we take a look at perhaps the most promising yet underutilized feature of the application. How does one weave some cohesion between video clips and better yet, assign them to individual students for completion and accountability? Say "hello" to M y Builder Tools.

Article first published as The New Macbook Air - Don't Call It a Netbook, Unless That's What It Really Is on Blogcritics. Image by Getty Images via @daylife So, I finally got a chance to play with the new Macbook Air this weekend. I stopped by the beautiful new Apple store in Chicago (North/Halsted) and before purchasing a wireless keyboard for my iPad (the primary objective), I gave both the 11.6" and the 13"MBA's the once over. Here are some thoughts:

Image via Wikipedia I've given a lot of love to Google Apps for Education lately, including a set of "Tech Talks" this week at ETHS. However, I think it's important to consider some potential reasons why a teacher and possibly a school would choose not to "Go Google."

In my overview  post on Discovery Education Streaming (DES), I discussed how to use the main homepage (My DE) to begin your search for relevant, engaging, and embeddable video content. However, as noted in the post, DES Streaming has over 80,000 videos and its supply increases daily. Today, we'll look at how to narrow down your search, how to save your discovered content, and discuss a few more ways to get the most out of this great resource.

Perhaps one of the more underutilized applications available at ETHS, Discovery Education Streaming (DES) offers over 80,000 embeddable and/or stand alone video clips for teachers to use, stream, and download through the cloud. In this series of posts, I'll take a closer look at a few different ways to maximize DES in your classes. Today's first post involves some general features of DES and how you can immediately get up and running.

Image by Getty Images via @daylife Earlier this month, we looked at some of the core functionality that can be achieved with the Smartphone. As these advanced phones become more common, we want to make sure that we are getting the most out of these high tech devices. What happens once you've gotten familiar with your basic email, calendar, and document setup? Here are three more ways to help you maximize your smartphone's capabilities and keep you in touch with the world wherever and whenever.

Christmas came early to this author when word came out on the Google Certified Teacher Group that GCT's would be receiving free licenses to many of TechSmith 's popular products. At ETHS, I am fortunate enough to have access to much of their software collection already, but even before Camtasia fell into my hands, I was using Jing (for free) for quick and easy video screen casts that our teachers might find useful.