Tech Tuesday for March 13

Happy Tuesday everyone! Sorry I did not send you an email last week, but MME Testing and my trip to MACUL gave me a busy schedule. I did come back from the conference with some great new tools to share with you over the next few weeks, so please take a moment and check these out.

edcamp Detroit

Last year, I organized an unconference at Wayne State University and it was a huge hit! I'm happy to say that Edcamp Detroit will be back at Wayne State on Saturday May 5th. You can checkout our website at EdCampDetroit.org or click here to be taken directly to registration.

We have sold out all 175 tickets and have started a wait list. Schedules change and people cannot make it to the event, so please sign up if you still want to go. This is not just for teachers. Anyone involved with education can attend and share. Media Specialists, Special Education, Administrators and school board members are encouraged to attend. Please visit our site and put your name on the wait list. As the organizer, I've got some pull if you really want to join the fun on May 5.

Apple Update

On Wednesday. Apple announced their new iPad, their new Apple TV and their software update, iOS 5.0.1. If you have an Apple Device, you should consider the update. It does not take very long and has some nice additions. Sorry, no Siri if you do not have a 4S. Here is a great article by Mashable explaining how to update your device. This applies for all iPads, iPhones and iTouches.


UJam

The idea behind UJam is simple and awesome. Allow anyone the ability to create music and share it with the whomever they want. Here is a video that explains how it works.




As a teacher, this could be a fun way to introduce new concepts to class and create songs to make some ideas more memorable for the students. This could also be used by students to create their own songs for any number of projects. For the musically minded, UJam is a great FREE web tool that can attract students to almost any lesson.

E.ggtimer.com

E.ggtimer.com is a simple timer any teacher can use. Here is how you can use it. 

Example usage:

• http://e.ggtimer.com/5minutes
• http://e.ggtimer.com/1hour
• http://e.ggtimer.com/30 (defaults to seconds)

By typing in the time you want after the /, you can create timer as long as you want. There are also some special timers you can have fun with in class or at home. 

Special Timers:

• http://e.ggtimer.com/pomodoro (does one 25/5 minute cycle)
• http://e.ggtimer.com/morning (can help get your blood pumping)
• http://e.ggtimer.com/brushteeth (for healthy teeth)
• http://e.ggtimer.com/tabata (8 reps of 20/10 second intervals)

While not a revolutionary idea that is going to change the way we teach, it is a nice little FREE web tool that can make class run a little more efficiently.

I want to thank my friend Steve Dembo for showing me these, and many more, web tools that I know get to pass on to the great educators of Grosse Pointe Public Schools.

Give them a try!