Read and Watch a Video about the Canvas App Center that will Launch this Summer!

The new Canvas app center will include close to 100 free apps which will be easily installed in your Canvas course without help from IT support.  So, you're asking yourself, "What does this do for me and my online course?"   You'll have easy access and integration of media, social, ebooks, assessment, and more 3rd party integrations for your online course.  Watch the video below for more information.  Or, read the entire article.

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Google Keep

Wednesday, March 20, a Google Blog post introduced Google Keep. "With Keep you can quickly jot ideas down when you think of them and even include checklists and photos to keep track of what’s important to you. Your notes are safely stored in Google Drive and synced to all your devices so you can always have them at hand." Google Keep even transcribes notes for you from your voice memo.

"Google Keep is available on Google Play for devices running Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich and above. You can access, edit and create new notes on the web at http://drive.google.com/keep and in the coming weeks you'll be able to do the same directly from Google Drive."

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Google Tools for the Classroom!

I've been very interested in Google tools as of late.  One of our online instructors, Susan Wrampe, shared this document with me.  I found it to be extremely helpful in terms of how to integrate Google Apps in the Classroom, compliments to the creator, Becky Evans!  Enjoy!

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Have an iPad? Love Google Drive? Read this!

So, you have an iPad now.  And, you've been using Google Drive on your work and home computer but are unsure of just how to use it on the iPad.  Have no fear.  Read this short guide on how to use Google Drive on your iPad, and you'll be off and running in no time!

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33 Digital Skills for 21st century Teachers

What are you going to learn (or relearn) this new year?
Meg sent this link from this marvelous website Educational Technology & Mobile Learning
She thought it would be a keeper and I hope you agree.
Not only does the author provide a list of the skills, he provides links to empower teachers to develop those skills.
Besides being a terrific resource, I believe it further emphasizes the notion that technology is not just for computer 'experts' or an option you can choose to ignore, but a set of skills that is not optional, and worthy of learning to use well in very specific ways. Furthermore, our attitude towards these skills is as important as the competent use of them when it comes to our students.

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Protecting Your Cloud

Are your documents safe on the cloud?  Do you love Internet storage capabilities like Dropbox, Google Drive, and Box but worry about your account being compromised?  One way to increase security is to enable two-step authentication.  By following this link, you can read an article and watch a video about how to use two-step authentication for your cloud accounts. Do the Two Step to Protect Your Google Drive, Dropbox, and Box Files

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Ever Wondered about Evernote?

Evernote is advertised as a great note-taking and bookmarking tool.   Ever wondered how to use Evernote? Ever wondered why Evernote is so special?  Never wonder again…A new 34 page free guide has been released by “Make Use Of”. This guide will help explain how to use Evernote on your computer and phone with instructions for both iOS and Android devices.  Check it out here:  How to Use Evernote, The Missing Manual.

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Secret cloud space

Free cloud spaces are very popular these days. No more jump drives to misplace, you can access your photos, music, documents from anywhere as long as you are connected to the Internet.
You may already have a 5GB account that you may not know about. Amazon offer 5GB of free storage with every Amazon account. You can upload photos, music, video or documents without having to remember one more password. For more details, log on to your Amazon account, click on the Your Account link and scroll down to the Digital Content section of the page. Now if you can only resist adding a few more things to your Shopping Cart while you are at it.

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Flip a Video on TED-Ed

We previously mentioned the new TED-Ed web site that provides valuable videos for education. Well, the site has added a great new feature that allows you to "flip" one of their videos or any YouTube video.

Flipping, in TED-Ed terminology, is a way to add information, multiple choice questions, open-ended questions, and "dig deeper" resources to a video. You also have access to the flipped videos created by the community. You can use and/or modify these flipped videos as you wish. Teachers can even track participation and student responses to check for understanding.

Take a look at the video tour below to learn all that you can do with this new tool.

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ThingLink to Tag your Photos

ThingLink is a great tool to add text, web links, and even videos to your images and graphics. You can embed the ThingLink in your ANGEL course or web site. Watch the video below to view a sample and see just how simple this is to to. Thanks to Richard Byrne for the great information.

 

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Yodio!

Yodio is a free tool that records words and visuals for future playback. As instructors, we can use it to explain a difficult concept or one with unusual pronunciations so the students can play it as many times as they’d like until they are ready to move on. For the students, we could have them explain what they read or discuss their opinions on a topic, then send us the link so we could assess them in a way outside traditional evaluation methods. What a great way to connect using something outside of the normal procedures! Give it a try and let us know what you think!

Below is an example of a student Yodio submission. Press the play button to hear what she has to say!

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Butler Online's Gift to You!

This calendar was originally posted on Dec. 1!! Since the calendar is not searchable, our team will repost all of the content to this blog, but for now, help us countdown to the big holiday with a new technology idea each day!

We have created a Technology Advent Calendar to share new ideas and information in a fun way. You will be able to open one new technology idea each day until Christmas. We hope you enjoy and find the Advent Calendar useful.

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Butler Online's Gift to you!

We have created a Technology Advent Calendar to share new ideas and information in a fun way. You will be able to open one new technology idea each day until Christmas. We hope you enjoy and find the Advent Calendar useful.

 

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Top 100 Web 2.0 Tools by Edudemic

Here is the list of the 100 Best Web 2.0 Tools  by Edudemic.   We have posted several of these in the past...but there are many new ones to explore.   Give a few a try...and let us know what you think.   We would love to have you review one of these tools and post it to the blog.

The EdTech Toolbox also has a list of Top 100 Tools for Learning.  So when you have some free time this week, take a look!

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50 GB of Cloud Storage - Free!

Box.net is "giving away 50 GB of free storage to anyone who uses a free Box Personal account on an iOS device. That’s right, it’s 50 GB in the cloud completely free, forever. Your 50 GB of storage isn’t just limited to your mobile device – you get it anywhere you use your Box account, like on your laptop at home or your desktop at the office.

This promotion only runs for 50 days, so get your free space in the cloud by following these steps:

1. Visit the app store and download the Box app for your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch
2. Log in to your account or register for a new one directly from the app
3. Start sharing and collaborating in the cloud" (originally posted on the Inside the Box blog).

This offer began Friday, October 14th, 2011 at 12:01 am Pacific Standard time so the clock is ticking. Go get yours now.

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