Educational Technology at IU13

PowToon allows teachers and students to create animated videos and presentations.  There is a free version and a premium version of the tool.  However, PowToon just released PowToons Slides for Educators (Edu) and all teachers who sign up for an account during 2014 will get to use PowToon Slides EDU for free (for a lifetime!).  All you have to do is share their site via your twitter account and you receive your free accout!  Yeah!

Currently, all IMS members who have attended a free training session, have access to borrow one of the 4 Starlabs that we have available through their MediaNet account. 

PA has been issued a state-wide grant to distribute SketchUp Pro Licenses.  You can obtain these licenses by filling out the PAIU PAIMS SketchUp Pro Application.  Shortly after you complete this form you will receive a googledoc with the license codes and additional information.  More information can be found on the SketchUp website. 

In addition to the SketchUp Pro desktop offering, we are also proud to offer SketchUp for Schools, a web-based application available through G-Suite for Education! With the growing adoption of Chromebooks in schools around the world, we have developed an EDU-specific SketchUp platform that complies with all U.S. COPPA regulations and meets the demands of today's students.

We had a very successful meeting in November where quite a few districts participated in some very thought provoking discussions that concentrated on the status of each district's 1:1 initiatives. We also discussed what everyone wants to continue to focus on throughout this year.  Professional development and implementation seem to be two hotspots in which many have an interest.  We are going to continue these conversations in our next 1:1 forum coming up on February 28, 2014.  The invitation to join this meeting is open to all school districts who have begun 1:1 or is in the planning stages of 1:1.  Please consider attending whether you are a Tech Coach/Integrator, Online Coordinator, Tech Coordinator/Director, or any other teacher/administrator who is involved in the planning, preparation, and implementation process. Please bring all your questions, information, and topics you would like to explore.  Don't forget to register on mlp.

Have you been checking out infographics lately?  It seems as though they are becoming more and more popular as we can easily communicate with text and graphics putting together a more powerful message.  I'm continually impressed with the messages and excellent reminders coming from e-Learning Infographics. One graphic I would like to take a moment to blog about is "How to Coach Through the Steps of Learning" as shown below: