My Top 5 Tweets of 2019

I love Twitter and I love sharing on Twitter.  But the best part is seeing other people get excited about what I share.  Here are my 5 tweets that were seen the most times on Twitter:

#EduDuctTape Live Mini 004: Don Epps!

In my 4th mini-episode, I’m sharing with you an interview with middle school principal Don Epps from the #TeachBetter19 Conference back in November.  Don shares about his school’s experiences with MicroBits, MaKey MaKeys, coding and the message of author Brian Aspinall.

Note: For the foreseeable future, mini-episodes, recorded live and on-location at a conference or event, will come out every other Wednesday morning.

 

Don Epps Episode Artwork

 

#EduDuctTape Mini Episode 003!

In the 3rd mini episode, I sit down to talk to . . . ugh . . . disaster.  A minor technology disaster strikes the Educational Duct Tape podcast studios and I take to the microphone to vent about it and reflect on it.

 

#EduDuctTape Episode 33!

In the 10th episode of Season 2, I talk with Dr. Sheldon Eakins of the Leading Equity Center & Leading Equity Podcast. Together, Sheldon and I discuss techquity, bringing culture, community and disruptive discourse into the classroom. Tech tools covered include Skype-a-Scientist, Flipgrid, Synth, Voicethread, BackChannelChat.com, Yo! Teach, Google Classroom, Padlet, Schoology, and Parlay.

#EduDuctTape Twitter Chat 12.4.19

In episode 32 of the Educational Duct Tape Podcast, Sethi De Clercq of eduflip.net joined me to talk about effectively sharing new technology information with teachers, using video in the classroom and tools for students to create video with.  We talked about EdPuzzle, screencasting tools (Nimbus & Loom), Flipgrid, Loom, Explain Everything, Backchannel Chats and more!

Also, in the Soapbox Moment I discussed my thoughts on being sure that we are Doing Better once we Know Better.

A week after the episode was released, I was joined on Twitter by an awesome crew of “Duct Tapers” who were eager to talk about the content from this episode!  Below are some of the best tweets from the chat curated by Mighty Duct David Allan!

Continue reading #EduDuctTape Twitter Chat 12.4.19

8+ Tools for Developing Learner Profiles

Mike Mohammad joined me in episode 28 of the Educational Duct Tape Podcast to discuss 2 questions that an educator might have.  One of the topics that we discussed was learner profiles.  Mike posed the question, “How can students create a profile of themselves as a learner to share with an audience beyond the classroom?”

Tools for Learner Profiles Title Image

While Mike and I did not discuss the it during the show, I want to quickly compare and contrast the terms learner profile and digital portfolio.  While there are similarities (both are typically curated by the student, both showcase the students work in school and both are often done digitally) there are also some differences (typically, digital portfolios are a showcase of academic work and growth while learner profiles also often focus on the students’ capabilities, characteristics and aptitudes as a learner).

Regardless of which end result you’re looking to cultivate in your school (learner profile, digital portfolio or a blend of both), there are plenty of tools that you can leverage.

A week after the episode in which Mike and I discusssed this aired, I hosted a Twitter chat about the questions from our talk.

Here are some of the participants’ responses to the question about learner profiles:

Continue reading 8+ Tools for Developing Learner Profiles

#EduDuctTape Live Mini 002: Tara Martin!

For the 2nd mini-episode from the #TeachBetter19 Conference, I am sharing my interview with Tara Martin, #BookSnaps creator and author of Be Real & Cannonball In. Tara shares about the use of BookSnaps across all content areas. She discusses using them with tech tools including SnapChat, Google Slides, Seesaw and more.

Note: For the foreseeable future, mini-episodes, recorded live and on-location at a conference or event, will come out every other Wednesday morning.

Tara Martin, BookSnaps Quote: Book Snaps are all about letting a student's real self shine through the app, the learning tool."

 

#EduDuctTape Episode 32!

In the 9th episode of Season 2, I talk with Sethi De Clercq of eduflip.net about effectively sharing new technology information with teachers, using video in the classroom and tools for students to create video with.  We talk about EdPuzzle, screencasting tools (Nimbus & Loom), Flipgrid, Explain Everything, Backchannel Chats and more!

Sethi De Clercq Episode Promo

 

#EduDuctTape Twitter Chat 11.20.19

In episode 31 of the Educational Duct Tape Podcast,  Jornea Armant, Educator Innovation Lead at Flipgrid, joined me to talk about video creation tools for students under the age of 13 and connecting the entire learning community to your classroom.  Also, in the Soapbox Moment I discussed my thoughts on how we can go about moving on when a tech tool goes away.

A week after the episode was released, I was joined on Twitter by an awesome crew of “Duct Tapers” who were eager to talk about the content from this episode!  Below are some of the best tweets from the chat curated by Mighty Duct David Allan!

Continue reading #EduDuctTape Twitter Chat 11.20.19

Searching for Images with Transparent Backgrounds in Google Image Search

There are lots of reasons that you might need images with transparent backgrounds! Maybe it’s for a #StopMotionSlides project!  Maybe it’s for a graphic design project!  Maybe it’s for a green screen video or image!

No matter what your reason is for wanting an image with a transparent background, the easiest option is the same: do a Google Image Search for images with a transparent background!

There are ways to take images and remove their background, but if we can start with no background, that’s even better!

Search in Google > Images > Tools > Color > Transparent

Note: Unfortunately, this is not a perfect process.  Using this strategy misses some images with transparent backgrounds and includes some images that it should have left out.

Check out the #EduGIF below.  A Pausable #EduGIF is available here.

Google Transparent Image Search Animation