UM Dearborn Ed Tech Group

07/26/2017

Ferris State University has a job opening for an Online Design Consultant (part-time). Please see the posting if you are interested in this position.

Jobs in higher education. Faculty and administrative positions at colleges and universities. Updated daily. Free to job seekers.

03/28/2017

For today's Tech Tuesday post I wanted to share Ozobot, a series of gumball sized robots that can be programmed from a smartphone, tablet or computer. This is another, fairly, inexpensive way to get into coding and robotics with your students.

Ozobots are small, smart toy robots that empower gamers and learners to code, play, create and connect the physical and digital worlds.

03/24/2017

If you are looking for another coding environment for kids you might want to try out Kodu. This is a Windows based app and you can use it to create games for the XBox gaming system. Kodu is free to download and use, which makes it very accessible from a cost perspective.

03/22/2017

I attended the MACUL conference in Detroit, Michigan last week and sat in on several sessions on coding and robotics. Several of the presenters shared their experiences using products from Sphero and it has gotten me thinking about how I might incorporate this technology in my own classes. I definitely think it is time I joined the coding revolution.

Based in Boulder, CO, Sphero fuses physical robotic toys, digital apps, and entertainment experiences to unlock the true potential of play and inspire tomorrow’s creators.

03/21/2017

ISTE is putting on another great free webinar tomorrow. This one is titled "Bright Ideas for E-Learning Design". It starts at 7:00 PM EST so you can even get comfy in your PJ's before you join. :)

This webinar is part of the Spring 2017 ISTE Professional Learning Series. It will air on March 22, 2017 at 4 Pacific, 7 Eastern. As teachers develop more online content for students, a new educator skill set becomes necessary. The same rules for good face-to-face teaching do not always easily trans...

03/15/2017

For today's What's Up Wednesday post I wanted to let everyone know about a series of free webcasts ISTE is hosting between now and May 18th. Topics include Information Literacy in the Age of Fake News, 60 Tools in 60 Minutes and Technology to Aid the Struggling Reader.

03/14/2017

For today's Tech Tuesday post I would like to share ThingLink, which is an annotation tool that allows you to mark up images as well as videos. There is an Education plan that provides teachers with a free basic account to use with one class and up to 100 students.

Seamlessly make your images, videos, and 360 content interactive with text, links, images, videos and over 70 call to actions, creating memorable experiences for any audience.

03/13/2017

For today's Mobile Monday post I wanted to share Flipgrid. Flipgrid allows you to create a "grid" on any topic. Your students can use their phones or tablets to record a short video weighing in on the topic or replying to their classmates. This is an interesting way to tap into the technology students already have and use in order to engage them in discussions around relevant topics.

Flipgrid empowers social learning in PreK to PhD classrooms around the world. Use video the way your students do.

03/03/2017

For today's Friday Freebee I wanted to let folks know about a free webinar on coding with kids that is going on tomorrow. It is being hosted by ISTE and is scheduled to run from 10:00-10:30 AM EST.

Clicking the button below will send an email message to and will include a link that you can use to verify your email address with ISTE.

02/28/2017

For today's Tech Tuesday I wanted to share easel.ly, which is an infographic creation tool. You can design your creation using one of their many templates or start with a blank template of your own. It utilizes a drag and drop interface that makes it easy to arrange text, images and other objects as needed.

Easel.ly is a simple web tool that empowers anyone to create and share powerful visuals (infographics, posters)... no design experience needed! We provide the canvas, you provide the creativity.

02/27/2017

For today's Mobile Monday post I would like to share Canva. You could argue that Canva isn't specifically a mobile technology and I wouldn't disagree. But they have an iPad app so I'm going to count that as being mobile. Canva is a graphic design tool that you can use to create posters and professional layouts for all sorts of things. It would have been a perfect tool for a project my 9th grade daughter was working on this weekend. She had to create a movie poster about an assigned historical event from the cold war period. Tools such as Canva can allow students to move beyond the simple designs and limitations of Word and Google Docs.

Easily create beautiful designs + documents. Use Canva's drag-and-drop feature and professional layouts to design consistently stunning graphics.

02/24/2017

For today's Friday Freebee I wanted to share an upcoming webinar focused on helping teachers get students involved with Earth Day. The webinar is on March 8th from 1:00-2:00 and it is being hosted by STAR.net, which stands for Science, Technology, Activities and Resources for libraries.

Register Now! Celebrate Earth Day with NASA's GLOBE Observer Professional Development Webinar for Library Staff Wednesday, March 8th, 2017 at 1pm MT Learn how your library can celebrate our planet on Earth Day and beyond through NASA’s GLOBE Observer (GO) citizen science project. Library patrons…